Greensleevie

How are you doing Joni?

The irony of obese people who had to to resort to WLS judging other obese people who had to resort to WLS is staggering. Obese is obese. Whether you're 250 pounds or 650 pounds, the struggles are basically the same. Be humble and remember that.

I know it's hard not to stress about it, but honestly, don't stress. Like what was said above, drink your calories and more fat in the form of peanut butter, avocados and even use butter to cook with. And get that GERD taken care of! More than likely, a couple years from now you'll be looking back fondly on this period of weight loss when you're having to watch every bite you eat because the scale seems to want to go up inexplicably. Our bodies are constantly fighting us to get fat again once we hit maintenance. Believe me, you won't waste away. Hope you can figure out a happy medium!

If you talked to people who have actually had WLS and have been successful with it, most would tell you they're happy they did it. This surgery isn't some fly by night diet we do to "get skinny". It's a serious, life changing medical procedure that should only be done only after some heavy duty research and contemplation. It won't change your love of eating, won't choose what you decide to eat, and the chances of you staying "skinny" (IF you even get there) are less than 50% if you haven't made the decision and have the emotional tools to completely change your lifestyle. If anything, people who are unprepared are more unhappy than they were before because they went through a life altering surgery with all the possible side effects and none of the results. It really has a tendency to complicate things in our lives, too, so be prepared for that.

Your comment is a perfect example of the misconceptions people have about these surgeries. I cringe when pre ops think everything will change and all our diet woes will disappear. We've all had to come to the sad realization that it's really not that easy unfortunately. Like the saying goes, they operate on our stomachs, not our brains.

The less you weigh, the slower the weight loss. The one downside of being a lightweight

You seem smart. You know what you need to do Shake things up. Start tracking on an app like My Fitness Pal, figure out where you need to be calorie and protein wise to start losing again. Get at least 10,000 steps in a day. Lay off the wine and sugar. You'll have plenty of time for that as an occasional splurge once you get where you want to be. Put your nose to the grindstone and get to that goal weight if that's what you really want. After the honeymoon period ends, it's really hand to hand combat to get the rest of the weight off. Now win the battle!

I personally didn't eat any kind of bread until I was 80% to my goal weight. I wanted to eat as much protein as I could, and bread products just took up too much precious real estate in my sleeve. I stuck to protein and a bite or two of veggie for close to a year. Now when I indulge occasionally, it's the nuttiest whole grain bread I can find to get the most nutritional bang for my buck. I stay away from white bread and tortillas altogether.

You're doing just fine. The scale is moving in the right direction, and that's all that matters. Don't look at it as some kind of race, because there's really no end. Even at 3.5 years post op, I still struggle with going up and down 10 pounds. I didn't lose all the weight and live happily ever after. I mean, it's great, but the reality is it's still tracking, exercising, measuring and worrying about what I'm putting into my mouth constantly. Would it be awesome to just wake up thin one day? Sure! But how will you learn to appreciate the journey and all the lessons that come with it? How would you ever learn the habits you need to keep the weight off once you get there? This is the time to start the habits for lifelong success. Don't rush it and enjoy the journey! You'll get there. Then the hard work REALLY begins.

Body fat % is a more important number to pay attention to IMO. Have someone check yours and go from there. You look great!

BUT I ate the way you do the first year and a half or so.

Yes, it does change the further out you get from surgery. Last night I ate 5 Oz of steak, 1/4 cup of green beans and a few bites of salad for dinner. I'm 3.5 years post op.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Science is truth. Facts are truth. There have been several people who have sited scientific evidence to show that it's a myth to no avail. I know we are currently in a fact/science denial period right now, so I feel it's more important than ever to set the record straight using facts and science. There's nothing rude or disrespectful about that. Just because you don't agree with it, doesn't mean it isn't true.

Soda has sugar and empty calories, and that's why they gain. Has zero to do with carbonation. But good for you. You're right, you do you. But let's not keep perpetuating the same old tired myths. You don't want to drink carbonation, then don't drink it. People who know carbonation won't cause weight gain and want to drink no/low calorie carbonated drinks, more power to them. Whatever works.

Any hard liquor should do it. Avoid sugary mixed drinks, but even hard liquor turns to sugar in your system. It really only takes one vodka and tonic to give me a decent buzz without too many calories. Drinking should only be occasional if ever during the weight loss phase because it can really mess with your weight loss if it becomes a regular thing.

Okay, full SMALL plate

Aaaaaand no matter how many articles and videos you post stating that carbonation doesn't stretch a sleeve, people still are saying it and believing it. Fun fact: Things are going to naturally relax and stretch out over time. At about 5 years out, you'll be able to eat a plate of food. So it really doesn't matter what size our stomachs are at that point, but what we are putting in them. People who solely rely on the size of their stomachs to keep them on the straight and narrow will have a tough road ahead I'm afraid.

Yup. Stop eating it. The more you eat, the more you crave. You stop having it, you stop missing it. Studies show abstinence works better than moderation in the long run. Also, have you heard of Halo Top? It's a very low calorie, high protein ice cream. Kind of spendy, but its a good substitute.

Read this. She speaks from experience. https://www.bariatriceating.com/2013/03/bariatric-surgery-only-makes-your-stomach-smaller-otherwise-youre-exactly-the-same/

Wow. You respond to me calling your attitude immature by posting a completely immature response. Good show. For the record, I'm not a failure. I lost all my excess weight and have kept it off within 10 pounds for 2 years. So basically, I've been keeping my weight off. So far, much more successful than you have been. I also know what to expect a few years out. Way ahead of you there, too. I think you protest too much. You almost sound like a scared child with all the projection you do. Okay, good for you. You'll make the surgery successful and you'll have no challenges and issues and everything will be perfect and you've cured your obesity and all the issues that go with it and you'll live happily ever after. You've figured this out all in a matter of under 3 months time. I'm not being negative, I'm being truthful. Obviously that bothers you. I'm not saying this isn't mostly all on us. Ultimately, it is. But you don't want to admit that the road isn't as easy as you seem to want to make it out to be, and that people who've been there might actually know what they're talking about. I was ONLY pointing out the challenges I and many, many others have faced. You know, because we've been there? And you haven't? You also obviously don't know how to have a normal discussion without getting over emotional and insulting people. So you are now being put on ignore, because I don't do willful ignorance very well.

Also, I work in addiction. You know the first indicator I see when I know someone is going to relapse? They swear they are NEVER going back to drugs or alcohol. They don't have enough insight to understand that absolutes and extremes just don't work in the real world with real world challenges. They get blindsided when they happen and deal with them the only way they know how....resorting back to their old self destructive behaviors. The more successful clients understand that although they can't promise they won't ever go back, they will work their programs the best they can, use the tools they've been given and deal with the challenges they know will happen as they come in order to be successful. They don't assume to know it all, either.

*Clicks profile* "Surgery date 4/30/17". Yup. I remember thinking I had it all together, too. It's easy when you're not hungry and the weight is falling off effortlessly. Glad you have this ALL figured out at a whole 2 months post op. I never understood how people presume to know what the future holds when they have no idea what challenges lie ahead? How immature. Are we saying you're absolutely going to be one of the almost 50% of people who are going to gain some or all of their weight back? No. We are saying to KEEP that from happening, you need to be aware of the pitfalls to PREVENT it from happening. You no more know what's going happen 3 years down the road at 3 months post op as I do 6 years down the road at 3.5 years post op. You can at least admit that, right?

YES, YES AND YES!

It's SO easy to be cocky newly post op (1-2 years). I remember. You think you have the tiger by the tail. Then the honeymoon period ends. Suddenly, you're hungrier. You can eat more. You've settled into "boring" maintenance. You no longer have the thrill of the scale moving downward. People are used to how you look now, and you aren't getting the validation of constant compliments on how great you look. You're fully healed and feel as normal as you did before surgery, and sometimes you're alarmed by how much more you can eat and how much hungrier you are. Behavior fatigue sets in, and you push the limits of how much sugar or alcohol or carbs you can consume before you see a gain. After all, you pretty much could still lose early out even after the occasional splurge. And if you did gain a pound or two, a couple days of cutting back on carbs and some extra water, it came right back off. Until you discover it doesn't work that way anymore. You gain much easier now for seemingly no reason, and no matter how hard you try, the weight won't come back off like it did before. You become complacent, almost accepting a 5, 10, or even 20 pound gain because it becomes so hard to lose it again. We won't even talk about the guilt and self loathing regain causes. You feel like a failure (even though you really aren't). A fairly new post op has no idea the struggles people 3, 4, 5 years out and more have, so telling people to just suck it up and have more willpower is utter bullshit.