How much more did you know?

The learning curve to this process is not only critical to our success, it's also very interesting and exciting !!!!

Even at over three years out there is still a lot I learn from attending support groups and directly from my surgeon and nutritionist. (does this mean I do everything I learn.... ummm no..... let's just say I run at about 80% good in maintenance)

There seems to be undefined stages to this process within the defined stages.

So my question to you that are further out.....say 2 months, 6 months, a year or more....

(disclaimer for the sensitive..... this is not to dis any pre-op or recent-ops.... just to maybe illustrate what's ahead)

How much more do know about this process than when you were:

- 4 days out

- 3 months out

- 6 months out

- 12 months out

frisco

 

4 days out I knew a little
3 months out I knew everything
6 months out I knew most things
12 months out I didn't know much
20 months out, I don't know jack ****

What?

I'm obviously doing things wrong. I also was WAY smarter at 16 than 30.

Looks like were taking the same path......

frisco

Great answer. At 6 mos post op I am beginning to realize I don't know **** no matter how much I thought I knew.

Hehehe... wow, you're getting stupider faster than I did :)

I have a 12 and 10 year old too. I'm pretty sure they help foster my belief that I don't know jack **** They think I'm a moron. I think I was 25 before I realized my own mother was kind of smart.

Hmmmm... maybe at 2 years out I'll know it all again. Until then... ehhh... screw it. Do the best I can, stick to the program and the weight will eventually move. If not... screw that, I'm eating waffles!

Kidding!

MMMMmmmMMMMmmmm... wafffffllleees!

Perfect!

I'm over 5 1/2 years out, and I'm still here...'nuff said.

 

(AND I'm still thin!!!)

Lizanne

Sleeve girl said it best!

4 days nothing
3 months- maybe more about what I could tolerate throwing in some "no no" off plan choices rarely to test my sleeve.
6 months- totally confused as to why my losing slowed down when I was doing "everything" right until it dawned on me that my wgt loss pattern is directly correlated with my hormones (ie periods).
This has transformed a lot of my thinking and stress over the scale!

YES!!!  Me TOO!!  

After 5 months(ish) and daily tracking of my weight, I have discovered that I loose steadily for 22 days per month and then NOTHING for the next 9.  It's the PMS / Period time!!  So, I just up the water, stick to the plan and wait it out.  Onc ethat has passed, I start losing again.  :) 

 

Well Candy just nailed it. After that simply perfect answer there is nothing left to say! Its true that it is an amazing learning curve so far. I can only compare it to the developmental leap of a baby in his/her first year of life.

At four days I knew I would live to tell the tale. I also knew that no way would I be cought dead pureeing pizza...

At 3 months I knew I would make it to goal eventually as I hit cruising altitude in weight loss mode.

At 5 months (today!!) I know that the next five months could be really hard or really easy. It all depends on me as now I can eat really any food at all and I know what my easy peasy slider foods are and how I can eat around the sleeve if I were to slide back into old habits. I also know that I don't have to...and I know that I can actually live comfortably on 800 cals a day and not die of starvation! I know I can cook creatively and healthily and I know that if I log everything I tend to stay on track better.

There could be a long list. But suffice it to say that I know what I have to do in order to get to where I am going. And I know that every day I will learn something new.

I am almost 4 months out:

Pre-Op -- I knew EVERYTHING, even made 100% on the pre-op food plan test (yes, we have to pass a written test showing we understand the post-op food plan).  So I have evidence that knew everything there was to know then!

1 month -- still knew everything, because all my liquids went down fine, purees were fine. Everything fine.

2 months -- hmmm.  I THOUGHT I knew everything, but am finding that there are big gaps in what I learned and what I need to know to be successful. 

3 months - 4 months -- I finally KNOW what restriction is.  I am understanding better what combinations of foods work best for me, and what the instructions really mean!  For example -- meat needs to be moist -- but I find if it's too moist (like in a stew), it goes down like a puree, and straight through.  So what's the right level of "moist" to cook meat so it remains dense enough to not turn into puree after it's chewed?

And now, my basal metabolic rate is down to 1335,  down about 100 calories since I started -- so as I continue to lose, it will drop.  So, how the heck do I adjust my food plan as I need fewer and fewer calories?

So, I'm hoping that all of you ahead of me continue to share the lessons you've learned along the way, because frankly, what is working for me is incorporating information I find here!  

My NUTs do a montly conference call, and their advice:  How much to eat -- Eat until you start to feel full,then stop. How many calories --  by a year out you should be at 1200 calories or so a day.  Protein is the only specific info they give!  So, that leaves a lot of room for personal decisions!