Officially Not Fatty Matty

I’m four months post op and my tastes haven’t changed at all (as in what food tastes like). What has changed is my desire for the crap that put me in the operating room in the first place, hunger level, and of course my capacity.

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. So many doctors have such different post op requirements. Mine only gave me a four week plan, after that I was on my own. When I first started drinking carbonated again I took it really slow at first, I shook out most of the carbonation. It didn’t bother me. I’m always hesitant to suggest doing things your doctor says no to, but when I did meet with a local nutritionist (I had surgery in Mexico so once your back home you really are on your own) she said that typically doctors give the safest advice possible to limit phone calls from patients and of course actual harmful situations that could lead to malpractice lawsuits. If I doctor had a patient who had a bad episode from say... carrots they may just add a blanket “no raw veggies” for six months, etc. it’s to protect them, and isn’t necessary for 99% of their patients but better safe than sorry. Once I heard that (and it does make sense) I just went for it with raw veggies, carbonation, etc. perhaps I’m an anomaly but nothing has bothered me. I still make good choices when it comes to food, and even though I know diet sodas aren’t the most wonderful of products it’s not hurting my weight loss which is my main focus right now... and they really do keep me full and satisfied all day.

Welcome and congratulations for making this choice, I’m confident you’re doing the right thing and I hope soon you’ll be saying “I wish I did this sooner I feel great!”
My experience will be vastly different than yours as I did self pay in Mexico. My whole process was three weeks from phone call to surgery, and it would have been just a week if I didn’t have a schedule conflict. My insurance wouldn’t cover the process and to be honest it was so cheap to go to Mexico I probably would have done it anyhow to skip all the drawn out steps insurance typically requires. Some people most definitely benefit from all of that, so don’t assume I’m saying it’s not necessary for most people. The most difficult part for me was the preop diet. It just sucks (depending on what your Dr allows of course). The post op diet, even though it was basically the same as preop didn’t bother me though, the combination of being ready for the journey and stomach discomfort made it easy to not want solids. The surgery itself was pretty easy. I’ve been put under so many times I actually look forward to the experience so no anxiety at all. Recovery was a full day in the hospital they had me up and walking within a few hours. Five hour drive home (I didn’t drive) wasn’t that bad, I had no pain meds so it could have been better but I don’t remember being in much pain but I was very groggy. Day three I had really bad gas pain, particularly in my left shoulder and arm, walked around and it subsided. After that it’s been smooth sailing. I’m four months out, down 85lbs and have more energy than I’ve had in probably 25 years. I wish I did this years ago. Again, welcome and don’t worry about starting new threads for yourself. There are a lot of wonderful people here who are eager to help, it’s a great community.

Welcome and congratulations for making this choice, I’m confident you’re doing the right thing and I hope soon you’ll be saying “I wish I did this sooner I feel great!”
My experience will be vastly different than yours as I did self pay in Mexico. My whole process was three weeks from phone call to surgery, and it would have been just a week if I didn’t have a schedule conflict. My insurance wouldn’t cover the process and to be honest it was so cheap to go to Mexico I probably would have done it anyhow to skip all the drawn out steps insurance typically requires. Some people most definitely benefit from all of that, so don’t assume I’m saying it’s not necessary for most people. The most difficult part for me was the preop diet. It just sucks (depending on what your Dr allows of course). The post op diet, even though it was basically the same as preop didn’t bother me though, the combination of being ready for the journey and stomach discomfort made it easy to not want solids. The surgery itself was pretty easy. I’ve been put under so many times I actually look forward to the experience so no anxiety at all. Recovery was a full day in the hospital they had me up and walking within a few hours. Five hour drive home (I didn’t drive) wasn’t that bad, I had no pain meds so it could have been better but I don’t remember being in much pain but I was very groggy. Day three I had really bad gas pain, particularly in my left shoulder and arm, walked around and it subsided. After that it’s been smooth sailing. I’m four months out, down 85lbs and have more energy than I’ve had in probably 25 years. I wish I did this years ago. Again, welcome and don’t worry about starting new threads for yourself. There are a lot of wonderful people here who are eager to help, it’s a great community.

Welcome and congratulations for making this choice, I’m confident you’re doing the right thing and I hope soon you’ll be saying “I wish I did this sooner I feel great!”
My experience will be vastly different than yours as I did self pay in Mexico. My whole process was three weeks from phone call to surgery, and it would have been just a week if I didn’t have a schedule conflict. My insurance wouldn’t cover the process and to be honest it was so cheap to go to Mexico I probably would have done it anyhow to skip all the drawn out steps insurance typically requires. Some people most definitely benefit from all of that, so don’t assume I’m saying it’s not necessary for most people. The most difficult part for me was the preop diet. It just sucks (depending on what your Dr allows of course). The post op diet, even though it was basically the same as preop didn’t bother me though, the combination of being ready for the journey and stomach discomfort made it easy to not want solids. The surgery itself was pretty easy. I’ve been put under so many times I actually look forward to the experience so no anxiety at all. Recovery was a full day in the hospital they had me up and walking within a few hours. Five hour drive home (I didn’t drive) wasn’t that bad, I had no pain meds so it could have been better but I don’t remember being in much pain but I was very groggy. Day three I had really bad gas pain, particularly in my left shoulder and arm, walked around and it subsided. After that it’s been smooth sailing. I’m four months out, down 85lbs and have more energy than I’ve had in probably 25 years. I wish I did this years ago. Again, welcome and don’t worry about starting new threads for yourself. There are a lot of wonderful people here who are eager to help, it’s a great community.

I’m four months out and typically get around 400-500 a day I guess. I’m capable of eating more I just don’t want to yet. I’m losing fast and I don’t want to hop off this train just yet. I do a ensure cafe mocha shake for Breakfast and lunch and for dinner I’ll have a couple slices of different cold cuts, a little cheese and some raw veggies, usually cucumber or bell peppers. I keep hydrated with diet mtn dew. It’s certainly not a model diet but it works for me, keeps me satisfied and my second round of blood work came back all perfectly normal.

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I guess I was more looking for soft things I can eat for the next few days that have become a new food you turn to when you’re sick that’s still a healthy alternative to your old comfort foods. Although I’d love those iHop pancakes right now & I could get some down if I really wanted to, I won’t because that would certainly be a slippery slope for me. Mashed potatoes & cream of wheat in my allotted amounts will suffice, I just thought something different might cheer me up a bit. Thanks again!!

Also, I’m definitely breaking out my coloring books & rock painting kit today! 🤩

+1 on trying to find something else to "comfort" you other than food.
+100000000000000000 on the slippery slope of "having just one cigarette". I had been smoke free for 8 years until one day on vacation last September, I thought I would "just have one". Then I thought well i can "just smoke while on this vacation". Fast forward 1 year and despite "quitting" 3 times for about a month at a time, I am back to smoking like I never stopped all those years ago. Le Sigh.
Sooooo...be careful when putting your toes back into old habits that got you to where you don't want to be.
....but obviously, YOU know yourself the best, and can endeavour to recognize your limits, and try not to toe the line if you don't need to. Personally, it's not worth it.
Good Luck!

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

Tek nailed it. I would just like to add one thing.. is there anything else you can turn to to make today a little easier to handle? Relying on comfort foods when things aren’t going well is a slippery slope... to give an analogy I once quit smoking for five years, cold turkey no issues or cravings.. but one day something really stressful happened and I bummed a smoke off someone to help calm myself.... a week later something a little less stressful happened and I had another, and another and suddenly my old unhealthy habit was back. For many of us (I’m not speaking for you specifically) turning to comfort foods on bad days is a dangerous thing, and if there’s something better we can turn to it’s a good idea to find it before the old habits that got us to where we are come back.

A time will come when you can easily eat all your old comfort foods, like pancakes, if that is the choice you want to make. Though, this is how a lot of post-ops gain their weight back.
The period you are in now is often called the Honeymoon period because your intake is so restricted you almost can't not lose weight (3 negatives there, be careful).
It is also the perfect time to change your habits and preferences. This is the time to change what you think of food, particularly what your 'comfort' foods will be. What you learn in this early period will stick with you your whole life if you work at it now.
Making pancakes with substitute materials (which someone will be along to tell you about) helps many folks. For me, not so much because, for me, it would be too easy to return to the original version.
I had RNY, so sugar and fat are right out for me. For VSG it's a choice.
But again, for me, Proteins were most of my comfort foods, cheese being the rest. So, I could still do what I liked only in vastly smaller quantities. I hated veggies, but I learned to like some in the honeymoon period and still now choose them as part of meals.
You will figure out what works for you, but be careful you're not figuring out how to repeat your pre-op issues.
Good luck.
Tek

I thought I'd log in with a few updates today. I started this process back on July 31st with a high weight of 284. I lost 34 lbs before surgery on Sept. 21st and weighed in at 233.2 this morning. The two big milestones are that I passed 50 lbs lost and I am now a BMI of 34, which means I'm only "obese" instead of "morbidly obese". I have a long way to go to my 180 target, but I am happy about the progress so far.

I’m four months post op, down 83lbs and the skin isn’t as loose as I thought. What is weird for me though is almost every day now I’m noticing something different about my body. I’ll get an itch somewhere and WHOA I HAVE RIBS or my bones in my shoulder feel weird. I lay on my side and my knees knock together differently... it’s all good, I’m enjoying all of these discoveries I got off the couch yesterday and it was suddenly...easy. I’m sure the skin will be more of an issue later but I don’t care. I’ll decide later if it’s something I need to address or not. The only thing I don’t really appreciate is my man-titties are the one part of me that seems to reaaallly not want to go away. :)

It sounds like 1 and 3 are the cause of 2, so surgery or not they’ll have to go or be significantly reduced.
As far as just doing it yourself, statistically speaking it’s unlikely to be successful in the long term, but that’s statistics... where on that line you fall isn’t something anyone here can honestly answer. As far as answering #3 it’s hard to for me.. Ever since I was a kid I was a Cereal junkie and I’d pour a crap ton of sugar on my corn flakes, like a layer of milk/sugar mud on the bottom. But I can’t say I was ever addicted to it, I just really liked it. Never had compulsions to eat it like I imagine a true addiction would be like. But, I haven’t had a touch of cereal in four months since my surgery. I think it’s more about me wanting to be successful though. Even though I’m never hungry and I have to remind myself to eat anything at all, I know this honeymoon phase won’t last forever so I’m really trying to always make good choices today so when that time comes I’ll be more prepared.

Broke the 80lb mark today, almost at 250 (which opens up a whole new world of ladders I can safely climb!). I didn’t think I looked that different until I did this side by side, probably the first time since surgery I’ve really looked at pics of me “before.” Even though I’m not at my goal I’m just dumbfounded at the change to be honest. FYI I never once wore that shirt, it was a 3xl and assumed it would fit, so it’s been hanging sadly in my closet ever since. I tried on a size large regular shirt and it fit!!! Crazy, not even in high school could I have done that. I’m tall so I will still probably need to get some new clothes from a big and tall store but at least I’ll only be there for half of that. As every says, wish I did this years ago.

I went to Dr Galileo Villarreal in Nuevo Laredo and my wife went to Dr Alvarez in Piedras Negras, both a nice drive from Houston, TX. Mine was done in a local hospital and hers was done in a dedicated facility with hotel rooms and whatnot. Both of our surgeries went very well with no issues. I’m down 84lbs since June and feeling great.

Broke the 80lb mark today, almost at 250 (which opens up a whole new world of ladders I can safely climb!). I didn’t think I looked that different until I did this side by side, probably the first time since surgery I’ve really looked at pics of me “before.” Even though I’m not at my goal I’m just dumbfounded at the change to be honest. FYI I never once wore that shirt, it was a 3xl and assumed it would fit, so it’s been hanging sadly in my closet ever since. I tried on a size large regular shirt and it fit!!! Crazy, not even in high school could I have done that. I’m tall so I will still probably need to get some new clothes from a big and tall store but at least I’ll only be there for half of that. As every says, wish I did this years ago.

I know you’ve probably read this phrase here 1000 times from different people but I’ll say it one more time. I had the vsg four months ago and I’m amazed already how much better I feel, so “I wish I did this years ago.” For me, if I have to have another surgery in five years I honestly would consider it a small price to pay for what I’ve already gained in my life, let alone what is to come. It’s perfectly normal to be nervous at this point. That being said, whether or not your doctor will be mad at you should be at the bottom of your list of worries. S/he is a professional. Not to diminish the you, but you’re just a slot on a schedule not a partner on some lifetime project that’s walking away at the last minute. If you can’t go forward with the surgery that’s your decision and the feelings of the doctor are irrelevant. They experience cancellations all the time for various reasons and they’ll just skip you over and go on to the next one, you won’t be a second thought to them for more than half a day.

Ahhh flawless mike (aka Superman) at it again. Reading many of your posts I’ve come to realize something... You sound EXACTLY like all the people that criticized us for not just buckling down and losing weight. Probably like the people who secretly think you’re weak for not “doing it the old fashioned way” and “I lost weight by dieting, you can too if you just try harder..”. Oh I know I know you don’t have to tell me.. it’s just tough love, honest advice, a little jab of motivation. Just like the “eat right and exercise more” and “it’s easy, stop eating like that” people we’ve all heard from in the past. Be better. Not everyone will be as perfect as you in this journey and not everyone needs to be reminded of their flaws at every chance you can find.

While I obviously don’t speak for everyone, I have had zero issues with carbonated drinks. My restriction is still the same four months out and I drink a LOT of carbonated drinks daily. I won’t say what I drink because that’ll start another discussion entirely but I will say they don’t make me crave sweets or anything like others mention, and they keep me feeling full. Ok it’s diet Mountain Dew. It’s always been my favorite drink and I’ll die on a hill extolling their virtues. ;)