pintsizedmallrat

My goal weight has shifted a couple times; my initial goal was 120 but when I kept losing, I moved it to 110 to account for any eventual regain. I'm below that right now, and am trying not to get under 100 because I'm already getting the "too thin" comments from family. I don't think having your goal weight change is uncommon; most of us have been overweight for so long that we don't have a good idea of what we looked like at that weight, or how we will feel at that size. I haven't weighed this little since I was 16 years old.

I use a fairly basic scale by Greater Goods I purchased from Amazon that was purported to be among the most accurate, and all I can say is that it does its job...I generally weigh almost exactly what I do at my surgeon's office at home.

I think the way most people use it refers to the difference between the volume of food you were able to consume pre-surgery and the comparatively tiny amount you can consume after surgery. It's definitely nothing gross; it's just that "ope better stop" feeling you get after a little bit of eating. Nothing gross about it; that's what the surgery is supposed to do.

I have a sleeve and am one of the "lucky" people who dump...it seems like any combination of alcohol with carbs is what causes it the worse, but potatoes and apples do it to me also. I've fainted a few times because of it.

I know everyone frames this sort of thing differently but telling yourself that the "thing" that makes you want to eat isn't you probably isn't productive. There is no little demon, there's just old habits that you had surgery to assist you in breaking. You are in charge of your decisions and choices. Empower yourself to make different ones.

Lap-Band has become a lot less popular over the last decade or so; not eliminating the ghrelin producing tissue means that you're far more likely to regain or have difficulty losing and complications. I think your story is more typical than not; everyone I've ever known who had a lap-band is bigger now than they were before they got it and many have had them removed.

I have the shoe problem; luckily kids' Doc Martens and Chuck Taylors are exactly the same, but a tad cheaper!

I am worried I am starting to have this issue also; I have gotten so small that I literally shrank my way out of the smallest size my favorite jeans come in, and I don't want to lose anymore because I am starting to have trouble finding clothes that are small enough in the adults' section, especially in nicer brands that run larger (I am very short, but I wear between a size 0-2). Even if I eat "whatever I want", my cravings tend to be for fruits and veggies and I still come in below that magic maintenance number of 1500 calories (my "lose" number was 1000). I've decided to add an additional protein shake every day between breakfast and lunch; we'll see how it goes. I was always so afraid I was going to end up falling short of my goal or gaining a bunch of it back so this is a weird situation I've found myself in.

If you like the glazed lemon loaf, the Tazo Vanilla Macaron is also lovely (it's black tea so it has a little caffeine). I really like the Republic of Tea Cuppa Chocolate teas (especially the strawberry). I don't think any straight "tea" that gets brewed is going to have any dietarily significant amount of calories or sugar as long as you don't add sugar/cream/milk to it (Chai tea concentrates and bottled teas can have a LOT of sugar, though!). I always just put a little Splenda in it.

I can buy bras at Target now instead of dropping almost $100 on "extended sizes". Ditto on clothing. I don't drink the fancy drinks at coffee places anymore, and drip coffee is less than half the price. I used to have a crazy Coke Zero and energy drink habit and at $2-$5 a pop, that was getting pricey...and now I carry a refillable water bottle.

Eat half, wait 20 minutes and if you still want more, eat the other half. You may find that you often don't.

You have to go into it looking at the surgery as a *tool* not a cure. A lot of the people who gain the weight back, as others have said, did not change their lifestyle. The surgery is permanent; you have to look at any behavioral changes you make as permanent as well. It's like that old saying, "If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got". I am 15 mos post op, and I am fully aware that if I were to slip back to old habits, I am absolutely capable of eating enough to gain back my weight, but I'm committed to doing this *for life*. My hair fell out between months 2 and 4 really badly, I lost MOST of my hair. It started growing back around the six month mark and I now have a lot more hair than I did even before the surgery. I have had some of the "weakness" others have had (specifically my grip is not as strong as it once was for things like opening jars). Considering I had dangerously high blood pressure (it's on the low end of normal now), sleep apnea (GONE 3 months after surgery), and was dangerously close to developing diabetes and knee problems, I would have the surgery again in a heartbeat. My only regret is that I didn't have it sooner. I am finally capable of doing everything I wanted to be able to do when I was fat and couldn't. That's worth the work. It's worth the sacrifice and if you want to make that change for yourself, YOU are worth it.

I've literally worn a bra (usually a soft, comfy sports bra) 24-7 unless I'm in the shower since my surgery, and I feel like it has helped quite a bit...I started doing it because one of my incisions after the surgery was right under my right breast and it was uncomfortable but I'm 15 mos out and still only go "all natural" if I'm in the bath or shower. My bra size has gone from a 42DD to a 32D so I havent had a lot of actual loss but they're "deflated" looking. If I suddenly came into a lot of money I might want to get a breast lift but it's low on my list of priorities (now...skin removal and a neck lift...those are a priority).

I once gained 3 pounds in a day by eating pickles! It's the salt, but my goodness.

I did, and it turned out it was due in part to acid reflux. Do you take an acid reducer?

I use the bariatric advantage multi chewy bites...they're sort of like a starburst texture, and they're the only ones that don't make me puke. One caveat with these is that they do not contain iron, calcium or magnesium, but they make calcium chews in the same chewy texture so I take both. For iron, I use BariMelts Iron + Vitamin C which dissolve in your mouth...they don't taste fantastic but they are easy on my stomach. I've always had problems being able to take iron supplements and these are the only ones that don't give me trouble. If you get them, I recommend the Strawberry Watermelon multi and the lemon calcium...the coconut calcium chews arent nearly as good.

I drink flavored coffee (brewed at home) with sugar free creamer or non dairy milk and Splenda. I never was a big Starbucks fancy drinks kind of person but I used to use the full-sugar creamer. Remember that anything you add to your coffee that has calories/carbs/etc needs to be logged, it's an easy trap to fall into to forget to do so.

Just a warning with this: if you drink too much liquid, do not go lie down immediately. This is how I ended up waking up coughing on stomach acid a month after my surgery.

My engagement ring (a year pre-op) was a 9; my wedding ring (a year POST op) is a 5. I got married at the end of September and it's already too big...ugh! I'd like to know when they're gonna start shrinking too!

I am 15 mos post op and I have definitely noticed my neck snapping back slowly as my weight loss has slowed. I take collagen and a hair-skin-nails supplement every day and I feel like that has helped, and I've also noticed it looks better the more hydrated I am. All of the above listed things will help with your hair, too--I had to basically get a buzz cut 4 months after my surgery because I lost 75% of my hair, but as it's grown back it's thicker than it was before my surgery. It's almost to my shoulders again in the back! Stick with your plan, eat your protein, make sure you're getting plenty of vitamins (especially zinc for your hair!). It will get better. This whole process is like going through puberty again sometimes with all the strange and confusing changes to our bodies but a lot of it is temporary!

Eat very, very slowly. Chew everything 20 times. Eat half what you think you want, wait a few minutes, eat more if you feel like you still can/should/want to. It's much easier to eat more because you're still hungry than it is to "un-eat" something and make yourself sick. I know it's hard at this stage but this is going to help a lot.

Sometimes the low sugar and the protein can have a diuretic effect. Sugar causes you to retain water and they might be shedding some of that.

It CAN make you hungry--I find that it tends to affect me in spells, I'll get the munchies with a vengeance for a week or so then it won't feel like it affects me at all (could be different strains, I live in a state where the "real stuff" is illegal so it's Delta 8, Delta 10, HHC, etc...Delta 10 seems like it gives me the munchies the worst so I avoid it. HHC seems like it's the least "munchie-genic"...since you live in a state where you're going to a real dispensary I would ask advice about what might help your symptoms and give you the least munchies.) I use it recreationally and for sleep...I've taken pretty much every prescription sleep aid out there and MJ has WAY less side effects and doesn't make me feel like I got hit by a truck when I wake up.

I am 15 months out from VSG so at this point I can visually tell what is an amount I can eat and what isn't...but it may be helpful to measure it if you aren't there yet. I would probably avoid potato/bread (aka stuffing) based dishes especially if you're someone who can't eat just one or two bites of something and call it good. Focus on white meat turkey (or your family's meat of choice) and any vegetables that aren't covered in butter/sauce. You know yourself and your "triggers" better than any of the rest of us can, you just have to listen to yourself and stick with what you know works for you.

This is probably a question better suited to your surgeon-- I'm sort of surprised they didn't go over that during your last visit. I was allowed to drink anything sugar free and very low in calories, so Propel would fit (I actually drank almost EXCLUSIVELY Propel after my surgery, in fact, so much I made myself hate it.)