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I truly enjoy and value your posts PdxMan, and I have for years. You're right, this is one place we simply don't agree. To my mind, barring a mental issue that requires medication for "normalcy" there isn't a reason people can't change. The alcoholic that quits has the same options as the one that relapses and never succeeds at sobriety. It's a matter of will, a matter of support, and a matter of determination. On that note, though - I do concede that while this thread is helpful for others that aren't engaging in destructive behavior often, that viewing it in light of "support for all" does diminish the value and positive intention of the thread if you consider people might view it as a learning tool. But, oh, part of me still thinks they'd be leading themselves right off the path, anyway to do that! I'm the one that took a year to research surgery after making my decision to have surgery. I don't have a large amount of sympathy for someone who'd do this with no education and then look to a thread specifically about poor choices for support and/or rules! My views on personal accountability stem from my past and due to my experiences I'm likely more rigid than most about this. I come from a family of addicts and abusers of all varieties. I also have a drug addicted stepdaughter. She can quit. She could quit. People around her have quit and stayed sober. She has chosen to cope with drugs, much the way people here cope with food. She hasn't hit a point where being sober means more to her than being high. If she never hits that point, my husband and I may bury another child. It saddens me and sickens me, but I don't blame the people she associates with or their influence. It's her choice every time she uses drugs. It was her choice to be with people where it was possible even if she didn't leave the house with that intent. Is it hard to say no? YES. Is it impossible? NO. People do it. If we start down the slope of saying people aren't responsible for their actions and their choices it's a long and slippery ride to the bottom. I sat in court with the man that murdered my infant daughter while he and his lawyers (as well as his parents and a smattering of acquaintances) tried to convince a judge that shaking her to death wasn't his fault due to his traumatic childhood. That's utter crap. I make a choice every day not to be the person that I was taught to be by my childhood and my experiences. If I eat a brownie, it's because I wanted a brownie. It's because I caved or because I justified that choice or because I opted to ignore the repercussions. And yes, sometimes it's hard. And when it's hard, I sure as hell don't wander over to the "confess all your sins" thread for support! So your point about an AA meeting being a safe place is very valid. There's a big label on this thread that says what it is, and nobody with a monkey on their back should be opening the door and inviting in the trouble. That said, yes, I agree with you about some of the posts. I wish the tone of some of these posts were different. Nobody should be gleeful about sabotaging their success with a massive binge or eating ahead of their surgical guidelines. But again...people will do what they want and were already doing it. This thread is just putting it out in the open, for better or worse. I hope that neither Fiddle or PdxMan are upset on a personal level. We all disagree and we all feel we're right or we wouldn't take the time to post or share our opinions! ~Cheri

I agree with GT! I buy the big container because it's more economical. I eat 2-4 oz. at a time and the bigger containers that don't reseal make no sense. I despise plain yogurt. The only thing I can add to it to make it palatable is honey, and that sort of defeats the purpose. I either buy or make my own, but my biggest gripe is all of the brands that add Gelatin to their yogurt, gah, that's just wrong (not to mention un-kosher!) and why on earth make a "health food" and have HF corn syrup on the label at all? I buy the vanilla it's usually my "treat" for the day, eaten as a dessert. ~Cheri

I don't do much by way of chips, either! Soda, that's a trigger for me and I avoid it. Thankfully, for some reason in my fourth year post op it's started to cause discomfort due to the carbonation. That's good. Because if I have soda, I want soda every day. Chocolate doesn't get me. It's those damned licorice. I could eat them every day. I try not to bring them in the house. And I definitely wasn't listening or looking for the truth prior to surgery. My sleeve was my magic wand and I was pretty sure it came with a free unicorn, too. It was my cure all and I was sadly disappointed when I was forced to accept that it was up to me to do this for life. ~Cheri

That's not slow at all! I think that you're expecting massive results on the scale because you've made massive changes in your life. But in truth, you just need to readjust your expectations. You're losing three pounds a week and that's not counting your large pre-op loss. It takes a while for the body to adjust. And sadly, some of us just lose more slowly than others. It doesn't seem to matter what your starting stats were sometimes. But as someone else posted, you've lost in just a few months what I lost in nine months. Hang in there. The only thing that's going to stop you from achieving your goals here is you. If you keep doing the things you need to do to lose, you'll see results even if they happen slower than you'd like. And I agree wholeheartedly with gman there. You NEED a balanced diet. And quite frankly, not eating enough carbs makes me feel deprived and I lack energy. If I feel deprived, I expect instant gratification because I feel that I'm sacrificing and I'm battling my desire to eat. Carbs are not the enemy. You should introduce some good quality grains and some produce. I doubt it will slow you down. It might even help you lose! But it will definitely help the mental side of the weight loss struggle and it will help you stay regular and avoid complications from that! Good luck, ~Cheri

I think a lot of people replace "bad" food addiction with "good" food addiction. They're still addicts. They're still engaged in all-or-nothing addictive behavior. The danger to fall off and slide into the same poor habits that made them obese are there - they're just keeping them at bay by engaging in the other end of the extreme spectrum. I know moderation is hard - and the word "moderation" can really cover such a huge range of methods, too. But I think that in many cases that incredibly stringent lifestyle can be just as worrisome. I think that when people build up tremendous expectations or feel deprived (and in fairness, some don't feel deprived even with lifestyles I could never hack) that they fall harder and stay down longer than if they'd been more moderate in the first place. The single biggest aid to my avoiding regain has been DAILY WEIGHING. Hands down, it's the biggest thing keeping me on track. If I avoid the scale it's because I'm having a rough time in my life. If I'm having a rough time, emotional or mindless eating is far more likely. The end result is a gain. Had I stuck to the scale even with the poor choices? I'd see a small bounce opposed to a big one. I have remained within 5% of my goal weight for most of my time at goal. Even six weeks after giving birth I was back in that range. The only way I can do that, even with the desire to overindulge at times is by weighing daily. If I see a bounce above what I expect, I know to immediately reevaluate my diet and see what's wrong. Sometimes, it's just hormones or stress or lack of sleep (things I have in abundance these days!) but sometimes it's that I've let myself get lazy with my habits. So I guess all of this rambling is to say that it's more important to focus on what you can do to win DESPITE an addiction. You're not going to avoid chocolate for two years and discover that you now hate chocolate and it will never tempt you again. It doesn't work that way. Build a routine and habits that help you with the times you DO make the poor choices so that you can hop right back on track and either continue losing or stay at goal. ~Cheri

Some of the posts here are questionable, but I chose not to comment on that because while I don't agree with the idea of cheating or of breaking surgeon guidelines, it's a thread intended to be a confessional. Yes, there were posts that make MY three year old sleeve hurt. It's rare to see someone post on VST that they're considering a poor choice. More often, you'll see people either confess after the fact or post on the forums in lieu of making a poor choice. And I suspect that even more frequently, people slip up and do things they know they shouldn't and never talk about that behavior. Forums don't make people make bad choices. People make bad choices, period. The idea that my words are responsible for someone else making a decision and acting upon it removes their role of responsibility. I worship at the altar of personal responsibility. This idea bothers me as much as people posting "I can't stop <insert destructive behavior here>" because that's a lie. You CAN stop. You simply CHOOSE not to do it. This is a hard road for all of us. Extremists on both sides of the fence are unpleasant to deal with. I have just as many "I love my fat body/I refuse to conform to society's ideal/watch me kill myself with cheesecake" acquaintances as "I never eat sugar/eating white flour will kill you/come eat some kelp smoothies with me" ones. It's a choice. Nobody here is laboring under the mistaken impression that they're doing good things. Sharing ideas on how to cheat or eat around a surgeon guideline is just as repellent as sharing ideas on how to hide anorexia. But that wasn't the purpose of this thread, even if some people made the choice to take it there. Ultimately, the addict doesn't need justification or validation. No amount of time here on VST, even in the "good" threads full of "right" choices is going to make a person overcome their problems without changes, better choices and most likely, several hundred hours of therapy. Some of the threads here are almost laughable. Eating a cheeto? Eating a few bites of "bad" foods but staying well within healthy eating ranges? But people are posting here because they've been made to feel it's all or nothing and they actually feel guilt and feelings of failure for doing those things. They feel guilt for enjoying family gatherings, without realizing that ONE day of off eating is not going to sink the ship. I agree with a large number of your posts, Fiddle. But the person that's going to take this thread as their reason to fly off the handle? That person was going to do it anyway. Nobody here should be making poor choices, overindulging or eating around their sleeve as a regular habit. I'm fairly certain everyone here knows that. But there are different paths to success for everyone. I've made my share of poor choices, but I've been within 5% of my goal weight for more than two years - and was back there within 6 weeks of giving birth. I can only hope that people use their sense and work their sleeves to the best of their ability and make their need to confess something rare. But pretending it doesn't happen or that people don't slip up doesn't make sense to me, either. ~Cheri

Congrats FYE - that's a big accomplishment. Sorry to hear about the delay with picking things up, OD. It's not easy to end a relationship and it's worse when it just drags out. I hope he can pick his things up soon and you'll be able to start putting that behind you. I hope you have some luck with your dates - get out and have fun, maybe you'll meet a great match. I fasted yesterday and it was a pretty easy day. I'm also focusing on protein again. I've been letting those numbers slip and of course I feel more "hunger" when I do that. If I'm not careful, I fill that "hungry" space with junk. So the last few days I've been pushing protein hard and I'm back up in the 90-100 grams a day range again (I can only hit in the 50-60 range on fast days). My overall calorie counts are falling and I'm staying just around 1,000 calories a day with relative ease. I feel like I eat all day long! It's wonderful, really. I'm also down 2.2 pounds on the scale since I started checking back in with you guys. I'm 1.2 pounds from the top end of my maintenance window and I'd like to lose another 5.5 pounds from this point. Once I'm there, I can reevaluate and decide if I want to fight it for another five. I might just do that. My ultrasound showed some pretty serious adhesions. The entire left side of my uterus, my fallopian tube, my ovary - they can't see much about adhesions in an ultrasound but they were clearly in the wrong location and appear to be fused to my back. Well, that explains the pain! I'm off hormones right now but doc is insisting I restart them. Why? Seriously, they *might* prevent more adhesions (assuming the side effects aren't as miserable as they were last time) but they won't do anything for the current ones. She's, in her words, "reluctant to refer me for surgery" if I'm unwilling to follow the prescribed hormone treatment afterwards, as the adhesions will likely just recur. Well, duh? I mean, even WITH hormones they recur! I hate my doctor. I'm currently in the process of working with the Tricare representative to switch my care to an entirely different military hospital. I refuse to see someone so incredibly idiotic. She's done nothing but waste my time and send me in circles for months. It took me going to the ER to get the referral for the ultrasound in the first place, and it took phone calls to a patient rep to get an appointment with my PCM to read me the results so quickly. Government involvement in almost anything leads to poor customer service. You can't do anything about it - there's no incentive to improve, no monetary benefit tied to quality of care and no real repercussions for poor performance. Your patients/customers keep coming in the door because they have no other options. It's terrible and I hate it. I'll put off the other fast day until Thursday. I find that my overall desire to snack is diminished now that I'm so focused on protein. It's a relatively simple way to get that carb monster off my back and get some results. Here's hoping that shaving my calories down will finally jump start loss again. I've enjoyed this last week of no real bounces - I hold steady some days but typically drop at least a tiny bit every other day. ~Cheri

To step in on an old argument here - the starting of this thread is incredibly helpful. Why? There are too many "there is only one way to do this" or "I can never, ever touch those foods again" or "if I slip up I'll fail completely" people here. Fact? We're ALL disordered eaters. We didn't gain ten pounds one night and wake up opting for surgery the next day. The sleeve, for many of us, was the final effort after years of failed diets. Diets that, for the most part, followed these very ideas that are so damaging here: "If it's not working, you're not trying." "Slipping up means failure, so once you've slipped why not quit?" "Success depends upon never, ever giving in to temptation or stress again." This thread shows people that when they need support the most - when they slip - there are other people that have gone through it, too. There are successful vets here that can relate their stories, too. The struggle doesn't end with surgery. It's part of us. This thread, humorous and off track at times, reflects that reality. It's also incredibly powerful because it shows people that you can still be successful even if you make mistakes. Because everyone will make a mistake eventually and they shouldn't feel they have to avoid these forums because of it or that they're being judged for their choices. This is about support. This is about being understood. Confession is good for the soul, or so they say. Getting it out in the open is a big step towards overcoming your obstacles. Thanks again for starting this thread. It's popular because people can relate. ~Cheri

Don't have time to read, I'm due to read at the kids' school. I'm the Kindergarten mystery reader today, even the twins don't know I'm coming. I should have fasted but totally missed that bus. I honestly don't think it's in the cards this weekend, either. Date night with hubs tonight and a classmate birthday party for the kids tomorrow. Hubs leaves on Sunday for a week in Germany, lucky bastard. Seriously. Both because I heart Germany and also because he gets to leave for a week. I wish I could leave for a week! Love my kids, love, love, love those stinkers to pieces. But yeah, a break? Talk about a fantasy! I'm going in to the doc on Monday for an ultrasound - intense pain and cramping on my right side and more of that lovely lady trouble (bleeding again, weeks early) so my guess is a cyst. If they'd just do a dang partial hysterectomy, I'd be thrilled. Chuffed to beans, right coops? Holding steady on the weight, bleh. It's okay. No gain is good news. Hope everyone is doing well, I will go back and read soon. I hope I didn't miss any bad news and if I did - I don't intend to be dismissive. I just don't want to put off checking in for weeks at a time again! Best, everyone! Happy Friday! ~Cheri

Everyone's pattern is different but almost everybody experiences a pause early out. A stall is three or more weeks at the same weight with no movement. And those happen for most people, too. In fact, my pattern was to stay at one weight, gain during my cycle and to only lose weight in the last week of the month! I also had two nine week stalls along the slow and poky 17 month journey to goal. The best thing to do is recognize they happen and keep doing what you've been doing. Trust me, you're way too fresh from surgery to be experiencing a genuine stall. Your body is just in shock and is recovering. Once it figures out that you're going to keep on eating and everything is okay, you'll go back to losing. Good luck and congrats on that sleeve. And do put that scale away. We want to see results every time because we underwent a drastic procedure and we're excited to succeed. But daily weighing in the loss phase can be frustrating and disappointing. There are too many variables that affect your weight and seeing a loss every single time just isn't possible. If it starts to frustrate you or ruin your day, put it away. ~Cheri

Half a cup? I am three years out and a meal for me is half a cup of cottage cheese! Back off and listen more to your stomach than your nutritional guidelines. Do away with the idea that we have to eat three large meals and maybe some Snacks. Eat every few hours until you're able to eat more in a sitting. It's a chore for some of us. I couldn't hit my nutritional and hydration goals for several months post op. And I had to eat around the clock just to consume those once I could do it! It takes time but it does get easy. Fast forward a few years and eating is altogether too easy for some of us! Push liquids as hydration is your biggest focus right now. Beyond that increase your Protein as you can. If you can find a shake that you enjoy mixed with Water (I do chocolate nectar as with water it resembles a Yoo-Hoo and is easy to drink) it will be thinner and go down more easily, helping you boost both the hydration and protein numbers at the same time. Good luck, congrats on that new sleeve. Don't sweat it. I see some people getting goals from their surgeons that would have been plain impossible for me to meet. ~Cheri

It will never get better, and you'll starve to death. Nah, just teasing! A better answer is "all too soon" because the struggling vets would LOVE to have a hard time eating. It would make life so much easier! It's different for everyone and each person here can give you a different answer. I had trouble eating much of anything until more than a year post op. Incredibly small portions (less than an egg, less than an ounce of soup) would make me incredibly full and cause discomfort. If any food gives you any discomfort you should back off of it. Retry it in a week or so. Discomfort and pain are your stop signals. So if it's hard to eat something? Stop. Come back to it and try it again later. My stomach quieted a bit sometime after the first year, but I'm three years out and it still serenades my husband and I to sleep some nights, or makes so many gurgles we need to turn the television up. Congrats on that new sleeve, and good luck! ~Cheri

Just wondering if ya'll saw this and had any opinions. I'd link the the original but there's an annoying video that auto plays on that site and it bothered me. Celebrate it. So this is my first year ever that I carved a pumpkin and I'll be taking my five year old twins to trick or treat. To minimize the candy, we're only hitting the dozen houses on the block where we personally know the neighbors. Trick or treat is weird if you didn't grow up doing it. The idea of knocking on strangers doors and asking for candy is just bizarre to me, but it's totally normal to Americans that grew up with the tradition, I guess. We're also handing out goldfish crackers and candy. I got the smallest bite size portions I could find. It's not my job to parent everyone else's kid, but I will minimize the damage I do, I guess. Anyway, not sure if this was a hoax or an attempt to stir people up but I will say that she sucks. Handing out humiliation and shame is far more harmful than handing out candy. My house is pretty streamlined - we eat junk sparingly (at least, the kids do and I try very hard to!) and I bake or make almost everything we eat. I still have an obese five year old. It's not her fault - it's really not - she's active and eats well and just plain inherited the same crappy genes and insulin resistance that made me fat. I'd hate for someone else to feel it's their right or duty to attempt to shame her into being skinny. I'd happily give this woman a piece of my mind if she did anything like this to one of my kids. Furthermore, if she really were concerned about childhood obesity (a serious issue) she could hand out fruit chips or granola bars or she could sponsor a Halloween party that was a healthier alternative to trick or treating. But this is just being a a-hole, plain and simple. Opinions or thoughts? Enjoy the holiday, people! ~Cheri

Well, I did kinda leash my own kids in a bit. This was all new to them, so hitting about a dozen houses and coming home was no big deal for them. They have very modestly sized candy bags and I'm rationing it out to them two pieces a day until it's gone. My issue? We did buy candy to give out and we didn't have the turnout we expected! I have half a very large bucket of incredibly tempting treats sitting in my living room, but I'm staying strong. I'm sending it all in to work with the husband soon. I know, it's cruel to fatten up his coworkers but this is survival! Next year? I'm giving out bags with a small piece of candy and some toys for sure. No need to have this much junk around after the holiday! ~Cheri

Oh, and sarsar, thank you for sharing a few pages back. It's hard. But I think I really realized once I got to goal that the reasons I was having trouble and still feeling unhappy weren't weight related. Digging through all of that crap is painful but beneficial in the end. You've come a long way, congrats on all of your success. ~Cheri

Globe, I am so sorry to hear your news. I'm so glad you've been proactive and are already trying to find ways to help yourself. All I can do is give you virtual hugs, and thank you for sharing. ~Cheri

How's it going with the loss now? Have you lost anything else? Honestly, your lifestyle changed tremendously with your injury so I doubt you're done. It's more likely your body isn't sure what to do because you went from an athletic lifestyle to a more sedentary one overnight! It's important to be happy with our limitations (for instance, I'd love to weigh 120 but my body says nay) but don't throw in the towel just yet! ~Cheri

Thank you for recognizing that we're all different! Don't let those differences sabotage the way you feel about your success. In three months I lost 44 pounds. Those were my three best months. It took me another EIGHT months to lose the next 44 pounds! I am 5'1" and my start weight was 242 pounds. I wouldn't fret about losing too quickly, as the body will slow or stall if things get too crazy. I also wouldn't worry about losing slowly, as frustrating as that might be. Some people lose 100 pounds in 9 months, and some people take 17 to lose 107, like me. Good luck, and congrats on that new sleeve! ~Cheri

That seems fine, and if you're losing weight you know you're on track! The ideal combo of calories, carbs and protein is going to be what works best for you, keeps you feeling satisfied but doesn't sabotage your loss. So far you're doing great. It's not easy to log a big loss early out when you've done a pre-op diet so I think that you're doing exceptionally well. I didn't lose any weight my first month until the third week -I even gained eleven pounds in the hospital! Great work on hitting those nutritional and hydration goals so early out. It's a real challenge for a number of people (it took me months) so you're ahead of the game here. Expect a slow down or stall soon but don't let it panic you. Keep doing what you're doing, because it looks like you're doing what's right for your body. Congrats on that new sleeve! ~Cheri

My secret? It's not really so secret because I'm not one to keep a lot of them. But I walk the line (cue the Cash?) and I do all those things that I caution other people about - eating foods or drinking drinks that could trigger a binge fest. And 99% of the time I'm good. It's no big deal to have a small glass of soda and a small portion of popcorn. I can eat it, be done, and not have to do it again or go after more. I make excellent choices most of the time. But 1% of the time? I'm forced to face the fact that I cannot eat this way when I'm feeling stressed or emotional or hormonal. At those times I can stuff in an entire candy bar and wash it down with a coke if I want to - and I've done it. I can eat a slice of pizza, rest a bit and go back for another slice. I can and have logged upwards of 2,400 calories in MFP on occasion, because even without physical hunger I can eat and eat and eat until I'm physically ill. Even when I don't enjoy the food, even when I didn't want it in the first place, even when I know I could sabotage myself - if I just let loose and let myself do this all the time, I could easily gain a large amount of weight back. Probably not all of it, not without some serious effort. But definitely a big chunk. Usually I do okay with it. But I eat less than ideal choices in larger than I should portions on occasion. Moderation is hard. This is why I urge caution with it even if I'm not always careful myself. Because it only takes indulging the carb monster a few nights a month (hello, PMS) to build a habit - an addiction - that is incredibly difficult to break. My name is Cheri and when the hormones hit me, I struggle with my food addiction. I sneak eat (still!) and I overeat because I can, not because I need to. Also, this is why I don't share my MFP with anyone. ~Cheri

I hated food. I didn't miss it. I felt free without it, if that makes sense. I never realized how much our social rituals revolve around food, though. At times it's been challenging and at times there was resentment that I couldn't indulge in something I really liked, simply because I had no room. Our embassy lives were challenging too, because I was expected to eat, eat, eat and drink, drink, drink while doing events with the locals - so there were times there that I really wished I had more room, but not so I could eat. I didn't want to eat. I just wanted to avoid being sick because I was expected to eat so much! But I love that I can say no and walk away more than 90% of the time. And while I still struggle with those old food demons, for the most part food doesn't control my life any more. Everyone deals with this differently. For every person that posts that they resent that other people eat around them (as if the world were sleeved with them and should adhere to their diet!) there are several more than have no desire to eat at all and aren't tempted by food in the slightest. For me, each and every struggle I have today is a head one - I still have no hunger. I still don't need to eat. When I slip up, it's because my head isn't in the right place, not because my lust for food got in the way. Even now, if I snag a piece or two of candy I know I don't need, I don't even enjoy them! At three years out there are times when I really enjoy food. But I enjoy a small bit of it and then I'm done. There's no resentment or anger or frustration that I can't eat the entire pot or go back for seconds. And this can only be a good thing! I think this boils down to mindset. If you're feeling negative, it bothers you. If you're feeling positive, you see this as a boon. ~Cheri

The pre-op diets are hard for people. Hang in there and do your very best with it. Here's my long list of advice. I'll try to keep it short, but I'm not so good at short posts. Stock up on groceries and supplies before surgery so you won't have to run out afterward. Also stock up on meds. I hope you have your PPI, because you'll want one for at least a short period post op. Walk, walk, walk post op. Sip, sip, sip. If you're awake, you should be sipping. If cold liquids don't cut it, try warm ones. If you don't like the Protein shakes post op, find another one. There is a shake out there that you like, you just have to find it. Protein Shakes are a tremendous boost and getting as much protein as you can will keep you from losing muscle instead of fat. You're doing a pre-op diet, so you likely won't log huge loss numbers your first month. Anything you lose pre-op should be counted into your loss total. Remember that we all lose at an individual pace, so even someone the same height and weight sleeved the same day will see different results. If the scale gets you down, put it away. You're going to lose weight because you're slicing out 85% of your stomach and can't help but lose weight. And yes, you will probably stall (three weeks at one weight) at some point, and it's normal and no, you aren't done losing weight just because it happens. Follow your post op nutritional guidelines - do not eat foods before you're supposed to eat them. But that advice about calories/carbs are guidelines. There is no one size approach to this, so the ideal combination of calories, carbs and protein is the one you can live with that gives you results. Good luck! I wouldn't trade my sleeve for anything. ~Cheri

Ugh Optifast. It'll work, though! You'll shed those pounds in a few weeks on that plan if you can hang in there. As for counseling/therapy, I'm of the opinion that EVERYONE should have some. The group of people here that don't have disordered eating, food addictions or other underlying issues is minuscule. Almost everyone here has some form of disordered eating and most of us have reinforced those bad habits for years. Our relationships with food and our emotions about eating are incredibly complicated. We like to tell ourselves prior to surgery that all our issues are due to overeating and illness or genetics and that the sleeve will be that choice that finally cures it all for us. Sadly, this isn't the case! And to take it a step further, in many cases the obesity isn't the issue. I wasn't unhappy because I was obese. I was obese because I was unhappy. And losing the weight made me feel a little better, yes, but it also made all of those things I was hiding under the food and the fat come to the surface. So I definitely needed support to get through that. Long story short, counseling will never, ever hurt. It can only help. As for losing the pounds, it's hard but you have a choice. The sleeve isn't going to make everything easier, either. You're still going to love food and want to eat, at least after the initial healing phase (and sometimes during!) so those struggles you're facing now, having trouble sticking to a plan? It won't be as tough post op, but there will still be times you run in to the same challenges, particularly once you're into maintenance and trying to live this new life for the rest of your life. But Arts is right on - Optifast is hard but you'll lose weight on it! ~Cheri

You can go back to liquids but it's also possible to revisit those early month eating habits. Make a diet plan first thing in the morning. Log all your food so you know what you'll eat for your meals and Snacks that day. And stick to it. Go heavy Protein. Start adding in a shake - find one you like, because with enough work there really is one you like. It took me forever but I found what I like after many failed attempts! When you get hungry, be sure you're really hungry. Distract yourself. Drink Water. As a last resort, eat a fibrous veggie or protein snack like a hard boiled egg or Jerky. This is the real deal here, what you're struggling with right now. You aren't alone. Many of us are food addicts. We have poor habits that we've reinforced for most of our lives. A few months (or even years!) of new habits doesn't break the old, as much as I'd like to say it does. This is something you will likely face more than once because maintenance is forever. So tackle it head on. Take the food demons on, take control of your diet and move forward towards your goal. While going to liquids will help, I think that it will be exceptionally difficult and discouraging, and that once you do fall off of it the feeling of deprivation will make you binge again. So for this week, log those foods. Protein, protein, protein. For this week, don't worry about calories. Worry about the quality of your food choices. Shave calories back down once the carb monster is off your back. And once that little beastie is quiet, move on to controlling your desire to eat more than you should, or to eat emotionally. If I eat 1,000 calories in a day, I can't just eat three meals or I'll feel deprived. I break it up so that I get to eat as many as six times a day, even if one of those meals is a Protein Shake. Make it so you eat so frequently there's no room for the desire to eat things off your plan. You can do this. I've detoxed a few times. So many of us have! Every single vet I know has had to do it at least once! ~Cheri

I relate a lot, too. In my case there was a huge amount of self-sabotage but well, that's a can of worms I don't feel like opening today. I'm usually so sharey-sharey with no worries or cares about what I put out there, but not tonight. This time of year is hard. Anyway, sounds like everyone survived the day and it went well. I need to head to bed because me desire to eat sugary things because I miss my husband is getting to me. I hate it when he travels - I've gotten used to having him home and had forgotten what this was like! ~Cheri