Does anyone else hate the way they feel after they eat? That over full bloated yucky feeling inside your chest. I hate that we cannot drink while we eat... that has always helped wash down my food before surgery. I get so I don't even want to eat because of the way I feel. How does everyone else feel? I tried to eat slow but with my life everything's so hectic that I don't have time to stop and chew and chew and chew...

Thanks, Kimpossible. I may have turned the corner ever so slightly just since writing that. I need to hear that it gets better. All good to know! Thanks!

Don't know whether to laugh or b***h-slap some of you.

Do you actually expect that your post-op experience 3 weeks post-op, 6 weeks post-op, 10 weeks post-op ... etc. is what your life is going to be like forever?

Have you not noticed how much your experience has already changed from when you were more newly operated on?

Why wouldn't you expect your enjoyment of food to change? For those of you who think you'll always hate food, go find some threads about how people 2 years out are struggling to lose the 10-20 pounds they just gained because they're enjoying food too much.

My major point is this: Every stage of this journey is different than the ones before or after it. My "job" during this journey is to learn what I can from the stage I'm in, maximize the benefits of that stage, and minimize the threats of that stage.

And yes, of course, we all like to rant sometimes. But jeez ... if temporarily missing the joy of food is really so terrible, then go buy some Ben & Jerry's and slurp that down.

Sorry, but this rant comes to you from a 68-year-old who wishes she'd had the opportunity to change her life 30 years ago with VSG surgery like some of you guys now have a chance to do.

That was rather passive aggressive.

Sometimes the truth hurts.

The old days are gone.

This is a whole new ball game.

Do your best each day.

Celebrate each day.

Celebrate your accomplishments.

All of us are courageous for having this surgery.

I celebrate each and every day that I am alive and healthy.

Think about where you were before surgery.

Obese, miserable, etc.,

Move it forward, not back.