Danijela

October 2023 will mark my 10 years sleeve anniversary. 🙏🏻🙌🏻👏🏻
I am going to be 53 April 2023 and I’ve never felt or looked better in my life!!
This was ONE OF THE BEST decisions I ever made for ME!
I did my first fitness competition last year and took second place in the Transformations Category.
Nothing is “Impossible” the word itself tells you “I’m possible”!

I’m not that old (I’m 39) but when I went to Starbucks the other day the guy at the counter greeted me by name. I was taken aback a bit but just took my coffee and smiled… but I’m so blah at 6 am that I’m just not focused enough to notice details like that.

i got to work and one of my students noticed there was a heart and a phone number on my Starbucks cup. 😱
i teach fifth grade so you can imagine how crazy the girls went over the information that the Starbucks guy has a crush on their teacher 🤦🏼‍♀️.

it is odd when you’ve gone your whole life with men never looking at you like that 🤷🏼‍♀️

I hit 10k steps twice this week. I could not hit that twice a year before surgery.

Wearing shorts without chaffing... much 😁. I cant wait not to chafe at all!!!

Skyr, a type of yogurt, this has been my go to Protein food item and has been for the last 6 months being vegetarian and all. I don't consume protein powders or shakes and get most of my protein from Skyr and other vegetarian food groups.

heres mine me at my biggest of 425lbs, then a the full body was oct of 2013 and the head shot was new years eve

Before/ during (posted in another thread previously)

Creating a new thread because the other one has gotten really long.
So, here are my before and currents to keep the topic moving.

Current as of last week:

WOOHOO. Congrats! yea at my hospital they dont even let you lay down in the bed. I had to sit and sleep on a recliner and constantly had to go walking around the floor.

Just be honest with them...if they have a nasty opinion, that's on them not you. You are trying to better yourself and that's all you need to worry about.

Sent from my SM-G981V using BariatricPal mobile app

The problem with traditional dieting is that after you've lost weight, your body literally fights you to the death to put it back on. This has been scientifically proven. I'm sure this has something to do with the fact that humans have evolved to survive in a feast and famine environment throughout 99% of our history. Nowadays, the feast never ends. This is a relatively new phenomenon, and our bodies haven't had time to catch up yet from an evolutionary perspective. It's the reason why the lasting success rates of programs like Weight Watchers, etc are incredibly low. I believe the weight gain relapse odds plummet after two years of keeping the weight off. Most people don't have that much willpower. The only program besides surgery that I've seen truly work is Overeaters Anonymous, and that's for the people who truly work it. This generally means meetings multiple times a week, step work with a sponsor, service work, etc. It's a complete psychological and lifestyle change.
Give it another shot if you want, but one thing I'd say is to trust your track record rather than your emotions. It sounds like you've been dieting on and off forever. What'll make this time any different? If nothing changes, nothing changes. I don't think anyone here wanted to have surgery. We did it because we were at our wits end.
As for the people in your life who're telling you not to do it, ask yourself how much they really know about it. Like I used to, they probably think it's only for people big enough to be on TLC, super drastic, etc. It's really not, and frankly, I don't think anyone really needs a football sized stomach that produces tons of ghrelin in this day in age. It sounds like you've done a lot of research on the matter. You have a well-informed opinion, which means that you can disregard ones that aren't well-informed. A calculus student probably wouldn't take an algebra student seriously if the algebra student looked over his work and told him that it was all wrong. Btw, staying obese is generally far riskier than bariatric surgery. Diabetes, clogged arteries, high blood pressure, etc versus some very minor surgery risks. I don't know what your personal health situation is, so take what I just said with a grain of salt, but if a decent surgeon looks you over and says you're good to go, you're probably good to go.

You can always just say you had stomach surgery but not what kind. And if they insist on knowing which surgery and you don’t want to tell them I believe it is the hiatal hernia surgery that is very similar to WLS post op in terms of pain and diet. Double check that though.

I think people have given you good ideas. You will need to bring Protein Shakes or something, but there is likely going to be some sort of soft/mushy food you can eat. Talk to your nutritionist about what are some things likely to be on the menu you can eat. If there are Beans, for example, or soft cheese. I am not too sure what sorts of foods are common at German work functions LOL! I've heard some other Europeans on here talk about pate, so maybe that's something that would be there.

I'm gonna go old school - Take your shakes/protein Water and don't worry about it. If you're comfortable telling folks about the surgery, my experience at work events was that everyone was really cool with it and often went out of their way to accomodate me (not pushing food or making it awkward when I wasn't eating).

Tell them you're doing a cleanse? People love "fad" diets. lol

I had a company event not long after my surgery. I just told them I had food restrictions post operation. I didn't tell anyone what kind of surgery it was, but there were no questions and everyone was cool about it. It depends on how much they know, I guess. Everyone on my team knew I was out for surgery, though I never got into specifics. When asked, I just said gastrointestinal - a true statement, but also vague enough it could be anything as far as they knew, and that I had restrictions during the healing process. These were all pretty new colleagues and none were personal friends, so maybe they would have asked more questions if they were close friends.
Edited to add: You can always fake eating, if even saying the above is difficult. Put things on your plate, move them around. If there is anything you can eat, eat that and just play with the rest. Get a glass of wine and just never drink it.... that sort of thing.

Hello everyone,
I will have my surgery on the 25th of May. I am well prepared I think, the only thing that worries me at the moment is that 2 weeks after my operation I want to attend an important 3 day meeting. I will probably still be in the liquid phase. How do you gallantly get around questions from colleagues? Because you don't take anything at the buffet and you don't drink in the evening either. That's going to be really interesting, because I usually love eating and drinking with my colleagues and I'll probably have to think up some really good excuses.

Thanks 😊 Greetings from Europe!
Danijela

So what are you guys doing with your new found weight loss. New experiences, new obstacles overcome? This is what i did. Climbed a cliff in Bermuda, swam with a Dolphin. And tomorrow I go parasailing. All things I never did when I was heavy!!!

Unfortunately not everyone loses their appetite & hunger with the surgery. But food cravings tend to have a emotional cause. As you progress you’ll discover head hunger is very different from real hunger. For many of us real hunger doesn’t involve a craving for a specific food or food type (salty or sweet). If I’m craving something specifically I know it’s not real. Try drinking something warm like green or herbal tea if you’re allowed. Look for something g distracting to do.
The surgery stirs up a lot of emotions on many levels so it makes sense that you may crave foods that used to offer you some form of comfort. Even not being able to eat whenever & what ever you want can mess with you. Even the hormonal changes after the surgery can cause cravings. You may benefit from a chat with your therapist (if you were referred to one during your pre surgery process). Many find them very helpful to discover what drives their cravings & then work out strategies to manage them.
Remember your tummy is about 80% smaller so it takes very little to feel full but you won’t feel full until you’re on more solid foods. liquids & purées go through you more quickly so you have to be careful not to over eat.
Hunger pains are often excess stomach acid. Post surgery you may be producing more than your smaller tummy needs which is why many surgeons prescribe a PPI after surgery to reduce acid production. (Over the counter meds only soothe the symptoms not affect the cause.) You often just need to take them for a couple of months +/-. Hunger pains & a rumbling growling tummy often don’t mean you are hungry - it’s just your digestive process working.
Congrats on your surgery. All the best.

I'm pre-op still and can only speak from personal experience, but I think this is very common. There is a lot of shame and stigma attached to WLS, all of which is completely unnecessary. The idea that it is a last resort and that patients have "failed" at all other attempts prior to WLS, makes it seem like it is somehow a copout. But that really is not the truth. It is a tool, just like diets and pills and fasts and everything else and there is NO shame in putting another tool in your toolbelt to help you be healthy and well. (I'm of course not comparing WLS to these other methods, just explaining that they are all "tools" and should not carry inherent shame.) All that being said, you did what you needed to do for your won health and well being. Its completely ok and completely normal to question it, especially so early on. But give yourself lots of grace and be patient. It WILL get better and you ARE worth it.

Some plans encourage you to eat more than 1000 calories a day especially at your 11 weeks out. So don’t beat yourself up if you’ve had some days that you have. I bet even when you did you still didn’t eat the volume of food or at the same frequency as you did before surgery.
I was only advised portion sizes never calories. I started at 1/4 cup & worked up to almost a cup by goal. One of the most helpful strategies I still employ is to ask myself if I need the next bite or do I just want it. Coupled with trying to stop eating before I feel full. Eat slowly and never be afraid to put your cutlery down, push your plate away from you &/or sit back from the table.
Real hunger feels different to head hunger. Head hunger will go if I distract myself or delay eating for 30minutes or so or if I focus on drinking (warm is best). Real hunger persists. With head hunger I want a specific food or flavour (sweet, salty, etc.) but it often doesn’t satisfy the desire. With real hunger I just want food & nutritionally dense food satisfies it. I feel restless with real hunger like something is wrong. Head hunger usually affects my emotions - hangry or frustrated. Are you bored, stressed, frustrated or another emotion & is this what is driving you to eat? Are you eating out of habit or a time on the clock? A rumbling tummy often doesn’t mean you are hungry but it’s just your body digesting food. I rumble & grumble all day long but I’m not hungry. Stomach acid can make you think you’re hungry. PPIs can help with that.
Nutritionally dense food like Proteins are usually more filling than empty calorie, high sugar, high fat or highly processed foods.
Have a chat with your dietician.

well I started this journey with spinal stenosis, at 341 pounds, my back hurt so much, i thought i was going to have to retire, i could only walk about one hundred yards, then i hurt so bad, i would need to sit down, my feet were swelling, i was taking all kinds of medicine,

now, I only take flowmax, older male guy drugs, and that's it, My arthritis is almost gone, I can walk two miles no problem, blood pressure good, feet don't hurt.
now I'm down to 255, my weight loss has slowed, but now wearing XL shirts not 3 and 4 Xl, pants size 48 to size 40. if My skin was removed, I would be a 38 waist

here is me now, I am full of life again