FluffyChix

@Mattymatt I'm sure the fact that I've been consuming 1500 cals and around 50-60g net carbs is contributing to the "stall" or rather "maintenance" would be a better word? But that's where the doc wants me to be right now, so I'm trying to be patient and follow her rules/plans.

Congrats! You look fabulous!!!! My guess is that you are building muscle as you replace the fat with muscle. At some point the scale will behave and catch up with you! Muy guapo!

Do you still like to cook and interact with food now that you are either on the other side, or are seriously knuckling down to your pre-surgery diets? Do you try new recipes and like/love cooking still (if you ever did)? Or do you seek to just "getterdone", you know, get in, get out, get on with your life? Gimme the straight skinny on how and what/why you put food down your pie hole now that you're gellin' like fellon! Inquiring minds and all...

@kakatlady612 I'm saying prayers you will be healed by surgery time!!!

Do you think it's necessary to "really" connect with your surgeon? Did you LOVEEEEE yours? Did you even like them? I have to see mine every 6 weeks and will have follow up appointments after surgery out to 5 years.

Thanks for the update. I hate you. You've officially exhausted me in the first 5 minutes of the update with the continuous slow loading pages. Thanks for changing my life... ... (still waiting) QUIT JAMMIN' ME, MAN! (take back Mo-zill-a!) Disgruntled in Texas, Fluffy

LOL! Panic! Congrats girlie! So happy for ya!

@Creekimp13 LOL! Yep. I hear ya and too true. I'm just using my surgeon's instructions as a hard fast rule for 2-4 weeks post surgery. I really shouldn't even be posting to this thread!

It's all in the script. Meaning...I think I heard somewhere that the actress's contract did not demand that she have actual WLS, but that she had to "lose weight" as part of the character portrayal? So I'm guessing that's just the ruse they settled upon to satisfy the story line. I doubt they gave any/little thought to how their position would or could impact those pursuing WLS decisions. You know? But hey, I'm probably wrong about that!

Yes, this is kinda why I asked the question. I'm interested in not having "fatty bm's" post surgery. But even more, I don't want to kill my gallbladder with going too exceptionally low carb AND low cal. You know? So I was trying to get a feel for what the "sweet spot" is for fat ingestion. Doesn't sound like there is a "general" rule of thumb.

@Creekimp13 Absolutely disagree. It's a case of timing. Had the OP posted this same thread even 3-6 months post op, I suspect many would not have commented as they did. I know I wouldn't see it as a black and white empirical situation at that point. Your new anatomy has likely healed. From that standpoint it would be...well hell...if you're a big enough girl to play, then just be prepared to pay. (Like prayin to the porcelain god with a dumping event.) It's a completely separate and individual order of magnitude when it's 2-4 weeks post surgery. Then it's really is a potential life or death risk. After healing...the order of magnitude isn't life or death...it's more like "life or puke/****" .

I will have 180days of consecutive monthly meetings with my RD. I have a binder of information. She inserts new pages with each visit and we discuss/digest the new information at each visit. We've had enough time to do recaps and Q&As about areas that might be unclear. So no. I do not suffer from information overload. I would rather have too much information and have to highlight an area on a page--than have brief bullets that might not address the entire scenario or process/instruction. In my opinion, you need WAY more information than bulleted soundbites because of the complexity of this process. Your challenge is to offer "feedings" at intervals and in small enough segments so that people aren't overwhelmed. My RD said she has about 20/30minutes each meeting in which to introduce new material and to retain the patient's focus and attention.

I think the answer to that lies in the motivation. It can be. And it isn't necessarily a subset of bullying. We can unintentionally--based on wisdom and personal experience--fear monger out of position of "helpfulness." I honestly think the answer goes to "intent."

But that's not really the situation with the OP. The situation was that it was sooooooo soon after surgery. Your surgeon (unless you're in the UK or Europe) probably said at week 2-4 that you're only on puree or soft foods at that point. He says no alcohol for 8weeks-1 year or more post surgery. It isn't a question of moral pulchritude. It's an issue of physical healing. Will you injure your surgery? Will you bleed out in under 4 minutes because you drank alcohol and ate a slice of pizza (or chocolates), or overate?

I so agree with that very last line!!! It is the last bastion of acceptable bias and prejudice. I can't begin to know why/what motivates the board to respond. I suspect there are hot button topics (such as this), and there are topics that are just medically "too big" to comment upon. There's an area in our brain that acts as an information filter or buffer--it's called selective filtering. This article explains way more precisely than I, and I suspect that's the answer to your question of why more people respond to threads like these. I still don't buy into the bullying--that's not saying that herd mentality and bullying principles don't/can't exist on a support board. And I fully support that nobody needs to bully...haven't we all experienced first hand in our lives as fat or obese kids/adults?

Holy crap! You look fantastic! Congrats and so glad the rewards of your hard work is so visible!!!

I am not a vet. I'm pre-surgery--so you all may say that I've no business posting on this thread. But this isn't an issue of judgement. It's an issue of asking for advice. The OP asked for advice/validation (but she said, "only the people who are gonna validate my action need reply/respond"). So I do see many of the people who've actually been through the surgery reply with the knowledge they have of the process--even though their information doesn't affirm her choice(s). Empirically, we have to be very careful about protecting our new anatomy--regardless of food issues--or maybe even despite our food issues. There is no "good" or "bad" judgement. It's empirical medical advice. If we don't follow our surgeon's orders, we can potentially fu*k up our new anatomy while it's healing...and either land back in the hospital with a popped staple/suture, or worse, end up in surgery again or even die. So to me it's a pretty black and white subject. If we challenge our new tummys too greatly, we can split our guts open and die in less than 5 minutes. The human body can bleed out in under 4 minutes. That is all the time it takes. Four minutes. That's a pretty sobering thought. Before an EMT could get to you--you could die. Because of what? A craving for a cookie, or piece of pizza, or cauliflower soup? After 3-6 months or more of careful preparation...why would anyone want to gamble that way? Absolutely no judgement here. I'm a big huge ass sinner. I sit in no ivory tower. Some days I have to sit on my hands to keep from backsliding and eating off plan. I struggle with hunger and hanger every day. It doesn't make me holier-than-thou or preachy judgemental. It makes me human. I'm just sayin, eating too soon, drinking too soon (cuz it thins the blood and lowers inhibitions--which can make you bleed out even faster than 4 minutes, or can make you not care about consequences and overeat to the point you split open and bleed out even faster than 4 minutes) can have devastating consequences. Why indulge in risky behavior? Would you go out an have a few drinks and knowingly sleep with someone HIV positive without protection? Would you load a revolver with a single bullet, spin the cylinder and pull the trigger on a dare? It's all Russian roulette. And it's all fun and games until someone splits open their suture lines and bleeds out in 4 minutes or less--my question is...would that mean you get your pizza for free?

What are your doctor's post op food orders for you? I have to be on full liquids for 2 weeks following the surgery. That includes: protein drinks, strained soups/broths (even strained cream soups--but not pureed soups), thinned down yogurt (pourable like kefir), jello, popsicles, clear liquids, and if memory serves liquidy cream of wheat (but I may be making this part up--I just wouldn't do it cuz it would make me hungry). Maybe you just "think" you're hungry and need to chew because you have a lot of acid churning? Are you on any kind of omeprazole or anything? As far as head hunger goes...binge watch a series on TV!! Go for hourly walks--outside if you can...get a huge calendar and mark off the days left on your liquid diet. If necessary, call and talk to your surgeon and see if they can give you any help?!! Hang in there!!!!

@Miserable I'm betting the issue with the Ambien is post-anesthesia related. Hope you get it sorted soon. I have to have totally black surroundings. Any light, and I wake during the night will mean I can't get back to sleep. @JohnnyCakes This is ridiculously great advice. Thanks so much for clearly laying it out! It's also an exact mirror of what my RD told me to do in my 5th appointment yesterday. Really wonderfully refreshing to have such affirmation! She just kept telling me, that it's physically impossible for me to understand or accept how my perspective and food relationship will change overnight after the surgery. That today as a "normie" I'm still subject to all the hormonal hunger cues and need to fill this big empty space, and after surgery, I will have little impetus or incentive to eat. She said, that's why my instructions are to get my fluid in, take my supplements, and concentrate on getting my protein in--she wants me optimally to be at 70g but gives my range of 60-80g daily. We talked for a long time about hitting some caloric goal. She told me that pre-surgery, I'm absolutely on a diet with a set caloric goal--that's to ensure I don't gain and that I lose at a more "expected rate." But that after surgery, my pouch real estate will be at a premium. There will be no physical way for me to "make an artificial calorie target" and hit it. The pouch will hold what it holds, and want what it wants. And I'm to listen to it and eat when I need to, and not eat when I don't need to--but that each day, I must at least hit my protein limit. But she also said, in the early days right after surgery, that I just have to have set times to get my protein down within a scheduled time frame--even though I won't feel that hunger.

@Hannah83 It feels great, right?!!!

In general, (I'm pre-op), I know I had too many carbs at the previous meal if I get hungry before my next meal. I know with surgery that may also have to do with the lack of volume at each meal. Do you eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks each day? Do you focus on protein first, then veg, then if room: low glycemic fruit/whole grains? Are you eating crap? (you know...like you were pre-surg, only in smaller portions? do you eat a lot of slider foods: crackers, chips, cookies, etc) Do you drink with meals or too soon post-meal?

I'm just kinda shrinky dinkin' all over, really. I especially notice it where I had liposuction and surgical removal of fat and muscle when I had my reconstruction surgeries for BC. I feel sooooo small and flat on my upper body. Even my lymphedema in my left arm, left chest, left back are going down and leaving wibbly wobbly skin in its wake. I'm also losing the fat hump on the back of my neck. My face is also getting thin, and I've lose 1 1/2 of my 3 chins. Slow to go is my lower tummy, booty, and thunder thighs...but I plan on sending them to the starving children in China at some undefined point this year.

"I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. Life's been good to me so far..." ~ Joe Walsh (Life's Been Good To Me) (rainbows & unicorns)

I my RD. She's been such a help/support in this process. Without her careful instructions and planning, I would not have a clue about expectations either pre or post surgery. It was also very important to work with someone capable of flexibility so that we could work within my comfort zone with respect to diet paradigms. I first came to her eating very low carb (<30g net carbs per day) and also seriously restricting calories (<600-800 cals). I would have quit if she'd immediately thrown me into the deep end and given me a Weight Watchers style diet (1200 cals/100g carbs, etc) and said, "Lose the weight." Instead, she slowly helped me walk up so that I was eating 1500 cals per day and averaging 50-60g of net carbs (healthy, low-glycemic sources) per day. I'm still pre-surg, but I'm still losing 1-2lbs per month eating at a 1500 cal level. Prior to that, I was gaining on a 1200 cal/day low carb diet. So she made a plan that fit my individual needs instead of fitting me into a cookie cutter diet plan given to every person. Important things she's taught me: 1. About the whole WLS process in general. 2. About the time line for re-feeding post surgery. 3. About the vitamins/supplementation needed post surgery. 4. About why exercise and physical activity is so important. 5. Provided strategic plans to drink, eat, supplement and exercise for each phase of WLS from pre-op to 1year post surg. The value is that I feel about as well-educated/prepared as any noobie who's never gone through WLS can feel. I feel positive about the upcoming next stages in the journey and confident that I will be able to weather the storms ahead.

Congrats! You can do this. With anything that seems hard, I try to change my mindset and to reframe the situation until it doesn't feel impossible. If I am unable to do that, then I just revert to taking it one minute/one second at a time, and focusing that whatever the difficulty is, there is an endpoint/end game and it won't continue forever. It's hard. But make the mental switch to looking at your family and loving their faces, the time you have together, to spend with them. And each hunger pang or sadness about not eating "fill in the blank," focus on the amazing opportunity to reset your life that is looming next week!!! It will be over before you know it! ((hugs))