orionburn

I just had to laugh it off. Been in a stall for a while and haven't been able to get out and walk much thanks to this craptastic winter we're having. You just have to laugh sometimes at all the work you put in to trying to make some minor changes and your body decides it's going to do what it wants to do.

You can probably pinpoint a few things that are causing hunger triggers. Try and determine is it certain times of the day, after doing certain things, is it simply from boredom? The wanting to eat as soon as I get home is something I'm still dealing with after a year. I have to make myself do something when I get home. Usually that breaks the cycle and then I'm fine until I actually make dinner. If I plop down in front of the TV when I get home then I know I'll end up eating. I've found I'll make excuses as a reason to eat if I know I have extra food with me at work. "Oh, I have a bit of jitters because I drank too much coffee. Better eat something." Granted that means I have an 80 calorie Greek Yogurt or maybe some chicken salad, but point is that I'm finding a reason to eat rather than actually needing to eat. It's tough. It really is. Food shouldn't control our lives. If you honestly feel that it is don't be embarassed to seek out some counseling to sort through it.

Maybe you didn't intend for it to come off this way, but if that truly is how you feel then that's something to be concerned with. In all honesty you'll end up feeling the same way if you go and have a bypass done. You have to come to terms with what real hunger is versus head hunger. For years my routine was to get home, sit for a few minutes to rest from the work day, and get something to eat. Even now it doesn't matter if I eat right before I leave work and feel full. By the time I get home I feel hungry. Why? Because it's habit and my brain saying you need to eat. It's no different than old nicotine cravings I would get when I was a smoker. Habit was to always have a smoke right after a meal. Didn't matter if I smoked right before dinner. I obviously had my nicotine fix. But because the habit was to always have one as soon as a meal was finished I thought I was having nicotine cravings. This is a tool. It's not a cure. The mental side to having WLS is just as important as the physical changes from surgery. It's like the old saying/joke of trying not to think about something. If you tell yourself don't think about sex what do you do? Immediately start thinking about sex. If you find yourself constantly dwelling on thoughts of food then there are some addiction issues you need to come to terms with. I fight head hunger all the time as well. It's annoying, so I get it. The more I think about "okay I have to go 3 more hours until lunch so I can eat again" all I end up doing is thinking about the clock and how much longer I have until I can eat. I don't have an easy answer for you. Food me after surgery I tried to look at food as being something I just need to survive and not letting it control my life. I'm perfectly fine having chicken salad and regular salads for 80% of my meals in a week. We food addicts are like alcoholics. It's a battle we're always going to have. Just because you stop going to a bar doesn't mean it's suddenly easier to deal with alcohol dependency. It’s no different than food. Addiction is a b***h no matter what the addiction is.

I've had it a few times. No issues at all. I do better with meats like pulled pork or shredded chicken. Eating more solid cuts of meat are much harder. The only issue I had with pulled pork was getting some heartburn because of the sauce used. I'm not big on smoke flavorings to begin with so I like them even less now. In regards to actually eating it I don't think you'll have any issues if you've done fine with other cuts of meat.

I couldn't sleep on my side for probably the first 2-3 weeks. Had to sleep on my back. Some nights I just slept on the couch because it was easier to prop myself up with pillows and be comfortable as I am typically am not a back sleeper. You will be able to sleep on your side again but it can be tender for a while. Everybody is different so take your time with it. I know some have said they managed to use pillows as a support while on their side to take some pressure off. Could never get it to work for me, though.

Are you on pain meds? I had a couple bouts of dry heaves while at the hospital and think it was due more to the damned pain meds than it was anything else.

Bad thing about spam/trolls is once they find a new place they tend to flood it for awhile until the admin side can start going IP bans. Unfortunately it's easier said than done. I know there's been some strange ones lately trying to flirt with all the ladies and it's an obvious scammer trolling for personal info. As to people being rude on the internet...it's the internet.

Yep. Even though there's a lot less of me having the same general shape leaves me feeling like not much has changed. Still feel the same as you - absolutely no regrets in having my surgery. It's just a weird sensation to have.

lol...we have enough hounds in our house! Luckily we did track down the owner and got her returned. Was a lot of fun having her, but man puppies are some work! It's been a really long time since we've had a puppy. Cute as they are I'm in no hurry to have another one

Sums up how I feel. I freaking hate the loose skin & remaining fat on my arms. I'm to the point where I want to wear long sleeve shirts all the time. My short sleeve shirts feel like the sleeves are too short so I'm always worrying about how much of my arm is showing. Last night sitting in my chair I just felt like a blob due to some bloating. It feels insane to have lost like 120lbs now and feel EXACTLY like I did when I was at my heaviest. Even though I've gone from wearing size 46 jeans to 36 there are those days where it seems as if nothing has changed. It's annoying AF

First few days can be really, really tough. I had knee surgery years ago and woke up without having any sort of real pain. This, though...ugh. The first 24 hours were pretty terrible. Not the worst thing ever but definitely not in my top 10 things I want to do all over again...lol. It does get better and it will be worth it! Congrats on getting through to the other side!

You know what you get when you play a country music record backwards? You get your dog back, you get your wife back, you get your truck back...

Yep...that's what I've had too. It's awful to go through. If I have chicken salad I'm fine because I typically shred that. If I'm eating a solid chicken breast that's when I have to be really careful. Otherwise I've gotten a full feeling from other foods but nothing else has pushed me to getting sick like chicken has.

Some doctors only require 24 hours, which to be honest is surprising. Unfortunately there are no guidelines set in stone. You'll see a ton of differences between pre-op diet plans, what you can have post-op, and so forth. At the end of the day trust that your doctor & team know what they're doing and follow their plan.

That's been my culprit. I haven't actually thrown up but have gotten "the slimies" a few times. Every damned time has been due to eating chicken. Either it was from not chewing well enough or eating a bit too fast. It still amazes me in a matter of 10 seconds I could go from "I feel fine" to "I'm going to throw up right now!" Luckily I'd make it to the bathroom and not actually get sick. The slimies are damn near as bad as getting sick. Some days I think it would have been better to have thrown up and got it over with.

On the other side I think many are thankful for having the extended period of time to get ready for WLS. The mental aspect of it is much bigger than you think. I had to do a 6 month program and yes, it did seem to take forever. And then when it was time to actually schedule the surgery it was like "holy crap I can't believe it's here already." I would love to see statistics that show whether or not people going through a prolonged waiting period (i.e. taking classes) are more successful long term in their weight loss.

Found this little gal running loose last night on my way home from work. Stopping by some houses in the area on my way home today to hopefully find her owners. She's a cute little thing. But puppies...ugh. I forgot how much work they are.

What I love is that I could replace screen names with other forums I belong to and this is the way all these threads go. Somebody tries to vent, somebody gets offended, the self righteous police come in, then comes the "let this topic die already!" post that keeps bumping the post...lol. People take things waaaaaaaay too seriously on the intrawebz. If you can't have a manage a laugh then so be it. The block user feature is on the board for a reason. Don't like somebody then block them and ignore them. Problem solved.

Dayum. That's rough. I won't complain about my 2 weeks any longer! Don't get caught up trying to compare yourself to others. There are simply way too many factors that go into this. Some lose a few pounds, some none at all, and others could lose 10-20lbs depending on the lenght of the liquid diet. I did my 2 weeks and my doc said my liver looked great.

Do I miss trying to get onto a ride with my family only to realize I'm so big I couldn't go with them? No. No I don't miss that effing body at all.

What happens? Worst case - doc gets in there to do surgery, sees that your liver hasn't shrunk due to not following the diet, and decides then and there not to go through with the surgery. My doc had apparently done that to patients in the past. That was enough for me to stay on track. Even if the doc goes through if your liver doesn't shrink then it's going to be more difficult for them to work around. I had a fluke bleed develop (on my third day) in my spleen that was likely caused by getting bumped while they were working. My surgery went fine, doc said liver was fantastic, and I did everything to plan. So that being said I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to do anything else to have made things more complicated for them. I'm an oddball statistic (only met on other person on here that had the same thing happen) so I'm not trying to scare you. Point is do everything you can to make sure you have a smooth and easy surgery. A lot of us had to do two weeks of a liquid diet. It isn't fun, but you have to keep in mind that it's liquids on the other side too. This is a good time to really evaluate your relationship with food. You'll get through it. It's a few days of suffering for a whole bunch of rewards on the other side.

WTF you don't know what FFS means? SMDH.

It's normal. Some feel like they never even had surgery done, others need a few weeks to get back to normal. The first 3 weeks were rough for me. Pain wasn't that bad, but yeah, zero energy and doing anything zapped me pretty quick. It's frustrating being cooped up inside the house and not being able to do much. As you transition to more foods and you heal up things will turn around quickly. Just stay on top of your water, protein, and vitamins. Before you know it you'll be back to normal.

I'll be starting a new job in a few weeks. Wasn't looking but got "recruited" if you will by a company I used to do business with years ago. Don't hate my current job itself but hate being at a desk job. Super excited to get back to having a more active role in a company, and yes, not having to fight the extra weight and health problems I had makes it all the more exciting.

Eh....around weeks 3-4 I'd say. Keep in mind I had some complications with my surgery and was in the hospital for almost a week. My recovery got off to a really slow start. I went back to work during week 3 and was okay, but tired. Didn't have much pain by then but not much energy. After the 4th week when I was back to actually eating some food again things seemed to speed up on getting back to normal.