OutsideMatchInside

Honestly it is best to just donate for the tax deduction. It takes the least amount of time and you get the most bang for your buck. Clothes are so cheap now, there isn't much of a market for re-sell unless you have really nice name brands. I can resell my dresses from Bebe since I usually just wear them once and that is it. Unless something cost over $80 originally and is a brand that people really want, it won't resell for enough to make it worth selling.

Their monthly subscription is more or close to the same that I spend on clothes in a month, and I buy clothes every month. I don't keep clothes as I drop sizes, when I am down a size I dump the old clothes and buy new clothes that fit and I have been doing this for a year. It is a rip off in my opinion, and all the clothes are fat and frumpy.

I'm quoting this because I wish more people realized this information. The amount of people that work in these unprofessional work places is staggering to me. Most of these people and their co-workers are walking lawsuits. A good HR dept is not going to want you disclosing all this medical information to your co-workers. Your boss shouldn't want to know. If you have surgery then get passed over for a promotion or something, you can easily blame it on surgery based discrimination, regardless of the facts, and bring a lawsuit. No good manager wants to know all your business like that. People work for unprofessional untrained management that are opening their companies to liability on a daily basis. I haven't told anyone but my super close friends I had surgery. People see how I eat and how I act. They never think I had surgery. They think I have changed my way of eating and I am sticking to it. Which is what happened and is true. If you eat properly and live an active life, no one will assume you had WLS to lose weight. However if you sit at your desk sucking the toppings off pizza, and never do anything active and are dropping weight like a stone that raises eyebrows. Most people believe diet and exercise work, the idea that it doesn't really work for people is beyond their comprehension.

@@aortiz1987 I bought a leisure bra that closed in the front, that was probably one of my best preop purchases. Then I wore a loose maxi dress. I loved that dress, I miss it

@@iloveorganicmilk You might want to consider some counseling. You don't really have a mindset that is conducive to post-op success or happiness. First of all everyone isn't in the 2 bites category. There are people that post here that they can only have a couple bites and they are full, but a bite isn't a scientific measurement so none of us know WTF a "bite" is so that information is useless. I have always been able to eat more post-op than what a lot of people eat, but I use my sleeve more than a lot of people, and I made a point of making sure I got my Protein and Water goals. The more you use your sleeve the more "relaxed" it becomes. I can eat about 4-6 ounces of dense protein, but I try to keep it to 4 ounces, because that is a proper portion. It depends on what I am eating how much I can eat. I can eat 3 cups of spinach at a time. I don't eat watermelon so I have no idea on that. @@AvaFern Put it well, about not wanting a lot of food post-op. I am very satisfied with small amounts of food and not only am I satisfied, small amounts of food feels like a feast.

@@reree6898 I never thought my weight held me down so to speak, but I notice my posture is so much better. All that belly I had in front isn't pulling me forward.

3 months 2-3 ounces depending. 6 months, 4 ounces 12-14 months 4-7 ounces I can basically eat double to triple what I could right after surgery. Things that were not sliders like Protein bars, turned into sliders as I healed. I can eat 3 cups of salad greens. I can chug Water at almost pre-op levels. If you watched me eat in public, you would never know I had surgery.

@@ginabee38 Never used a binder. I wore shapewear.

@ Babydolls hide it. Yandy has lots of great options.

It depends on the person. Pressure on my stomach was great. It helped with the gas and the support was awesome and it helped protect my incisions from clothes, bumps and pets.

I lose up until 3 days before my period, then I stall, then I lose after my period. It was like that. Now it is more like stll for 3 weeks, lose for one week, stall for 3 or 4 weeks, lose, stall. I measure myself so that helps because even in my stalls I am still losing inches.

@@Kiba Awesome, the test doesn't take long, although it will be the most boring time of your life. It is better to know exactly for sure instead of guessing. Don't forget to post and let us know about your results.

A food scale.

@ I have to get to work so I don't have a lot of time to refute you but there are about 20 studies since that study that counter it. Also you have to consider scientific advances in this century as opposed to the past. That was a post WW-II study and we are now in the post modern era. Also, we have to remember RMR is if you do absolutely nothing but lay in bed. No one posting is in a coma doing nothing, everyone is burning above their RMR, just living, even if they are a slug. So the deficits are much higher than what people think. I don't know if you missed the whole massively long thread we had about the Biggest Loser contestants but to make a long story short they ruined their metabolism on low calories and excess exercise and years later the results are perm. I have lost weight increasing my calories and never keeping them below 800, and I have a normal metabolism, most people don't lose 150lbs in a year and keep a normal to high metabolism. What @@JamieLogical said ... Is something I think we should have a more serious discuss about and it would be nice if all the experts that wrote for the magazine would address the topic of post-op eating disorders. We see more of that being posted about here than anything else but it is glossed over and ignored.

I didn't have a drain, another person on my floor that had surgery with a different Dr had a drain. The only difference I can see it that she seemed to be in a lot more discomfort than I was.

Honestly it depends on my mood. Sometimes I weight myself every morning. Some weeks I weigh myself only on Monday morning. I keep my scale in a corner in my bedroom. If I am avoiding it, I just slide it under the bed.

@@fatgirlsvelte Best of Luck. You are intelligent and have a great outlook on life.

I'd never tell any trainers/fitness type people I had surgery. When I went to crossfit, I didn't tell them I had surgery and when they gave me food recommendations, I just smiled and nodded my head, like I do when chicks tell me that makeup isn't necessary (and it is always the chicks that need some makeup the most). They know for a fact that exercising makes people hungry, but they try to pretend everyone can portion control without surgery easily and like being active doesn't mean being constantly hungry. Even the great Arnold has complained about always being hungry. You can erase 2 hours in the gym with one bad food choice in 90 seconds. What is funny is I know a few professional trainers personally. Which is lucky for me since I can't afford their rates of $300 plus an hour. The thing is, they almost never give nutritional advice, ever. That isn't their focus.

@@linah Not sure if you are low carbing but when you are low carbing you crave/need more salt. My body go nuts for salt. Congrats on your success so far.

If you can drink fluids you can get your Protein in. Try drinking protein that are the consistency of Water, like Syntrax nectar, or broth with unflavored protein powder. In the short term you can go without protein easily. However the longer you go without nutrition, the lower and harder your recovery is going to be. You don't get energy until you can eat.

@@Kiba So they didn't actually test your physical metabolism? Like I have mine tested at a university, so I know exactly what it is. It actually matches or is higher than most online calculators, but just using a calculator won't tell you what yours really is. Having your RMR tested requires laying still for 20-30 minutes and breathing into a tent or a machine that is taking measurements from your breathe to determine your resting metabolic rate which is how many calories your body burns just being alive with zero activity.

@@Kiba How was your metabolism tested? Since you still have a normal metabolism, you have to treat it like that, which means eating more. I try to eat within 300-400 calories of my metabolic rate, with a few days a month of planned higher calories. It is hard though. I basically have to eat every 2-3 hours. I eat high Protein high fat, minimal carbs. I do best with basically no carbs, just green veggies. Like @@OKCPirate said, log and experiment. Everyone is different. You are lucky though, you still have a good metabolism, which is awesome. Lots of people aren't that lucky, they are stuck on low calories forever. So the fact you have lost weight and still have a good metabolism is great.

Antacids are not enough. You need a PPI to lower your stomach acid production. Your body is still producing acid for a full size stomach. It takes a few months to balance out. At one year I don't take Antacids or a PPI but I did the first 6 to 9 months and it made life a lot easier. Also like someone else said. Most hunger is dehydration.