Lisalu

Geez, Tiffykins, I thought I was a foodie. You put me to shame. :-)

Just another vote: C-section hands down.

Autumn, I do not have lupus but my ex did. Tough disease. Please let me know (pm?) if you get some good info about lupus and VSG. My ex wanted bariatric surgery and I'd like to be able to give her some more info. What's the problem with bypass and lupus? Many people with lupus already have to do B12 shots because of the lupus attacking the intrinsic factor in their gut, so it seems that bypass wouldn't make it any worse. But then again, I don't hsve lupus and don't know the full scale of all the problems it can cause.

Well, some of my tastes changed shortly after surgery and then they stayed stable for a couple months. Now they keep on changing and I'm finding it frustrating. I think I like something, make it and then I can't eat/drink it. For the past 6 weeks or so I have been making Protein smoothies with silken tofu, fruit or chai extract (DaVinci's), soy milk, whey protein and a liitle psyllium. I loved them. This morning I made one with fresh mango. It tasted like play-doh and I had to dump it. Next I tried soymilk, chocolate Protein powder and psyllium--inedible. Somehow I could taste the unflavored psyllium powder. Finally, I just grabbed an Atkin's RTD shake, mocha flavor. I really liked them after surgery but now it was just tolerable. For the past 5 days food is really hard on my stomach. I threw up after lunch on Tuesday. This is a first for me. I think I ate too much. I haven't thrown up since but food sits really heavy. I thought, OK, "I'll just go with more Protein shakes for a while," but those taste terrible now. Last night at a party I ate the topping from a piece of pizza. It tasted good going down but didn't settle well. (Ok, maybe that was because of the 1/2 beer I had before it.) It's just new to me to have to be so careful with my food choices. Before someone reminds me that I got this sleeve in order to be free of my food addiction, let me say that I know that. Also, that in the grand scheme of things, I'd much rather have these current food problems than be obese. It is, however, disorienting and hard to find a way to get my nutrients in when my tastes keep changing.

I looked at this article. It seems the increase in mortality was very small--it hardly reached statistical significance.

I'm only 10 weeks out but no regrets. I think you CAN try everything at Xmas dinner, just put tiny portions on your plate. I sometimes eat with a cocktail fork. This means my bites are tiny--about the size of a raisin. If I do this and chew every bite about 25 times, then I eat about at the same pace as others and don't finish 20 minutes before everyone else. Today I didn't do that. I was eating lunch while on the computer (I know, shame on me), and so my bites were too big and I didn't chew enough. My food was dense Protein and now I'm full way too soon. I'm a slow learner though, I've done this twice this week.

When can I expect this lovely hair loss to begin?

Hi Everybody, I'm out (gaywise) with my colleagues at work but not in all places. For example, I'm not out with my adult students. Many are from other countries and I just don't want my sexuality to be the issue. I want them to be focused on the subject matter I am teaching. This caused a lot of friction with my ex-wife. She was out to everyone everywhere all the time and wanted me to acknowledge her as my partner to everyone in all circumstances. Another problem with being out with people I don't know well is that I identify as bisexual not lesbian. Some straight people think I'll @#$% anything that moves. Many lesbians view me with suspicion because they think I will leave them for a man. I think a lot of people think in pretty rigid categories, so when someone has Fluid sexuality like mine, it just doesn't make sense to them. But I am getting off topic. I'm here to talk about coming out about WLS. Do we come out to everyone to reduce stigma and educate or do we keep quiet and protect ourselves? I guess I have some guilt about not being completely out with my sexuality. I know why I haven't been but I do agree with Harvey Milk that if we all were out all the time, homophobia would disappear pretty fast. It's just that I haven't been willing to personally pay the price to lead the way. After all, look what happened to Harvey. So now I'm dealing with the issue again with WLS. I feel the most socially responsible thing I could do is to be a champion of WLS, talking about my experience to everyone I can. Part of me, though, just doesn't want to deal with people's ignorant judgements. What do you all think? What have you decided for yourselves? I'd love to hear your feedback.

Hi Will. I haven't been on this forum in ages. I thought you were family though from your posts on other forums. Something about your other posts made my gaydar go ding ding ding. :-) What are you doing in Yellowknife? Are you from there? Do you get midnight sun? I live in the SW desert so Yellowknife seems exotic.

Oooh Tom Yum soup. I hope I still like it. I may try tonight. I got some Patak's Madras Curry paste. I'm going to try to make some deviled eggs with it (curried eggs actually). I'm hoping I still like Indian, just not trader joe's. The weird thing is that I'm craving it. Will it be as good as I've anticipated?

I got a card but I haven't used it. I eat so little that I usually ask a friend to share with me, though sometimes I order something small. I don't like coming home with a week's worth of leftovers, so I like it when I can share.

Lately, I don't like anything. OK, that's not entirely true, but I don't like most of the things I'm supposed to be eating. Chicken--gross, pork--gross, eggs--gross, etc. I have tried 2 trader joe's indian dinners in the past week and both tasted terrible to me. I find that disappointing. Mostly I want fruits and veggies. And carbs. I think I will indulge myself in eating more veggies even if that means I'm low on Protein for a couple days. I eat about 1 serving of fruit a day in my protein smoothies. Yum. I'm planning to buy a loaf of German Vollkornbrot--the german bread that is as heavy as a brick. I love that stuff (ok, I used to, not sure about now.) I need to eat it in moderation as my nut doesn't want me to eat grain at all and carbs have been a problem in the past. In the end though, in spite of no longer liking indian or vietnamese, it's completely worth it. It's just weird not to know what I like.

Coops, I think losing in fits and starts is the rule rather than the exception. This is why I try to weigh just once a month. It's hard sometimes---we all have the temptation to step on the scale just to check. For me that spells obsession and discouragement. I just follow my diet and exercise plan and get on the scale around the first of each month.

Yep,yep, I feel like I could eat the paint off the walls a couple of days before my period. Twice now, I've thought: "Oh crap, my sleeve doesn't work. I'm going to gain all the wait I've lost." Then a day later, my period starts and I have very little appetite. My periods are irregular so I can't predict when I'm going to have these supercravings. You are not alone.

I tried 1 dove dark promise yesterday and now I've confirmed it: I still love chocolate.

Actually, the comments were not as bad as I expected. Yes, some of the writers were seriously ignorant and judgemental, but not all which I thought was encouraging. It is very difficult for some people to understand ANYTHING out of their own limited experience. Just because they don't have a weight problem, they think that those who do suffer from gluttony. We see the same thing with drug/alcohol addiction and poverty. It's simpler for these people to pass judgement than to realize the complexity of the issues involved. Thank goodness NHS is continuing to pay for WLS. I don't blame you for being annoyed, Jane; it is annoying. I would like to submit the idea, however, that it could be much worse. I live in the US where there is no comprehensive coverage. I also live in AZ where the government is just plain mean-spirited. I could go into detail here but I don't want to start a political debate. Let me just say that I think they are fascist a-holes.

I told just a few people before my surgery. Now, 8 weeks after, I'm starting to tell more and more people. I only tell people if they ask how I managed to lose so much weight. I could say diet and exercise but that would be a lie of omission IMHO. Diet and exercise haven't gotten me here; the surgery has. I don't think there is one correct answer about telling or not telling. It's all about what you are comfortable with. I'm pretty open and extroverted so maybe I will tell more people. Others like to keep what they feel is personal, well, personal. Play it by ear.

Theory # 2: She had a hundred and thirty pound tumor they removed. I think I saw something like that on Discovery Health. I don't think it is possible to lose 130 lbs in 4 months if your ending weight is low-normal. The only people I have seen lose 30+ lbs a month over 4 months have had about 200 to lose. Could she have had undiagnosed severe diabetes? Unlikely. I think it's your basic sham.

You know how when you tell people you are going to have bariatric surgery, they say, "You don't need that! It's so drastic. Why don't you just try a diet?" Well my situation with my DS was different. I WAS thinking about surgery but I hadn't told anyone. My sister sends me an email out of the blue, offering to give me her old shoes (she has over 100 pairs), if I lose weight. I hadn't told her I was trying to lose weight, nor had I asked for her shoe cast offs (though they are pretty nice and expensive). Specifically she offers to send me her top quality boots (many pairs) from the 1980's. Gee thanks, DS, hard to pass up. Then she suggests that I might find a bariatric consult helpful!! GEEZ! So I don't respond. My sister can be insulting but she's also so strange and clueless that she's hard to take seriously. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt me, she was just being her interfering, clueless self. So I have my surgery and last month I decide to tell the family. So I told her over the phone and she said, "Oh, I'm so glad you decided to do something about that!" Mind you, she is rather overweight herself. Sometimes, relatives are so weird, you've just gotta laugh.

Ahh, Rittersport. I remember that chocolate fondly from Germany. I love the noisette and the marzipan. Haven't had it since surgery because I'm afraid I'll still love it. I did try about a teaspoon of nutella. It, unfortunately, was still heaven.

blackberryjuice: of course. I don't make witty comments that often--I'd like them to get as much circulation as possible.

maybe she forgot to mention that the "diet" portion of her "diet and exercise" regime consisted entirely of methamphetamine

Ah yes, the boots. I live in the southwest desert. It never rains. It's never cold. What do I want boots for? Never need them here. And they're really gonna be fashionable too.

OK, I know this is a loaded question, but I've got to ask: Does anyone feel any moral obligation to tell people in order to educate people and combat the stigma of obesity? I've done the research, I know. Obesity is not a moral failure--it's largely a matter of genetics (see Stunkard 1986 for the landmark study). Diet and exercise do not work in the long run for at least 95% of the people (can't remember the citation here but it's famous). So this idea that surgery is taking the easy way out is just BS---surgery is likely to be the only way out. I think, ironically, that this is rather like the decision that gay people must make about telling people. On the one hand, it's private and no one's business. On the other hand, the world would be a much more gay-friendly place if everyone came out. Oh, and also it's a pain in the butt to keep secrets and not have people know some significant truths about you. So the question is: how much is the personal political (to use a 70's feminist phrase) and how much is is just personal? I'm not sure where I land on this.

7 1/2 weeks out. Yesterday I had: (work Breakfast buffet) 1 scrambled egg white 1/6 strip bacon 1 T low fat sausage 2 1" cubes of watermelon (lunch) cheese from 2 pieces of a medium pizza (between 1 1/2 and 2 oz I'd guess) 1/4 cup lettuce with dressing (snack) 3 1/2 calamari rings w/o breading (dinner) 1 oz kippered herring (supplements) 2 Protein shakes My estimate is somewhere less than 800 calories and at least 65 gr of protein.