VSGAnn2014

There's this wonderful legal process some people go through. It's called "emancipation." Could be useful. Seriously -- very best wishes on your upcoming surgery. It'll be good to get on the other side. For me, the actual reality of WLS was so much easier to navigate than the pre-op theory of it all. You just do it.

For those of you now fully in maintenance mode and doing well at maintaining your weight, would you please answer these questions? (EDITED with a hat-tip to @@James Marusek for adding Question 0.) 0. What type of weight loss surgery have you had? 1. How long have you been in maintenance mode? 2. What's your current height and weight? 3. How many calories do you eat daily (on average) to maintain your weight? 4. What kind of focus do you put on Protein -- number of grams or anything else you want to say? 5. What kind of focus do you put on carbs - number of grams or anything else you want to say? 6. What other nutritional tips / tricks are working for you that help you maintain? 7. Which foods, if any, do you avoid altogether? 8. What exercise regimen (exercise types and frequency) do you follow? 9. What role, if any, has counseling or therapy played in your WLS success? 10. What advice would you offer WLS patients to help them be successful?

This particular problem will be resolved very soon.

OMG! Roared out loud at the slapping penguin! And that dwarf horsey vid -- want to smoosh him!

It's 70 in our house this morning. I'm sitting under a thick Pendleton wool blanket right now, and hubby has a fan turned on him. I think this is our future.

Your portion sizes will change a lot over time. That's because your stomach's capacity will change. And when you are through losing weight you'll have to (and want to and be able to) eat more to maintain. For instance, the first 4 months post-op I averaged about 800 calories/day. That translates to about 1/2 a cup of Protein / veggies at a meal. Then I raised my cals to 1,000/day for Months 5 and 6, then up to 1,200 cals/day for Months 7-8. It's been nearly 2 years post-op and in maintenance for the last year for me. I now eat 1700 - 1800 cals/day. That's anywhere from 0.75 cup to 1.25 cup of food at meals. I eat 3 meals a day and have 2-3 Snacks. One of those snacks is "treat food," and the other two snacks are nutritious food, e.g., yogurt + fruit, high-protein, high-Fiber cracker + cheese, etc. Re pizza -- the first time I had pizza (maybe 3 months post-op) I ate part of the toppings from one slice. Today, I can eat two (not huge) slices of thin-crust pizza. Sometimes I eat only 1.5 slices. A typical serving of protein at a meal for me is 3 ounces. A typical serving of green veggies is a quarter to a half a cup; same with servings of whole grains.

Mama mia! You've had quite a year -- and triumphed. Huge congratulations to you.

You sound pretty determined. Your determination will be your strongest asset in regaining your health and staying healthy. I will double down on what others have already said -- that WLS long-term success requires significant lifestyle and behavioral changes -- re what you eat, how much you exercise / move, your eating habits (eating slower, not drinking with meals, etc.), and for many people changing the ground rules for many of their relationships, both personal and professional. Some resources that have been hugely helpful to me in addressing these changes in my own life include: * I've been in therapy for two years (started just before WLS -- I'm sleeved). It's been so helpful in helping me learn how to care for my own needs before caring for others' needs. My greatly improved self-care has been critical to my losing 100 pounds and maintaining that weight loss for a year. * I'm a pretty regular measurer of my foods and liquids. Without that consistency I'd definitely be experiencing "portion creep." Two of the foods I consistently underestimate are cheese and nuts. My eye thinks that 1.5 - 2.0 ounces of cheese is 1 ounce. And my guesstimates about nuts are just, well, nuts! As high-calorie as both these foods are, they can present problems over time. And they're not the only ones. * I have planned and tracked all my meals / Snacks / everything on the online food tracker at www.myfitnesspal.com. * I weigh every morning. Not everyone can or even should do this. But everyone should weigh at the same interval -- whether it's once a day, every week, every month, etc. It's easy when you don't weigh regularly to ignore the impact of developing eating problems and the resulting weight gain. That's how some people wake up one morning and realize they've "suddenly" regained 20 pounds. Re measuring and tracking, I do not know how anyone knows for sure how much they're eating without measuring and tracking or how their intake might be slowly changing over time. I challenge everyone pre-op to measure and then track their food intake for at least one week to learn and/or confirm just how much they're actually eating in terms of macronutrients (calories / Protein / carbs / fat). Finally, the folks who seem (to me) to have the most problems along the way are those who have WLS so they'll "never have to diet again." Usually what they mean is that they don't want to ever have to make any future tough choices about what to eat or how much to eat -- because they expect their new gastrointestinal system will make those choices for them or somehow negate the impact of the bad choices they do make. Please believe me when I say that even after WLS you will still have to make plenty of tough choices about what to eat and drink. You're about to put your foot on the road to health. That road and your journey will never end. Good luck to you.

You are related to a lot of controlling bitches, aren't you? So sorry. Unplug the land line and block them on your cell.

LMAO!

Good gravy, Sharon! That woman's angels were looking over her today! After this weekend in Orlando, the daily dramas are meaningless.

@@ridgerunner ... I agree that it would be lovely if we could ask thoughtful questions and receive thoughtful answers. And an occasional "thank you" for the time and effort we take to answer others' questions would be appreciated, too. Unfortunately, that seldom happens. I believe the following interchange is the only attempt I ever made to answer a question you posed (about the possible use of NSAIDs after WLS) and your responses to my attempt: I haven't attempted to address any of your questions since then.

CHM RIGHT!!! and my frustration is mean people.!! There vented!! Sorry you don't agree Sent from my SM-G930T1 using the BariatricPal App You seem to have missed that I did not comment on your rant in any way. You are entitled to vent your frustrations here like everyone else. What I was commenting on was your judgement of others for doing the same. On a side note: It seems that in my original post I have inadvertently credited @@KristenLe with stating something that was actually said by Syl 153, and I don't know how to fix it. Sorry! It's OK. It seems your words no longer matter. Just your intention.

@@ridgerunner said ... My interpetation of the rules is not that we should refrain from calling others "mean" but that we be more thoughtful in our responses and strive to not BE mean. I see what you mean. The rules are less about the words we use and more about our intentions. Thank you.

Yes, it's shocking! But don't call anyone here "mean." It's against the rules.

@@Syl 153 ... you're posting so fast you're gonna be a veteran soon!

Oh, my lord! What a scene.

Wow! If you've lost 312 pounds it's no wonder your hips are clicking! Your whole skeletal system is probably trying to figure out where your body's center of gravity is and where it's going to be next month. Also, odds are that the tendons that hold your joints together are too loose for the positions your bones are in right now and need to tighten up. Our bodies go through so many other changes than just losing fat as we lose a lot of weight. The size of my own blood vessels (the ones visible through the skin) look a little "too big" for the size of my body (I lost from 235 to 135 pounds). I can only imagine how many miles of extra capillaries and nerves my body is still trying to shrink, shed or resize 2 years after WLS. A 4-5 year BP veteran, @@CowgirlJane who has also lost a lot of weight, talks often here about what she's learned about the internal body changes that long-time obese people experience when they lose a lot of weight.

But "ask your NUT" is the phrase I'm not so down with. My particular NUTs were not very helpful. Enough said.

I don't think I've ever posted "Embrace the stall." But do you know why I like that phrase? Because (to me) it means that after having had WLS I no longer must engage in high-anxiety yo-yo dieting. I now eat and exercise every week the way I'm supposed to eat and move to be healthy. My last 15 pounds took 8 months to come off while I continued doing what I needed to do. Now that I'm in maintenance mode, all those months of patience and consistent lifestyle are serving me well.

Yes ... balance and less stress is much more valuable to me these days -- nearly 2 years post-op. Not too long ago I loved stress, especially work stress. It fueled me because I needed the boost adrenaline gave me to (as Garrison Keillor says) "get up and do what needs to be done." Not my cuppa tea now.

Many cities and towns have multiple second-hand / thrift / consignment clothing for sale by these groups: * Goodwill * Salvation Army * Churches (the Episcopalians have really nice clothes ) * Hospitals * Charitable organizations that support women's shelters and women re-entering the work force * For-profit consignment clothing stores * Plato's Closet (this is a for-profit chain) Online sites that sell second-hand clothing include: * thredUP * The Attic * Poshmark * mashable * eBay

Nearly two years post-op (sleeved) I can barely find the two largest scars. I can't find any of the smaller ones now. FYI, I'm 70 years old, very light-skinned Caucasian, started with BMI just under 40.

Fact: The guy who killed and wounded these people was a natural-born American born in New York City.

I feel numb. Such wanton destruction of human lives.