AZhiker

I did that a lot at the beginning, and I still dream about food from time to time. In my dream I'm always eating a huge amount of forbidden foods. I'm also aware that I shouldn't be and feel guilty about it. I'm quite relieved when I wake up and realize it wasn't true.

You are right in that bypass won't cure the addiction. It never promised that. It is a tool that limits intake and creates a bit of malabsorption, but does not cure the head part. That is the work you have to do and it will probably take a good amount of therapy. You are clearly getting the endorphin/serotonin/dopamine release from the sugar. Sugar stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain as cocaine, which is why it is so addictive in its own right. The good news is that if you can avoid all sugar for 3 solid days, the cravings will actually decrease. But you can't let it creep back in, or the cravings come back as strong as ever. The bad news is that you are going to have to work on figuring out another way to relieve stress, boredom, anxiety, or whatever else might be triggering the need for this sugar hit, and to find better coping mechanisms for dealing with the triggers.
You are not alone. Many people deal with this and are able to overcome it. Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. The tool is working for you, but it can only do so much. Best of luck and I really do encourage you to get some therapy to gain some insight and tools to help you be successful for the long term.

Be sure to obtain all the medical records, including labs, surgical report, and anesthesia record BEFORE bringing any of this up to anyone. Funny how those records can become "closed" if something is amiss. Just go to the Medical Records department, fill out the form, and they will get the paperwork for you within a couple of days, if not then and there. The anesthesia record will tell what drugs were used and how much. Both the surgical and anesthesia reports should say that a "time out" was performed before the procedure started. The time-out is the last, stop gap safety opportunity before the actual procedure starts. This is where the results of the pregnancy test should have been mentioned, if not before.
Our hospital policy is that ANY female of child bearing age (12-50) has a pregnancy test unless she has had a hysterectomy. Anyone outside that age gets a test if they have had a period within a year.
Do you remember being asked to pee in a cup when you went in?

There is a whole section of the forum dedicated to vegan/vegetarian, with over 1500 posts. Check it out. I am vegan and follow a Whole food Plant Based eating plan. I started this about a year after surgery, and have never felt better. Protein supplements are necessary immediately after surgery until you can get at least 60 grams of protein from normal food. I've used Orgain shakes and Garden of Life powder. I think there are a LOT of good recipes in the Forks over Knives magazines that come out quarterly. The fall issue featuring Comfort Foods was excellent. Even if I tweak the recipe a bit to my own spice preferences, they give me great ideas and a starting place for a meal. I just made a really yummy jackfruit chowder and added some cannellini Beans and corn to up the protein a bit. Anyway, I get great ideas from the mags and my family likes them, too.
PS: AnaBar, almond mild doesn't really have much protein. Can you switch to soy or pea based milk like Silk or Ripple?

38? You haven't even lived half your life yet! Even though you look saggy now, wait at least 6 months after surgery for plastics, IMHO. Skin actually does start to tighten up on its own. I was 62 when I had surgery and even with a lot less elasticity and collagen than you, my skin has tightened considerably. Waiting also gives your mind a chance to catch up with your body.

There is not one person here that was not nervous it is a simple procedure and just look at my stats! IT works just look at these next steps as the start of a healthy life I was the same size as you and trust me it my be scary and you may be nervous but look ahead at the reward! You got this

I was 62 when I had surgery and it was the best decision I've ever made. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner and avoid the arthritis and joint deterioration. I ended up having a knee replacement and may need another one down the road. 5 decades of abuse and the joints just can't take it any more. Don't wait that long.
Please read "The Obesity Code" by Dr, Jason Fung. He explains it all so well, and relieves you of the guilt and lack of will power. There is no will power when biology is calling the shots.
BTW, one of the best predictors of successful weight loss surgery is having a first degree relative (parent, child, or sibling) who had a successful surgery.
I LOVE my reclaimed life. I can do anything I want - hiking, long distance biking, and even completed a triathlon within a year of my surgery! I have maintained my weight and am actually under my goal weight right now. I have been gluten free for years, but am now also following a whole food plant based diet. I've never felt better or stronger, and I eat an enormous amount of food, am never hungry, and basically eat whatever I want within the WFPB guidelines. I'm not saying you should do this, but surgery gave me the jump start. Once I reached goal, I felt free to explore other options without the cravings and over eating that would sabotage every other effort. WLS has given tremendous freedom over food. For the first time in my life, I feel like I control the food instead of the food controlling me.

Isn't is wonderful to get on the scale and see that it hasn't moved UP! I basically ate everything, but instead of 2 or 3 full plate loads, I had a salad plate with a little of everything....... but I couldn't finish it. Amazing, when I remember the volume I used to put away. I just LOVE my new life, my new body, and my new little pouch. I feel so NORMAL and that is such a strange feeling, but great!!!

What helped me was seeing other people at work in size Small scrubs. We have a scrub dispensing machine and the scrubs have little colored tabs that designate the sizes. It's not too hard to see who is wearing the same size and I found myself looking at other Smalls a lot - just trying to get into my head that I looked like that, too. It did help to have this objective way to compare. It really messed with me for a while, and still does a little. I am always caught off guard by remarks like, "you can squeeze in here" (a small space like a restaurant booth) or "you're so tiny - how do you push that heavy bed?" or "you look like you've taken good care of yourself" (if only they knew!!!).
See if you can find other folks who wear Small or X-Small scrubs. That can help.

Eat a lot more veggies. Try to eat a big salad (watch out for the dressing) or a bowl of vegetable Soup before meals. This greatly reduces overall caloric intake. Studies also show that eating an apple before a meal reduces overall calories. I lost 15 pounds on the 2 week pre-op diet. It is not out of reason to think that you can lose 9 more pounds in 3 weeks.
Juicing will absolutely make you more hungry because you are getting all the calories and sugar from the food, but none of the Fiber. One rule of thumb is to never "drink your calories." It's just too easy to get way too much, and the juice is not very satisfying since it lacks fiber. Fiber fills you up, slows down your eating, and slows down the digestion of the food instead of just dumping it all in at once. Eat the WHOLE food - the whole apple and carrot, not just the juice. Think about the volume of juice you get from an apple, a carrot, a cucumber, and 1 cup of spinach. You could swallow that right down with no problem, I'm guessing. But how would you feel about eating the whole apple, whole carrot, whole cucumber, and the cup of raw spinach? Pretty full, right? That's the difference fiber makes. Do you know that fiber is what your gut biome thrives on, and that very very few people even get close to the 30 gms of daily fiber that is recommended? In short, CHEW your calories, don't drink them.

as long as you're sticking to your surgeon's food plan and the general weight trend is down, you're good.

Fifteen ponds is great. Congratulations!
There is no right rate of loss. We’re all different. You’ll find you’ll lose at the rate that’s best for you. Follow your plan & your weight will continue to drop.
It’s a wonderful & exciting time. Enjoy every pound you loose.

As long as you are following the program and losing consistently, there is no such thing as too slow. A group of us who all had surgery in the same month lost weight at different rates, but we all ended up in the same place at the end, some sooner than others. You will be fine!

You are right in that bypass won't cure the addiction. It never promised that. It is a tool that limits intake and creates a bit of malabsorption, but does not cure the head part. That is the work you have to do and it will probably take a good amount of therapy. You are clearly getting the endorphin/serotonin/dopamine release from the sugar. Sugar stimulates the same pleasure centers in the brain as cocaine, which is why it is so addictive in its own right. The good news is that if you can avoid all sugar for 3 solid days, the cravings will actually decrease. But you can't let it creep back in, or the cravings come back as strong as ever. The bad news is that you are going to have to work on figuring out another way to relieve stress, boredom, anxiety, or whatever else might be triggering the need for this sugar hit, and to find better coping mechanisms for dealing with the triggers.
You are not alone. Many people deal with this and are able to overcome it. Congratulations on your weight loss thus far. The tool is working for you, but it can only do so much. Best of luck and I really do encourage you to get some therapy to gain some insight and tools to help you be successful for the long term.

I expressed the idea of "trying it just one more time" at one of my required PCP visits. She wisely responded, "If you COULD have done it, you WOULD have done it by now." She was so right.

So Thanksgiving was the practice run to learn what to do and what not to do. Christmas is coming and we can all make changes that will improve our compliance with our plans. A slip up is never a failure unless one fails to learn from it.

This is very common. It’s a reaction to the shock of the surgery, anaesthetic & reduced caloric intake. My surgeon said my body had more to do with the nutrients I was consuming than grow hair.
Your natural cycle of shedding hair has been accelerated as a result of all this. How long it will last & how much you will lose is individual. There’s nothing you can do except relax - you don’t need the additional stress. supplements, shampoos, etc that promise to stop the Hair loss or improve/strengthen your hair won’t stop this process. The hair you’re shedding is already dead. Those products only may help strengthen new Hair growth.
While you’re losing hair, you are actually growing new hair. It’s just growing at it’s normal rate while you’re losing more quickly.You won’t notice the new growth until it’s a couple of inches long. Remember you don’t usually notice your new hair growth & you’ll only notice it now because your hair is thinner.
It will stop. Your hair will grow back. I found my loss reduced back to more normal amounts once I was close to maintenance & eating more.
Congrats on your weight loss so far.

What helped me was seeing other people at work in size Small scrubs. We have a scrub dispensing machine and the scrubs have little colored tabs that designate the sizes. It's not too hard to see who is wearing the same size and I found myself looking at other Smalls a lot - just trying to get into my head that I looked like that, too. It did help to have this objective way to compare. It really messed with me for a while, and still does a little. I am always caught off guard by remarks like, "you can squeeze in here" (a small space like a restaurant booth) or "you're so tiny - how do you push that heavy bed?" or "you look like you've taken good care of yourself" (if only they knew!!!).
See if you can find other folks who wear Small or X-Small scrubs. That can help.

What helped me was seeing other people at work in size Small scrubs. We have a scrub dispensing machine and the scrubs have little colored tabs that designate the sizes. It's not too hard to see who is wearing the same size and I found myself looking at other Smalls a lot - just trying to get into my head that I looked like that, too. It did help to have this objective way to compare. It really messed with me for a while, and still does a little. I am always caught off guard by remarks like, "you can squeeze in here" (a small space like a restaurant booth) or "you're so tiny - how do you push that heavy bed?" or "you look like you've taken good care of yourself" (if only they knew!!!).
See if you can find other folks who wear Small or X-Small scrubs. That can help.

I'm enjoying life so much more. I still struggle a bit with feeling fat - like walking into a new place and automatically looking for a large chair or thinking that people are mentally fat shaming me. But then I realize I look like everyone else - actually thinner than 60% of the population, and I can sit any where I like! I gained 7-8 pounds during the whole Covid stress thing, but have lost that and maintain pretty easily at my goal weight or a couple pounds below. I've adopted Whole food Plant Based eating and I feel really great. I've lost the gaunt look I had originally. A lost of my loose skin has tightened up. I am very happy I had the surgery to get the weight off quickly and now WFPB lets me eat as much as I want so I am never hungry or feel deprived. I hope all of our other Feb 2019 buds are doing well.

I too suffer sugar addiction. It’s how I was raised. I’m also a food addict. I finally reached a point about three years ago when I realized I needed to take back control of my life. I constantly thought about food, often thinking about my next meal before I was finished with my current one. But, sugar was the worst issue. An entire large bag of skittles here, a quarter of a cake there. I was pre-diabetic with triglycerides off the chart.

I wasn’t ready for surgery yet, but knew root behavior needed to be changed. I began working with a therapist who specialized in eating disorders (I’d been diagnosed with compulsive overeating), as well as a dietician who specialized in the same. I worked with both for a year and they focused on Intuitive Eating.

I honestly feel like this, not the surgery, was the best thing I could have done for myself. Their therapy focused on listening to your body and employing behaviors that helped you do so, rather than dieting, food policing, and labeling certain foods “bad” or “off limits.” I was able to stabilize my weight, but without dieting, I wasn’t able to lose any. Unfortunately, I was often suffering chronic back pain, and couldn’t vigorously exercise to get the weight off. Enter the surgery.

There are books and workbooks on Amazon that help teach intuitive eating, and practitioners who can assist you in overcoming your addiction. It’s tough to fight this battle without overcoming those mental urges, and I do still struggle from time to time. I tried to have a very small sliver of pecan pie for thanksgiving (my favorite, and I love the one from costco you can only get at the holidays). I ended up so nauseous I had to lay down for an hour. I swore it off and told my husband to remind me of the feeling, only to find myself eyeballing it today. But one day at a time.

Looking good! My weight is pretty steady at 155-157. I’m only 5’3” so I could stand to lose 20 more but I’m thrilled to be where I am. Body doesn’t look so great with the excess skin. Maybe one day I will get that taken care of, but I’m ok with it for now.

Yes, wide array of foods I can eat now. Still in smaller portions. Weight is coming off slow yet, at this point, I am happy to maintain where I am. Keep up the good work. I like running by myself, but my son usually goes and pushes me to run harder. We did 7 miles on Thanksgiving day. 5 today in about 52 minutes.