Creekimp13

1. Figuring out what to do with the pissed off/sad feelings when food wasn't an option to self soothe with. 2. Grieving no longer liking foods I've used as a comfort crutch for a lifetime. 3. Being suprised that this is a lifelong challenge, a lifelong calorie count, a lifelong need to be mindful, a lifelong fight. You don't "overcome" this. You learn more strategies to deal with disordered eating....every day....for the rest of your life. You learn more about how you ended up fat. You learn more about yourself. Most newbies think of weighloss surgery in terms of.... First hurdle....getting surgery Second hurdle..surviving post surgical diet Third hurdle..doing extreme things to get down to goal weight as soon as possible. (terrible idea) and at Goal....the fantasy ends. The typical Newbie thinks goal weight is the yellow brick road happy ending with a rainbow over it. Goal Weight is arriving at the destination you will never depart from. It is THE END, the reward, Bliss, Victory, blah blah blah... The problem with arriving at goal....is that you wake up the next day....and you're still you. LOL. Look past goal. Goal isn't the end. You don't get fixed just because you reach goal. Your brain and eating aren't less disordered. You have to work through all sorts of weird behavior and fix the parts of you that need attention...the parts that drove you to morbid obesity. That's the real challenge....living permanently with new eating habits, new physicality, and finding new outlets for toxic feelings that don't end up being self sabotaging. The work is never done. I won't say it doesn't eventually get easier. But it's never done. I will be working on this big life change....for the rest of my life. One of the bigger challenges many people face is thinking the surgery magically fixes you (it doesn't), thinking that the surgery does the work (it doesn't, but you do), and thinking that you're cured somehow at goal. You are just getting started.

My doctor wanted 10% weight loss through medically supervised diet before he'd approve you. For me that was 27 pounds. My insurance wanted 5 months of medically supervised weight loss....so that's what I did, and lost 40 pounds by cutting back calories, learning about better nutrition, making better choices. After surgery, my doctor wanted us eating 1200 calories a day by the 3-4th week. We avoid refined carbs, but eat LOTS of whole carbs....potatoes, whole grains, etc. (no refined sugar or white flour products) We ate 1200 calories a day like that until goal....then gradually upped calories to maintenance. I maintain well at 1600 calories a day. I eat pretty much everything, but am careful with refined foods.

What works for me, is this.......if I go up five pounds, I need to see the bariatric therapist. It's the deal I've made with myself, and it works. I very very seldom go up five pounds, but each time I do... I schedule an appointment, have a good talk about the triggers I'm dealing with....and get things straightened out before it gets worse. I cannot say enough positive things about using the bariatric therapist as another good tool. Best wishes to all.

My suggestion is always...go slow and sustainable. Tweek your diet with small changes that last and don't try to sprint. Quick weight loss schemes and super restriction can cause your metabolism to shut down and can lead to regain. Slow and steady wins the race.

At 5'5" and 240...with good luck, your skin will snap back. At age 18 your chances are terrific (but not guaranteed.) I think about the tiny little 20 year olds I know with huge pregnancies whose skin reduces and looks terrific in months. I had my surgery done at 46, and was stunned at how well things reduced back into place. I have a few trouble areas, but I don't mind how I look naked at all. I was open to skin surgery, but don't feel I need it. At 18, I think you're gonna look amazing:) Best wishes.

They'll give you a lists of things you'll need to do before they'll approve and schedule you. Each doctor is different, but most will want a history of weight loss effort, a medically supervised diet with visits to dietician and some weight loss, clearance from a bariatric therapist, medical tests...some want support group attendence, fitness classes, etc. Just very much depends on your surgeon's group policies. They will likely discuss benefits and drawbacks of each different surgery. They'll measure you and weigh you and give you a list of things to schedule.

Yes. Seeing the bariatric therapist helped. Best wishes.

Do you have a required psych evaluation? Many people do. I don't know what the requirements might be with someone 5 years into substance recovery....but I know that crossover addictions are a huge concern with bariatric surgery. If you have not talked about this issue with your doc, it would be a really good idea to broach the topic. Also to ask if your healing stomach will be able to handle methadone, or if your blood serum concentration would have to be carefully monitored to adjust dose....I suspect it would be. Best wishes.

Good questions for a bariatric surgeon. Have you had surgery yet, or are you researching it?

Raisin bread is simple carbs. Not a great choice. I wish it were, I love it, but it's gone from my diet because it's essentially a donut...white bread with raisins in it...super processed white flour, dried fruit is concentrated sugar, and almost no fiber to slow the sugar bomb down. Sugar bombs cause insulin rebound that makes you even hungrier...and you're more likely to snack. Be careful of too much fruit in smoothies, too. Lots of sugar and calories. Not saying not to eat fruit, just be very mindful of your sugar items and balance them with FIBER...it'll help. Track every calorie. When we pay attention to every single thing we graze on...it adds up crazy fast.

Just start where you are and keep increasing the goal a little at a time. Challenge yourself, but listen to your body. Good luck on reaching your 5K:) Might happen this year, might happen next year, but keep at it! At 60...pay attention to your aches and pains. Don't pop a knee and end up needing a surgery by being overly ambitious...nothing screws up your training like months of injury disability. Go slow, but keep gently pushing:)

I've seen some folks in their 20's have remarkable skin reshaping (skin snaps back and doesn't sag). Nice young elastic skin helps a lot.

It gets better, but I still miss being able to drink a whole glass of water at one time. Three years out, I can take a couple of glups, but that's it.

I eat dark chocolate every single day. One square. About 55 calories worth. It has a gram of protien, a gram of fiber, and I enjoy it:) I can't mindlessly eat anything sugary or I will get into trouble with too many calories and will get nauseated past 200 refined sugar calories. But that little square of chocolate is a delight...and I have had no issues eating it daily with mindful intent....keeping it as part of my balanced daily diet.

I'd get the snow crab legs. Crab is soft, delicious, not too much volume. High quality protien.

Walking. Started walking 6 months before surgery. Worked up from about 5000 steps a day to 10,000+ steps a day...and got them the day of my surgery wandering the unit halls after my surgery:) Building up endurance walking...and continuing to walk every day....has been incredibly helpful. Strong metabolism, I can eat more calories, great energy and endurance. Exercise is one of the most effective and least prescibed antidepressants. Helps your bone density, boosts your metabolism, improves heart health. You can walk about anywhere. Invest in a Fitbit or other tracker and get active:)

I was STARVING hungry until the 3-4th week post surgery when I started eating 1200 calories a day.

I'm 49...at goal:) Going through perimenopause now.

This, too, shall pass. I was super lucky and apart from a couple episodes of feeling "stuck" never experience pain like you're describing. When stuff gets stuck, walking with your arms behind your head and breathing deeply can help because it pulls the diaphragm down and stimulates the stomach to move stuff along. Hope you're feeling better and the sensation didn't last too long.

Was not a part of my experience, but there might be good reasons why they recommend it as part of yours. Do you trust your doctor otherwise, feel comfortable with credentials, team, facility? Good reputation, etc?

Talk to your surgeon's office about protien and calorie targets. Protien is super important because if it's not available your body will still eat protien....only it will be your muscles and organs. Eating less than 1000 calories a day (even if it is rich in protien) will also cause your body to eat your muscles and organs to make up the difference. Very low calorie diets can also shut down your weightloss because your body will think you are starving to death. (you'll still eventually lose weight, but you could disproportionately lose muscle rather than fat...which can cause your metabolism to slow) Talk to your dietician or support people at your surgeon's office for the best diet for optimal weight loss. I know it seems like eating as little as possible should produce the best weight loss result....but the dieticians will tell you this isn't necessarily the case. Sometimes the better strategy is to eat a little more, so you feel strong enough to exercise and support your muscles....because mucle supports a robust healthy metabolism. Might sound like pretzle logic, but it's worth discussing with your dietician. Best wishes!

Prep is gross. Procedure is a piece of cake. You got this. No worries. Quick and easy:)

So sorry, Shanell. That truly sucks. Here's hoping for better days ahead. Wishing you some peace and happiness down the road.

Definitely good points about the exploitation. The show is VERY tabloid. But once in a while, particularly in the early episodes....there were some truly inspirational feel-good storie, too. Wish there were more of those! But I also have to admit the Penny Sager episode blows my mind so much I watch it in fascination like a train wreck over and over. That probably makes me a sick monkey. LOL.

Me, too. Again, I might be rehashing old injuries. People here seem very live and let live, now...and WOW is that nice. A few years ago when I was starting out there was a huge judgey vibe that I'm surprised and delighted to see doesn't really exist much here now. I fear in trying to retroactively combat it...I've created a whole new version of it. Which was not my intent....and is regretable. If no one gives me **** about my diet soda and eating a good carb heavy diet....I will never, I promise, piss on anyone's enjoyment of children's vitamins. (I still think that's whackadoo personally......but I'm sure that **** I do is totally whackadoo, too. To each, their own) Peace to all paths and best wishes to all of us.