TakingABreak

I'll risk it all day long, I love chipotle!

This is so true, my only regret is I wish I did this 5-10 years ago, I needed this when I was 18 years old. I wasted my whole 20's being overweight.

First I'm going to share my top 10 tips with you: Here's my top 10 tips! Start altering your diet now. Cut out processed food, or at the very least processed sugar. Practice eating your protein first and then focus on non-starchy veggies. Find something that you like to drink that doesn't have calories. Try different caffeine free teas and water additives. I still can't drink plain water....so you want to have something on hand that you know you like. Cut out caffeine. Most programs allow caffeine back in relatively quickly, but caffeine can hinder your body's ability to heal. You don't want to go through caffeine withdrawal along with the aches and pains of surgery. Don't use protein shakes before you absolutely have to! I made the mistake of supplementing some of my meals with shakes to "prepare myself" for the pre-op diet. Big mistake. You will get to the point where they are DISGUSTING, and you don't want to increase the timeline of that by drinking them before you need to. Start incorporating exercising (even if it’s just walking) somewhere in your daily routine. It will make it easier if it’s already a habit. Practice chewing your food at least 20-30 times before swallowing. Muscle has memory and it will be so much easier if you already have this habit. If you screw up and swallow too soon after surgery, you will pay the price. Set timers and don't drink and eat at the same time. I highly recommend having at least 1 visit with a therapist to establish with someone for after surgery. It’s not required, but everyone seems to have some emotional struggles afterwards. Whether its 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years you may struggle with the changes. I personally wouldn't share with people, unless you know they will be 100% supportive. It is nerve wracking already and you need nothing but positivity. Plus it’s a lot of pressure from people who know you've had WLS, versus people who think you are on the weight loss track. People think that the weight is going to melt off after surgery, and sometimes it doesn't. You don't want the extra judgment. ***Newly Added**** Don’t engage people with people who say “WLS is too dramatic” or “You could just diet and loose the weight” or “You aren’t big enough for surgery” or “It’s the easy way out”. SCREW THOSE PEOPLE, they don’t know. They will never know how triumphant our victory will be. I would also remember that you need to make time for you! Make the time to shop healthy, meal prep, cook healthy, and plan ahead. And I’m talking to all the selfless mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives. We give so much to our families, but NOW is the time to focus on ourselves. We are doing it for them, after all. We are doing it to prolong our lives and improve the quality of our lives. Come up with a reward system of sorts. You want to acknowledge your successes. For my 50lb mark, I went and got pedicures with my girlfriends. For my 75lb mark, I bought myself some new dresses. For my 100lb mark, I already bought myself a really nice full length mirror. Please pay special attention to #8. This is a HUGE mental game, its about 80% head, and 20% body. I personally hit my rock bottom and knew that I *had* to make these changes. I had many comorbidities, and I knew that I didn't stand a chance to have a family without taking control back. I was miserable being that overweight, and I knew in my heart, that nothing could be worse that how I was feeling then. You may think food is everything now, but when you finally start this journey, you'll come to see that food is not everything. Eating mindlessly, becomes a disgusting thought. And I'm not saying that you are disgusting now, or that I was then.... but it truly becomes disgusting after surgery. You won't be able to fathom your habits before. The biggest thing I struggle with now is that I don't do any sweets, at all. I don't want to dump, and I struggle from time to time, thinking.... I absolutely CAN'T eat that. Its not like, I can have that in moderation, but I truly can't. (I mean, I could, but I'd be so sick, I'd want to die for about 30 mins). Ultimately, when I look in the mirror, or walk across the parking lot, wipe my butt, or tie my shoes... the struggles of what I can't eat anymore, disappear. I know in my heart, I am better off and I am a much happier and healthier person.

@Alison Murray Grazing is something that is a loop hole of this surgery. You will need to learn to control your "head hunger" or the urge to eat, just to eat. You can gain weight easily by grazing or by drinking your calories. You aren't alone feeling confused by your restriction. Sometimes I am shocked at how much I can eat, and other times I take two or three bites and it feels like I've just had my surgery two weeks ago. I haven't found a correlation between what I eat either, because I'm very diligent about eating protein every meal. All I can say is, I don't let my restriction dictate how much I eat. Let me repeat, I don't let my restriction dictate what I eat. What I mean by this, is I still measure out my food and I only eat as much as recommended by my program, which for me is no more than 6oz per sitting (protein and veggies included) usually I do 4oz of protein, and 2 oz of veggies. I also keep my meals around 300 calories. Obviously, if I'm full before the 6oz, I don't push further and I DON'T go back later (once my pouch as emptied) for seconds. Larger weight loss amounts, early on, is common in higher BMIs. I've lost 112lbs in 5 months post op. My BMI was well into the 50's though. You can do this! I'm glad to see you acknowledged that it can take 12-18 months, because it can. I won't consider my active weight loss complete until I've hit that 2 year mark. My doctor told me that average weight loss is around 3-4lbs per week, for the first 3 months. After that, it can slow to 1-3lbs per week. I'm loosing on average 9-11lbs per month now, but it seems to be slowing. The biggest thing is to keep track of your eating. Are you logging all your foods, even the bites here or there? Normally, I'd say snacking is OK, but in your case I'd warn against it. I would try and minimize your eating to three meals a day. If you need a snack, use a protein shake.

Yes my surgeon approved this vitamin.

You have to take calcium separately. I take the calcium and Vitamin D combo tabs sep in the morning. Sorry I should have mentioned that!

Love your outlook! Thanks for sharing!

I did water walking and water aerobics.

I've heard of this after chemo with regrowth hair, but never for major surgery. It makes sense that its your regrowth. I don't know if people's hair that didn't fall out will change. *shrugs*

Did you know they sell these at Walmart? I happened to see a coupon offer through Ibotta for them at Walmart ($1.00 off) and sure enough, they have them. I'm going to try one or two flavors before I use my points through here to order some more.

It took me to lose approx. 80lbs before my coworkers started to say anything. Now, they don't say much anymore.

Thank you, I appreciate that! I have gotten a little more attention in the man department recently. There was a bar tender asked for my phone number, and I literally turned around to see who he was talking to. I probably looked like an idiot. Made me feel good. Now, if I could just get my husband to notice SMH, lol. I'm working on that too!

I try to take their compliments for what they are, and leave it at that. Sometimes it's genuine.

Turns out there are a lot of these people though, and I never realized until now. I must have been fat and blind lol.

Done, and done!

Its not as uncommon as you might think to have these feelings after weight loss. You've almost lost your identity. I know for me, my weight was part of it, I would joke about my weight and make excuses because of my weight. It became who I was. Once you lose that part of you, it takes awhile to figure out what makes you, you again. I still have anxiety because sometimes I'll be super confident and rocking a cute top... and then I'll panic sets in, and I look around, and think... OH CRAP, Am I really wearing this shirt? What was I thinking?!? This comes and goes. I still see the same person from before surgery, until I look at photos, and that's when I can see a big difference. Have you tried looking back at old pictures when you feel down or unconfident?

I've baked with Genepro and Isopure, and both mix well and do the job. This link has some great tips for baking with protein powder: https://teaspoonofspice.com/which-protein-powder-best-baking/

I'd be okay with that too! No, not really, he's unchanged. I guess he's just not the complimenting type. I didn't deserve them before, but now that I do, I notice more. But my sister gave me some good advice, she said to increase my compliments to him, and see if that prompts them in return. I'm about a week into this experiment.

1. No regrets at all. 2. My vitamins aren't from Costo, but I think they are relatively cheap compared to most bariatric vitamins. Also, only 1 pill a day. These are swallow pills, in case you are still chewing. The pic below is a 90 day supply, so its $15 a month.

Thanks for the response. I think we'd be great friends in real life O&D. I'm glad I can call you one here.

You could always take your walks somewhere new! if you have a dog, go to the dog park. If there's a local museum or aquarium, go there and walk. Mix it up.

8-10 miles a day is incredible! I think I'll always gravitate towards the plus sizes too! I don't know what I'll do when I have to adventure into the regular women's section. I'm not far away in tops. Next stop is an XL.

Besides physical change of weight loss.... How have you changed since you started this journey?

He might find that he loves the new you, its not all about physical appearance. He may discover that your energy levels are irresistible.

I feel ya. its so frustrating!