teacupnosaucer

I limit myself to three meals and two snacks a day. Period. I might bump it up to three snacks once I start my lap swimming again because I will likely want a morning snack after swimming whereas right now I do an afternoon and evening snack. One thing I found helpful for my PREop grazing was splitting up my snacks in MFP. Instead of having one "snacks" category, I split it into separate meals: morning snacks, afternoon snacks, evening snacks. That way you can see more accurately when you are "grazing" or going over your limit of snacks for a given time period. So if you're eating three snacks in the evening, you know that's where you need to watch what you're putting into your body. For me pre-op my downfall wasn't the cheese portion I had after my morning swim, it was the handful of chips then the handful of m&ms then the handful of my husband's popcorn... all after dinner during TV time. I agree with @OutsideMatchInside though, I wouldn't count it as "grazing" if you are eating high protein good-for-you snacks to nourish you in between meals. To me grazing would be grabbing a handful of potato chips periodically all day long until you've polished off a bag, or returning to the pantry over and over again for m&ms or saltine crackers in between meals and planned snacks, or eating while you're cooking in the kitchen just because the food is there. Eating nutritious, protein-dense food in measured portions 5-6 times a day is encouraged in most plans I've heard of. For example Breakfast: Cup of Oatmeal with PB2 Morning snack: Cup of yogurt Lunch: Cream of chicken soup Afternoon snack: Serving of cottage cheese Dinner: Pureed bean chili After dinner: Sugar free popcicle and Breakfast: Cup of Oatmeal with PB2 Morning snack: Handful of ritz crackers, handful of ritz crackers an hour later, another handful waiting on lunch... Lunch: Cream of chicken soup Afternoon snack: Sneak some of your kid's happy meal, more ritz crackers while you're making dinner Dinner: Pureed bean chili After dinner: Small bowl of ice cream, some of your husband's potato chips an hour later Are two very different days even if you're eating the same MEALS.

Milk is encouraged on our plan because it gets you your liquids and your protein. Fruit juice we are limited to half a cup a day, I assume having fruit juice is better than nothing hydration-wise if you are one of the many, many people who has a tough time drinking water post op. I don't drink it now, but my first day on liquids I had one of those little foil-topped half-cups of apple juice and it was HEAVENLY. My opinion is in moderation it won't hurt but I'm not going to make a habit of drinking it, especially since I'm now doing much better drinking water and I'm hesitant to put anything into my body that doesn't have protein since I'm getting so little into me still.

thanks for doing this! I definitely think cutting the protein bars is going to help A LOT. I have a hard time eating breakfast so pre-op I often did a protein bar before my morning swim, but at 200+ calories they are really more appropriate as a meal than as a snack. Looks like you are on the right track trading them for a different snack. Can't wait until I can eat cheese portions again yum yum!

Reasons why people have less success? I'm only newly post-op but I've done my research and what I've found is that a lot of it comes down to they weren't emotionally ready to make the lifelong changes necessary. the sleeve is only a tool, what you do with it matters! We're talking people who don't incorporate exercise into their lifestyle, people who drink calories (sweet tea, milkshakes, fruit juices, alcohol), people who eat unhealthy food too often (even if in smaller portions it's still going to add up!), people who trade large meals for small frequent ones (ie: a bag of chips eaten in one sitting pre-surgery is the same amount of calories as one eaten over the course of a day a handful at a time!), people who eat around their surgery in other ways, people who don't track or stay accountable to themselves or others, people who don't take advantage of support groups and don't have support systems in place to help them make lifelong changes... Basically, the sleeve will help you lose weight and may have a role in re-setting your body's "set point", but it's not a miracle procedure that lets you do whatever and still be skinny. Some people either genuinely don't realize that, refuse to believe it, or they really do want to make changes but don't have the support/preparation/mental-headspace to do so. I remember being on a bariatric surgery forum and a woman posted saying "why are y'all so worried about what you eat and obsessed with exercising? I'm eating whatever I want and never working out and still losing!"... but she was six months out from her procedure, when losing weight is easiest. that attitude will do nothing to help her once the honeymoon period is over. if she doesn't change her attitude and behaviour, then she will likely regain.

Good for you for getting things under control and taking a look at your diet before regain really creeps up on you. Keep tracking and making healthier choices. When you eat 1300 calories in a day, do you mind breaking down how that all adds up? What, exactly, did you eat on that day? It might help us give you some more suggestions. And as to hunger... a lot of people lose it, but many don't. I didn't. I started feeling hunger three days after my surgery. I am FULL much faster, but I definitely still feel hunger. I don't mind it, because with my ADHD I'd have a heck of a time remembering to eat otherwise LOL! Even pre-surgery I would sometimes go entire days without eating because I was too busy!

Deodorant, no-rinse facewash (micellar water in my case), biotene dry mouth spray, phone and charger, ipad, movies/tv shows you don't have to pay attention to downloaded, non-slip slippers... one thing I didn't bring but realized I should have was a heating pad. Nurses brought me warmed blankets for my belly, but in that situation you're at the mercy of how busy they are. having heat and weight on my belly helped soooo much! honestly, that's it.

SO TRUE! i'm salivating just thinking about tunaaaaaaaa

I'm planning on sashimi as soon as I'm cleared for soft food yum yum!

I make herbal iced teas unsweetened. Davids Tea is a shop here that does all kinds of amazing fruity teas that taste fantastic iced. Most are 10 calories or less but they are sweet and refreshing. In my program we are also encouraged to drink skim or 1% milk as it is a source of protein

I got my period the day after surgery because the universe is a cold and callous place. It's been WAYYYYY heavier than it usually would be, and I have a feeling it's gonna go longer, too. NOT a welcome change!

My question to you would be... are you doing this just to lose numbers on the scale, or to improve your quality of life and your overall health? Because the exercise is the difference between those two outcomes. I'm not saying you MUST GO TO THE GYM AND SUFFER, but some form of physical activity is good for your overall health and longevity, your mental well-being, and yes, the long term success of the procedure and your ability to actually keep the weight off. It doesn't have to be super time consuming, miserable, boring, frustrating, grueling, or painful... it can be a daily walk, a swim, a dance class, yoga, a martial art, or doing workout videos on youtube. Don't sacrifice long term success for short term scale feedback, is what I'm saying... but don't feel pressured to do something you HATE just because you feel like you "have" to, either. Alternately, admit your priority right now IS the scale and go your own way with the full knowledge you may have to change tacks eventually.

I'm so glad you've found someone supportive of your journey who's making the effort to stay in your new life. <3 And I'm very much wishing you meet lots of other new friends! Maybe you and your friend could try some kind of group class etc that would get you both meeting new people so you can expand your healthy friend group.

I rationalize it as I have lost weight and always gained it back plus more and I'm tired of doing that over and over and the way it wreaks havoc on my life and body. And I am tired of being afraid of gaining even more weight in the future and getting sick from it like the rest of my family. I'm sorry you're unhappy but all of us here have good reasons and evidence to believe we CANT do it on our own... thus why we are here!

I joined the group too! Thanks for making it!

Honestly it sounds like with this transition you might be finding new friends, too. I'm still pre-op, but this happened to me after I got pregnant and had a baby. I was no longer available to go dancing all night or out for drunken karaoke etc. And it wasn't like I demanded to bring my kid everywhere (I was still happy to do a late night horror movie or a lunch out) but... people stopped inviting me. I tried reaching out for activities I *could* do, but after awhile I gave up on people who weren't willing to alter their plans whatsoever to be around me. That transition really sucked, especially on top of the first time mom transition. I imagine the weight loss transition + losing friends transition would also SERIOUSLY suck. As for me, I go to a local WLS support group and have made friends with lots of girls my age from that group. We just went out for dinner and bowling last night and had a great time! Since we're all surgery sisters, nobody commented on what anyone else ate/didn't eat, nobody pressured anybody into eating/drinking anything they couldn't, and we had a great night out that was inclusive for all of us. A few of us are also considering joining dance lessons, too.

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I've been fat my entire adult life, and I really do feel like it's a part of who I am. I see that meme saying "you're not fat you HAVE fat" and it couldn't be farther from the truth for me. I'm the fat friend. I'm a part of fat activist/body positive spaces online. My fatness changes the way people see me, treat me, and therefore how I act and how I feel in public spaces. I'm so worried about who I'll be when I'm not fat anymore. Will my friends still like me? How will I fit into the world? What kind of person will I be? Lots of uncertainty for sure.

Me! I'm 5'3", HW 227, currently 202 after a year in clinic and having sleeve surgery on March 22nd.

this is what I'm going to do once I get down to a normal weight!!!

I started in my clinic at a BMI of 41 and dropped down to 36. The first surgeon I saw said I was "so successful so far" he didn't think it was worth it to operate on me and that I should try just going on as I have been. Luckily I was able to seek a second opinion within the clinic who agreed surgery would definitely be beneficial to me in not only losing more, but maintaining my current loss. but yes I was very nearly rejected for being "too successful" within the clinic. not a nice feeling.

mine came back as low Vitamin d as well. (surprise surprise, i live in northern alberta LOL :P) my dietician wants me to take 3000 iu of it a day, and maybe more before/after surgery depending on the results of a followup blood test. i used to take chewable tablets but I find the D-Drops wayyyyyyy more pleasant and easy to take. I just drip them into my Water when I take my pills and I'm done for the day!

in our program they want us to take calcium citrate only. everyone raves about bariatricadvantage.com's calcium citrate chews.

I think there is a healthy, reasonable medium between eating hostess cupcakes as a meal (no judgment from me on that one man, been there done that!) and never even looking at a carb again LOL. I think everyone in this thread is right that you would do well to see your dietician and your psych, too. you don't have to go this alone. this is for life and you need to find something you can live with, and pinballing between extremes won't serve you in the long run. I'm all for having some dark chocolate after dinner or sweet crepes for Breakfast once a month, but it sounds like the concept of moderation is giving you a hard time here. that's okay. it's not a moral failing, it just... is. you've gone through a major life change and you're trying to find your new equilibrium. you know you have a history of abusing alcohol, and it sounds like after depriving yourself, some part of you wants to move on to abusing food instead. even if you don't gain back all the weight you've lost, it doesn't mean that's healthy for you physically or mentally. real talk? you may have lost some weight after overdoing it on the empty carbs... so far. but that doesn't mean empty carbs are the key to weight loss or health. don't take this as a sign that you have miraculously become one of those people who eats junk all day and still gets to maintain a normal BMI. the surgery does a lot of things, but I don't think it's quite THAT powerful LOL. although I imagine a lot of us wish it was. and even then... the scale is not the only measure of health. plenty of people with normal BMIs can be unhealthy if they're not adequately nourishing themselves. you know being extreme low carb doesn't work for you. that's fine, it doesn't work for a LOT of people. this is where some sensible guidance from a professional dietician becomes of use, because they can help you re-introduce carbs into your diet in a reasonable way that satisfies and nourishes you, but doesn't go overboard in the complete opposite direction. you know?

March 22nd in Calgary Alberta! Starting my liquid diet on the 8th.

I know exactly how you feel! I hate it so much and think it's so unfair :(. Like, I am already fat and covered in acne, you gotta give me a beard too? whine whine

with the bypass you may have more food restrictions (sometimes only for the first while but sometimes for life), but other than that I think the recovery is much the same, provided you don't have any complications. it's a more involved operation with more steps, but I don't think your recovery as a patient differs all that much? from everything i've seen, rny people follow the same diet progression as sleevers and have to take the same amount of time off work on average. I think they do spent a couple more days in hospital at the beginning, though. you will not lose "too much" weight with either surgery, not unless something has gone wrong. your body loses the weight it has to lose, then gains a little to find its new set point. I "only" have around 50-60lbs to lose and my doctor considered the RNY just as good a choice for me as the sleeve from that standpoint, so I'd say 100lbs would also be fine. the # amount of weight lost by procedure depends on the starting weight and bmi of the patient. it's not a matter of "every bypass patient loses 150lbs and every sleeve patient loses 100lbs no matter their starting weight". the 400lb person loses more in numbers than the 200lb person, but the percentages of excess weight may work out to be very similar. the average seems to be that bypass patients lose about 10% more weight overall than sleevers, and they lose it faster after their operation. we don't know yet longterm how the permanent weight loss and chances of regain are with the sleeve vs the bypass. the main things are that the sleeve has the risk of making gerd much worse, and the rny has the risk of dumping and malabsorption of Vitamins. neither one will starve you until you are a skeleton when it's working correctly and you are following dr's orders and taking good care of yourself. the rates of complications are pretty comparable, although I think you are right that the RNY is slightly riskier on account of it being the more complex procedure. what I would do is write a list of pros and cons for both operations, and also write a list of questions for your surgeon (the "what is the downtime for each procedure" one is a really good one!) your surgeon will be able to look at the whole picture of your situation and your health and your goals and be able to advise you on what procedure will be right for you... and also take into account your opinion on the matter, too! but ultimately, both operations will get you where you want to be. my personal advice to you is that you really need to think long term. will having a shorter downtime with the sleeve be worth it if it means a lifetime of depending on heartburn medication or needing to have a revision? what is the most important thing to you? because that's where the true answer lies: in your own priorities and your surgeon's medical knowledge.