Creekimp13

I don't understand being offended, but you are dead right that many are. I think this block is a barrier for so many folks...it's a shame. Instead of taking an unvarnished look at the events leading up to the behavior (so you can understand it, honor it, find an alternate way of nurturing the needs you tried to fill with food).....so many folks prefer to embrace yet another of the extreme diet strategies they've been using (unsuccessfully) for years...returning to the same patterns of crash fad diets and regain. I don't get it. To me...."lets starve ourselves with liquid diet again!" makes very little sense and seems self destructive. I don't mean to upset anyone by saying that, cause it seems to be the popular go-to when things go south....I just hate seeing people who have worked so hard continue to suffer.

Bingo.

I've maintained almost 4 years at goal by eating a TON of carbs. So...there are a lot of ways up this mountain dietarily. I eat high fiber, keep my calories under 1600 a day, and eat very little refined sugar or white flour. (I keep my refined treats under 200 calories once or twice a week) Stuff I eat a TON of: Oats, Fruit, Veggies, Beans, Chickpeas, Lowfat/Nonfat Diary, Potatoes, VERY lean meats, whole grain breads. Lots and lots of fruit and veggies. (and it shows...my cholesterol and all labs are excellent...and this matters as we get older) Stuff I don't eat: Anything with animal fat. Fried stuff. (I do stir fry with a little olive oil) I don't eat Refined sugar. I don't eat White flour. Substitutions I make a lot: Plant protein instead of animal. Olive Oil instead of butter. High fiber...I try to get 25g a day or more. Oatmeal in food processor in place of white flour in recipes. Best advice I can give.....three of them actually: 1. See a bariatric therapist. The causes behind disordered eating are not addressed by your surgery. 2. Get active! Increasing your activity, even if it's just adding a couple hundred more steps to your routine every day...it will keep your metabolism singing. 3. Count calories. It sucks, but it's necessary. Wishing you the very best!

I remember how tough that was! You're doing great! Best wishes:)

Maybe carbs are not the issue.

I thought about it and went back and forth for over ten years before I did it. Those are ten years I can't get back. I could not be happier with my results. I'm not an overly skinny perfect person. I'm pretty average normal now. I eat about 1600 calories a day and walk quite a bit, but don't go to the gym or anything special. I eat a MUCH better diet now and still have the occasional treat (I can tolerate anything so I have to be kinda careful, but it's not as hard as it used to be) Best advice I can give a newbie....make sure you have access to a bariatric therapist. Dealing with the whys behind disordered eating has been critical for me. The stomach surgery is a fantastic tool, but you can eat yourself fat again if you don't address the reasons behind the behavior. Wishing you the best. I have absolutely no regrets.

For me, eliminating all processed sugars and white flour...had an immediate impact on my weight loss. I lost like crazy just doing these two things. I still ate a ton of carbs, but I ate good whole carbs with dietary fiber...beans, potatos, chickpeas, nuts, whole grains, whole fruits and veggies....and stayed away from white bread, processed foods, stuff with added sugar and no fiber like juices and jellies. I also eliminated processed products with fats, fried stuff, and fatty meats. Learned to put low fat plain yogurt and salt and pepper on my baked potatoes....replaced butter and animal fat in cooking with extra virgin olive oil. Everyone has a different diet they prefer...I tend to follow Mediterannian or Mayo Clinic diet. Getting your steps is brilliant and will get your metabolism going like crazy. I started at 5000 steps a day and gradually increased in little baby steps to 12,000 a day. I get 20,000 some days now because I really enjoy walking and being active...but most days are 10 to 12,000 now. Being active will help you so much. Best wishes! You got this!

Very good idea to go in for a consult with your doctor. Best Wishes!

It's individual and everyone's nutritionist will say something different. At your stage I ate 100-200 calorie "meals", but I ate them about 6 times a day spaced apart. A lot of people eat less early on. If you have questions about nutrition, the best place to take them is probably your bariatric group. They'll steer you in a good direction. Many will have sample menus available for each eating stage to use as a guide. Best wishes!

Good carbs with lots of fiber keep my gut microbiota in balance, and are a hell of a lot healthier for my kidneys than ketosis. I eat good fats, good carbs, high plant protien, moderate animal protien, high fiber. Sustained goal weight for over 3 and a half years eating a metric feckton of a carbs:) I'm extra careful with my refined carbs, though. Very little processed sugar or white flour in my diet now (huge change from before). Almost all my carbs are from whole grains, whole fruit, beans, potatoes, other whole veggies now....but I do eat a lot of them. The occasional treat of refined stuff, but not too often. Maybe 200 calories worth once or twice a week. Carbs are not the enemy

Matty, you had coffee out my nose with this. LOLOLOL. Thank you for the best laugh.?

Thinking about this a little more. I love men, and I don't mind expressions of friendliness...even when I know there's a little superficial sexual undertone...it's human nature. It's flattering for the most part. Unless a guy is being super creepy stalkery...it doesn't *bother* me and it honestly does give me a little swagger to feel attractive. (and, damn, after a couple decades of morbid obesity, it's NICE to feel attractive!) I don't feel *violated* by human nature. Hell, I've been known to smile at a cute guy or two, myself! My point was more....sometimes the conflicting feelings are hard. The past hurt kinda taints the enjoyment of new compliments. I still enjoy getting noticed, but you get to a certain age or have a certain amount of life experience where it all seems like nonsense and you're left baffled by how important it used to seem. I dunno, I might be expressing this really badly. Maybe "uncomfortable with not being invisable" was the wrong wording. I'm not overly uncomfortable....I just think it's all sort of ridiculous. And sometimes I just want to shake my head and run away cackling like a loon. Maybe it's the menopause. I rant a lot. In circles. LOLOLOLOL

"I love your smile!" This dude says this to me on my way into the grocery store today. And I'm thinking to myself....ok, that was odd. Then, I get a couple more big smiles and winks and weirdness. I asked my 80 year old mom who was with me today...."What the hell is going on? Do I look odd? Am I missing something? I'm getting strange looks." And without hesitation, she goes.... "It's your boobs." "What?" "You have a little waist and big boobs. You usually don't wear fitted shirts." And she's right...I'm wearing a sort of snug fitted shirt. My bestie made me try it on and she said it looked awesome on me. It's not hoochie or overly tight or anything....just not something I'd usually wear. Ok...this coming from my 80 year old mom was wild enough....but literally minutes later...some dude runs over to help me lift one of those 40 pound pails of cat litter into my cart. "Wait, let me help you!" Mr. Helpful says, dashing over grinning like a madman. And I thanked him. Twice. But I'm thinking to myself.....where the hell were you when I weighed 270 pounds and my back was killing me? Sometimes I kind of enjoy it....but most of the time it's incredibly uncomfortable to not be as invisable anymore. I mean, the sweet compliments and help are incredibly nice and all....but sometimes I feel gross about it. I am still a fat girl on the inside. I'm still angry and hurt that people are shallow assholes. Any of y'all know what I mean?

Pics came out really small...if you can't read it, there are two servings per package. 70 calories per serving, or 140 calories for the whole package. 11g of protein per serving or 22g in the package. It's got shrimp, onions, peppers, spices, other veggies? Smells amazing on the grill. I love Aldi!

Awesome nutrition, cleaned, chopped and ready to go...and it's just plain delicious. Look at those low calories! You can eat half of this with a couple of mini-tortillas, or a side of refried beans and a little cheese. Or some lettuce, tomatoes, onions and avacado. Or, just eat the whole damned thing. You can. (might take ya a couple of sittings) Just a super easy, nice convenience product. Keeps in the freezer until you're ready to eat it. You can make it in a pan, or on some foil right on the grill outside. About $5.

Ask if they recommend a good bariatric therapist in your area. Have a consult, or file the contact away for later if you need it. Research the surgeon's credentials and reputation. Research the hospital where the surgeon does surgery. Make sure you like what you learn. Make sure anyone on staff who will be giving you dietary advice is in fact a registered credientialed dietician. If you're planning a surgery this fall, talk about the potential impacts of Covid19.

Ugh. The longer I look at the boards, the more mental health pathology I see associated with weight loss surgery. People are nutty. Ignore the nonsense. I won't even begin to guess why you've seen a weight bump. Sometimes it's just a damned mystery. The human body is freaking incredible at surviving...and it has tons of tricks up its sleeve to maintain homeostasis when it likes where it's at and doesn't want to change.

Ultimately, it's no one's job but yours to figure out the best stuff to put in your body. People will always eat awful stuff because it's readily available and tastes good. People will equate offering food with offering affection, support, etc. (even though for someone trying to lose weight, this is backwards and crazy...it's just habit and they don't think about it) For some people it's a manners thing...I can't eat in front of someone else without offering to share, regardless of what I'm eating. Doen't matter if I'm eating a protien bar or a donut...if you're hanging out with me and I think you might be hungry...I'll offer you half. You can always say no. Sometimes, I make a mindful decision to eat junk food. I budget for it in my daily calories and I like proving to myself that I control food and food doesn't control me anymore. I like eating junk now, because I don't enjoy it as much as I used to and I don't feel out of control. I know that sounds crazy....but seriously...there is a satisfying victory in consuming 200 calories of something I used to be totally out of control with...and go...you know what? That's good, but I can take it or leave it now. I LOVE that I can take it or leave it now. And I really love that I'm being dead honest about that, because I have spent a lifetime lying to myself about food. I very honestly am not as reactive about food as I used to be...and that's a HUGE victory. Yep, I still like fat, sugar and salt. Most people do. But I can take them or leave them, and I can budget a sensible serving and not have my nutrition day ruined. I credit part of that to revamping my eating habits and microbiota due to the surgery, and part to food addiction work with my bariatric therapist. Both have been incredibly important.

Have you had your gallbladder out? Typically, gallbladder pain is on the right, but in the occasional odd person, it can present on the left.

That was my experience, too, catwoman. Maybe things have changed? They offered me a pain pump during recovery (at the hospital) and I opted out. I did take one injection of pain meds before going to sleep the night I spent in the hospital and had a pretty restful night. But yeah, that one shot was the only pain medication I took other than a few tylenol. I was comfortable...very little pain. Pain meds give me constipation like crazy, wanted to avoid them as much as I could.

Honeymoon glow. Ride it all you can, lose as much weight as you can, work hard to change your eating habits. Eventually, your old habits will come a knocking...be it in a few months or a few years....but working on these healthy changes is absolute key to longterm success. Great work! Keep at it!

Huh! That's interesting!

Ask your doctor. Could be a scar tissue adhesion. I doubt it's anything serious. Will likely go away with time. Can't hurt to ask, though. Err on the side of safety and see what your doc says.

That sounds nuts to me. See if you can opt out. I took one dose of pain meds the night I spent in the hospital, and that was it. Didn't need any more. Obviously, pain will be different for everyone, but I have never heard of anyone taking a pain pump home? Has anyone here gone home with that?

My hair grew back crazy thick....and curly. Which is fecking weird. It used to be straight! Maybe the vitamins contributed? I don't know, but I've got serious wave and curl now and everyone keeps saying I have a great perm. Nope....just grew back curly. Who knew?