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Ok......this is a question for all your swimmers that have gotten to goal. Do we ever really get less buoyant? Geez, I went to the pool today for the first time since losing all of my weight. I have a disability and really am trying to use exercise in the Water to help strengthen and stretch. Anyway, I bought a new swimsuit and everything. Little did I know that all of my loose skin and even the girls kept rising in the water. The girls kept trying to give everyone a peep show. What the heck! I knew when I was fat this was the case so I stayed out, now all of my lose hanging skin decides it wants to float and because I am a lot lighter, it tries to carry the rest of me with it. LOL.... How bizarre is this or is it just me.

I am so happy for you! I remember when you first started posting on here and to think how rapidly you are down 100! Congratulations!

I have found that the chocolate is the only one I actually like. I can tolerate the strawberry but I don't look forward to it. I am wondering if the banana will be any good but guessing it will be like the vanilla and strawberry. Too sweet for me.....

Hopefully Alex can answer this one because your post was the farthest thing from offensive! I am guessing it was in error, please don't leave. I loved how you are approaching your future. Such positivity is so hard to come by. Please stay?!!

@@Daisee68 and @@James Marusek got you covered. As they said take it very slow and try one food at a time. That way you will know what bothered you if you happen to get sick. It's also easier on your tummy. Those first 6 weeks I lived on Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, over cooked soft carrots, ricotta bake, (9tried soft eggs but still can't eat them), Cream of wheat with Protein powder, applesauce unsweetened, and of course Soups without Pasta (mostly creamed soups) I had a minimum of 1 30 gram Protein shake but early on I usually had two so I got my protein and liquids in. Best of luck to you and congratulations!

YAY! Keep up the great work. You can get there, look how far you have come.

Not specifically leftovers but what I will say is that there are days when something works and then the next day my tummy doesn't like it. As time goes by, this does improve.

You look fantastic now both on the inside and the outside! And you will have great before and after pictures! Congrats!

@ I had the same thing....for years. Fibroids causing big problems. Finally I went to a new ob/gyn who said, you are not having any more children as you had your tubes tied 20+ years ago. Why don't you consider a hysterectomy? I said, sign me up now please!!!! That was another surgery that felt like Christmas morning! Ha. Although they left my ovaries and now I am 53 and in the worst phase of menopause. Hot flashes about 50 times a day. I am either bundled in blankets because I am thin and cold or I have a fan blasting me in the face to control the spontaneous combustion going on in my body. If only they could figure out a way to allow you to skip menopause!

@@bluedragon0110 What does your doctor say? That is where I would start. My doctor did not start me on Vitamins of any kind until I was a month post op. That is because your body has a built up supply in the beginning.

It is called reactive hypoglycemia and I have had several episodes over the last 22 months. It usually happens if you eat too much sugar in a day and can be difficult to stop the vicious cycle. Your body starts to get used to that higher sugar level and when you don't get it, reactive hypoglycemia kicks in. I have gotten it when I start my day with cream of wheat and don't follow it with a high Protein snack. I eat a lot of fruit so that is where my usual sugar comes from and that will cause it. You have to find your happy spot where you can have some sugar in your life but not enough that your body wants more. I have talked with my Bariatric doctor about it and he suggested if I am going to have something sweet or carby like Cereal, I need to follow it with high protein snack within an hour or so. That has worked for me as I am not willing to give up the fruit I eat. I have since refrained from eating cream of wheat on a regular basis. I do have it once in a while though

For me, it is Chinese food that really hurts me. My husband went out last night and brought home take out. This place has the best egg rolls ever. They are filled with shrimp, pork and chicken and of course the usual veggies. I tried 2 bites of an egg roll and my stomach just turned. I could not eat anything after that. I ended up having a Greek yogurt a little later. I usually have a couple of steamed chicken or shrimp potstickers and those Sitwell with me but I could not manage it last night after those two bites of egg roll. Then of course my husband has drilled it into his head that he needs to eat whatever I don't. He gains weight and wonders why. I gently try to help him understand that he doesn't need to clean his plate or fill it that full in the first place and he certainly does not need to eat my left overs. I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

Change is very difficult and unless your head and heart are both in it, it won't happen. It took many years and much damage to my body before I finally decided I was ready to really change. I like to think of it like the "Camel's back". For me the thing that broke the camels back was a serious life threatening diagnosis of stage 3 kidney disease. Maybe your SIL will get there maybe she won't but she has to get there on her own. I am just thankful that you got there and you are doing fantastic! Congratulations!!!!!

I have only been able to drink bottled water at room temperature otherwise I swear my stomach actually cringes. It has to be the cold and I have learned to drink my water plain or with a lemon in it. I too eat bacon, the real thing but I did not start eating bacon until I was about 8 months post op. Because of how little I eat, I do eat full fat cheeses, bacon, yogurt, cottage cheese. But, I really do stick mostly to quality proteins, veggies and amazing fruit so that really helps control my diet. I also believe in everything in moderation. If I want a brownie or some ice cream I have a small portion every once in a while. I find if I don't let myself have these foods at all, it is likely I will go off plan and be right back where I started. Again, I did not even think of touching anything like that until I was post op about 8 months and down over 100lbs.

I keep lots of fruit, cheese and nuts around and in the front of the fridge or pantry. I love the idea of frozen bananas or frozen yogurt so I need to get some of those in my freezer. YUM! In fact I am watching a show on how to make frozen bananas right now.

Once I made the decision I knew I could do it. I am just one of those people who once on board will not miss her goals. I will say that came into question last June when I learned I had to have major surgery and I still had 50lbs to go. I knew it would be a long recovery and my ability to exercise anytime soon would be very challenging. So, I pulled up my big girl pants and knew that I absolutely had to stay on track with the meals portion or I would never get there. I was not going to let all the naysayers that told me I couldn't win. This is just my opinion but if you stay positive and set realistic goals losing the weight will absolutely happen. Now of course comes the really hard part, maintenance. I have learned over the past few months of maintenance that you have to work very hard, much harder than the weight loss phase if you want to maintain. I can only imagine this gets harder as time goes by and of course all of the long term veterans are confirming that. So, back to the shorter term goal setting for me. If I set goals, I will achieve them. If I give up, I will gain back. I don't even want that lousy 10 to 15% gain. LOL.

Yes there are always a few friends or family members that find it necessary to give you all the cons of this surgery without ever mentioning the pros. I honestly ignore them and have since the beginning. I just don't let their negativity get to me. I hit goal in March and some of those naysayers are waiting for me to gain all my weight back now. Now I listen to "you are way to thin, are you sure you are not anorexic now?" I just tune them out and really don't give them the time of day. You do you and don't worry about them. Stay focused on why you chose to do this in the first place. Keep your eye on the prize whatever that might be.

I had a very hard time with the puréed stage. I could not tolerate meat or eggs right out of the gate. I leveraged Protein shakes, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, cream of wheat with Protein powder and milk. I literally lived on that for a month before they let me move on the the soft food stage. Then for the first 6 weeks of that I really stuck to fish like white fish, salmon and tuna. Now I can eat all meats but still cannot do eggs. I can only eat a couple of ounces of meat at one sitting so I still drink 1 Protein shake a day that has 30grams of protein and I always have 1 Greek yogurt.

Sometimes I still struggle at 22 months post op. I can only eat a couple of ounces of dense Protein at one sitting so I am still drinking one Protein shake per day. I will also use cottage cheese and Greek yogurt as Snacks which helps but there are days where my 70gram protein goal is still short at the end of the night. I will usually have a half of a Protein Bar or some beef Jerky to push me over the top. Part of my struggle is my inability to eat eggs post surgery. I still cannot eat them without getting very sick to my stomach so I don't.

@@Shaunie Not sure about you but I gained 11 pounds during that 3 days in the hospital. It is all the fluids they pumped into me. I started to see a small change at 6 days and then wham. I swear there were days where I dropped between 3-5lbs a day. Keep in mind you usually get about a month to 6 weeks of that and then it slows to an much slower average. In the beginning I would lose about 3lbsper week and by the time I got to the end I was at an average of 1 lb per week. Not sure which surgery you had, I had RNY so it was faster in the beginning than most sleeves but it all evens out in the end.

I totally agree that not every program is not what it should be and I am also appalled at how many "PCP or General Doctors" have no idea how to deal with a WLS patient. I feel like I am always teaching them. That aside, I would not let someone rearrange my insides or remove 85% of my stomach without understanding the care plan or expectations afterward. There are just too many people who come here looking for permission vs. real support. I suspect in most cases they come to a place like this because their surgeons already made clear the expectations and they want confirmation that not following it won't kill them. I don't know for sure but in the last few months there is so much of it that it is scary on here. What's worse is the number of new people who simply coddle/support them by saying your human, it was a mistake and we all make them. They are not getting that they are supposed be setting up long term habits and when you start by eating bacon or drinking coke 0 right away, it's clear that they don't care. When you affirm those things for a food addict is like giving them permission to keep doing what they are doing, it will be ok. Most of us who have had Bariatric surgery are addicted to food and/or have very poor habits. When one reads that someone else ate bacon or drank coke 0 right after surgery its like saying great, I can have this surgery and still do what I want and everything will be ok. Well, it won't be ok and long term you likely will be right back where you started giving WLS a bad name. I am sorry, I am like a dog with a bone on this one.......LOL. Maybe I need to eat. Bahahahaha!

I know 2 people that had WLS personally, well 3 I guess (old co-worker). Their failures taught me the things to avoid. Eating regular food early = feeding tube Not learning nutrition or how to eat healthy = regain Not cooking =Regain Viewing it as a diet = regain Not logging food = regain So there is a lot of learn from the failures of others. The only thing I see all the time on weightloss forums, is people aren't honest why they failed. They blame the surgery for not working, they blame their metabolism (which they never ever had tested). They never ever blame their actions or lack of action. They can never provide a detail of what they are eating. I also feel like this rash of people having surgery are going to skew the statistics, make WLS seem less effective and make it harder for other people to get surgery through insurance in the future. Anyway, I am still holding out hope that a lot of people are just trolls from the popularity of the app and not real WLS patients. Right on! This is why I personally have gotten invested in these particular posts. Because there are so many people that this surgery has saved/helped. It is so frustrating to me that people fight so hard to get this surgery and get denied and then others choose to squander their shot or more importantly put themselves in danger and then blame WLS. The idea that you would remove 85% of your stomach or reroute your insides only to do something that could prove to be dangerous to the success of this surgery. These are the people that actually put the success of WLS and the reputations of their surgeons at risk. They ruin it for others.....I had a friend who had an open RNY that was riddled with complications to the point she actually had to have it reversed. At the time, I had not idea of what was required so when hers failed and she became very very ill, it scared me and kept me from even considering this surgery for more than 17 years. Now that I know all the darn rules, I look back at what she did and I know exactly why her surgery failed. She honestly did it to herself. She was my roommate so I know what crap she put in her body immediately following bypass. I know she did not even drink a single Protein shake, nor did she take Vitamins. She drank alcohol within the first 2 weeks and pretty much ate what the rest of the family ate which was a high carb diet of macaroni and cheese, Pasta dishes, bread, etc. I watched her get sick every single time she ate. When she had her surgery reversed she was 5'3" and weighed 89lbs. I know this because I took care of her 5 children while she was in the hospital for over a month on a feeding tube. The surgery did not do this to her, she did it. Every bit of it. That kept me scared to death to even try. This of course was the extreme and I am also guessing they did not know as much about Bariatric surgery 20 years ago. But at the end of the day, it was what I saw and believed and was terrified and did nothing all that time. For me, being 310 lbs caused severe damage to my spine and joints that cannot be undone. This is why I am passionate about people who potentially cause damage to the success of the surgery or the reputations of the surgeons, doctors and nurses who perform it. Incidentally, my friend Peggy gained all of that weight back and then some following her reversal. Also, I am guessing this is exactly why there is such a long drawn out process to even be approved for this surgery. They want to make sure you are ready and willing to do what it is going to take to make it happen. Sorry for the length of this post, if it helps one person understand why I and many others are frustrated by the lack of accountability or worse yet, other people thinking it's no big deal "people make mistakes", then it's worth it because so many new folks on here are still learning.

@@MonicaEMT I would be shocked if anyone responds with anything other than yes, everyone gets nervous before this type of surgery. It changes your life and change is always scary. Plus, you tend to let your head run away with worry, it is normal. I leveraged deep breathing, lovely baths, listening to music through headphones that soothed me. By the time I got to the morning of my surgery I was no longer anxious I was so ready that it felt like Christmas morning as a kid. You can control your frame of mind by relaxing, being good to yourself and focusing on all of the reasons you are giving your self this gift. Having this surgery was the best thing I have ever done for myself and I thank goodness everyday that there are doctors and nurses that have learned how to help someone who is obese like me. You will do great, just try to relax. Take a few minutes and breathe deeply an you will be surprised how calming this can be.

The best thing to do at this stage is eat before you go and bring a big bottle of Water with you. When they serve lunch, you can simply take a spoonful or two of something and put it on your plate. Especially if there is something soft. Then, jut push it around on your plate and join the conversation. It is really great when you realize that events like this do not have to be about the food. You begin to build new socializing tools. You keep the conversation going and people really don't notice what you eat or don't eat. The other option would be to bring a dish along that you can enjoy and pass. If someone asks let them know that you are simply not hungry. It really is easier to deal with than you think. Also, you will be more worried about it than others will even notice.