Brandeis

Advice: don't weigh yourself every day! However, this isn't advice I personally can follow, so instead I try to only worry about it once a week. You'll have periods where it stops, and then jumps down. My biggest was after a vacation where I'd been RIDICULOUSLY active and probably didn't drink enough water. I came home after 2 weeks and had not lost a pound. Weighed myself again 2 days later and I lost SEVEN POUNDS. Little things in your life can impact it. I wouldn't worry unless you've stopped losing for a month or so.

Yeah, seriously, trust your doctors. They're experts on this. They know what's best for you!

(Off topic, but holy hell your hair is so cute!!!)

Breast meat chicken is like a rock in my stomach, I can't do it. And I've been having a hard time with any kind of ground beef recently. >_<

Of course it's personal, and all I can speak to my opinion. If someone said "wow, you look great, how did you lose so much weight?" and I replied "power walking!" I would definitely consider that a lie and something that stressed me out constantly. I'd also feel like I was mis-representing how easy/difficult it is to lose weight, and setting back understanding of weight loss surgery. Because I've been honest about my situation, not one but two of my friends are now also having the surgery. Both of them will have lives dramatically improved by the surgery, but would never have considered if it they hadn't had insight into my experiences/success. Do you need to post on facebook about it? Nah, that seems excessive. But should you tell the people who are important in your life? And should you be honest when people ask you? Yeah, I think you should. I consider it lying if you don't, unless you just flat out don't answer.

You can find tons of great, simple, staple pieces on amazon for really cheap, as well.

I think it's too early to consider plastics, honestly. My doctor's office won't even talk to you about it until 18 months out -- that's how long it takes for any skin that's going to snap back to actually snap back.

I must be incredibly lucky, because I tell literally everyone (including random waiters, sometimes, to my bro's horror) and have never had a single person make a disparaging comment toward me regarding my surgery. I think it's better to be honest. If you start lying now, you'll need to lie for the rest of your life, which will make everything in your life a lie. Living that way would cause me serious anxiety. Once it's out there, it's out there. Your friends will better respect your dietary restrictions, and be helpful/friendly/supportive -- or, if they're not, then they're not really your friends, are they? It sounds like your husband is embarrassed or ashamed, which is really shitty, and you should talk to him about it.

I don't count either. Not one bit. I just try to get my protein in, and as a rule I try to make sure I'm doing about 100 calories for 10g protein...

Is the requirement 6 months dieting, or 6 months in a SUPERVISED NUTRITION PROGRAM? I have my doubts that they're going to say okay to a self-run thing; my insurance wouldn't have. It specifically had to be supervised. Meetings would qualify, but I'm not sure the app will...

Surgery triggered mine. ): Got it 2 days post op, almost 2 weeks early....

This before pic is amazing because the girl in the bg is totally giving you the fatgirl sideye. This is something that happens ALL THE TIME to overweight people, there was even a photographer who did a whole series documenting it lol!! Your after is looking amazing~

I'm in Yonkers, so just one step off from NYC....

I'm curious about your eating every few hours thing and if that's messing you up. Are you actually hungry, or are you just wanting something to eat? My doctor's office is VERY serious about ONLY eating 3x a day, and I can understand the logic of it. It helps you get in a routine. When you only eat at certain times (I eat at 10, 2, and 7) then you're much less likely to snack at any other time. I don't really get hungry between meals, though, which is why I'm curious if this is actually stomach hunger, or if it's head hunger...

Are you exercising? That can make a major difference. I have no idea what my calorie count was at 6 months -- I didn't do any tracking, ever, just tried to make sure I ate things that were high protein...

My bariatric program is also very against making a set number goal. Every time I say I'm trying to get to 167 (that's high end of a "normal" BMI) they pull faces. For me, it's not that they don't think I can get there, but that they think it's unhealthy to pin your goals on a number. Instead, try to pin them on feeling a certain way. Also, there's nothing wrong with baby steps!

I bought a wraparound maternity pillow SO I could sleep on my side. And I still sleep with it, that thing is the bomb.

Breakfast: 1 cup Fairlife milk + a handful of nuts (or a protein bar, if I'm about to go to the gym) Lunch: cheese & crackers & fruit, or egg salad & crackers, or sometimes leftovers. Dinner: I cook...food? So I don't know, normal food. Chicken thighs, this week, with some carrots; last week it was chicken tortilla soup. After dinner: I often have 1 pc dove chocolate. I don't really watch what I eat, count calories, or anything like that. It seems right now that no matter what I do, I continue to lose weight, right now. So I guess I'm doing "intuitive eating," where I just look at what I'm making to make sure it's high protein, and that I'm getting my protein intake in every day.

I can feel my collar bones, hipbones, and ribs under the skin.

It only gets worse the farther out you are, too. I remember the first 50 pounds, I feel like I only dropped 1 size or so. I could still wear the same clothes. Now, every 10-15 pounds I feel like I go down a size...I keep sizing out of my cute new non-plus-size clothes. XD

I just looked it up. At 6 months out, I'd lost 61 pounds (86 if you count the 25 from pre-op, but I'm not counting them since we're just talking post-op weight loss!) Everyone at my program told me I was doing incredibly....and to focus less on the numbers and just to stick to my plan...

SURE. Typical daily menu: Breakfast: I am Not a breakfast person, but I know it's important to get that protein in ASAP. So I start my day off with 8 oz of Fairlife Chocolate Milk. Its got some sugar, but it also has 13g protein! not bad at all. Sometimes I supplement this with a small handful of mixed nuts to up my protein levels. Sometimes, if I'm going to work out or I'm feeling shaky, I have a piece of peanut butter toast instead. Midmorning: Before lunch, I make sure to drink at least 16oz water. Lunch: I eat a LOT of cheese. Usually I make a little cheese plate with 2-3oz mixed hard cheeses (I'm all about this goat gouda atm), plus a tiny bit of honey, and a couple of crackers, with some strawberries or other fruit to go with it. I go through phases, though. Sometimes, instead, I make egg salad and eat egg salad with some crackers. Sometimes I toss some hard meats in here too, like salami, etc. It's all good, so long as it's high protein. Afternoon: Before dinner, I make sure to drink at least another 16oz water. Dinner: I do a lot of batch cooking. So Saturday or Sunday, I'll make something that I can work on for the whole week. My go-tos tend to be things like Chicken Tortilla soup (chock full of veggies etc), or curries (served without grain or with barley/faro instead of rice). Man, I haven't made curry in a few weeks. Note to self: make curry this weekend! Sometimes I also make something that night, if I go to the market. I'll cook lamb chops, or a piece or two of steak (I live with my bro, so I cook for him too) with some veggies for a side. Or a nice piece of fish; I really love salmon, but I only do it now and then. After dinner: 16 oz more water! Sweet: I like a sweet. I really, really like a sweet. So often in the evening, I have 1 piece of dove chocolate, or a protein-enriched low-calorie ice cream bar (like Enlightened Ice Cream!) Before bed: 16oz more water!! Eating out: I actually eat out....a lot. A couple times a week, I'd say. I tend to get an appetizer, or I get something high protein that I can reheat for a couple lunches/dinners the rest of the week. ______________________________ Honestly, eating isn't that weird? It's the same as I ate pre-op, after I started doing my high protein low carb diet. If you're trying to do something weird with your eating (I don't know what you're doing, so I can't say!) I can imagine it makes things harder. It doesn't have to be that different, imo. You don't need to substitute. You just need to use restraint. However, exercise has become a huge part of my life, and I wonder if this isn't maybe the key. I work out for 30-60 min ~5 times a week. Over the summer, while my building's pool was open, I did laps 3 times a week. Now that it's closed, I'm building up toward running. I usually do weight resistance training the other 2 days a week...

Try walking after you eat. Doesn't have to be a lot, but a few laps around the room. I used to get something like this, and I found that a little bit of walking loosened everything up and made it settle!

Popsicles were what saved my life. Popsicles and sugar free jello. They felt like "real food". Once I was past that, I ate a lot of eggs. Since I didn't have to do anything "weird" to the eggs to make them soft/pureed, they were really good for me too. AND OHHHHH have you tried the ricotta bake ?! Man I haven't seen anyone talk about eggface's Ricotta Bake in forever on these forums. It was my JAM on purees, it was salty and a little sweet and you had to chew it a tiny bit but not too much....

I wonder if maybe your attitude toward them has changed, as well? This isn't me putting the blame on you -- please don't take it that way -- but it's possible that post op you've become more confident, more outgoing, or more comfortable speaking up for yourself. These could all have negative effects on the people around you, as they were more used to you going with the flow / taking a back seat...