ClarkRomulus

Nash, exactly the same for me! I watched it from time to time before, but now that I'm scheduled for surgery (March 4), I find it much more compelling. For one thing, I now understand the procedures they are having (and I'm horrified at how poorly some of them eat after surgery).
I talked about the show with my surgeon, and she hates it because it's very hard to relate to the people on that show. She would like to do "My 300-Pound Life" that shows normal, relatable people getting surgery to de-mystify the process and inspire people.

I like it, but don't watch it very often because I find it to be kind of depressing. I like Family by the Ton more.

I tested positive also for H pylori and it cleared up after I took the antibiotics for 2 wks. I didn’t have any symptoms either. They told me H pylori is pretty common and a lot of people have it and don’t know it. You should be fine. Wishing you the best of luck.

I tested negative for it, so I was able to get ahead with the surgery as scheduled. So sorry you had this and have a delay, but it's a good thing they tested you for it because you wouldn't want to have gone into surgery with an infection.

Hello all!! So I had all my lab work done.. Everything was great Except I was positive for H. Pylori... the doctors office called and said they ordered two different antibiotics that I have to take for two weeks. I have read several articles on h pylori and am still clueless I dont have any of the symptoms especially the weightloss and poor appetite Part . No stomach issues etc. Is anyone else in the same boat as me? It worries me to have to take a antibiotic for two weeks it seems like such a long time. I am crossing over into month four so I know the doctors know best. Just wondering what someone elses experience was? Thanks So Much
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A lot of things change after surgery and your taste buds might be one of them. None of the snack foods I used to love sound good to me anymore. My program isn't low carb but we aren't allowed to snack, only 3 meals. My Snacks of choice were always sweet ones. Like I could eat the heck out of fruit snacks. But now I have zero desire for them. My number one favorite food was ice cream and now it grosses me out. I want spice and sour and bitter. I also used to love mindlessly eating something bland like pretzels and now they just taste so bland. Things might change for me when I am further out but I am just so used to not eating snacky stuff now the habit feels broken. I buy less crap for my kids (who are all 18 and over and in school) because it is so easy to pass by the Twinkie displays now.

I can’t speak to your specific situation, but I will tell you what has worked for me as a father of two about 15 months post surgery. I have looked at this surgery as a tool all along. It is something I needed to learn to utilize to get the desired results. What I found post surgery is that I immediately began treating my food the same way. Your food intake post surgery is so low that in order to stay healthy you need to make what enters your mouth count. Since my surgery I have looked at food as a tool. Before I eat anything I am now thinking about what my body needs to fuel it and make sure I stay healthy with my reduced intake. It has been a complete and total mindset change from my pre-surgery thinking, and honestly I was surprised at how easy it was to change my way of thinking. Immediately post surgery I was consumed with hitting my Water and Protein numbers. This focus on hitting daily targets forced me into this way of thinking and I am thankful for it. Just remember this is a life long commitment. Take the time to stop and think before you eat anything, and think about wether it is really something your body needs or it is just something you are eating because you want it. After some time it becomes habit, and not eating the junk is just routine.

Hello all... First time poster.. I have less than 3 months before surgery.. I am 34 and a mother of 2 wonderful childern. 7 yrs and 1 year old. I remember hearing women say how hard it was to lose weight after having children and I used to think BS!! This has now become me and has been me for quite some time now. It seems like if I look at food I can gain the calories from it without even eating it. My question is how do mothers with young children cope with the Snacks in the house. My children are very healthy both physically and mentally both love fruits and veggies and do not have not weight issues. I pack my daughters lunch for school so I tend to keep extra in the pantry. I cannot completely remove snacks and certain foods from my home, like I have done before I had childern. How do mothers cope after surgery with having childern and staying out of the snack pantry. I am thinking of all the things that got me to not being able to control my weight and i have come to the honest truth that indulging in snacks and also eating their leftover food from of their plate contributes big time to me not being able to control my weight. Before I became a mother I rarely snacked, grocery shopped maybe a few times a month, now I'm in the grocery store at the least a couple of times a week. (I love the grocery store) any tips. Thanks in advance!
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Hello all... First time poster.. I have less than 3 months before surgery.. I am 34 and a mother of 2 wonderful childern. 7 yrs and 1 year old. I remember hearing women say how hard it was to lose weight after having children and I used to think BS!! This has now become me and has been me for quite some time now. It seems like if I look at food I can gain the calories from it without even eating it. My question is how do mothers with young children cope with the Snacks in the house. My children are very healthy both physically and mentally both love fruits and veggies and do not have not weight issues. I pack my daughters lunch for school so I tend to keep extra in the pantry. I cannot completely remove snacks and certain foods from my home, like I have done before I had childern. How do mothers cope after surgery with having childern and staying out of the snack pantry. I am thinking of all the things that got me to not being able to control my weight and i have come to the honest truth that indulging in snacks and also eating their leftover food from of their plate contributes big time to me not being able to control my weight. Before I became a mother I rarely snacked, grocery shopped maybe a few times a month, now I'm in the grocery store at the least a couple of times a week. (I love the grocery store) any tips. Thanks in advance!
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Hey Lusty,
I am having surgery Feb 11th and I also have worries that are due to nerves. Take a peek at the video below. I watched it today and it was
So reassuring!

https://youtu.be/co1gU7YhDbA

Its a good job in my opinion that we do have those regular posters to help out with all the new peoples questions, I appreciate the time they take to help. They certainly helped me when I had a wobble!

*Bursts In*
Am I late? No? Good. I was a fiend for sugar prior to surgery. I was lying to myself. I just chose top shelf.
A rose by any other name, right?
I used Agave nectar, raw & manuka honey, organic cane crystals, maple Syrup, etc. You name it, anything besides sugar. But I had to detox hardcore and use alternatives exclusively for a while.
Post op I use stevia, Monkfruit, eyrthritol (sp?), *occasionally sucralose* (protein shakes) etc.
My chocolate has to be 90% cacao or higher or I just won't buy it. I'm inflexible about that.
I count 4 times that I have indulged in bites of gifted junk chocolate, because why make people feel like crap about a gift and live a life of balance you know.
My candy bars are Protein types (Kind, NuGo slim, etc) or a Walmart brand that have max of 6-7g of added sugar.
And funny I don't even eat that much fruit these days...
Safe Journey 🎈

Ever since I was approved for surgery about 3 weeks ago, I have been eating so poorly. I have been eating every single thing I have convinced myself I will "never have again"... to the point of absurdity. Like a bucket list. I am eating worse than I ever have in my entire life, probably. I am really struggling to get on track. I had no weight loss requirement before surgery or anything, and my doctor knows I've gained weight but said it was okay at my last appointment with him. Because he said it was okay, my brain gave me a free leash to just go and eat whatever junk I can find. I'm struggling to stop. My lunch today was just a huge plate of potato and macaroni salad... followed, ironically, by an Atkins bar. My Breakfast was brownies and Doritos. And I don't even LIKE sweets. I have to start the pre-op liquid (I get one meal a day) diet on the 16th. Did anyone struggle with this coming up to their surgery? I saw some people in Reddit refer to it as their food funerals.

My regrets may or may not be responsive. I regret when I grew up, when I reached late adolesence I was told stop being such a tomboy, stop playing softball and running wild with kids your age and younger, you are a young woman ---sit down and calm down. My parents even sent me to finishing school type classes to teach me to" deport" myself better. All I remember learning were make-up techniques, how to walk smoother and seductively and how to,balance a book on top of my head. But I listened, after all Mama and Daddy told me to do it and didn't they always have my best interests at heart? So although my appetite remained the same my activity level decreased phenomenally. Sit down, do your embroidery, crochet, knit, you can get up if you go cook, the only exercise you need is vacuuming or other housework. You'll never get a husband unless you move slow, smooth and act like a perfect,lady. As i look back, I probably didn't have a boyfriend because I was starting to look chubby but about as stimulating as thick vanilla custard. I regret marrying the first man who,seemed to,look past my body to my mind. They say you always marry a man like your father, well the" late lamented" did share the "my way or the highway" mindset, although he. was taller and heavier than me he seldom missed a chance to make snide remarks about my size. But I as least had gotten a husband, in the 60 and 70s every girl was supposed to have one, so I stiffeled my snappy retorts and bore up under the burden.Although he was a city boy he ate like a farmhand. Every meal better have potatoes and meat. When I married him his idea of a good meal was creamed corn, macaroni and cheese,(and that better not be from a box! )and mashed potatoes. I could throw in a platter of some sort of roast beast or fried chicken. Dessert better be cake, pie or choco-chip Cookies. Salads-- well they were evil, I could have one if I wanted but,I sure didn't expect him to eat any, did I?" I'm not a cow or other farm animal.after all."
And I "dumbed out", me with the Mensa level brain, but I couldn't keep a man that way, could I? So I played the game, if I raged I did it in the bathroom or behind closed doors. Oh I promised to love, I did not promise to obey but it still was implied, wasn't it?
I had a baby 13 months later, a little girl, he wanted a girl, so did both grandmothers. Both grandmothers set out to spoil her rotten , when one of them hadn't taken her shopping he was marching her around town. Meanwhile I cooked , cleaned and sublimated my will. I guess it wasn't a bad life, just not a great one.
When" little precious" started school I decided to try to diet,in earnest, what was my reward? I lost 50 lbs and. I got pregnant. Yeah I had begged for years to have" little precious" a sibling, now when I had picked myself up out of low self esteem-ville. I got another baby, lost weight during my pregnancy, then regained it afterwards, did it again 3 years later, same scenario except after child #3 I went into peri-menopause and the weight remained, creeping up increment by increment. I wish then I had sought bariatric surgery but no-- I would surely find the right diet, I had lost weight before, I could do it again. But no matter how I tried I didn't, got ridiculed for my salads etc so I gave up and ate the carb -heavy diet I was expected to provide my family. In 1987 I started working, activity level went up and I started yo yo-ing the same 30 lbs, family members started dying-' many of them from obesity, did it sink in? Not really, still thought I could beat it on my own. And the arthritis I had since 25 started to take its toll. Yeah I had snuck in a little playtime and activity with the children but that started to become difficult. I ended up having 2 knee replacements, one in 2014, one in 2017. I started saving my energy so I could continue working for money. And although l.l. had parted ways with his Columbus corporate job in 1985 and worked sporadically after that, I kept chugging along. Like the bumblebee that doesn't know his wings are too short to support his body weight, he keeps flying and I guess I did too.
And my life kept on, finally when I.I. died (and God forgive me, a relief) after 44 years of marriage in 2012 I had finally time to consider my health or what remained of it. Started going to my PCP, yeah another thing I.I. was against, doctors. They're only after your money, so many a time I went to work marginally sick. Only thing PCP stated on my 1st visit" You know you are overweight" No I'm obese but if you aren't going to say it I won't either. Finally after several years I got brave enough to bring up bariatric surgery. He told me at that time its something I think you should consider, when you feel you're ready I'll help you find a program. Finally in August 2015 I consulted a Bariatric surgeon in Columbus and started on his hospitals program, I was getting all my prerequirements done , had dietary assistance and had even,made a noticeable weight loss and my job and health insurance terminated in January 2016. I had 5 of the 6 I thought required when this happened. So I thought there would be no use in pursuing any further, I had no money for private pay and no covering insurance. Wasn't like I was personal friends with Obama and could ask him to underwrite it. Unbeknownst to me when I got new insurance the New insurance had looser requirements, I could have had surgery then. I regret not getting in touch with the surgeon's office then but on the other hand they could have volunteered the information to me also. I started again in autumn 2017 to seek surgery from the same place, since it had been 2 years I had to duplicate all the prerequirements once again. I did so, feeling I had jumped through every hoop they requested. I was waiting to hear back from them since my stuff had been finished in mid January. Waited and waited and waited, was told February 20th all 3 surgeons in the practice had a commitee meeting and decided not to perform my surgery. I regret returning there, I regret trusting these people with my life, I had felt my best interests were being respected there, I regret being told a lie as an excuse, what I was told made no sense to me or to anyone who truly knows me.But most of all I regret the abject waste of time out of my life. Oh I can and will find a placement in another program, maybe go in with my eyes wider open. But I can and shall make a success out of shambles. Just watch me folks!
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I didn't tell anyone except my husband and mom for this very reason, and I have never discussed dieting with others. People get evangelical about Keto or Paleo or vegan or whatever they happen to be into. The best diet is the one that you can stick to, the one that works for your personality, tastes, lifestyle and body chemistry, and there is no one-size-fits-all.

Weight loss seems to be such a controversial subject. People are overly opinionated. I'm not and I don't want to be the spokesman for bariatrics. I don't feel the need to educate anyone on WLS. They can do their own research.
Don't invest time in negative people. Keep life simple.

Your surgery worked. It takes time. Have you had the big bowel movement yet ? Within three months nothing will fit. Get ready for it And hang in there.

Ok people have talked about this before, but I wanted to share or put my 2 cents and my experience in. I'm past 8 months, 253 days post op to be exact. I wasn't a huge drinker but when I drank it was usually more than 2 drinks, so the long and short of it was I always got a hefty buzz or drunk, but I never drank unless I went out so I didn't see it as a "problem". But it was classic binge drinking when I did drink.
Post surgery- after my ok to drink , I had some wine, first glass I didn't get drunk any faster, halfway through second I could be good but since we can't eat AND drink then why ruin my buzz, right? I eat well, I drink my Water, I quit smoking, so I'd have some wine on the weekends (not normal for me) weekends turned into many days of the week, then every night. I've lost 104 now, I was still losing when I drank because I ate very little and I only drank wine. (I'm NOT glorifying any of this) With bariatric surgery I don't think there's a ok 2 glasses and I'm ok (as in not too drunk/tipsy, etc) . Pour that third glass and I was zero to 💯 and for me I would be drunk a lot longer.
Alcoholism is huge in my family, why I thought having a few glasses of wine all the time was a good idea, maybe it filled the void. I tried to rationalize it with myself that because I couldn't eat and couldn't smoke anymore that having a few glasses was ok. I've been in therapy for food addiction, he said this isn't really transfer addiction because I didn't really have true food addiction.
I guess I'm posting this for anyone who asks about drinking and if you have a history of any addiction or alcoholism in the family I would be cautious of alcohol. I should've known, thought about it more, but now I carry a chip from AA in my pocket everyday. I had a problem binge drinking before surgery, and yes you can be an alcoholic even if you don't drink that much, with me I drank to be buzzed or to get drunk.
Im not posting this to be policed about the calories in wine or how it halts weight loss or to be bullied for making a poor choice. I'm posting this in the hopes that someone may read it who may be like me and start drinking a lot, or if someone is in recovery and wants to talk. If you do decide drink, be careful, it stayed in my bloodstream for a long time.

People always wonder why I'm overweight. I don't really eat fast food, but I ate all day long and my Snacks were not really snacks; they were the same calorie count as a "normal meal." My high weight was 240 over the years, I got it down 20 lbs repeatedly but it was incredibly hard and took months and months, only to rebound. This surgery was a last ditch effort to feel good in my skin, mentally and physically. I had to pay out of pocket because I did not have a co morbidity and a 34 bmi, so obviously this was not a life and death surgery for me.
That is my background. This is not an easy road, BUT it will teach you to slow down and eat much, much less food. No, you will not be able to pig out but you will be able to have a bite or two of your favorite foods and be satisfied. I am able to enjoy each bite without shoveling in as much as possible. At celebration events you will taste a little bit of various foods and not have that bulging full feeling that feels horrible. I know this is hard to believe, but I do not miss the gorging at the holidays. I feel a huge amount of pride and control over my body and choices.
I'm only 7.5 weeks out but I can say this is the best things I've ever done for myself! I've lost 26.8 lbs as of last week.

Like you I have never been a part of a forum or read any but, here is so much wisdom on these pages, and I have learned so much.

63 and have never written to a forum like this on any subject. Like many I tried numerous programs, over the last 15 to 20 years, to address my slowly increasing weight, but nothing worked for more than a month or so. My problem is not eating poor quality meals, generally over eating at meal time, routinely eating badly (rarely go to a McDonald's except driving on vacation) or having a trigger food like cake or ice cream. My problem is I have no clue what hunger really feels like anymore. I can easily go all day with out eating but then once I start at dinner I can't/don't stop eating. I can eat a Thanks Giving meal, stuffed to the point of being sick, and then still turn around and stuff something else in. Clearly not hunger. I am not a moody or depressed person so while there is likely an emotional component to this it is not obvious what it is. At the advice of nutritionists I have tried lots of things (e.g., sip a cup of tee, find another activity to keep your mind occupied, go for a walk) to break this habit. All of those are pleasant, but they actually feed the compulsion much like how a dog acts staring at dog biscuit outside its crate. Bottom-line its uncontrollable, mind-less, snacking.
So pardon the long winded lead in, but this is causing me angst as my surgery date approaches so a couple questions for the experienced members.
Having read a lot about the diet restrictions I worry that not having good mental control over my eating behavior could cause problems. Mindless eating by its nature is uncontrolled and I wonder if others have found this problematic and if so how did they deal with it. Are holidays and special occasions ever the same post surgery? The euphemism "pigging-out" is actually something pleasurable beyond just food. For example most holidays and special occasions have a component of overeating. Almost seems that once you have the surgery those pleasures are a thing of the past. How do you break this or is it always a struggle? I've been thinking a lot about my favorite holidays (i.e., Christmas, Thanks Giving, Fourth of July) and in my mind I hear "Maybe I should just try a conventional diet program again at least I'll still be able to enjoy turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie at Christmas". I travel a fair amount for work. I have actually delayed the surgery until summer when my travel and speaking schedule slow for a few months. I am scheduled for surgery the third week of June which is three weeks after my last trip. Then I don't have anything else scheduled until early September but that is in Europe. I have read a lot of posts but I have not found many that outline traveling success recommendations. While there is some entertaining in the mix it is not excessive I am more interested in how people manage a restrictive diet around the chaotic schedules of business travelers. Last but not least. One of my bucket list items has long been to ride a bicycle across the country from coast to coast. Before I even contemplated the surgery I started making plans for when I might be able to do this and how I could go about making it happen. One of the big issues was certainly my weight which would be helped by the surgery. However, again with the diet restrictions and hydration needs I wonder if there are any challenges or problems with long endurance activities like this. Currently this would be a couple years post surgery so healing should be complete, my concern is are there problems with dehydration. After scanning this long message seems I am a politician, which I am not. If anyone cares to comments I don't expect people to respond to all of my questions. Probably should have written more than one message but this was stream of consciousness.