purple tulip

I am happy with how far I've come and obviously am glad I am here instead of obese. However, I am constantly struggling to feel proud of accomplishing large weight loss because in my head I should have never been that large to begin with. So the shame of it often continues to overshadow my joy. Like when someone compliments me...I have a hard time just accepting it graciously. Like, why should I be complimented on "looking like a weight I should have already been?" It causes me anxiety to the point that I need to keep setting larger fitness goals (races, half marathons), so that I can feel proud of myself on this journey in some way, not just because I lost weight that I never should have been there in the first place. It's such a head game.

The other night my husband was waiting in the car for me outside a store and as I walked up to the car I noticed a puzzled look on his face. When I opened the door I asked what was wrong and he said, "Oh My God. I didn't know that was you walking up to the car!"

Thanks! I do follow eggface, but not skinnytaste, so I will check her out. Yesterday, I already had one of my family member sabbotagers (who also had a WLS, who is not doing as well with it) telling me all of the foodie plans she has for Thanksgiving and she was attempting to get me on board....This of course right after I had told her I went down another pant size... Ugh. It's so much easier to fight the fight with other people on the same page.

SleeveStalker- I started running in races a couple of months ago, so Thanksgiving morning I am going to run in a Turkey Trot so hopefully that will help with any additional calories that particular day. We will also be traveling for that week, so I'm going to pack a cooler just for myself filled with good things (if I have to haul diaper bags, sippy cups and Nintendo Ds's and all the other stuff that comes with kiddos, it's the least I can do to be prepared for myself too Then I think I'll find a few healthy festive recipes to make, so I can indulge a bit and not feel deprived either. And luckily, I have a couple family members that are health nuts and I'm thinking I need to stick closer to them and try to somewhat avoid the trap of those family members who tend to be my old "eating buddies" and sabotagers.....So that's my Thanksgiving plan...Christmas is a whole different story because the family I will be with then is less health conscious and they are food pusher...so I'll have to regroup and be very prepared to hold my own for that one What are you doing to prepare? Any other ideas?

I only told my closest people. However, I eventually went ahead and told an extended family member, who I thought would benefit. Should have kept it to myself because that person has now broken my confidence and the whole extended fam knows. It's just not necessary for everyone to know personal/medical information. I'm a rather private person so I am quite disappointed.

68lbs in 7 months with some serious stalls mixed in there. I'm happy with the progress.

tntransplant06 and notsolittlemermaid-----I beleive you may be my new best friends on VST I'm going to the store right now and getting some to try it out! In all of my years of obsessing, working so hard, researching, brainstorming with other friends with the same issues, this is one thing I never thought of since I had none of the other symptoms. Thanks so much! I'll let you know how it goes

Is Prevacid over the counter or prescription? And do you take it everyday and is it healthy to use long term? I don't really feel heartburn, acid reflux type symptoms, just the hunger. Is that how you felt?m ...Well, periodically I guess I have felt reflux, since surgery...just not real regularly. Humm....

Actually, Old Navy has a descent line of compression gear at really inexpensive prices. Just stocked up.

I have thought about that and have played around with caloric intake, carb intake, Proteins, etc. and I do know that I don't loose when I eat to the point of satiety...(and I mean satiety, not that overfull feeling) I also know that I have to stay away from all refined carbs and sugs if I want to decrease my cravings. I'm almost 7 months out and I'd say since about 2 months out I've had to really work hard for every lb lost and I tend to loose slowly. I really should probably go see a dietitian too, but unfortunately our program's dietitian relocated and we've been w/out for a couple of months...I should probably check back into that. Thanks for the thought!

I completely understand what you are saying as I too have unfortunately not lost as much of the insatiable hunger as I was hoping for....It's definitely better than before, but not great. I think everyone is so uniquely different with varying body systems. I've worked really hard to differentiate between head hunger and true hunger. I can say that I am clearly physically still hungry most of the time when I eat within the caloric range that is recommended. I exercise very intensely and very regularly and adjust my caloric needs accordingly to the recommendations and follow all of the rules. I just don't think it works "as well" for some people. I don't know what else I could possibly do at this point. If you gain any new info or insight please share!

I have almost the exact same stats as you. I am about the same time frame out from surg and loose the exact same way.....I also am stalled and frustrated. Though I haven't considered filleting myself yet I have been trying to reflect on if there is anything else I could do differently. I was stalled for quite awhile and I sort of became discouraged to the point where I started to let myself slide a bit....almost that old self- sabotage behavior (though not nearly has bad) This of course has really made be me stall even longer and thrown me off track for the past month and a half. It is time to regroup and go more hardcore towards this goal. It's ok...We can do this. Just stay focused (try not to derail like I sort of did for a bit) and the weight will eventually come off.

So happy for you. I have never been below my hubby and I was making my way toward his number when he randomly decided to loose at little too. He's that man that barely changes anything and can still eat junk and drop 30 lbs w/ no problem....So he did. He beat me back to onederland. I'm happy for him because I of course want him to be his healthiest too, but gosh darnit...I was so close...Oh, well in 2-3 month I'll hopefully pass him for good

Just wondering how everyone is doing? Is anyone feeling real physical hunger?...I am not nearly as satisfied with the small amounts of food anymore. I REALLY have to watch what I am eating and even then still feel hungry. I hate feeling hungry and I'm scared that I will completely stop loosing or worse gain back. I'm exercising a lot, but the scale is not moving much now.I think my body got use to a certain # of calories and now having to adjust down again is hard because again I'm hungry!

That is interesting because I have been on a prescribed water pill for 4+ months because I had some crazy water retention after surgery..Like 20lbs worth. I just went back to the surgeon for follow up and told him I had been getting cramps in my calves and asked if I could be deficient in potassium and he said he highly doubted it....Hummmm?...He did run blood work to make sure everything looked good and I guess it was normal because I didn't get a call. He did tell me at that appt that he'd like me to start weaning of of it. Can you tell me your dosage or how long you took it?

With all of the conflicting information given I am wondering what you have all been told about really using the first 6 months after surgery to loose as much as possible? Of course, we all have surgery with a goal in mind, but is there a medical/physical reason one should push so hard during that 1st six months post op or is it more for mental adjustment? What are your thoughts?

I completely understand your struggle. I am the same length out from surgery and have found that even the smallest amount of the sweets/ carbs/junk all make me want and crave them so much more. It's a difficult pattern to get out of and harder than one might think. So I have to gear myself up to be prepared to fight those craving for a few days until it's out of my system and the craving then seem to decrease. Good Luck

I have had a very similar experience and I totally agree with you

A few days into it I did have the fleeting thought of "What the hell did I do?!" With that being said, I got over it quickly as I healed and realized what living with the sleeve would really be like and I love it. I am not quite 4 months out and I have ZERO regret now. I can eat anything I want, but in small portions. I eat like a thin person, which requires healthy choices, but I do have the option of eating any of my old favs. I think if one has mental health issues that need to be addressed and have used food as a coping mechanism than they may find the post op life more difficult. However, as a bulk eater, not an emotional eater, I could not be happier with my decision. Best of luck to you because I know on that side of the fence it seems so scary, but once you get on this side I would be willing to bet my house that you'll be ecstatic with having the surgery

Hi There. I don't know how I missed this forum, but I am a March sleever too and am down 50lbs. I'm a slower looser according to my surgeon, but I feel great with my progress. I'm exercising very regularly when life doesn't throw me curve balls. Still trying to figure out how to make exercise a priority when other big life events/crisis, etc distract from the weight-loss health goals and my "normal" routines. I think learning to live with this is a real process that will only come with time. I'm getting a lot of compliments lately, which I've never been good with accepting. So I'm trying to navigate my way through that and learn to be gracious and not cut a joke about it. It's almost like I don't want people to notice because I'm so self conscious about it. Does that make sense? So those area the things I'm currently working on in this journey, but I'm absolutely happy and confident I made the right decision to have this surgery!

Sorry, I'm only 2.5 months out and so I don't have a real answer yet. However, I will be really excited to get to that stage if it is real. I'm 40lbs down now and my Dr. says I'm one of his slowest loosing patients Oh, well....Give my skin a chance to bounce back a bit I guess He did say sort of the same thing your Dr. did though. So we shall see. Please let us know if you start seeing a change and an increase!

That's fantastic It always seems much less dramatic after the problem is resolved, doesn't it?! :Pha,ha..

That sounds just about right. At 3 weeks, I think I was getting from 300 to 600 cals/ day.

I am 6 weeks post op and I can completely eat whatever I want and it all goes down fine. I still love the taste and smell of food. I do periodically have head hunger, but that is subsiding as time passes. It was fierce at first,so I'm glad that is going away! I absolutely need to make good food choices and follow the rules otherwise I could definitely see how this could fail. With that said, I absolutely do not have the insatiable appetite that I had pre-op, which is all I really need to be successful at this.

I'm 6 weeks out too and my Dr. just reinforced to me that I should be getting at least 1000cal/day to keep my metabolism going. I thought that sounded high. He said not to be too worried about cals, because if I was following the rules that I wouldn't be able to get in too many cals anyway. My prob was that I was holding onto tons of Water weight because I wasn't getting enough cals. Now that I'm getting around 900/day I am dropping quicker again.