There is nothing i have not been able to eat.  The only difference is that i chew food for a long time and eat slowly.. really a good thing.

I am worried about you.  If you are impacted, you need to go to the emergency room.  Somehow it has to be physically removed.  It happened to my elderly mother.. it is serious if you are impacted.

In addition to Miralax and glycerin suppositories, i occasionally take magnesium capsules (i hate the taste and chalkiness of Milk of Magnesia).  On an infrequent occasion i have Smooth Move tea.  I vary amounts and frequency based on how much cooked protein and cheese i eat which is the main cause of constipation.  I also include on average one fruit a day, most commonly an apple with the skin and chew it very well.

I would be in the emergency room myself if it was not for Miralax.  I like the suppositories for immediate action when it feels like there is something "at the gate" but nothing will come out.  And i only use these maybe once a week.

Miralax acts as a softener too but you may want to experiment with Colace. 

This is not your concern right at this moment but i have noticed time and again that constipation and sluggish bowels aggravate hunger, really raise the intensity of wanting to eat.   It makes sense because it is the body's way of pushing food through if you eat a large volume of food.  And carbs keep more water in the body including the colon.  So you want to work with solutions to keep you regular, keep things moving through without having to eat a boatload of carbs and fat and volume of food. 

That is a good idea, to get a second opinion.

I know nothing about acid reflux but i would imagine that you would not want it to worsen for any reason, even for the NSVs of a sleeve.  i have read that acid reflux medications increase the risk of osteoporosis, and your doctor that you saw does not want to put you in the position of needing increased doses of acid reflux medications or suffering from the discomfort of acid reflux.  Also doctors in the U.S. are more conservative in their approach because of potential malpractice liability, which is understandable.  And keep in mind that acid reflux tends to increase with age.

If you are willing to take the risk of increased acid reflux, the doctors in mexico have less stringent standards for accepting patients for WLS.  I personally would not want to take this risk but i am not in your shoes and you are very upset.   I only needed to lose about 40 pounds and i had no trouble being accepted for surgery in mexico.  So a VSG in mexico may be a possibility for you.  There are a number of excellent WLS surgeons in mexico.

I just looked up the causes of Acid Reflux and it sounds like the cause is mechanical, that the muscular valve (sphincter) malfunctions allowing acidic contents to back flow or reflux in the the esophagus .. i know you know all this ... but the point i want to make is that maybe there is a surgery to correct the valve. 

There is a ton of info on the internet on the subject of acid reflux including "cures."  I would try to find a remedy for your acid reflux, then revisit having the VSG.  My point is, don't give up.

Sorry you had a bad day and i hope you feel better.

Hi,

You are enjoying your newfound control over eating and are being easily satisfied with your meals and snacks and are still losing weight.  This is utopia for us since we all can relate to the constant struggle and the frustrations of the past that we experienced from marginal success with dieting and feeling guilty or anxious from eating the foods we loved. 

I think in this post you are expressing your happiness for being able to eat like a normal person which is something that has eluded you as well as the rest of us for years.

I think if you are in control over the food instead of the food controlling you, you are in a good place.  It sounds like you have a plan and you set limits and stick to it.   And you are getting the results you want.   I am happy for you!

I felt tired round the clock for the first several months.  What you are experiencing is not unusual. 

I would tell your family members that you are not doing holiday preparations and cooking but that next year you will be able to contribute.  Let everyone else doing the cooking and have your husband help you with the cleaning.  You really need to take care of yourself and put yourself first these first few months following surgery, and even after that you need help.  We are not youngsters anymore and your husband and family and friends need to learn that.

You are not eating the stimulating foods of sugar and chocolate, so at times you will feel low energy in comparison to the past.  Your energy will improve over time.

I hope you feel better.  Please get some rest.  Eat nutrient dense foods.  Pamper yourself and get your husband to help you.  The holidays have a way of making everyone feel overwhelmed and create have-to's but you really don't have to do it all.  Set limits to what you will do.

Donna

Dear Lilliepie,

You are a sweet person!

Another thought i had since i replied to your post: 

To come up with so many items in your one-day food plan requires a lot of thought about food, so you are spending a lot of time focused on food.  I know you feel hungry all the time but the more you think about food, the hungrier you are going to be.  Making up a list for food shopping, then shopping for the food, seeing it in your refrigerator, then deciding exactly what to eat out of an array of foods before you, then eating it . . .  a lot of energy, time and thought is going into food, so you have become hyperfocused on food, which in turn will make you hungry.  I have read that thinking about eating a food that you like raises your blood sugar, therefore making you more hungry.

So what may help is to find interests and activities totally unrelated to food to keep you busy and distracted.  I have not found an interest or activity as pleasurable as eating the foods i love but my interests and activities help a lot to distract me and keep me busy so that i have less time for thinking and eating food, and it is easier to deflect food cues.  As a psychologist once told me, if you don't find a substitute for the food, you will go back to the food.

As rhearob said in his speech, he lost weight but it wasn't because of weight loss surgery.  His point is that the sleeve is only a part of the process and a lot of other effort, strategies, self-awareness and knowledge go into the process. 

"Time to streamline my multiple self images." -- Good way to put it!

Nothing in life ever stays the same, and we are always changing a bit, so we may as well change into something we want to be.  We are all becoming hybrids as we evolve :)

Alison,

I can see you as a triathlete very much so.  Maybe there are self image issues if self doubt is rearing its ugly head. 

You have been in healing patient mode for weeks so it is hard maybe at this very moment to think of yourself doing something so empowering as triathlete competitions.  And it has been a long haul losing the weight as it is for all of us.  I know how hard it is losing 50 lb and even after getting to goal i did not do a good job of finding my maintenance legs.

I have a feeling that as you move beyond this healing phase that you are going to rock your new body with swimming, running and bicycling competitions.  I can see you doing that!   I have no doubt that your days ahead are going to be better.

You are right baked goods can be made with things like almond flour or coconut flour and other things but the YouTube presentation said to use any box mix.   Unfortunately cheese and chocolate are also on addictive food list.  It's just that wheat and sugar are the worst for many people.

I can only speak for me, but making ANY brownie recipe would take me over the top.  It is a highly palatable food by the time you add a fat -- probably butter to the batter which is certainly healthier than hydrogenated fat, salt which is high in all baked goods since it is one of the things that gives food high flavor, and a sweetener of some kind, in addition to chocolate, and the chewy texture, and the aroma of it baking, would be too much to have in my house.   I have heard of substituting applesauce in baked goods for the fat and that may be a good solution to keep the fat down.

I had a Glade vanilla room air freshener in my house and it kept reminding me of vanilla sandwich cookies, the cousin of Oreos, so i found it best to throw out the Glade.  That is how sensitive to cues i am.

Also baking and cooking low carb takes more time and trouble because you are not using the convenience of pre-packaged foods and most things are made from scratch.  I am one person and it is hard to cook or bake for just one. You end up with a lot of food that has to be eaten or it will go to waste.   I certainly don't feel like smashing black beans to make brownies.   i am not much of a baker or cook.  I need an in-home chef for low carb meals and snacks :)   I don't like processed foods either.   i just eat very plain and simple.. canned salmon with a fist of parsley on top is a meal for me, or cottage cheese and an apple.  I remain a big fan of my protein shakes more than a year out.

Rob,

You continue to impress!  You are awesome! 

Alison,

This summer i cut off all contact with family members because i was tired of the resentment and rage brewing inside of me, and obvious effect it had on my eating and the imposition it had on my peace of mind. 

Contact with my family more often than not made me feel that i was selling a little piece of my soul bit by bit.  I think family members can suck the life out of you.  I think even with amicable relationships with family members, sometimes family can feel overwhelming.

So smart of you to seek this clarity and make a healthy decision for yourself.  You are not alone!

Donna

i need a hat for my feet.. they are cold when i am comfortable everywhere else

i bought wool blend socks but my feet still are cold... i guess i need to put an electric heating pad to my feet

i like the hat idea though as i have thin hair and it helps to keep me warm