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I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible. Sorry if I rant on and on. As I went from 240 lbs to 390 lbs between 2009-2019 I slowly hid myself away from friends and family. The truth is I was in denial about how bad things were getting and I was embarrassed. I was ashamed of how I couldn’t keep up with my friends just walking around the city or fitting into booths at restaurants for family milestones. I was out of breath walking into work from the parking lot. I felt like if I could avoid these things in front of other people, if other people couldn’t confirm how limited I had become, it somehow made it less true. I have missed SO many adventures and huge important events in my loved ones lives simply because I was physically unable. This hurts my heart. In 2018 I ditched a good friend’s bachelorette weekend out of town because I was so anxious about how I wouldn’t be able to keep up with everyone. Like literally I could not walk around and I felt ridiculous going to clubs with girls wearing their best outfits and me in an oversized T-shirt. By that point I couldn’t stand for 5 mins without my lower back screaming. Our friendship has not been the same since. I have always thought that was the turning point in our friendship. Now fast forward to late 2019. I happened to be invited to another good friend’s bachelorette weekend. This is a friend I met in college and we were so close we lived together for a couple of years. This is also when my depression/weight gain really got bad. I did my best to hide it, but I’m sure it was obvious. Over the last 7 years I have make excuses to avoid meeting up with her because she is so active. I even prayed she wouldn’t ask me to be a bridesmaid. How sad is that? I really didn’t think I could make it through the dress shopping bit. Pre-surgery I was 390 lbs and a size 26. This friend has run the NYC marathon and I was at least 220 lbs heavier than any other girl in her friend circle. When I was invited on the bachelorette weekend I immediately thought of ways to get out of it. I told one of the maids of honor that I didn’t think it would be a good idea since it was still early after surgery and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. Well it’s been almost 5 months and I’ve been so lucky to have zero complications. My mobility is much better too. I am also sober by choice. I was never a big drinker anyways. I partied pretty hard as a teen so by the time I got to college I was somewhat past that phase. It doesn’t make me feel good and now with a sleeve I feel like alcohol serves me no purpose. Anyways what I am looking for is real honest advice. I feel immense guilt over declining this invite. I have thought about how I would feel if I was my friend. I could see how she would be upset or disappointed. Am I wrong to not go? I don’t drink and I’m trying so hard to stick to my diet. I know if I really wanted to I could make it work. I don’t want people to tell me what I want to hear. I guess I just want someone to say they understand what I’m saying and feeling. I don’t have anyone in my family or friends that are even overweight. I feel like no one can relate. Has anyone else been through this? Did things get better as you lost weight?

They said I was cath'd during surgery but other than that no, went home next day, could take my chewable multivitamin, blood pressure pill and biotin had chewable calcium surgery was Dec.10, 2019. Couple weeks I will be on regular foods! Woooohoooo

Thanks so much for your encouraging note. I really appreciate it. I see you had the sleeve...that's what I'm having. I want to lose 75-80 pounds. I'm only 5'2" and I weigh 202 now.... Actually, it was just a week ago I got a call to come in to see my surgeon and she gave me the "go". She told me to start losing weight on my own before the surgery (which is scheduled for this coming Wednesday.) I actually have lost 10 pounds in 7 days.. I proud of me and I'm proud of YOU Keep in touch. Many thanks, Grace

Wow thanks! I haven’t measured my self in 2 weeks. The last time I measured I had lost 10” total all over. I did have ALOT of muscle coming into this journey. Because I lift weights. And I’m really active in the gym. But nope defiantly 252 lol I wish it was lower my goal weight is 150. So I still have 102lbs to lose.

I don't know about anyone else, but some medication effects me different than before surgery. I take trazadone at bedtime and if I take it just 10 minutes before bed I am staggering all over the place, dizzy and I feel heavy. I try to take it as I am walking to the bedroom.

it may vary depending on insurance policies. With mine, I got billed for my 10% co-insurance after I had the various procedures done (sleep study, nuclear stress test, labs, surgery). Although I think by the time I had my surgery, I might have met my out-of-pocket maximum for the year, in which case I wouldn't have had to pay the co-insurance any more (once I've forked over something like $5000 in any given year, insurance starts covering 100%. I think I may have met my maximum that particular year - so my surgery might have been covered 100% - I can't remember, to be honest....). But if I paid anything for it, I would have been billed for it after the surgery.

go back to weighing/measuring and tracking your food, if you haven't already. I've found that if I don't, i start underestimating my calorie intake after awhile. Also, try to go back to the way you were eating the first year - protein first, then non-starchy vegetables. Then, if you have room, a small serving of fruit or whole-grain carb. I'm doing all that now because I want to lose 8-10 lbs. It'll be slow, but it should work...

Yesterday Friday, Feb 21 Maintenance : 5'2" / 1.33 yrs PO Sleeve / 114.0 lbs ---------------------------------------- Seriously. If I don't go grocery shopping soon, I'm going to have to go back to eating all the sugar-laden stuff in the pantry... Also, had a weird day of slimies and chest fullness yesterday. I barfed up slime 4 times. Finally took a Nexium around 8pm and felt a little better by bedtime. And this morning I feel fine again. ---------------------------------------- 10:00am - black coffee w/ stevia 12:30pm - 1.5 oz pork adobo + 1.5 oz roast chicken + 1.5 tbsp tzatziki + 1/2 tsp chili oil 4:30pm - 1/3 cup cashew milk + 1/2 cup cottage cheese + 1/2 fl oz pumpkin seeds + 1 oz blueberries 7:30pm -3 oz roast chicken + 1.5 oz pork adobo + 3 oz pan fried brussel sprouts in bacon fat + 1/2 cup cottage cheese + 1.5 fl oz pumpkin seeds --------------------------------------- Totals: 940 cals - 85g Protein - 42g NET carbs - 49g fat

Hi Dee. How are you?. You and I had surgery about the same time. I remember you from our September 2019 surgery thread. My surgery date was September 16th 2019 and I have lost 90 lbs so far. I had a two week stall similar to you recently which just broke last week. I even gained 2 lbs in the second week. However in the 3rd week I lost 6 lbs. Go figure. I have read and done so much research on stalls I was not really worried when it happened. I knew it was my body adjusting. The week right before the stall I started exercising and I lost 8 lbs that week. Then came two weeks of a stall and weight gain but I just rode it out and stuck to the plan. Plus I'm sure we are losing inches though its not being reflected on the scale. So when I see a stall I will get excited cause I know a good loss is coming because I normally lose 3 lbs a week on average. Hang in there Dee. Stick with the program and be patient cause you are doing great. Congrats on your weight loss so far. HW 342.8 beg of 2 wk preop liquid diet SW 327.8 Sept 16th 2019 CW 252.2 5 months PO

My facts: 55 yr old F, 35.8 BMI, had band removed in 2018. When I went back to surgeon ins the summer of 2019 he suggested RNY which surprised me because I was thinking sleeve. But since I had GERD when I had the band he said RNY. So I got my mind around RNY. I ended up getting bad gout that summer and surgeon decided one week before surgery that I should do VSG due the fact that RNY can cause gout attacks, malabsorption of meds, inability to take meds, etc. he told me he was afraid I would be miserable. So then I had to get my mind back around vsg. Lol Ultimately it looks like it all has worked out well. I am 4 months post op and 5 lbs from a goal that they didn’t believe I would get to. I’m sure either surgery would have given my these results because after all it really is up to us! You can eat around any surgery if you want to self sabotage. I pray that never happens to me again but Ultimately that will be up to me! Best wishes!!

I can have refried beans now, after 10 days out. I cannot have cheese until I am 20 days out.

Wow you guys are doing great! I had my surgery on 1/10 and so far I'm down 28lbs (58lbs total). I've had it pretty easy so far. I know a few people who have had the surgery that had several foods they could no longer tolerate but I haven't found any yet. I was eating scrambled eggs (well, AN egg lol) at 2 weeks. It blows me away how small my portions of food are now and I feel full and satisfied and it doesn't really bother me that I can't have more. That's one of the main things that worried me going into this. I lost a lot of the cravings I used to have. The best thing so far is no more GERD! I've been sleeping so well which is important for me since I get up at 3:30am for work. I feel so much more energy throughout the day and all last week I wasn't tired at all even on the long commute home (I don't get home until 7-7:15pm). I've been able to each chicken, some beef, nothing has really bothered me yet. I haven't tried raw vegetables yet though I'm going to wait a bit for that Anyways, keep up the good work guys!

I thought I wanted gastric sleeve for WLS. My main reason was my concern about malabsorption at my age. I have multiple co-morbidities associated with my obesity. Now I am considering gastric bypass instead. Of course, I will make final decision with my surgeon. "Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Versus Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy to Treat Morbid Obesity-Related Comorbidities: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26661105 "a total of 18,455 patients, enrolled in 62 recent studies, were included in this meta-analysis. Patients receiving LRYGB had a significantly higher percentage of excess weight loss and better resolution of hypertension, dyslipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and arthritis compared with those receiving LSG. LRYGB and LSG showed similar effects on type 2 diabetes mellitus and sleep apnea." Found a journal article "Biological effects of bariatric surgery on obesity-related comorbidities" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3569476/ DIABETES AND IMPAIRED GLUCOSE TOLERANCE "A landmark paper by Pories and colleagues demonstrated that of 141 patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), all but 2 became euglycemic within 10 days after RYGB. Longer follow-up demonstrated that over 8 years, 83% of patients with preoperative T2DM and 99% of those with IGT were able to maintain normal levels of plasma glucose, HgA1C and insulin." OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA "Most patients (62%) had residual disease. In fact, only 25% of patients in the 6 studies that reported individual patient data (representing 23% of all patients in the meta-analysis) were able to reach an AHI consistent with OSA resolution ( DYSLIPIDEMIA Hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia were significantly improved across all surgical procedures at 2 year follow-up. The percentage of patients whose conditions improved was typically 70% or higher, with maximum improvements in hyperlipidemia in the BPD-DS (91%) and RYGB groups (96.9%). HYPERTENSION "The percentages of patients in the total population whose hypertension resolved or improved were 61.7% and 78.5%, respectively." Only those who did not regain weight maintained lower blood pressure after two years. Sent from my SM-T580 using BariatricPal mobile app

I buy multiples as well, and I have no intention of stopping 😂 I've had good luck with the Inc brand at Macy's for fitted tops and sweaters. Wait for a sale, way overpriced without one. (And I do 95% of my shopping online, and I live within 15 miles of about 10 malls 😂)

Thank you for all the amazing advice!! I love hearing it all no matter how tough or real it may be!I 1 - I'm going to try this! I think its a great idea and it will keep me in check. I tend to get caught up in my life and with whats going on that I forget about certain priorities and reasons why I am doing something. I'm going to add @GreenTealael advice on a sticky too and put it on my fridge! 2 - I needed to hear this! 4 & 5 - The not going to places where you are tempted is something I need to follow! It sounds like such an obvious thing to do but you know, i never thought about that lol. For the other sentences of yours from #'s 4 & 5 I highlighted (sorry if it sounds confusing, Im not good at explaining): I think this starts with how I became so morbidly obese. I haven't found anyone on here with a similar struggle so anyone reading this feel free to chime in but my reason for obesity wasn't sugar, junk food, fried foods, or snacks. There was never soda in the house growing up, there was bread but I personally don't like anything doughy or bread like (besides tortillas here and here), all food was made with barely any oil and when meat was fatty, the oils would be scooped out while cooking. There was no bottled juice in the house, only homemade, and there were no snacks. If I was hungry my dad would say "makes some eggs".......... that was my snack. Overeating and eating super late was what got me morbidly obese . No, i wasn't overeating a salad (although at times I would) but I was overeating chicken, pork, red meat, fish, and rice... lots and lots of overeating because that's just how i was raised. Since I was a kid my dad and family would serve me huge portions because that was their norm. I remember being a 10 yr old getting served this humongous bowl of beef soup with lots of veggies, chunks of meat and a big side of white rice. You would think that would be the only meal for the day, but no it was just breakfast. Lunch was always late and it was just as big and dinner was eaten even later and it would be something like chicken stew with a mountain of white rice, boiled potatoes, salad, and usually a homemade dressing. The most common thing on here that i read all the time is that many folks struggle with unhealthy food, including sweets, soda, fast food, bread, and pasta cravings. I cant say this is the case with me. I didnt eat that slice of cake yesterday out of temptation, I ate it because i was really hungry. The cake that I had planned to eat this Saturday wasn't because I'm cake obsessed, it was because its my bf's birthday. I need to learn to be ok with not indulging in every celebration like @GreenTealael has pointed out ... which is something I 100% believe i can do! I feel that my true struggle is in my everyday meal prep and eating. The overeating has now stopped because of the surgery, but how do I change the mentality that what I am making is in fact not good in the long run or too heavy? Or is it good? I was taught to believe that what I have been eating my whole life is healthy. I can recognize that the potatoes, and rice are not the best choices but its hard for me to recognize that the soups, stews, and other dishes I have been eating my whole life and continue to make in my meal prep cant stay in my everyday diet even though I make it even healthier than before. Should I be doing the "very clean, very light, super nutrient dense foods" like salads with some kind of meat everyday until I get to my goal, then have my regular dishes that I consider healthy when I'm in maintenance? Side Comment/Personal Note: Sometimes I think about how weird obesity is. My biological mother, and her family were all overweight and morbidly obese. Their diet consisted of junk food, Armenian food, and fatty American food. I never had any influence at all by her or her side of the family because I just never saw them. After my folks divorced when I was four, I think I saw my mom twice more (her choice) and that's it. Over the years I heard she became morbidly obese. Her and a lot of her family members passed away because of obesity. I know genes play a large role too but it still blows my mind how the weight problem followed me even though I didn't grow up on her diet. I was on the same diet as my dads family and they are all skinny and fit and I'm a giant ball... Anyways as far as the "Embrace boring. I'd eat the same little Breakfast over and over, the same kind of lunch over and over." I agree and this is something im currently working on with my nutritionist. She tells me "meals don't have to be this amazing, glamorous thing." "Sometimes they need to serve their purpose which is give you protein and nutrients and nothing more." This is something else thats taking me a while to learn because " Un Peruano no come para vivir, vive para comer" which basically translates to a Peruvian doesn't eat to live, we live to eat. Yeah it sounds pretty crazy but its true. Breaking habits of a culture that focuses on food more than any other aspect of their culture is extremely hard and sometimes I wish I could trade the junk food and sweet crave problem a lot of other people have for this problem. @FluffyChix You've done so well at losing and staying very strict its amazing and I hope one day I experience that very same feeling you have when looking at your body!

DO NOT BUY A TIME SHARE!!!!! You'll never get rid of it. The financial advisor we went to for dinner was already my own advisor. He just invited us to the dinner since we had not been yet. Anyway, my protein is very adequate and comes in small packages throughout the day. Here is one day's worth of food and where I get the protein. I think it adds up to about 75 gm of protein. 19 - cooked whole grain Cereal with 1/2 c pea protein milk and a small banana. (Cereal made from steel cut oats, millet, buckwheat, amaranth, teff, quinoa, slivered almonds, raisins, unsweetened cranberries, cinnamon.) 6 - homemade Soup with Beans, legumes, lentils, quinoa 7 - millet/chick pea casserole 1.6 - apple and orange 7.6 - 2 mini fritattas made with potato, mushrooms, brocolli, chick pea flour, pea milk, nutritional yeast 4 - 4 veggie sushi rolls 2 - 1/2 c sweet potato 1 - 2 cups of fresh greens, steamed .8 - 1 c cooked radishes 1 - 1/2 c cooked mushrooms .7 - 1 brazil nut 7 - 1/4 c nuts/seeds 9 - 1/2 c plant based yogurt

@badwolfgirl. I hear you. I hopped back on the elliptical this week and it nearly killed me. Prior to surgery I was doing 30 minutes @ a level from 10 to 15, out of 20 max, for a distance of about 2.5 miles. I would be winded but recovered pretty quickly. Now I am doing level 4 or 5 for 30 minutes and getting about 1.5 miles. After I feel like a wet noodle. My nutritionist said to up my protein from 60 to 80 grams daily to see if that helps my energy. I am struggling to get that much on food alone so I have gone back to some protein shakes and powder. I am also going back to intermittent fasting of 16:8 with my eating window starting at 10 am and ending at 6 pm, then fasting from 6pm until 10 am the next morning. Did my weekly weigh in and was at 304 lbs five weeks Post-OP. Here is my weekly breakdown. SW was 335 lbs. Week 1 = 11.2 lbs Week 2 = 7.6 lbs Week 3 = 4.8 lbs Week 4 = 2 lbs Week 5 = 5.6 lbs Average lost post surgery is 6.2 lbs. This shows how weight loss can fluctuate with ups and downs, but you just need to keep doing the right thing and trust the process.

Yesterday Thursday, Feb 20 Maintenance : 5'2" / 1.33 yrs PO Sleeve / 114.3 lbs ---------------------------------------- Grocery shopping still not done! ---------------------------------------- 10:00am - black coffee w/ stevia 1:30pm - Soup (1 cup dashi broth, carrots, 1/2 package shiratake noodles, 4 shrimp balls) + 3 oz pan fried brussel sprouts in bacon fat + 4 oz roast chicken + 2 tbsp tzatziki 3:00pm - 1 scoop protein powder + 2 cups unsweetened almond milk + 2 tsp instant decaf coffee crystals 5:30pm - black coffee w/ stevia + 1/2 cup lemon sorbet + 1/2 fl oz pumpkin seeds 10:30pm to 1:00am approx 1/2 bottle of red wine 2 gin & sodas 1oz brie cheese 1oz cheddar cheese 2 crackers 1 tsp fig jam 6 grapes --------------------------------------- Totals: 1447 cals - 76g Protein - 49g NET carbs - 45g fat

GreenTealeal I love the black and white on you. Simply beautiful. Ms.sss rawr. That jumpsuit is so smoking hot on you. When you are done with it, before hemming it I can borrow it. AngieBear size 10s is party time. You look fabulous and I can’t wait to see them on you. I know I’m missing many. I love this thread and you all inspire me to be my best. Today I went with another new cardigan. Sorry no skinny jeans today. But the jeans still fit good. I know once I find a style I like I buy multiple. I need to stop that. Anyone know where I can find some fitted work tops? Everything seems so baggy with the styles.