VSGAnn2014

Miss Mac, that's some good work! Congratulations to you. I know how much this surgery has done for you.

My knees are very "used." So I LOVE aquarobics. The classes I attend kick my ass.

You are 100% entitled to explore your sexy and to want to feel sexy and to be curious about all of that. And as you say, if this is a new area for you, it could be full of surprises, good and otherwise. By that, I mean only that sexual attraction is a big and complicated and sometimes overwhelming subject. There's no rush. Enjoy yourself.

LOL! I can just hear that leaking out of your mouth! What happened next?

Just want to say that because cream of wheat (or any "new" food that doesn't sit well the first time you try it post-op) bit you today, in a month or two it might cause you no problems at all.

Why would I agree that you're a failure because you've lost "only" 14 pounds in two weeks post-op when I don't think you're a failure? However, no one can stop you from being miserable. Only you can change your mind about that.

Protip: Crying like a baby just makes headaches worse. In fact, crying like a baby commonly causes headaches.

@@MissMac, your family photos (and the description you offer of your siblings' struggles with adult obesity, are so telling.

Thanks, Merkman. You're doing great yourself.

Oh, jeez. Not another one. WHERE in the world do newly sleeved people get the idea that they are "supposed" to lose more than 14 pounds the first two weeks after WLS surgery? Seriously, I challenge you to point me to a majority of WLS patients who post here who have lost more than that. Or if you can't do that, how did you get that impression? Your rate of weight loss is amazing. Find something else to worry about -- like hitting your daily Water and Protein targets and how much farther you're going to walk today. I know that sounds harsh, and I'm sorry. But lately I've read too many "I'm depressed -- everyone's losing faster than me" posts that are based on off-the-wall magical thinking.

You don't get out much, do you? There's the "Fit and Trim" menu at Ruby Tuesdays. Subway has healthy salads and some good sandwiches. And Panera (Half Asiago Roast Beef Signature Sandwich on Asiago cheese Bread), Applebees (Caesar salad with Chicken), and Wendy's (Chili with Cheese) all offer some good WLS food choices. All Mexican restaurants make chicken fajitas (chicken, onions, peppers, spices, oil). That's a great meal--actually, it's several great meals. It's not the restaurant that's unhealthy, but which food(s) you order and how much you eat and how much you take home for another meal.

I think the p.c. term is "overweight," not "fat."

You might want to take a look at the National Weight Control Registry research. Here's a page to start on, with some links to many studies that have been done with people who have not only lost weight (through various means, including weight loss surgery), but have maintained their weight loss. http://www.nwcr.ws/research/

I think (?) it's true that I haven't mourned the loss of food. Perhaps it's because because I was sleeved later in life (at 68) I'd eaten about everything there is to eat--some great food. I also understood that being sleeved didn't mean I could never eat good food again. Four months post-op, I am certainly less focused on food than I was pre-op. I'm sure that's due to having so much less ghrelin in my body than pre-op. However, I'm still interested in food to supply nutrients for my body, to supply energy, and (to a lesser extent, for now) food's taste and aesthetics. It's pretty easy to avoid or reject food most of the time that doesn't have high nutritional value (sweets, alcohol, high-carbs). I'm sure this will all continue to evolve and change. But the current phase is a comfy place to hang out.

I'm 4 months post-op, and this occasionally happens to me. I usually nurse my morning Protein shake (have only 4-5 of these per week), but if I drink it faster diarrhea sometimes strikes! You DON'T want to be driving or out in public when this happens. This is why you see in some people's signature lines: "Never trust a fart!"

I send you Christmas wishes for a positive outcome and continuing self-awareness. I bet you can figure this out and learn to live in the healthy zone--however you need to define that for yourself. It's impressive that you are taking this seriously. I'm also impressed with your partner. What he did took courage, too.

I'm four months post-op. Like others here, I was freezing up until the last month. And now in the last month I'm not. I am eating more now (between 800 and 1000 calories/day) at the urging of my bariatric P.A. who says it's time to get my calories up. I'm also doing an aquarobics class three times a week, which kicks my ass (you wouldn't think it would, but it does). I don't know what else I could credit the body temp change to. Any insights, fellow WLSers?

That's weird. I had a hiatal hernia, too (small), and my surgeon stitched it up during the VSG operation. I've had acid reflux pre-op (been taking Ranitidine for at least 10 years, which resolved it well). Post-op, my reflux seems fine--certainly no worse than pre-op.

You said it ... Water. When you're dehydrated, your body will hold on to all the water, and the scale will stick. It also sets up a dangerous situation for your kidneys: When your body is breaking down so much fat and trying to excrete waste products, not drinking enough water means your kidneys are dealing with high concentrations of urine without the water to dilute those waste products. You have GOT to change your water-drinking habits. This far post-op you have no good excuses for not doing so. Drinking 8 full glasses of water EVERY day will turn you from a so-so, stalled WLS patient to someone who's back on track. Just do it. You'll be so happy you did.

Good grief, @orionova. I'm so sorry.

What @@BLERDgirl said.

I've never crushed any of my meds or other pills. Was never told to either. Yuck!

^^^ But what happens when we lose to 200 or 160 or 130 ... and we regain 10 pounds? Do we still feel "thin"? Having already done this more times in my life than I can remember or count, I would opine that no, we (at least I) do not feel so thin 10 pounds above a weight I recently rejoiced being at. And that not-feeling-thin sensation is accompanied by some other negatives--feelings of failure, frustration, helplessness, embarrassment, guilt, fear ... shall I go on? Just spitballing here ... but I seriously think it would be therapeutic for me, after I reach my goal weight, to proactively gain 10 pounds--and then confront all those old, familiar, negative emotions, then learn how to lose those 10 pounds again. After all, practice makes perfect. Because, ladies and germs, that's what we'll have to do as normal-sized people -- tolerate gaining 5-10 pounds on vacation, during the holidays, due to job or family stress or perhaps our own illness, but not throw in the towel and gain 40 pounds because "we feel so bad", but just lose those 5-10 pounds again. Over and over. No pun intended, but this is sort of heavy.

Down 61 pounds total, down 42 since surgery. Doing just fine. Hope everyone is plugging along nicely, too. Happy holidays to all.

I DON'T WANT to be skinny. I just want to be normal-sized. And healthy. I look forward to the months and years when the goals I set for my body have nothing to do with how much I weight, but muscle mass, flexibility, strength, endurance, speed and absence of pain / discomfort. There's a lot more to my journey than BMI charts or the scale. P.S. And, of course, I want to look wonderful in wonderful clothes.