Tracyringo

Today I hit my personal private goal !!!!! I lost half of my body weight !!!! UNBELIEVEABLE !!! 155lbs !!

a lot of us seem to start regaining during year 3 and our bodies eventually settle at around 10-20 lbs above our lowest weight (and unfortunately for some, they continue to gain a lot more than that and "settle" higher than they'd like). My BMI got down to around 21, but it's now 25 (give or take a couple of decimal points, depending on the day). There's part of me that would love to be down to a 21 BMI again, but I still sit here at c. 25 and have been here for about two years, so I'm clearly not willing to do what it would take to get me back down there. I can eat 1500-1700 kcal/day and maintain my current weight, and that's very do-able to me. I'm sure I would have to cut my calories quite a bit to lose weight, or pretty much live in the gym, and I'm not sure that's sustainable for me at this point.

That is so awesome! You must feel lighter than air! 😁 You should be very proud of yourself.

Today I hit my personal private goal !!!!! I lost half of my body weight !!!! UNBELIEVEABLE !!! 155lbs !!

My surgeons nutrition guidelines is probably similar to yours where mashed potatoes aren't allowed until you've lost 70% of excess weight (I've lost just slightly over that at 71%). But every surgeons guidelines are different and many allow mashed potatoes in puree stage. Not the greatest choice imo because it's really filling, but doesn't have much nutritional value. But it tastes good, I agree. However, when you do get off track, and it WILL happen, beating yourself up over it isn't the right way to go about things. The more you beat yourself up the more you stress and the more you may fall back into that bad habit and then start the cycle over again. A better tactic to take is just to get back on track because it's highly unlikely that small instance of indulgence is going to have much of an effect on you weight loss. I'm 10 months out so the very few times I DO indulge myself I try to fit those indulgences into my plan via counting carbs, sugar, sodium, and fat (my plan doesn't count calories) so that every now and then I can fit something like a cookie or a CarbSmart Ice Cream bar in as a snack so that I don't indulge in things that are worse for me like chips or cake or a muffin or a donut (none of which I've had since I started dieting 19 months ago).
After surgery I DID notice that I'm even more conscious of my choices as I don't want to be the one that fails this or puts weight back on because I took the surgery route BECAUSE I couldn't do this on my own. I've notices, at least for me, that it's easier to say no. My family eats out a LOT. Like 3-4x a week. They ask me constantly if I want something and 90% of the time I say no. I only say yes if they go to the Mexican restaurant that I like and they get me a mini taco or an enchilada (I eat half) and they only do that once every other week. Though they have gotten a to go order of chicken Marsala a few times (3x) since my surgery from one of my favorite restaurants and it has steamed veggies ala carrots and zucchini and my Mom gave me some of it (there is a lot and I don't eat much so it worked out lol). For me, the way I eat has to be sustainable. This is the way of eating that I plan to stick with so that I don't put that weight back on. So everything I do I do with the mind that this is permanent. I don't miss fast food because it always made me feel slightly nauseous after eating and made me feel bad about myself so that makes it easier for me to say no.
Sticking to the plan isn't always easy. The farther you get out and the closer to your goal weight I think is probably where you will struggle most. For me, Thanksgiving was a day I wanted to indulge and it was only me telling myself 'you came so far and lost so much, don't ruin it' that made me take smaller portions to indulge. I had 1TBS of gravy, 1 TBS of stuffing, 1 TBS of mashed potatoes, and 1/16 of a pumpkin pie (very tiny sliver, but it was delicious). That was my Thanksgiving indulgence and I lost 3 pounds when I weighed myself the following week so not going overboard helped in that I believe. I'm proud of how far I've come and that I'm only 26 pounds from my own personal goal (41 from the doctors goal as they want me to get to 165).
You are doing great with you weight loss and use that guilt you felt and think back on it when you get tempted so it'll make it easier to say no or make you even more conscious of what you put in your mouth, but if again, if you do indulge just get back on track and don't beat yourself up too hard.

You are still early out so I doubt its re gain. Fluctuations of a few lbs are normal during weight loss. Your menstrual cycle, body holding Water, ect have a lot to do with those fluctuations .
Exercise is only 10% of weight loss is what I have read and I myself did not exercise to lose my weight because of my lower back. Sticking to your plan will get you to the weight you want to be at. Good luck

I had a revision on May 23 2020 due to gerd that caused erosive esophagitis D. 6 months later it has gone down to A which is great. I still have burning and am going to have the bravo test soon to find out why I am still producing so much acid since I am still taking 60mg Dexilant, pepcid at night, and carafette.

You are still early out so I doubt its re gain. Fluctuations of a few lbs are normal during weight loss. Your menstrual cycle, body holding Water, ect have a lot to do with those fluctuations .
Exercise is only 10% of weight loss is what I have read and I myself did not exercise to lose my weight because of my lower back. Sticking to your plan will get you to the weight you want to be at. Good luck

HELP ME ! What can i do I’m no so much pain , i have chills , stomach ache and i get the urge to throw up but nothing comes back up😭 i have diarrhea as well . This is awful this is my first time dumping and it’s so bad someone tell me what will help please please . My last meal was at 5 pm and it will not go away . It was worse a lot earlier but the stomach pain comes and goes . Please help me 😭

My husband doesnt understand just how real the body dysmorphia truly is. He think i am fishing for compliments. I REALLY dont see my size in the mirror. I am in size 8 pants and small/medium tops. I honestly didnt see myself as big as I was before surgery either. My brain is messed up.
I knew about the skin issues going in but I always thought "better loose skin than folds of fat"...well yes and no. i hate all the skin.

Oooooh I am the same height as you, so love seeing your pics. I started at 96kgs and my goal is 69kgs. It gives me some to play with up and down. Surgery booked for 4 January. I am really excited but also scared!

I lost the 20 in about 10 weeks and it was actually 22 lbs. I now bounce around 5 lbs but am having no problems keeping it in that range. With VSG I wasnt able to get under 164.8 and struggled to stay under 170. I am not having that problem with this revision, but am missing the restriction from the VSG.

@Tracyringo Seriously!
There are many more recipes out there.

Make a protein cupcake. Hah!

IMO you have a very important key in your hand with that "immediate feedback". Use it. Don't refer to yourself simply as "an addict" or as to "having an addiction". This can actually be quite destructive and not necessarily empowering.
The book "Brain over Binge" might be helpful. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I think it's a gem. Also "Never Binge Again" (IIRC this one is a free e-book for Kindle) is an interesting read for sure.
It does. But you have to put it to work properly.

Appreciate all these responses! I hope my post will be helpful to those in similar situations who are researching the surgery. And yes, for clarity, I kneW Bypass wasn't going to be the cure. But I still... hoped. Or thought it would make it easier to take control of that part of the eating issue. It really doesn't. What it haS done is shone a bright light on my addiction... because I immediately feel ill and swear it's not worth it in the throes of nausea... and then seem to lose that resolve a few hours later when I magically feel fine again. Before surgery I never had that kind of instant, black and white feedback. I've never spoken with a therapist about my food issues. But the encouragement in these responses makes that option sound promising. Thank you!

Thank you so much for the love and support. I have been speaking to my eating disorders therapist today and talking through why I revert to junk.
I already know why I do it..... I'm lonely. My daughter moved out to liver with her b/f this time last year and since then I live on my own. I'm disabled and don't get out much as need help so I sit indoors on my own day in and day out with no one to talk to. The day time I find things to do to keep occupied and during the summer I could get out in my garden etc and was lovely. But now its winter, dark at 4.30pm and its a very very long evening on my own. I'm feeling very down, and very lonely. I only have 2 friends, one lives 5 hours drive away and the other one has a busy life and only visits once a month. Other than that I have no one. I have my dogs so I get out with them for a mobility scooter walk twice a day and will say hello to people out and about but then I'm back home, bored and alone so I eat. Its the only bit of comfort I have.
BUT I now recognise that and I'm making a definite plan to get back on a healthy eating plan and maybe do an education course or something as I love study.
Thank you for being supportive, its really helped me. X x

+1
A (food) treat every day is not a treat. It's your regular diet.
treat /trēt/ an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure. "he wanted to take her to the movies as a treat"

I agree. Kudos to you for being self aware enough to realize you have an addiction and need help. Half of the work is in gaining the awareness. Good luck to you.

GREAT NEWS !!!! I had my EGD this morning and I have went from esophagitis grade D to grade A !!!! I am healing and I dont have ulcers !!!
Bad news the meds didnt knock me out and I was awake this time !!! Groggy but awake. They said my vitals were dropping and could not give me anymore medication. I went in with a 47 heart rate to begin with and my blood pressure is always low too ...........I dont know what it dropped down to for them to not give me more meds to put me out.
They are sending me to the hospital next time to do an acid test since I am still burning and this time they will knock me out !

Thank you so much for sharing this experience and being vulnerable. I feel like many of us can relate to this feeling!

I know. I eat these things regularly (with the exception of chips) so I don't think of them as treats. I often eat a self-made Protein Mug Cake and I also make the fruit crumble protein cake on days I don't have to work regularly. That cake almost feels like a treat though because it takes more work and more time cleaning up than the mug cake.
The interesting thing is that the above mentioned cake needs the same ingredients as protein oats - yet the cake feels way more decadent.

No added sugar usually means they’ve added an artificial sweetener. It reduces the calories but doesn’t do anything to modify the craving because the food still tastes sweet. This is the real challenge for those with this craving because the alternatives to sugar that are used still feed the craving.
My mother craves sugar too. She always has biscuits, cakes, ice cream, chocolate, desserts, syrups, dessert toppings, .. in the house. She says as she’s now 80 she deserves a treat. But it isn’t a treat if you have it every day. She’ll say she’s not hungry & doesn’t want dinner but 5 minutes later she’s eating a giant bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce. It is affecting her health which really upsets me.

Hi there, I'm so glad someone else has posted their struggles with sweet things. I was beginning to think it was just me.
I am a food addict. My 'bad' things are crisps, chocolate, biscuits, cake and sweets. I didn't touch one single thing for a year after surgery as I suffered such bad reflux it took me ages to be ok with food. I then tried some crisps and they were ok and sooo good! I then started having a pack every day, then it was a pack and a chocolate bar, I didn't feel sick or have any problems. I stopped losing weight but I still carried on. I knew I shouldn't have it but my addiction was back. It was coming into the long dark evenings in October that triggered it as I was feeling down and lonely. It this time that I eat in the evenings. So a week ago I got in touch with my old therapist who specialises in eating disorders and had a good hat. I haven't have any crisps or chocolate this week and lost 3lb. I am going to chat to my therapist every week until I feel stronger at coping again.
Like you, I know the surgery is a tool and it doesn't cure what goes on in the brain. Its so hard! Best of luck, I'm so glad I found this site. X