Creekimp13

Surgery helps, but you still have to follow a diet and be accountable. I was incredibly hungry after my surgery. Within a few days, I wanted to gnaw my leg off, I was starving. Luckily, we progressed to reasonable calorie levels rapidly. At about 1200 calories a day, I didn't feel like I was starving to death anymore. LOL. Getting there helped. Stayed there during all of loss phase and it wasn't too uncomfortable. For maintenance, I eat more. You will eventually have less casual hunger due to reduction of hunger hormones....it will be easier than before the surgery. But right now, with SUPER restricted calories, you might feel weak and hungry AF for a while. It gets better. You can eat more of "slider" foods....stuff that zips right through...like the shakes. More solid food will slow you down a lot.

There is nothing worse than losing a child. So very sorry for your loss.

I used to be a fan of garden burgers and some of the other soy burgers....but ever since impossible burger.....the rest are ruined for me. The plant based heme is just amazing. Sometimes I like a black bean chickpea "burger", but I don't think of it as meat replacement somehow.

Please let your doctor know. Gall stones are common after rapid weight loss, they can cause liver infections, which can cause jaundice. Not sayin that's what's going on....but yellow patches is a sign you need to share with your doctor right away and have checked out. Best wishes.

I'm a big fan of impossible burgers. I love the impossible whopper at burger king. I cut it in half and eat half...in two one quarter sandwich sittings. I love mycoprotien. I eat a lot of of Quorn brand chicken nuggets and chicken cutlets. Mycoprotien is from mushrooms, not soy. It's my favorite fake chicken. I do eat tofu a couple times a week. Love it firm, cubed, in salads and chili.

Nope. I do 1400-1600 calories a day to maintain. I eat tons of complex carbs, but avoid overly refined sugars and white flour. I get 50-60g of protien a day and 25g of fiber. I eat fruit, beans, potatoes, nuts, veggies, healthnut bread, whole grain english muffins, and of course...protien, but I try to get at least half from plant sources. Basically, I just stay within my calorie goal and I do great. I love the flexability of an occasional treat if the rest of my day is balanced. I eat pretty much anything I want. In moderation and balance with the rest of the day. Maintenance has been incredibly nice. No major weight fluctuations in over two years. Few pounds up and down here and there. If I go more than five pounds up, I see the bariatric therapist and it does the trick....helps me get refocused pronto. Getting much better at identifying my eating triggers and the triggers that cause me to self sabotage. Therapy has been an incredibly useful tool:) Very glad to have extreme diets behind me.

Opted to omit this one. Sometimes less is more.

When I think of "getting back to the basics" in regard to healthy living.... I think of fruit, veggies, beans, lean meats, whole grains, sunshine, evening walks, tea on the porch, and throwing a toy for my dog. Oooo...and a good book. On a porch swing. With the fireflies coming out. Not sure why this particular idealizations happens in the summer. Huh. Winter basics could include a down comforter, and Fall basics should have something with apples or cider. LOL But yeah....I think my idea of getting back to basics is different. And that's totally cool. You do you, girl! It's all good.

dms75,,,, you're killin me over here. 😂

I would have put this in The Lounge. But then I thought, no...sex deserves Raves...right?

For all you etymologists: nookie (n.) also nooky, "sexual activity," slang, generally used by men, by 1928, perhaps from Dutch neuken "to copulate with," but it is not impossible to connect it to nook (n.) on the notion of "an angle" or "a secluded spot." The adjective nooky "full of nooks, nook-like" is recorded from 1813.

I ripped down my mom's 18 foot deck this past week, carried the pieces to the burn pile and dug up all the foundation anchors. I totally get overdoing it....my shoulders are ornery and I stepped in a dead possum that died under there, jumped back and fell on my butt and hurt myself. LOL But on the other hand..."overdoing it" isn't a crime. It gives us a good metabolic shake up. As long as we're not causing actual injury...some good hard physical labor is just not a bad thing. Stengthens your bones, busts a ton of calories, and makes you feel like Xena Warrior Princess. Our muscles feel ALIVE! And freaking sore! LOL Look at us, we're unstoppable! Feel the burn. It's ok to! Stay hydrated, folks:)

Aren't our bodies amazing and infuriating? We've got built in defenses against starvation from thousands of years of poor hunting/harvests....metobolic triggers that conserve in times of crisis. When your body thinks you're starving to death it loves to put on the brakes. Wish we could explain to our bodies that this whole thing is intentional and to NOT muck it up....but it doesn't listen. LOL. It just goes...holy crap, where are the groceries??? We'd better shut everything down that we absolutely don't need and conserve like crazy. It's irritating. Hang in there and be patient. The stall will break. Stay off the scale for a while.

I'm stunned your clinic has you on dilaudid at home. Like catwoman, my clinic had me drinking protien shake on day 2 before I went home to make sure I could tolerate it....which I did, with no issues. Focus was on fluids. Diet sports drinks, sugar free jello, broth, coffee, tea, water, and protien shakes.

It doesn't go away. Once most of your stomach is cut out, most of your stomach is cut out. It doesn't grow back. There's a little stretch as time goes on, but nothing remarkable...in spite of the hype. And yes, you can eat yourself fat on a tiny altered stomach if you're dedicated enough. People do it every day. Please see a bariatric therapist. It will help you sort your feelings out and feel better. Wishing you the best.

At some point, you've just gotta commit to a plan, have a strategy, and realize it's for life. Most effective thing I ever did for maintenance, maybe even more effective than the surgery....was going to the bariatric therapist and starting to address why I'm always trying to sabotage myself with food. We never talk about the WHY behind the disordered eating. It's important to get to the bottom of it.

At some point, you've just gotta commit to a plan, have a strategy, and realize it's for life. Most effective thing I ever did for maintenance, maybe even more effective than the surgery....was going to the bariatric therapist and starting to address why I'm always trying to sabotage myself with food. We never talk about the WHY behind the disordered eating. It's important to get to the bottom of it.

I had a huge hernia cause I fell off a horse who refused a jump... and splatted like the coyote in a road runner cartoon. My diaphragm stomach hole was huge and half of my stomach was living in my chest. Was no fun....felt like I was drowning when I laid down flat....I thought this was because I was too fat. Turns out your lungs don't work as well with your stomach taking up space in your chest. My doctor was like...this is one of the biggest hiatal hernia's I've repaired, you're going to feel so much better! And wow, was he right! After surgery, I could breathe without propping myself on a million pillows. No more acid relux. Huge improvement. I've often said, just to have the hiatal hernia found and fixed...this surgery was such a positive thing in my life. (beyond the other obvious perks) As for recovery? I had one of the all time easiest recoveries. Woke up ready to move and spent most of the evening walking the halls in the unit. Never needed pain meds to speak of (I think they insisted I have one pain shot before going to sleep that night). I was never nauseated. Never vomited. I honestly could have done the surgery outpatient if it had been an option...it went so well. No trouble getting all my tiny little medicine cups full of fluids in. One thing I want to make you aware of...is referred pain from your diaphragm being tugged on when they close the hole up. You very likely will feel this pain in your shoulder! How weird is that? It's just the way the nerves run from your diaphragm....you're likely to feel pain there as a deep horrible ache in your shoulder. I did have this referred pain, and walked around with an ice pack on my shoulder....which I know sounds completely mental....but it made me feel better. The shoulder pain went away after a few days and was never terrible enough to need to medicate. Just kinda of nagging, like pulled muscles. There is no reason a hiatal hernia should cause any particular complications. Good luck!

I think that a LOT of people have the reacation "All fat people self medicate with food...why should anyone be delayed from weight loss surgery because they do? Are the therapists on a power trip, are they just making money?" There is some truth in this...that nearly all of us medicate with food. But why is that an issue? There's a very common phenominon that occurs with bariatric surgery called cross or transfer addiction. It is said to affect about 30% of people who have surgery. When people find they can't eat to self medicate, they can switch to other addictions for relief. Not just alcohol and drugs. They can also become sex/intimacy addicts. They can start spending too much, gambling, there are a lot of ways for this to manifest. Exercise addiction. Controlling behaviors with family/children. Annorexia. Most of us think of annorexia as something absurd that could never happen to us....but it happens! Same disordered eating...just a different expression of it. Also, there's a reason they call it divorce surgery. It can and does add strain to a relationships to have dynamics change profoundly. Eating is a big part of socializing, relaxing, relating to family, friends, coworkers. Eating dysfunction can be familial and codependent. There are some big changes that go with this whole process. Sometimes, they're easy changes, and sometimes they're not. Sometimes they cause all hell to break loose for the person inside them. Also, there is tremendous risk of remission...where you lose weight for a little while, then the food addiction and disordered eating come roaring back and you can physically injure yourself if you don't have other coping mechanisms in place. I am not saying that ANY of these situations describe any particular posters here any more than they could potentially describe all of us. Just sayin....if at your psych eval your therapist recommends more support, more preparation....that can be a good and responsible thing to do for yourself. That can help guarantee your best chances. It can make this time of change more joyful and less stressful. It can make you more successful in the long run. Figuring this stuff out is a great investment in yourself. Best wishes to all.

Hugs. Hang in there and do the work. I've seen a few folks get delayed sorting out some different issues on the psychology side....and many of them eventually get approved and do well. It's a journey, not a sprint. You'll get there. Crossing fingers and toes for you.

IMO, you'd be better off just logging your food and exercising reasonably. "The pouch reset" appears to be hocus pocus. Not criticizing your for it...if a starvation thing works for you to kick off a diet...you're an adult and your decisions are up to you. (some people find fasting theraputic...far be it from me...) Just sayin...sometimes these weird desperate extreme fixes sort of reinforce disordered eating habits. Going to work is gonna suck without enough calories to get you through the day, too. Who wants to try to function on an empty gas tank? Why would you want to? Why not just settle into healthy calories and activity and let your weight stabalize in a healthy way? Why are you in such an urgent hurry? No criticism meant at all, just trying to understand.

It might be helpful to investigate bariatric therapy to try to help sort your feelings and expectations, and come up with a plan that works for you....while being safe and sustainable for a lifetime. Best wishes!

I was on my presurgical diet...when I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for 8 people. OMG....that was the hardest day. Wanted so badly to eat everything and faithfully drank my shakes....ugh. Pinkbunny...you are getting the same kind of trial by fire over there with all that junk food. Holy cow that's brutal. Get home as soon as you can! On the plus side? If you can survive this challenge, you know you're made of strong stuff and can handle anything that comes at you. Good will power, girl. Stay strong! I'm rooting for you.

How are your partner's eating habits? Do your partner's eating habits inspire you to improve, or do they enable you to make bad choices? What role do your partner's eating habits play in your process? If you don't have a partner, use your family or roommate. What challenges have you faced with your partner where food is concerned?

Veggies on the couch. Only snack food we allow on the couch anymore...are vegetable trays. I can make a mean one with super low calorie balsamic italian dressing to dip.