LipstickLady

I highly doubt @@Alex Brecher would condone judging or evaluating someone based on their communication style via the written word. I can't speak for him, but I think he would find it disheartening to think that people would only help those who could "write a proper sentence or use proper grammar". (Your words from an earlier post.).

Huh?

Again, you are only speaking for yourself, I assume, not the community at large. Nope. It's your OPINION. Sweeping generalizations do not equate to facts.

Or voodoo.

I am 43. I have married to the same man for 20 years and 1 month. (He's a saint, isn't he?) I live in the Bible Belt and I don't go to church nor do I drink sweet tea (or any tea), eat collards or like fried foods. If you've not noticed, I am opinionated and think everyone should hear about it.

That said, I am not THIS judgmental. Sheesh. Nope. Can't agree with this at all. This might be how YOU choose who to help and who not to help, but that doesn't necessarily hold true for me at all. There are some very well spoken people here that I have NO desire to help based on their attitudes, their level of need to be a martyr or victim and how THEY treat others. Admittedly, there are some posts I skip, like those that are presented as wells of text with no spacing or punctuation and those that are written in cursive or light color, but only because I don't have the patience to read them due to my old lady eyes. As I stated earlier, bad grammar and spelling makes me cringe on the inside. That said, I was a teacher for children with special needs. I am also the daughter of a (very successful) dyslexic, high school drop out who built a HUGE company from the ground up but refuses to email or text because he's afraid of being judged by others. Perhaps I am just more compassionate based on MY experiences.

Oh goodness!! I will stand in the front of the line as the judgiest judger!! I own it, it's who I am, and I am not always proud of it. That said, I know not to do it OUT LOUD. That's just rude.

I am here. The party can commence.

Oh! I switched because my doctor was pushing bypass which I absolutely did not want. He had no medical reasoning, **he** just felt more "comfortable". For himself! mind you! not based on MY needs. His nurse also pushed bypass because she felt that I should embrace the idea of dumping because it's what kept her thin (she had bypass). She thought I was crazy to wanted to live as normal a life as possible and have a bite of birthday cake once in awhile. My final straw was overhearing him in the hallway telling her he didn't like to do sleeves and to "convince" me. Hahahaha! You think I'm hardheaded online? You should meet me in person. I told him to bite my big fat ass and walked. Best decision ever.

I switched 4 months into a 6month requirement and had to start over. The weight that lifted off my shoulders when I finally made the decision to do so was huge. You are entrusting your life with these people. You are far more valuable than the $250 investment. Do not go into surgery with any nigglings of doubt. So not worth it.

Well, they could but it wouldn't melt.

I'm not "hiding it", I simply see no reason to share my personal information with everyone. If anyone notices what I've ordered or how little I've eaten, I simply tell them I am watching my diet, I am really not hungry, or that I had a big (previous meal). I typically order soup or an appetizer. Sometimes I order a side salad and add chicken. I rarely spend more than $10 including tip on a meal and I try not to order something I need to take home unless my husband is home to eat it. In the last almost two years, only 2-3 people have commented (and I go out a LOT) and no one really cared about my answer. People are too wrapped up in themselves or what's going on around the room to pay attention to what everyone is or is not eating.

Oh and I forgot!! Unlike Biggest Loser, once I have WLS, I CANNOT be "voted off the island".

Yup. I had the same issue after brain surgery, gall bladder surgery and this surgery. It sucks like nothing you've ever experienced but the time will pass and you will get to drink again. It's easily the most miserable part of surgery IMO. There is liquid at the end of the tunnel. I promise.

On top of the 3-4 hours of time during the day, which I don't have (nor do I watch TV most days much less for that long on any day), I would potentially need: a hard core trainer which I really can't afford a dietician to plan my meals the desire to potentially cause serious damage my knees, my back, my ankles by continuing on program if an injury occurs time off work to heal from any injuries incurred as my job is pretty demanding physically a complete lifestyle change to accommodate my new schedule to not only lose the weight but maintain it. Instead, because of weight loss surgery I have been able to: go to the gym on my own time and take group classes visit the NUT that was included in my follow up care after surgery go easy on my body if an injury occurs take just a few days off work while I got over the initial surgery lose weight and maintain while still spending time with my family, friends, and doing the things I love to do instead of spending every free moment at the gym and most importantly, live a lifestyle that I can easily maintain for the rest of my life, into my 60s, 70s, 80s.

I eat real fat! Real cheese, real sour cream, real dressing. I can't eat much, so it doesn't hurt me. Full fat tastes better, keeps me full linger, satisfies that need for real flavor and doesn't have as much added sugar as @@Babbs pointed out. I don't worry about fat as long as it's not something fried ...

@@JustWatchMe I want to hug you so much right now.

Yup. I blame my mother for fattening me up as a baby.

Here is a very unscientific general calculator. http://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/calories-burned If Penny is 625 pounds, 5"5", 45 and sedentary, she would only burn ABOUT 4300 calories a day.

I can guarantee you she doesn't burn 15,000 a day either.

I was painfully aware of starvation mode, so much so I physically forced myself 1000 calories a day just 4 days after surgery. I didn't want to teach my body it was ok to hang onto the fat WHAT!?!?!? ACK! I couldn't eat 1000 calories for at least 6 months. Be careful.

Wait, what?? 150,000 calories? Dudette, your math is off. She simply needs to eat as much as she burns. She does NOT burn 150,000 a day.

If you have a sleeve, you do not have a "pouch". And sleeves don't stretch.

But HOW does WLS "reset" the metabolism? I'd love to hear the science behind that.

I think it can. This is why I refuse to subsist on 800 calories a day of all Protein, no fat. Bring on the butter! Bring on the full fat sour cream and the good cheese. I am not afraid of calories, I am not afraid of fat, I am afraid of carbs. Not the complex kind, the sugary sweet refined kind. I did not want to maintain on 800 calories so I worked hard to get to 1200-1500 calories a day. That seems to be my maintenance point -- a point I can live with. Bingo, @@LipstickLady! That's how I'm approaching the maintenance phase (if you can call it that). I'm not worrying about fat and calories, just starches/sugars. The question is, with the new dietary guidelines coming out in 2015, what do we do about cheese and butter? They're the wrong kind of fat, but they don't seem to affect our weight loss much, as long as we're not also consuming the bad carbs. Guess we monitor our cholesterol once or twice a year and take it from there. I rank the government's dietary guidelines right up there with the BMI chart.