WLSResources/ClothingExch

Yikes, shmikes, you can do anything for two weeks. This does make you one of the lucky ones: You'll drop a few more pounds sooner rather than later. Six months already? Time flies when I'm having fun.

Even people with anxiety and depression can lose weight and keep it off. Wellbutrin may work well for you; it remains to be seen. If not, don't let it discourage you. It's common to have to try a few or more meds to find the right one or the right combination.

Thanks for clarifying. You know what will happen now - I'll be hearing and reading it everywhere.

I've never heard of "soft calories." Is that a known description? The only guess I can make is the things that go down easily, such as the crunchy, hi-cal things like chips and all things sugar (Cookies, cake, ice cream, et al.). Is that it?

...never mind...

@@jenn1, that was a creepy move, but at least she discovered that your thigh no longer is suitable for barbecuing. You're safe from her in the future.

It's because of your weight loss, certainly, but also because there's a little more spring in both senses in your outlook. Your feeling just gave my morning a bit of spring. Thank you for that.

If you like, I'm wishing you luck. I understand that you're feeling humiliated, but it's uncalled for. The surgeons, NPs, RDs and all the other staff members have seen and heard it all. They won't judge and they'll be happy to work with you toward your success. Your determination is obvious. You don't need luck. You have your power.

While I'm not familiar with them, there are a number of cookbooks designed for people who have had surgery. They won't be particularly helpful for tracking your calories and other data. There are some good sources for tracking. One is My Fitness Pal, which people say is fairly easy to use. There is also the website sparkpeople.com, which takes a little work to get used to using. Middle Eastern cuisine is fine for you. (I'd love to come cook at your house and learn.) To track it or anything else you may cook, you'll have to enter the ingredients and their amounts. Tracking takes a little work, but it doesn't have to make you "lose your head." We need our heads in order to do the eating and tracking.

@@Frenchie1977, in that case, she doesn't want to be left behind. Your responsibility is to yourself, your health, your future. You are not a human sacrifice. She's got to learn to take care of herself.

Continue being negative? Continue trying to undermine you? Continue implying that she wants you obese? You tell me. Will you mother be the only obese member of the household after you lose weight?

Congratulations on losing enough weight that you've reached a stage of confusion. Congratulations, too, on having answered your own question. You want to maintain now, but don't know what changes to make. Answer: "...call them if needed." An appointment with the RD can help and the RD probably has handouts for the purpose. Take a week or two's food trackers to your appointment so that the RD can see where you are and use it as a foundation for the "Now what?" part. Going in would work for me when I need a confidence boost.

You'll have extra cash in your pocket before you leave the house. If your car breaks down, you will call a taxi. Some of our mothers and most of our grandmas and great-grandmas called it "mad money" in case a date went sour. Next! You probably have a long history of anxiety, yes? No? Maybe? Why put off getting some help with it, either talk therapy or anti-anxiety meds or both? You'll be better off getting a handle on it as early as possible so that you don't put yourself through the wringer over every detail, bite and sip post-surgery. You want to enjoy the ride, not have your gut in a tangle.

Nice photos and your post gets better line by line. Ryder is lucky.

@@saramichelle917, something about the way you phrased that makes me think you have little history with losing/regaining/losing/regaining/on and on and on. Is that accurate? Losing weight with surgery is a matter of portion control, wise food choices and meal-planning. True, the surgical procedure is a great aid, but that's what it is -- no magic involved. It is possible to lose after surgery and, uh-oh, gain it back. What are you fantasizing or imagining life after surgery "looks like?" How unpretty is it?

Nay, you're having one right now. Feel it. They never stop coming along and each is better than the last.

What she said, but only in the right hands. @@Hiccup, for what it's worth, you're fabulous for having already begun food changes.

You can add splashes of sugar-free syrups. The main brand names are Torani and DaVinci. Torani makes a great many flavors. I can't guess which may appeal to your tastebuds. (Fyi, I don't know about DaVinci, but be aware that Torani is liquid, not thick syrup as we think of them.)

Psst, fake it. No one will doubt you. Ask me how I know when no one is listening.

What about it?

There are Protein supplements that you'll learn about. I'm sure you know that whole grains and legumes together provide complete protein, etc., etc. (Watch the amounts!!) There are options for you and plenty of sources of info. (I'm not the source, though, as I'm not vegetarian.)

There is risk to any surgery and any component of it, including anesthesia. I'm not a medical professional and, therefore, unable to say whether your weight alone adds to the risk. I do know that countless people of all weights have anesthesia and come through just fine. You're not alone in being fearful of anesthesia. Many who are don't even have particular weight problems. Something you may want to consider is the risk of staying at your weight. The risks there are major. Take into account the reasons that made you start exploring surgery. THere are always choices to be made and I think you want to choose what gives you the best chances for a long, happy, productive life. Talk about the fear with the surgeon. It's routine to speak with the anesthesiologist as preparations for the OR are going on. You can arrange to speak with the anesthesiologist before that day to go over your questions about precautions, etc. Another thing. I'm sure that your pre-surgery plan will require you to lose weight. You can make the decision to take a little longer to lose more than you're told if it will give you more peace of mind. It's something else to discuss with the surgeon.

"I seem to be having second thoughts. I keep going back and forth in my mind if this is what's right for me. Has anyone else been experiencing this? If so, what gets you through?" You're certainly not alone there. It's been a while and I don't remember if I thought "Is this right for me?" Along the way, from the beginning of considering surgery, though, I didn't even know how to think about it. I ended up doing what I thought of as tiptoeing into the OR. Each step of the way, starting with the info seminar, I'd say to myself, "Do this just to see what it's like. Then you don't have to do anything else." The same applied to the initial appointment at the surgery practice and most of the way to the OR. I say "most of the way" because among the very last steps were endoscopy and colonoscopy (required for me, maybe because my age). When I chose to make appts for the tests, I knew I was serious. No one goes through colonoscopy "just to see what it's like." My experience isn't exactly what you're asking, I think. The best thing I can suggest is that you take a pen and pad and write out in narrow, specific terms what it means to be "right for me" and "not right for me." Make the questions to yourself narrow and specific. "Is this right for me?" is too wide open to grasp firmly.

Looks most tasty. What time's lunch?

@@Cervidae, You are absolutely wonderful inside and out. I don't remember what sidetracked me from writing a note before this, but I'm grateful because it gave me a chance to reread your letter. I'm also grateful to Fat Abby for bringing you into the world. If I had my way, you'd never have gone through the years of pain, but I do love your predecessor as the source of so much of your goodness and worth. None of this means that I wouldn't like to run that ignorant bastard through with a bayonet.