Strivingforbetter

I had a great day yesterday and last night. I went on a date, and it went really well. I felt normal, I wore cargo shorts! I never wore shorts ever. Yesterday I actually looked in the mirror and saw someone different. Now, the mind has to catch up. Each day I am working on it.

Hey everyone. I went to speak to someone. It felt really good getting it off my chest. She also had the sleeve so she kind of knew where I was coming from. Thank you all for the advice. I am doing my best to adjust to this huge adjustment.

When I'm around certain people or when I eat certain things, I feel like I haven't lost even one pound. I worry that I'll wake up the next morning, and the scale will show a five pound gain and the old me will come exploding out. The truth is I've lost a significant amount of weight and haven't gained even one pound in the year since I had my surgery. It's body dsymorphia. It takes a while for our minds to catch up with the new body. As far as social situations, I find myself wearing shorts and clothes I have shied away from for the past 20 years. I also don't hide behind people in photos anymore. I've practiced making good food choices this past year, so I can usually find something to eat or I eat very little if the choices aren't so great. If your anxiety is really distressing you, I would find a good counselor and talk it through with them. It also might help with your self-confidence and/or depression.

When I'm around certain people or when I eat certain things, I feel like I haven't lost even one pound. I worry that I'll wake up the next morning, and the scale will show a five pound gain and the old me will come exploding out. The truth is I've lost a significant amount of weight and haven't gained even one pound in the year since I had my surgery. It's body dsymorphia. It takes a while for our minds to catch up with the new body. As far as social situations, I find myself wearing shorts and clothes I have shied away from for the past 20 years. I also don't hide behind people in photos anymore. I've practiced making good food choices this past year, so I can usually find something to eat or I eat very little if the choices aren't so great. If your anxiety is really distressing you, I would find a good counselor and talk it through with them. It also might help with your self-confidence and/or depression.

No to both. My insurance approval and surgery came very quickly. So I used the time to have food funerals, and I'm grateful I got that chance.

I really hope I don't have to be on only liquids for two weeks. I don't think I could do it. It seems to me that a person that has the will power to only have liquids for two weeks wouldn't need weight loss surgery. I salute those that have done it!

Just for my own experience, I have to say that this would not have been true for me. I would have been miserable. I know from my dieting experience, I hate being hungry, it makes me disheartened and want to give up. That though is no indication that I lack commitment to WLS. It has not been reflected in my success to date.

Try to lose as much weight as you can during the honeymoon phase as fat malabsorption for SIPS (aka SADI) patients wanes after a year or so. This is not the case for DS patients *. You also need to try and keep your carbs as low as possible as they are absorbed, so you may not have good results if you consume too many.
* There is a scientific paper posted on the ASMBS website titled, “Physiopathological Differences After Duodenal Switch And Single Anastomosis Duodeno Ileal Bypass (SADI-S).” Summary: DS patients have more fat malabsorption than SADI patients, and these differences are bigger as time goes by.

When I'm around certain people or when I eat certain things, I feel like I haven't lost even one pound. I worry that I'll wake up the next morning, and the scale will show a five pound gain and the old me will come exploding out. The truth is I've lost a significant amount of weight and haven't gained even one pound in the year since I had my surgery. It's body dsymorphia. It takes a while for our minds to catch up with the new body. As far as social situations, I find myself wearing shorts and clothes I have shied away from for the past 20 years. I also don't hide behind people in photos anymore. I've practiced making good food choices this past year, so I can usually find something to eat or I eat very little if the choices aren't so great. If your anxiety is really distressing you, I would find a good counselor and talk it through with them. It also might help with your self-confidence and/or depression.

You didn’t go into weight loss surgery blindly, but there are sure to be quite a few surprises along the way. Stalls can be among the most discouraging, but you are sure to notice plenty of other things that your surgeon may not have warned you about before you got your surgery. Here are a few of them.


Stalls Happen
Your surgeon will probably tell you about your likely weight loss. You might hear numbers such as 70 to 100 lb. in the first year, or up to 10 to 20 lb. in the first couple of months. Those might be realistic and turn out to be accurate for you, but what might also be true, that your doctor did not tell you, is that weight loss may not be steady.
You might lose 75 lb. in a year, which is an average 1.5 lb. per week, but you are not going to lose 1.5 lb. every week for a year straight. You may lose 5 lb. in one week, 3 lb. in another, 0 lb. in another, and, some weeks, even gain weight.
You are almost sure to encounter stalls, or plateaus, or periods of weeks or even a month when you do not lose weight, even if you are eating right. Your doctor may not tell you about stalls ahead of time, but you can handle them better if you are prepared right out of the gate.
Your Metabolism May Plummet
As you lose weight, you need fewer calories to sustain your basic body functions. Furthermore, when you exercise at a lower body weight, you burn fewer calories doing the same workout at the same intensity than you did when you were heavier. On top of that, your body may go into starvation mode and use even fewer calories as it becomes more efficient at using what you give it.
While there is little that you can do to prevent a slower metabolism, you can at least be aware of it. Also, you can take heart knowing that you are likely to be able to exercise longer and at a higher intensity to offset some of the reduced body weight.
It’s Freezing!
Brrr…! Remember the days when you were the hottest one in the room, and all you wanted was to stop sweating? Those may be in the past. Part of the slowed metabolism can be due to your body’s new mechanism to save energy, which means turning down the thermostat. Another possibly surprising side effect of weight loss is that having less cushioning (body fat), so sitting in chairs or lying in bed can be less comfortable.
People Can Still Hurt You
You probably know that Weight Loss Surgery does not change who you are, but your doctor may forget to tell you that it does not change other people, either. You may no longer get flack for being overweight, but people can still be hurtful. They can tell you…
You took the easy way out with Weight Loss Surgery.
You have not lost much weight. Clearly, Weight Loss Surgery did not work.
You lost so much weight that you look sick.
All you care about now is your diet and exercise plan.
Your Social Life May Change
Some friends will stick by you. Others may desert you. If some of your friends have just been “eating buddies,” or people you go out with to the bar or restaurants, you may need to exercise self-control at the bar or restaurant, find new activities to do with those friends or find new friends. You stand to gain wonderful new friends who share your new interests, such as walking, going to the gym, or cooking healthy fun foods.
The Skin Stays
Losing body fat will not give you a movie star’s appearance. It may not even be all that you need to lose. You may have loose skin that flaps, chafes, and interferes. There is a chance that you will want to get skin removal surgery for cosmetic, comfort, or medical reasons.
Beware Replacement Addictions
You may have been addicted to food. It may have provided comfort, entertainment, and companionship. Give it up, and you are likely to find something to replace it. Alcohol is a common replacement addiction, but you can do better! Stay aware of your emotional and physical needs, and you can be mindful of what replaces food in your life. Exercise, within reason, is a common choice; another healthy option is to make some great friends who are supportive and make you feel good.
Your doctor will tell you a lot about what to expect after weight loss surgery, but she may leave out several important items. Go in with open eyes, and you can prepare better and come out farther ahead.

I honestly thought when people said they loved exercise they were lying. Exercise used to feel so horrible. And it was hard and not fun and you just want it over with.
now almost 11 months out from surgery, I honestly wish I had more time to exercise (I have very little time, 4 kids and full time care of mom with dementia). I peer into gyms and wonder about learning new kinds of workouts. No ****. I really love my little workouts and want to do more. I am not lying to y’all. I can’t believe it myself. I can’t believe I can feel some muscle definition under my loose skin, still a little chubby arms and legs. I get into yoga and kettlebell conversations and I actually care. This is a huge change for me.

I had a lap band procedure about 10 years ago. It slipped and it had to be removed. Lost only 50 lbs and threw up everything. Didn't work for me at all. I had a bypass done 6 weeks ago. No real problems. My surgeon won't even do the lap band any more and I totally concur. Too many problems and not enough weight lost with that procedure. No real issues with the bypass. I hope you consider a different surgery. Read about the lap band failures on line and you will see a lot of issues that were not known back when I had mine inserted.

So I haven’t told many people about me going through the process to have WLS my surgery is scheduled for July 3rd and I just don’t particularly care to hear about others opinions on it at this point in my journey. Well today I find out my grandmother is going around telling EVERYONE who will listen about me having the surgery. I. AM. PISSED. I didn’t even tell her about it so someone else apparently needed to share information about it as well. Now all I’ve heard all day is how I don’t need the surgery and how I don’t even look “big” enough to have the surgery. I’m 5’3 and weighed 250 lbs at the beginning of my pre-surgery weight loss. That is medically considered obese. I’m so frustrated right now and I just don’t know what to do about this situation. I can’t necessarily tell my grandmother to STFU lol. I tried telling her I wasn’t okay with her sharing that information but it didn’t phase her at all. I’m seriously going to lose it if I hear one more time that I’m being stupid or making a huge mistake. I don’t need the negativity when I’m this close to surgery.

let me share the facts about a lap band...https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20496124 this study indicates that more than 50% require reoperations with a band and that at the study end only 53% still had the original band.
Most doctors won't do them any more because of the atrocious complication rates. mine permanently damaged my esophagus. the other bariatric surgeries don't have anywhere near those complications and revision rates.
buyer beware. You want anecdotal stories there are more than 3,000 people in the failed lap band Facebook group who all tell very similar stories about their experiences with the band.
I dropped weight on the band, then it turned on me and caused reflux/vomiting/choking multiple respiratory infections, illness after illness etc.
many people go through a honeymoon period with it and then it turns into the experience I had or the others on this thread...some sooner others later. I was a huge band advocate in the first few years. now I would not wish one on my worst enemy.

I was banded in 2011, and I wish I wasn't. Sure there are lots of folks with success stories, but there are many more stories of how the band just didn't live up to the hype, in fact 2 of the major manufactures, aren't making parts any more and LOTS of surgeons aren't performing installations because of the high failure rates, low success rates and lack of manufacturer support.

A about 6 years dealing with trying to get the band to work for me, all the depression and issues because it didn't. Getting stuck on foods I shouldn't, etc etc etc. I did lose about 70 lbs, but that was it. Nothing else I did would make that number move any farther. I started to rebound as well a few times.
When I finally had the band removed and revised to the bypass, my band was 100% completely encapsulated in scar tissue and took my surgeon over 3 times longer to remove than it should have, I had no "issues" though... no slippage, no erosion, yet, the band was screwed up, no idea what would have happened if I just left it and continued to deal with all the problems.

Congrats on deciding to take the first step on your WLS journey, I would however strongly caution away from the band.

I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but I'm going to tell you my experience with the band. I had the lap band for 2 years and never felt any restriction. After blaming myself and feeling frustrated, I finally revised to the duodenal switch and have lost nearly 80 pounds this past year. For me, the lap band was a total waste of money and energy. Most doctors have quit offering the lap band as a viable weight loss surgery option due to the high number of patients who revise to the gastric sleeve or another weight loss surgery. Only a small percentage of patients are successful with the band. That doesn't mean you won't be successful. You could be one of those patients who drops 100 pounds on the band. I'm just letting you know that most people have limited success or complications (band eroding into their stomach) and would suggest you consider a weight loss surgery that has a higher long term success rate than the band.

Typically the expectation is that if you have questions or anything that you'd call them. If you don't have the information you require, call them up and get it.

I think I look like Ursula the sea witch (from the Little Mermaid) without the good boobs. [emoji16]

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I think,i look like Mama Cass of the Mamas and Papas and my father would be either Chris Farley or John candy. Yeah their love child.

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I'm always surprised when I catch a reflection of myself in a window somewhere. OK, not surprised...horrified, lol.
I checked the mirror at home before I left the house. Who the heck is that?

I basically know nobody that likes how he/she looks on a photograph, lol.

I have finally made it into onederland! Since I have had an 8 week stall, this is amazing,. I have a great support system and the biggest cheerleaders. And also the people on this board for the help and support. 💋

Thanks for the tips !! Looking forward to feeling better, in the hospital for another week due to some complications.. Surprised to have gained in hospital on clears and IV fluids I’m up 15 pounds PLUS GAS TOO...that’s still trapped...
Awesome successful journey!
It didn’t happen overnight so I’m prepared for the peaks and valleys...but it’s on when I get home! I bought a new scale that’ll sync to my Fitbit, with all my stats,

july 11... so just under a month away!! completed bloodwork, EKG & chest xrays yesterday. Thank you so much. I will post an update after surgery, and it will likely be me because my husband doesn't really do much on the pc.

I drink a bottled Water in the morning, one 32 oz cup of crystal light at lunch, one bottle of propel and then two 32oz cups of water throughout the afternoon, and a bottled water at night. The rapid weight loss uses all the water in your body so you definitely have to stay hydrated, EVEN THOUGH IT IS SOOOOO HARD.