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So, I feel funny writing about this, but...has anyone else ever experienced a negative change in their social life post-op? I had my surgery back in January. Although my physical health has made drastic improvements, I'm afraid my mental health has taken a toll. I noticed people have been treating me very differently since having the surgery. I've been getting so many rude comments, I can't keep up. They think I "took the easy way out (not realizing it was actually quite the opposite: the last resort)," and/or are freaked out by all my new eating habits and restrictions or are saying cruel things like "oh, you'll just gain it back like so-and-so did anyway, you watch." A lot of them have also proceeded to claim my changed appearance "weirds them out." Some of my now ex-friends have even gone so far to complain that I "betrayed the body positivity movement by giving into society's expectations of what women should look like." What the actual heck? Even dating, something I thought would get better as I lost weight, is just as bad as it was before. Since I can't drink alcohol anymore or eat a lot of foods, guys have been pretty hostile. Although I've been private about my surgery while dating (simply stating I have a strict diet I need to follow), that hasn't stopped guys from being mean or rude. Bottom line here is I've lost a lot of friends this past year and my love life is no better than it was. I'm extremely lonely and depressed. Has anyone else ever encountered this? What can I do to change it? Why is there so much social stigma towards this surgery?

Congratulations! Keep it up. Tek

Thank you ! And good luck on your surgery and a speedy recovery! Sent from my SM-G781U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had my surgery on the 29th October. Im feeling so great and feel light. Best advice is to walk and walk in hospital, to get rid of gas, my only discomfort at start. I weighted 101kg and am now on day 3 and weight 96kg. Its good to weight once a week, so thats my goal mark. Drinking my fluids sip by sip, and vitamins, fiber in my fluids. Looking foward to seeing the progress, so exciting Sent from my SM-A205YN using BariatricPal mobile app

Wow, congratulations! You look amazing. ☺️

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your recent surgery (mine is this afternoon!) I am a water guzzler, too, and am curious how that's going to go Glad you have such a great support system. Best of luck to you on your journey!

Im taking the women's multivitamins atm, natures way, the pharmacist suggested it Sent from my SM-A205YN using BariatricPal mobile app

We had guests last week, my brother-in-law and his wife. I am close to both as is my husband so they knew about my WLS. I didn't mind the questions about what my guidelines were as they seemed to be out of interest. However, my brother-in-law and husband are both "bossy" and I found the dominant question being "Are you supposed to be eating that?" or "How much of that are you allowed to eat?" I recently graduated to regular food and was pretty much sticking to my quantity requirements so I had many "to go" containers in the refrigerator of my leftovers. If I deviated from my quantity requirements, I paid for it in misery but it was a reinforcement of why we have guidelines. I got lectures about how my brother-in-law lost weight and his exercise regimen. I wouldn't mind it if he were just "sharing", however, I was getting what I perceived aslectures at the end of their visit. I know that he cares and I have to take his personality into account so I am taking what I like and leaving the rest. With two of them (my husband and brother-in-law) at the table, it was a bit much but at least my husband kept reminding our guests that I had to eat every 3 hours. I know that people who do this sort of thing are uneducated about what it takes for us to meet our goals. It is a definite process and we have the tools. They cannot do it for us. If we could do what they have done to meet their goals, we wouldn't have been forced to take this major step. If we have people constantly telling us what to do then we won't know how to "self manage". I kept saying that I was in a "learning curve" and while I was making "mistakes", I was getting into a routine where the program was more intuitive. We have benefit of the knowledge telling us "what" and "why" and I don't mind educating but I don't want to keep explaining or justifying. I am tired of feeling, "less than" but it is hard for me to let people come to their own conclusions but I can't control others, I can only control how I react to them. All our lives people have thought they knew what was best for us. I am learning to say, "If I make a mistake, it is my mistake."

I have to say I really felt like crap the first 2 days in the hospital. I vomited several times and had a lot of nausea, but I up and walked as much as possible, and had very minimal pain. I'm actually a nurse (sahm now), and I can tell you the patients who do the best are the ones who get up as soon as possible after surgery and walk, walk, walk! Good luck to you on your surgery! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I get it. Sometimes that petty comes out. Good one! Especially, when it towards someone who makes someone feel bad about themselves. My mom always stated, you never look down on someone because you can always find yourself in their position.