momof3_angels

In the beginning... I couldn't tell if I was hungry or full. All my signals were mixed up. I had to rely on measuring food and look for other signals. For example... if I was on the verge of getting full I would hiccup one to three times. If I ate too much I needed to burp. If you measure your food like you are supposed to, then watch for those signals and figure out what measurement of food you ate and try to eat a bite or two less next time. The restriction feeling didn't come for a couple months. It really feels like you can't stretch your stomach any bigger.

So very true! I don't know why people are so worried when people are doing things to better their health! Even before WLS... I found things that "worked" better than others. For example, I struggled with major/severe exhaustion because of my then undiagnosed sleep apnea/ insomnia - so I was so tired I went to bed at 8 pm most nights (also was a very early riser). During that time, I found that I couldn't lose weight if I ate after 4 pm. OMG... the HORROR... I wasn't eating for the last 4 hours of my evening?!!! Yet several of my friends stayed up until 10/11 and didn't eat past 6/7pm. So, what is the difference?! I mean, I ate plenty throughout the day... just not at the END of the day. And drinking calories. If I had one bad nutrition habit, that was it. So I would do my best to avoid calorie filled drinks during any weight loss plan I had. And more importantly... I found I could NEVER lose weight and often gained if I drank any alcohol. Even just half a glass of wine. So I would go to a party and do my best not to drink alcohol. My friends were losing it because I didn't want to get drunk with them. They couldn't handle if I didn't drink anything or just had half a glass of wine. I actually had to ditch some friends that I used to love hanging out with because they couldn't handle that I wasn't willing to give in and drink with them every single time we got together. And exercise? Well... I hate most exercise lol. But I love my long walks. People think I am crazy because my go to walk is 6 miles and takes 1 hour and 45 minutes and they just don't get it. But I enjoy it. It is hardly a workout for me, but I feel great afterwards. But somehow it is wrong for me to take my long walks. People are crazy the way they react to others.

Welcome! Hope recovery is progressing smoothly!

This! It is a huge help to look ahead at the menu before picking a restaurant. In the early stages, it was just easiest to find a soup that fit into my stages. I also looked at the side dishes if there weren't any soups that would meet my needs and just got side dishes the first couple months. Or an appetizer. This is of course assuming they had something healthy that met my stage needs. If that doesn't work, have a partner order a meal that you can take a little bit off their plate. Once you are tolerating more foods, request a TOGO box WITH your meal. Take 2/3rds-3/4ths of the meal (depending on how big portions are) and box them up immediately! Anyhow restaurant food is challenging for the first several months, but it gets a whole lot easier over time. Especially once you learn what substations will work for your diet and/or stomach tolerance.

Ah... yes... Catwoman is right! Thats what happens when I am giving advise while being interrupted LOL. I will Edit if it lets me

I concur. Do your research, but in my research I have found that lap bands have the most problems and patients are more likely to need them removed and do a different surgery instead. CLIF NOTES summary of the two most common other gastric surgeries in laymen terms: I think most docs now prefer the gastric sleeve for a majority of their patients (but NOT ALL). Yes, you are removing a large portion of your stomach, but your stomach still functions to do what it needs to do.... it is just a lot smaller. But the stomach is resilient and stretchable so over time it will accommodate more food than it does in the early months. And the rest of your body parts are in tact. It is a simple surgery procedure wise. Still a major abdominal surgery as any other abdominal surgery... but no more complicated than most other frequent abdominal surgeries. Gastric Bypass makes the stomach smaller with staples and rearranges the plumbing a bit. Therefore it changes how your digestive system works. BUT... may be the preferred surgery in SOME cases... such as those with diabetes (not all diabetics do this one, but I see more that do this one). This surgery is a little more complex, but in some cases it is the recommended procedure. Both procedures will get the job done if you work the program as prescribed by your team. Your degree of success is usually dependent on you being willing to put in the hard work that goes with ANY weight loss program... and how you use your new weight loss "tool". Anyhow... there are a lot of great sources of information about these and other WLS procedures. Do some research. Have an idea what you might want to get done and why.... and consult a WL Surgeon. For my surgeon, the first questions he asked are what have I done to try to lose weight before, why do I want surgery, and what procedure I wanted and why. Then he went on to tell me what he thought and made his recommendation. Anyhow.... most WL Surgeons hold free group information sessions where someone from their staff or even the surgeon themselves give a presentation and overview of the procedures and the qualification requirements. I waited a long time to attend because I was so nervous about it... but I now wish I had gone sooner! Also... feel free to attend them through different surgeons offices in your area. I think locally we have 3 groups who do the surgery at 3 different hospitals. I like my team a lot... but I wish I had shopped around first for the doc team. I might have still picked the same guy... but I just went with who my referral was through.... but I am quite certain my insurance covered at least 2/3 teams. Anyhow... do your research and whatever procedure you chose, lap band, sleeve, bypass or other..... we will support you as best as we can!

Funny and true! LMAO

Nothing wrong with venting. And who knows... maybe someone will think before they "speak" next time?

Oh my, you have hit a rough patch! Here's hoping that going forward you have nothing but good health news. It is so hard when things happen that our out of our control. Well.... we are happy to support you as you come out the other side! I suggest you get back to measuring and logging so you can evaluate where you are now and where you should be! Do you still have access to a nutritionist? That would be good too for extra guidance.

Haha.... just noticed this forum and the requirements to post here... I hit 18 months March 4th, I guess that makes me a vet lol! Current stats: 5'4.5" and between 126-129 pounds depending on the day. Hit my goal at 7 months and was well under my goal by a year. Overall I have been maintaining for a year now.... did have some challenges recently and weight was beginning to creep up... but I managed to quickly ditch those few extra pounds and am back at my happy maintenance weight. I get thrilled every time my husband or daughter comment at how skinny I am. My daughter says she never realized I was really overweight or "fat" until I lost it all. Now when we look at photos from just 2 years ago it is obvious. Now I am a size 4 and i look healthy. I can't go any lower than 124 though... 124 seems to be right where I am on the verge of looking too skinny. Health is great. Sleep apnea is being treated. Heart condition resolved. High cholesterol and tachycardia resolved. The medical consensus is that severe undiagnosed sleep apnea is what triggered my sudden weight gain... and my heart health was what prevented me from losing weight. Now I feel better than ever and feel that as long as I continue to control diet and exercise regularly I will have no problem maintaining. Of course... controlling diet is key. I was never a big calorie consumer.... but I wasn't always eating good foods and then I did drink calories in the form of Pepsi. Most of the time I don't have an issue controlling diet... but when life is excessively stressful... that is when I can get into trouble. That is when I am most likely to not eat right and consuming the wrong foods. I have taken steps to increase access to healthy food at work, which is also important for me. Exercise.... still trying to get back in a regular routine after a horrible few months at work. Doing much better... but still have a ways to go. So... 2020 I had planned to walk the Camino De Santiago (You walk all the way across northern Spain). It was going to be my reward for losing weight and a way to improve my physical fitness. Had to cancel. Then I had to cancel the trip I rescheduled for this summer. Boo! Instead... I am gearing up to do an 8 week hike on either the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail. I will probably do the Appalachian Trail this summer and wait for the PCT. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I really wanted to do the Camino first, because that is more of a spiritual/cultural walk and you don't have to carry your tent/food/extra water. With either of these I will have to carry all of those items. I know I can do it... but it would have been so much better to do the other walk before either of these hikes. My challenge now? Trying to make sure I eat properly on the trail! Just bought a dehydrator and am assembling/dehydrating meals that I can eat so I don't have to rely on crap food available along the way. I need to be able to eat enough calories to sustain me, but not so many that I develop bad habits. Most people load up on carbs... I need to avoid that and only load up on healthy carbs. Anyhow... that's me! New WLS "VET"

Oh... and I was just reminded how much I love a good Quiche! Got two from Costco yesterday.

Well... can't help with being a January surgery buddy... but just know there are lots of us here who are willing to help with what we can! Hang in there! And if things don't improve, please consider perhaps talking with a bariatric mental health professional...

During the beginning of my soft diet I did best with any soft foods that were in stew/soup format. I lived on Ricotta Bake and Chili for a week or two lol. Both were gentle on my stomach (that is.... if you tolerate spice... mine wasn't hot spicy). I also liked broccoli and cheese soup and dishes with shredded chicken/ground beef.

It took me many months, but I can eat lettuce again. Anything you physically can't tolerate... lay off it for a while, but don't be afraid to try again later! I don't remember how long it took to eat lettuce, but I think it was close to a year??? Now I love my lettuce wraps! And I intermittently eat salads too. In fact, I substitute rice with salad quite often at restaurants.

I absolutely concur with this! And I have just been accused of telling others to starve themselves (I haven't) and that I am trying to pick fights with others (I don't). And I truly go out of my way to keep my mouth zipped when I have the urge to say something ugly. Because that doesn't belong on a support board. Because I am here for support and I am here to support others. I think most folks are here for the same reason as me. I would also like to add... before anyone judges others they might need to look at themselves as well. I see a lot of sniping in this thread too that is equally ugly to the comments that @Creekimp13 is talking about. Calling people names behind their back is just as bad as calling them names to their face. And treating someone as having less value is never acceptable. Whether they set their goal way higher or lower than you think it should be. Anyhow @Creekimp13, I think you give a lot of good advise here... people can take it or leave it, right?!