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Just thought I would share a bit of humor. First and foremost remember, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent". I am 9 months out of surgery, and have now lost 230 lbs. and losing. It is quite a change. So I get home from work on evening and step out of my car and a lady in our neighborhood, whom I have known from a distance for 20 years, is walking her dog as she does everyday. She stops in front of my house and looks at me and this is how the conversation goes...... HER - Are you the same person? The same person who has lived here for years? ME - Yes it's me, how are you doing? HER - YOU HAVE LOST SO MUCH WEIGHT! YOU WERE SO BIG! ME - Yes, thank you, I have lost quite a bit of weight. HER - (throwing her arms out as if she was being nailed to a cross) BUT YOU WERE SO BIG! YOU WERE HUGE! And now you look great. How much have you lost? ME - 228 lbs. HER - THAT IS AMAZING! (she had such an excited look on your face) How did you do it? ME - I had surgery. HER - Oh! (and her face deflated, and she looked down her nose with disapproval) These people think we have cheated because we had surgery, or took the easy way out. Little do they know. LOL! I swear I get that reaction so many times when I mention surgery. I am not one to lie, but I think this is going to start being my response to that question we all get of "how did you do it?" My Answer Will Be - I drink a Coke and have chocolate everyday, and eat pasta at least three times a week. At least the look on their faces will be better than that look of disapproval.

Dragon....you and your wife should research these two questions: What percentage of people who lose weight with diet/exercise alone keep the weight off for five years? What percentage of people who lose weight with surgery keep the weight off after five years? When you find the answers, you'll know with certainty the best course of action.

Taking things slow. Very slow!! It hurts sometimes to move around but eating wise egg drop soup is my fave Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app

A year ago I would have agreed with this whole heartedly. I hate when people lie about liking foods they don't like...and when they lie about not missing/wanting the foods they were so attached to...they got fat on them. I have always been someone who prefers ugly truths to pretty lies. I love food. Food and I have a deeply intimate attachment. THAT SAID... I've gotta disagree with summerset on this point. I think there are a wide ranges of experiences and I'm absolutely shocked to have had a different experience than what I anticipated. There are a lot of foods I used to use for comfort...that I have turned to for comfort again (yep, I'll admit I have...in carefully measured quantities...I still wanted the stress relief and comfort of eating them on occasion) Something in my physiology has changed. They don't work anymore. And it makes me kinda freaked out. Sometimes I feel like something akin to an alcoholic in a warehouse full of beer. No matter how many bottles I pop open and take a swig....it's not beer anymore.....it all tastes like iced tea...and I don't WANT iced tea. I can take a bite of chicken pot pie, or donut, or BigMac, or chocolate turtle pie....stuff I used to freakin LOVE....and it fails to bring that little release of serotonin like it always has. It fails to caress my insides like love. it doesn't make me feel better. It just goes down empty and makes me feel both stupid (for doing it) and sad (because the sensation is missing...the relief is missing) The up side...is that it's not hard to stop. Who wants more than a bite or two of abject disappointment? I'm running fewer experiments. If a bite of donut doesn't work, a bite a cake isn't likely to, so why bother? I'm not saying I didn't LOVE eating this stuff before...I'm not saying I feel accomplished to have "conquered it"...cause that's not it...I don't feel like that. I'm saying that it kinda scares me and upsets me that it doesn't do much for me anymore. The magic is gone. Something CHANGED. My guts or parts of my brain involved with eating....feel alien. I think there's more than meets the eye...to what happens to people with these procedures. And I think individual experiences vary widely. I never expected to feel like this.

What Kim said. It does get easier. When I gave up smoking years ago the first 3 days were pretty miserable. You'll get over that hump and it won't be so bad. It was the same with the liquid diet. Hey...at least you get a bar! I would have cut someone for a packet of saltines after the first week. You got this!

I don't think I would micro-analyze this. Just make sure you meet your daily fluid requirements. During the first few weeks some people find it difficult to meet their fluid and protein goals. This is because their stomach is in a major heal mode. Just keep working towards those goals. I never had a daily fluid upper limit, and as far as I can determine, I turned out fine.

Yes. The one by my house is amazing. It changed everything for me. It was my dinner for a week. Lol. Now in suppose to be on purred foods but everything has been going great so I'm doing soft foods. My next apt is on Friday. So I hope he doesn't get to mad at me. I've done what everyone said. Dont push it and pay attention to ur stomach which I do. Sent from my SM-N920P using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you, Tealael and Alex. Alex, would it be possible to remove the two hour time limit for editing posts? I was in a bad mood yesterday and I was running my mouth. I'd like to remove some of the things I said.

For me, a considerable part of my motivation for not going back to previous eating habits is actually the sheer amount of money I've been able to save not eating out since before and after my surgery. I would eat lunch and dinner out several times a week which made losing weight and saving money difficult. Your body will also help you through the process - I still find myself craving sweet things from time to time, but I'm also satisfied with just a bite and not the bag.

Don't beat yourself up. Obesity is a multi factorial disease. It is caused by many things. Eating habits, activity level, genetics, gut microbes, hormones and who knows what else. The medical community can't even tell us exactly why weight loss surgery works. We just know that it is the most effective treatment that we have at the moment. Everyone is different. Don't compare yourself with anyone else. I also believe that stress is a big contributor as it affects our hormones and our genes. I still see my bariatric nutritionist at 20 months out and have no plans to stop because we have to be diligent and do everything we can to fight this disease. If you have access to one, I would highly recommend doing that because you are right, there is so much misinformation and information that does not pertain to us out there. Time and time again I have found her information to be spot on. She reels me in back to nutrition and away from the confusion. Also, I have said it before and I still believe that if we get to a point where we feel like we are loosing control, reaching out for psychological help is a good thing. It can't hurt and I've seen many people who said they were so glad they did. You can do this.