lizonaplane

I'm really happy to hear from someone with bipolar disorder who has stayed at a healthy weight so long after surgery! I'm still jumping through hoops with insurance, but I've had bipolar disorder since I was 14 (I'm 41 now) and I am really worried the meds will make it impossible to keep the weight off. Also, I'm worried I won't be able to keep my mental health stable after surgery. Has that been an issue for you? Thanks for joining and sharing!

I 100% agree. I am looking at trends, not outliers. OTOH, I just killed my scale from too much weighing! The top part is coming off, although I think it is still technically working. It was maybe 15 years old, so it had a good long life, but I had to order a new one. I hope it is a kind scale.

sounds ymmmy!

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I have a chronic condition and have spent my entire adult life battling insurance companies to the point where every time I have to call them I start crying from the anxiety. They are so terrible. My advice is to keep a copy of everything you send them and write the date on it, like if you fax it to them keep the fax confirmation. If you email it, save the email in your sent folder. I don't know that this will work. I understand about gaining weight when you are frustrated, but if you can, try to work on this, because you will need to be able to stop using food as a coping mechanism after surgery if you want the surgery to be successful. Try to talk to a therapist, if your stupid insurance will cover that. Or, maybe try Better Help or Cerebral or another online therapy service that is somewhat affordable. Or, maybe you have a faith person who does counseling for free if that's your sort of thing. Or find something you can do to distract yourself. Many people find exercise helpful, even mall walking or gardening (my idea of he**). I really feel your pain. I haven't submitted for insurance yet and I dread it. I hope you get approved soon!

That's interesting that it went bad so fast. The bolthouse lasts so long after the expiration date. I wonder what the difference is? I didn't go to Trader Joe's the whole pandemic because their stores are so crowded, but now that I'm vaccinated I should go again, especially with my bariatric mind in place. I might discover a whole different store! I actually have one about 5 minutes away from me and several others not too far.

I called the surgery center at the end of January and started making changes to my diet (giving up diet soda, reducing carbs, drinking 30 min after meals) right away. I had my first few visits with the surgery team in February and March and was losing weight the whole time, but now I have so long to wait... I won't be having surgery till at least August because of the required nutrition classes and backlogs due to COVID. I'm sick of cooking, sick of thinking about food and weight loss, and sick of waiting... not sure how to keep up momentum. It's fine when I'm busy at work, but when work is slow, I just can't think about anything else. I'm trying to keep myself busy, but I don't like TV most things here are still closed. I've been reading two or three books a week. I hurt my hip due to too much walking... How can I deal with this waiting???

I've been changing my diet a lot to prepare for WLS while I jump through insurance hoops. I stopped drinking diet soda in January (I was at a friend's house yesterday and all she had was diet soda since she's remodeling her kitchen so her sink wasn't working. I tried it and it was gross!!! I can't believe I used to drink five a day!), and I've been minimizing carbs and increasing protein. So... I'm cleaning out my pantry and it's insane. Over the pandemic I was baking every day for a while and I had about 15-20 bags of various types of flour saved up. I listed them on my local buy-nothing Facebook group (where I gave away all my baking!) and now they'll all be gone by tomorrow. Now I have room for my protein drinks that were all over my floor. Have other people done a major pantry clean out while they prepared for surgery? Did it make you more sad or more happy? I can't tell how I feel yet.

I've always weighed every day that I'm home or at my parents' house. I accept that there are variations and it doesn't bother me; I'm not a perfectionist. I find it keeps me accountable. I look for trends (this may be because I'm trained in statistics; one outlier does not a trend make). But I know not everyone is like that and we all have to do what works for me. Do I feel good when the weight is higher than the day before? No, but it doesn't bother me much.

Thanks! I might make these some time, but without the nuts on top (I like the flavor of almonds, but not whole almonds - it's a texture thing). They look a bit like pignoli, except with an almond instead of pine nuts (I would like pignoli except I don't like the texture of pine nuts either). Nuts do have a lot of calories, and I'm afraid I would eat too many. I really have to limit anything sweet and only eat it at night. I can't bake at night because I'm too tired to focus.

This is what I do. I use 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder (like Hershey's or any brand), 1-2 packets of Splenda or whatever sweetener you like, and mix with 2 T milk (I use fairlife filtered skim milk for extra protein). Stir this in a small pot over low heat so the cocoa powder, sweetener, and milk are like a paste, then add more milk to equal one cup (or just add a cup of milk, no need to be exact!). The reason I blend the cocoa powder with a small amount of milk first is that the cocoa can clump if you add it to all the milk at once first. Make sure you are using unsweetened cocoa, the kind used in baking, not hot chocolate mix!

Wow! I can't believe that's just from 13 lbs pre-op! I've lost 27 lbs and I can't even tell a difference.

I hope the time starts to go by faster. So far it's going really slow... mostly because work is slow. I have more travel coming up so that should make it go faster soon (yes, I'm vaccinated!). Thanks!

I'd rather not bake than bake with "low carb" versions of ingredients. I know there are things you can make, but it's just not the same. When I'm ready to bake I will, but thank you for the suggestions.

I've tried almond flour and it really doesn't taste good enough to be worth the calories - it can have as many if not more than the calories of regular baked goods. And the texture is still wrong.

I went through all the crafts I could think of during the pandemic. Soap making, knitting, baking, cooking... I really want to get out of my house but there's no where to go.

I don't worry about fat. It's carbs that are problematic for me, and it's hard to bake without flour and sugar (the substitutes just don't give the right structure/texture).

I wouldn't worry about the 1 month expiration date on the salad dressing. Most of those are just "best by" dates, it will be fine for a long time afterwards. Just sniff it if you're unsure. Most products are find well after the so-called expiration date. Just keep it in the fridge. There are some things that don't stay very well like milk, meat, nuts, and soda, (and twinkies - it's a myth that they live forever. the oil goes rancid pretty fast). I buy Bolthouse Ranch from the refrigerator section and it's supposedly only good for a month or two but I'll use it at least six months after that.

The BMI was never meant to measure individuals. It was developed as a population measure.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I think this is common not just in romantic relationships but also in friendships. When we are heavy and food is central to our life, we form relationships with a certain type of person, and these relationships center around eating a lot and maybe drinking a lot. Also, like @kristieshannon said, sometimes partners can become insecure as people lose weight. Hopefully you'll be able to form a relationship with someone who shares your new healthy relationship with food, and can join you in healthier activities.

It's funny, because I don't think of chili as "fancy" because it's a one pot meal and it doesn't involve a lot of chopping. I don't cook anything fancy either. I didn't cook for about 4 years before the pandemic because I was on the road every week, but during the pandemic I have cooked all the time, so I have tried a lot of new recipes, but this chili I've been making since I was in high school.

Well, it's actually super fast to put together since it's all dumping ingredients out of cans. You can buy pre-chopped frozen onions or get them in the produce section, I always use pre-minced jarred garlic, and you can use all frozen veggies, which is what I almost always do. You can also BUY chili premade at Wendy's, but you asked for a recipe lol!

I've always used cocoa powder in my chili - it goes so well in mole I tried it when I made chili when I was teenager and never stopped. Actually, except for cutting down or eliminating the brown sugar, this is basically the same recipe I've always made. I used to make my own chili seasoning, but now I just find one that doesn't have salt and tweak it to my taste. I used to put carrots in my chili but I discovered I liked corn better, and it's less work. Also, since it's sweeter, I don't miss the brown sugar as much. I haven't tried chickpeas/garbanzos. I'll do that sometime. I still have one more pack of turkey breast from Costco that will probably become chili once I finish the meatballs I made yesterday.... I really need to not buy meat four packs from Costco... it's just too much for one person!!!

I agree 100% with @Jaelzion Once you are past the specific restrictions faze, you have to learn what works best for your body to stay in a healthy weight. There are weight maintainers here who swear by keto and others who do vegan or Mediterranean. It's the same for people who never had WLS. The truth is that there are ZERO randomized controlled long term studies on nutrition because we can't control what humans eat in the wild, and most humans are not willing to live in a cage for a few years. I can't imagine why. So we don't know what is the "best" healthy diet; we can only guess. In the absence of good science, we have warring factions of "experts" who will sell your their diet books. Talk to a nutritionist who specializes in bariatric patients, but also think about what foods make you and your new stomach happy. Are you a true carnivore? Probably a traditional mediterranean diet won't work for you (also true if grains don't sit well with your new stomach!). Maybe try low carb! Do fatty foods now upset your tummy? Maybe don't do keto! Some nutritionists will tell you that artificial sweeteners are the worst thing in the world but honestly, there is no good evidence of that. Most of the limited studies have serious methodological flaws (I studied research methodology as an undergrad and I can pick apart almost any study). Newer research shows that they're basically weight neutral. Maybe you don't want to use them anyway, Fine, but if you're the type of person who needs a sweet treat, consider them an option.

If your lips are dry, I also suggest lip balm/chap stick. Just keep taking small sips every few minutes. Since you are not able to "guzzle" and gulp, you are not getting as much liquids in as you are used to. Keep a bottle of water next to you and sip-sip-sip. Keep track of how much you are actually drinking by measuring how many empty bottles/glasses you have gone through in a day to see if you're getting enough. When in doubt, reach out to your surgery center.

I had initially wanted bypass but because I have bipolar disorder and take a lot of medication for that, the surgeon and my psychopharmacologist both recommended sleeve, which is unfortunate, since I also have GERD. I just don't want to mess around with my meds, so I'm going to go with the sleeve and deal with the GERD.