BarrySue

I ate pizza. Thin crust and new york style. I couldn't eat much, but I think I've had it about 4 times since my surgery. I made up my mind very early on to, if presented with a serious urge, to indulge rather than engage in old patterns of deprivation followed by binging. It worked, and pizza isn't really interesting to me anymore (I haven't had a slice in about 3 months). It's all up you, your triggers, your strategy for tackling weight loss, and what you believe you can handle.

Cholesterol can sometimes be changed by diet/exercise. Other times, it can't, and so medicine is necessary. It's just genetics, unfortunately. You can be 90 lbs, athletic and vegan but still need lipitor. If anything, it shows you have done all you can.

Insurance won't deny you, but it's common for doctors to hold off on surgery until after you can provide a negative result.

Sugar, simple carbs (bread, pasta, rice), a lot of heavy meats (they are just too dense for me to get down), soda/sweet drinks, candy, fried/greasy food (except chickfila nuggets, but they actually work well in my diet). Pretty much everything I used to love, lol. I have little to interest in food, so my diet is a bit of fruit, protein/nutrition bars, soup, cheese, and usually a lean meat as my dinner meal. Occasionally I'll have a little 100 cal bag of popcorn or baked chips, but as the time passes, I don't even crave that anymore. I'm so busy between work, school, and a million other things that having nutrition and protein bars to nibble on throughout the day is the only way I can get food down (It's a struggle to get to 900-1000 calories, and without the nutrition bars, I wouldn't come close).

You're fine. You need to learn moderation, not deprivation. I pigged out and ate a ton of halloween candy a few months ago. I went camping last month and ate smores and a bunch of other naughty no-no foods. Not only am I fine, but I proved that I can be a normal, functioning human being that occasionally indulges.

Vitamin patches? I had no idea they existed. Thanks! I'm gonna look into them too because vitamins tend to make me nauseous.

I feel you, OP. I don't exercise. I just don't. I would rather be punched in the face (matter of fact, if being punched in the face burned calories, I'd willfully endure it on a regular basis). However, I do try and stay active. I go to malls. Theme parks. Shopping centers. I park far away from my classes and walk all around campus, choosing to visit buildings/far off places on campus (I attend the 2nd largest college in the country, it's HUGE). I even take two flights of stairs twice a week for my one class on the 3rd floor. In the end, I do quite a bit of walking. But I don't exercise. I do plan to start weight/resistance training to build up muscle, but I'll never be a cardio bunny, and jogging is against my religion.

Yipe. My heart goes out to you, OP, it's a painful and particularly unpleasant illness. As a nurse, C.Diff is the infectious disease I hate most (I would rather have a patient with the flu, TB, hepatitis, HIV, leprosy, bursting spontaneously into flames, ANYTHING but C.Diff). The hardest part about it is that it can survive for a long time on surfaces, transmits easily (hopefully none of your family or friends get it), and isn't killed by hand sanitizers, only good old fashioned scrubbing with soap and Water. Unfortunately, hospitals are a common place to contract CD, as well as dentist offices. It's a risk for any medical procedure nowadays. Thanks for the perspective.

Two words: informed consent.

Monitor your temp. Could always be early signs of an infection. The diarrhea is troubling to me, especially after a dental visit (if only because I've had multiple patients contract c.diff after dental work). Write down any symptoms you feel so you have a clear description on hand, and stay in touch with your doctor.

Not true. It's another one of those common fallacies pushed by nutrition/bodybuilding sites, but it's been debunked pretty well. Protein is absorbed by the small intestine incrementally over the course of many, many hours. Your body will not "flush" protein like it does with other things like Vitamins and electrolytes. Digestion of protein is a long, long process that your body is highly efficient at. It doesn't waste macronutrients. Bodybuilders consume 200-300g protein per day in order to build and maintain muscle. Don't worry, you're fine.

I was late my first period after surgery (ate 300 calories a day and was under stress, so it wasn't unusual). Been normal ever since.

Had my surgery on July 13th. 127 lbs down, 81 lbs to go! I indulged and occasionally cheated the first few months (not bad, but if I craved something, I had a bite so it didn't become an obsession), but that stopped pretty quickly. I keep to the high-protein/low carb diet just fine now, although I have to push myself to try and get enough calories because eating just isn't interesting/fun anymore. I haven't started hardcore exercising, but I do walk quite a bit more around my campus and do things like take the stairs/park far away when I go places so I get a little more activity. I'm planning on starting to hit the gym soon since I want to hit my goal by summer. I'm moving to Austria in the fall for a few months of school, and I'd love to go with a healthy BMI!

The process of calcium conversion to bone is not something you can feel in your femurs in a day, lol, so don't worry. However, if you're concerned that your sugar intake is higher due to milk, try Fairlife milk instead. It is reduced sugar and fortified with protein, so it's much easier to keep your carbs low!

YES! Me too! I thought I was the only one! I used to need a 10W or 9.5WW, but now I'm fitting into 8.5 regular shoes, no extra wide sizes needed. I can even wear heels and girly shoes. It one point, I only wore men's sneakers because my feet were so wide. My watch is also really loose now and I need to go get the links tightened.

For me, this isn't a matter of "stop liking what I don't like!" This is a matter of someone going beyond "the vegetarian path worked for me." It directly trashes the medical profession, as well as advocates for a lifestyle that is exceptionally difficult to maintain, disregards the long-standing advice of doctors/nutritionists, perpetuates pseudo-science, and takes thinly-veiled potshots and side jabs at others. Advice that has the potential to be dangerous matters, and deserves appropriate criticism. As for the sarcasm, when you are deliberately provocative and continue to refer to meat as "dead animal flesh," expect a bit of tongue-in-cheek response.

The smell of fresh cut grass is actually the chemical distress call of plants and their response to negative stimuli. In essence, you can smell their screams. Remember that next time you walk past a rumbling lawnmower. In all seriousness though, I absolutely understand the moral/ethical motivations behind a plant-based diet, as well as the potential health benefits (for some. One of the biggest reasons people return to meat is not simply hassle, but DIMINISHED HEALTH). It's fine to say "this is my experience." But if you're gonna say doctors/nurses are just dumb western robots who don't understand the nutrition, well...the gloves are off.

For as much as people complain about "chemicals" and "toxins" in their food, they are awfully quick to buy into another set of meaningless dietary buzzwords like "natural" and "clean," trading one ideology for another. People are also so quick to dismiss doctors who underwent 11-14 years of education/training/residency, and dieticians/scientists who devote their lives to the art and practice of nutrition as "Western Medicine" ignorants and corporate fatcats. You are free to make your own choices, but "instinct" and "intuition" doesn't mean you somehow possess secret, ancient knowledge beyond the scope of the medical profession. Doctors advocate Protein, which comes in the form of Protein shakes (not dead animal flesh, I couldn't start feasting on adorable, defenseless animals until two months out). High protein can be done on non-meats, however they often require a higher quantity of consumption (which puts stress/stretch on sleeves), and the cost/inconvenience/familiarity/cultural preference often has people going with a grilled chicken breast over a complicated veggie casserole that often contains more starch/carbs than it does protein. A meat-heavy diet is not doctors failing to understand the basic tenets of veganism; it is a matter of function and convenience, because those are the most effective ways of maintaining a long-term plan. In a range of studies, 75%-84% of vegans/vegetarians return to eating meat, so doctors are reluctant or resistant to advocating it to patients who are already experiencing extreme stress and an upheaval of life. Wanna go vegetarian? Wanna go full vegan? Find that you function well deviating from the typical post-OP plan? Awesome. More power to you. But don't come in here peddling ideological beliefs and anecdotes in food/medicine as legitimate science or die-hard fact. "Healthy" food companies are just as quick to capitalize on your fears (and typically spend big money to put out misleading news articles and pseudo-science articles to take your money). Next time you go to Whole Foods, check out the box of the next Natural Organic Non-GMO* product. Pay strict attention to the asterisk. It is usually accompanied by a disclaimer that there is no benefit to consumption as measurable/detectable by scientific study. As a nurse with a strong background in nutrition, it's great that patients are empowered and invested in their own health. But fact isn't something you "believe" in. It exists regardless of what you think or not. So please think twice before you advocate for belief versus well-supported science and trash an entire profession as people that just don't understand your high and mighty, esoteric plane of consciousness. And with that, I'm going to go eat some more salami.

Ah, I only use them on occasion for costumes, and even then UNDER my clothes. But I use bodyshapers every day out of necessity. I have so much hanging/loose skin, and I'm still 83 lbs above a healthy BMI.

I wore one with a costume 4 and then 5 months out. What helped me was to wear a smooth nylon spanx-type shaper first to protect my skin, and then the corset on top of that. It made things much more comfortable and kept them from getting pinched.

Binge eating disorder here. I was so scared that I would just eat until my sleeve stretched, but I've been fine so far (in fact, my issue is often not eating enough). Once the pleasure/satisfaction was gone from eating, I gradually began to de-program and look at food differently (though it took about 6 months). I'm at 125 lbs lost since July. Best decision I ever made.

Fairlife fat free milk! It is filtered milk that removes lactose and is fortified with additional protein, so it will offer more protein than regular milk. I was never able to do the protein shakes/soups/products (I tried them ALL) because they caused intense nausea and vomiting. Fairlife was the only way I could get my protein in for a few months. I drank it cold with sugar free strawberry or chocolate syrup, or hot with sugarfree cocoa mix. It's available in most grocery stores.

I indulge in crunchy things, and have done so since month 2. I had a lot of issues with vomiting/nausea early on, and I lived on Peanut Butter and crackers for a month (with the approval of my doc). I still eat a 100 calorie bag of popcorn, chips, or crackers every day, and it's satisfying without being an overindulgence/trigger. In fact, that little treat of taste/texture has helped me through the subsequent months of de-programming my brain/body to not crave carbs/sugar. My advice? If you crave crunchy, do crunchy. You don't set yourself up for long term success through deprivation and misery. You do it by finding serviceable substitutes and things you can live with. If you want an apple, hell, eat an apple.

That is not true. Muscle breakdown happens only after glycogen/fat stores have been depleted or Protein intake is so low that the body has no choice but to seek out amino acids. While exercise is important for building muscle and has positive effects for metabolism, it is not a requirement for sustained weight loss. That is like saying hibernating animals would have muscles withered/atrophied, keep big bellies, then stumble out in spring too weak to support themselves. The body will not cannibalize its own muscles in place of fat simply if you're not working out; scientifically, that is incorrect. A fifty year old woman with different hormones, a slower metabolism, and a different genetic makeup may find herself unable to lose weight without exercise. But this has not been my personal experience, and I trust my own knowledge as a nurse who has extensively studied and taught nutrition. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's working for me.

I lost about 120 in seven months. I don't exercise, but I do try to go out and do things that involve walking around (I justify hitting malls by calling it physical activity).