Creekimp13

Yep. They did. Inceasant hunger can make people angry and filterless, apparently. I honestly am not particularly angry with them, and it's nothing new, and it doesn't just happen to me. When something like this happens....I think to myself....thank God it's you who is a hot mess today, and not me for a change. LOL. Meh, we all take a turn being the hot mess. I'm not taking it personally cause I don't think anyone LIKES to be hurtful to strangers. I think it's a byproduct of rigid thinking...crime and punishment. Rules that must never be broken. A way to feel in control against a foe that one feels helpless against. And I get that struggle. I really do. (only, I don't feel helpless against obesity anymore, or particularly threatened by it. I used to.) And I'm a known food criminal, ya know? I eat carbs. ? LOL? How could I possibly eat BREAD and have an imperfect BMI and still feel like a total success? I mean...that's some gall there....

Man, if I had a dollar for every critic who said this to me on these boards. It's a past time of a certain type of dieter....to send me hate mail and try to shame me for being outspoken. "You're still overweight! You shouldn't be telling people what to do! How dare you not feel ashamed at that weight!" Shakin my head over here. If I wanted to be 140, I could be. Have been. Looked god-awful and felt like I was starving all the time. If I wanted to be 160, I could be. Have been. I wasn't particularly hungry, got a reasonable number of calories, but thought I looked older. I like a little more round to my angles. I like less sag, fewer wrinkles. Not real interested in cosmetic surgery. Picked the best option for me. I like eating 1600 calories a day. I like having space in my diet for a couple pieces of fruit because I think phytonutrients are beneficial and important. I like how i feel eating a high fiber diet. I like room to be a vegetarian some days. I like flexability. It's how I can face this as a lifelong change. It's how I can make peace with food forever....cause I know this plan is WORKABLE in pretty much all situations. I can eat on my plan during a holiday, a funeral, a birthday party....during a power outage, while recovering from an injury, during extreme emotional stress, on the road, and while dealing with my inlaws. LOL. I typically weigh 165-170 pounds. I LOVE this weight. It is NOT "the best I could do because I couldn't get to a "healthy weight" ", it is an intentionally chosen set point. It's a choice. This is, I am 100% certain...the MOST healthy weight I can choose for myself. That whole...Arnold Schwarzenegger's BMI was technically Obese when he won Mr. Universe figures in. BMI is flawed. It doesn't differentiate between light muscle frames and heavy muscle frames, bigger bones, smaller bones. Different ethnicities. Different body styles. My feet, depending on the manufacturer are size 10 or 11. My shoulders are more broad than most men's my height. My butt, thighs and calves are overdeveloped because I rode huntseat and jumped horses for decades, even when I was quite heavy. My husband says they have a kinda superhero quality now. LOLOLOLOL So here's the thing....If you feel inclined to send me a snarky note about how I shouldn't say anything....because I'm not American Media model skinny, you might have a problem. As it happens, I have a good friend who models. He's 5' 10", weighs 157 pounds soaking wet, and they STILL wanted him to use coke for a week and fast...to look more sickly skinny for his last national ad campaign. Our impression of body image in the media is grossly distorted and unhealthy. And a lot of folks here....get a grossly distorted and unhealthy obsession with their eating habits, their BMI, the number on the scale, and how it defines them. Please, please, please remember....health. Physical health, strength, endurance, good labs, fewer medications. Emotional health...loving yourself, enjoying your life, feeling challenged and happy. Mental health...finding balance you can live with for a lifetime. Love your strong healthy body. Love your good food choices that provide good nutrition to nurture that body. Love the flexability to make it work though the tough spots. Avoid the fixations, the extremes, the inflexable rules, the disordered eating (and disordered not-eating) You can trust yourself to get to where you need to be....without punishment. Love yourself. Love yourself. Love yourself.

Nope, they don't. Three years out, been at goal over two years......still dealing with them.

I think sometimes people get this idea that when they finally reach the magic number....everything changes. The reality is...nothing changes. You look great, your health is better, but you've still got a lifetime ahead of you where food is always gonna be a concern and where life's stressors can poke those old bad habits and get you in trouble. Reaching the goal is NOT the end of the journey.....so try to relax and prepare for the coming chapters. There are a lot of them. LOL. Your body is stalling a little cause you've just lost a crap ton of weight and our bodies have dozens of strategies to keep us alive during bad harvests/poor hunting seasons due to a bazillion year of developing evolutionary defense mechanisms against starvation. If your body is convinced you're starving to death...it locks things down even tighter. As bizarre as this sounds, sometimes you can get a stall to break by eating a few hundred MORE calories than you usually would for a week. Just to get a metabolic shakeup going, add some exercize to eating more. It might get you unstuck. But honestly....patience is where it's at. You will eventually lose what you want if you're sticking to your program. Start thinking about where you go from there. What coping mechanisms are you working on putting in place for future rough waters? Where will you turn when food is not the right option? A couple different times I thought I had these bridges licked....and really thought I had everything nailed down fitness wise....and a new challenge showed up. Not meaning to sound discouraging...I don't feel discouraged and feel more at peace with this whole thing than I ever have....but I'm just letting ya know, there's more to it than just hitting the magic number. Wishing you the best:)

The high dairy content of the protien shakes gave me a liquid experience. I, too, was expecting constipation...and was confused by that development. Then, a few weeks out, the constipation caught up. Bodies are weird. If you feel well, roll with it. Be extra careful of dehydration. Get your electrolytes and lots of fluids.

You're under 180 and losing a pound a week. That's terrific progress. Be thrilled with that...seriously. You hit the smaller numbers and it gets HARDER. It's not a sprint. You didn't gain it all in a few months....and your body is gonna fight you as the last of it comes off. On the plus side....a little more time gives your skin better chances of reshaping with less sag. Patience. I know it's tough, but it's what's necessary. Hang in there!

It's a terrific idea. I'd just use protien shake or that flavored protien water.

Chantrella, sure would love to hear an update when you can. Thinkin of you.

Draw a circle around the bruises with an ink pen and put the time and date on the ring. If they get bigger, contact your team pronto. If they stay the same or start to get smaller...don't worry about it. Have you, by any chance, had any Rx blood thinners? Aspirin? Ibuprophen? Did you have a shot in the hospital to prevent blood clots? Anything that impedes clotting can cause increased bruising. I had pretty nasty bruising. Not quite as spectacular as yours, but close. It was not a problem for me. But again...if the bruises are getting bigger, if you have weakness, shortness of breath, gums bleeding, anything weird....get your doctor on the phone right away. Best wishes.

Because you're literally starving. That's why you're hungry. This "no hunger" thing is a myth for most people. The reduction of hunger hormones will help you, but this will not eliminate hunger...which you will (probably) always feel when you are losing weight. The good news.... we can survive hunger. Eventually, the weight loss stage turns into the maintenance stage. Since maintenance, I've almost never been hungry. But yeah...every single day I was losing weight, I was hungry. And that period of time right after surgery? I was freaking starving. I do think that a few people don't experience hunger after surgery. It happens. But I don't think this is true for the majority of people. I also think that surgeons love to give people a magic feather to hold on to...."you will no longer feel hunger" that many people will buy into completely. Placebo is good medicine, however, so far be it from me to take it away. But yep...I was freaking ravenous. Sorry.

Cancer sucks and it's so stressing. So glad you're on the mend! Talk to your doctor and your dietician about good strategies to improve your fitness while continuing to support your body's healing. 1. Support your continued health and healing. 2. Lose the extra weight. In that order. Talking to a bariatric therapist would be a really great idea, too, if you're open to it. Lots of people a few years post surgery can get into trouble when stressors push the limits of their coping mechanisms and those bad food habits come back. Talking this over with the bariatric therapist can give you some better options, and better ways to identify the self sabotage before it gets out of control.

I must find this!

If you're in the US, most of the major grocery chain stores here have it. In the frozen food next to the garden burgers. (Walmart, Meijer, etc)

LOL...it is kinda weird if you're not used to it. I grew up on it. Love it. Phytoestrogen is something to be aware of, for sure, but given that countries that consume a metric F-ton of tofu and other soy have decreased incidence of reproductive cancers compared to the rest of the world...I'm not overly concerned. Also, in perimenopause, sometimes a little phytoestrogen is nice. LOL. To each their own. If tofu isn't your thing....maybe try mycoprotien? Quorn products are really good. Even my junkfood eating visitors enjoy them:)

My other reason...livestock are just incredibly hard on the environment. Getting the same protien with a better carbon footprint makes me feel good. I don't judge anyone who eats meat....crap, I do, sometimes. But cutting back a little is good for cholestrol levels and good for the planet.

Catwoman is dead right about the risk of GERD with sleeve. That said...if your GERD is being caused by a hiatal hernia and you have it repaired with your sleeve surgery...it can result in resolving the GERD. This was the case for me...I had awful acid reflux, but since surgery have not had any. So...it's individual. I avoided Gastric Bypass because people in my family are prone to iron deficiency, and taking heavy iron supplements makes me super nauseated. I have a relative who had gastic bypass who continues to significantly struggle with iron and a few other trace nutrients. It's a catch 22. Weigh the risks and benefits specific to your situation. Getting the endoscopy will give you more information to work with. In the end, you try to get the best information you can....line up the best doctor you can (can't hurt to get a couple of opinions)...and take your chances. No guarantees. Best wishes.

It absolutely can be done! Please consider adding visits with a bariatric therapist to your tool box. For me, this was as important a tool...as the surgery itself. Maybe moreso. Self sabotaging behaviors always have a cause....and learning to see that cause and get ahead of it made all the difference in the world to my maintenance. Everyone should read posts like yours to realize this is a lifelong battle. The surgery doesn't "cure" the condition.

My favorites were Yasso bars, refried beans with cheese and salsa, and oatmeal.

I had to go in for an endoscopy before my surgery. I had acid reflux from my very large hiatal hernia. There was a little concern about an ulcer, so we tested for ulcer bacteria. This is something you really want to resolve BEFORE the surgery, so if there is any concern, an endoscopy is a good idea. Gastritis should not rule out sleeve for you. But given your symptoms, taking a look around physically with an endoscope is a smart thing to do for your safety.

I just like it better. Meat has never been my thing. I do eat meat, but have always eaten a lot of vegan and vegetarian dishes simply because I enjoy them. I'd a lot rather get my protien from oats, whole grains, beans, chickpeas, peas, potatoes, mushrooms, soy. I do eat dairy and eggs quite a bit, greek yogurt and cottage cheese go into a lot of recipes. I do like fish, shellfish, mollusks. I do like roast turkey and chicken...but I avoid deli meats and prefer the real deal. Red meats are a very rare thing in my diet. Ground meat is a total turn off...don't eat it. In the end, it's all personal preference. No one size fits all. Eat what you enjoy:)

Surgery helps, but you still have to follow a diet and be accountable. I was incredibly hungry after my surgery. Within a few days, I wanted to gnaw my leg off, I was starving. Luckily, we progressed to reasonable calorie levels rapidly. At about 1200 calories a day, I didn't feel like I was starving to death anymore. LOL. Getting there helped. Stayed there during all of loss phase and it wasn't too uncomfortable. For maintenance, I eat more. You will eventually have less casual hunger due to reduction of hunger hormones....it will be easier than before the surgery. But right now, with SUPER restricted calories, you might feel weak and hungry AF for a while. It gets better. You can eat more of "slider" foods....stuff that zips right through...like the shakes. More solid food will slow you down a lot.

There is nothing worse than losing a child. So very sorry for your loss.

I used to be a fan of garden burgers and some of the other soy burgers....but ever since impossible burger.....the rest are ruined for me. The plant based heme is just amazing. Sometimes I like a black bean chickpea "burger", but I don't think of it as meat replacement somehow.

Please let your doctor know. Gall stones are common after rapid weight loss, they can cause liver infections, which can cause jaundice. Not sayin that's what's going on....but yellow patches is a sign you need to share with your doctor right away and have checked out. Best wishes.

I'm a big fan of impossible burgers. I love the impossible whopper at burger king. I cut it in half and eat half...in two one quarter sandwich sittings. I love mycoprotien. I eat a lot of of Quorn brand chicken nuggets and chicken cutlets. Mycoprotien is from mushrooms, not soy. It's my favorite fake chicken. I do eat tofu a couple times a week. Love it firm, cubed, in salads and chili.