kellym1220

@lizzlosingit...so true! Pick your hard! I will never forget my sister (who is also overweight) saying "Are you sure you want to do this? It will change your relationship to food FOREVER!" And I just looked at her and said "That's kind of the point!" Every weight loss plan needs to change your relationship with food, or it won't work long term!

When I was in 8th grade I had to start thinking about what high school classes I wanted to take. I was in band in middle school and the next logical step was marching band for high school. I was so nervous: could I actually memorize 18 minutes of music AND march around a field?? As a plus sized teen??? All while keeping up with my Advanced Placement classes? A thought came to me and it’s changed my life ever since: If 200+ other students (we had a large band) could do it, then why the hell couldn’t I too do it?? I’m smart, I’m capable, I can at least try. By senior year I was the band’s captain. That thinking has gotten me through my Masters degree and a great salaried job, because I realized “hell, I could do it too!”

listen, your fears are 100% valid. Most, if not all of us, have experienced the yo-yo dieting, the inability to stick to diets, the failing and trying and failing again. It’s not specific to you! and others’ success is not specific to THEM. I just got my surgery approved this morning and I’m nervous too, because it’s going to be HARD.

But I had to pick my hard. The diet is hard, surgery feels drastic and hard. Exercising SUCKS and is hard. The mourning period is super hard (going through it now, see my previous posts lol).

But you know what else is hard? Navigating life as a fat woman in America. Dating with confidence. Fitting into a booth. Dealing with medical anti-fat bias. Being compared to thinner friends colleagues or relatives. SHOPPING ugh. I have to pick what type of “hard” makes it all worth it. I could stay fat and that hard life won’t get easier. Or I could do this life-changing surgery and feel that “hard” get easier and easier as time goes on.

My stomach is quite large and my face looks fine and wrinkle free now but I’m also terrified of wrinkles and loose skin (I’m 34 and though I’m young to many, I’m not immune to aging especially now.) But it’s either deal with the skin or the fat for me. I choose skin.

best of luck to you!! Have courage. Don’t doom-scroll, looking for negative experiences (trust me, I’m a doom scroller and it delayed me for a few years, 50 lbs ago.) Instead read through all the great success stories on this forum. It’s what’s gotten me through! My surgery is July 9th.

I'm only at the dreaded very low calorie, low carbohydrate liquid pre-op diet stage, but I've noticed my fierce Migraines (with aura) have vanished. Completely. It's wild.
So I'm hoping my most beloved non-scale victory will be freedom from migraines!
Has anyone else had their migraines improve after surgery?

I got a new NSV...at work they have the temperature scanners where you stand in front of a screen. The screen has the outline of a person to kind of guide you on where you're supposed to be standing. I didn't used to fit in the outline, now I do!!!!!!!

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

I have always said "How can something that takes about two minutes to cook (scallops), stink up the entire house for TWO DAYS??" I'm going to the outside burner...I also airfried them in the garage! LOL (I love scallops)

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

I have always said "How can something that takes about two minutes to cook (scallops), stink up the entire house for TWO DAYS??" I'm going to the outside burner...I also airfried them in the garage! LOL (I love scallops)

I have always said "How can something that takes about two minutes to cook (scallops), stink up the entire house for TWO DAYS??" I'm going to the outside burner...I also airfried them in the garage! LOL (I love scallops)

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

Welcome!
My story: I had been an excessively skinny child and teenager but during my 20s I became more "normal" weight-wise. I was always able to eat anything and any amount that I wanted, thereby developing some pretty bad eating habits.
Time marched on, I had three kids and found myself continually hovering at 30-40 pounds overweight during my 30s. Add menopause in my mid-40s and I became continually 60-80 pounds overweight. Throughout these years, I was able to diet off significant weight several times but it always came back, plus more.
In my 50s I became continually 100 pounds overweight. I'm in my late-50s now and what tipped me over into considering and doing WLS (I'm one week post-op RNY) was my 83yo mother. She, like everyone else in my family, is considerably overweight. She needs daily care and assistance with everything. I looked at her and thought, "That'll be me in another 25 years". Being elderly is never a piece of cake but being obese and elderly is a truly difficult challenge. Mom could do so much more for herself is she weren't 100 pounds overweight. 😞

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

For me...this is HUGE! I was looking at my robot vacuum cleaner this weekend, so I was on my knees (something I avoided like the PLAGUE before WLS) When I went to get up, I thought "Can I do it without holding on to something?" AND I DID IT! One of the things that always terrified me, was falling and not being able to get up. It happened once (I dropped some papers in the parking lot and when I tried to get up, I couldn't! I had to crawl to a car and pull myself up. UGH).

My post surgery may be different from yours since I had the sleeve...but there's an excellent thread called food Before and After Photos...which has been VERY active, over 6,400 posts. I would start at the beginning (you can just skim it) to see their progress and how they started out. It gave me a LOT of great ideas on what I can eat, also what to eat if I'm flying or in an airport or on vacation or out to dinner...lol!
As an example, I'm 10 months out, and this weekend I went to Happy Hour and had two limoncello martinis, a half dozen oysters and two lamb shops...all for about $24. It was the perfect amount of food...and very high in Protein. I like to go out to eat too, and I'm in hospitality, so there are many work related "dining out" opportunities. I stick to one to two drinks (I know alcohol is forbidden, but I went rogue on that at about 4 months out!) and high protein. If I go to sushi, I get a sashimi appetizer...at my favorite restaurant, it's probably 3-4 ozs (9 pieces of three different fish) and it's perfect (although I have been known to sneak a piece of my son's eel roll. too!) Mexican, I get shrimp fajitas, no rice and have been know to bring my own low carb tortillas! I haven't really done Italian...but if I did, it would be shrimp scampi or chicken or veal picatta...no pasta!
I always study the menu before I go anywhere (the same recommendation every diet I have ever been on has made) and choose what I will be eating before I go. This helps me to not make bad choices, most of the time. I just decided that I was going to LIVE with my tiny belly...and living to me includes dining out!

I'm tall, like you. For me, it was that each year (or so) I would gain 20 pounds, and I would say/think, "Well if I could just lose 20 pounds, I would be back where I was last year, and that wasn't so bad." Then I realized that if I said/thought that next year, I would be over 300 pounds. Real eye opener...so I decided to do it, even though it was not covered by my insurance. Best decision of my life!

I'm tall, like you. For me, it was that each year (or so) I would gain 20 pounds, and I would say/think, "Well if I could just lose 20 pounds, I would be back where I was last year, and that wasn't so bad." Then I realized that if I said/thought that next year, I would be over 300 pounds. Real eye opener...so I decided to do it, even though it was not covered by my insurance. Best decision of my life!

My post surgery may be different from yours since I had the sleeve...but there's an excellent thread called food Before and After Photos...which has been VERY active, over 6,400 posts. I would start at the beginning (you can just skim it) to see their progress and how they started out. It gave me a LOT of great ideas on what I can eat, also what to eat if I'm flying or in an airport or on vacation or out to dinner...lol!
As an example, I'm 10 months out, and this weekend I went to Happy Hour and had two limoncello martinis, a half dozen oysters and two lamb shops...all for about $24. It was the perfect amount of food...and very high in Protein. I like to go out to eat too, and I'm in hospitality, so there are many work related "dining out" opportunities. I stick to one to two drinks (I know alcohol is forbidden, but I went rogue on that at about 4 months out!) and high protein. If I go to sushi, I get a sashimi appetizer...at my favorite restaurant, it's probably 3-4 ozs (9 pieces of three different fish) and it's perfect (although I have been known to sneak a piece of my son's eel roll. too!) Mexican, I get shrimp fajitas, no rice and have been know to bring my own low carb tortillas! I haven't really done Italian...but if I did, it would be shrimp scampi or chicken or veal picatta...no pasta!
I always study the menu before I go anywhere (the same recommendation every diet I have ever been on has made) and choose what I will be eating before I go. This helps me to not make bad choices, most of the time. I just decided that I was going to LIVE with my tiny belly...and living to me includes dining out!

My post surgery may be different from yours since I had the sleeve...but there's an excellent thread called food Before and After Photos...which has been VERY active, over 6,400 posts. I would start at the beginning (you can just skim it) to see their progress and how they started out. It gave me a LOT of great ideas on what I can eat, also what to eat if I'm flying or in an airport or on vacation or out to dinner...lol!
As an example, I'm 10 months out, and this weekend I went to Happy Hour and had two limoncello martinis, a half dozen oysters and two lamb shops...all for about $24. It was the perfect amount of food...and very high in Protein. I like to go out to eat too, and I'm in hospitality, so there are many work related "dining out" opportunities. I stick to one to two drinks (I know alcohol is forbidden, but I went rogue on that at about 4 months out!) and high protein. If I go to sushi, I get a sashimi appetizer...at my favorite restaurant, it's probably 3-4 ozs (9 pieces of three different fish) and it's perfect (although I have been known to sneak a piece of my son's eel roll. too!) Mexican, I get shrimp fajitas, no rice and have been know to bring my own low carb tortillas! I haven't really done Italian...but if I did, it would be shrimp scampi or chicken or veal picatta...no pasta!
I always study the menu before I go anywhere (the same recommendation every diet I have ever been on has made) and choose what I will be eating before I go. This helps me to not make bad choices, most of the time. I just decided that I was going to LIVE with my tiny belly...and living to me includes dining out!

Haha! That doesn’t bother me, my ex husband didn’t either!

The puppy doesn't do the dishes or take out the trash?

I'm tall, like you. For me, it was that each year (or so) I would gain 20 pounds, and I would say/think, "Well if I could just lose 20 pounds, I would be back where I was last year, and that wasn't so bad." Then I realized that if I said/thought that next year, I would be over 300 pounds. Real eye opener...so I decided to do it, even though it was not covered by my insurance. Best decision of my life!

Finally!! I have to say, for those of you that are "slow losers", keep the faith! These last tw o months, I have been down to 2-4 pounds each MONTH, but it came off!