OutsideMatchInside

It doesn't. At least it hasn't mattered to me. Still that is the importance of measuring your food. It is insurance against over eating.

No good advice here. I eat fast always have. I like my food super hot, so that is how it is. If you are weighing and measuring your portions before you eat it shouldn't matter if you eat fast.

You might be okay at 4 weeks, like you could. At 4 weeks I had to take my child back to college and that was 800 miles driving over a weekend. It really depends a lot on how much you can eat at that point. 6 weeks would be a lot better. The getting in and out of your car, walking to doors going up stairs, the temp changes, are all going to wear you out. I would hate to think about you falling asleep at the wheel.

I would check what the requirements are, it is late in the year so if you have to do 6 months of anything, you are going to blow your deductible this year, and then have to meet it next year. If I had any 6 month requirements I would wait to start next year.

You drive for your job? How much? Early on, you might have a lot of energy but you can fatigue rapidly. It is hard to get in enough calories to fuel activity. What are your job duties?

https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/stur/products/stur-all-natural-stevia-liquid-water-enhancer-5-fruit-flavors The orange mango flavor tastes just like orange juice. Order it from the store, or find it locally. When I want orange juice, I drink that.

You don't need a bari Dr. Call your insurance and get a referral.

By keeping your clothes you are mentally giving yourself permission to regain weight. The only person I know that lost over 200 pounds without surgery and kept it off, told me as soon as you drop a size, dump the previous clothes. I have been doing this all along and it has helped me so much. There is no going back. If I gain more than 5 pounds I will have nothing to wear. This helps stop me from going off the rails, keeps me focused and makes weight gain immediately noticeable. I got up years worth of clothes I carefully collected and loved because they no longer fit me. If I regained to the point I could fit them, but they aren't here, that would be extra insult to injury. So it is not going to happen. It is not an option. Do not keep your old clothes as a security blanket. Fully embrace your new life, say this is forever and dump those fat clothes.

My alcohol tolerance is still the same, very very very high. I have never been drunk or anything close post-op. It takes a ton of alcohol for me to get drunk and I am not interested in drinking that many calories. Recently I was drinking with a guy and he was like are you even buzzed? LOL I take a lot of iron because of my anemia (had it before surgery) and I always have issues with constipation. So drinking alcohol always results in a net weight loss for me, due to increased bowel movements. Still I don't drink often and I make up or save up the calories. I also go out a lot without drinking. Everyone else will drink and I drink water, this is probably 90% of my social events. You really need to learn to handle being around people without drinking. If you have to drink to kick it, then you need to stop going out. It is really a recipe for disaster.

Yesterday not long after I posted in here, I went for a drive in my newish sports car I purchased this summer. I would have never been able to fit comfortably in that car before surgery. I have been lusting after a luxury sports coupe for years and I finally got one this summer. When I am driving that car, getting in and out I NEVER feel fat. I small and sexy like my car. I LOVE that car and I have so much fun with it. When I am in it, it is a constant reminder of how far I have come. I was thinking about what I posted in this thread while I was driving and I realized mostly in my day to day life I don't really think about my weight or how I feel about my weight. I just enjoy my life. I am having a ton of fun with my new body by focusing on what it can do, and not what it looks or feels like. That is the only thing that got me over my body image issues last year.

I am really sensitive about food texture. I don't chew all the time they advise. I never have. All I did at first was take smaller bites. Now at 2 years I pretty much eat the same way I did before. If you are making yourself miserable and not getting your food in, that isn't helping you.

Get it out ASAP, it is not going to get better only worse.

@Lovergurl Once a person is healed they can easily consume the same amount of food as a person that has not had surgery depending on what they are eating. You can graze (eat all day) and eat a whole large pizza, actually if it is thin crust it won't even take all day. Down a whole bag of family size chips in probably an hour, they slide right through Chicken salad, especially if the meat is shredded and there is enough mayo, you could eat a ton of it, mayo is high in calories. Milkshakes from anywhere are a liquid, so a person a year or 2 out could easily have a large milkshake from like Steak N Shake, that is about 900 calories in one sitting, and if you were eating food with it, you could consume more food because it would push the food right through. Most sleevers can only have 3-5 ounces of dense protein. That is about all a sleeve can handle comfortably. Most foods are not dense protein though, so you can eat a lot more of them. I could probably eat 8 ounces of more of deli meat at once. Something like Chili and sloppy joe are sliders, I could have a a whole skillet of sloppy joe. Once you are fully healed, nothing stops you from over eating but you. Anyone can easily eat around WLS.

Immediately post-op anything cold felt like daggers to me. I never had an issue with the taste of protein shakes. The temp bothered me more than anything.

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I don't think you would be able to eat enough calories to get your strength back and not feel light headed before the 1 year mark. Maybe 9 months. It definitely shouldn't be something you try before you can eat 1200 calories a day at least, every day. Still this is a question best reserved for your Dr.

Broth and unflavored protein powder is the best imo. You can get any broth that you acutally like, and it tastes better and is more cost effective than getting any of these pre-made protein bariatric soups. Syntrax nectars are the consistency of water, and they come in all kinds of flavors. Cappucino, and the tropical cooler were some of my favs post-op. The iced tea flavor kind of sucks, the lemonade is good. You can order sample packs, try them and decide what you like.

I think it is important for people to hear all sides of post-op life. Everyone isn't happy or thrilled with their post-op results or life. I read the good and the bad and decided it was still the best option for me. OP is unhappy, let her be unhappy. She is struggling and having a hard time. She is allowed to voice that opinion. Everyone doesn't have an easy recovery. Mine was smooth and easy but I know that isn't the case for everyone. If someone is dumb enough to let a post on an internet forum really influence their health decisions, they are getting the life they deserve. I really don't get why you guys are trying to silence her. People post they are miserable like every single day. Let them.

I was really afraid of eating the wrong thing and hurting myself or ending up in the hospital. I was very strict with my food for the first 6 months post-op. That was very helpful because by being very strict, and following my post-op instructions, I was able to create very good habits for myself and learn that I do not need food as a crutch through life. Later when I eased up on my food, I was still able to exhibit more self control. Pre-op I made myself drink black coffee for 2 weeks to decide if I really liked coffee or if I just liked the stuff in it. By drinking black coffee for 2 weeks I learned that I do really like coffee just for itself and that I can have it with less cream and less sweetener. That is kind of how I view my life immediately post-op. I learned to live and deal with less, so when I do have more, I am able to control myself easier. Everyone feels bad when they are on liquids and soft foods, not really chewing is really touch. Once you start having denser food, and can eat more, it is easier to tolerate. A year or two from now this will just be a distant memory.

I can eat all the foods I liked pre-op. I don't eat them, I have found low carb alternatives or I eat them every once in a while. By the time you are healed you can eat almost anything and by year 1 or 2 you will probably be able to eat anything. If you don't think people can and do eat any and everything, just read the regain threads or watch youtube videos. How you feel right now is really temporary. Enjoy it, because it is the easiest time to lose and make good habits that will help you later down the road. @Siyaa Ela You are pre-op so you have no idea what post-op life is like or how miserable people can feel immediately post-op. Have surgery then offer your opinion.

I still feel fat because of all the loose skin I have. And I still really love food I'm a foodie and that hasn't really changed. My collarbone however says otherwise. I look a lot thinner and smaller than I feel. When I see pictures of myself and look at myself in the mirror, I am reminded of how small I really am. The longer I stay in this size range, the smaller I feel. This time last year, I still felt and was plus size (I could wear regular and plus at that point). I have been in normal sizes only for almost a year now, so it is becoming more normalized. I feel like by this time next year even with loose skin, I will have completely adapted to my new size. You don't spend 20 years over 300 pounds and suddenly feel thin.

If you don't want to cook, rotisserie chicken and a bag of salad is the easiest no cook healthy meal on the planet.

Sammie's original post is pretty close to what I would have said (I didn't read the rest of the back and forth). A diet is not exactly what OP needs at this point. They need some counseling and coping skills so they are not self soothing with food. It is helpful to learn how to handle your emotions and not self soothe with food prior to surgery but everyone doesn't get there. You can get there post-op but it is easier if you get there pre-op. You can't really conquer an addiction without getting the root cause of the addiction. If you overeat because you grew up in a family with food instability, you have to learn how to make yourself feel comfortable that you don't have to gorge there will always be food available. If you have demons that you are feeding with food instead of drugs or alcohol you have to work on those demons. If you just eat your emotions, you have to work on other ways to handle those emotions. If you reward yourself with food, you have to find other ways to reward yourself. Honestly the same people post the same issues about not being able to lose or being unable to maintain all the time. People give them honest good advice about food and eating but guess what it never works. The reason it doesn't work is because they have not corrected their emotional issues. Trying to out diet your feelings is just like trying to out train your diet. You can't burn enough calories in the gym to overcome a bad diet (you can erase 2 hours of working out in 2 minutes with one bad food choice). You cannot diet your way out of emotional issues. It just doesn't work. Read these forums for a couple years and it is painfully obvious.

I have a Paraguard. I had it for about 3 years prior to surgery. It has not moved at all. I had a period every 2 weeks for over a year after surgery (due to weight loss hormones) so if it was going to move, it would have moved.

I only use Stevia and only one brand, Stevita. All other artificial sweeteners are gross to me. No, it does not make me crave sweets at all.