Hardest Part?

Hardest? Waiting for insurance approval. My pre op procedures and approval took 18 months from first consult to surgery.

Next hardest? Getting into the habit of  NOT drinking with meals. It's fine now after almost 2 years.

I haven't had any physical problems or diet issues....the hardest part for me is that my emotions are all over the place and I have NO patience now!

First 3 months were the toughest for me...so far.  Physically it was not too bad but I struggled with protein because I didn't like most of the shakes.  And I was an emotional mess for a lot of that time.  Getting my meds worked out which was going from Effexor XR to plain ole Effexor and the same with Wellbutrin. It took a bit to get the dosage worked out and the timing and I admit I missed some in the beginning I hated crushing my meds.   Those meds don't like it when you do that.  Top it off with menopause and mourning food...well, it wasn't pretty. 

But around that 3rd month I really began to notice somethings were getting easier.  I could swallow my meds and vitamins so that helped tons.  I was starting to be able to eat a wider variety of food so I was doing better with protein.  And I was learning that I did have trigger foods I would have to avoid and that I was a simple carb addict.  

Good luck on your journey! 

I am 5 years out (in just a few weeks).

I can say honestly that the first two years with surgery were a relative breeze. I find regular life as post op me the hardest part because of:

-Regain is a completely tough thing to get a physical and mental grasp on.
-My food addiction haunts me every day. Every day is a struggle.
-There's no more "victories" no more weight loss, no more "highs".
-I am far more critical of my body than I ever was.

The psychological aspects of surgery far surpass the physical ones in terms of being challenging. Every day is a struggle for me to make good choices of what to put in my mouth.

I LOVE my new life.  I love being active and normal sized...but this is the really hard part.

Dawn

Hmm..I can pinpoint a few toughies but the most difficult part has been maintenance. After a few years, the freshness of "OMG, I've lost the weight!" goes away, it's easier to be swayed to the dark side, and life just happens.

But, it can be done -- we're all in this together!

My hardest thing had to be not being able to drink during a meal. I have to set a timer on my phone (30 mintutes) and I do not drink before then, people talk about "taking sips" but I watched something I found something on formerfatguy.com about drinking during meals and it really put it into persepective for me (It involved applesauce and a funnell).  I think everyone should watch it! The other is making sure you ge your protein in. It was easy for me when I was listening in all the classes, thought that is simple, who couldn't do that?? Uh... ME! Its not as easy when you are trying to do it. Because what you liked or tolerated pre surgery is not necessarily what you like afterwards...  And if you do not get your protein in, not only will you loose your hair but you will also be very tired!

My hardest part was the week before surgery.  Restricting your diet to so low with no help.  After surgery, my tool helped.  But the week before was definitely the hardest.

I gotta put my 2 cents worth in here. I think the hardest part of this whole thing is the depression. I am going through a rough time right now with all of this. I want to just lay in bed and cry most days. I can't eat anything and the protein shakes make me nauseous. I am also feeling like I am failing. I had to have my gallbladder removed last week and gained some weight. Even tho I have lost it all again I still feel horrible about it. I want to get my protein from real food but have no idea what to do there. Nothing tastes good to me and most meats hurt and make me throw up. I hope this all passes soon. I just don't know what I will do now if my hair starts falling out too.

Tracy

You sound so sad.....but don't despair! It does get better. I remember the first 4 months, all I wanted was to rest, rest, rest; I was SO EXHAUSED it was unbelieveable. Take it easy on the solid foods; slow and steady will win this race. I lived~~LIVED~~on starbucks skinny vanilla lattes...so, if one protein source isn't agreeing with you, try another and another until you find one you like. Tuna, gently scrambled eggs, ricotta cheese/cottage cheese are pretty easy on the tummy. SF pudding made with additional unflavored protein powder and extra milk (to make it a little bit runny) might suit your stomach. Just keep trying different things.

Good luck.

I need to find a starbuck somewhere close. I think I could probably find something there I could handle. I can eat eggs and plan to get me some boiled up and eat those. Tuna doesn't really agree with me either. Anything dry hurts and seems to just sit there. I'm just not liking the protein powder much. I have managed to tame it down with 10 oz of skim milk with half a scoop of powder and it's more tolerable that way. They are about 24 g of protein so I have to do 3 a day now. The sweetness just gags me now. I can handle the chocolate flavors better than anything so I need to order more of that. I am managing to get it done most days but some days I just have to give up. I just don't want my hair to fall out. that was one of my biggest fears and it hasn't started just yet and I am almost 3 months out. I am hoping I am one of the few this doesn't happen to. Most people say it is already falling out by now so we will see soon I guess.

Tracy