Leaderboard

Guys! I need words of encouragement please. My surgery is next week and my anxiety is off the charts. I’m doing great on the preop diet( my doctor said 2 weeks protein shakes and clear sugar free liquids only? I’m not really nervous about the surgery. I’m nervous about life after, gas pains, and not being able to keep food down. Anyone who is post op, please share your experience. Thank you

Liquids go through your digestive system very quickly so you don’t really feel full on this stage. Also you’re nerve endings have been damaged during surgery so until they are healed your sense of feeling full is reduced. Consequently, it is even more important to keep to your plan & stick to the calories &/or portion size recommendations (& meet or try to meet your protein & fluid goals of course). You don’t want to put stress on your poor healing tummy & all those internal stitches & staples. Also it takes time for the full message to get through so when you feel full you’ll likely have had too much it’s one of the reasons we are encouraged to eat slowly. What you’re feeling is likely head hunger. Most of the area that signals hunger in our body was removed during the surgery. So if you are able to feel real hunger it would be very minimal. Many of us discover that real hunger feels different from the head hunger that used to drive us to eat. Personally I get restless. Working out why you want to eat (emotions, cravings, habit or actual hunger) is part of the challenge. Do you need to eat or do you just want to eat? There’s a big difference. Good luck & congrats on your surgery.

Oh Dear Lord I wouldn’t survive in your house!! The temptation! Looks so yummy!!

I had my surgery on August 2, 2021.

Surgery was four days ago. I am one with my Spanx.

😂😂😂😂😂 I’ve actually mentioned it on here before about all meeting up!! It would be fun!!

Like @ms.sss I too lost more than my original goal because it took a while for me to work out the calories I needed to maintain. That is the number of calories my body needs to function. Eat fewer calories, you lose weight. Eat more than your body needs, you’ll gain. I slowly increased the calories I was eating as I was physically able until I reached the number of calories I needed to maintain. I lost another 11odd kilos over a year after goal. Been happily sitting at about that weight (+/- 1kg) for about 9months. But I’m really still a newbie. Time will tell. I do have wriggle room if I do succumb to the 5 odd kilo rebound gain in years 2 or 3. Even though my BMI is on the lower end at around 18.7, I’m certainly not bony nor look undernourished. Honestly, you can look a little drawn when you get near your goal but it all seems to settle after a couple of months. Eating a little more: a few more carbs, vegetables, fruit, etc. all helps. A year ago, my uncle very kindly (not!) told my mother I looked like death. Now he tells me how great I look. As for looking older. I don’t think I do. Most importantly, I can actually see my real face now: cheekbones, jawline, eyes, etc. because there’s no fat distorting it shape. You may meet your goal, you may not or you may exceed it. Age, genetics, weight loss history, metabolic rate, etc. influence how much weight we can lose after surgery. But let’s be honest (some straight talking coming), in the end we control what we put in our mouths & that is the biggest influence on our weight. I think your weight is individual. Not just a number on a scale or a number you’re ‘supposed’ to be but how you feel in your own skin. Happy, healthy & enjoying life.

I"m tomorrow. Noon arrival at the hospital. Still talking myself in and out of it. I lost 50 pounds since January. I keep fighting with myself that if I lost that, I could lose the rest. Then I come to my senses and realize I've been doing this for a good 40 years. Not the first time I lost weight. It doesn't stay off so I *need* this tool. Right? Right!

On some of these I don't recall if they were a pre-op goal or not: Health issues resolved; New health issues revealed; Buying normal sized clothes; Riding rides (I was way too large). Boy have I ridden the rides; Getting into a bathtub. With room for my wife; I wanted to run, just to do it. I ran 5 marathons, one of which was the San Francisco Marathon where I got to run across the Golden Gate bridge; Chairs no longer vex me. Flying is an option without the belt-extender parade; Horseback riding with wife on vacation; Kayaking on vacation; Sex. There, I said it; I now do housework and all the cooking; Rode a bike to work for a few years; Can tie my own shoes while I am standing; Honestly, so many things of which I never thought; I wanted to dance but I still lack rhythm. Weight loss doesn't solve everything; Kids still make me anxious. People no longer walk into walls, poles, etc. staring at me. People don't automatically get out of my way now. I wanted to dump, and I do. Occasionally it's a real pain in my arse. Good luck, Tek

So many! My surgery is in about two weeks and I feel like I need to make a formal list to help get me through any potential rough spots. Here’s what I got so far: - be able to play tennis with my son - be able to get off the floor without feeling like I’m going throw every bone and muscle in my body into spasms lol - fitting comfortably into an airplane seat and not having the person next to me wince as they see me coming - being able to fit comfortably into amusement park rides - no longer worrying if a chair will support me - more mental bandwidth to think of things other than food and my weight (hopefully!) - shopping in the normal section - feeling more attractive to my husband and enjoying our time together more - being excited for vacations vs slightly dreading them because of how uncomfortable I feel about myself and avoiding photos, etc - feeling confident going anywhere and not constantly worrying about running into someone I haven’t seen in a while