Daisee68

Thanks to you both for the response. @@Spiceyfrog - I am curious if you feel you can sustain that restriction though? (And please don't hear that as judgement. I truly am just trying to sort it out in my head by understanding others feelings.) I think that is my fear that I will have my rebellious (as my therapist calls it) "BREAK" and binge. To be fair, perhaps you don't have the same binge cravings I have. I just fear that what I am doing now is not fully sustainable and I will "relapse". Clearly I have a huge addiction to food (and thank goodness I have a great therapist who I happen to have an appt with on Tuesday and will definitely be discussing this. @@Ashlegal - I appreciate your feedback and can honestly say my NUT would agree with you but what I can't seem to do is find engage in that balance. For example, what I was desperately craving this morning was a McDonalds Sausage Biscuit and a diet soda. I managed to convince myself that was head hunger craving because there is obviously nothing nutritious in that and frankly it is an old habit that I was craving more than the food. I staved it off, but I just guess I am trying to figure out if there is space in my diet for "treats" such as the sausage or pizza. (I crave salty not sweet.) I have enjoyed more since surgery the creating and cooking of food but with only cooking for one, I feel I have to eat the same meal at least 3 times before I can justify throwing it out and I think that lends to my feeling of restriction. Certainly any tips or recipes are welcome. (Luckily for me I think, I crave meat, cheese, etc and don't really like rice or Pasta. But I would kill someone for potato right now!) @@Djmohr has told me she has one of those food saver things and that helps with leftovers. I think I am going to go get one of those today.

Are you sure you can have meats this early? Most of us are on pureed foods or at least soft foods only at 4 weeks. Turkey would have been way too hard for me to digest at 2 weeks. You HAVE to get Protein in. What kind of shakes have you tried? Premier Protein ready made shakes are really good - not gritty. And know that early on, everything is hard to get down. You need to try shakes again. Alternatively, at the very least try some protein powder mixed with stuff. For example, I use Precision Engineered whey Protein Isolate (which is only 10% lactose and 30g protein). I mix half a scoop of vanilla powder into flavored greek yogurt or half a scoop of chocolate powder with Jello sugar free Chocolate pudding cup. I also ate hummus mixed with unflavored protein powder. And pimento cheese mixed with unflavored powder. Oh and fat free refried Beans with shredded low fat cheese on top. (I ate that one a lot and still do at 5 months out.) Hope that helps!!

How are you getting your Protein in if not doing shakes? You have to have protein in some way to stay healthy. Are you drinking with your meals or waiting 30 minutes after? Other than that, I will tell you that I still have some nausea issues at 5 months post-op. It is not every day and is getting better but I was told some people just have some of that as an issue; HOWEVER, I had a stricture which is now repaired and I feel SO Much better and puking has stopped (unless I stupidly eat too much). If you are having trouble and food is consistently coming up, you may need to be checked for a stricture. Write down your symptoms for say a week (i.e. what you ate, when you are nauseas, when you vomit, etc.) and then take that to your doctor. You may also want to call your Nutritionist for ideas on how to get protein in. It is a must.

I was just going to answer same as @InnerSurferGirl. We have all lost and regained many many times. The "tool" of WLS (if used appropriately) will be your ticket (our ticket) to keeping it off as you learn new habits. For your second question, I would say they are probably trying to get an idea of what your normal day diet has looked like; however, you might check with them to be sure. Welcome and enjoy the journey!

Yes, it could still be a stricture. The exact same thing happened to me and happened for about 6 weeks before I hit the point that I couldn't keep anything down. I had eaten peanuts and not chewed well enough and apparently peanuts do not digest very well, so a tiny piece got stuck in that tiny hole and then even once I got it out, everything was too irritated for me to do anything else. Breakfast always went ok but then it seemed that everything I added to it (even soup) just keep stacking up and filling up into my esophagus until I had to get it out. Once I finally could get everything back out, I felt totally fine. By the time I went to ER worried about dehydration, I felt perfectly fine. CT Scan found nothing. They sent me home. 2 days later I was getting the dilation. BUT if that is what it is, don't be scared. It is a fairly easy fix for an experienced surgeon or GI specialist.

Yes sounds like a stricture. They do a endoscopy and dilate wig a balloon. You feel better instantly. Call your Dr first thing Monday. Don't dehydrate. Continue taking tiny sips and maybe just stick to shakes and liquid until you can get in touch with them. Mine happened at 3 months and when they did the first scope they found I had only a tiny pinhole opening so food wasn't getting thru. Tiny sips spaced apart will go thru though.

I was looking here tonight needing some encouragement. I am 5 months out and man this last week has really been a mental struggle for some reason. I haven't given in to the wrong things necessarily but I do feel like I have had a harder time pushing my plate away when I am full or even not really feeling full and really feeling the pull/craving for some of my old favorites - ESPECIALLY a diet soda. At home it is easier, because I portion out what I should eat and set my timer and stop when I need to, but I have eaten out lunch several times this week and I really struggle with that more. Anyway, for some reason I have had this overwhelming fear about how I'm going to keep the weight off. That fear that says "what makes this time different?" I don't know the answer other than "take it one day at a time", but it is always interesting to see that others are dealing with some of the same things. Tomorrow is a new day.....

Great! I am still pretty new but catching on, so send me an email if you have any questions or I can help anyway!

YES! And I am totally addicted to it. I haven't made very much but I have enjoyed the process of getting rid of and getting even some money for the clothes. I have also enjoyed the shopping! My name is same as here @daisee68.

I am so glad they listened to you and you will get some relief!

Have you looked at www.Poshmark.com? It is a great place to sell your clothes. I have sold a lot of my clothes that are too big on there.

I am sorry this made you uncomfortable. I will tell you that 50 pounds is definitely noticeable though not to ourselves. At 90 pounds down, I really wish I had taken pics along the way so I could see it. I feel it - my collar bones, my cheek bones, my hip bones, smaller clothes, etc. But I can't see what they see. Take pics monthly from here on out if you haven't. Now, the other thing I would say, is this is exactly why I decided to tell everyone. I don't want to have to have some fancy explanation. I had gastric bypass. What's that? I had my guts rerouted to cure my diabetes and cause rapid weight loss by eating less. Please don't hear this wrong, but every time I read a story like yours, I really realize how amazingly blessedly supported I have been throughout this process. I actually enjoy the attention and the compliments and I have no idea what (if anything) they are saying behind my back, but I don't care. To my face, they (seriously everyone I come in contact with) are so encouraging and loving and supportive. This weekend, I went to my sister's house for a party. All her friends are healthy weight people ALL of them (even the 2 I had seen 6 weeks ago and even the husbands) were so very complimentary! I left there on cloud 9! The next day I had dinner with 3 old friends I haven't seen in a year. (They are good close friends - or at least were at one time - one was an old roommate.) Their reaction was also very loving and positive though maybe a little different. More like maybe my new life / control made them examine their own eating? Not at all my intention. Trust me! I am not going to be one judging others for what they eat or do, but I think they were maybe judging themselves, if that makes sense. The ONLY thing about the attention that makes me uncomfortable is the realization that I was really HUGE previously and I just never saw / accepted that. (Again, the reason I wish I had more pictures.) All to say, embrace the attention. You don't have to dwell on it and you don't have to tell them about WLS if you don't want to, but let's be honest, if you back up 7 months and went to a party and someone walked in you hadn't seen that was down 50 pounds, wouldn't you be curious what changes they had made? Wouldn't you feel you HAD to mention it to them? Just my 2 cents.... The more attention you get the more attention you will get and the easier it will get.

Thanks @gpmed. Good to know. I know nuts can be a good source of protein so I was frustrated that I couldn't have them. Same for corn. Glad to know I can occasionally have that.

My surgeon specifically told me to avoid corn merely because it doesn't really digest. She said this right before I had a balloon dilation for a stricture where I had a piece of peanut (also apparently not very digestible) stuck in the tiny pinhole that was the only space open at the bottom of my stomach. I thought nuts were ok but she said cashews were fine (because they are softer); almonds maybe; peanuts are not. Having said that, I don't think either is necessarily off limits. It is just that it doesn't have the nutritional value you might think it does and your system may (will) have difficulty digesting it.

@@dhrguru - That is mine too! I just couldn't figure out how to describe it! Not sure if this will help but I found this new bra called Shapeez that seems to help contain it some. It is not the most flattering in the cup area but it is long and comes up high under the arms and it is super comfortable. They are a little pricey but I think it is going to be great on the weekends especially (or anytime I am wearing a tshirt or tighter top).

You might try making one with higher Protein that would be better for you to get your protein goals. I made a Skinn(ish) Buffalo chicken dip for a party tonight that was really good and high in protein, low carb, moderate fat. Also, at about 4 weeks post-op, I made a mexican layer dip that was easy for me to eat with fat free refried Beans, mashed avocado, 0% greek yogurt (mixed with a little lime and taco seasoning), 2% sharp cheddar, pico de gallo and olives. I left the pico de gallo and olives out of my portion. It was easy to eat and got protein from the yogurt, beans and cheese. @@Babbs is right about the dipper though. I just used a fork.

Happens to me too and not on any Apple products.

Not sure if it is different for DS but I had RNY bypass and no drains, staples (only glue) and no binder. Protein was tough first few weeks but gets much easier after that.

What a cool NSV!

How exciting! Getting so close!

Mine is the chest area. I mean I cannot seem to pull all that extra skin in to my bra! Just cannot find a new bra that works right and then when I do, I change sizes again! Arms and breast lift will be my very first surgery and the sooner the better!

@@missymay - So at 1 month out are things better for you? I sure hope so!!

So very sorry. If it helps I have gone through this on my own and honestly find it much easier to deal with my own feelings than to have to deal with someone else's too. And PS - just think of that day of revenge you will have when you "accidentally" bump in to him a your goal weight. Just sayin'..... Hugs!!

For what it's worth, I find all of you very relevant and very important to my journey. I try desperately to use the search button first and try not to ask those annoying questions. I will be 5 months out next week and wouldn't have survived without some of the valuable advice I have received here. Frankly, I do understand any sort of burnout because at only 5 months, I am more than tired of the same tired posts to which you refer. Sometimes I have to stay off for a few days. Sometimes, I have to just avoid those posts that I just can't answer one more time. When I do answer, I try to answer from the place that you all have shared with me and others so they get good true real advice. I sincerely appreciate those that continue to check on here and give welcome advice.

@@goblue9280 - Thanks for the buffalo chicken dip recipe! That sounds amazing. I actually need to take a potluck dish to work tomorrow and I think I have all these ingredients! And I can have some too!!