Josey Quinn

Looking for an experienced buddy? This is a little about me. Surgery date: December 2015 Weight lost: 150+ pounds Status: Maintenance phase 40-something, married, mother to two daughters, artsy person, cat lady. Managing a full-time career and bipolar disorder, which are sometimes related.

It's completely normal to have doubts. This is not a magic bullet. You are making trade-offs for the significant weight loss. But as long as you are going into it with your eyes open, you can feel good about your decision. I had my sleeve surgery in December 2015. I experienced some complications, and I will have to take pancreatic enzymes indefinitely, but I would have the surgery again. Even the loose skin doesn't bother me enough to regret my decision. Now, I can eat almost any kind of food I want, as long as I stick to the portion size my stomach can comfortably handle. Keep educating yourself and reviewing your pros/cons list.

I'm struggling a bit with my true goal weight. My original goal was 165, and I'm now a hair over 162. I would be happy staying at this weight (and not having to buy more clothes for a while), but my body seems to have other ideas. I'm eating as much as I can each day, but I'm still losing. So, I don't know if I should let my body decide my ultimate goal for me or try harder to stop the weight loss. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My stay was one night for VSG. Standard for my surgeon.

My surgeon told me to stay away from Ensure and similar drinks. I've used Unjury since my surgery in December, and it has worked well for me.

Hearing about tragic outcomes can be very scary, especially when it is a family friend. Keep talking to your doctor's office and any other support people about your fears. No one can guarantee a positive outcome, but they can help you minimize risk and address your anxiety.

When I'm getting full, my stomach makes more noise and I feel like I want to stand up to relieve pressure.

Nine months out from VSG, I still eat too fast. Lately, I've been focusing on chewing my food much more because this naturally slows me down.

Your body is recovering. Let your doctor know you're having trouble. He might need to switch you to a different nausea medication. If you're still taking pain medication, that could also be contributing to nausea. The best thing to do is talk to your doctor or his nurse. Don't suffer in silence.

Please keep in mind that your tastes may change radically after surgery. I was a complete bread and Pasta addict before my sleeve surgery, and now, I can barely stand them. No craving at all. Even though coffee feels like the center of your beverage universe now, it could change.

I was sleeved in December 2015. The biggest challenge with hydration for me to this day is not being able to drink with my meals. I get busy at work and forget to drink between meals. I eat four small meals a day, so I feel like I turn around, and it's time to eat again. I have to keep liquids with me all the time and consciously force myself to drink.

I'm glad to see that you went for a walk. That sounds like a healthy response to the situation! (((hugs)))

I had my gastric sleeve surgery 8 months ago. As of today, I've lost 111 pounds, which puts me 10 pounds away from goal. What I really wanted to know before surgery was: How would surgery change my everyday life with food? How would I react emotionally to a radically different way of eating and fast weight loss? Would I feel tired and rundown? Would I really be able to exercise? How would my friends, family, and coworkers react to my new eating regimen and weight loss?

I sweat far less now than I did before surgery. I can't remember how long after surgery it took the sweating to decrease, though, because I had surgery in the winter. I'm down 111 pounds.

I've had some medical issues over the past two months (not surgery/sleeve complications), so I've been preoccupied and not paying close attention to my weight loss. I realized a few days ago that my clothes are falling off. I decided to get a few things at Target, which led to today's NSV: I bought my first non-plus size shirts and dresses! My shopping experience was surreal. I started in Target's extremely inadequate plus-size department, but then I decided to try on the largest misses size (XXL). I started with a striped maxi dress. I couldn't believe it when it actually went over my body. I really couldn't believe it when I didn't want to break the mirror. Sure, I'm still "fluffy," but for the first time in years, I felt like my curves were attractive. This is a EPIC accomplishment for me. Outside of the dressing room, I felt like a fraud, though. I'd already confirmed for myself that I could fit into misses XXL, but I felt like people were judging me for straying outside the plus-size section. I actually felt paranoid that someone was going to walk up to me and suggest I stop looking in the misses section. For years, shopping for clothes has been demoralizing and painful for me. I guess it's going to take some time to get over that history. It seems silly to get so emotional over shopping, but I couldn't help my feelings. How do you feel as you shop for smaller clothes?

Food cravings can derail your weight loss efforts. The next time a craving hits, try thinking about your smaller stomach as a set of training wheels instead of a set of restrictive rules. In the forum, I've seen a lot of concern about cheating on the pre-op diet and eating certain foods too soon after surgery. I understand these temptations. (Oh, boy, do I understand.) It is natural to crave what we can't have. Foods like pizza and pasta suddenly seem preternaturally delicious. If we give in and eat something that's not on our diet plan, we react with guilt and shame--and we usually realize that pizza is not as awesome as we remembered. Unfortunately, cravings come back again and again, promising a taste explosion. If we don't learn to resist most of these cravings, we can derail our weight loss efforts. The next time a craving hits, try thinking about your smaller stomach as a set of training wheels instead of a set of restrictive rules. Your current body--your bicycle--is functional, but you have your heart set on that sleek racing model or muscular mountain bike. You yearn to zip down the street or take that rugged path through the forest. Before you can master the better bicycle, though, you have to learn to balance on the one you have--under all road and trail conditions. You have to be ready for the challenges ahead. Training wheels are boring, but they help us avoid the worst of the bumps and bruises that can happen when we lose our balance and fall off the bike. We can still slip up and take a spill, but it's likely to be much less painful than if we were careening down a street unchecked, with no extra wheels to keep us upright. Our smaller stomach does the same thing for us: it helps us maintain our balance while we're learning to nourish our bodies again. Before surgery, most of us had the freedom to eat a large variety and amount of food. We lost our balance repeatedly, and we paid for it with increased weight and medical problems. We injured our body--and mind--over and over. We've already invested a lot of resources in our weight loss surgery, and we have a limited amount of time to make use of these training wheels. If we take the extra time and effort to learn the fine art of balance, we will be better prepared to handle the freedom that comes with the new, better models of our bodies. The excitement and adventures waiting for us down the road are worth a little boredom with the training wheels now.