I followed the three bite rule.  First bite is to try it.  Second bite is to describe it.  Third bite is just to be sure.

This was for very rare and special occasions.  For example on Valentine's Day, my husband took me to a fabulous restaurant known for their chocolate desserts.  I had three tiny bites of his fabulous chocolate cake. 

The rest of the time, I made high protein, low-carb, sugar-free versions of things that I liked.  I loved ice cream, so bought a ice cream maker with refrigeration built in and made ice cream daily from my protein shakes.  I learned to make Muffin in a Minute versions that non-dieters enjoyed.  I made them into blueberry, apple, chocolate brownie, and white cake with frosting versions.  I made savory versions with cheese and garlic that tasted like Red Lobster's.

My sugar-free, fat-free cheesecake is something that others beg me to make. 

I did not have treat days where I ate a whole piece of real cheesecake or drank a glass of wine.  I totally disagree with doing that.  This is the time to change your life and make that change complete.

Your skin sheds millions of dead skin cells everyday.  With rapid weight loss, it can't keep up and you get a funny, usually itchy layer of skin that you need to exfoliate to get it off.  Putting cream or oil on it will make it worse, you need a loofah and good exfoliating soap or body wash.  I like Dove.

The first thing I realized after surgery was I never knew how my intestines were hooked up before and I never felt anything different. 

I followed Dr. Atkins for years and he would advise breaking a stall and relieving boredom by making a complete diet change.

I stopped eating protein for about a month and ate a diet of mostly fresh fruit.  I would buy strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples, oranges, grapes, fresh pineapple and any other fruit that looked good.  I did not buy canned fruit, except for Oregon Farms sour cherries in water.  I did not eat massive quantities or anything like that.  I just made little fruit plates for meals and added sugar-free cool whip a lot.

The change seemed to shock my body into dropping the last of my weight.  For me, that was fourteen pounds.

During that time, about eighteen months after my surgery, I did not eat any protein or vegetables.  This is not a long term solution and I don't believe going without protein for a while harmed me in any way.   I did not eat any fresh or canned fruit prior to that time, so it was a total change for me.

Every doctor makes the pouch the size that they prefer to work with and what they believe is right for the person.

My surgeon performed a micropouch which gave me a stomach the size of a grape.  Most surgeons create a pouch the size of a small egg.  Some have made them as big as eight ounces.

With my micropouch it was almost four months before I attempted a  "meal".   My first meals were a cup of vegetable soup one day and 1/2 of a small Wendy's chili the next time.  I also remembering ordering a slice of pizza and eating just the toppings.

For the first three months, I would have a few bites of either applesauce or tuna with mostly mayo.  Protein shakes kept me satisfied and meeting my protein requirements.  I still eat small servings of food or I will feel very sick if I overdo it.

Ask your surgeon how big your pouch is and how much you should be able to eat.  It could be a stricture or just a extremely small pouch.  If your pouch is small, then you will not be able to eat as much as someone with a larger pouch.

Sounds like a virus to me.  I take Mylanta and Imodium.  Other than that rest and keep hydrated.  It will probably be gone in a few days.  I know how miserable it is to go through this.

The correct way, though is to travel with them in their original bottles with their labels. 

I sort vitamins and medicines into pill organizers and tuck them into my carry-on in large ziplock bag that I can pull out of security checks.   I have never had any problem with the way I do it. 

There is always the chance that checked luggage will be lost, so I pack things I really need to have in my carry-on.  Clean underwear, a toothbrush and toothpaste, one change of clothes, and my medicine and vitamins.

Hunger is from eating carbs.  Stick to protein and water and the hunger will be gone in 3 days 

Eat eggs, fish, meat with nothing else but protein shakes.  No bread, sugar, rice, fruit, crackers, candy, ice cream, pasta, noodles, cereals or other high carb foods.

You will not succeed if you don't learn to have only protein and a few low carb vegetables.  Don't waste your surgery honeymoon. It will be a lot harder further out.

Have you been through the physiological testing?  Therapy is needed to change.  Ask your surgical center for a recommendation.

You can go to a lab and have blood work drawn and the results sent to you.  You pay the full cost of the testing and no insurance or doctor has to be involved. 

I had a high PHT test and was sent to an endocrinologist.  He did multiple other tests including one where I had to collect my urine for a few days.  After all the testing, he determined that my high calcium and high PHT were caused by all of the calcium that I started taking after weight loss surgery.

He advised me to stop taking calcium supplements.  My tests all went back to normal. 

If I am having a problem and a doctor does not want to jeopardize his status with the health insurance company by being accused of ordering unnecessary tests, then I will pay out of pocket for tests.  Insurance companies "grade" providers on how well they are spending the insurance companies money.  It does not come out of the receptionist's pocket immediately, but it hurts the practice if they are dropped by insurance companies.

If the revision was RNY to RNY then the malabsorption part of the surgery has already gone away and revision is generally just adding more restriction.  If it is band over bypass, then that is just restriction.  Changing from restriction only like band to RNY would result in greater weight loss.  There are extended RNY procedures that could result in a lot of weight loss.

Much has to do with the eating habits and the reason for revision.

Congratulations on your loss.  I doubt that the joint pain is connected to the surgery, weight loss usually lessens joint pain.  Definitely check with your doctor.

I always have things that I could use for stress eating.  Sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles,  olives, pickles, string cheese, flaxseed for mug muffins, Sport Tea, cucumbers, lettuce, celery, deli ham or deli turkey are a few that come to mind.

This is your first year end after surgery and it is the hardest.  As the years go by, you will have experienced things like year end stress over and over.  Next year, you will realize that you survived this year.  I just lived through my seventh holiday season.  It was much easier than my first few. 

There is a moment when you fully commit and for me that was sometime during year three.  Something like getting married to the plan and taking vows for life.  I no longer crave anything.  I am not just giving lip service to nothing tastes are good as skinny feels.

Once in a while someone will say, "Why do you still eat such tiny amounts of food?"  I tell them that I am quite capable now of eating a lot more, but prefer not to.  It is not hard, it is easy.  It will get easier everyday and every year.