blackcatsandbaddecisions

I am 3 months out and have zero problems with lettuce. I see no reason in drinking pop whatsoever, even though others do it. I was told the carbonation does expand your stomach (which it does while you are drinking it) whether or not it stretches is a highly debated issue on VSG.
There are those of us that would rather not take the chance. Should you get the sleeve and start eating candy bars, I would say the answer is NO, do people do it, I am sure they do. I have read people eating potato chips as early as a week out.
If you are going to go back to your old way of eating after surgery, then surgery should put off until you have enough psychological counseling to change the emotional eating issues, and get proper nutritional counseling to see the hows and why on how you gained so weight in the first place and realize that this is something you need to do for life.
The sleeve is for you if you want to make lifestyle changes. Can you gain the weight back after you get the sleeve and lose all your weight? Yes, if you do not make lifestyle changes.
The sleeve DOES stretch. It will never get to the size your stomach was pre-surgery, but it does get bigger and it is easier to eat more food as time goes on, so it has to be a lifestyle change.
I can eat just as spicy a food now as I did before surgery. I do not drink caffeine, pop, beer. I have had a glass of wine with no problem.
When I hit goal I will probably have a glass of champagne and deal with the bloating of my sleeve and come what may whether or not my sleeve with stretch a bit.
The issue is, people thinking it's okay to drink real coffee, eat what they want right after they get sleeved. Your stomach gets cut from the bottom to the top and it's a massive surgery. Your stomach is extremely swollen inside and out and putting things like caffeine (which could cause ulcers), carbonation which is very rough and acidic on your swollen stomach or foods that are rough could cause a leak.
After you reach goal I think what you can and cannot tolerate is up to you. If you start throwing high carb food in, you will gain weight. It's a lifestyle change, not just a diet.

Thanks! About half of that was in the few months before surgery, but I’m counting it.

It’s true that our bodies have certain points they want to stay at. I feel like my body would love to settle around250ish so it was a bit of a struggle to get out of that range. Meanwhile I feel like I barely saw the 230s, I just flew right through those. I suspect I’m going to have another stall around 200. Historically it’s another set point my body has liked to sit at. But I’m looking to get to 165, so I’ll keep plugging away.

Finally caved and bought some new pants over the weekend. Down 70 from pre-op, buckling down to get as much off before the 6 month mark as possible as my doc said it pretty well stops there. I’m 15 lbs away from his benchmark goal for my 6mo follow up.

I have NOT been a good patient. Between switching jobs, helping with my nephews, and going back to school to get my teaching license, I have really dropped off on the walking. Sat down with my planner this week and designated an hour each day - wish me luck!

My wife and I are doing pretty good. I am down 88 lbs since preop and my wife is down 76 lbs since preop. We have been in a slight stall lately but are just pushing on. I am at about maintenance weight but my wife still has a bit more to go. I also had to replace my entire wardrobe and just donated everything. I went from a 44 size pants to a 34. It's been quite an incredible and quick journey up until this point and I am still working on the head games that I know will persist for a long time.

I'm down 91 since November 2 preop.

Look at the menu online ahead of time to make sure there's something that's both appealing and easy to digest! In the beginning, I usually got Soup. I still remember my first non-soup order which was as ahi tuna appetizer. I ate one slice of tuna, took the rest home and got another 4 meals out of it! LOL!! I miss those days!! Now I would probably only get 2 meals out of it!

I sometimes find myself thinking about how weird Covid has made having wls because so many of us will be seeing groups of people at drastically different weights. I still go to work each day so my coworkers are used to it, but I’ve not seen my siblings since 110 lbs ago. If I don’t see them until this summer or fall I could be at a normal weight range- when they last saw me at almost a 50 BMI.

Not a single person noticed I’d lost weight until I was 90 lbs down. Sigh. But after that it was like the floodgates opened and everyone is clearly noticing now. I am within 65 lbs of my goal weight now (after losing 113) and it’s crazy to think that I’m actually that close and yet still I can see so much excess fat everywhere on my body. My goal is within a healthy BMI for myself, but tbh it’s been so long since I’ve been there who knows if that’s really the ideal weight for my body. I guess I’ll figure it out as time goes on.

But can these darn stomach rolls just go away already?!? I wish I could direct my body where to take from. Like stop it with the shoulders and chest already it’s skin and bone there, take a look at the busted can of biscuit dough that is my midsection and take a bit from there!

Anybody still here? How are we all doing 4ish months out? I’m currently down 113 and selling pretty much every article of clothing I own on poshmark. Looks like I finally found the secret to decluttering, just don’t fit into anything you own anymore.

Today I bought a pair of size 18 skinny jeans from old navy- I’m actually transitioning into non plus sizes and it feels amazing. I bought a dress in xxl and it is too big and I’m going to have to exchange for clothes tomorrow.

I’m trying to not buy too much because I still have more to go, but it’s been so long since I could buy a pair of jeans right out of the “normal sizes” that the style I last bought in these sizes was ultra-low rise bootcut, if that gives you an idea of the timeframe.

I have had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and my husband has had two doses of the Moderna vaccine. We both had a sore arm after the first dose. After the second dose I felt a bit under the weather the next day, for about 6 hours, then nothing. My husband was a bit tired the next day but otherwise was fine.

I would do it again in a heartbeat! I know a very young covid long-hauler who has permanent organ damage from Covid and isn’t sure if she will ever be the same again. I am so excited that both my husband and I are two weeks second dose so we are at maximum effectiveness. When it is available for young children I’ll be happy to get my kids vaccinated too.

Banza makes a frozen pizza with a chickpea crust too! I had it tonight (ok I had 1/4 of it) and it was amazingly good. I got it at target. My husband tried it and agreed that if I hadn’t told him it was chickpea crust he’d have no idea.

I sometimes find myself thinking about how weird Covid has made having wls because so many of us will be seeing groups of people at drastically different weights. I still go to work each day so my coworkers are used to it, but I’ve not seen my siblings since 110 lbs ago. If I don’t see them until this summer or fall I could be at a normal weight range- when they last saw me at almost a 50 BMI.

Tell him he’s been”cheating” when he uses the microwave instead of cooking over a fire, taking medicine for a headache instead of picking and brewing herbs, or driving a car instead of walking. 🙄 why is it cheating to take advantage of medical advancements which allow us to live healthier, happier lives?
Best of luck to you, Orinskye!

Newyorklady our stats are so close! The only difference is I started heavier than you, but on day of surgery I was almost your exact weight and we are the same height. I had a few thoughts of darn, I lost around 60 lbs without it, why do I need this at all? But the reality is that I don’t need help with the initial weight loss, I need help with getting to goal, and staying there. Weight loss gets harder the more you lose, as we all know.

I’m currently 228 a few months after surgery (I’m a slow loser, most likely because of losing so much weight prior to surgery) and the difference between even 280 and here in terms of how I feel, how I look, and lifestyle is huge. For the first time in forever I actually can see that I’m able to lose weight and not be consumed by hunger and feelings of deprivation while I do it.

I am glad I did surgery when I did, because I’m at the right time in my life. But there is a piece of me that knows 6 years ago I was maintaining in the 280s, and if I’d started the process there instead of waiting to yoyo all the way up to 340 I would have saved myself years of grief and misery.

I’ve heard it here before with “I can do it on my own!” If I could have, I would have.

Most of us ending up with wls have an eating addiction, and likely an addictive personality in many areas. Transfer addiction is real. Watch out for anything in your life that your brain is trying to use to cope (drinking, drugs, shopping, gambling) because new things can crop up once you take away food.

I had COVID in November. I received the first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine in January and February, respectively. Both times I had a sore arm, low grade fever, body aches, and headache, with symptoms being slightly worse with the second dose. The symptoms lasted less than 24 hours and therefore, vaccination was a much better experience than having COVID. 😬

I had my second dose of Moderna yesterday. I’m just super tired today. I had a bit of a headache and that’s it. Just tired and a sore arm. Took the day off yesterday and today. Just resting. Totally worth it! 

I have had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and my husband has had two doses of the Moderna vaccine. We both had a sore arm after the first dose. After the second dose I felt a bit under the weather the next day, for about 6 hours, then nothing. My husband was a bit tired the next day but otherwise was fine.

I would do it again in a heartbeat! I know a very young covid long-hauler who has permanent organ damage from Covid and isn’t sure if she will ever be the same again. I am so excited that both my husband and I are two weeks second dose so we are at maximum effectiveness. When it is available for young children I’ll be happy to get my kids vaccinated too.

My life post surgery is amazingly like my life pre-surgery, just without never ending insatiable hunger. That might be an oversimplification but truly, I’ve been amazed by how quickly I adjusted and how little I think about my stomach (or what is left of it I mean).

What is different this the role that food takes. I had a moment of realization before surgery where I was panicking about how different my life would be, and realizing that was because my life had gotten so narrowed by obesity that food was the central part of it. Liking food, going places to get food, food, eating candy, thinking about my next meal, guilt over not dieting, obsessing about my weight, etc. Food seemed like the only thing I had that brought me pleasure anymore. But that isn’t how I want to live, and it was killing me.

My life post surgery is amazingly like my life pre-surgery, just without never ending insatiable hunger. That might be an oversimplification but truly, I’ve been amazed by how quickly I adjusted and how little I think about my stomach (or what is left of it I mean).

What is different this the role that food takes. I had a moment of realization before surgery where I was panicking about how different my life would be, and realizing that was because my life had gotten so narrowed by obesity that food was the central part of it. Liking food, going places to get food, food, eating candy, thinking about my next meal, guilt over not dieting, obsessing about my weight, etc. Food seemed like the only thing I had that brought me pleasure anymore. But that isn’t how I want to live, and it was killing me.

I wanted to stop having daily concerns about things like how I would fit into a chair at work, not being able to play with my kids, feeling exhausted and like every move was like running a marathon. I didn’t feel like how I looked matched how I felt- I didn’t even feel like myself anymore.

I wanted to be able to exercise again. To have some control over my endless cravings. To fit into clothes that I actually liked. To not feel like I never wanted anyone to see me because the first thing they would think is about how fat I was. To know that I can’t fit on an airline seat, when traveling was one of my greatest passions in life.

Four months in and I have no regrets. I’m 110 down, and getting closer to just being “overweight”. To go from a 48 BMI to 33 feels amazing in every way.

Congrats on the vaccine! I got mine in January and no complaints here. I got Pfizer and my husband got moderna.

I mean these are starting at Phase 5. I only looked it up because eventually I will have to eat it even if it’s while traveling I won’t always have a kitchen with me but be mindful you won’t eat it all and the best ones are on top and if it’s fried they cut the potion down although we should avoid fried foods 🤷🏽‍♀️

The way my doctor explained it to me..... You can out eat anything...