The Candidate

Best wishes on your upcoming surgery!

A lot of great techniques - thanks fior sharing!

Best of luck! I look forward to your progress updates.

Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely give it a try. ????

You have no idea just how beautiful you are, and I mean that. All of us know how hard this journey can be, and it's very easy to get caught up in the scale numbers game. Try and take a step back and really see how much you've already accomplished. You've already lost nearly 200 pounds! That's incredible! Think about how much better you feel. How easier it is to walk and breathe, and simply do things daily. You are amazing and have achieved what many others never do. Please don't give up on yourself. Put away that scale for awhile and just remind yourself of just how wonderful and amazing you truly are!

Congrats! Reaching that milestone is major. You should be very proud! ????

Congrats! You look great!

Water and the occasional Premier Protein shake.

Thank you for explaining it better than I did. I have to keep away as well. ????

You look incredible! Congrats!

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="LipstickLady" data-cid="4264633" data-time="1474141428"><p>I dare say Coke Zero has little "control over my life" nor is it a "demanding monkey on my back". Few things have an "iron hold" on me and I'm quite positive I'm not "addicted".Or were you just being tongue in cheek with this...?That's great! Glad you are still able to drink it! ????

You're welcome. Glad I could help. It'll get better each day. ????

That full feeling didn't really kick in until a few weeks later for me. I just wasn't hungry, and wasn't interested in food for quite awhile. And food tasted bland with what little I was eating. Don't worry, it'll happen. But right now you're recovering from major trauma. Your insides are as confused as you are. Give it some time and things will start falling in place. Even now at over a year out I'm taken aback sometimes at how quickly I fill up. Good luck!

Welcome! Your story is one that resonates with all of us. I hope that call comes soon. Congrats!

I've been 14 months without them now. If someone had told me that before surgery I would make a clean break, I'd have called them crazy. Not only was Coke my choice of drink since I was a child, it was pretty much the only thing I'd drink from am to pm. Even when I switched from real Coke down to Coke Zero, I still couldn't stop. These products are designed to keep you craving more. Being addicted to anything is not a good idea. I was drinking them right up to the day before surgery. It's hard to admit that something, anything, has that much control over your life. While it tasted good, it was harming me every bit as much as being fat was. Yes, the craving was hard in the beginning, but I hung on, and just as I was seeing the pounds melt away, I was feeling the Iron hold that soda had over me begin to diminish. Now I only drink Water. And I enjoy it! Yes, some post ops go back to it in moderation after surgery, and do fine. But if you're a hard core soda drinker, my advice would be to not drink it as a post op. Don't chance allowing that demanding monkey to take residence on your back again. It's the same approach I take with fast food, sweets, salt and other things. I know my weaknesses and I want to do everything possible to keep this weight off long term. Plus, I've already consumed enough of this stuff to last several lifetimes. It's a big part of what got me here in the first place.

Some people aren't covered under their particular insurance. Others might do it because they don't want to wait over the long time it can take to fulfill the requirements in order to be approved. And then there are those who are denied after completing the requirements. Getting through the insurance hoops is very much like a shell game. You think you've got it only to discover it's been switched for something else. I had to wait a year to get through mine. I can definitely understand it.

My friend was laid off after going through all the requirements. She was only waiting for a surgery date and had already been approved. She had insurance so it was a little different. But what she did that might help you is she just called them and explanned the situations. Given the situation they allowed her to go to the front of the line. Her surgery was scheduled for the next week. She also applied and began receiving unemployment. As soon as she felt up to it after surgery she began searching for a job. The unemployment helped. WLS is the type of surgery that isn't readily visible from the outside so there was no need to disclose it. And although I was one of those who took the full six weeks off, I think the majority of people take 1-2 weeks as that's all the time off you're allowed. If necessary, I could have done the same. I was very tired, but that was the worst I felt. My friend got the surgery and found a new job too. I hope you find another job soon and are able to go through with the surgery. Please let us know and best of luck!

Meat of any variety: chicken, beef, pork, and even the questionable make up of cold cuts. I just can't stomach them anymore. It's not only the taste, but the texture, even the mere sight of it is a bit nauseating. I still like fish, like salmon, but I can take or leave tuna.

Love this.... I had a lifetime soda habit and I'm over 50. I could not stop. They owned me. A huge amount of my budget was devoted to them. I kidded myself that the diet ones were harmless. But the truth is while they may have zero calories, they are designed to make you crave more. I was still drinking them right up to the day before my surgery. And I won't kid you the craving afterwards was pretty bad, just as much as it was all in my head. I've now gone 14 months without them and the freedom is nirvana. I know there are post ops who went back to them after surgery and say they have no issue. So the reality isn't "when" you can try one, but rather are you really sure you "want" to. This is really a question that only you can answer in the end.

No sleeve shirts. My wardrobe now is 50% no sleeve shirts. Another would be getting rid of my old clothes, while marveling at how enormous they are. It's strange, but when I was wearing them I never really noticed just how big they really were. I guess it was a form of hiding my head in the sand.

First let me say that you are beautiful, and I thank you very much for sharing your story. I have no doubt that you will regain control and achieve your goal. I admire every single post op that has gone before me, and I hope you truly realize exactly what you have done for every pre op that came after you. Without you and the many others like you, there would be no us. You are my hero, my teacher, and the basis of my faith that WLS could and has changed my life forever. I owe you everything, even if you never knew. You gave me courage and strength. I was thinking about you the day I went in for surgery, and you will be forever blazoned in my soul. So whatever you need, a hand to hold, an ear to listen, a voice to remind you just how wonderful you truly are - you have it. And not just mine either, but every other successful weight loss patient out there. Never forget how truly remarkable you are.

I had ample time to prepare for my surgery and still managed to not accomplish everything I needed to do. But the good thing is life still goes on and all those chores were waiting patiently for me when I got out of the hospital. That was 14 months ago and I'm still woefully unprepared for most things (like getting ready for a termite tenting next week where I'll have to be gone from my home for three days). Haven't done a single blessed thing yet, I have to say that the best thing about aging (I'm 55) is that I have stopped worrying so much over the fact that I'm not perfect and have nothing in common with super woman. It's a lot easier now to just shrug my shoulders over most things and move on. So do the best you can and let go of the rest. Your entire life is about to change and there's a lot more important stuff to worry about. Take a deep breath, relax, and just imagine how great things are going to be a year from now.

Hang in there. You've already come a long way and I only see happiness and fulfilled wishes in your future. It's never too late to set out upon the right path, and the price is only a few extra steps.

Sounds like you have a great idea for an entirely untapped market. When I was a child I was never able to fully utilize the playground equipment as I was already ashamed and self conscious about my weight. How wonderful it would be to go back now and see exactly what I missed.

Serenity