Shanibani

I actually seem to be on the opposite spectrum of everyone else... My sister had the surgery first (hers was bypass due to medical necessity of throat and stomach issues, mine is elective sleeve)
My sister and my mother were the ones who pushed ME into getting the surgery... I didn't want to at first, just because I knew how grueling it was for my sister and I felt too lazy/too scared to live a life where EVERYTHING would change... finally, I sorta gave in to their pushing and said "Fine, I'll do it" and it's been the best decision of my life so far.

I finally had my surgery in January of this year... was supposed to be July of 2020, but Covid ?.
I told EVERY person on my Facebook page back in January of 2020 that I was going through with it, and (knock on wood) every person has supported me through it.
I'm 2 months into the post surgery, and down 44 lbs from surgery, 70 from January of 2020. - I still have about 100 lbs to go before I hit my goal weight, but the fact that I'm at 265 already has me FLOORED! - And I actually do little "Updates on my Life" on my facebook about every month or so updating all of my family and friends about where I am in my post surgery life.
I hate seeing so many people who have had to feel like they've got to hide it due to the stigma that society has created for obese people but frankly - I don't give a damn who knows. - To me, it's definitely not cheating... could I have technically eaten the same thing I am now? - Sure.... would I have without being forced into it by tinier stomach? - No....
The push of being forced into doing something "Against my will" was EXACTLY what I needed to keep me on this path. Even if I went back in time, and told my old self "you 100% want this" I wouldn't believe me.

My family went out to dinner the other night and I felt so jealous that they could.

I still am eating the exact same meal every single time I eat. I've spent the last month or so like this because I just can't find meals that work for both my son and I together. So he eats what he eats, and I make my little meal in the microwave every day.
I finally got up the courage to ask my family to go out to eat a couple weeks back with my son and I, and hated every minute of it. Felt like I wanted to cry the entire time because every meal I looked at was breaded chicken, burgers, pasta and seafood (of which I despise.)
The only other thing that I could eat was a salad, and quite frankly, the idea of trying to eat a salad when everyone else was having nachos, pasta, pizza, meatloaf, breads and french fries just brought me even lower. And you KNOW those salads that they bring is 90% lettuce, maybe 1 tomato, 1 cucumber (which I'm not allowed to eat yet) and 2 spirals of green peppers.
It might be my own fault of putting too much "mental" thought into what I eat every day, as I'm the pickiest person I've ever known, and I've mentally told myself, I can't eat burgers (even without the bun) cuz they're not lean. I DEFINITELY can't have fries or onion rings or nachos like my family ate... pasta isn't permitted at all, and all I eat at home is my egg/chicken/peppers/onion mix.
Being only 2 months post op, I'm still in the soft foods label... so trying to find things you're allowed to eat outside the safety of your own purchased items is daunting. - I spent over an hour trying to figure out what to eat only to get talked down to by the manager of the restaurant for wanting a piece of grilled chicken and steamed carrots, when they normally have to add all this extra sauce and stuff to their meal... that just made me want to go out to the car and cry even more because here I am trying to have an evening out with my family, and this lady looks at my overweight self and says "So... you JUST want a little piece of chicken and some carrots?"
I mean COULD I have even eaten all the extra bits and sauce and everything else they add to their meals 2 months post op? - wouldn't that have just fueled the addict in me for food? I mean sure, the smaller portion would be a huge difference, but that nugget of knowledge would have me say "oh, it's okay if I eat the burger, because I'm only eating a small amount" "It's okay to have nachos and cheese if it's just one or two"
At this point, I've stopped going out, declining when my family asks, but let them know my son can go... saying I have to work late or do something else important.. the only time I get out is to go to the gym...
Maybe I'm taking it too extreme... or perhaps I'm justified in requesting the piece of grilled chicken alone and steamed carrots... either way, I feel way too nervous to even try again now because of how I was spoken to and feel like it's just not time to try to go out with family and have a nice meal together.

Congrats!

I actually seem to be on the opposite spectrum of everyone else... My sister had the surgery first (hers was bypass due to medical necessity of throat and stomach issues, mine is elective sleeve)
My sister and my mother were the ones who pushed ME into getting the surgery... I didn't want to at first, just because I knew how grueling it was for my sister and I felt too lazy/too scared to live a life where EVERYTHING would change... finally, I sorta gave in to their pushing and said "Fine, I'll do it" and it's been the best decision of my life so far.

I finally had my surgery in January of this year... was supposed to be July of 2020, but Covid ?.
I told EVERY person on my Facebook page back in January of 2020 that I was going through with it, and (knock on wood) every person has supported me through it.
I'm 2 months into the post surgery, and down 44 lbs from surgery, 70 from January of 2020. - I still have about 100 lbs to go before I hit my goal weight, but the fact that I'm at 265 already has me FLOORED! - And I actually do little "Updates on my Life" on my facebook about every month or so updating all of my family and friends about where I am in my post surgery life.
I hate seeing so many people who have had to feel like they've got to hide it due to the stigma that society has created for obese people but frankly - I don't give a damn who knows. - To me, it's definitely not cheating... could I have technically eaten the same thing I am now? - Sure.... would I have without being forced into it by tinier stomach? - No....
The push of being forced into doing something "Against my will" was EXACTLY what I needed to keep me on this path. Even if I went back in time, and told my old self "you 100% want this" I wouldn't believe me.

Thank you @jaelzion
My family has had me so worried as of late, telling me that I'm going to end up in the hospital like my mother's best friend's daughter (who had the bypass) because of my fast weight loss, that it's not only worrying me, but also upsetting me... I would tell them my weight via text all the time when I'd hit a mile marker, and then once I did, they'd message me saying something like "holy crap, that's a lot of weight." until finally tonight my mother called and was so worried...
Mind you, they're all incredibly supportive about the weight surgery, but now they think I'm restricting myself so much, and not eating enough, that I'm going to end up sick.
I haven't had to have bloodwork since well before surgery... so perhaps i'll talk to my doctor about it at my next appointment to see when/if I need it... - I will say I have a hard time with these supplement chewables that I'd much rather just get swallows, but I know these are what they want me on...
Sad to say, I hate taking anything from a bottle, so even the swallowable ones would probably never get taken either...
I need to start remembering to take them.