teacupnosaucer

I've lost 22lbs since surgery and am definitely losing boobs. A lot of it is my copious amount of back fat going, but on the front I looked at myself in profile and noticed my boobs DEFINITELY look pretty deflated now (cries). They were never perky in the first place (I had floppy boobs even as a D cup in high school), so this is pretty saddening for me. They still look good in a bra at least, but I now know I need to be saving to have a breast lift at some point. I started in clinic at a 38G and am now wearing a 36DDD bra. I got it second hand and it fits nice but I do want to get properly sized and make sure it's actually RIGHT. Honestly though I've been wearing a lot of sports bras, I have an under armour and nike one, both with molded cups, size 36E and 38DD. I like them because I think they may get a little longer wear than a normal bra because the sizing isn't quite so exact.

Good for you <3<3<3 I have gone out "drinking" with my friends since surgery (I'm 6 weeks out now) and stuck to water, but found that the contact drunk and the atmosphere of the bar meant I still had a great time without the alcohol. I think you'll be surprised

I seriously need to give this stuff a try. I don't normally have ice cream in our house because my husband will eat an entire 2L container in one sitting if it's there, and not only does that cost way too much, but it also puts him in a terrible guilty mood for days... but now that summer is coming up it might be nice to have a pint around just for me. just have to buy a flavour he won't eat lol. do they do peanut butter?

I would totally get right into drinking diet pepsi all the time too. even though I DON'T currently miss it, I know there's no such thing as "just one" for me either. as soon as I had that taste I'd be hooked all over again. sometimes you just have to give things up. (solidarity fistbump)

I'm six weeks out and have really only had one bad food reaction: I went to McDonalds with my kids for breakfast one day and ate just a sausage patty... and OHHHHH my body was not happy with that! It must have been too greasy for me. Honestly though other than that I have had no intolerances. As long as I eat slowly and chew well, everything I eat goes down, stays down, and is tolerated well. There's stuff I choose not to eat though. Carbonated drinks, of course, are an automatic no. Foods I know have triggered binge eating in the past. I still haven't tried alcohol and am not sure when I will. But then, this is what I'd hoped for myself: that I wouldn't be restricted by a bunch of food intolerances and nasty reactions, but instead that I could use my surgery as a tool to even the playing ground for losing weight and otherwise relying on my willpower and knowledge to actively make good choices vs. my digestive system making them for me. More freedom, but more responsibility too.

Eating, drinking, and supplements after surgery are like a full time freakin job. I have Baritastic pinging reminders at me all day long and STILL don't feel like I'm caught up on everything most days.

I could have written this post myself (cries laughing)

I try to eat as much protein as I can, but I still make a point of eating at least some veggies at my meals. Yes if I eat some carrots that means there's slightly less room for another ounce of protein, but I also like to poop without bursting blood vessels soooooo... Protein first is definitely the golden rule to follow, but I try to eat at least half my serving of meat, a couple bites of vegetables, and then back to meat again. My dietician wants me to eat more carbs at my meals but I'm not even thinking of that until I am able to eat full servings of veggies and meat in one sitting.

I started out with a BMI of 40 but lost down to a BMI of 36 pre-surgery due to a combination of work I'd done in the clinic and the liquid diet. Weight loss has been slow but steady so far. I'm down 22ish pounds since my surgery 6 weeks ago. You can't compare yourself to people with more weight to lose, or else you'll go bonkers. You have to get into the mindset that you're not going to lose 60 lbs in two months, and focus on following the plan and creating healthy habits. Thus far, I'm happy I did this. I hope I continue to chip away at my excess weight until I am somewhere at least approaching a normal BMI.

I got an underwire-free lace bralette and then a couple of those stretchy sports bras with minimal support. Not super attractive or supportive, but it was SOMETHING at least. I definitely couldn't wear a normal bra. Jeans were RIGHT OUT. I don't think I was comfy in them until 5 weeks post. I got myself some high quality thicker-fabric high waisted leggings and pretty much lived in those and in skirts. By the time I could fit into jeans again, I'd shrunk out of the ones I owned haha.

I use MyFitnessPal, Baritastic, and Withings (my activity tracker's app). I love the functionality of Baritastic in that it lets me set a protein goal for the day and has other bariatric specific functionality, but I hate that it won't sync with myfitnesspal! I have been using MyFitnessPal for years, have many friends who use it, and really don't want to switch. I want the Baritastic specificity without having to switch over to their food tracking. Very frustrating to me. If I could have a bariatric app with similar functionality to Baritastic (reminders, timers, bariatric specific food and lifestyle goals) that synced with MyFitnessPal, I would be in heaven.

6 months? our guidelines are no carbonation FOREVER. I get it. I was an 8 can a day diet pepsi drinker. I seriously considered not getting this surgery JUST BECAUSE I WOULDN'T GET TO HAVE PEPSI ANYMORE. that's how addicted I was, how absolutely convinced I was that pepsi was ~essential to my quality of life~. it's not. sure the sound of someone popping a can open still makes my mouth water like pavlov's dog, but I honestly don't miss it. I thought I'd have a moment of weakness, or some serious regret/resentment by now, but I really haven't! it's not a part of my life anymore. unsweetened herbal iced tea is just as refreshing, and the benefits of being this lower weight have really changed my (skewed) perspective on things. I realize now how very very unimportant pepsi really is to my life. I have gained so much... my obsession with my pepsi habit starts to seem absolutely positively RIDICULOUS in hindight. like full on "what was I freakin' thinking!?" on par with how I feel now about all my horrible ex boyfriends I was ~so in love with I would die for~ take it from me, don't let soda be your embarrassing ex!

Scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, chili, ground lean meat in pasta or taco sauce, lentils, soft fishes (oh god was salmon ever good after weeks of protein shakes!), yogurt and soups and protein drinks same as on full liquids.

I'm six weeks and have had some. I went to the movies and got a kids pack portion and threw out the leftovers. I was able to eat it just fine, and I made the conscious choice to include it in moderation into my diet (I go to the movies less than once a month, and that's the only time I eat popcorn.) HOWEVER, there are foods I can physically tolerate post op that I WON'T eat "in moderation" because I can't trust myself with them. Oreos and other bagged cookies never come into my house. Never ever. Because I know if I buy them saying to myself "I'll just eat a single portion once in a blue moon" I'd be goddamn lying to myself. I would eat a whole bag in one go and I know it. I love Oreos SO MUCH, but there's no avoiding the reality that they are a binge eating trigger food. I've had to say goodbye to them. Some people take a hard line toward their diet post surgery whereas others are more permissive. That's an individual choice to make, and you have to take the pros and cons into account, preferably with the guidance of your registered dietician or other health professional. You know yourself. Are you opening a door to binge eating? Are you lying to yourself when you say you're going to eat this item in moderation and only on occasion? By eating this food, are you going to be foregoing a healthier choice to the point where you are not meeting your nutrition goals for the day? Have you planned for and measured your portion and limited your access/exposure to this food? Will this food be a gateway (ie. "well I can't very well have movie theatre popcorn and not get a large coke and a box of chocolate candies to go with it!") to more non-nutritious choices? I also do this knowing I may have to re-evaluate down the line. Right now my priority is to let myself eat certain "no-no" foods in moderation, but with the understanding that if that derails my progress toward health, I may have to add more restrictions to myself. And ultimately, I may not lose as much weight as I would if I'd resolved to have a stricter diet right from the beginning. You may think "well that's hardly worth the risk!", in which case you have your answer: bring a better for you snack and a bottle of water to the movies instead.

I won't speak to your specific surgery because it sounds like you've done your research and trust your surgeon's advice on it. What I will speak on is being healthy and getting bariatric surgery, which I know well. The first surgeon I met with didn't want to give me surgery. I am short and was about 80-100 lbs overweight. I have PCOS and struggled to lose weight for 5 years after giving birth to my daughter. I gained fifty pounds in that time instead. Even when I completely overhauled my life during my last pregnancy, I lost 20 lbs in two years... knowing full well that regain was lurking in my future, because that's just what the odds are. But my sugars are great, my blood pressure is fine, i have some joint pain but I'm not disabled by it, etc etc etc. The first surgeon I met basically said to me "I am looking at a woman who on paper is completely healthy, but obese, and I don't think surgery is worth the risks." He was speaking complete sense and I 100% respect his opinion and his choice not to take me on as a patient. The second surgeon I saw disagreed, though, and thought that I was a good candidate for surgery and had made a lot of changes that suggested I could be very successful post-op. Could I survive without surgery? Yes, definitely. With a lot of effort, I may have been able to maintain my lifestyle changes and my modest weight loss... but I could also backslide, regain, gain more, and get even sicker than I'd been at the very start. Type 2 diabetes is riddled through my family. My dad is on the verge of losing a foot to it. I saw the pattern of my life and was afraid. And I saw so many women in their mid fifties, sick and in pain and with BMIs over 50, saying they wished they'd done it earlier. I figured, what better time? I'm young, I'm healthy, I'm at good odds to get through surgery safely and bounce back in my recovery. I haven't done too much lasting damage to my body yet. Why wait for the stuff like the joint pain and insulin resistance and PCOS and depression to just get worse and worse and worse, perhaps irreversibly so? I'm not advocating for some twenty five year old who's 20 lbs overweight and is worried she might be 50 lbs overweight thirty years from now once she hits menopause to have this surgery, but I think if you are already obese and have good medical evidence you will continue to get more obese and MORE sick... then getting the surgery preventatively is a valid choice. I wasn't overly sick from my weight, but my life is still exponentially better now that those 50 lbs are gone off me, too. My knee pain has vanished. I have higher energy. But best of all, I'm not AFRAID anymore. Regain could still happen, of course it could, but it's not a given anymore. Type 2 diabetes isn't a given. I feel like I am in control of my own future, and that matters. I'm making healthy choices secure in that knowledge, and encouraged by that knowledge. As for "the nuclear option", my surgeon initially suggested the RNY because that's the surgery he does most and he considers it the gold standard. I told him no, I wanted the sleeve. I felt it was wayyyyyyy too invasive for my situation and tipped the balance of the "benefits vs risks" of getting the procedure, and I didn't think it fit the lifestyle I envisioned for myself after surgery. he respected my choice. if you're confident about getting the DS, then do it. but if you think it's too extreme for your specific situation, you CAN talk to your surgeon about that. I expected to have to argue my case for why I didn't feel comfortable getting the RNY, since my surgeon was so gung ho about it, but he immediately was on my side when I told him I wanted the sleeve. your opinion does matter. it's your body, and you have to live with this surgery for the rest of your life. so make YOUR decision. and if it aligns with your surgeon's opinion, then be confident about that!

I had almost no butt when I was fat, and now my butt is so flat I look like Hank Hill from behind. Boobs have shrunken a bit with weight loss but are still quite large. I think the reality is you retain your overall shape, but smaller. surgery isn't gonna magically give me an ass where there wasn't one, but it's not gonna turn my G cups into A cups either. (Saggy D cups on the other hand are a definite possibility...)

I'm down 22 lbs since surgery day on March 22nd. My weight loss has been slow but steady, so I'm happy. I've been tracking really consistently and am back swimming now with the blessing of my surgeon. and I fit into size 12 jeans yesterday! wahoo!

tracking didn't work for you in the past because your body was fighting you restricting calories (or weight watchers points, as the case may be LOL!), or you were like me and tracked on good days but then "forgot" on days you overate. or you tracked but didn't measure your food and thus underestimated what you were eating, or you tracked but then gleefully ate the 1200 extra calories your fitbit gave you just because you walked around the mall. I don't like to do it either (it seems so obsessive and time consuming, ugh!) but I don't like brushing my teeth or doing my laundry, either and I still do that! tracking gives you feedback on when and how you're eating. you can use it to see patterns, understand cause and effect relationships, and in the case of protein, making sure you're getting the nutrients you NEED to recover! I am a reformed former anti-tracker. It does get easier as it becomes a habit, and it DOES help. not on its own, no, but combined with the boost from surgery, it definitely allows you greater insight into what you're doing, what to change, and what to keep up on. I think about when I first started tracking and brought my journal to the dietician. I thought that I'd eaten out maybe three or four times in the last two weeks, which was a bit much but within their 0-2 times/week recommendation. looked in my tracker and I'd eaten out NINE TIMES. that's a LOT of unaccounted for empty calories.

I was very very scared... until suddenly I wasn't. It was so weird! I spent MONTHS beforehand agonizing, terrified I was going to leave my kids without their mother... then on the day before, when I thought I'd be my absolute worst, I was at total peace. I slept super well the night before and woke up that morning surer than anything. Which is very unusual because I have SO MUCH ANXIETY ABOUT EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. It is normal to be afraid. Talk to your team about your fears. On the advice of someone else in a bariatric forum, I asked my surgeon straight up if he'd had someone die of complications. He said no. Not that it was impossible, but that no, it hadn't happened. And then he knocked on wood LOL. My psychologist also listened to my "life after surgery" fears and was very reassuring that my fears were normal and to her, healthy because they showed I understood how much of a life altering decision I was making. Talking to people will help. Surrounding yourself with loved ones will help. And if surgery day comes and you're a nervous wreck, you can always ask for an ativan

oh I know to sip throughout the day... in theory. in practice it is harder to remember. I have been working on it by bringing a water bottle with me wherever I go and I also bought an ULLA hydration reminder to go on it so it blinks if I haven't picked up the bottle in awhile. Not perfect, but better than nothing!

I was sleeved March 22nd. I'm down twenty pounds since then. Eating has been going great (haven't regurgitated at all), drinking wise I'm still a little behind on my goals because I'm not sipping as often as I need to. Back to swimming three times a week and that's going great. I'm very happy with my progress. Nobody has yet noticed I've lost weight because it's going quite slowly, but I don't mind, because I know I'm wayyyyy smaller than I started!

I started at 4 weeks post op. I was pretty much entirely healed by then, just a couple little scraps of scabs left.

He likes reality tv (storage wars, gold mining shows, fishing shows, trucking shows...), golfing, and wearing ugly sweatpants LOL. Oh and he really really likes going to movies with me and then saying "it was okay" even if it was obvious he was delighted the entire time.

Before surgery I got into the habit of food journalling, started and maintained an exercise routine, and worked on other unhealthy habits like eating out too often, eating in front of a screen, and drinking my calories. I made a LOT of changes, small and large, to my lifestyle, which I think greatly contributed to how well I'm adjusting to my post-surgery life. And hey, getting my sleeve at 196 lbs versus at my highest weight of 227 lbs means I'm ahead of the game and my goals are that much closer! Unlike others, I haven't cut any food groups entirely out of my diet other than carbonated and sweetened drinks. (Oh and Oreos, I don't have those anywhere near me because they are a trigger food for binging!) I still eat sugar and carbs... but my goal for this surgery was to maintain as "normal" a diet as possible while still leading a healthier life than I was living. Everyone strikes their own balance on that front, I think. There are people who go absolutely zero carbs post surgery, people who strictly limit their carbs, and people who still eat carbs but are choosy about where they come from or how often they eat them. One thing that pretty much everyone post bariatric has in common, though, is focusing on protein intake. "Protein first" is my program's motto. You eat your protein, then your vegetables, and THEN a limited amount of carbs with whatever room you have left (which in my case is gently waving a piece of potato in front of my nose and then putting it down on the plate again LOL). We pretty much all get some kind of protein goal to hit post surgery, since protein is important for your healing and for maintaining muscle mass as you lose the weight. So that might be something to work on now, finding out what in your diet is a good source of protein and what isn't, finding higher protein alternatives for your standby foods, and basically just being more aware of the protein value in everything you eat. And since you're dairy free, as well, now would be a good time to try out various vegan protein powders/supplements so you can find one you like or can at least tolerate, since in the early days post surgery it's hard to reach your protein goals without some form of supplementation. Do you see a dietician? It might be a good idea, especially with you not doing dairy. Just so you're prepared with a plan of how to get protein in when a lot of the typical post op suggestions for boosting protein intake (milk, cheese, whey supplements, yogurt) are all dairy dairy dairy dairy dairy haha. In later stages when you're back on solid foods I'm sure you can manage it with nuts and legumes and meats, but in that early stage some research on non-dairy liquid protein options can't go amiss. Good luck to you, and good for you on being so proactive! You won't regret getting started early, I promise!

I'd say in a job that's physically and emotionally demanding like that, give yourself at least a couple weeks. Even if the kids aren't climbing all over you, you might be quite fatigued or in too much pain to be as patient as you'd like. Or alternately, it may be hard to deal with twenty ankle biters when you're also trying to eat every two hours and drink every half hour and count every gram of protein etc. I work from home as a writer and started taking assignments again at about a week and a half out, though I had myself on longer deadlines/reduced hours, so instead of doing my assignment in three eight hour days, I took six four hour days to turn it around instead.