LumpySpacePrincess

I wish I could afford plastic surgery. Its not likely, at least not until I'm out of graduate school and have my LPC so I can practice. So probably about a good 6 or 7 years away. Not sure I can live with it for that long without getting majorly depressed.

There are a couple of products I'm looking at ordering from netrition. One is a honey alternative made from xylitol. I want to know if anyone has post-op experience with it? Maltitol, unless in very small doses, makes me dump so I wanted to hear from others about using xylitol based things instead. Thanks!

For the most part, I haven't had to touch anything except the occasional Tums since about a month out. Now, suddenly, I have heartburn every day even though how much I eat and the type of food I eat hasn't really changed all that much over the last six months. Is it common for heartburn to just kick in late?? Its kind of annoying, so any suggestions on getting rid of it that don't involve Prilosec (expensive where I live) would be great!

One day I'll take the time to type up my whole story (its a long one, going back to the age of 3!) but for now here are my photos! Before: July 2013 (surgery in November 2013) at approximately 325 pounds. After: December 2014 at about 157 pounds. I'd still like to lose another 20, but at this point I'm not going to push for it. Last time I was this weight was maybe 6th grade.

I am one of those people who posts what they are having for dinner to facebook (occasionally) but mostly because I have a ton of sleever friends on there and we like to get ideas from each other. I know no one else cares that I had tuna casserole last Wednesday! lol

CVS has a great generic brand that taste like fruit candy! I also like the Viactiv calcium chews. If you'd really rather not get a chewable, try Blue Bonnet liquid! They literally taste like jam and go down so smooth. I remember mixing it in with a Peanut Butter flavored Protein shake and it was like having PBJ!

My sister-in-law has really bad PCOS and missing periods, yet she was able to conceive two children, so don't think it can't happen to you and ruin your surgery plans! I also had PCOS (cleared up two days after surgery), but I have a copper IUD so I didn't need to take pills for protection. The nice thing about the IUD is once you decide you want to start trying, you can just have it removed and there is no recovery time in terms of how soon you can conceive. Remember that you shouldn't get pregnant for at least two years after your surgery (my surgeon recommended 3-4 ideally), so don't play too fast and loose.

Posting to gather information for a friend. Her husband has gained a lot of weight in the last few years, despite being active, tracking calories and eating healthy, etc. He's not quite ready to take the leap into surgery-land, but has said seeing a nutritionist who deals with bariatric or obese patients regularly might be helpful. They live in the Los Angeles area, so if anyone has any good recommendations, please let me know! Thanks!

I'm 14 months out and at a good weight, but I still have what I call my 'skin puddle.' Its the chunks of skin that still spread out when I sit down and the skin around my belly. But how much of it is really just skin and how much of that is still fat that could be burned off?

There is a huge difference between gaining weight and gaining fat. You would have to be eating a lot to gain 15 pounds of pure fat. There are way too many factors that could be causing you to gain weight: hormone fluctuations, Water retention, muscle gain, constipation, etc. If you are eating fewer calories than you burn, you will lose fat. The theory of starvation mode isn't relevant for people who still have excess body fat. The body is too intelligent to make you gain weight or not lose weight if you lower your calories. Your fat is only stored when you are taking in more than your body can burn (burning it is the only way it can get rid of it!). Your body doesn't have a set point at which it says "gee, I should save this for later in case I don't get enough." Starvation point has been studied extensively and really only present in people who have very low body fat percentage and basically lived on nothing. If starvation mode were true at our weights, people who are anorexic wouldn't be able to lose as much as they do. This is probably over-simplifying it, but you get the point. What does matter are the types of foods you are taking in. Protein and Produce before Carbs and Crap! Go back to eating like you did 6 weeks post-op: lots of protein and water, very little of anything else. You might be taking in too many carbohydrates that are being burned for energy instead of your stored body fat, and if you eat an excess of carbs your body will store the extra as fat or water. All that being said, I didn't exercise while I was still trying to lose. Whenever I did, my weight loss would slow or stall. Once I cut it out, I would lose a steady 3 pounds per week. My weight has been stable for about 5 months, so I have taken up exercising again. So I do agree with you that exercising with very low calorie diet may be slowing you down, I don't think it would cause you to gain. For that, you need to look at other factors about your diet and your routine. Are you snacking without realizing it? Many do. Keep tracking so you can see where your problem areas are. Good luck!

I have lost almost 160, and the skin on my stomach kind if stayed in the same shape it always was. I still have a bit of a pannus, though its much smaller. Some good control top panties, though, and I can wear leggings and dresses and look like I was never overweight. Does it bother me? Sure! But I am far less bothered by it now than I was at over 300 pounds! I have actually learned to ignore it for the most part. All I can say is thank goodness my boyfriend is legally blind! LOL

I am in northern NJ (Bergen County) and I'm also hoping its not as bad as they say. It feels like the kids just went back to school from winter vacation, and darnit mommy needs quiet with her coffee! lol Well that and electricity and internet not getting knocked out would be a plus!

Trader Joe's unflavored soy Protein powder probably tastes the best out of all the ones I've tried (no funny aftertaste, blends well with everything) and is relatively inexpensive (about $12 for a huge jar). Although, if you can have yogurt the first few weeks post-op, greek yogurt packs a massive protein punch for very few calories and can often taste better. My NUT told me its better to find high protein sources in real food rather than relying on shakes.

Hi, all! I'm wondering how many calories per meal (approximate) would be appropriate for maintenance? During the weight loss phase I wouldn't go over 150 calories per meal, and now that I'm trying to maintain I'm averaging about 300. Does that seem high? I eat 2-3 meals per day and 2 Snacks with snacks staying under 150 calories each. I'm also curious how many g of carbs everyone eats and can still maintain their weight. I was averaging about 40-50 during weight loss but I'm thinking about allowing up to 75 total per day. Keep in mind, I don't do any formal exercise, and being a graduate student I'm either hiking to class or on my butt reading/writing with not a lot of time for much else. Thanks!!

If you can't find it, try the Trader Joe's unflavored soy Protein powder. It doesn't have a weird taste like a lot of the others and the best part is that its waaaay cheaper! I pay $12 for it vs. around $60 of the same size at GNC.

I agree with @@Jersrose43 about Valley. I had Dr. Bagloo, but also have friends who went to other surgeons from Valley and none of us have had any complications. The hospital is amazingly clean, the staff are all cheerful and pleasant, and the surgeons are absolutely amazing. That being said, a surgeon is a very personal choice. I went to meet a few before I decided on Valley and it was just kind of something I knew in my gut that it was the right fit for me. I feel that, if you are still shopping for a surgeon, maybe you should keep looking until you find one you know is the right choice. Remember, you will be working with these surgeons for LIFE after surgery is over, so it needs to be someone you trust and have a good rapport with. Good luck!

The Trader Joe's brand soy protein powder is a lot cheaper and probably the best one I've ever tasted. If you get the unflavored, it really has no flavor at all so you can do whatever you want with it. No icky aftertaste and I think its only $12 and you get a ton!

I definitely look younger. I'm 34 but a lot of people tell me I look 19. Even my close friends have remarked at how much younger I look.

I have a very emotionally abusive, controlling ex-husband. His abuse was one of the reasons I let my binge eating disorder run rampant until I was well over 300 pounds. He would call me up and yell at me, telling me I was the reason he was late to work because I asked him a question before he left (nevermind that he'd left an hour late to begin with), or yelled at me that I was hiding the things he was looking for or throwing them away (I wasn't). After awhile, I started to realize all the insults and abuse he was throwing at me wasn't even about me, it was about how he felt he was so fragile he couldn't take responsibility for anything he did or his entire self concept would crumble into nothing. I thought about this for a long time, and thought about how utterly miserable he must be within himself for him to lash out at others like that. Then I just felt sad for him, that he has to walk through life with the burden of such misery, how every day must be so difficult to walk around seething with such anger and hurt and depression. Forgiveness for him wasn't an instant action. It took a long time after my realizations to really forgive him. It came in bits and pieces, and yes there were even times I took forgiveness back. After all, my emotions about the situation were still valid, and I was allowed to have them. The difference was I no longer allowed my feelings about my past to dictate how I lived in the future. To me, not forgiving him would have been like carrying around a daily reminder of his abuse for the rest of my life. Think about it like this: carrying around negative emotions towards others is like putting a potato in your coat pocket. At first its hard and smooth and you don't mind sharing space with it. But what happens when its been there for a few months? It starts to grow eyes and take up more space, then it gets soft and starts to smell. As it continues to rot, it turns to mush and has now permeated the fabric of your coat, soaking through the layers and ruining everything around it. You want to stick your hand in your pocket to get warm but all you feel is stinky mush. Throw the potato away before it turns to mush and you'll be much happier.

At your stage, best thing to do is measure your portions. Never eyeball, or you might find your portions creep up which can slow your losses. 3 Tablespoons at the absolute max for your stage of purees, or up to 4 ounces of more liquidy foods like yogurt or soup. Hope this helps!

Hi, All! I am 13 months out and I'm only 3 pounds away from my goal of being in a 'normal' bmi range. At this point, I'm calling it good. The thing is, I have been in this mental weight loss mode since I was 7 years old; that's 27 years of constantly monitoring how/what I eat in order to lose weight. I have never, to my recollection, not had constant thoughts of "I want to be thin." Well now I am and I'm not sure how to get out of that head space. Of course, I'll be talking to my therapist about it, but I'd like to hear from other bariatric patients as well. Keep in mind, this isn't an issue of not thinking I 'look good', or not seeing my progress or anything like that. Its more of mentality of continuing to lose weight even though I don't need to just because I haven't ever known any other way of life. Any advice??

I have taken Phentermine both pre and post-surgery. Pre-surgery I took it so I could stop eating because my eating was getting out of control. Back then, I'd need two caplets at a time. Post-surgery, I would take half a pill on occasion and that would be just enough to get me through those times when my emotions were running high and I just wanted to eat, or I had intense cravings for junky food that just would not go away. The half a pill didn't make me jittery and was just enough to take my mind off the food until the emotions or cravings had passed. When I felt it kick in, I would always sit down and write out why I thought the cravings/emotions were happening and how I could handle them without food so I could look back on them next time. Phentermine can be a useful tool if you are taking it in conjunction with other things. My doctor would not give it to me unless I was also in therapy for my eating disorders (which I was and continue to be), and as a supplement to my sleeve it has been awesome. I haven't taken it for about five months now, but I know its there if I need it.