jayhawkgirl

My surgeon didn't set a real goal for me. They wanted me to do that. They said they'd be happy when I was in the 220's and I was like, "Are you FREAKING kidding me!" I was sure they'd set some unrealistic goal that matches all those growth charts that made me feel HUGE all my life....even when I was 145-150 pounds! Now it's more about how I feel and what I'm comfortable with as a lifestyle. I had a follow-up with my surgery/clinic just this week and she asked if I still had the same goal weight. It occurred to me that I really don't have a goal weight, I just want to be comfortable, healthy, and happy. I'd like to go down one more size in clothing, because I'm really enjoying shopping again! Whatever weight I am when that happens, that's my goal.

I agree with the others. Just do what you feel comfortable doing. At first I just told my husband (obviously) and immediate family and my best friend and two co-workers. One co-worker I told because she was not only my secretary who set up appointments in my schedule, but also a friend. The other co-worker I told because his wife is a friend and she'd coincidentally just had the surgery with the same surgeon I was planning to use! I've told a few others that I feel comfortable with since then. I find that many people view surgery as a "cure all" when, in fact, it's just another tool. It's not going to make it okay for me to stop working out and eat whatever I feel like! My husbands family did tell a few other family members, so if they've asked questions, I'm careful to point this fact out. They're all very respectful. The fact is, my surgery has gone so well, that my husband decided to have it too and he was sleeved at the end of June 2014!

I agree with the others here. Medical information is no one's business but yours. I purposely planned my surgery when I knew I'd be on break during the recovery and for the extra days, I simply said, I'm having surgery on my sick leave form. No one asked me a thing!

43...and I wish I had done it sooner. Like others, I went to an educational session and thought about it, but didn't follow through. Also like some others here, I now feel so much YOUNGER because I feel so much better! I have people tell me all the time I look younger too!

I'm one of those lucky people who could eat anything and nothing made me sick after surgery. I tried to pay attention to the serving size and the time in which they recommended my meal take. It's probably a bit different depending on your surgeon/dietician. I was to stop drinking 15 minutes before meals and take no more than 20 minutes for a meal and then not drink again for at least 40 minutes after the meal. The nutritionist told me to eat the Protein first and add the veggies and fruit if I wasn't full. She said, sometimes I may not have room for more than 3 green Beans. I thought "lady, you're nuts!" But, she was right! In the very beginning, I measured everything. Then I learned that sometimes I "felt" full before I finished the serving and I stopped eating. Now I try to remember to record everything in My Fitness Pal and I measure for calories! Hang in there...you're doing great!

I'm 2 year and 2 months (as of today!) out of sugery and have no regrets at all! I can't begin to tell you how much BETTER I feel without carrying the extra weight. I can work-out daily and my joints don't hurt anymore. I actually enjoy clothes shopping again! I don't use my CPAP anymore unless I feel like it and I sleep great. Overall, it's been the BEST thing I've done for my health. I put some weight back on in the past 3 months due to stress/grief eating after the unexpected death of my only sister, but I'm getting everything back on track now and that's not something I would have done before surgery....probably because I didn't think the results would last! Now I know what it takes! Good luck!

Way to go! Good luck on your continued success and best wishes!

Congratulations and best wishes to you!

Initially, after my surgery I was told not to snack. They were trying to break the "grazing" habit that many of us have issues with. However, in post surgery visits since, the nutritionist has not admonished me for snacking. They're just more concerned about counting the total number of calories in a day. Again, every surgeon/nutritionist could have different advise for their clients.

Way to go! Depending on your surgeon, the tips given may vary a bit. Mine told me to stop drinking 15 minutes before meals and not to drink for 40 mintues after. You don't want to push the food through or you will feel hungry after. I was also told that I should be completing a meal in 20 minutes. They don't want you to take breaks and space it out because they don't want us to come to close to old "grazing" habits. The hiccups are not uncommon. I still get them sometimes and that's my sign that I likely wasn't paying attention and I ate too fast, swallowing air as well! My stomach growled at lot in the beginning. It was crazy! Sometimes it would wake me up at night. At first I was worried, bu then my dietician and surgeon both told me that our brains associate that with hunger and that's not what it is. It's all the air and your system "adjusting." If I drank more Water, it would usually go away. Now I find that if it's growling and I drink more and keep my mind focused on something else, it stops as well. Best of luck to you!

I understand your confusion! I'd recommend attending a Weight Loss Surgery educational session. I "think" you should be able to find a free one. I did in my area and going to the educational class didn't "tie" me to having to use that clinic or anything else. I also agree with the others. You sill have to use common sense. Eating properly and exercising is necessary and the surgery is just a tool. For me, it makes it less frustrating. Before I'd do these things and feel like I was starving for nothing. (I may have been!) Now I feel full sooner and I actually feel better, sleep better, and as much as I HATE getting up at 4:45 a.m. to work out before work, it's become a habit and once I get on that eliptical trainer, I get caught up in the television show that's on and soon I'm done! And again, I feel so much better! I know nothing about surgeons in Mexico, so I'm of no help to you there! Best of luck to you!

Sorry you're having to face this. I agree with the others. You CAN do this! There could be a multitude of reasons for your husband's attitude, but the only one who knows him and probably has the best idea is you. Regardless, this is about living a longer, healthier life! I would think that anyone who truly loves you will get on board...especially if they have NO OTHER option!

My husband and I both LOVE Quest bars. I've ordered them directly from the company because it's cheaper even with shipping than at GNC, Amazon, or Max Muscle types of stores from my experience. I don't know what grocery store chains you have in your area, but Hy-Vee is big in Iowa and the stores in the Des Moines area have most of the flavors in individual or by the box and they are the same price as the company when you take shipping costs into account. Most of the time when we want to stock up, we buy by the box because there's also a fuel saver value of 5 cents per box. (For those of you not from here, when you buy fuel saver items they accumulate on a card and you save money when fueling up at Casey's gas stations. 5 cents per gallon of gas with my example above.) Sometimes we leave the store with 30 cents per gallon off our gas price just for the quest bars! I've tried all of the flavors. I wasn't wild about the Cookies and cream one (I may have been expecting too much) or the strawberry cheesecake one (for the same reason). My favorites are: chocolate Chip Cookie dough Double Chocolate Chip Cookie dough Chocolate Peanut Butter Smores Apple Pie Coconut Cashew Brownie White Chocolate Raspberry My husband loves: Peanut Butter Pie PB & Jelly vanilla Almond Crunch I bring one for Breakfast at the office every day and drink 24 ounces before I have one and another 24 after (before having lunch). Rarely, do I feel hungry in between.

We live in beef country! Our steak actually came from my sister's farm. We have an indoor Hamilton Beach grill/panini press that we use in the winter, otherwise we grill it outside. My husband might argue grilled is the only way to have steak!

Usually if I increase my Protein and Water, that takes care of that feeling for me. Best of luck to you!

@imadethelist- Yep! I've heard all of these.. "You look so much better"......so I looked awful before "Don't you feel so much better?".....to be honest, I didn't feel that bad before "OMG how much have you lost?".....none of your damn business "You look great, I can't wait to see how far you go".....quit while you're ahead, what if this is it? Clearly that person thinks I have more to lose. I'm just generally happy if someone says, "hey, you look great," and leaves it at that. It's not as if I didn't know I was big before and that I was happy being that size, so I really don't wany ANY comments that bring me back to that unhappy time in my life. I'd rather they say nothing at all and keep on walking! It's one thing if it's family or someone I'm close to because those comments are intended differently and are followed up with "you've done a great job!" or in my mom's case, "I'm so proud of you," which she'd tell me at any size! On the other hand, the worst thing said to me as an adult was when I wasn't even at my heaviest and some drunk a-hole referred to me as a "cow" and I looked at him at said, "I can lose weight, but you'll ALWAYS be an ass!" (This is the look on his face after.) lol

Way to go!! I agree with the others...you're an inspiration!

Congratulations at reaching your goal! Best wishes for continued success!

I experienced this sensation too and was alarmed by it. My stomach would growl so much at first it would wake me up at night! My dietician and surgeon said this isn't actually "hunger" growling it's my body trying to get rid of all the extra air and stuff in my abdomen. Usually if I just kept drinking, drinking, drinking...water, Protein shakes, etc. it would get better. I think the others are right too in saying that what we see on t.v. or smell doesn't help either. It's the way we're wired to believe that if we see it or smell it, we need to have some and it triggers something in our bodies. I'm trying to work on listening to my head more and my stomach less!

I likely would have only had to stay 1 night, but there was a blizzard on the day of my surgery, so I couldn't go home and some of the hospital staff they wanted me to meet with before leaving couldn't get there, so I stayed 2 nights!

It's not fabulous, but at least it's not for long! I was so happy to get to pureed that I cannot even tell you! Best of luck to you!

I'm sorry to hear you're having to deal with this! It's got to be very frustrating! I'm sure these requirements are different depending on insurance companies and bariatric clinics. I'd do just what some of the others have suggested. Drink, eat, wear heavy clothing, and get yourself to the weight they require. You can eat healthy, as you prefer, afterwards and have the satisfaction of knowing you did what you needed to to give yourself a healthier life!

Good for you!!

Sending you nothing but good vibes!! I feel where you're coming from. I lost weight pretty rapidly the first year to 16 or 18 months as well. Then I realized I could eat whatever I wanted and not get sick from anything and if I worked out, I pretty much stayed within a 2-3 pound range. That's all fine and dandy until life hits you in the face! The unexpected death of my sister, job stress, surgeries, a cancer scare, and then the death of a beloved pet in the past 3 months has lead to me falling into old habits to just "get by" until I could finish the thing causing me stress at work and actually take time to grieve the loss of my sister. STUPID choice on my part! Life didn't stop while I was trying to get myself back in order and I paid for it by putting on 14 pounds. I've lost 4 of that in the past week by making time for ME again and I know it's not going to be easy to NOT take the easy way out and go back to old eating patterns in the future, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm worth more than that! Not to mention that there's now a voice in my head that tells me to "suck it up" because I'm sure my sister would still like to be here living the life she had with her husband and kids, so I should take advantage of the life I have and live it FULLY!

@Thankfulmomof3 Don't feel alone. I had my surgery done in Iowa and though, it's been just over 2 years, I don't recall anyone discussing the size of my stomach with this term either. I just recall them sitting down with me individually and drawing a picture of how big my stomach would be and being very clear at not being able to hold more than 2 ounces at a time for quite a while after surgery. I think the educational session, the binder they sent home with me, and the follow-up care through visits and phone calls was very reassuring.