BigSue

First of all, please stop being so hard on yourself! This is not easy and nobody's perfect. Secondly, have you considered therapy? I have seen a lot of WLS patients say that it has helped them deal with their long-standing food/eating issues (which a lot of us have). I have been really disciplined about sticking with my plan and not eating anything I'm not supposed to since my surgery. Fear of dumping is a big part of that for me, but I know that the day will come when I eat something I'm not supposed to and I'll find out whether or not I get dumping syndrome. I'm afraid I won't and then I won't have that fear to keep me in line anymore. The other thing that has really helped me, though, is Pinterest. No joke. I spend so much time on Pinterest finding healthy recipes that I actually want to eat. I've found tons of recipes that fit into my plan and taste delicious. I live alone, so when I make a recipe, I end up with many servings that I freeze for later, so my freezer is absolutely packed with easy, healthy meals. I'm currently working on clearing out some of those saved meals to make room before I try any new recipes. I have a whole list of healthy recipes that I can't wait to try. Finally, I have healthy-ish treats every day. I have a major sweet tooth, so I don't think I could give up sweets altogether, but I eat treats that fit into my plan. I love Built Bars because they taste like candy bars, but they're high in protein and low in sugar. Built Bars are my favorite, but there are tons of delicious protein bars on the market that can satisfy your sweet tooth without derailing your weight loss. No, it's not the healthiest thing you can eat, but it's better than eating an actual candy bar. I recently started eating chia seed pudding and I LOVE it -- there are tons of delicious ways to flavor it. Add some cocoa powder and it tastes like brownie batter. I also found a recipe for an amazing protein mug cake:

Awesome! I'm glad to hear it works with applesauce.

This 4-ingredient* protein mug cake is amazing! (*This recipe is awesome as written, but see below for my recommended modifications.) Cocoa powder, protein powder, pumpkin puree, and sweetener of choice. It sounds weird, but you don't taste the pumpkin once it's cooked. You can even make it vegan if you use vegan protein powder. https://masonfit.com/one-minute-protein-brownie/ There are a lot of low-carb mug cake recipes out there, but this is the best one I've seen because it's so easy, low in calories, and doesn't require any weird, expensive, hard-to-find ingredients (unless you count protein powder, but I'm guessing most bariatric patients have a tub or four of protein powder in the house). It's amazingly cake-like for something that contains no flour. I normally eat it directly out of the bowl/mug, but I wanted to get a picture that shows the texture (unfortunately, I'm a terrible photographer, so you might just have to trust me). . I find it a bit dry (which could be because I use whey protein isolate instead of the recommended whey/casein), so I always top it with sugar-free syrup or melted sugar-free Jello (plus a dusting of powdered Swerve), flavored Greek yogurt, or -- my favorite -- raspberry or strawberry puree (sometimes I mix about half a tablespoon of raspberry puree into the batter, which adds a little moisture). . Although this recipe is great without any modifications, I couldn't help myself from tweaking it. I like to add a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla. I also like to substitute half of the pumpkin puree with liquid egg substitute (like Eggbeaters), which provides even more protein. But that makes it more than 4 ingredients, so if you want to keep it simple, you can stick with the original recipe. 1 tbsp dark cocoa powder 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (or any flavor you like) Optional - calorie-free sweetener to taste (about 1 tbsp sugar equivalent) Optional - pinch of salt 2 tbsp pumpkin puree 2 tbsp liquid egg substitute (Eggbeaters or equivalent) Optional - 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract Mix dry ingredients in a mug or small bowl. Stir in wet ingredients to make a smooth batter. Microwave for 1 to 1.5 minutes (it might take some trial and error depending on your microwave; 1 minute 20 seconds is perfect for me). . Seriously, this is SO GOOD! If you try it, let me know how it goes!

I wore loose-fitting pajama pants in the hospital and had no issues with my incisions.

Sorry to hear it didn’t turn out well for you... it might be better with different protein powder, or maybe if you use pumpkin purée instead of banana (I’m not sure because I’ve never used banana).

I'd love to know how it turns out for you! I won't be offended if you don't like it.

Another one for me: Last year, I bought a shirt for a friend. I wasn't sure if he would wear a medium or large (he's super skinny), so I bought one of each. He wanted the large, so I shoved the medium in the back of my closet and forgot about it until yesterday when I was cleaning out my closet. I came across that medium shirt and put it on and it fit perfectly! It's a men's medium -- I wear a woman's large -- but still... I fit into a shirt that's too small for my skinny friend! I used to wear a men's 3XL because a woman's 3XL was usually too small!

Wow! That is awesome. I think losing 100 pounds is incredible, and you've lost double that. You've worked really hard to accomplish that, so you should be proud of yourself. I hope you can find a nice way to reward yourself for an amazing accomplishment.

Yes, that's what I meant -- just based on math/statistics. Expected weight loss from surgery is typically expressed in terms of percent of excess weight loss, and the lower your starting weight, the lower your end weight will be after losing X% of excess weight. If I started at 340 pounds and lost 70% of my excess weight (140 pounds), I would end up at 200 pounds. If I started at 270 pounds and lost 70% of my excess weight (91 pounds), I would end up at 179 pounds.

Your surgery was 4 days ago. Stay off the scale for a couple of weeks -- it's meaningless right now. A lot of people come home from the hospital heavier than they went in because of all the fluids they pump into you. Right now, you need to focus on your recovery (getting enough fluids and protein), not your weight. If you stick to your plan, you will lose weight.

It makes sense that people who lose weight before surgery lose less weight after surgery -- simply because they have less to lose if they've already lost some! But I certainly wouldn't take that as a recommendation not to lose weight before surgery. I lost about 70 pounds in the 5 months before my surgery. My highest recorded weight was ~340 pounds and I was ~270 the day of surgery. I'm ~150 now (so I've lost ~120 pounds after surgery). So let's say I hadn't lost any weight before surgery and went into surgery at 340 pounds. Maybe I would have lost 150 pounds by now instead of only 120. That would put me at 190 pounds. So I am glad I got a head start on my weight loss before surgery. Keep in mind that the heavier you are, the easier it is to lose each pound. At 340 pounds, it was not difficult for me to lose 10 pounds. At 150 pounds, losing 10 pounds is a major challenge. If you wait until after surgery to start losing weight, your results will be more dramatic because that "easy" weight will be melting off in the beginning. I suppose that could be a benefit because the early post-op stages can be rough and the quick weight loss can keep you motivated. But you will still eventually reach a point where the weight loss slows down. It will just be later than it would be if you lost some of the weight before surgery. In addition to getting a head start on weight loss, I think it was good for me to lose weight before surgery because I started getting into some healthier habits before surgery. I think it's extremely important to log everything you eat (I use MyFitnessPal, but there are other apps that do the same thing), and I've been doing that since 5 months before my surgery. By the time I had surgery, it was already a habit. I had also started to make healthier food choices before surgery, which made it easier to eat healthy foods when I transitioned to solid foods after surgery (also easier to avoid high-fat, high-sugar foods that could cause dumping syndrome after surgery, since I had already reduced my intake of that stuff before surgery). By the way, the lower your weight before surgery, the lower your maintenance weight is likely to be (and the sooner you'll get there), so I'd consider that to be a pretty good argument for losing weight before surgery.

Most surgeons say no weights right after surgery (usually 4-6 weeks), so definitely wait until you are cleared for that. I would also suggest you refer to your surgeon's guidance for cardio, but most surgeons allow walking immediately. I didn't do much exercise before surgery, but I started doing cardio a few weeks after surgery. A lot of people here recommended Leslie Sansone Walk at Home videos (many of which are available for free on YouTube), so that's where I started and I've stuck with it. I started with 15-minute videos, but now I do 30-50 minutes every day.

So glad you were able to find them and that you like them, too!

I somehow missed this thread when it was first started. I just found it and enjoyed reading everyone's NSVs! I have a lot of similar ones, but here are a few of mine: I used to have to keep the steering wheel in my car raised to make room for my belly, and it blocked my view of the clock and temperature. Now I can put it low enough to see the whole dashboard. The other day, I climbed 12 flights of stairs like it was nothing. Didn't even have to stop for a break. Amazing how easy it is without carrying a whole extra person! I used to leave a lot of extra time when going to work, meetings, etc. because walking to another building or up stairs would leave me sweaty. I used to carry around a fan and small towel so I could cool off/dry off after getting sweaty. I also liked to be super early to meetings to make sure I wouldn't have to squeeze behind someone to get to a chair. Now I can just get there on time like a normal person and not worry about any of that. I was taking a walk recently (which is crazy in itself -- I never used to just go outside and take a walk!) and I had to move off the road while a car passed, and I tripped and fell in the grass. When I was 300+ pounds, a fall like that would have hurt and it would have been hard to get up. This time, I just jumped right back up like it was nothing. I no longer dread meeting people in person for the first time as I used to when I knew they would think less of me once they found out how fat I was.

According to the original recipe, you can use mashed banana or applesauce instead of pumpkin, but I've never tried those, so I don't know how they compare. I've kept pumpkin puree in the fridge for several weeks after opening. It doesn't last that long now that I make this mug cake all the time, though!

Sorry to hear you're dealing with so much stress... Maybe try having a cup of tea when you feel like stress eating? I find that a nice, warm drink helps to fill me up and it also tastes good, so helps me avoid snacking.

Haha, that's crazy... I live in a rural area, so I only have Dollar Generals near me! There are at least 4 Dollar general stores closer to my house than any grocery store. You can get these on Amazon, but they're way overpriced there.

So, you did an hour and a half of manual labor? You were probably in better shape before surgery than I was, but that's not bad, especially considering how little you're eating! I would say that cardio will probably help your stamina, as will continuing to lose weight. I didn't get much exercise before my surgery, but I've been doing 30-50 minutes of cardio every day for months and I'm in the best shape of my adult life. I've also lost over 180 pounds, and it's a heck of a lot easier to get around when I'm not carrying around a whole extra person. Last week, I had to walk up 12 flights of stairs. If I had tried to do that before surgery, I would have had to stop and rest a few times and I would have been out of breath and sweaty by the time I got to the top, but I was shocked by how easy it was this time! I just kept going and going. But I will also say that there are times I feel a little weak and run down, probably just because of my low calorie intake (I'm at ~700 calories per day now), so I guess it's a bit of a mixed bag.

I've seen it at Dollar General, Walmart, and Walgreens. I also tried the blue raspberry and cherry, which are also good, but the all pink strawberry is still my favorite. I bought a larger size of that (packets that make a gallon). I make it half-strength. I just found out that there's now a Skittles drink mix, which is sold at Walmart but sadly, they were out of stock.

Congratulations -- that's awesome!

I live far away from the nearest Trader Joe's, but I'm taking a trip next week that will take me near one on my way home. Because of COVID, I don't want to spend a long time browsing in the store, so I'd like to make a list of items that I can go in and grab without lingering. #1 on my list is the chili lime chicken burgers recommended by @Cheeseburgh on the favorite grocery products post (I hope they have these -- they look delicious!). Please tell me your must-buy bariatric-friendly products at Trader Joe's!

Hi! I'm only 9 months out, but I just wanted to say thanks for joining this forum. It's great to hear from WLS veterans, and I'd love to hear any lessons you'd care to pass along from someone who has lost the weight and successfully kept it off long-term!

I'm not a fan of kale, so I was planning to substitute spinach... Maybe I should give kale a shot in the soup.

Zuppa Toscana is next on my list of recipes to try! I just bought some Italian turkey sausage to use for it. I’ve actually never had zuppa Toscana before, but I’ve been seeing it on Pinterest and it looks good. I hope mine turns out as well as yours.

I finished the green goddess dressing within its expiration date, but the spicy cashew dressing (also delicious, BTW) expired and definitely went bad a few weeks after the expiration date. I don’t automatically throw everything out when it reaches the expiration/sell by date, but the expiration/sell by date can be a good indication of how long it lasts. Compared to, say, the SkinnyGirl dressing I just bought that expires in 2023, I can assume the Trader Joe’s dressings won’t last nearly as long. I think next time I get Trader Joe’s dressing, I’ll try freezing it and see if it still tastes good after thawing.