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Since we're on the TMI topic... I haven't noticed any change or increase in the stinkiness of poops or farts (lol) BUT my farts have been epically adjusted for maximum loudness!!! I'm talking like a tank / squeaker / foghorn / longest trombone solo ever!! It's so embarrassing I have to hold it in most of the day until I can guarantee no audience! haha. (No more silent but deadlies for this gal!) Anyone have anything similar? hahaha, I love this thread. *Also, I'd recommend trying keeping matches with you. Better than trying to mask an odor with a nice smell on top of a very stinky smell!

How are people affording all these plastics without insurance copays??? I mean, do most people just have an extra $10,000 lying around, or is there some magic financing I'm not aware of? Especially with regards to traveling to places like Mexico to have them done, which sounds amazing and lavish and wonderful, but maybe I'm just not a responsible enough adult to have that much savings? ... most likely this is the case :/ *sigh

Thanks guys! Mostly I was just having a mini pity party [emoji322] haha!

I'm a bit late to the party, but can I join, too? Want to re-charge my motivation and really hit goal weight!

I am in the same boat! 80lbs down and at my NUT's goal (although I'd like to still lose another 20 personally) but I've been letting little snacks slide here and there, creeping back into my eating for a few months now! It got to the point where I had gained 5lbs back, and that was a trend I wanted to stop in its tracks! SO I went back to protein shakes, counting calories, watching protein, water goals, exercise, etc as if I had just started the process again! And wouldn't you know? I've already lost that 5lbs back! Now I'm using this renewed energ yand motivation to stop being complacent and trying to reach my personal goals! My point is, YOU CAN DO IT!!! And this step, posting this online and looking for help, is a great start to get your motivation back!!!! Good luck!! <3

Thank you so much for this post! I am almost a year out, have arguably lost almost all the weight I should (I think I set my goal weight unrealistically low and my doc said I should consider myself at goal, even though I really want to lose a bit more fat off the old belly) BUT what I'm noticing most now that I'm getting a good sense of my weight loss and health maintenance rhythm is this: I get discouraged VERY easily and it affects my ability to keep on fighting the good fight for a while until I get it back. And I think that might be because of that damn number on the scale! So I'm totally copying your #4 tip and swapping to body fat measuring, not worrying about the lbs (as much) and I hope this will help me have a better gauge of how I'm doing from week to week. Thank you!

PS: I think you look amazing and have done a great job, btw

You're my hero for bravery and honesty! I feel these same exact feelings. I'm only 8 months out but have lost almost all the weight and now things are easier and have sorta leveled out, I feel myself pushing the boundaries a little and making the rules a little fuzzy around the edges BUT I am a firm believer that we can always press the reset button. This surgery has taught me how to reboot my dumb brains, and there's no use in beating ourselves up, but rather we can just get hecka motivated and junk and change whatever it is that's bugging us! Yay! Thanks for this post! <3

@LipstickLady Once again you don't disappoint with your comments. Exactly what I was asking / why I was having confusion! Agreed 100%

Okay BPers, please be gentle... but I'm really having a hard time with a very (likely) dumb question. First off, I'm 6 months out from RNY and have lost an amazing nearly 80lbs, which is seriously mind blowing, and I'm in absolute heaven every day! But now that it's becoming easier to eat and there's not the same kind of restriction as there was in the earlier months, I'm really challenged by the 1/2 cup of food thing.... I can't eyeball it, I don't know whether that means 1/2 cup once chewed and in the pouch or 1/2 cup of whatever as it is (chicken vs spinach, for example, is dramatically different in volume when put into a 1/2 cup). My NUT told me to stay under 1000 daily calories at this point and 1/2 cup to 1 cup per meal, and while the calories have been no problem (usually average around 800-900) I still have no idea if I'm eating too much, as I really don't have that original restriction feeling until what seems to me like much more than a cup, even! So, please dear friends, don't forget that age-old-adage: "there are no stupid questions" and share some advice! How do you measure your servings? Should I be worried that I'm stretching my pouch? Thanks!

... just re-read it and realized it comes in cases of 6 boxes. That makes a lot more sense! Whoops!

Is that seriously $30 for a packet of uncooked spaghetti? I don't care how good it is! Spaghetti squash for me! Lol! [emoji23] (but seriously I was on board until then [emoji12] )

@@LisaMergs Thanks for the good advice! I do generally weigh my food, and on average eat about 2.5-3 ounces of meat in a serving, but what I have trouble with is the 1/2 cup thing... that's where I should be, but how do you measure the following meal, for example, which is what I had for breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and 3 thin slices of nectarine... that's a pretty average meal size for me, but sometimes I can eat a little more, sometimes less. My MAIN challenge with all this 1/2 cup thing is this: volume is different than weight. So If I'm eating spinach and 2.5 oz chicken and a tablespoon of Beans, for example, if I have it on a plate, it looks a whole lot bigger than 1/2 a cup, and I bet if I measured it, it the spinach alone would be 1/4 cup, but I know the weight is less than 4 ounces, which seems about right for me... so that's where I'm getting confused, thus the stupidity of this post. haha @@LisaMergs , can I ask you what an average meal is like for you? We got RNY around the same time!! But anyway, I think I'm going to just continue following the program and not worry so much that I'm overeating because I have lost all but my last 20lbs until goal (WHAT WHAT!?!) and I do make my Protein and Water and exercise goals daily, so I'm just going to follow @foreveryoung85 's excellent advice and just listen to my body and measure/eyeball the best I can without seriously worrying about the 1/2 cup thing.

@foreveryoung85 Thank you. That's exactly what I needed to hear. I need to chill out and continue following the program, and not worry so much about the exact measurements. Thank you!

Thanks, I'll try that. Any relief will do Sent from my SM-N910T using the BariatricPal App I did that too, and I found that if I "spooned" a big body pillow with it tucked underneath my tummy and my legs wrapped around it, this really helped with the discomfort... I'm definitely not a back-sleeper either!

Thanks so much for all the great info! I'll check out the recipes Can I ask how you measure 1 cup of miscellaneous food like meat and greens and so on? This is my entire challenge, I just don't know exactly how to gauge the meal sizes, though I know the technical amount I "should" be eating (1/2 cup) ... So, for example, let's say you have a 2 ounce piece of chicken, 2 tablespoons of low sodium salsa, a tablespoon of reduced fat cheddar cheese shredded, some leafy greens, and a low carb small tortilla... how do I determine what "cup" size this is? This is a typical dinner for me, and it's usually around 250 calories with 32 grams of Protein... I know this is a good meal for me, and some days I can't finish the whole thing and others I absolutely can with no problems... This is where the worry comes in, since it together looks a whole hell of a lot bigger than 1/2 a cup... the greens alone are 1/4 cup, so I just feel lost at determining whether I'm eating the right portion size or if there's a chance I don't have the restriction I should (eg: stretched pouch). Does that make sense? @Djmohr I'd love your opinion on this, since I always see your posts on here and you seem to be a wealth of bariatric knowledge! Thanks guys!

Thanks so much! First for the positive reinforcement even though I'm still pretty confident I should have known the answer to this question by now How do you usually plan your portions? I am a huge food logger and like to not waste food so I try to only prepare what I think I'll actually eat, so it's been tricky. And I still have no idea how one would measure what a 1/2 cup of chewed up food would look like :/