ms.sss

I absolutely without a doubt never thought I was going to fail.
I believe in the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe you can shape your life with the thoughts you focus mostly towards.
I believe when I am on mostly a positive goal oriented path, I open myself to the possibilities that will get me to those goals and unfortunately vice versa.
I will not fail myself ever again. Instead, I will rework, revise, rest, refocus, regroup, reaccess and return to the path, moving foward towards whatever goals I set. My hope is for everyone to have a similar belief in their (anticipated) success!!!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Yes.
I knew this was the right decision for me. I have been heavy or obese my whole life. I remember being 11 or 12 the first time I joined Weight Watchers. I have struggled my whole adult life to lose and regain the same 30 pounds over and over again.
When I changed jobs and realized I had the chance to have surgery I researched all my options and began preparing.
I have zero regrets. Now it’s true I have had no complications, but I went into surgery realizing there was a risk that is was possible, a small risk, but a risk. And I was so miserable with my life the way I was living it that I accepted that risk.
My life has changed in so many positive ways. I have more energy and stamina. I’m not constantly worrying about what I’m going to eat. I’m not worrying about what I’m going to wear, I’m choosing what to wear based on my likes and tastes. How people interact with me is different, I feel like people used to just look past me. I was in so much pain after my long shifts at work at my high weight....I used to drive home sometimes and just cry in my car. Now I can work and yes, my feet may ache a bit, but it is absolutely nothing like before.
I have about 8-9 pounds to reach my first goal weight of 199. My surgeon thinks I could reach 180. Even if I don’t lose one more pound, I consider myself a success. I have lost over 175 pounds and over 25 points off of my BMI.
I also agree there has been a lot of negative posts. If you are close to your surgery date I encourage you to stay away from them. I cruised Instagram before my surgery and was amazed at all the before and after photos of people just like me.

I need to get my life together 😂 i identify heavily with all of these jokes

@SteveT74 I think you are making a lot of assumptions here, based on your own experience. There are a lot of different paths to success after WLS.
@ms.sss is under care by both her surgeon and a nutritionist, and they are both satisfied
And as anecdotal evidence, I was very low cal during my weight loss, many days very similar to what @ms.sss describes. I did not wreck my metabolism. I got under goal weight without intending to. I am now averaging over 1500 cals a day, and still struggling to not continue to lose. (Btw 1500 cals avg is basically eating all day, since I have a lot of restriction) Now will I be a "long term success"? I hope so, but I can't know for certain, just as you can't.
We are all so different. I would never assume that someone on a different, but medically supervised plan, is going to be unsuccessful.

Steve with all due respect I’m going to agree with @sillykitty . What you describe isn’t my experience. I was in ketosis (had access to massive energy stores for fuel) long before I began my 2 week liquid pre-op diet whose main purpose is to empty the liver of fat and sugar and get you into ketosis.

Because i was MO, I had all the fat and endless energy to make up any lack of exogenous dietary fat. (Remember rabbit starvation is only a thing if you are super skinny—it doesn’t apply to the obese population.)
Due to ketosis, my insulin was low so I could access those energy stores any time! I had no need to add more fat to that which existed in my food choices (the fat in my meats, seafood, poultry,eggs,cheese, avocados, nuts/seeds.
in fact, I challenge anyone to a menu dual! That’s how confident I am that I’ve been maxing the nutrition in my diet !
Wait for it...
average cals for WEIGHTLOSS mode in the past 13 months have been 600-850 most of the time. I routinely eat about 30g total carbs, about 20 or less net carbs, 60-74g lean dense protein, and about 30-40g of fat per day.
I do take my supps faithfully. I feel good. I’m losing regularly. And satisfied. I’m on my way to goal #3.
my labs look good, my docs are very pleased, and my RD doesn’t want me to lose any more.
since being online I’ve seen countless people knuckle down with super low cal, low carb and moderate fat (low fat by your standards, but it is still about 45-50% fat by cals consumed.). They make lower than goal extremely quickly. And none that I know are stuck with maintenance calories at the 600-800 range. I personally maintain at somewhere between850-1100 cals but my metabolism was already broken pre-surgery. I don’t know what maintenance will look like for me. But most long term vets I know (3-15 years) eat well beyond 850 cals per day—most of them are either full blown low carb or carb cycle, or are athletic beasts and are metabolically flexible now.
No way can I lose at the needed rate during my honeymoon period at 800+ cals per day__low carb or otherwise. I just can’t. But I eat plenty and am satisfied.

Just my 2 cents.

We’re regular donaters. My grandson lives with us and grows like a weed so we’re always donating outgrown clothes. One difference is I’m thinking about taking my super comfy T-shirt’s (especially the ones from vacays) and making a quilt out of them. A big comfy reminder of my soon to be former, fat self.

Wow, being discussed so thoroughly seems oddly unsettling (?)
@SteveT74, thanks for taking the time to write all this, I can tell you have put a lot of thought and research into your posts. As someone who to tends to lose hours reading about subjects that interest me as well as take pride in composing a well thought out essay/email/argument/post-it note, I can appreciate your efforts.
To be clear, both my nutritionist and surgeon (and while i'm at it my PCP) are satisfied with my progress so far (despite my NUT preferring that I up my calories). I'm sure they think I could be doing even better, like more calories, more exercise, more sleep, less salt, less special-occasion alcohol, less Perrier (my nemesis!) etc, but for now they are cool with what I'm doing. Come three months from now, they may advise me differently, and thats cool too...I could very well be in a different position to better address that, then.

I'm the opposite, old pants/jeans fit my hips and legs, but they gape at the waist, especially at the back...if you stand behind me you can look down my jeans when I'm not wearing a belt. It doesn't help that my butt has deflated considerably 🙄.
WLS wish: that we could choose where the weight came off from. 🙏

Wow, being discussed so thoroughly seems oddly unsettling (?)
@SteveT74, thanks for taking the time to write all this, I can tell you have put a lot of thought and research into your posts. As someone who to tends to lose hours reading about subjects that interest me as well as take pride in composing a well thought out essay/email/argument/post-it note, I can appreciate your efforts.
To be clear, both my nutritionist and surgeon (and while i'm at it my PCP) are satisfied with my progress so far (despite my NUT preferring that I up my calories). I'm sure they think I could be doing even better, like more calories, more exercise, more sleep, less salt, less special-occasion alcohol, less Perrier (my nemesis!) etc, but for now they are cool with what I'm doing. Come three months from now, they may advise me differently, and thats cool too...I could very well be in a different position to better address that, then.

Hi everyone... I will be 5 months' post op VSG tomorrow. I'm finally getting into a groove - where my head is sort of ok about the slow weight loss, and the ups and downs of my weight loss...
I've recently had a catheter ablation for heart arrhythmias and for the last 4 weeks I've had a prolapsed disc which has been so painful... It's still a real pain but more intermittent now which gives me some relief for part of the day... the ablation may or may not have worked! I'm still experiencing fast heart rate - over 160bpm for up to about 9 or 10 hour every few days... making me feel breathless and tired and everything becomes a struggle... not great when I've got a painful leg as a result of the disc herniating or slipping or whatever...
Anyway, there's no hope of exercise until I get all of this fixed... I've been watching lots of YouTube VSG'ers during this 'down time'... my favourites so far are:
survive.sleeve.slay's real life VSG
short sleeved T
Grace Gets Gastric
Emily AM
Foodie Turned Sleevie
I'm also logging everything on MFP - obsessively!!... please 'friend' me as I need as much support and help and advice as I can get while going through this extra trauma. I'm alpaca55 on MFP. I just saw a great blog from survive.sleeve.slay's channel on binge eating... it ticks all my boxes and was so enlightening to hear her very honest account of what she has been through. BED is such a secretive and shameful disorder that I don't have the courage to talk about it right now - but I do have it and keep myself on a very tight leash at the moment. I am obsessive about keeping all 'evil' foods out of my house and I'm very lucky that my family have moved out so I just have myself to cook for... I don't think I could manage this if my cupboards were stuffed with the foods you need when the kids are small!! I take my hat off to everyone who has to deal with that!
I weigh every day - I have to in order to keep me accountable... I know I can so easily lie to myself about what I've eaten so the logging is critical to me! If I didn't I know I'd have an extra spoonful of something or a lick and think that is too small to log!!
I see a head witch about twice a month and she said that she's amazed at my focus - particularly because I'm very carb sensitive and hold onto Water like a camel because of my heart arrythmias. But, it could all end in the blink of an eye if I go into self-destruct mode!
On the days that I need to have that 'full feeling' to the point of feeling over full, I just choose to have more dense Protein or some salad veg like celery, cucumber, radishes or something to satisfy my mouth that needs to chew and my stomach that needs to feel stuffed... thank the lord that i haven't reached for something 'evil'... my head witch is working on that part with me and we are trying to identify the triggers that take me to that 'zone'.
This is a struggle and no one should underestimate the amount of human effort it takes on a daily basis to survive and get through it - step by step...
Happy Sunny Saturday - the weather is lovely in London at the moment...
xxx

Why? Why do you want to break all the guys hearts this summer???
Summer Forecast: Smoking hot and taking no prisoners
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

In an effort to embrace reality and with a healthy dose of encouragement from “Shrill”, I decided I’m wearing a bikini this summer. stretch marks, scars, loose skin and all. All of these bathing suits are at Target. I bought the red one in a smaller size.
STATS: I’m 202lbs. I’m 7 months post gastric bypass and I’ve lost 119 lbs. My goal weight is 145. Yes, I plan to have plastic surgery down the road but that won’t fix my brain so I’ve been working on that for now.
Don’t leave me hanging -- PLEASE POST YOUR BATHING SUIT OPTIONS FOR SUMMER!

I will add - one problem I've found is that I'm losing a LOT faster in the hips/legs than in the waist. So a lot of my old smaller clothes just don't fit correctly. They fit in the waist and are unbearably baggy in the butt/legs. So, I'm just getting used to that. I think I still have a plus-sized waist, but normal sized legs.

Have fun!

Wow, being discussed so thoroughly seems oddly unsettling (?)
@SteveT74, thanks for taking the time to write all this, I can tell you have put a lot of thought and research into your posts. As someone who to tends to lose hours reading about subjects that interest me as well as take pride in composing a well thought out essay/email/argument/post-it note, I can appreciate your efforts.
To be clear, both my nutritionist and surgeon (and while i'm at it my PCP) are satisfied with my progress so far (despite my NUT preferring that I up my calories). I'm sure they think I could be doing even better, like more calories, more exercise, more sleep, less salt, less special-occasion alcohol, less Perrier (my nemesis!) etc, but for now they are cool with what I'm doing. Come three months from now, they may advise me differently, and thats cool too...I could very well be in a different position to better address that, then.

This. While at first I didn't mind the attention, because really, I was feeling myself and I was happy that others were noticing what I saw. But now, it seems my weight loss seems to dominate the conversations, and yes, it has become uncomfortable and annoying. It's no longer, "Hi! How are you?", it is now "Hi! So how much weight have you lost now?" I find the need to continually change the subject to something else.

The 4 people I told about my WLS don't watch, nor really care, what I eat or don't eat. However, the gazillion other people who I didn't tell, do. People (including strangers) seem to feel the need to question/comment on/judge my food choices (or lack thereof). That, or they will continually offer or encourage me to eat more of whatever happens to be on the table. I figure people are somehow uncomfortable when other's don't eat?
In short, the food police are everywhere.

I can totally see the difference! I can see that your neck, shoulders and jawline have slimmed down congrats! Yay you!

Wow, being discussed so thoroughly seems oddly unsettling (?)
@SteveT74, thanks for taking the time to write all this, I can tell you have put a lot of thought and research into your posts. As someone who to tends to lose hours reading about subjects that interest me as well as take pride in composing a well thought out essay/email/argument/post-it note, I can appreciate your efforts.
To be clear, both my nutritionist and surgeon (and while i'm at it my PCP) are satisfied with my progress so far (despite my NUT preferring that I up my calories). I'm sure they think I could be doing even better, like more calories, more exercise, more sleep, less salt, less special-occasion alcohol, less Perrier (my nemesis!) etc, but for now they are cool with what I'm doing. Come three months from now, they may advise me differently, and thats cool too...I could very well be in a different position to better address that, then.

All instructions for weight loss and maintain will look different – Contact your dietician for clarification.
Many dieticians don’t worry about calorie and carb ranges until real food stage. Your restriction is tight and it’s hard to consume your 60 to 100 grams of Protein. You should be given your calorie and macro goals as you progress.
My instructions are almost 5 years old. (Real food stage)
My dietician had me stay under 50 to 60 g of carbs. (No bread, crackers white rice or white potatoes) Most of my carbohydrates came from veggies
Maintaining instructions
Once I lost 75% of my weight, I added in low glycemic carbs to slow/stop my weight loss. Sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat bread and Pasta

And they won't ever give you a straight answer, cuz there is no one size fits all for WLS diets, nor any diet.
Clear as mud, right?
The right plan and the "right" amount of carbs for YOUR body is the diet that you can stick to and embrace for the rest of your life. But what is that diet? You have to hack your own metabolism to see which will work for you in the long term.
In the immediate/recovery/post surgery diet progression then purposely don't give you carb or calorie targets. Why? Cuz you are hopefully eating only minuscule quantities. So they ONLY want you to focus on Protein. Protein. Protein. Protein! Then as @sillykitty said, leafy green veggies, then low carb veg, fruit, nutbutters/nuts/seeds, complex carbs. If you do that right and eat protein forward, then you eat very low carb as Steve said.
As a female, most goals are 60-100g or protein. Mine was 60-80g/day or exactly 74g protein.
Because I too am very carb sensitive and had a crapton of insulin in response to foods, I eat a very low carb healthy fat diet. It keeps me slowly losing and helps me maintain muscle. As @SteveT74 does, I shoot for my protein goal, then try to stop at 30g total carbs (mostly from veggies/nuts/seeds/dairy/a bit of berries), and the fat falls where it does until I hit my calorie goal for the day. Because I lose slowly and have lots of metabolic issues, I have to be between 650-800cals/day to lose. So it's not much fat right now...
Most solid girl losers I know, have to keep their calories in that lose range of 650-900cals/day to lose well.

The answer is both! First off, you don't count total carbs because the carbs that you eat in the form of Fiber and sugar alcohols generally pass through undigested and don't contributed to weight gain or energy productiion. You have to deduct them from your total carb intake--so the focus is on net carbs. I am personally follow an ultra-low carb diet and try to keep my total carb intake under 30 net grams (usually under 20). I also count calories and track what I eat. I budget 1500 calories a day, with 45 percent come from Protein, 45 percent from fat (healthy fats) andn 10% from carbs. It's working for me.

I try to keep my carbs at 30 a day or less.

Most programs don't have a carb target or limit. Just about every program says Protein first, followed by green veg, and lastly carbs. If you follow that your carb count will be low