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In the five years prior to having the VSG I ate a total of three fast food meals. Two of those three were when I was in China and needed a place that had picture menus so I could just point to what I wanted since I speak only a few words of the language. The third meal was in London, and only because you were required to make a purchase to be able to use the restroom. This was during the time when I was in grad school and most of the eateries on campus were fast food. I had a bit of a snobbish attitude about it, but the bagels and pasta I was eating in its place did me no favors. In the nearly two years since having the VSG I've eaten numerous meals at fast food places, and worked my way down to a size 2/4 on a 5'8 frame. I grew up in Florida loving Chick-fil-a, and when one finally opened in my area of Los Angeles, I was pumped. It became my routine to go to the one near the gym after workouts and get a kids meal with nuggets, a fruit cup instead of fries, and a diet lemonade or milk in lieu of a soda. I also eat at El Pollo Loco fairly regularly now. One benefit of fast food places and other large chains is that they have all of their nutritional information on their websites, so you can quickly access it and make better choices. It can also be sobering to look up what you're craving and see how that one meal has more calories and carbs than you'd typically eat in a day (or in some cases, two). For me, cultivating sustainable habits has been the most critical for keeping the weight off, and a big part of that is informing myself about what I'm eating, tracking it, and planning. So I do eat ice cream and candy, but very rarely instead of regularly, and it doesn't have the impact that it would if I wasn't eating healthily the majority of the time and exercising regularly. During the first month post-op I was bombarded with cravings for fast food, despite having not eaten any regularly in years. It was like some strange lady moved into my mind, because the obsession for Papa Johns and Jack in the Box was completely bizarre to me. I even watched YouTube videos of fast food reviews, to consume it with my eyes and not my mouth, lol. I looked through the Instagram pictures of a donut shop I loved, and other similarly unhealthy eateries. Food was on my mind constantly. When you're only able to consume liquids, and the majority of commercials are for fast food places and highly caloric snacks, you can start to desire things you ordinarily wouldn't. As I wrote before, I never made any threads asking when I could eat x, y, or z, but I benefitted from others asking them and reading about horror stories. I knew it absolutely wasn't worth the risk, so I never ate any of the food I was obsessing over while healing. I eventually ate the breakfast from Jack in the Box that I'd been weirdly fascinated with during the first month of post-op - about 15 months after surgery, when I'd been in maintenance for months. It wasn't nearly as good as I'd thought it would be, and I have no desire to eat it again. Reading on here about how others also had head hunger helped me a lot. I knew it was common, and that I'd get through it, and I did. It's why those threads don't bother me one bit.

Can you find a part time seasonal job to help you reach this goal? YOU are worth every penny this is going to take. As far as saving for a wedding - think how much easier it will be to find a dress on a sale rack after you reach your healthier weight.

A stopped clock is also right 2x a day.

I cannot get enough watermelon. Like three ounces at one time. Is this good or bad for me. I am still eating my three ounces of Protein enough, but I crave watermelon. Any suggestions as to why?

Changing your relationship with food is the only way to be successful in this journey long term. If the sweets are still an issue for you (i.e., the temptation is too difficult to overcome), then you need to talk to a professional about it. The only way you are going to be successful is to do what you need to do regardless of what is around you or what other people are eating. Good luck!

Sleeves don't stretch though, they aren't really that elastic, I know because I can still eat/drink too fast and feel the pain. So many doctors will tell you that. Sleeves are really not that flexible, I know I live with one. I don't even know how to drill it home more than that. It won't stretch if it is done right, that is basically the cornerstone of the surgery. A stretched sleeve is a complication or a failure. It defeats the purpose. The sleeve has 2 major parts that help with weight loss, removing the stretchy part of the stomach reducing portions and creating restriction and also removing the stretchy part of the stomach removes ghrelin the hunger hormone. The part we are left with is more muscular than pouchy or stretchy. The last link you posted is about a full regular stomach (did you even read it, or look at the picture? It is written by an English major for a BroScience website). A full regular stomach will stretch because the whole stomach is stretchy. The stretch part of the stomach is removed with the sleeve. It is not with RNY or the Band. Most WLS information lumps all these surgeries together. It really does not seem like you understand how the sleeve works or what the surgery involves. It looks like you are still pre-op, if you are going to have the sleeve, you should do more research so you can understand how it works. If you have a sleeve you won't stretch it, you risk other complication like ruining your esophagus creating a pouch at the top of it that food is getting stuck in. This happens because a sleeve doesn't stretch. Like @BigViffer said, you can damage the valve at the bottom of your stomach and make it open fast but a sleeve does not stretch. Many sleevers confuse healing with stretching. The restriction you have at the beginning is not the restriction you will have forever. That is because it is not true restriction it is swelling. It takes a long time for internal swelling to go down and to be fully healed, 6 months at least, and this even applies to other things like a lot of plastic surgery. My restriction at 21 months is the same as 12 months. If I don't eat for a day or two my sleeve can get tight as a drum, or it can just randomly be tight. Most people complaining about stretched sleeves are eating sliders not dense protein. If they ever listen to advice and eat dense protein, of they discover they have restriction again. Finally the sleeve wasn't covered by insurance just a few years ago in the US and a lot of people with complications now went out of the country to have their surgery done. They have complications from bad sleeves and are having revisions in the US now because WLS is covered by insurance more than it used to be and also everyone is currently is required to have insurance in the US. A correctly formed sleeve will not stretch. A RNY pouch will stretch, the pouch created by the band will stretch and bands can slip. A properly made sleeve will not stretch. Healing is not stretching. Eating sliders is not stretching.

Not really ridiculous. Yes, our stomachs got smaller but our brains are still the same. It takes a while for the brain to catch up with the stomach. The sleeve isn't a quick fix. It's learning a whole new lifestyle & habits when it comes to eating. It won't be a quick fix to "change" or "adjust" the brain right away after surgery either. I believe people make posts about missing bad food because we're only human. It's okay to miss things you can't have anymore. People shouldn't be ashamed of asking questions even if you don't like the question. Height: 5'0" Weight for WLS consultation: 216 lbs. Surgery date: 2/13/17 Goal: -71 lbs for healthy BMI (about 145 lbs). Current weight: 174.2 lbs My profile picture is not me. It's my "FITspiration" body.

Before surgery liked EVERYTHING! My taste changed drastically... Dr told me it would return in few months. Today, 3 months later it has somewhat returned...

My favorite drink has become unsweetened iced tea. And it's great by itself but you can also add unflavored protein powder to it, which gives you some protein.

If you are stocking on food most people won't think of grabbing Protein powder so just get that when others leave it behind and you will be good Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App