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It sounds like your resources are limited for getting support in your local area, so I wanted to recommend looking into the Pound of Cure nutrition program, which is run by Dr. Weiner in Tucson, AZ (he also has a couple books and YouTube channel with bariatric educational information). It's $49 a month and allows you to attend unlimited online support groups with their dietician and peer leaders, as well as a few sessions per month that are run by Dr. Weiner. I've subscribed for a while and go to at least a few of the groups per month as my schedule permits. Many times there will just be a few people in the group and you can really get a chance to ask your questions and get some good advice. Just for example, there's a group for the first year post-op, for emotional eating and stress management, and even one for surviving the holidays and travel. They've been in this business for many years and I'm betting they could think of dozens of patients who felt exactly how you do right now but went on to be successful.

As someone who started traveling less than 3 weeks post surgery, my biggest advice is to make sure you load up on what you need before the day starts (proteins that you can "safely" eat) - Just keeping enough snacks/food that you know you can tolerate easily during the flight rather than relying on whatever they provide you. For me, an aisle seat was key on long hauls also just so that I could get up and walk if needed. Extra water for the flight was also very helpful. Mostly, enjoy the extra room! That was seriously a game changer for me. Before surgery, I'd panic if I had to fly coach wondering if I'd get a seatbelt that fit or have someone beside me that was just disgusted at my presence.

Epigenetics are crazy fascinating! Like your ancestors went through a famine and now your body is programmed to receive/keep food nutrients differently or your ancestors ate a lot of a certain food so you can tolerate better than most. It's crazy! People have believed that what they did in their life did not affect their kids genetics, but we now know thats untrue.

Thank you for reading 🖤 I like to think I'm an open book, especially when it comes to my more difficult experiences, purely because I believe having an open and non-judgemental platform to talk about things that may otherwise be hidden away, is really important! That's actually a really good idea - I think I'm going to do that!

Your food looks balanced and healthy. I would ask you if you track your food using any tools? (MyFitnessPal, etc.)? My first guess is that this might be more than 1000-1200 calories? I could be wrong of course. Do you do track everything down to the grams? I am not a fan of obsessive tracking nor do I practice it to be very honest, but when you are struggling to lose weight and you're doing everything right, then these tools come in handy and really give you an idea of what your intake is vs your output. I would say - if you already don't - do invest in a food scale and all the measuring cups, spoons and apps. Another thing to note which has been said time and again, is that not everybody reaches their goal weight, as long as you're happy, fit and healthy, it is kind of the whole point, plus muscle mass that will affect the scale and the whole shebang. As for stabilization, I stabilized at 9.5 months which is considered very early out, reached goal at 3 months and continued losing until 9.5 months and my weight has been stable for the past two months. That doesn't worry me nor does it affect the fact that this journey has been a success to me, success is very subjective and it comes down to being able to (mostly) maintain whatever weight you have lost + building good habits. If this means that you have lost 78 pounds + started serious exercise + dropped multiple sizes then it's a win in my opinion. Use every tool out there for your benefit, but also remember that you define what success is to you.

I can relate. My favourite leather jacket that I never wore again because a stranger told me I looked like a bean bag chair.

You have a point here about tracking what I eat. Since my doctor didn’t bring up the GLP-1 I never mentioned it, but I thought of it. I didn’t do any research about it and from seeing some of the stories from YouTube scared me. I do know a few people who are taking it and they are ok with it and have good result in weight lose. I also heard they can have the weight bounce back after they stop. Again I didn’t do any research and not knowledgeable about it. I don’t think it’s something I want to try as of yet, but it’s good to know I have options. The plastic surgery part I know it’s something I will get eventually because of the excess skin. If at 195lbs, it’s already bothering me, it will bother me even more at 175. My goal weight is 160lbs, if I can get to 175 on my own, plastic surgery will get me to 160. I’m going to try the hardest on my own and get to 175 for now. My first goal was to be under 200lbs, then I can rethink my goal, which is where I am now. From 200 to 199lbs it took me months because I would drop to 199 and bounce back to 201. And from there on , my weight is bouncing around. Luckily I am stable at 195. Finger crossed that it doesn’t go back up.

Yrs, some people do. Sad to say but a lot of this is head hunger. Your brain is really powerful and can twist you up badly. You’re going through a stressful time (physically, emotionally & mentally). If you were someone who used to comfort or sooth yourself with food your head will be telling you to eat (hungry) because of the stress but of course you can’t which will make you want to eat more. Plus your head tries to convince you that you are not eating enough food to survive (you are) so it says you feel hungry. Hunger pangs can also be from excess stomach acid. At the moment your body is still producing enough acid for your old larger tummy and for the volume of food you used to eat so too much for what you need now. Have you been prescribed a PPI? They reduce the acid in your tummy which reduces/stops the hunger pangs.

My weight seems to be holding steady at 180. I was hoping to get to 185 or even 190, but at this point I'm just glad I'm not 170 anymore. I'm a size 8/10 now (and I fluctuate between Medium and Large, depending on the brand). I noticed I don't have a lot of strength anymore, and I need to figure out how to build some muscle. But I have to not really work out, because as soon as I do, I drop weight like crazy. I wanted to try lifting weights again, but I don't have the strength and endurance anymore. And I'm ALWAYS tired these days. I'm on my feet all day at work, so I was told not to really work out if I don't want to lose more weight. So I'm kind of stuck. But anyway, I'm proud that I dropped so much weight, and I love my new numbers (blood sugar is 93 before eating and 122 after eating, A1c is 5.4, blood pressure alternates anywhere between 102/60 - 106/64, my total cholesterol is 143) but my iron is still too low and I have to have 3 iron infusions (blah). I've always had an issue with anemia, so this is no real surprise.

two hours post op!