LouiseC

I tell everyone. I hold my head up high and happily talk about it. I am proud of the changes I have made in my life. Most people are positive, fascinated, interested or supportive and often it stops any confusion or speculation to just come out with the truth. We were in the process of selling one house and building another when I had my surgery and when there were legal forms to sign I couldn't sign them within 48 hours of general anaesthetic. On the phone with our banker explaining why I couldn't sign and saying I was in hospital she asked 'what kind of surgery did you have, weight loss?' I was taken aback but answered yes and she shared her own positive WLS story. I have had mostly positive responses and the couple of negative ones I have had I really don't care about. I have also been privy to hearing others talk about colleagues who have dropped weight quickly and heard the gossip and speculation when people are not honest and open about how they are losing the weight. In my experience, there is more gossip and speculation about those who are not open about surgery but rapidly lose weight than there is about those who are up front and honest about how they are losing weight. Each person will make their own decision on this about what feels right for them. I do find it odd that a prospective employer asked you though, I have had four staff members who have had WLS in the past two years, and one who will find out his surgery date soon. Not all share it and I would never, ever raise it as an employer but only talk about it when they feel comfortable talking to me. Just not professional otherwise.

Water on the inside, bio oil on the outside. And exfoliate. A lot. Stimulate your skin in the problem areas.

I actually thought it was kinda sweet. I have been amazed sometimes at how strangers will get all personal when I mention the WLS. But I recognise it is part curiosity and part wanting to encourage me and be supportive however weird it comes out. It reminds me of when I was pregnant and total strangers would approach me, want to touch my bump, ask all sorts of personal stuff from did I know the gender to will I breast feed. Then advice on breast feeding, maternity bras, and so on. Madness. But really I think it was all from that basic human desire to connect, we seek a way to relate to other humans and this was just an example of people trying to connect.

In over twenty months I have only had a couple of negative comments, and each of these I just put down to the person saying them having issues with their own weight. Ultimately, I do believe what other people think of me is none of my business! Let them think what they like, especially if they are as far removed as a friend's friend, really, their opinion of you is of no consequence. That said, beyond the friend's friend and the horrid comment she made, the other comments are not that nice either. I made the decision a longtime ago to surround myself with positive people who are supportive and encouraging. It does make a difference. Choose not to surround yourself with such rude people!

This is my life! I travel away most weeks and have done for a few years. I found the first couple of months after the surgery to really challenge my organisational abilities. The hardest thing was Water though once I got myself sorted. I will carry lots of little bags of things! I measure out Protein powder into small snack size zip lock bags, along with other Snacks. I usually have Jerky, nuts and seeds, miso Soup, other soup sachets, tuna, and if there is refrigeration small pottles of yoghurt and cheese. I have these all bagged up and ready to grab however many I need for a day at work or for a few days away. This way I am ensuring I measure everything and have variety. I am further along than you but I am sitting in my office (meant to be working but find myself on here, whoops) and have taken this photo of what I am looking at on my desk This is today's food - plain popcorn 100 calories worth, single serve of an almond, cashew and dried cranberries, two vita wheat crackers and a can of tuna, and in the fridge I have a small salad and a small cheese wedge. Also, sugar free flavoured Vitamin sachets to add to my water. Looking at it now and typing it out I may be low on protein today, but it gives an idea of how I manage. I also have a couple of small containers that I have marked for weights of things I might buy when I am away, I take the empty containers and know when I am away I can use them to manage serving sides without scales. So if I buy some chicken or salmon or prawns or whatever then I can use the container to make sure I am getting the right number of grams.

Yes, I noticed this change too and it has continued. I think that healthy skin starts from within and certainly eating a clean diet helps. I think being well hydrated also helps and with the surgery my focus on hydration remains key. That said, I am also aware that I take better care of myself since the surgery and the weight loss. I do now look after my skin, buy good products and actually use them. I started a course of IPL for facial hair which I have hated for years and it is making me feel even better about my self. I also do hot yoga which is cleansing and I think has helped. Life is good :-)

So exciting! It is a fantastic way to start a new year!

I was told a straw was fine, if used sensibly, so I used a straw from the day I left the hospital and never had an issue. I was just sensible and didn't swallow the air. Suck up, seal straw with tongue, exhale, sip :-)

technically, yes.

From the FAQ in MFP: " Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories This means that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise. Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising. We do not recommend that any member consume fewer than 1200 net calories on any given day." That said, I consumed fewer than 1200 net calories per day for the first year after surgery and I am just fine :-) I had enough fat to burn and see me through. Now that I am learning to maintain, I am trying to manage my net calories better.

I don't know how I missed this thread previously, with it reaching 36 pages! But here is something I wrote in another thread earlier today that provides my perspective. I do not consider myself a food addict. I will add to this in that I do believe there can be a physiological addiction to refined carbohydrates. That said, I also firmly believe (from my own experience) that the physiological addiction is broken with three days of abstaining from all refined carbs. I have experienced this, however once broken there was no psychological need to fulfil and I did not/do not crave carbs. I fully accept that many, many people may have a psychological addiction that makes the three days abstinence that much harder and then impacts on their ongoing resolve to not scoff the sugars. Thankfully, I am not one of them. I hope this provides some perspective from the 'not a food addict' side of the fence.

Your post made my inside voice scream 'super fresh french stick dipped in extra virgin cold pressed olive oil!' Wow. I actually started salivating typing that.

I couldn't eat bread until about the five month mark. Even now I find I can only eat a little and I consider it a 'treat'. I can tolerate it, but it just takes up too much space that I would rather give to healthier food. Or more enjoyable treats. That said, I won't eat Subway at all given how awful and unhealthy it is, so our views on nutrition may well vary wildly! In which case, you are best to follow your surgeon or nutritionists plan for you along with what your sleeve can tolerate.

I also think it is a gift in itself. I don't need anything more to acknowledge it, it is just so wonderful as is. Don't get me wrong, I plan on a tummy tuck, new boobs, and great vacations. But just not as goal gifts!

I don't identify with the addict label either. Not even a little bit. food addiction is basically layman language for the psychological condition known as compulsive over eating. It is controversial to throw the 'addiction' word in there as addiction means to have a compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance - and when it comes to food, we all have a physiological need. We need to eat in order to live. Compulsive overeating, on the other hand, is where the individual frequently has sessions of binge eating, during which they may feel out of control. They eat past the point of being comfortably full and then feel depressed or guilty post binge. This never defined how I ate. In addition to binge eating, compulsive over eaters graze throughout the day, I wasn't a grazer. There are also neurobiological factors in addiction, and in compulsive over eating, that relate to the release of endorphins or serotonin post binge that create a 'high' for the over eater. I don't relate to this at all. I am rarely hungry since the surgery and do not suffers from cravings. I have had no 'head hunger' and don't really miss anything. I think this further confirms that I was never a compulsive over eater, a.k.a food addict. So why was I obese? I think years of yo yo dieting, based on a false self perception initially, really did screw up my levels of ghrelin and leptin production. As I came off a diet I would regain what I lost and then more as it took longer to reach satiation. I had no idea, zero, about portion control and now look back in horror at what I used to consider 'normal'. Despite all the diets, and all the years focused on diets, portion control never really took hold in my wee brain. I also formed some bad habits, like a couple of lattes or mochacinos a day. I may not have drank soda much I was certainly drinking a heck of a lot of calories every day. I travel a lot for work so there was a lot of restaurant food, Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Big portions (because that's what restaurants tend to do) and foods high in all the shite our bodies don't need like poor quality fats and crappy sugar. I would exercise in bouts, usually while dieting, but was never consistent with this once the weight came off. I sucked at maintenance. I know that now that I am looking at maintaining with the sleeve that I have to be super vigilant about this. This is danger time for me as I have lost the weight before (though never this much). When I. Look back I was not a conscious or a mindful eater. I am now and I know I have to maintain this in order to maintain my weight. It wasn't addiction that made me obese. I made me obese by not being conscious, not being mindful, and not taking responsibility for the choices I made each day about what went into my mouth and what I did to burn it off.

you need to let the seeds soak for at least 15 minutes to soften, otherwise it is like eating sand!

I think I always had a fairly healthy sex drive but after the surgery it went a bit into overdrive! Now that I am a lot further on, it has evened out again though. I find sex much, much more enjoyable and climax more attainable since losing weight. Though I actually think the exercise and fitness has a lot to do with this as well, not just the weight loss. (Especially the yoga I do as I am way more bendy now! )

I think you are misunderstanding me. Perhaps I should have added a 'lol' to indicate the humorous intent that was perhaps lost on others. Made me giggle though so I am happy.

Yes. The only spitting I would advocate doesn't involve chewing first.......

Just saw this on Facebook and had to share:

I am doomed, I can't even spit it out at a wine tasting!

Forgot to add, I also invested $8 on a small lunch sized soft cooler bag to take my lunch in to avoid the refrigeration issue.

Hi there. I started my career (many, many years ago!) as a social worker in child protection so I understand the environment you are in. It is great that you have been able to take six weeks off to get some new habits in place, well done! Use the focus and skills you have employed in this time into ensuring you create new work place habits as well. While I can see that scheduling meals will be challenging, I think planning or them and planning for exercise is less so. I assume you have a regular stat time so I suggest going to the gym in the morning before you go to work. Shower and get ready at the gym and go straight from there. It means getting up an hour earlier but also means you establish a new routine for yourself and that if your day does go haywire then you don't miss out on a lunch time or after work gym session. Make your gym rest day (or days) on your work days and then go on both weekend days if the thought of so many super early mornings freaks you out! I work a Demanding schedule, I am often in back to back meetings, and I frequently travel. I eat at my desk or in meetings and rarely get an actual break. I make sure I have lots of Protein options and healthy Snacks to take to work with me - Jerky, cans of tuna, cheese sticks or wedges, bier sticks, yoghurt, almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, roasted chickpeas, Protein Bars, miso Soup sachets etc. these all travel easily and are simple to eat at my desk or in a meeting or on a plane or in a cab or wherever I may find myself when I need to eat. For days when I am in my office I make sure I have a freezer selection of left overs. I am now queen of the leftovers. I have a collection of small microwaveable and freezable containers that hold a cup portion. Chilli, stews and casseroles, bolognaise without the spaghetti, meatballs, grilled chicken and veges, Soups, stir fry, smoked fish in white sauce with mashed potato etc I told everyone I had surgery so people all understand that when I have to eat, I have to eat and I get no raised eyebrows if I start lunch mid meeting! To keep control of the timing for fluids, I would use post it notes on my Water bottle. If I had eaten lunch at 1pm, I would then put a note on my water bottle that said '1.45pm' which reminded me that I couldn't drink again until then. I don't do that now but it really helped in the early days post surgery. I went back to work after two weeks, so please do trust that this can be done. Good luck!

This is really good advice. You do not need approval from anyone. Nor do you need their validation for your decision. What others think about you and about your weight is really none of your business so don't bother yourself with it. You need to be true to yourself and do what you believe is right for you. By all means I recommend you consider and take into account other people's opinions, especially the opinions of your loved ones, in your decision making process but this does not mean you need their okay. You don't. Seeking advice and input from another does not mean that they have to agree with you or you with them. It is just a healthy discourse that informs decision making. Some people will support you, and some people won't. And that is absolutely okay. The only one that really needs to be okay with your decision is you.

I was displaying my good Scottish sarcasm! Maybe I need to join these guys? Edited to add - Bah, I forgot videos don't embed. Youtube 'sarcasmaholics anonymous' for the Burnistoun sketch. Proper Scottish :-D