MargoCL

I did and I giggled a little. It reminded me that although I look to each of you, you are each VERY human. But it also gave me a little hope that one day if the urge so happens, I'll maybe give it a go, but if it's anything like the experience below... I may be good for a while.... LOL My BF got a Dave's single from Wendy's the other day and it's the first time I've been near FF since long before surgery. It looked amazing, the smell on the other hand nearly made me take it out of his hand and toss it out the window. (I should mention that I was happily drinking my protein shake during this excursion).

Most Americans are into "soda," most of the other carbonated beverages are not as popular here. Although popularity is rising as sugar free alternative carbonated beverages are becoming the "in thing" - My family lives in Hungary and there too carbonated water is very popular. I always have to ask for non-sparkling water.

I didn't purposely (well sort of) leave you out - It was the "women's" point of view just because I know women have such hormonal fluctuations (for lack of better wording). Men just naturally built with more muscle seem to "burn fat faster." But thank you for sharing your viewpoint as well because it really did help me better understand. For the 4 of you, I really do look to you as my mentors(?) in this journey because everything you have said throughout the many posts I've read have taught me so much and continue to. I enjoy reading your IF posts and your before and after food posts along with all your responses to the many people that seek advice (myself included). You've taught me not to get overly obsessed with the scale as it comes to stalls and just so many other little things (too many to list) Please don't stop what you're doing, because I know for one I enjoy them and they really do help me. I haven't checked the video out yet, but it's on my list of "to do" and I'm not sure if I want to start IF at just 3.5 weeks out, but at least I know it's an option.

I gave up sodas many years ago, but I can't say that I haven't indulge in one or two over those years (BF would say that since he's known me I probably have drank 100 over the course of our relationship - 3 years... LOL). From a surgery standpoint, I won't drink it now just because I'm soon post op, but I will say when I feel cruddy, there is nothing better than a seagrams ginger ale. And I suspect in the future should I feel that way, I will reach out to old faithful.

It's not that it will "stretch your new stomach" it's that it goes down easily allowing you to consume more food. And this only happens if you drink during meals (and honestly if you do that it doesn't matter if it's carbonated or a flat beverage). @BuzzVSG, glad you were able to enjoy that J&C. Congratulations on being so close to goal. Keep up the great work!

My BF and I share meals often and this helps especially if you can do the dividing up of meals.

Are you using a food tracker? I find that using one really helps me keep in check with what's going into my body. @ellie123 - Thank you for a couple of your bullet items. They were things I didn't even take into consideration. @Megan Sadler, My sleeve was one day before your surgery and I'm down 10lbs from surgery, and I keep bouncing with 2 lbs, one minute I'm down next I'm up. I think we just have to remember what all the vets say and keep with our plan and the lbs will shed.

@FluffyChix, @sillykitty, @GreenTealael, May I ask how often do you weigh yourselves now versus when you first had WLS? And at what point did you decide IF was the way to go or try? I'm impressed, but also wondering why so soon post surgery did you decide to try IF? BTW, you ladies and Matt are doing great! Super impressed. I tried IF with Keto and it worked but I think I had other obstacles that were in my way (hence the wls). Thanks in advance?

To say that fluid intake is easy would be a stretch for me. I can say that my tolerance has a day over day change (that may be a slight exaggeration, let's says 3 days over 3). I went from only being able to tolerate hot broths and room temperature water, to flavored room temp water to no broths, to ice cold water and no flavors. I'm only 3.5 weeks post op and my fluid intake and tolerance has changed more times than I can count. listen to @James Marusek and just experiment until you find the right one that works and hopefully (unlike me) sticks.

@FluffyChix, I agree all the research I've done this past year showed the same thing. Hence why I chose the sleeve over the other options.

Just curious, you listed all your exclusions, what is it you are exactly looking for? I know for me personally, I have set expectations or lists of what I want / don't want and rarely do we find that person. I think you have to look outside the box. Stating that you just can't date overweight people because of their possible eating habits is probably the wrong way to look at it. As a person who has always been heavy, I've ALWAYS watched what I eat and have always been active from kickboxing, gym, sports leagues and weekend hiking trips and unfortunately for me the weight just never came off. The best I ever got to was 169 and hovered in the 170's. I was a big girl but at the same time very active person who was health conscious. Don't just look at the book cover, take a chance and open up the book and you may be surprised your soulmate may be out there.

This is very common in the first week. Your body is adjusting and healing. Two things really helped me during the first week; walking everytime that feeling came on and if someone was around I'd ask that to gently rub my back (like burping a baby almost) and as soon as the gas escaped I felt much better.

@sassysleever76, I'm so sorry for your loss and understand where you are coming from. I lost my fiancé (he was 2 weeks shy of turning 38) 13 years ago and for some reason the 9th anniversary of his death was one of the hardest for me. Try to turn your attention to something positive. You're on a new journey and think about how happy your husband will be for you to know that you are taking care of yourself and making positive choices. When you start to feel blue, go for a walk, go to the gym and work out the sadness and change those sad hormones to positive and happy endorphins. As for the constipation, my suggestion is a little Milk of Magnesia daily or find a way to increase your fiber, I've become a fan of ground flaxseed and yogurt daily. You've realized your error, now is the time to take control of your actions and put a stop. You haven't done any damage to yourself, you have this and you will succeed. Remember, stalls do happen and sometimes they last, but don't focus on that, focus on the positive changes you have made to yourself and your new lifestyle.

There's one in Ft Myers, FL - I forgot the name of the event, but it had the same exact line up as CR every year. They didn't cancel that show. As for Rock on the Range and Carolina Rebellion; I'll be curious to see what the new music festival in Rockingham, NC will be like. I'm fortunate that I've attended enough Rebellions that now I'll be somewhat forced to try another location festival.

Ok, it's not an app for Android users. Too bad

It's really hard to find where I live, only 1 grocery store sells it. But it got me through pre-op.

Progresso had a great chicken cheese enchilada soup. I could've drank that all day

If you're on full liquids there are plenty of yummy soups out there (no chunks of course). I ate diluted broccoli cheddar, clam chowder, chicken, I lived on chicken bone broth for my 2 weeks post surgery and even 1 of my pre-op weeks. You can have SF jello, popsicles and of course the numerous flavors of protein powders. I bought myself a variety pack for my preop and fell in love with the coffee flavors.

What restrictions were you given for your pre-op? For example mine was 2 weeks of full liquids.

Yes, he was with Motorhead. My BF and I try to go to this 3-day concert festival in NC every year called Carolina Rebellion. They were the headliners on our first night. I've been watching to see if we can catch another one of their shows, but our schedules never seem to line up right.

I saw them last year - and for an "older" band, they were AMAZING! I would definitely pay to see them again.

Interesting. I was told I needed / should be on vitamins for at least 6 months post surgery. I currently use from the BP store, Bariatric Multivitamins chewable citrus and orange calcium. I was told I could now go to traditional vitamins but would need to take at least 2 a day. I prefer 1-a day hence I'll stick out the chewable kind.

This last year with my weight loss practices, I learned a lot about what my body tolerates and doesn't tolerate. So, I'm very hesitant with corn starches and corn fiber. My body blows up like a balloon in most cases. Even with minimal amounts it's amazing how sensitive I am to these things

They were adamant about whey protein isolate when it came to the shakes. But personally, I'm more concerned with the corn fiber and corn starch. I try to avoid corn starch.

Do you have "Meet up's" - it's an app and website that helps you find people of similar interests and they are meet up groups. I joined a dinner meetup and met some great people