Today is my birthday...normally a cause for celebration...but today I am sad. I never realized how much food was involved in my birthday celebration. I am currently 4 weeks post-op and can't really enjoy any of the foods normally associated with a birthday.

• No steak and baked potato or pizza for dinner.
• No buttered popcorn and coke at a movie.
• No cake and ice cream after the gifts.

I know that having the sleeve surgery was my decision and I don't regret it in the least, but it is going to take some time for me to not emotionally want food. I made it through Thanksgiving just fine (which occurred 1 week after my surgery) and don't feel the food pressures of Christmas either. However, my birthday is a different story and I am struggling.

Would love some support from my fellow Bariatric Pals today.

From someone who is 16 months out, believe me when I say it's not always going to be that way.

My grown sons birthday was yesterday. We went out to eat, where I made a healthy but delicious choice of a honey Chipotle salmon with vegetables and took the rest home for lunch today. Then we went home where he wanted his favorite ice cream cake, and I had a tiny sliver and sent the rest home with him. I knew I was going to, so I ate light most of the day to save up the calories. No harm, no foul.

Always remember that things will be different 6 months, 12 months, 2 years from now. It is possible to live a relatively normal life with the sleeve. Even for birthdays

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to you! I understand how you feel. I really do. Try not to let it bother you too much. Look at not having those things as the beginning of a new life. You will be just fine without it.

@@Fatty McFatster,

My dear FMF, you don't need cake and ice cream when you can have a birthday kiss on the noggin from moi. Or, to put it another way, "Pick one." [And be careful of what you say.]

Many more to you.

@@liannatx, a very merry UnBirthday to you! Only a day late. Don't be shy next year, okay?

He picked the kiss and I gave it to him on your behalf!! Heheehe

Happy Birthday my love!!!! Find comfort in knowing that we are going through this journey together. If we get through you birthday without eating all that bad stuff then maybe we will be fit enough to take an awesome hike on mine in May!!! ????????????

Happy Birthday!! Reflect on all the physical things you couldn't do last Birthday, that your able to do this Birthday. I know you already listed a bunch of them on a progress thread, I hope you didn't forget them already. Your not being able to eat certain foods will seem very minor in comparison to all the scale and non scale victories. Have a great Birthday!!

I know it's tough, but looking at the big picture, those foods didn't really represent comfort. What they really represent is bad health and aching joints and pain, both internal and external. It's true what they say about "a moment on the lips, but a lifetime on the hips" or any other place on the body you so choose.

What you're giving up in exchange for extra years in your life cannot compare. Hang in there and here's wishing you a very happy birthday!

You always know what to say in a positive manner. Thanks so much for your encouraging and supportive posts. They are always much appreciated.

And thanks for the birthday wishes!!!

Thanks so much! That was very kind of you to say. I have always appreciated your encouragement as well. ????

Happy Birthday!

For me, it helps to focus on what I CAN have instead of what I can't. I hope you can find a way to treat yourself that is healthy.

@@Fatty McFatster

Have a Hunt's brand sugar free pudding. The chocolate is good. It is thick like homemade pudding.

Don't get Jello brand, theirs is thin and just not worth it.

Now, don't just "have" the pudding. EXPERIENCE the pudding. Peel the lid off slowly, smell the pudding, inhale deeply.

Take a small bit on a spoon and put it in your mouth and turn it over, using your tongue to get it off the spoon. Move it all around in your mouth, feel it, taste it, sense it. Swallow it.

Repeat.

Or smear it all over your wife and lick it off her.

Now isn't that better than popcorn and a movie???

@@Fatty McFatster,

My dear FMF, you don't need cake and ice cream when you can have a birthday kiss on the noggin from moi. Or, to put it another way, "Pick one." [And be careful of what you say.]

Many more to you.

@@liannatx, a very merry UnBirthday to you! Only a day late. Don't be shy next year, okay?

First off Happy Birthday!! It is a day to celebrate!!! It's the first Birthday of the New You!!

2ndly - I can empathize with you. I was feeling exactly like you felt when my birthday came around. I was 3 months post op and even though I could eat food I couldn't eat the way that I used to. My husband and I went out to my favorite Italian restaurant and I had 2 bites off of his plate and called it good. I couldn't eat the entire plate full, plus have my favorite desert and 2 or 3 glasses of wine. I was a little sad by it. BUT... after dinner when I got home and put on my Medium pajama pants I didn't feel so bad anymore. (I have always been an XL or a XXL) Also, when I realized that my gut didn't hurt from over stuffing it like it usually does, the feeling bad got a little better.

I was also a best friend to food and will admit that still sometimes when I see others eat it makes me a little sad but it gets much better over time. You are still going through the hormone crazy phase and once that passes you will feel so much better.

Good Luck and do something special for you on your Birthday like buying that item you have been eyeing or if you are like me binge watch some show on Netflix

I had my operation two days before my birthday this year. Definitely couldn't Celebrate but it was worth it.

Happy Birthday!

From someone who is 16 months out, believe me when I say it's not always going to be that way.

My grown sons birthday was yesterday. We went out to eat, where I made a healthy but delicious choice of a honey Chipotle salmon with vegetables and took the rest home for lunch today. Then we went home where he wanted his favorite ice cream cake, and I had a tiny sliver and sent the rest home with him. I knew I was going to, so I ate light most of the day to save up the calories. No harm, no foul.

Always remember that things will be different 6 months, 12 months, 2 years from now. It is possible to live a relatively normal life with the sleeve. Even for birthdays

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to you! I understand how you feel. I really do. Try not to let it bother you too much. Look at not having those things as the beginning of a new life. You will be just fine without it.

Happy Birthday my love!!!! Find comfort in knowing that we are going through this journey together. If we get through you birthday without eating all that bad stuff then maybe we will be fit enough to take an awesome hike on mine in May!!!

Happy Birthday!! Reflect on all the physical things you couldn't do last Birthday, that your able to do this Birthday. I know you already listed a bunch of them on a progress thread, I hope you didn't forget them already. Your not being able to eat certain foods will seem very minor in comparison to all the scale and non scale victories. Have a great Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!

For me, it helps to focus on what I CAN have instead of what I can't. I hope you can find a way to treat yourself that is healthy.

@@Fatty McFatster

Have a Hunt's brand sugar free pudding. The chocolate is good. It is thick like homemade pudding.

Don't get Jello brand, theirs is thin and just not worth it.

Now, don't just "have" the pudding. EXPERIENCE the pudding. Peel the lid off slowly, smell the pudding, inhale deeply.

Take a small bit on a spoon and put it in your mouth and turn it over, using your tongue to get it off the spoon. Move it all around in your mouth, feel it, taste it, sense it. Swallow it.

Repeat.

Or smear it all over your wife and lick it off her.

Now isn't that better than popcorn and a movie???

Thank you all so very much. You have each helped brighten my birthday and I really appreciate that.

My wife also made it very special. She picked up a steak and baked potato and I pureed it and had about 2oz of steak and 1/4 of a baked potato. She also went out and bought 1 small cupcake at a local bakery and I was able to eat a couple of bites of it. So, I was able to eat almost everything I wanted, but on a much smaller scale...which was perfect!!!

Thanks again everyone!!!

Happy Birthday my love!!!! Find comfort in knowing that we are going through this journey together. If we get through you birthday without eating all that bad stuff then maybe we will be fit enough to take an awesome hike on mine in May!!!

You are the best!! Thanks for making it special just by being you.

@@Fatty McFatster,

My dear FMF, you don't need cake and ice cream when you can have a birthday kiss on the noggin from moi. Or, to put it another way, "Pick one." [And be careful of what you say.]

Many more to you.

@@liannatx, a very merry UnBirthday to you! Only a day late. Don't be shy next year, okay?

He picked the kiss and I gave it to him on your behalf!! Heheehe

Thank you! I'm so glad you could make it real.

Between you and me, F2P, the idea of steak and potato in the blender makes me queasy. A thousand years ago when I was inpatient for appendectomy, I felt hungry after a couple of days on IV and suggested pizza in a blender. It sounded okay then, but queasy-making now.

You are a loving partner and he's lucky. I've seen your screen name around, but not the Kentucky connection. I wish you both all the best as partners in crime and all else.

Edited December 22, 201510 yr by WLSResources/ClothingExch

@@Fatty McFatster,

My dear FMF, you don't need cake and ice cream when you can have a birthday kiss on the noggin from moi. Or, to put it another way, "Pick one." [And be careful of what you say.]

Many more to you.

@@liannatx, a very merry UnBirthday to you! Only a day late. Don't be shy next year, okay?

He picked the kiss and I gave it to him on your behalf!! Heheehe

Thank you! I'm so glad you could make it real.

Between you and me, F2P, the idea of steak and potato in the blender makes me queasy. A thousand years ago when I was inpatient for appendectomy, I felt hungry after a couple of days on IV and suggested pizza in a blender. It sounded okay then, but queasy-making now.

You are a loving partner and he's lucky. I've seen your screen name around, but not the Kentucky connection. I wish you both all the best as partners in crime and all else.

It actually wasn't that bad. Tasted good to me. lol.

I was farther out when I had my birthday and actually contemplated getting a cupcake. I thought if I do, one of three things would happen: I would love it, I would hate it, or it would make me sick. I figured that none of those options were good so I skipped it entirely. It's great that a couple of bites got you through.

I was farther out when I had my birthday and actually contemplated getting a cupcake. I thought if I do, one of three things would happen: I would love it, I would hate it, or it would make me sick. I figured that none of those options were good so I skipped it entirely. It's great that a couple of bites got you through.

It was good, but the frosting was way too sweet and kind of made me nauseous …which I am actually happy about. Makes me not crave it so much.

Well Happy Belated Birthday!

I had my break up with food a long time ago, long before this surgery. Someone told me long ago, FOOD is not your friend.

Yes, food it always there in good and bad times. But not like a good friend ought to be. It's the one who causes the damn problems in your life just so she can stick around and say I am here for you. A true friend would have your back. FOOD is selfish and all about what it can get out of the relationship with you. It has made you think you need it (emotionally), when really it is the other way around. It has controlled the relationship for so long, now that it is your turn to exercise control, it is strange. Think about it this way, FOOD had been making sure your are the D.U.F.F. (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). And as long as she holds you in that position, people can covet her, look at her (cake, chocolate, pizza, etc.) rather than you. It is time to move out of the shadows of the title she gives you, make your own title, and put her in her place. Use her ass to lift you up (i.e. give you energy) rather than depend on her backstabbing ass to comfort you in the time of need she put you in.

Hey I know it is a little harsh, but it worked for me so I thought I would share.