Creekimp13

I will NOT miss....finding cute tall boots, and not being able to get them because my legs are too thick to zip them.

OMG...the booths that are impossible to squeeze into. I remember that! Hated it.

I love taking English Hunt Seat horse riding lessons. At many schools, there is a 250 pound weight limit on riding school horses. I won't miss worrying about that limit or feeling like I'm big enough to hurt a giant animal. When my niece visits, she loves going to the water park and always wants me to do the water slides. I don't miss wondering if they're going to break....of if people will gasp watching the fat lady flip over the edge due to increased inertia... falling six stories to her death. LOL. At one of the kid's parties when they were small, I had the entire surface of our pool covered in waterballoons for a waterballoon fight. My brother saw me floating in there before the party and said....you're like the hunk of pork in the pork and beans can. It was clever and very sibling cruel humor....but I'm just as happy to NEVER be called the pork in the pork and beans can again:) (my brother isn't really a horrible person...we just share horrible humor)

The shoulder pain isn't necessarily gas. Very often it is referred pain from having your diaphragm messed with, particularly if they fix a hiatal hernia. I had a super easy surgery. Could have honestly done it outpatient if they'd let me. I had zero nausea and very little pain.

I think you'll find that you'll only need a small fraction of the bourbon you used to drink for the same result. Be really careful when you try again. Eventually you can have a little...all things in moderation....but if you're concerned about transferance addiction, it might be best to stay away. But yeah...the small stomach will stretch your bourbon dollars, too:)

Good luck, both of you!

One of my favorites is baked Oatmeal with blueberries. I'm gonna put some chia in that...it already tastes like a blueberry muffin. Very yummy stuff, and if you make a pan of it, you can cut up squares and put them in the freezer to zap in the microwave. I do regular oats, lots of egg whites, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, almond milk, some cottage cheese....blend this up....and throw it in a pan with blueberries and nuts if you like them...splenda or monkfruit. You can use bananas, dried cherries, cranberries or even low cal maple syrup. Chia would work great in it for even more fiber and protien.

I cannot advise you, or anyone to have the surgery...it's a personal choice and you have to be extremely committed and ready. That said? If I could go back in time and have the surgery at 27, I would in a blink. No regrets. Zero. Nada.

I bet chia seeds are terrific in oatmeal. Need to try that!

What has worked best for me when I've regained a little....is therapy. Just figuring out the self sabotaging behaviors and the feelings and issues behind them...makes a tremendous difference. I watch my eating...if it starts to get crazy and I can't bring myself to food journal and address it...if the scale goes up more than five pounds...I make an appointment with the bariatric therapist. Helps like nothing else. For me, anywho. Might not apply to you, but figured it was worth throwing out there. Best wishes on getting back on track. You can do it:)

Alcohol, shopping, gambling, drugs, promiscuous sex, even exercise.... Food addiction is tough and sneaky and loves to change forms. One of the reasons, IMO, getting mental health support lined up before surgery is so important. Thank you for sharing. Best wishes to you.

I eat a lot of Fiber One original...cause part of my diet strategy is getting 30g of fiber a day. I also like low sugar oatmeal and weirdly, Coco Wheats...cause it's like 110 calories for a big bowl and has as much iron in it as a steak.

I appreciate the review too:)

Woot! Nice!

It will get better. ❤️ Hang in there.

Please contact your bariatric surgeon. This is super important for your baby's health, so please don't guess. If I were getting pregnant after surgery, I would be sure to have my vitamin and minerals blood tests done with my bariatric surgeon... to make sure I'm not deficient before getting pregnant. In particular, I would be concerned about Iron levels. Getting professional advice about pregnancy nutrion and supplements from people who understand bariatric surgery is super important. Best wishes on expanding your family!

I'd research other surgeons, just to get a feel for the different approachs....then make your decision. There is emerging evidence that prolonged super low calorie diets before and after surgery could reset your metabolism to unrealistically low levels that set you up for weight gain later. (not saying this always happens, not saying this is gosple....bariatrics are an emerging science....just sharing that there are a lot of different ideas at play) My group did a very carb restricted diet for two weeks before surgery. We were allowed to drink 5 shakes a day plus one food item from a list.....but this was just to shrink the liver for an easier procedure. My group wanted 10% weight loss, but expected it to take months. We were required to work with a nutritionist, attend fitness classes, healthy cooking classes, support groups. Our whole process took 4-6 months...just to lay the nutrition groundwork and weight loss work before the surgery. After surgery, we were pushed to eat 1200 calories a day as soon as we could tolerate it...in hopes that this would give us a robust metabolic reset. (to be clear, we went through the gradual restoration of diet after surgery for safety....liquid, puree, soft, etc....but our caloric goals were advanced as tolerated) I lost weight slower than most people....but I made goal, and I'm doing really well maintaining. My preferences and nutrition choices are much healthier. I've got good support for the mental side of this process. I feel like I was better prepared by my group for the work of making the permenant changes necessary and dealing with the lifetime challenges. Be a little careful of clinics that push unrealistically brutal calorie restriction. Eating 600 calories a day will make you lose a crap-ton of weight and will make your clinic look like they offer "The Magic Cure"....but you don't need to be their walking bulletin board for a year and then be abandoned by them when you regain. You need a comprehensive program that supports your needs for a lifetime and teaches healthy nutrition and fitness and supports the mental challenges of breaking the addiction.

Many surgical groups offer in person groups. I kinda consider boards like this one a support group.

Yepper, I've been away a while:) And will likely disappear again. Sometimes I enjoy this board, sometimes I don't. Love information and personal experience sharing, but am put off by experts and drama (not seeing much of that right now, which is nice). Pretty soon it'll be warm outside and I'll be gardening and have less time for this. Life keeps going:) Nice to "see" you again.

If your surgery goes like mine went....very very smoothly....you'd be fine. As a precaution, I would leave your pooch home or make sure there is a closeby hotel that allows dogs if you find you need to sleep in a bed or have a place to go with air conditioning. That said...there are no guarantees. Your surgery might not go as smoothly as mine. Some people feel really rough. You might struggle to get your fluids in. If you are not meeting fluid goals and easily exceeding them...I would not go on the trip. It's pretty much a wait and see thing. I hope you do so well that you can go:)

Iron deficiency can cause hair loss and dry brittle hair. Sometimes it will NOT show up as anemia. It is VERY common in bariatric surgery patients, particularly women who menstruate. (or are vegetarian, or give blood regularly) Make SURE your doctor is testing your Ferritin level and not just your hemoglobin. You can be incredibly low on available iron and not be anemic. Non-anemic iron deficiency could explain your hair loss. And make sure you're taking your iron supplements separate from your calcium. Also, taking it with vitamin C helps.

Yep. Used one today. But again, I didn't the first year.

It's standard. Everyone is told this. It's important to follow, particularly in the first year. It doesn't work for me at this point (three years out). I drink with meals normally now. Not saying not to listen to your doctor...just being real. I followed this advice the first year pretty faithfully. Now, not so much. Though, I do drink less with meals now.

This is such an interesting discussion, and we don't talk about this. My first goal was to just be under 200, too. That seemed like enough. Just to be pretty regular sized and not need special accomidation...not have to worry about weight limits, fit in normal auditorium seats.....and maybe get some good health benefits. I reached 200 and thought I could do a little more. I remembered feeling and looking my best at 170 in my youth...back when I could run five miles and work all day and not get too tired. So I thought...ok, I'll try for 170. I'm a muscular person. My feet are size 11 and my shoulders are broader and stouter than many men's. My body style isn't willowy. So I worked hard for 170....got there and felt incredible. Then, I went on a really rugged cross country camping/hiking trip and without realizing it got down to 160 and weirdly....just didn't like how I looked as much. I looked older, my wrinkles were more prominent, I prefer more curve and less prominent muscle on myself. I like eating a few more calories. I like getting 10,000 steps a day...and doing active things that I enjoy....but I don't enjoy constant training schedules and work outs. In the end, it's all a balance. Figuring out your best you...is a balance. Catwoman, I'm glad to hear that your team, like my team....had realistic information available for you and encourage realistic goals for their clients. My team was all about long term results, long term habits, therapy to figure out the bad choices, little changes that add up. Sometimes I feel like the teams that do super restricted calories for super rapid weight loss....are treating their patients more like walking advertisements for their "miracle fix" than patients whose futures they're invested in. I see my bariatric team once a year now. How long will I do this? Forever. They want to see me once a year. If my nutrient levels are stable...this can extend to once every few years...but they want a long term relationship to track my progress for research. I think this is so important.

One thing we don't talk about here....because it's negative and not motivational....is that for lots of people, this surgery DOESN'T work. Not because it doesn't do precisely what it's said to do....but because people who have it are sometimes not yet ready to change their habits and address the causes of their poor choices and what drives them. The surgeries are a tool. They absolutely help. But they are not the cure. They fix your stomach, not your head. If you don't fix your head and your habits, the weight loss won't last. The surgeries will NOT prevent you from regaining weight. It's not even that hard to regain. Go to the veterans page...notice that not a lot of people hang out there....and that most of the posts are about...OMG, i'm regaining everything! Most folks don't reach goal. Most folks lose about 50% of their excess weight. This is STILL a really good thing, and WORTH having the surgery. Tons of health benefits in that 50%....and that 50% gets you that much closer to your goal weight when your head is ready to do the work and get disciplined enough to get there. https://www.mdedge.com/diabeteshub/article/150969/obesity/weight-recidivism-after-bariatric-surgery-what-constitutes?sso=true