GradyCat

Yes, you really will lose weight. But it's a tool only, not a solution. You still have to do the work. But the tool works. Good luck on your WLS journey.

I've read on these forums over the years that a lot of people get super cold after WLS. I am not one of them. I still stay hot most of the time or at least regular.

My heart goes out to you. Please find a new better counselor that'll help you and keep regular two week appointments or something to stay in check. Check with your insurance plan to see if they cover addiction recovery programs. I suffer from Clinical Depression and Anxiety Disorder, so I know about using food to mask/treat my problems and while that's not alcohol like you're talking about (I don't drink) it's a similar "addiction" and coping mechanism. I take antidepressants and participate in regular counseling.

Locally they're postponing/cancelling all elective surgeries right now since there's been a surge of COVID cases after the holidays. The hospitals just don't have enough beds to keep up with COVID patients plus regular sick patients and adding to that elective patients. Don't know how long it'll be that way.

There's also chocolate protein shakes and chocolate protein bars to help you fulfill your cravings while still getting in the required protein.

I thought your BMI had to be 40 or over or 35 and over with a comorbidity such as diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, etc.

Most surgeon's offices offer free unlimited lifetime support to meet with your nutritionist, so you might want to make an appointment and get in there with your questions. It's good that you're reading labels!

Is it head hunger? Boredom? Stress? What are your daily macros in terms of calorie intake and water intake?

Praying for a successful surgery for you and for you to be able to get through the nausea and first day recovery. Congratulations!

Absolutely, yes, it's a clear liquid. Go for it.

Keep in mind that you can't compare yourself to others who may have started at a higher or lower BMI or weight and have different bodies or may or may not be exercising more or less than you are. That being said, it sounds like you're doing GREAT! Way to go! Good job! Keep up the good work!

No, your stomach is just healing. You should be eating liquids only at this point. Your stomach just went through a major trauma and your digestive system wasn't used for a couple of days during/after surgery, so it's all figuring out how to work again. You will likely not get dumping syndrome . It's not very common. Avoid high load fat and sugary excessive meals once you're back on food and you'll be fine.

You're gonna have excess skin, so you can either tone and exercise while you're losing weight to minimize the effects of it and make it as pretty as possible, have cosmetic surgery for it when you've reached your goal weight, or just learn to love it.

I've always been a chocaholic. Still am in a way. But around mid-September I totally stopped eating all sugary treats and chocolate bars (I was eat two Giant Hershey bars a day!) and substituted them with GNC Swiss Chocolate Lean Shakes with 25 g protein. I still get my chocolate "fix" but in a healthy way. I just started eating Angie's Boom Chicka Popcorn and Skinny Pop popcorn. I eat Quest Hero chocolate peanut butter bars. I have never learned moderation. I can't open a bag of cookies and eat just 1 or 2 . . . I end up eating the whole bag. So I have to avoid buying them or being around them.

Okay, I can totally hear you on this. Same thing here. I'm 3 years post-op. COVID and life wreaked havoc in my life, lost my 16 year old fur baby . . . 2020 and 2021 SUCKED! But I finally saw a sign that said, "Remember why you started this." and it hit me - - - I had to get my health back. I was embarrassed by my weight gain because after WLS and reading some of the forum posts where people gained weight back, I thought "Oh! I'll never be one of THOSE people!" HA! I am! But I finally found light at the end of the tunnel on November 22nd. Something finally just clicked in my head. I started going to the gym and I've been 35 out of the last 40 days. I joined Weight Watchers two weeks ago and as of this morning I've lost 3 pounds. I have depression, which it sounds like you probably have after all that you've been through, and I see a counselor every 3 weeks. We do online video conferences. It's very helpful to talk about my stressors and fears. You are NOT a failure! Forgive yourself, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and join me on a journey to refocus on our weight in 2022.

No worries, it doesn't have to be that exact at 1 oz every 15 minutes. You're not going to bust a gust if you get 2 oz in 15 minutes and you're not going to dehydrate if you wait 18 minutes. Just keep sip, sip, sipping all day long.

If you're able to get the testing done, they should be able to fax them or upload the results online to a medical portal to your WLS surgeon immediately. Shouldn't be any delay. Wishing you well.

This is good timing that I read this because I just saw the first mention of this two days ago in a YouTube video of some girl's weight loss journey where she talked about chickpea pasta and I hadn't heard of it before. I might give it a try at some point.

I can relate. I did great the first year. Then stupid COVID hit and I gained weight, which I had promised myself I would never do again. And I got out of ONEderland, which again I promised myself I'd never do. But I picked myself up, dusted myself off, forgave myself and am starting back with the basics of protein, monitoring/tracking food, water intake, and exercise and the weight is coming off again. The WLS still works! It's a tool that will work as long as I use it.

Sort of the same here. My shoe size didn't change, but I'm no longer a wide width, just a medium width. I just bought new athletic shoes yesterday.

I've just come back to these forums and caught up with your progress. I too am refocusing and starting over. Well, not from scratch, but back to the basics. I started back to the gym on Nov. 22nd and have been 36 out of 41 days since then doing 45-minutes to an hour a day. I started Weight Watchers 3 weeks ago and am actively tracking food and water intake. We can do this!!!!

That's a good question. Hmmm. BUCKET LIST #1 - maybe write a book about WLS and/or weight loss and dieting in general. Although there are millions of them out there already. Or maybe a blog or Instagram page about it. Dunno. BUCKET LIST #2 - work with a personal trainer to define my arms into muscle and toned biceps. BUCKET LIST #3 - maybe buy a piece of gym equipment for at-home use to get extra workouts and activity throughout the day during "down" time.

I always kinda wanted to try that too but was over the weight limit of 250 pounds before.

Oh that's a GREAT goal. I too love to cruise and have 5 planned for 2022 (some of them are make-ups for 2020 covid cancellations) and as anyone who has cruised knows, traveling is not for the timid or out of shape! 😁 I started back to the gym 5 weeks ago to prepare for my June European River Cruise on the Danube, which will entail a LOT of walking on excursions to explore those fabulous cities.

I don't think I'd try to see if I could make myself "dump" 😀 I think if you had it, you'd know it. Plus it's not that common and kinda hard to happen, Just keep following the protocols set out by your surgeon and you'll avoid getting dumping syndrome