sillykitty

Yep, I just cut a little piece off and stuck it right over my scar. The tape stays well. I usually changed my tape once per week.

Cravings and hunger will be there with or without WLS. Some have reduced physical and head hunger (me, most days), but others don't. But just because WLS isn't a magic wand, doesn't mean we shouldn't go through with it. It is a powerful tool. For me, I have never lost weight so fast and so easily. It's not easy, but it's easier than any other diet I've been on. What's the alternative? Remain overweight? Yo-yo dieting?

Look at those curves! I have curve envy!

This is so me The upside is leftovers for days and days and days!

BBQ Chicken Breast & Brisket - 1 oz each (before) After - 1 oz left (total) This was a bit of an experiment. I have been away from a food scale for two weeks, and discovered a lot of slider foods while I was on vacation. I was curious how much restriction I have with solid protein. Clearly, A LOT, lol. This was one bite past my restriction, so I had a few minutes of nausea, uncomfortable-ness until it all settled.

Oh, I wish this were true for me. I still crave crap food!

Hmm ... I wonder if an acid stomach would mute the full sensation?

It's both. But it's more real hunger than head hunger right now. I sometimes have trouble telling them apart. But one way I can differentiate is what will satisfy me. For instance yesterday after eating the various "salads" plate I posted, getting full, then feeling hungry again, I was happy to eat the chili. Even though there were lots of other less nutritious, more crave-able options available. So I knew it was real hunger. A few hours later I was hungry again. I was satisfied with eating some cheese, when again there were a lot more delicious options available. But making good choices still takes a lot of thought and effort. I suspect that will always be a struggle for me.

Interesting @Orchids&Dragons! I wonder if that is related to your faulty esophagus?

I really can't complain, like @Orchids&Dragons I've been fortunate that overall I haven't had a lot of hunger. There have been days when I've had none at all, and just have two protein shakes. I struggled with head hunger in the first few months, but that subsided as well. Now I'm just dealing with the consequence of going on vacation and eating whatever I damn well pleased, and eating a lot more frequently than I otherwise would. It seems to have woke up my hunger monster. I have a few days at home to hopefully get back into the routine of eating healthfully, less frequently. Hopefully that will reset my hunger.

I'm not going to deny that I love my restriction. But I need to get my hunger under control for it to be effective. An hour after I ate this, I was hungry again and ate some chili ... ugh! I want my lack of hunger back!

Airport lounge food .... chicken salad, cheese cubes, edamame salad, black bean salad This I ate until I felt my restriction

You guys made me literally lol On the antipasti plate, you guys all missed the artichoke hearts on the right! I actually only ate the antipasti plate until I was sated, not until I felt my restriction. It just wasn't very good . The gyro plate was HUGE, and I couldn't have made much of a dent in it even pre WLS. The fruit and cheese platter is a good example of my average capacity. The scallops and bread are an example of my capacity with slider foods.

Losing 3 lbs at an all inclusive is a great outcome! Congrats!

Gyro plate

More airplane food .... Antipasti plate

Scallops with Chorizo and homemade bread This was one of the meals I began to realize soft bread is a slider food for me. This is way more food than I can normally eat.

I'm terrible about remembering to take before pics ... but here are a few over the last couple of weeks. Airplane food .... Fruit and Cheese Plate

I lost about 30%-50% of my volume between months 3 and 5. But even at that amount of loss, it is only noticeable if I pull my hair back, and the thinning around my hairline and temples shows. At first I was super self conscience about it. But now I realize that 99% of people would never even looks closely enough to notice. I pull my hair back whenever I want now, except for meetings or dates, or any other time I want to look my "best".

My Dr. had me take Misoprostol the night before in order to dilate my cervix, for a less painful insertion. I chose the Mirena IUD because it is highly effective, more effective than tubal ligation https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/birth-control-pregnancy/birth-control-options/effectiveness

So I've never written about why I chose VSG, but this applies to me. I specifically wanted VSG over RNY, because I wanted to remain flexible in my diet. I didn't want to deal with dumping, and to a lesser degree malabsorption. I've written quite a bit about my job requiring a lot of dining out, sometime alone, but very often with colleagues and customers. I absolutely don't want to deal with dumping while "on the job". I also don't want to be "that person" altering or ordering off the menu excessively. I feel very uncomfortable doing that, and the corporate culture where I work strongly frowns upon it. What I really haven't mentioned is my career is in the food industry. I have to be able to eat the product I sell. Dumping very likely would be an issue with my current company's products. And who knows where my career will take me? I wasn't willing to risk or cause serious complications with my career by choosing RNY. I also wanted the ability to "cheat", for personal reasons. International travel is hugely important to me. Experiencing a country's and culture's food, is a big part of my enjoyment of traveling. This may sound crazy to some, but I'm not willing to give up gelato in Rome or sticky rice with mango in Thailand. It's only 3-4 weeks a year, and I value it highly. Finally, I was non-compliant early on. I started eating all foods, except fibrous vegetables, at week 3 post op, plus drinking. I didn't do so because I necessarily wanted to, but because I started back at work travel and dining out. I wanted to attract as little attention to myself and my surgery as possible. I knew I had little time off and I would have to push the boundaries of my diet because of it, and I knew it was likely that the VSG would be more forgiving.

Silicone tape, gel, sheets, are what cosmetic surgeon universally recommended. It has been clinically proven to be effective https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4486716/ I used silicone tape soon after I was healed over and kept the tape on consistently for about 3 months. They are now tiny white lines surrounded by a faint pink area. I don't think most people would notice unless I pointed them out. This is what I used: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VE9AL8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Still a mosquito magnet too!

I was on vacation and missed this! You look FANTASTIC! Congrats, congrats, congrats!

So why not just go back to basics, lean protein first, then non starchy veg, then healthy carbs? It just sounds to me like you are looking for a quick fix, instead of focusing on why you gained and looking for a sustainable long term plan. So you drop this 30 and then what?