vikingbeast

I also am six months (almost) out and have some of the same feelings. Slider foods—ones that you can eat a lot of without feeling the restriction—are real. So what I do is I tell myself if I still want it in two hours, I can have a little bit. Then I put a portion in a bowl or on a plate and only eat that. No taking the entire container or package out of the kitchen!
Carbs are NOT the enemy. Your body needs carbs for energy, and the more active you are, the more carbs you need.
Fat is NOT the enemy. Your body needs fats for hormone balance, especially for people who are AFAB.
I finally went to a nutrition program where I have a coach who helps me once a week. I plan my meals and sometimes things happen and I go off the rails—but just for a meal or maybe a day. Then it's right back on the horse.
I am still losing about 1 pound a week, and I'm around 15-25 pounds from my ultimate goal (how much exactly will depend on the results of next Wednesday's DEXA scan, since my goal is sub-20 body fat percentage, not a scale number). It might take me six months or more to lose it, and that's okay. The longer it takes, the more eating the 'right' way feels normal.
For reference, I'm only a little taller than you but significantly heavier. I am extremely active (workouts, running, coaching, working outdoors) and I am losing a pound a week on about 1700-1800 cals a day, split pretty evenly among Protein, fat, and carbs—about 140P, 160C, and 60F. Every body is different.
Just rein in those habits now.

I had to set a timer. I still suck at slowing down.

Congratulations! It's amazing how much more mental energy there is for stuff when you're not having to keep up the façade, isn't it??

I also am six months (almost) out and have some of the same feelings. Slider foods—ones that you can eat a lot of without feeling the restriction—are real. So what I do is I tell myself if I still want it in two hours, I can have a little bit. Then I put a portion in a bowl or on a plate and only eat that. No taking the entire container or package out of the kitchen!
Carbs are NOT the enemy. Your body needs carbs for energy, and the more active you are, the more carbs you need.
Fat is NOT the enemy. Your body needs fats for hormone balance, especially for people who are AFAB.
I finally went to a nutrition program where I have a coach who helps me once a week. I plan my meals and sometimes things happen and I go off the rails—but just for a meal or maybe a day. Then it's right back on the horse.
I am still losing about 1 pound a week, and I'm around 15-25 pounds from my ultimate goal (how much exactly will depend on the results of next Wednesday's DEXA scan, since my goal is sub-20 body fat percentage, not a scale number). It might take me six months or more to lose it, and that's okay. The longer it takes, the more eating the 'right' way feels normal.
For reference, I'm only a little taller than you but significantly heavier. I am extremely active (workouts, running, coaching, working outdoors) and I am losing a pound a week on about 1700-1800 cals a day, split pretty evenly among Protein, fat, and carbs—about 140P, 160C, and 60F. Every body is different.
Just rein in those habits now.

Hopefully this is the next step to getting my life together and living it in a positive full way. since this last June I decided not to hide who I am anymore and came out to my friends and family as bisexual at 28 y/o and I will be 29 in May.
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I had a two-day athletic seminar this weekend with a bunch of people I've never met. We were asked to tell our story, so I told my story about struggling with weight loss, getting WLS, and trying to maintain strength through the weight loss. Afterwards a few of the participants said, "I would never have guessed you were heavy before. You could never tell now."
Like a (refreshing) splash of cold Water because I of course remember myself as the fat kid.

Been a while since I checked in. A friend of mine said, "You know, if you do a French tuck*, you can show off those belt buckles of yours. You're slim enough now."
I am not convinced this is the style for me (feels like I wasn't paying attention after pulling my pants up and accidentally buttoned them around my shirt), but damn if it didn't feel nice to actually be able to do it. So here I am, another almost 40 lbs. down, 39 to go. Three quarters of the way to goal.

* French tuck - you tuck in the front but not the back. I know no French people who do this, but maybe it's named after Tan France instead of France France.

I was actually a food writer for about a decade... you don't write about food without eating in restaurants all the time, which is part of how I ended up two french fries short of 400 lbs. I had the same concerns.
But here's the thing—I don't actually miss it. As corny and BS as this sounds, a taste is enough.
My mother-in-law made a pie. I had two small bites. It was enough. I catered pizza to my daughter's school; I had a few bites.
And if I do overindulge on something, the restriction kicks in right away, and reminds me why we don't overindulge on everything.
I do find myself suggesting more active things ("let's go have a bonfire at the beach", "let's go hike through the nature preserve", etc.) rather than just defaulting to a meal with people. And if I do go to a celebratory meal, I just... don't eat much.

I'm not going to pee on your leg and tell you it's raining.

You have to change your approach to food. It's vital. If you don't change your "old eating style", you will not succeed. It doesn't mean eliminate things, it means WAY smaller portions, sometimes to the point where it's not worth buying, say, separate steaks for you and your partner.

At three months post-surgery, I literally could not finish a 28 ounce lobster tail before it went bad. If I'm REALLY lucky and my stomach is 100 percent empty, I can get 4-5 ounces of Protein down before my restriction kicks in, and then it's hours before I want to eat again. Yesterday I made a pound of ground turkey breast into burgers, intending to eat half in one meal and half in another. I made it through four ounces of the stuff and was vaguely nauseated all day.

You will have to eat your protein first, then your vegetables, then your starches. No exceptions. So if you get surf-n-turf, you might get two ounces of lobster and an ounce or so of wagyu down (I have trouble eating much steak, which is a shame given that steak is what I do), and you MIGHT have room for a few bites of vegetables, and MAYBE a bite or two of baked potato. And I mean little bites. If I get 2 oz. of rice or potato down, it's a lot. And I eat much more than your typical bariatric post-op patient because of how active I am.

You also are going to have to give up, at least temporarily, drinking anything with dinner except maybe a sip or two of Water to help drier Proteins go down. That means no wine with dinner. Once you're used to how to eat, and once you're cleared for alcohol, a sip or two isn't going to kill you, but you simply won't have room for both wine and food even if you drink the wine first. I nursed a glass of Barolo for almost three hours in Vegas.

tl;dr you can eat kind of whatever, but because you have so little room, you must prioritize your eating so you don't get sick, weak, or anæmic.

Been a while since I checked in. A friend of mine said, "You know, if you do a French tuck*, you can show off those belt buckles of yours. You're slim enough now."
I am not convinced this is the style for me (feels like I wasn't paying attention after pulling my pants up and accidentally buttoned them around my shirt), but damn if it didn't feel nice to actually be able to do it. So here I am, another almost 40 lbs. down, 39 to go. Three quarters of the way to goal.

* French tuck - you tuck in the front but not the back. I know no French people who do this, but maybe it's named after Tan France instead of France France.

Hi sxystacy, welcome to the forums.
I had my surgery in Southern California because it was covered by insurance. However, I lived in Tijuana and know the city really well. It is one of the most misunderstood places on Earth... and a lot of North Americans think because they can see the slums from the border (they do exist!) and that roads are sometimes not in the best of repair, that it's some dangerous he||hole. As with many things, the news reports the bad things ("if it bleeds, it leads").
It's not a bad place. I still love it.
If you like, once you have names and addresses and have been told where you're staying, I can tell you a) what the neighborhood is like b) what's nearby in terms of grocery stores, etc., c) how to get around to wherever you want/need to go.

Oh no! PCS during recovery!
A few options:
1. Pack a cooler with Protein Shakes in case you end up in some food desert (LOOKING AT YOU WESTERN TEXAS) with nothing you can eat. Also, get some Isopure which helps with Protein if you're truly stuck.
2. Meal prep some if you can. Maybe you can freeze it and keep ice on it? I transported frozen pork roll from New Jersey to California in February in the cab of my truck.
3. Order small portions at restaurants and then just throw away what you can't eat. Wasteful, but better than starvation.
Also, just to reassure you—truck stops have AMAZING c-stores with things like protein shakes and Protein Bars and cheeses and things. Like, I was blown away that in way-the-he||-and-gone western Oklahoma, the Love's Travel Stop had a HUGE range of stuff that would be bariatric-friendly.
If there's stuff you can eat now that you love that's Georgia-specific (my dad used to live outside of Brunswick), take some with you for comfort. Boiled peanuts spring to mind...
If you want, share the route and maybe I and other Bariatric Pals can share suggestions for places to go. I've driven all over this country.

Been a while since I checked in. A friend of mine said, "You know, if you do a French tuck*, you can show off those belt buckles of yours. You're slim enough now."
I am not convinced this is the style for me (feels like I wasn't paying attention after pulling my pants up and accidentally buttoned them around my shirt), but damn if it didn't feel nice to actually be able to do it. So here I am, another almost 40 lbs. down, 39 to go. Three quarters of the way to goal.

* French tuck - you tuck in the front but not the back. I know no French people who do this, but maybe it's named after Tan France instead of France France.

Been a while since I checked in. A friend of mine said, "You know, if you do a French tuck*, you can show off those belt buckles of yours. You're slim enough now."
I am not convinced this is the style for me (feels like I wasn't paying attention after pulling my pants up and accidentally buttoned them around my shirt), but damn if it didn't feel nice to actually be able to do it. So here I am, another almost 40 lbs. down, 39 to go. Three quarters of the way to goal.

* French tuck - you tuck in the front but not the back. I know no French people who do this, but maybe it's named after Tan France instead of France France.

I had a two-day athletic seminar this weekend with a bunch of people I've never met. We were asked to tell our story, so I told my story about struggling with weight loss, getting WLS, and trying to maintain strength through the weight loss. Afterwards a few of the participants said, "I would never have guessed you were heavy before. You could never tell now."
Like a (refreshing) splash of cold Water because I of course remember myself as the fat kid.

I'm not sure why you can't go out to eat. I go out to eat, and I'm not even five months out from surgery. I just order what I want and ask the server to bring a to-go box at the same time as the plate. I portion out what I think I'm going to eat and put the rest in the box. Or I just order an appetizer if there's one that looks good to me.
I definitely am eating more than 4 oz. of food at a time, and I'm still losing 2-3 lbs. a week.
I agree with others that it's probably time for you to look for someone to talk to about your pining for the old days. Because what's done is done. "Stomach stretching" takes years if it happens at all—and there are plenty of WLS veterans on this very board who, three or five or even ten years later, have reduced appetite.

I'm not sure why you can't go out to eat. I go out to eat, and I'm not even five months out from surgery. I just order what I want and ask the server to bring a to-go box at the same time as the plate. I portion out what I think I'm going to eat and put the rest in the box. Or I just order an appetizer if there's one that looks good to me.
I definitely am eating more than 4 oz. of food at a time, and I'm still losing 2-3 lbs. a week.
I agree with others that it's probably time for you to look for someone to talk to about your pining for the old days. Because what's done is done. "Stomach stretching" takes years if it happens at all—and there are plenty of WLS veterans on this very board who, three or five or even ten years later, have reduced appetite.

I love the chocolate and vanilla 26g Core Power ones... I've got four cases hoarded away.

I love the chocolate and vanilla 26g Core Power ones... I've got four cases hoarded away.

I'm not sure why you can't go out to eat. I go out to eat, and I'm not even five months out from surgery. I just order what I want and ask the server to bring a to-go box at the same time as the plate. I portion out what I think I'm going to eat and put the rest in the box. Or I just order an appetizer if there's one that looks good to me.
I definitely am eating more than 4 oz. of food at a time, and I'm still losing 2-3 lbs. a week.
I agree with others that it's probably time for you to look for someone to talk to about your pining for the old days. Because what's done is done. "Stomach stretching" takes years if it happens at all—and there are plenty of WLS veterans on this very board who, three or five or even ten years later, have reduced appetite.

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.

And it’s not any more accurate than the BMI is. The only way to get your actual BMR is taking a BMR test and breathing into the tube.

But your insurance company is going to insist on seeing your weight in order to keep paying the surgeon follow ups, which means your surgeon will be weighing you.

it’s just a number. A data point. It doesn’t define you, but it does have value.

And it’s not any more accurate than the BMI is. The only way to get your actual BMR is taking a BMR test and breathing into the tube.

But your insurance company is going to insist on seeing your weight in order to keep paying the surgeon follow ups, which means your surgeon will be weighing you.

it’s just a number. A data point. It doesn’t define you, but it does have value.

I literally force my watch sometimes... scroll to Workouts, start the workout, because I want the credit!

I literally force my watch sometimes... scroll to Workouts, start the workout, because I want the credit!