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Hi guys, my name is Anna and I'm really glad I found this site. I received approval from my insurance earlier this week, there's just one x-ray needed and then I will be scheduled. My mom had the same procedure over 2 years ago, but she's more of a cautionary tale of what not to do. I have friends who have had it done as well. The hardest part of this process for me has been giving up cigarettes, and trying to lose weight on my own. I started my umpteenth weight loss journey November of 2022, and finally went back to see my moms doctor in January of this year, after chickening out a couple times before. No matter what I've done I have no been able to get below 300 since 2016. My highest weight was 374. The smallest I've been is 230 in my 20s after losing 70 lbs and keeping it off 2 years. Right now I'm chilling at around 340, have been for almost 2 years. I love the gym, I love swimming, I love being active. But I have a lot of chronic pain from back and neck issues, as well as arthritis and between that and depression, it can be hard to get out of bed some days. Last time this year I had just finished a 16 week fitness challenge at a local CrossFit center, where I learned to do a real push up, deadlifts and other strength and endurance building exercises. It was great, and I got down to 315. Then the program ended and about 25 lbs reappeared out of thin air (psych, I know lol). I am hoping that this tool is the missing puzzle piece I've needed. I know how to track, how to measure, how to diet basically. And I know how to exercise. What I've struggled with more than anything is portion and hunger. It's hard to stay in a deficit when your stomach feels like it's gonna eat itself if you don't put enough food in it- That being said I do know I want to focus on protein and fiber for fullness, and I'm working on eating smaller and more frequent throughout the day which is helping some. I guess I'm as ready as I will ever be. Am I the only one who has struggled with being a bit depressed about it all? Like I am mourning the loss of so much, including my stomach and the ability to indulge in a meal. I understand I still can, but it's not gonna be the same having a jr popcorn at the movies, when i had a good portion of a large gone before credits were over- ya know? Like people who don't struggle with their weight take a lot for granted. My whole life I've been big, and it has always felt like a punishment I didn't do anything to bring about. And society punishes you for being overweight/obese/plus size. Part of me feels like cutting out a part of my organs is another punishment I must endure because I am fat. I hope this makes sense, and these are just fleeting thoughts and feelings, mind you. I have a wonderful counselor I see weekly, and we have talked about this, among other things. But I wanted to bring it up here because I am wondering if anyone has struggled with this line of thinking? And if so what are some good things about the process to focus on? I know the outcome of the weight being gone and my appetite under control, and I want those things very much. But it's the actual surgery and the discomfort I know is coming after that trips me up. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I wish you all well ❤️

Here’s a recipe or the ingredients for a soup off of another Bariatric site.

Thanks Arabesque, nice to know there's a fellow "shortie" here and yes, it's all relative right - but I'm aware some people see the #'s and assume its "too light". My main issue with GLP-1 is that it's an ongoing shot versus getting it sorted and re-setting and then re-working the system - does that make sense?

It’s not particularly common but it does happen. I actually “eat” every three hours. Something small And I have seen others on here who eat every two hours but they are much further out from surgery than you and me. Also, this is something small and it’s all protein high protein food so if you log all of the calories and macros you can eat more often but still stay on plan. Maybe run this by your team. My nutritionist that I talked to you before my surgery did not think it was a good idea but the nurse practitioner said it was actually fine so long as I wasn’t eating more portion wise than I was supposed to while everything healed. I think the problem with it would be in the future as portions grow a bit if you’re eating five meals a day then you are eating five bits more instead of three bits that adds up faster. as long as you know that you’re able to control the portions and the quality of the food that you’re consuming your team may be on board. In the meantime, check in with yourself to make sure that it’s not what we call head hunger. Are you tired, lonely angry or bored or anything like that when you’re feeling hungry? If so, then talk to your team about that and maybe try journaling to get your feelings out or an alternative behavior such as working on a puzzle or craft or something like that. If that’s not it, there was a lady on here years ago that struggled with hunger that never went away, and she tried everything to get to the bottom of it. In terms of it being head hunger, and it didn’t seem to be she finally said that one thing that helped was warm liquid such as soup, broth, or tea or warm coffee. Another thing is there is not a whole lot of protein in one egg. I know your pouch is small and you can’t consume a lot food wise at this point, so maybe you need to supplement that protein with a little bit of a protein shake in between. I actually have what I call proffee for breakfast for that very reason. I am able to consume an entire protein shake over time with added chilled coffee and that keeps me full until lunch. Of course, don’t go against your teams plan without discussing these ideas with them, but hopefully something here helps. You have to remember that they give you a cookie cutter plan when you start out. But you are very individual and it’s possible that what they gave you just doesn’t work for you so make an appointment to talk to them sooner or email through your patient portal and tell them what’s going on. My suggestion would be to log what you’re eating and your activity and show them so they can have a better idea of what’s going on. I used a Fitness watch that is connected to an app on my phone for my activity and the Baritastic food app, which is free on the phone, but there are others as well. Also, pay attention to your mood or feelings because a lot of of us are emotional eaters. I know that I turned into food a lot of times out of just boredom. But also stress and anxiety. Basically, I realize this by sitting there with my hungry feelings for a few minutes and thinking about what had happened that day and whether it was particularly stressful or how I was feeling about it. If you really take inventory and it doesn’t coincide with emotions, though it is possible for the hunger to come back sooner, it has happened again just very uncommon. It will be easier to explain to your team if you have done a feelings inventory and tried a journal or really thought about if you were, I can’t remember there’s an acronym, but I think it’s stressed, lonely bored or tired. Something like that. After reading the comment above, it reminded me when I was early out. I did not eat food, solid food that often I had shakes in between. Also, yes, it is possible that it’s stomach acid too so ask about a PPI if you aren’t on that already. And please don’t just adjust anything without talking to your team because I don’t even know what surgery you had and everybody’s situation is different but you could run those ideas by them.

Looking good @Bypass2Freedom. You’re lucky to be able to shop your wardrobe. I had high hopes but kept missing my window: wrong season or dropped another size before getting the chance. Even had a couple of things that just didn’t fit the same because of how I was losing (lost faster in some areas) so my body shape was different. Oh, dirty mirrors. Was putting makeup on in a mirror at my mother’s yesterday. Everything was blurry so I thought something was wrong with my contact lens. Put some drops in, moved them about. Still blurry. Then I realised my mum’s cleaner must not have used a clean cloth to wipe/polish over the mirror after cleaning it & so it was scummy. Wiped it down & my vision was crystal clear. 😁

I can't afford plastic surgery so have had to make do without. My skin laxity has definitely improved in the almost 3 years since my surgery. I was also certain in the first blush of weight loss in the first year that never would I ever regain even a single ounce, but I did regain quite a lot despite my resolution not to. Haha that's all I have to say! My arms are still the most visible saggy skin I have and they look way better 3 years on. I would rather times a million have this 'problem' than my previous morbid obesity. No brainer. Stomach and bum and legs nobody gets to see and have saggy skin - but also seem better as time progresses. Breasts were the least unforgiving luckily, appearance wise. I know we're all different and we want different things as we progress. Hoping you all get to where you want to be soon. 💚

Yeah...I really need to clean it 😅 Thing is, I just end up getting distracted by cleaning other things and then it is out of my mind until I look at pictures like this one haha! Time to get the lint roller out 🤣

I couldn’t see anything on your mirror but your mentioning it reminded me. I did a very similar pic in my mirror to show a friend some shorts to ask if she thought they were too short and I couldn’t figure it out because the shorts and my top were black and looked like they had lint on them (a lot of lint). I kept looking down and there was nothing but when I looked into the mirror I would see it again. Well I finally figured out that it was my mirror that hadn’t been cleaned since the day before my surgery because I was a model patient and didn’t do anything like that requiring bending for. 6 whole weeks. I was like OMG that’s my mirror!! Now i’m not Suzy sparkle by any means but it’s never been so bad I thought I was covered in lint. 😆

gorgeous!

You look great. Isn’t it awesome. I called it shopping my closet. I am lazy so I’ve got all different sizes in there still from when I lost with my sleeve. They are all disorganized so I really need to take a couple of days and organize them but I have pulled out a few things that I haven’t been able to wear in a while and it felt really good.