VSGAnn2014

Jeez. This actually sounds pretty sane. Well done to you both. And very, very best wishes.

Sorry about the bad link, folks. Try this one: https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140408/hyde-park/chef-graham-elliot-loses-150-pounds-after-gastric-sleeve-surgery Or just google graham elliott gastric chef sleeve

So many aspects to this. And I DON'T know you or your psychological makeup or challenges or your situation. However, my immediate thought was: Don't self-medicate your feelings in this situation -- with meds or other drugs or food. As the kids say, this is the time to feel your feels. All of them. This is not the time to go numb. Chances are (?) this is the first time in a long time you've not pushed some of those important emotions down and numbed yourself up. It's look-at-real-s**t time. Very, very best to you and your family!

We had house guests this weekend (family members). And one of them would NOT shut up and kept screeching, "How SKINNY you are! Boy, you've lost a lot of weight! Are you through losing weight? Jeez, how much do you weigh?!" After the third or fourth time she went through this in front of everyone else, I turned to her, smiled sweetly and offered @@LipstickLady 's suggested response: "I'm tired of talking about my weight. Let's talk about your weight. How much do you weigh?" The room erupted with laughter! (This is the person in the group whom nobody ever has the cajones to tell to STFU.) Well, she did STFU. She did NOT volunteer how much she weighed. And she never said another thing about my weight the whole weekend. Bam!

Jeez, I'm sorry to hear this -- about both of you, @@JamieLogical and @@Babbs . @@JamieLogical -- I have dealt almost constantly with life stresses throughout my weight loss and weight loss maintenance phases -- husband was diagnosed with cancer, I had to have gall bladder surgery, we lost two of our beloved pets, my husband's eldest child died, my husband's father and my mother died within the same week after very long illnesses, and earlier this year my husband's cancer reappeared. It seems the stresses of life are here to stay. Like you, in times of big-time stress I don't eat. You could look at my graphs of daily and weekly morning weigh-ins over the last few years and SEE that big stuff was going on at certain times. It's all visible right there on the graphs. Here's the good news: You aren't going to turn anorexic. I promise you. Stresses wax and wane. And so do the scales. Here's some more good news: You aren't going to die if your weight stays in the 150s or (gasp!) even dips into the 140s. But people like you and I simply aren't used to being normal-sized. We've been fat all our lives, and we think we have body types that don't exist naturally in this area of the BMI chart. Well, guess what -- our bodies are able to get to this point. Yes, we will have a little body dysmorphia at first and think we are skin and bones. Then after a few or four or six months we look in the mirror and go, damn, I don't look skinny anymore; I just look normal. Now, about how to get yourself to eat -- some suggestions: * Carry Protein bars and fruit with you all the time. You can eat it while you drive. * Eat breakfast as soon as you can after you get up. * Set those time-to-eat alarms (as others suggested). * Get used to grabbing food on the go and plan what will work for you. Of course, you want to minimize this kind of eating long-term. But this isn't a "normal" time for you. * If you have to do so, start drinking more of your calories -- more Protein drinks, more protein / fruit smoothies. Buy or make them ahead of time, so you can just grab one when you need to. * High protein / high Fiber crackers and full-fat cheeses are great Snacks. You can get 250-300 calories out of each snack. (I know you like to eat many times a day, ideally.) And @@Babbs ... you know what to do, my friend. You just have to do it. Structure helps. Tracking helps me so much! So much! I don't know what stress has gotten worse, but I am hereby commanding it to "Begone!" POOF! <3

Great advice ^^^^. And if this guy can deal with the foodie lifestyle adaptations required by gastric sleeve surgery, we all can. http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/23/chef-graham-elliot-gets-personal-on-weight-loss

I like nuts. But I'm allergic to cults. I'll sit this one out.

Oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh! Forks Over Knives is a business! They sell books, videos, teeshirts and FOOD! For $209/week (actually, just 5 days a week -- so that's $41.80 a day), the folks at Foods Over Forks will prepare and deliver to you a gourmet breakfast, lunch and dinner. http://www.forksoverknives.com/forksfreshmeals/ And for only $575 you can attend a two-day weekend retreat learning all about how to become a vegan. And for $3,700 per person, double occupancy, you can attend a week-long immersion retreat in Sedona, Arizona, as you unplug, get screened, receive consultations, star-gaze, do yoga, hike, listen to live music, etc. https://2forksevents.com/2-forks-immersion/

It's no longer debatable that smoking is bad idea for multiple health reasons. That question has been answered. But for those who believe that smoking could have no impact on a gastric sleeve, you're welcome to read this article:. http://www.everydayhealth.com/ulcer/smoking-and-ulcers.aspx Or not.

Sharon, do it! Takes guts. But do it. (By which I mean to tell you mom to find another place to live -- NOT to eat ice cream.) And good for you on figuring out the source of stress in your life.

Oh my God! I'm dying laughing here. I'm nominating this thread for a BP award in the "Ignorance and Moral Outrage" category.

I just googled "dog ears" and found that it's: Puckering at the end of a scar. The most common place we see dog-ears in cosmetic surgery is at the end of skin-tightening incisions.

The differences between the sleeve and the RnY (gastric bypass) pouch are numerous. Sometimes people use the two terms interchangeably. But as I understand it, a sleeve and a pouch are pretty different, e.g.: * They're made of different parts of the stomach (the sleeve is made of the non-stretchy part of the stomach, and the pouch is made of the upper part of the stomach (both non-stretchy and stretchy parts). * The RnY pouch doesn't have a valve at the bottom of the pouch that retards movement of food into the intestine. However, the sleeve retains the duodenal valve, which retards to some extent (depending on the type of food eaten) the speed with which food passes from the stomach into the small intestine. * In gastric bypass surgery, the stomach isn't removed -- so the fundus (stretchy portion of the stomach) is left inside the body, able to produce ghrelin (the hunger hormone). In sleeve surgery, the fundus is removed, leaving the body with a greatly reduced amount of ghrelin and leaving the patient with a greatly reduced appetite.

Carol, if you're 5'2" and weigh 261 your BMI is 47.7. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

THE RETURN KEY IS THE ENTER KEY. PLEASE USE IT! YOU'RE PRODUCING WALLS OF TEXT. AND ONE PERIOD IS SUFFICIENT. That is all.

What @@OutsideMatchInside said. It's just bloody easier with the sleeve. With the ghrelin gone, I have a lot less appetite. Yes, I get hungry, but not eat every carb in the house crazy-hungry. The restriction is really there -- if you eat nutritiously and not crap. You finally will reach your weight loss goal. Exercise and daily activities will become so much easier when you're not in pain anymore from obesity. The anxiety truly is less -- once you get over all the pre-op jitters and the WTF am I supposed to do now / what's my daily regimen / which food phase am I in now silliness. I have lost 100 pounds -- 19 pre-op and 81 post-op. I've been at or below goal for the last year. I weigh 135 pounds. I'm 70 years old and feel 50. I look great. I feel even better. This is the first f**king time in my whole life I've ever reached a normal weight and maintained it for a year! Still, I have no illusions that I'm "done." Now, my goal is to be at or below goal when I'm three years post-op.

@@proudgrammy ... is there any chance I could see pix of what you had done? If not, I understand. And where are you located? Your surgeon sounds lovely.

FYI, anyone with a BMI of 40 or higher is "morbidly obese." In my case, at 5'5", that was 240 pounds. And since insurance doesn't pay for WLS for anyone under a BMI of 40 (unless they have a BMI of 35 and 3 comorbidities), most people here who've been sleeved were morbidly obese before WLS.

Re Protein intake -- I'm in maintenance and still eating a lot of protein -- 90 to 100 grams a day most days. Right now, my protein comes mostly from animal sources (poultry, fish, beef, dairy, eggs), but also plant protein (vegetables, whole grains, Beans and other legumes). For what it's worth (?), I hardly ever have a planned snack without including some protein -- even if it's only an ounce of cheese. Like @@Inner Surfer Girl I now eat more protein than I did before having WLS. I do keep an eye on my levels of creatinine (which reflect the health of my kidneys). So far, no problemos. I don't recall having even a UTI in the last couple of years. EDIT: To be clear, I don't eat low-carb. I eat protein, carbs and fats -- most of which is pretty darned nutritious stuff. I also (now that I'm in maintenance) do have a little alcohol and treats, but only if my weight is holding steady at 135 pounds.

Good grief! Those before/after pix at Makeup Artists' site are amazing. And I'm loving the other tips here, too. Please let us hear from others -- pro or con. Here's another question: I have a friend who started using Botox about 10 years ago. She looked amazing. But now she just looks ... not so good. She's got duck lips and her eyes move, but not her eyelids or the skin around her eyes. And she doesn't seem to smile as much. (Maybe she can't?) What's the downside of these products?

I'm lovin' this thread! And I've finally figured out that "Derm" means "Dermatologist."

(I assume you mean "dermabrasion"?) Any specific kinds of chemical peels you've used? And where do you have practitioners who are good at this? Should I go to a plastic surgeon's office? Or are strip mall spas reliable places to have this work done?

James, thank you. But remember that women (including me) have been using moisturizers for decades. So if your bio-oil was the first moisturizer you've ever used it's likely I've already achieved the max benefits I'm going to get from oiling my face. Nonetheless, I WILL try your bio-oil and see if it produces different results than my other moisturizers. Again, thank you for the suggestion. I'll let you know what I learn from using it.

DAMN, THESE DUPLICATE POSTS!

@@Nani_Mae ... FYI, it took me 8 months to lose the last 15 pounds. It's absolutely not about how fast you lose weight. It's about learning how to live post-op in ways that make you healthier, help you achieve your weight goals, and help you maintain your weight and health. That requires you to make a lifestyle change that works well for you.