aquitenonnymouse

I would LOVE to see those photos! Congratulations. Thanks for sharing your hardships!

Checking it out!

Same here. I've never regretted having my sleeve. I have wished (plenty) that I could eat more of something tasty. BUT my sleeve helped me not over-do it, also... That craving goes away. It is tough sometimes, though.

I'm new-ish and hadn't heard about boot camp. I'll go look at that now! I was thinking personally about kicking myself back into gear by doing a few full liquid days (obviously making sure I have enough protein and meet minimum calorie needs) to get myself out of the cycles I'm in right now. I'm good at "You can't have this at all. Ever" I'm bad at "You can have this! In small quantities! Yay moderation!" uh... no. Eat ALL THE THINGS! Moderation is so tough.

Don't get me wrong, deaths are bad, but the death rate isn't 0 in the US either, but we don't have articles of "Two people dying recently in the US." It happens. It really does. It's terrible, but death is a risk with every major surgery, and it can happen to the patients of even the best surgeons.

Congrats! How are you dealing with skin? I'm 5 months out and I've started wearing shapewear under some of my clothing to help it fit better. It doesn't make me smaller, but it re-distributes the skin a bit.

I SO agree with this! I find it helps if I have a novel while I'm eating. I take a bite, read a page, take a bite, etc. I haven't taken a full 30 minutes to eat a meal in ... oh... a month or two. It's definitely an issue. One of the problems being that I'm not dragging out the sensation of eating (totally an addiction thing, Thanks Laura-ven for that topic!), but also that I finish eating, and my body hasn't caught up to what I've eaten already, so I'm not satisfied, and may even still feel a bit empty (doesn't feel like what hungry used to).

I wouldn't say that I'm more critical now. I think I'm critical, but in a new way now. Before, I had thought I was disgusting for so long, and I finally started to come to terms that that was what I looked like. Now, I still feel like I look big, and I do have excess skin, and it's all watery instead of firm, soft rolls before. I look different, and I've been working on loving myself more. Skin and all. Something that has helped me a bit is the blog "Fuckyeahbodypositivity.tumblr.com" Some of the posts have helped me realize that I can think I'm beautiful. Even with all of my skin and body issues.

After surgery (once out of the hospital) I was allowed to make my shakes with milk,and I like the flavors that way! I didn't add fruit to my smoothies until puree stage, but I DID add unflavored protein powder (from Unjury) to juice that I made by putting fruits and veggies through the juicer. My nutritionist thought it was a good idea to get me the vitamins, minerals, and calories I needed.

Congrats! You look great!

You look great! Congrats. Personal question- at such a low BMI, were you self-pay, or working with Co-morbidities. If Co-morbidities, have they been resolved for the most part for you? Best of luck!

I should have taken that step before having a second serving of lunch today. Ugh. I need to realize that self-sabotage is NEVER worth it!

Yes, absolutely. I definitely have those issues!

This! This, this, this this-ity, this this! Exactly where I am.

I just sent you a message with my surgery center information. I wasn't sure if you were saying you were from NYC or NY state.

That's a REALLY good point. Same here, I'm sure!

I PROMISE it will go away. Lots of internal suture there, and you'll have internal scar tissue there. Mine went from going WAY in, to going out (when the scar tissue got very firm), and then back to normal as it softens up. Totally normal.

Nice job! You're doing so so so well!

P.S. I love that you titled it "BIG FAT PEOPLE". It did get my attention!

I didn't realize until after surgery that I had a food addiction, and I'm dealing with that right now. It's hard! I thought I had 'some emotional eating habits', and that I just enjoyed the taste and sensation of eating... UH. WRONG! I'm addicted! You can't exactly go cold turkey (pardon the phrase) on food, the way people can for other substances. It's tough. I'm weak. I will do better today than I did yesterday... even though I already snuck a piece of chocolate. Okay, fine. 2 pieces.

Great job!

Ha! I can just picture that. <snort>

I'm a student, and I didn't feel that I could miss much class. I took the day of surgery off, the next 3 days, and then had Thanksgiving break. I missed 3 days of class total, and ended up having ~1.5 weeks off. I REALLY suggest giving yourself AT LEAST a week to recover at home. Don't push yourself and go back in a day or two. My surgeon suggests taking 4-5 weeks off, but I told him I had to do less and he said okay, if I thought I was up to it. My energy was still really low, but at least I wasn't taking meds anymore. It's a big change, and I was exhausted.

There are different sizes. The most common is 2qts, so it holds a good amount. My experience with Osprey/Nalgene hydration packs is that there is NO plastic flavor. It's made of food-grade BPA-free plastics that are meant for storing water without leeching chemicals or a plastic taste. I think there are larger ones, but you can hold 2qts in the pack, and pack more water for re-filling it. 2qts would get me through a good-size hike!

Up your protein by upping your shakes! Make sure you're getting in 3 shakes every day (while on liquid). I use Unjury, so a shake made with one scoop of powder and 8oz of milk gives me a total of 28g of protein. Your body cannot absorb more than 30g at a time, so don't try to get all of your protein in all at once. A shake that promises 50g of protein is not worth it. You'd be wasting half of it.