qtdoll

OHH I have a ton of favorite snacks! I'll start from my MOST favorite but they're all great 1: The Only Bean Crunchy Roasted Edamame Beans. DELICIOUS. Absolute favorite, it feels like I'm chomping on spicy roasted peanuts but without the extra carbs & fat. This Sriracha flavor is incredible. They also have bigger family sized bags but I loved these personal baggies. 117 & very filing. I tend to only eat half of a bag _____________________________ 2: Mini Quest Bars. I've been living off of these! They're small, w 8g of protein & only 80cals. They're the perfect on-the-go snack. I always keep some in my bag & they're yummy. _____________________________ 3: Wicked Cutz Beef Jerky. I found these on the Celebrate Bariatric Vitamins website & they're delicious! 1oz is only 50cals. That's the lowest I've found so far. Better flavor than a lot of the more popular store brands _____________________________ 4: Protein Puffs. I save these specifically for my "junk food" cravings. They're a tiny bit higher in cals than I'm used to but 15g fills up a small side bowl. I usually pair it with another protein like turkey slices. It makes me feel like I'm cheating a bit. Super yummy! _____________________________ 4: Fiber Gourmet crackers. I love pairing these with tuna or the famous tiktok 'sushi bake' instead of rice. I get about 15g (8 crackers) & it's usually about 34 Calories. This brands other crackers are also delicious, they're just stored away rn _____________________________ 5: Chomp Beef Sticks. These are delicious, 90cals & CLEAN. Sugar free & the ingredients in these are great! Especially in comparison to others like Slim Jim's. I also keep these in my bag or chopped up in a Bento box when I don't have a way to measure 1oz of the other jerky. So good!

Prior to my surgery I watched a lot of 'VSG Fail' videos & I noticed many of them either hide the addiction, or assume the habits formed during the pre-op diet is enough to over-come the addiction. I'll be honest, my psych assessment consisted of this: Doctor: "do you have any psychiatric history?" Me: "Not since high school" Doctor: "& nothing since then?" Me: "nope" & that was it. It made me realize how easy it would have been to just lie my way into getting surgery if I had an addiction. (Luckily, I was being truthful) Just like most mental health discussions, I feel people would just rather keep things a secret or pretend it doesn't exist. It's such a hard thing to battle. Unfortunately I REGULARLY see people say they think the surgery will be the solution since there's now a physical barrier stopping them from binging. That link you posted is clearly proves it's not enough to fix a person. I wish more people knew this

Ohhhh maintenance calories! I haven't even thought about that. That's gonna be interesting to explore once I'm further out. And wow! Its incredible that you've gone from the 400's down to the 200's. What amazing accomplishments you've done. Well done. & I love that you're taking more photos now!

Oops I meant to imply that the honeymoon stage lasts 12months, not 10. That's what the Kaiser employee at my program told me at least! If anything, I hope it's 18 months lol

January is here! Good luck guys!!

I gained weight after surgery & stalled at the 2nd week mark. It's extremely frustrating, especially when youre following all of your doctors orders but you WILL break out of it! I'm 3mos out & I think I've dealt with 3 big stalls already. I promise if u keep going you will see results.

Just went on a walk. 2 laps around my local park used to exhaust me. I did 2 laps, it started to rain so I went home. I'm now continuing my workout at home. I still have SO much energy!

Ohhhh I don't like him already. He seems like the type that tells everyone to just lose weight as a solution for anything. He clearly didn't spend the 5mins to look over your medical history too. Wow

I had a whole day planned. Buffet, Chinese, burgers, everything. I was expecting to get my appointment a month or 2 after my surgeon called. He called & wanted me to get the surgery in 2 weeks & put me on a diet that day, which means I missed my big cheat day & tbh, I don't feel like I missed out on anything! I'm 3months out & im already enjoying foods I love (with moderation ofc) - it's not a 'forever goodbye' thing w food, it's more so a 'I'll see u later' thing

Yep, getting out of bed was extremely painful. It felt like my insides were tearing. I did bring it up to my Dr & he was not concerned -at all- I quickly learned yeah, it's part of the healing process for some of us. Sucks, but once that pain starts fading, it fades away fast!

I have this thing where I'll feel healthy & thinner at home but as soon as I'm in public where people look at me I'll feel HUGE. I'll see a skinny person & my thoughts go back to when I was 300lbs & just feel massive. Not in a sad, depressing way. My brain just tells me that's still my reality!

10lbs per month is still WAY better than the majority of the population. Plus you recognize eating sweets may be a problem. That's an easy solution! Esp now that the holidays are over. Keep at it, you still have 4 more 'honeymoon stage' months

I'm sticking to mostly protein. Chicken, honey ham & a tiny bit of roasted potatoes! My plate will be 80% protein. I'm skipping dessert tho

Ahh I didn't even think about how much easier shorter hair is too style! My longer fuller hair would sometimes take 2hrs to fully style. Maybe shorter hair will be a nice break haha

"worth the trade off" you're absolutely right!! I'm a bit bummed but being healthy is so much better ?

THANK YOU. I'm thinking I'm also gonna have to cut it short for the time being. Your visual representation makes me feel so much hopeful, thank u!

Thank you. My hair used to absolutely be part of my identity. I used to dye it so many colors & I had fun with it for so many years. So this is hitting me extra hard I think that's what I need to do, cut the ends that look thinner on hopes it looks like I have more volume. I think ranting here about it will relieve that stress . I just needed to tell someone so thanks u guys for listening

3 months out & my hair is falling out. The black & white photo was when I weighed 295. I had thick, amazing hair. The one on the right was this Christmas at 173lbs. Hair is definitely thinner & stringy. & I'm wearing it curly, it looks even thinner when I straighten it. I know this isn't permanent, I know it'll grow back eventually. But man its still upsetting What have you guys done to combat this? Or how to cope with hair loss?

I hope you're doing okay today!! ? My favorite puree dinner was Costco rotisserie chicken, low sodium black beans & chicken stock. I threw it all in the blender & it was delicious!! PLS let us know how you feel!

Take your biggest comfiest pants. I wore sweatpants that fit just right but they suddenly were so tight after the surgery because of all the gas they pumped in. Take your loosest fitting ones! Also, leave a throw pillow in the car. Compressing the incisions w it helped a TON while getting in & out of the car. Also using it at home helped a bunch. Makes moving around much easier I also got my surgery done w Kaiser & it was a great experience. I hope yours goes well too!

OH man being able to easily float in water was definitely the best part of being big hahaha

I received a lot of gifts cards for Christmas & they specifically noted its to buy clothes that fit, 'to help build my new wardrobe' It confirms that other people see the progress I've made. It made me very happy ?

Finally found a food I CANNOT tolerate. A donut. Gave myself a cheat day on Christmas, my family got donuts & decided to try one. I did not experience dumping but I did get a pretty bad stomach ache which I have not experienced since the pre-op days. It felt like a rock. I tolerate all food VERY well but I finally found my enemy. Fried yeasty dough lol. Glad I have a valid reason to stay away from them for good

Half a scrambled egg was my first real post-op meal & it was glorious. I savored every bit of it!!

I see you're on the lower end of the BMI scale when it comes to bariatric patients! I had a few "exceptions" too because I got down to a certain size. It seems it varies person to person