*susan*

I remember some of the 80's, when I wasn't drinking too many White Russian's. And yep, I'm so old I fart dust. Sent from my iPad using VST

I never did leave the 80's. Heck, I only just,quit wearing my hair piled ridiculously high, feathered back and held in place with an entire can of aqua net. I think I am also the biggest contributor to the ozone problem. Sent from my iPad using VST

Umm, as administrator and official "bad guy" because OTR backs off and let's me do all the dirty work, I would say I am the queen of thread killing. And, as I don't see much talk about alcohol, may I add, I am drinking a White Russian while posting this. Which, as per what I mentioned to Laura earlier, I now have to leave or else I may get banned. Sent from my iPad using VST

I don't buy the whole soda or beer stretches the stomach thing either. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I drink soda and beer and at four years out my stomach is still very tiny. Sent from my iPad using VST

Oh goodness, how awful. I am so thankful both of you are okay. Please take care and give yourself proper time to heal. Sent from my iPad using VST

Rena82, I am a band to sleeve revision as well. First, my port flipped, then my band slipped, then it slipped again and finally, it started to erode into my stomach. My surgeon had me have a complete unfill one month prior to my surgery. Then, I was on liquids only for two weeks pre-op to give my stomach the opportunity to heal as much as possible. I was able to have my band removed and get sleeved all in one operation. I have not had any problems, love my sleeve and haven't looked back since. Hopefully, things will go as smoothly for you as well. Sent from my iPad using VST

Wow, I am so sorry your family feels that way. Have you shown them your research supporting that it is safe for you to travel to Mexico and how they have some of the best, most experienced surgeons? Maybe that would help alleviate some of their fears. It is natural for them to be worried, as they love you. You just have to reassure them Mexico is no different than the US, there are places that are safe and there are places in just about every town that isn't, and we all know to stay away from them. They just have to trust that you haven't entered into this decision lightly, you have done your research and have made the best, safest choice for you. Sent from my iPad using VST

I agree, the decision to have weight loss surgery is a personal one, as is the decision of who to share it with. If you don't want to share, then just tell them you are cutting back and eating healthier in an effort to lose weight and improve your overall health. If they ask why you are not drinking you can say research shows that alcohol inhibits your ability to lose weight and therefore you choose not to partake of it right now. Sent from my iPad using VST

Lol, well okay then! Sent from my iPad using VST

Bellathin, what was your old user name? I will go in and reset your password for you. Sent from my iPad using VST

I don't know what the deal is with milk. Pre sleeve I loved milk and drank two or three glasses a day. Now, it seems like one day I am lactose intolerant and the next day I am not. It is crazy. Sent from my iPad using VST

I think the best thing to do, is if you feel someone is being inappropriate or violating our rules, then hit the report button and let myself, Alex, or OTR make the decision as to whether or not they are out of line. If they are, we will address it. It is important to remember, you are on a forum with literally thousands of members and thousands of different personalities. Not everyone is going to get along, not everyone is going to agree with what everyone else says. It is how we handle those disagreements and conflicts that counts. You can either choose to debate in an adult manner, posting concise statements as to why you disagree with their theory and adding what you consider to be solid proof as to why you believe your way is the better way to go; or you can argue like children, bickering back and forth until the thread is no longer what the original poster had intended it to be, but has instead derailed to a bunch of people attacking one another and not getting anywhere as a result.

Honestly, I think everyone is different. You need to find what works for you and your body and go with it. I am four years out. For the first year, I lived on 800 calories a day. Then, I maxed out at around 1200 a day. For the past eight months, I have been battling with gaining and losing the same three pounds. I was so sick of it. I had no energy and generally just didn't feel too great. My fiancé is a nutritionist and a personal trainer. For two years he has been preaching to me that eating so few calories for the the first few months of the weight loss phase was one thing, but that it wasn't healthy to maintain that few calories long term. He kept insisting I needed to eat more in order to lose weight. Like another poster said, he told me I wasn't losing weight anymore because my metabolism was so incredibly messed up. My body had gotten used to the fact that I was starving it, so my metabolism slowed way down to compensate for it and my body started storing fat. About six weeks ago I decided to give his method a try. We figured out my base TTDE based on my age, weight, height and activity level. Just for my body to do nothing but lie in bed all day and do nothing but breath, I would need to eat a baseline of 1950 calories a day! So, we moved forward to "reset" my metabolism. I now eat about every two hours. I don't eat junk, I eat high Protein, healthy foods. The first few weeks, I gained between one and two pounds per week. I was in panic mode. I was terrified of eating this way, I just knew I was going to end up fat again. But, I promised him I would try it his way and would give it eight weeks. He warned me that I would probably gain weight at first, he said my body was going to take all those extra calories and hold onto them, because it isn't used to my actually fueling it like I should. But he promised if I stuck with it, I would get past the gain stage, and my metabolism would pick up again. Well, I finally stopped gaining and was maintaining. Next, he dropped me to 1750 calories a day, and if I exercise, I would eat those calories back. Guess what, it is working! I am now back to losing one to two pounds a week again and couldn't be happier. I have more energy and feel better than I have in two years. So, I do believe we need to keep our bodies fueled. I have done a lot of research on this in the past few weeks, along with finally listening to my own personal nutritionist/fiancé. I have a healthy Breakfast, then a couple hours later I will have a Protein Bar. I eat a healthy lunch. In the afternoon I snack on fruits, cheese, Protein Bars, nuts, beef Jerky, whatever strikes my fancy. I have a healthy dinner and, usually a snack about two hours before bedtime. My body has responded well to fueling it every few hours and I am a believer now. Just wish I would have listened to him two years ago! Sent from my iPad using VST

Oh wow, I am so glad I am not the only one! We went out with friends last week. I had a few drinks and was mindlessly grazing all night long. It hit me all of a sudden, I felt miserable, like I was going to explode. I went off and sat by myself for a bit, thinking/hoping the feeling would pass, but it didn't. I couldn't stand it, I was miserable. I ended up going to the ladies room and making myself vomit. I felt so much better, it was crazy. That is definitely not something I want to make a habit of, I actually was torn between feeling guilty like I had done something wrong, and feeling great relief from having felt like my stomach was going to burst. I guess it just goes to show, we are all human. But, it is also nice to know that my sleeve is obviously still working well at four years out. Sent from my iPad using VST

I drink one or two caffeine free diet cokes every day. I love them and enjoy them with no issues. Sent from my iPad using VST

Medical tourism is great, provided you do your research. That is vital, it is your body, your health and your future that you are talking about and you need to take this seriously. Don't base your decision on who is the cheapest, your health is worth more than that. You want to go with an experienced, well trained, well respected surgeon. You want to make sure that the facilities they use are state of the art and Bariatric Centers of Excellence. Make sure that you fully understand the care you will be receiving before, during and after your surgery. Talk to other people, find out who they used, ask them to share their personal experience with you and make an informed decision. Another important thing to consider is, as Alex, VST founder and I have seen, the biggest concern people have after having weight loss surgery out of the country is that the support and follow up is not the same as for those who have their surgery closer to home. That is why Alex started www.MySurgeryOptions.com . He personally researched and visited all of the surgeons to ensure we only work with the best. And, your care doesn't stop once you have had your surgery. Afterwards, you have unlimited access to our health advisor, as well as our nutritionist/personal trainer. You have continued support, from start to goal, 24/7 via phone, email, and, of course, these forums. Sent from my iPad using VST

Honestly, if someone who really doesn't know me, has only seen me from a few posts on a message board, were to suggest I need therapy, I would be offended as well. Reason being, I think we all know what we are supposed to do when we get the sleeve. Unfortunately, they sleeved our tummies, not our brains. We didn't get to the point of needing weight loss surgery by having amazing willpower and the ability to just turn our heads and walk away from the things we know are bad for us. I could spend hours in therapy, but that isn't going to take away my cravings or turn me into a super human. I understand why I cheat, I don't need to pay someone to tell me why I eat. I eat because I genuinely enjoy the taste of crap food, I eat when I am depressed and I eat when I am happy. I know there are a million other ways I could deal with being depressed or happy, I know there are healthy choices that taste just as good. Nope, I don't need a therapist to tell me that. And yes, I worked in the mental health field for 13 years as well. Sometimes, you just have to allow yourself to experience the emotions you are going to have. Sometimes, despite having the sleeve, you are going to eat something bad for you. The sleeve fixed my tummy, but all those old reasons I became fat are still there, and even after four years out, they still pop up. Sometimes, we just want to eat what we want to eat without feeling guilty. It's okay. We are human. OP, did you get the sleeve to be normal, or to feel deprived for the rest of your life? I got mine to be normal. I had and continue to have no desire to be on a diet for the rest of my life. And, thanks to my sleeve, I don't have to be. What you have to learn is everything in moderation. A piece of bread is okay. But, it is important to remember that certain things, like bread and Pasta, swell up in your stomach after a bit. And, as you learned, that is really, really uncomfortable. For the newly sleeved especially, learning to eat again is a bit of a trial and error situation. You will learn as you go what your stomach can tolerate, what makes you miserable, etc. And you learned that four pieces of bread is going to result in a really, really miserable feeling. I doubt you will do that again. It is okay to enjoy the foods you love, so long as you do it in moderation and make healthy choices the majority of the time. It is all about learning balance. I am confident you learned a valuable lesson from this, and you will be successful with your sleeve. Just one more thing, and you may already be doing this, I found that monitoring every bite of food on MyFitnessPal really helps me. And when I eat something I am not supposed, I make a note of what I was feeling that day, what was going on that led me to eat something I know I shouldn't have, and how it made me feel. That really helps me to put it down in words, and be able to look back on it as well. Sometimes I just ate something because I was out with friends, at a social event and I wanted to enjoy what everyone else was. And that is 100% okay because I know the majority of the time I do make good choices. It is called living, and you know what, I love living. Much luck and success to you, my sleeve sister!

I promise you, Alex is pretty amazing. Alex, Alex, he's our man, if he can't fix it nobody can! Lol. Sent from my iPad using VST

That is definitely an Alex and Ken issue then. Wish I could help, but that is out of my realm of knowledge. Sent from my iPad using VST

Hmmm, usually the reinstall fixes it. Are you on the latest iOS version? Sent from my iPad using VST

Or your iPhone? Sent from my iPad using VST

Aussielady? Sent from my iPad using VST