lizonaplane

I was watching this show while on the treadmill every day for a while. Then I got bursitis in my hip from walking every day... (don't go from zero activity to the same exercise every day!) So, I stopped watching. But yes, I wanted to throttle Penny. I have posted on FB about having surgery and people were supportive, but when I told a few people at work (due to scheduling issues) it was all over the map. I mean, to be fair, most of the people I work with have never met me, because we live all over the country, so they don't know I'm overweight. Two people asked "Is this your choice?" Like someone could force you to have WLS! One person asked my weight LOL. I told her. Weird! I wonder if their ideas of WLS are 600 lb life?

I wasn't trying to sell anything. I used to make and sell jewelry ages ago but I'm a terrible salesperson. I just give stuff away. Even that is hard enough!

I was giving so many baked goods away! I joined my neighborhood Buy Nothing Project group on Facebook and posted bread, cookies, cakes etc everyday (work was really slow), but I was still eating too much of it. Then I switched to making soap, and now I'm drowning in soap, but at least I'm not eating it! However, I am bored with that, so now I'm just working on my weight, and work has finally picked up again, thankfully. I did receive some lovely succulents from my neighbors in the group as well! I'm a terrible plant parent, but I haven't killed them yet.

I was doing that! I joined my neighborhood buy nothing group on Facebook and gave away a lot but I still ate too much. Then I started making soap but I was drowning in it, even giving away as much as I could. My problem is I can't do anything in moderation lol.

I initially gave up coffee (I only drink iced) when I changed my diet in preparation for surgery, but then I realized most people still drink coffee except for maybe a month before/after surgery. So, after almost two months without iced coffee, I went back to it, but in a slightly smaller amount. It's so heavenly. I have to use milk (I use skim Fairlife protein milk now) and a good bit of Splenda, but I LOVE me some iced coffee.

I did switch from literally "pinching" to using a bench scraper to "figuratively" pinch small pieces of dough after watching some training videos on sourdough and I have to say that I never noticed a difference. So, YMMV. I can recommend that there is an excellent teacher who has classes on Udemy. I think her first name is Teresa or Theresa. She works with sourdough. Excellent explanations and videos. Usually you can get a course for like $15. I had to stop baking because I had gained 25lbs. This is how I got to the point where I decided I was ready for surgery, so I guess that's good.

I hate everything about exercise too. Being sweaty, exertion, etc. I have a treadmill now and I was using it every day while watching TV until I got an overuse injury (bursitis) in my hip. I would highly recommend getting an exercise bike/elliptical/treadmill you can use in front of the TV to distract yourself, but don't go from never to doing it every day like I did! Also, I was doing an incline so I could get my hr up. Yeah, should have paced myself lol! The other thing I like is hiking with family for vacation. I like hiking with my parents because they are 70 yrs old so they are as slow as me. I like hiking because I can just stop and take pictures, and every hike is beautiful (well, most of them!). We do easy hikes with not too much elevation because my dad and I are scared of heights. I could never do a class Like Peloton where you are competing with other people or a gym where the trainer is shouting motivational things at you. Let me just enjoy my tv or the pretty surroundings and I'll tolerate my body moving! (PS - you can get a regular exercise bike that's NOT a peloton!)

I was a chain-diet-soda drinker until I started preparing for surgery. It was the thing I was most afraid of stopping, but I've had two sodas in the past two months and I really didn't even like them. I drink a ton of water now. But I'm still having a hard time not drinking with meals and sipping it slowly. That bothers me more than giving up soda, honestly. I have completely changed my eating habits to prepare for surgery - more protein, much less sugar. I never was big on pasta, rice, potatoes (except french fries!!), etc. I just have a hard time getting myself to eat enough meat, so mostly right now I'm eating dairy, veggies, and fruit with beans, and some meat and fish. My surgery program won't really tell me anything about what they don't allow after surgery. They just want me to learn the basics of nutrition, which is dumb, because, hello, I've read nutrition textbooks, I know what's healthy, I just can't stick to it! I've lost and regained hundreds of pounds!

I made bread throughout the first half of the pandemic and I added to my lumps to make them an equal weight. You don't have to "knead" them. Just sort of "roll" them together gently. Like, you do one rise where it's all in a bowl then weigh your whole big dough ball, divide by twelve or however many rolls you are making. Then pinch a piece of dough. Say you're 10 g off... go ahead and pinch a bit more off the big dough ball and roll it gently in your hands or on your counter. It won't deflate completely and it won't affect your 2nd rise at all. You can probably find a youtube video on this if my description doesn't make sense. On the other hand, if you enter 30 grams of roll into your calorie app but one day it's 27 and the next it's actually 33, it all comes out even in the end anyway! But it makes for a better bake by getting it even.

I haven't even had my surgery yet, but due to medications I have taken for decades, I have a lot of problems with constipation, especially when I eat "healthy" (i.e., not too much fat). Here is what I have learned: 1) I can't speak highly enough about Miralax. Amazon and Costco both have great generic versions. I find it mixes well in room temp beverages like tea, coffee, Crystal Light, etc. (I used to drink it in soda, but no longer drink fizzy drinks). Miralax usually doesn't work right away, so start taking it as soon as there's a problem, and it only works if you're taking it with FLUIDS. 2) exercise helps a LOT. it might just be a brisk walk 3) Don't expect to have to "go" every single day. While that might be "normal" it's okay not to go every day. 4) Fat helps, but depending on the cause of your constipation, fiber might not. I can literally eat 40 grams of fiber every day and not poop for 5 days. Increasing my fiber just makes me more uncomfortable. Just because they advertise fiber for "regularity" on TV doesn't mean it works for all causes of constipation 5) Laxative suppositories are a great last resort... don't plan anything fun for that evening.

That sucks... I have bipolar disorder and I gained 100 lbs in two years when I first started on meds when I was 14. Most of the bipolar meds cause weight gain. It's going to be hard for your doc to find one that doesn't! And insurance is always looking for a way to deny coverage anyway (seriously - I studied this in graduate school). I would wait until your meds are stable before trying again. Once you've been on a particular medication for a while your weight gain usually stops as long as you focus really hard. Plus, you want your mental health to be really stable before undergoing this process. I was told I had to get my psychiatrist to approve me since I have bipolar. I hope it works for you!

I never knew that being nauseous in the morning before eating was due to gastritis! That's always been the case for me. I wanted gastric bypass but because I have bipolar disorder, the surgeon and my psychopharmacologist both strongly suggested the sleeve instead, because of not being able to manage the bipolar meds as easily with the bypass. The surgeon knows I have gastritis/GERD but he still feels that way. They don't do band at this location and I wouldn't consider it anyway. I'm already on omeprazole. I guess we'll see what happens...

I liked the one I saw, but she just asked me a bunch of questions and focused on how I "sometimes skip breakfast". Well, I do that about 4 times a year when I visit my ex because we sleep till lunchtime! She never asked me how often or under what circumstances! It's just in my permanent file now lol. But I would rather have a great surgeon cut my stomach out and a mediocre dietician than a fabulous dietician tell me things I can look up online and a mediocre surgeon operating on me!! If they're part of a package, take the better surgeon, If the surgeons are both good, go with convenience, because you don't want to have excuses to miss follow up appointments.

Yes, my pre-op diet will be I think 1 shake and two meals a day that are low carb and high protein.

I'm not good at keeping quiet about my life so I've posted it on facebook and told most people, including my line manager. I didn't tell everyone at work, although I will most likely have to take a month off from work because I won't be able to lift my suitcase to travel for work, so I said I will be likely have to take a month off "for surgery" this summer. Many of my co-workers have never met me because we all work in different parts of the country remotely (even before COVID) so they likely don't even know I'm overweight. Everyone has been supportive, except for one person on facebook who had a bad experience with her own WLS and insists that weight has nothing to do with health and that we're all tools of the media, etc, etc. She gained her weight back and now doesn't even try to eat healthy, based on her food pix. She got into it on my page with people who were trying to be supportive, but everyone knew that was her bs and I don't care. My family is supportive and I have friends who have told me about their own surgeries and offered to talk to me any time. I've been very lucky.

What about regular plain yogurt with a bit of splenda/stevia/vanilla/honey? Goat cheese? (Not sure what is allowed as I'm several month prior to surgery, but I like food). Refried beans with cheese? I hit a wall with protein drinks this morning and I'm not a fan of eggs so I'm trying to find ideas for protein heavy breakfasts now, and I get it that trying to get yourself to eat something YOU JUST DON'T LIKE is not going to work!

I haven't had surgery yet, but I know mine is going to be almost 6 months at least. I called at the end of January and I won't be able to be scheduled till July at the earliest because I had to meet with the NP, the surgeon, the dietitian, the psychologist, and THEN have once a month nutrition classes for 4 months! After those are over in June I can have anything else they need done (not sure what) and schedule the surgery.

I had to wait about 2 weeks for the NP appointment, which was just a group class, and then about a month for the surgeon, but I think he had more time because they are not doing surgeries right now due to COVID. I had a much longer wait (like almost 3 months) for the psychologist initially, but I went on the cancellation list and was called almost immediately that she had a cancellation. Good luck!

I have really bad dry mouth from meds I take and I have found that sour sugar free sucking candies (the equivalent of breathmints) really do well for me. I only need one for several hours worth of relief. You could ask your program if that is okay, since it only has like 3 calories per piece and it's not swallowed or chewed. Other people like gum, but I can't chew gum due to the dental problems from the dry mouth. I never found any biotene stuff to work for me, but I know other people swear by it. Another thing that works is iced mint tea. just make hot mint tea and pour it over ice or make a pitcher and keep it in the fridge - it's herbal so no caffeine unless you buy "green tea with mint" which is something different. Good luck!

I am probably not having surgery till July at least, since I have four months of required nutrition classes. I started at the end of January and here is what I've done: 1) Cut out diet soda COMPLETELY (this is huge since I used to drink about 5 cans a day 2) Focus on protein and then veggies, and reduce fruit (hard because I love fruit) and carbs (not a carb lover except sweets!) 3) cut down to 1200-1400 calories a day 4) exercise 30+ minutes almost every day 5) wait 30 minutes after eating to drink and not chug my water (this is hard because I take meds that cause dry mouth) 6) Cut out iced coffee (this wasn't necessary but my iced coffees were huge and I don't really miss them) I'm still working on taking smaller bites and chewing better. I haven't got this down yet. I never drank or smoked so those aren't issues. I've lost 18 lbs so far but now I'm totally stalled.

I have had some doubts that have kept me from the surgery for many years. I'm at a 46 BMI, down from 49.6 before starting (again) to try to lose weight in preparation for surgery. I lost 100 lbs 5 years ago just counting calories and exercising when my job was boring, but I gained almost all of it back when I got a job traveling and then the pandemic happened. 98% of people who lose weight through diet and exercise gain it back. The odds are better with WLS. Not great, but better. I also thought since I had lost 100 lbs before why should I have surgery, but I know if I lose it on my own it will just come back again, and with surgery, I'll have a better shot at keeping it off. I'm scared of the surgery, but I'm uncomfortable all the time and it's no longer fun to do what I love, which is flying and traveling. I also was having a hard time just moving around. I'm not saying you should have the surgery, but consider that your odds of being successful with keeping weight off are better with WLS than with diet and exercise alone.