VSGAnn2014

I wish I could like this twelve times! You are a healthy lifestyle, eyes-on-the-prize goddess! Thank you.

Imma say something ... you are sounding so positive and confident and on-balance lately. Not everyone out there is crazy. I hope you're noticing that.

I think you're fine. A general practice doctor who "diagnosed" you as a binge eater upon hearing you say you were a "stress eater" has mis-"diagnosed" you. There are specific behaviors associated with binge eating that aren't associated with someone who eats under specific conditions of stress. As you probably know, there are several pen/paper tests that are used to help medicos diagnose binge eating disorders. food diaries / journals and interviews that cover specific subjects are also necessary to diagnose BED. I think all those need to be invoked here. Sorry about the extra hoops to jump through. This can get sorted out, but it may take a few extra weeks.

All the advice offered above is strong -- toughen up, get serious, go back to basics, find your discipline and just do it. Also, get a counselor, therapist, shrink -- someone who can help you learn to cope differently with the aspects of your life that sabotage your efforts to care for yourself. And now -- some frank talk coming at you here. If a stranger were to take a look at some of our lives, their reaction would be: "Wow, no wonder! Your entire lifestyle and your family's lifestyle and your job and even your personal values are perfectly designed to keep you fat and to make you unhealthy." There's no law that says we can't have frank discussions with our families about changing the way the family lives. Or that we can't change aspects of our jobs that stress us out -- or even get a new job. Or that we can't seriously consider whether some of the deeply treasured "values" we have clutched to our breasts all our lives aren't as weird as s**t and should be carefully inspected and perhaps discarded for better values. Here's one I took a look at: After realizing (finallyl) that I took better care of my pets (and even some random strangers) than I did of myself, I decided that trying to be the Great Solver of Everyone's Problems wasn't doing me any favors. Today I attend to my needs first, before those of others. Changing that one thing took the kind of discipline I'd never exercised before. And the weird thing is that nobody else has noticed. But it's sure made a helluva difference in my life.

Well, I had gall bladder surgery 4 weeks after VSG surgery. And honestly, the incisions (made by the same surgeon) looked just the same and were in the same spots. You could go with that. ?

@@CowgirlJane ... you're one of my guiding lights here. Congratulations to you. I love the stories you share here of the wider spectrum of issues in your life that WLS has affected -- and that impinge on us all. WLS is about so very much more than the numbers on our scales and the size tags in our clothes. You keep that real for us all. Thank you.

Well, there you go. A billion post-op WLS eating programs in the naked city!

For most folks the hair loss kicks in about 4 months post-op and slows down fast or is over by 8 or 9 months post-op. It's a temporary situation. A lot of people try Biotin halt or prevent the hair loss. But very, very few see any benefits from it. And my comments are based on reading these boards for 2 years.

Make some new friends. Expand your circle. I love the meet-up ideas. Good luck! And congrats on having so much energy!

Doing standing and stretching yoga postures while standing in the jetway waiting for airline personnel to deliver carry-on luggage that was too large to store on the short-haul airplanes I have to fly to and from our nearest American Airlines hub. Did that four times last week.

Why are people eating mashed potatoes? That was on the list I received of "These foods have little nutritional value, but a lot of carbs and calories."

"Boredom eater" and "celebratory eater" describes most of my old bad habits. The scary stuff in my kitchen used to be potato chips, tortilla chips, ice cream, takeout Desserts, deli pimento cheese, cream cheese, bagels, guacamole (because of the tortilla chips that went with it), and leftover pizza. All that stuff is gone now. We do eat pizza, but throw away the leftovers -- or freeze them and then throw them away later. We do still keep Peanut Butter in the house (which calls to me sometime), but it's high up on a shelf behind a cabinet door. I think that what makes a bigger difference than what we don't have in the kitchen now is what we DO have in the kitchen -- healthier, tasty food: Greek yogurt (vanilla and blueberry), tasty seed crackers and GOOD cheeses, apples, almonds, our favorite Breakfast Protein drink (a GNC swiss chocolate version), non-sugar chocolate pudding, fresh berries (when they're in season). When you're hungry, healthy food is so much more satisfying. Slider foods and crap stuff just make me hungrier. Not a good feeling.

I'm still shaking my head over the bariatric surgeon's trophy wife shilling for him at the grocery store! That's unbelievable!

Nope. No drain here. My surgeon glued all my incisions. Sixteen months later I can find only two of my incisions, and I expect they'll disappear soon.

People who lose fast, like some of you folks are losing, usually are heavyweights to begin with, men (with more muscle tissue), and younger people (who may be more active and have a higher metabolism). I certainly didn't lose fast. I just ran all my monthly weight loss numbers, and they look like this: Pre-op loss: In 2.5 months - lost 20 pounds Post-op losses: Months 1-4 - averaged 10.5 pounds/month Months 5-8 - averaged 5.6 pounds/month Months 9-12 - averaged 2.2 pounds/month Months 13-16 - averaged 1.5 pounds/month

I'm nearly 16 months post-op. I can eat pretty much everything.

Here's my weight loss summary: I started at 235 pounds, lost 20 pounds pre-op, then in 8 months post-op lost 60 pounds, and by 14 months post-op had lost 12 more pounds for a total of 97 pounds lost so far. FYI, I'm 70 years old, much more physically active now, but am certainly not a gym rat.

Your new NUT is much smarter than the old (second?) one. FYI, here's what I did (on the advice of my VERY GOOD bariatric P.A. who is totally up on all things bariatric and the newest research). She urged me NOT to stay on the 800 calorie diet for all my weight loss phases because she said that would discourage my body from accustoming itself to a "normal-sized" maintenance calorie budget. Months 1-4 - averaged 800 calories, at least 60 grams Protein, and didn't worry about carbs. (It would have been hard for me to eat much more than that the first few months.) Months 5-6 - averaged 1000 calories, at least 75 grams protein, and didn't worry about carbs, although I focused on healthy, colored veggies, a little fruit and a little bit of whole grains. Months 7-8 - averaged 1200 calories, aimed for 100 grams protein and added more carbs. FYI, I stayed away from sugar and all slider foods during all the weight losing phases. I hit my initial weight loss target (150 pounds) at 8.5 months post-op. Then while aiming for 1700 calories daily, I lost another 12 pounds during the next 6 months, where I'm now maintaining happily at 1700-1800 calories/day on average. I'm still eating 100 calories of protein most days. Needless to say I've been able to "branch out" into a wider variety of carbs, but I still eat pretty clean. Now on most days I also drink wine, some high-Fiber, high-protein crackers, and a couple squares of dark chocolate. I also sometimes eat Pasta, pizza, burgers (much smaller portions than in the past). Most days I still pre-plan my menus and measure and track my food using www.myfitnesspal.com, so I really do know how much / what I'm eating. And I weigh every morning unless I'm traveling. Life is very good.

Gad! This is like a whole new world. I knew nothing about this stuff. Some of my veins do protrude more. But I don't have any swelling or pain that I've noticed. Sorry you guys have to deal with this stuff, but it's good to learn about in case something develops in the future. Thanks. Best wishes on healing well and fast.

Yeah, you're gonna have to get naked for this. Dr. Shah was chosen 417 Magazine's "Best Cosmetic Surgeon" -- for the last few years (I didn't research any further back than that): 2015 - http://www.417mag.com/417-Magazine/February-2015/Best-of-417-2015/index.php?cparticle=4&siarticle=3#artanc 2014 - http://www.417mag.com/417-Magazine/February-2014/Best-of-417-2014/index.php?cparticle=4&siarticle=3#artanc

I've bitched here before about how little value I found the nutritionists in my surgeon's program to be -- although everyone else in the program has been great. I hear the same thing here about many other patients' NUTs, although a few regulars here (including @@CowgirlJane ) have found much greater value in theirs. Fortunately, my surgeon's bariatric P.A. is fabulous -- studies her ass off, has lots of good advice, and goes to beaucoups bariatric conferences and knows all the latest research. She's been tremendously useful. And, of course, I read labels and track my food on www.myfitnesspal.com, which offers a great database about most foods and drinks out there. Eventually, we all have to take personal responsibility for learning what foods are nutritious, promote weight loss, and weight maintenance. And we have to be willing to be our own little science experiment by trying things out and finding out what works for us. What works best for me may not work best for you, and vice versa. For instance, my body tolerates a lot of carbs, but some others' bodies can only tolerate low-carb, even in maintenance.

Well put. Water is usually deeper than it appears. I'm also in therapy and I study Psychology. And I have a Ph.D. in psychology. No s**t. And, naturally, I'm in therapy, too. Again, no s**t. My point was it's easy to project our own issues / experiences onto others who complain of issues that sound like our own -- but that (given the very little information we have to go on here) may be very different from our own and very different from the relationships in our own lives.

Sebastian, tell us the truth now ... are you eating any of those tasty foods and chocolates and sweets? Even a little? If you are, you will crave them more and more until you do one of two things: (1) start eating more and more of them (in which case you're hooked again) or you (2) go cold turkey on their asses and don't eat any of them at all -- in which case you will stop craving them. Your choice. Oh, and don't buy them. Keep them out of sight if others buy them at work. Flush them down the commode if someone gives them to you / buys them for you.

Totally normal. And healthy. And this is why you must build other disciplines / behaviors / lifestyle around eating differently for the rest of your life. The sleeve will help you lose weight. But by itself, it won't keep you from regaining. (My opinion.)

Pre-op, I ate 3-4 slices (honestly, usually 4 slices) of thin crust pizza. Now at 16 months post-op I can eat 2 slices of thin crust pizza. Believe me, I could not eat more than two slices now! When I first started eating pizza (still during weight loss phases) I ate: (a) topping of one slice only, then ( one slice) and eventually around 1 year post-op © two slices.