Spinoza

Just updating to say I entered onederland today and it's every bit as good as I remember. I hope I never leave. Onwards and downwards!!

Mine too - is that not how the liver gets shrunk? I was on 800 calories a day for 2 weeks pre-op. OP I hope you can get back on the horse and not slip again - it would be awful if your operation didn't go ahead. It is super hard though. Good luck.

I'm a very private person generally so I have told my partner and children and nobody else, and I don't think I ever will. Totally my business and my choice. I won't tell a lie if asked outright but I will deflect - 'wow - what makes you think that?' etc. It would take a very determined and persistent questioner to get past me My life, and nobody else's opinions are necessary to validate my decisions thank you very much.

Really helpful - thank you!

Just scarily well organised

OMG this looks amazing! Thank you for the recipe.

Thank you and thanks to ForMyOhana - I am an idiot for not thinking of this myself - I *know* that I drink flavoured water much quicker - doing that from tomorrow. Edited to add - I am on around 1000 - 1100 calories a day now. Maybe a bit more at the weekend when I have a glass of wine. And I am on 4-6 small meals or snacks a day now, very variable. I always make up my calories at the end of the day so I'l have cheese or hummus or nut butter if I haven't got to 1000 by bedtime. Protein is no problem because I like to snack on deli meat or meat I cook myself and cut up for my tub in the fridge. I have a meat tub AND a cheese tub, LOL.

Oh wow I've looked that up and it looks amazing - thank you! I do use a travel mug when I remember but even that doesn't save me from big gulps of lukewarm coffee when I forget how long it's been sitting there.

I stir out all the fizz and drink it pretty much flat. Even with that there are immediate burps - sometimes very impressive ones

I think loads of us experience the very same anxiety whilst we're on a liquid diet. The initial jitteriness of your stomach from being cut open and hauled about settles down, and liquids slide right through your pouch and out the other side. I totally convinced myself my surgery had gone horribly wrong. Please don't worry too much - as soon as you start eating more solid food you will fill up really quickly. Sounds like you're recovering really well

Oh these are fab - thank you! I love wordle and quordle but now I have more games to play!

Fab to hear your update @DaisyAndSunshine 13lbs is so inspiring - to you and everyone here! I've lost 10 or 11lbs a month for the last 3 months now. Not expecting things to stay at that rate but it's pretty sweet while it lasts. We've lost a similar amount and have a similar way to go. Bring it on! My main issue remains getting enough fluids would you believe. I get hungry and eat without thinking that I will need an hour (more usually) afterwards to let that settle so I can drink. And then I get hungry again and have to eat RIGHT NOW. I have tried loads of different strategies but I think my work is to blame - it's so busy and immersive that my coffee goes cold and my water bottle just sits there. What I often end up doing is drinking two or three glasses of diet coke after my evening meal and before my supper - I seem to have no problem getting *that* in!

Wow that really is a big difference - looks fab! I think I would be too chicken to have it myself though - pain is to be avoided at all costs I'm sure you're thrilled with how you look having had those little nips and tucks - it's like the icing on the cake of weight loss My belly is getting really flabby now 70lbs into this but I'm a big fan of spanx and so far they're really doing the job. I have a holiday in July so will need to see how I feel in swimwear - I suspect a lot better than the last time I wore it, and I will be getting some with all the underwiring and pulling in power I possible can! (Any recommendations anyone?)

Same here. Absolutely no regrets almost 5 months out - other than not doing it 12 years ago when I first contacted my surgeon and he talked me out of it.

Not your target audience but I started off at 276 lbs and 4.5 months after gastric sleeve I'm overweight (rather than morbidly obese) for the first time in 10 years. Surgery is the only way to lose a significant amount of weight and have a good chance of keeping it off. I could not be happier with my choice to do this - only wish I had done it years ago!

Abso-flipping-lutely this

I am 4.5 months post sleeve and I eat salad all the time. Have done for several weeks without a problem. I have also drunk alcohol from about 6 weeks post op, again no issue with that other than that I need to count calories very carefully at the weekend when I imbibe. I live in Ireland and it's really hard to do anything social without having alcohol so I needed to incorporate that into my diet pretty early. I understand that lots of people won't want or need to. Horses for courses!

I think you need to relax into it. Also if possible separate out your aspiration to lose more from your fear of regaining what you have lost (and kept off). What you have done is to lose 82lbs of fat and to keep it off for 2 years. Absolutely amazing - you used the tool surgery gave you so well. There was a bottoming out before that, which is really common. Sounds like the mid 150s might be the new set point you got from surgery. If you keep trying to push diet and exercise to get below that again you might find it difficult/impossible to maintain, and you could even mess with that new set point. I know we are human and will always aspire to more/better/faster, but could you live with being 155 if you measured that against the loss of the pressure/guilt to lose those 'last 18lbs'? With regard to regaining everything you have lost, I suspect there's a little devil whispering that to all of us. Shove a big wedge of cucumber in his mouth and shut him right up. You are the BOSS of weight loss.

👊 Amazing! Lovely to hear you're doing so well. Also I think you're exceptionally strong to have had surgery aged 21. How I wish I had - I bet lots of people tried to talk you out of it.

Loving this thread! I also have 6 different sizes of clothes - 11 years ago I weighed what I want to weigh long term, although it proved impossible to maintain. So I have been dragging out clothing in smaller sizes as I lose weight. I haven't given any away as yet but I really do need to now (closet space!) I will probably keep my biggest jeans for sentimental reasons but everything else will go to a charity shop. I've had to buy a couple of things there too and it just makes so much sense.

Really interesting - thank you for this! The 3 month calculation already hasn't worked out for me - I lost very slowly at the start. I didn't know that there was a correlation (and I wonder how close that is) between the appearance of the neck and upper chest, and visceral fat. Also never considered that excessive dietary restriction or excessive exercise after surgery might raise the body's set point. Really worth watching - thanks again. 🤗

I think this happens to lots of people and will happen to lots of us here. I would (being me) analyse the heck out of why it happened, try not to let that set of circumstances arise in the future, and then forgive myself and move on. It's one day and one chocolate bar - it's not the rest of your life and guilt can be so destructive. I was a massive consumer of chocolate before my surgery. I keep a 100% bar in the cupboard for times I *think* I need some. No sugar but mega chocolaty and I love it, but don't eat more than a square or two at a time. I had anti-acid medication for 3 months post op and have been fine since then without it (thankfully!)

Absolutely normal, sounds like a stall and should be over soon. 🤗

Good advice here. It sounds like you're ready to start your journey again. I hope you are healing and continue to heal from those big losses. Your plan sounds excellent - as MGBD says, head first. Keep telling us here how you're getting along - we will all be rooting for you. I believe that in no time at all you'll be shedding your weight and claiming your new life. Good luck x

Oh I love hearing how well you're all doing. Seems like no time since surgery but also seems like a lifetime ago. 🤩