I'm wondering what everyone thought was the hardest thing for them after their surgery. I haven't had mine yet but I expect not drinking while eating is going to be the hardest for me. I hate eating without first taking a sip of water before my meal. I don't like eating without refreshing my mouth first.

After so many years I still have problems with the fact that a lot of other people can eat so much more and stay thin. I want to scream UNFAIR, UNFAIR, UNFAIR!!

Then you know how people feel who have:

Diabetes

AIDS

Hep-C

Tuberculosis

STDs

Cancer

Alzheimer's

Nobody has it easy. Not even the skinny ones.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know only certain kinds of "hardest parts to deals with" are appreciated.

The two hardest things for me are: 1. I can't eat more than about 1,000 a day or I start gaining and that's even with regular exercise. I have seen 3 different nutritionists and they were surprised, but that is indeed the case. The only carbs I ingest are eitherr in the form of fruits, veggies or beer (yes, beer, see my other post!). I don't eat bread, I don't eat Pasta, I don't eat rice, I don't eat processed foods any kind. I don't eat any sweets except fruits and that's pretty much just in the summer when they are ripe--I do eat a lot of waterrmelon, it does have quite a bit of sugar, but also lots of Fiber so it's considered low glycemic and is 50 calories in a cup. I pretty much stick to lean proteins--most fish. I eat one of those giant bags of spinach from costco every week, I saute it so that I can eat a larger portion, raw it's too bulky. One of the realities of losing weight after being heavy most of your adult life (whether you lose with a sleeve or WW or anything) is that for some of us, your metabolism may not be your friend. I've had my tested pre and post surgery and despite all the exercise, my metabollic rate went down after surgery and has stayed down. Being restricted to such few calories can make life difficult. I was downed with foot surgery for several months and the pounds just started rolling in. I"m back at the exercise now, but I have accepted the reality that I have to exercise every day to maintain my weight loss. Number 2: I'm with the OP with the liquids. I still cannot drink and eat in the same space of time. I can have a little sip, but that's about it. I have my beer for dessert! I have no regrets, I'd do the surgery all over again and would recommend it to anyone.

Thank you for all your input.

Late to the party but hardest for me is loosing the "sexiness" of loosing!

Loosing is AWESOME--motivating as hell, new victories all the time. Life changing ones!

Then is real life--maintenance. And it's boring as hell.

For me, the hardest part was the pre-op diet. My 2.5 years post-op have been easy, somehow.

The sleeve is the tool I've always needed and it's continued to work. I'm now focused on healthy eating and exercise.

I'm not a veteran (6 months out and just hitting my stride) but I will say buffets suck now. I went to three this weekend (1 wedding, 1 retirement party, 1 work lunch) and instead of just happily loading my plate with any and everything and going back for 2nds (and 3rds and 4ths if I was feeling particularly hungry) I have to take a walk around the food bar and mentally decide what's going to go on my plate and how much I should portion it out.

The wedding buffet was at the Golden Corral (don't ask). The adult price was $15. HELL NO I am not paying $15 to eat one single plate of food! I was able to negotiate the kid's price (highly recommended) and I ate prime rib, seafood, and a couple scoops of veggies.

I've decided my strategy is to ask for the lowest price possible and select the most expensive and highest Protein options available. Seemed to work out fine but it was still hard seeing all the mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, rolls, pastries, cakes, pies, Cookies, stuffing, and fried chicken piled in enticing heaps all over.

See now I love buffets... I look at them differently. Since I can literally put one bite of like 10 different things I look at it as paying for the choice of variety! Normally I can only chose one thing or even no things (I usually eat off my kids and husbands plate).

Late to the party but hardest for me is loosing the "sexiness" of loosing!

Loosing is AWESOME--motivating as hell, new victories all the time. Life changing ones!

Then is real life--maintenance. And it's boring as hell.

This this this!! ^^^^^^^^^^

I recent!y discovered that women are judged based on their appearance no matter what size they are. Somehow I thought becoming a heathy weight would make me blend in and not be targeted. Not the case. I've learned a heck of a lot about how shallow some people really are. The mental aspect is most difficult for me.

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In the early stages, the preop diet was the hardest.

Now, I would say that maintenance after about 3 years post op got really hard! I am 4.5 years post op and can eat alot more and really have to work it continually.

I recent!y discovered that women are judged based on their appearance no matter what size they are. Somehow I thought becoming a heathy weight would make me blend in and not be targeted. Not the case. I've learned a heck of a lot about how shallow some people really are. The mental aspect is most difficult for me.

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Oh, yeah!

I recent!y discovered that women are judged based on their appearance no matter what size they are. Somehow I thought becoming a heathy weight would make me blend in and not be targeted. Not the case. I've learned a heck of a lot about how shallow some people really are. The mental aspect is most difficult for me.

Sent from my KFFOWI using the BariatricPal App

Very interesting observation. Kind of goes along with this post: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/364502-does-your-lady-feel-safe-what-do-women-want/

I am almost 14 months out. I have been at/below goal since January. My goal weight set by the doctor was 135-145. I am now at 126. During the "losing" process, the hardest part was not getting frustrated during the stalls. I had MANY! Now, it is just trying to find the balance.

As a person with the Lap Band procedure, the hardest part was the 2-3 months following surgery where the band was not doing anything, and I was forced to adhere to the traditional diet techniques (been there done that and failed)

Then after the band was properly adjusted, I had to learn how to live a new way, and let go of the old.

Big learning curve, most by trial and error with not to pleasant results