amy6152

Thank you!!! Good luck with your upcoming surgery!

I was debating whether or not to post about this, as I haven't seen a lot of screw-ups on these pages, but I've got a doozy. I'm five and a half weeks out. I've been following my (very restrictive) diet to the letter almost all the time. My only deviations were a little Thanksgiving stuffing and some regular cheese at a party, where I'd brought deviled eggs for myself but didn't plan on being there so long and DO YOU KNOW THERE'S A LIMIT TO HOW MANY FREAKING DEVILED EGGS A PERSON CAN EAT IN FIVE HOURS? Lesson learned on that one. Next party I brought something I could live off for a year. Holiday parties everywhere. Anyway, the cookies. So, yesterday was a crap-tastic day. A member of my immediate family is struggling with mental health issues and let's just say everything came to a nice sharp point yesterday morning. I was wound up tight, and it just so happened I had "make cookies" on my calendar for a cookie exchange this weekend. In hindsight this is laughable, but in the moment I truly thought I was being proactive and getting those cookies made a day or two early, and wow, am I rocking this mom thing. Fast forward several hours and I can provide you with the following truths. One, I was making those cookies to eat because I was emotionally devastated. Two, my sleeve can hold far more cookies than I would have thought possible from the meager amounts of chicken that manage to fill me up. Three, there IS such a thing as dumping syndrome for sleevers, and it's a horrible experience. And four, it's amazing how quick your brain can be to jump from "really bad day and a subsequent bad choice" to "I'm a complete failure and I'm never going to be able to do this." So there. Those are the highlights of the cookie incident. I went to bed early, feeling so sick and so darn sorry for myself. What a loser! I almost deleted that sentence. I'm feeling some compassion toward the me of yesterday, and I know I'm not a loser. I know one mistake does not the future make, and I also know there will be others. But man, that was hard. It was hard to live with in the moment, and afterwards. It makes me think twice about even going to the stupid cookie exchange. The situation at home is ongoing and my stress level has been hard to manage. I'll meet the mom for coffee instead, explain I just wasn't able to make that particular holiday party, or just not take any cookies home with me and ignore the whining of my children. Ugh. I hate all of these options. I think to really be successful through this holiday season, I have to control WHAT'S IN MY HOUSE. I can go to a party or a family gathering and eat something that's not "on the list", but I can't bring it home. That's me. That's where I am, and what I have to do. Here's hoping the kids will understand.

You look great! Wish I had such a good before shot. I knew it at the time, too, but the idea of getting in front of that camera in all my glory held me back, LOL. My bariatric program warns us off all pre-made food, anything you don't prepare yourself. Surprised to see quite a few people on here doing them, but I'm clueless--maybe they're super healthy. Of course, I'm living in boring, repetitive food world. Lots of yogurt and cottage cheese, chicken and reduced fat cheese. They're not even letting me eat beef yet, though I know I'll get cleared for that phase on Monday at my nutrition appointment. And there may have been a cookie incident last night I'm considering posting about, so there's that. Anyway, don't let the stall demotivate you!! It will happen to us all at some point. One of the best things about a group like this. :)

Welcome!

Just be careful. They make us consume so much protein because bariatric surgery patients become protein deficient if we don't, especially in the rapid weight loss phase. Ditto on vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. I was reading about this in journal articles on Pubmed. Pissed me off a little that the nutritionist never explained WHY. Here I was thinking it was like an Atkins thing, when really far more important than that.

So great!!! Congratulations!

This would make me angry if my doctor said this to me. Tell me to follow the diet. Tell me to exercise. But don't give me a number. That's out of my control and will only stress me out. Eat what you're supposed to eat and kiss of the rest. Just my two cents, LOL.

Love the cute turtle necks and jackets comment!! That's a great way to look at it! Haven't worn a sweater in YEARS.

LOL I just posted the same thing!!! Yes, freezing over here!!!

I've never been a cold person, but since my surgery I'm freezing all the time, especially in the evening and night. I had to get a heated mattress pad because I couldn't fall asleep I was so cold!! Anyone else experience this? I feel like my body's response to the reduced energy intake is to reserve power for crucial functions, LOL...

I'm learning from this board that everyone is told something different from their practitioners. According to my surgeon/hospital, you'd follow the liquid diet week 1, the pureed diet week 2-5, and the soft food diet weeks 6-9. You can find them all here: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/highland/bariatric-surgery-center/life-after-surgery/bariatric-diets.aspx

New here. Sleeved on 10/29. Hit 40 pounds down as of this morning and it all feels a little unreal. I keep waiting for it to stop like it always did in the past!! Loved having a group like this when I was expecting my kids, so this should be fun. Looking forward to it.