BurgundyBoy

@Rob_VSG - Do take a selfie and update your photo! You are doing SOOOO well! Great job.

@LVS Hope all is well with you and that the endoscopy is negative. If it is negative, maybe you just need to continue on a soft diet for now. Not everyone's body advances to solid foods at the same pace - the guidelines are about how much time has gone by since surgery, they are not about your individual circumstance and personal pace. A lot of people who have posted here have been relatively intolerant of solids for a longer time than their guidelines ... the guidelines are about being cleared to try solids, they are not about being guaranteed you can without issue eat solids! Best of luck!

@robin0418 Do consider, if one can discretely accomplish this suggestion, doing something sensory, something that tickles your senses. Many of the most powerful memories we have are those of powerful emotion or sensation: so, I suppose, in some form, am suggesting a Rite of Spring-like dance in the woods while it is raining . While of course doing so on the same lunar cycle point, like Full Moon or something (that might be my interpretation, but not yours). Many of us, and perhaps you as well, have experienced limitation or discomfort or fat bias. For me this included physical limitations. For me the physical limitations led to less enjoyment of the physical world. So less sensory enjoyment of the physical world. So, at the end of the day, losing weight meant more quality time with the physical world. Quality time with "Mother Gaia" might be as simple as spending time every day walking in your neighborhood, learning how the shrubs grow through the seasons and respond to challenges like cold, drought or heat; planting the bulbs you treasured as a child but have not yet re-grown; a walk by a canal or river; all of these enhance not only your exercise quotient, but also your social support, which is so critical to long-term success. Every time you go around the block and say hello to someone, you build non-judgmental relationships that engender confidence. (Yes this means I like to garden).

Excellent Robin, excellent! Just do whatever works, so if putting protein into fruit smoothies works, do it! (I learned how to make soft-boiled eggs in an Instant Pot recently - had I known this when I had my surgery in 2017, I think I would have been able to eat them much sooner. For what it is worth, I cook 2 eggs with pressure for 4 minutes and then let them sit in the heated Instant Pot for another 4 minutes. Reliably soft-cooked. If I forget to take them out -> hard boiled. May still be too soon for you. thankfully, I can eat eggs now, unlike @cinwa).

@ktallon Hope you are ok and can post. Spirits low? Your child doing ok? Housing all right? We're here for you.

How you doing? Hope all well! Post...

@Lankyliz Using the magical "@" invocation.... Did you have surgery via NHS? Any chance you have insight into @ERIN13's query? Best regards, BB

Sounds like you are in a good place. Since you have a tight group of people in the know (husband, close girlfriend, colleague and boss) be sure your lines of communication are wide open. Social support is critical (and that includes ever-so-gentle critical support; my wife helps me stay on the Path, and sometimes that means saying things to me that I would rather not hear). I was surprised to find that the lifeguards at the pool where I swim were 110% behind me - once my weight loss became obvious, they would ask about the distance I was swimming, my goals, everything - it made going to the gym a lot easier, and more friendly. The other two legs of the three are making sure your psych issues are being addressed, and then adhering to the diet. You may find the two week pre-op diet more challenging than the diet after surgery, since after surgery you will have little hunger, but before surgery it may still bedevil you! Indeed, you are doing the thing most likely to extend your life and happiness, and it may serve as a powerful message to your kids about "What a Responsible Adult Does" to keep themselves healthy. re: your point about Judgement City - you may find that you have to figure out how to forgive (or forget) people who injured you; don't forget to forgive yourself if you have internalized any of the negative messages.

Beautiful! and what gorgeous water! Smart to wear clothes that help you judge things.

No doubt there are a whole set of replacement obsessions that keep us fit, and at an healthy weight. Certainly people who run or jog come to be 'addicted' to the exercise, and we view that as healthy. Speaking for myself, I had never thought of weight lifting in this way. @la.craig's post has me re-examining my beliefs: what is the harm to an form of exercise (good) that builds muscle mass (good) and self-esteem (good) while participating or joining a fitness group (e.g. social support, another good)? If so, by having big muscles I maintain my healthy weight and other healthy activities, why shouldn't I see this as good? Last summer and fall I was rowing every day at a very high level. I became vain about my arm muscles. (This may be the only place I will admit this, since TTF is anonymous, and as a child I was taught that vanity is a sin). Until I developed some tendonitis in my shoulder, I was obsessional about going to the gym every day to row. @summerset You bring up an interesting point: for a number of years I've thought about the creation of (healthy) habits as a primary goal. When is an obsession just an habit? It could be that we categorize things as an healthy habit (eating kale, for instance) or obsessional (vegan and paleo diet, again eating kale) based on the lens (approving, disapproving, or indifference) through which we see the behavior. At the end of the day one is still eating kale! For me the issue is when an healthy activity rests on a delusional basis, and it is actually not healthy.

@Nae0906 Everyone is nervous before their surgery. Comes with the territory, as they say. Just keep 'putting one foot in front of the other' and move forward. You'll be fine. This is all about adherence to a well-proven route to weight loss.... but I don't mean to make light of the behavioral challenges! Like you, I only had to be on liquids for 2 days before surgery. After surgery, when I was still on liquids, I found myself chewing up solid food and then spitting it out, just to have the mouth feel / sensation of solids. (Many people posting here will confess to a similar behavior). The key here is to just follow the instructions when it comes to diet, have social support, and address your psychological issues. If you pay attention to those 3 issues you will do well. Do make sure you have your kit for surgery - books to read, pajamas if you wear those in hospital, music to listen to ... and consider measuring yourself this weekend (neck, thighs, calves, arms, waist, bosoms, the whole works) so as to measure your progress in the future. I missed that opportunity and it's one of my small regrets. In retrospect I think I was so flipped out by how large I had become that I really did not want to know my neck size. After surgery, when you may be challenged by your emotional need to have lost weight EVERY SINGLE DAY and you worry that YOU WILL BE THE FIRST PERSON DISCOVERED THAT THE SURGERY DOES NOT WORK FOR and similar silly ideas, being able to document your slimming self will provide you with reassurance. Exercise is not critical to weight loss after bariatric surgery, but it is a cornerstone of being healthy. If you are not in the habit of exercise you may wish to consider a new habit, of something as simple as walking every day. @Kio has some lovely postings about her increasing ability and capacity to walk after surgery, @Cardamom77 and @athenarose have lots of tips about the same - many, many people are more active after surgery and exult in it! be it walking, running, swimming, cycling, scuba diving, whatever. Statistically people (after surgery) have a BMI about 2 points lower if they engage in any exercise than people who get no exercise. Plus they get to live longer and better because they are active. Good luck!

@BrightDay How are you feeling today? Better with your fluids?

@TammyP Sorry I missed your earlier posting. You look great! congratulations! and looks like you were "Whacko in Waco!" (Shh about the bonus thighs! That's what long shorts and swimming trunks are good for, hiding the bonuses!)

Bottom line is ... are you retaining the weight you want to be at? If you are, then it's hard to be critical of any particular meal volume... the volume restriction is a means to an end, and the desired end is having an healthy weight. Meat and green beans is also a lot healthier than a lot of other stuff out there!

@ktallon Sorry to hear you are going through this. With you. BB