vikingbeast

I don't think that's overzealous at all. My surgeon scheduled about a month or six weeks out. That gives you a month to get everything done.

This is a weird suggestion, but it's worked for many people here—have you tried *increasing* your calorie intake by 100-150 or so a day? Especially if it's (good) carbs.

Not on my plan. That would've been more like 2 months out. Protein first, then veggies, then starches.

I was on purées and soft foods, though I had VSG.

Welcome! It'll change your life. You'll feel twenty years younger a month or so out from surgery... you see if you don't. Just mind all them absolutely delicious Southern dishes... we do love to sneak those calories in! I don't think I ate a vegetable without meat the whole time we stayed in Georgia. 🤣

C'est normal. I never peed more than when on the post-op liquid diet. It does get better.

I'm not the OP but I can certainly say that the "being offered a tool" often—usually, even—comes with a HEAPIN' HELPIN' of judgment and "why can't you just do this on your own you fat-🍑"... and that's before we even get into the stigma society heaps on this surgery. Sites like this ought to be the first line of thinking for physicians who truly do want the best for their patients. "Look, promise me you'll spend an hour reading on BariatricPal.com" (or whatever site). There's nothing like feeling that you're not alone in this.

My requirements were much like ms.sss', but faster (I am in the US). I did not have a supervised diet, just had to furnish weight history and an affidavit that yes darn it I have tried and failed. First consultation with the surgeon was 2 July 2021, surgery was 14 September 2021, so basically ten weeks. In that time, I had to: Have an introductory class of one hour Have one session with a support group Have one session with a dietitian Have a 1:1 session with the surgeon Have a psychological clearance (more on this later) Have an EKG Have blood work Have an appointment with my PCP to clear me for surgery Once I got all of that done, my insurance turned around the approval in 3 days and I was scheduled for surgery about 5 weeks later. I had the same history you do: lots of referrals, lots of resentment, lots of "this time I'm doing it FOR SURE". Now that I'm done with the surgery and losing weight hand over fist, I wish I'd listened the first time I was referred. I will say that they could do a heck of a lot better job talking through the ^$#%ing surgery instead of just "oh well call the weight clinic". If someone had pointed me at, say, this site, I might've bit the bullet and salvaged some of my youth. Oh well.

You haven't done anything horrifying to yourself, don't fret about that. But do stick to the plan. Cheating every now and then is one thing, but as said above, a plan with no follow-through is no plan at all.

This makes me so happy. I have a whole list of goals written on my white board (in purple marker, hence their name as Purple Goals) and one of my Purple Goals is no seatbelt extender and being able to put the tray all the way down. I usually try to fly up front, but I might take a short flight (maybe to Sacramento) to see whether I have achieved my Purple Goal. I won't ever fit in the seat, of course, because I still have Atlas shoulders, but the seatbelt and tray table thing is possible.

This is a completely random thing that takes so many North Americans by surprise... but it will go a long way toward making your interactions more pleasant. Italians don't ever hand each other money in a store. Never. If you go into a shop in Italy, there will be a dish either on or next to the cash register. You put the money down, the cashier takes it, makes change, puts the change in the dish, you pick it up. (This is less common now that nearly everyone uses a card or contactless payment, particularly in the wake of the 'rona, but still does happen.) Just one of those things that confuses Western Hemispherites and makes Italian shopkeepers roll their eyes.

So I've been feeling absolutely fantastic... plenty of energy, lots of exercise, weight loss kicked off again after the Dread Third-Week Stall... ...until today, when suddenly I'm just nauseated by everything. Finished half my usual morning shake... bleh. Waited a while to finish the rest... bleh. Ate some known-good stuff (deli turkey)... bleh. Sigh. Hopefully this is short-lived. And fortunately I still have a few pills of ondansetron left if it gets unbearable.

Oh, you’re on the mobile app. I don’t have that. My recommendation assumed you were using the website. Perhaps someone else can chime in if they know the app.

If you scroll down the right side, under the ads for "Hot Products", there's a little doohickey that says "Together, we have lost..." (it's currently at nearly 5.5 million pounds). Under that is a place for your starting weight and your current weight. It'll update your ticker automagically. You can also do it from your profile, but this is way easier since most people don't need to update anything besides their CW.

I literally just posted about my clinic's nutritionist who wants everything measured. It's SO inaccurate... do you pack the rotisserie chicken into the container or not? That could double the weight! Everything has to be in grams for me. My scale isn't sensitive enough for the tiny fractions of an ounce, so everything is in grams. 80 grams of turkey for me for lunch; a wedge of La Vache Qui Rit is 30 g of cheese. Etc. etc.

A corral is an animal pen usually made of metal or wood fencing. It's easier to show you than to explain it—it's the thing on the left in the photo. (The cattle, by the way, are outside the corral in the picture—the hay is inside the corral, which is why the cattle are right next to the corral. LOL.) And if you aren't near a gate in the corral, you go up and over the corral fence to get into or out of the corral. But when I was much fatter, I had to go up and wait for my center of gravity to settle before I could swing my legs up and jump down the other side.

I lost 26 pounds on my own, including between consultation and the pre-op diet. Then 9 on the pre-op diet, and so far 41 post-op in five weeks. I'm elated but also cognizant that this will slow down and/or have stalls.

As of this morning's weigh-in, I am officially halfway through my weight loss journey—started at 392, wanted to lose 152 lbs., have now lost 76 lbs. Here's hoping the second half is as smooth as the first half! Thank you all for your guidance and support. I couldn't be doing this without you.

From my experiences in Italy, it's not a problem to share if you explain. (Mi hanno operato allo stomaco e non posso mangiare molto... andrebbe bene se io con mio marito condividessimo il piatto principale, se ognuno de noi ordinasse un antipasto?) However, you might have some trouble with protein in the morning. It depends where you are staying. If you are in a rented apartment where you must shop for your own food, of course, no problem, you can just buy the proteins you want and cook in the apartment. If you are in a tourist hotel, no problem, Germans travel to Italy in huge flocks and they tend to eat Brötchen (rolls), cold cuts, and cheese, you can just skip the rolls. The problem will be if you are in a little pensione or a hotel that caters to Italians, breakfast is likely to be cappuccino (never ordered after about 10 a.m.) with either bread and jam, or with a cornetto (like a sugary croissant, but either filled [ripieno] with sweet almond paste, cinnamon paste, fruit paste, or Nutella, or not filled [vuoto]). If this is where you are staying you might ask if they have any yoghurt for breakfast. Italians don't eat eggs, bacon, sausage, or ham for breakfast... US breakfasts confuse them.

I've never felt so seen. Seriously. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I find myself convinced I'm going to, I don't know, eat an extra 200 calories and suddenly be back in the Big and Fat Men's store. I am trying to find someone to help me navigate this. Add to this that even though I am thrilled by the weight loss, it does come with its own annoyances. [CENSORED], I wanted to wear this particular outfit and it looks like a tent on me! Ugh, will this skin resolve on its own? For fox sake, will I ever be able to shop anywhere but the Goodwill and Ross Dress For Less? (I'm cheap—I don't want to buy clothes I'll only wear for a month or two unless they're seconds.)

I have anxiety issues anyway, and take supplements (ashwagandha and an L-theanine/GABA combo) for it. But you might want to make an appointment with a psychiatrist, because they're dab hands at fixing anxiety and dissociation, rather than relying on hospital tests. The last two years have been insanely hard on everyone so it's no surprise that mental health care is becoming more urgent. Just take care of yourself.

You'll know a lot closer to then what you can and can't eat. Some people can't eat steak, because it's too dry. Some people can't eat pasta or bread because it expands too much in their pouch. Everyone is different. I will say this, though... you're likely not to be able to come anywhere close to eating an entire three-course Italian meal. If you don't speak Italian, you might want to take a little card with you that says something like Mi hanno operato allo stomaco e non posso mangiare molto. Per favore, mi serva piccole porzioni.

Yes. You should tell your surgeon, but basically what happens is they cut some nerves during surgery (unavoidable), and the nerves take 1-2 months to regenerate, and it hurts the whole flipping time. Not constant-pain-and-agony hurts, just more like bend-over-and-hey-what-was-that pain. I still get an occasional twinge.

Since I am now halfway between my heavy weight and my goal weight, I thought I'd show myself. I lost 26 lbs. on my own, then 9 lbs. on the pre-op diet, and 41 lbs. so far since surgery (five weeks ago). I only "see" the changes when I look at before-and-after pictures. I'm starting to see what I'll look like further along and I ain't mad about it. 76 lbs. down, 76 to go.

There's absolutely no way 600-700 calories wouldn't lead to loss in an adult. Stalls happen! You might want—this is such perverse logic but it works for some people—to increase your calories by 100-150 just for a week. It won't be enough to put you anywhere near maintenance, but it might break the stall. I broke my 3-week stall with the help of a dietitian by adding 100 calories of carbohydrate. To @CtotheTina - the 3-week-stall is legendary around here. It happens to most people and there are almost 20,000 posts on this site alone about it. It's your body getting used to the new normal and doing some fluid rebalancing. It will break within a week or two, just keep following your program.