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Yesterday I went to the optometrist. Previously when they raised the chair in would moan and groan under my weight. This time it was a smooth and very quiet ride. Yay!.

Welcome! You know yourself best. Hopefully your passion doesn't burn brightly for a few months and then wane in time. This is a long game and it's nearly all mental. I had 6 months of visits and I'm glad for it. The delay gave me time to start therapy, time to read all the books I could get, time to research complications and treatments, time to gather supplies, and time to prepare my loved ones. It also gave me time to try to lose weight on my own, fully cementing the conviction that I cannot. Take advantage of this time - as short as it is. Learn about yourself. Learn all you can about your issues with food and learn ways to correct them. Learn new coping skills - you'll need them when you can no longer turn to food. And you'll need to keep practicing them, so that when food becomes a viable coping option again - later on - you won't go down that road.

most of us who aren't the size of the people on "My 600 lb Life" seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month. Of course, you'll always find exceptions to that, but that seems to be about average - so you're on the higher end of that. I started out more than 100 lbs heavier than you, and I *only* lost 16 lbs the first month. So you are doing very well!

You’ve lost 45lbs since surgery - that’s a good amount so far. Something worth celebrating. 🏆 Never compare your weight loss journey with anyone else. It will only drive you down the road to crazy town. There are too many factors that can influence your rate of loss: genetics, medical history, weight loss history, medications, age, gender, stalls, etc. And you lost a lot pre surgery which can affect your rate of loss after surgery - you’re at a lower weight which means you won’t lose as quickly as you did when you started back in April. There are averages which can be used as a guideline but as with all averages some lose more & some lose less & there’s nothing wrong with that. What does your team say (they know you & your situation better) ?

I like meal prepping because I make healthier choices and save money. I use the OXO toddler 4oz containers and weirdly it also holds 4oz in meat weight. Earlier in healing I used the 2oz but now that size is convenient for carrying salad dressing or a sauce (not 2oz of sauce but what you need for you.) I prep for 3-4 days out so food stays fresh. I fill up on veggies after the 4 oz of meat. Last week I made a pot roast for Sunday dinner for the family and before serving the family took out 3 servings for 3 lunches. I rotated between mini bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower, and one day of raspberries. (I’m currently trying to up my iron.) Chicken or eggs are a quick dinner. This week I’m going to cook up buffalo meat into homemade marinara and serve it with different veggies like squash or beans (chili) one plan is to put it on cauliflower crust pizza. I’ll keep the meat premeasured in the little 4oz containers. Restaurants measure food all the time with ice cream scoops and weight scales to be careful about uniform portions. They prep food too. I guess all that restaurant work normalized planning, prepping and measuring food for me. It also lets you take advantage of seasonal/regional foods that are on sale. I got the buffalo last fall and froze it. Right now I’m waiting for pork and lamb prices to drop. I have some salmon burgers in the freezer to get creative with, or I might check out the tofu prices. Anyway you would use ground meat you could replace with firm tofu, just add the tofu last at the last minute before eating.

Thank so much folks, really appreciate the support here!! Now that I've had a day or two to think it over, I'm determined to go ahead with this. I've done my research, I've spoken with the surgeon, I've spent 2 years making sure I know I'm making the right decision. It's time to take action. I get that my friend comes from a place of concern, but I know what I'm doing and I know what's best for me. T minus 11 days to go! Getting excited now 🥳

The restriction has physical symptoms. It’s a tightness across your chest. I find myself thumping my chest as if that will help move the food through my digestive system & ease the tightness - it doesn’t. The goal is not to feel the restriction as it is generally a signal you’ve eaten too much. Sometimes, though, I find it sneaks up on me. Stress, eating denser food or foods that sit heavily in my tummy (bread, pasta, rice, cous cous, potato, & such) can set it off early when I’ve eaten very little. You wont start to feel it until you’re more healed & on solid foods. It does fade over time & as you get better at recognising when you’ve eaten enough - not full but enough that you don’t need the next bite. Learning to recognise the difference between needing to eat & wanting to eat is some of that head work that gets talked about. Vomiting can occur but generally you’re more likely to experience the foamies. You may feel your restriction at the same time because food is ‘stuck’ because it’s too dry, too coarse or you’ve eaten too big a bite or too quickly. You’ll spit up slimy foamy saliva & may regurgitate (not the deep muscle cramping of vomiting) the last bite or so of what you ate. My nose often runs with it. Often after you bring up that bit of food you can continue to eat after a short break. Another one of those learning things & getting to know your body’s idiosyncrasies. It’s not a common or frequent occurrence. You may not get a drain after your sleeve surgery. I didn’t & no one I knows did, though seems more common in the US.

Thank you. I just have to say, I’m not religious in any significant way, but this is probably the best response to a specific post i’ve read on here ever. This was the perfect answer to the question, for reals.

I got divorced at 30, and hadn’t been single since I was a teenager. (Now 30 with 2 small children) It was a rude awakening to see how disingenuous people are. The difficulty with online dating is, that if you don’t know any friends or family, there’s no accountability. People seem to feel like they can behave as badly as they want and nobody will ever find out. There is also the issue with people getting addicted and craving attention, not wanting to get out of the game in fear of missing out on something better. I hate online dating! I would literally try speed dating or anything else 😣. I got a puppy this year and that’s a relatively decent replacement, with only the obvious element missing 😹

I went from a 44H to a 38DD! I am satisfied with buying less expensive bras at $10 from Walmart or wherever vs $60 from Lane Bryant. When im finally at my stable size I'll get fancier lol and buy from Victoria's Secret.