Hello Folks,

My surgery was May 15th, it is now August 4th, and I am down 75 lbs. (in 80 days, roughly 10 weeks). I started off weighing 325 lbs. My goal is to lose a total of a 100 lbs. I would be happy, (ecstatic really), with that achievement. But this journey has been different than what many have written/experienced, and many of the dietetic timetables I read online, haven't been holding true for me.

For the first 5 weeks after surgery, I was on a 100% liquid protein diet. Tiny sips of liquid was all I could handle. Sometimes I felt thirst that I could not quench, because I could not drink enough, fast enough. If I tried to eat anything semi-solid, like melted cheese or yogurt, I would feel tremendous pressure from my chest up to my throat. My throat felt like someone had their palm pressing down on my adam's apple. It wasn't uncommon to find myself VERY uncomfortable, trying to hold my food down, only to have my discomfort continue to build and build until I had to stick my finger down my throat and expel that food. After every meal, I would need to lay down for an hour.

Weeks 6 through 8 was a struggle to move away from liquids. I would have good meals and bad meals. I might be successful at lunch, only to have real problems at dinner. I just never knew how the meal would end. I often found that within minutes of eating, I would immediately begin burping, sucking air, and burping, continuously for up to two hours after eating. I would also overheat, become flushed, have head sweats, runny nose, overwhelming nauseous feeling. I would need to lie down for 20 minutes.

Weeks 8 through 10, I can now eat semi solid food (well chewed), but proportions are only about half a child's portion. For instance, I can eat half a plain hot dog with mustard, without a bun. (I crave the day I can eat a chili-slaw dog.) I can also finally eat a bite of food AND drink a swallow of a beverage without having to wait an hour between doing one before doing the other.

My taste buds have changed. Foods that were once a favorite, can taste "off". Foods that are bland, like eggs, can taste metallic. Sometimes I can taste salt, other times I can't. When I cook for the family, I have to have my wife verify it tastes good.

The biggest change to date? I cannot feel hunger.... at all. Haven't felt hunger since the day before my surgery... 10 weeks ago. I can go the entire day without eating, and feel nothing. My wife has to keep nagging me to eat. I have no desire to eat. When I think about eating, I often put it off because I just don't feel hungry. How VERY strange is that?

Throughout this journey's first 6 weeks, I was kind of regretting having my surgery. It was just affecting me in too many negative ways. Too much of my day would be spent in discomfort, laying down after meals and such. The past 4 weeks have greatly improved, I no longer regret having the surgery. Now that it has been 10 weeks, I am beginning to feel like my old self again. I think the next months are going to see greater and greater improvements. I know my after-meal discomfort is getting shorter and shorter, on average, it only lasts a few minutes. I hope my taste buds return to normal. I don't mind eating very small portions, except for some foods. I wish I could eat an entire slice of pizza for instance. Maybe someday.

Don

Wow. What a CRAZY journey you've had. Congratulations on the 88# hopefully you'll reach your goal weight quickly

Congrats on the weight loss. Glad you are feeling better. Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the support. I am on a good part of the journey now.

I'm glad you're feeling a bit better. I remember a line from a poem somewhere that says "the journey is our home." I've always taken that to mean that wherever we are on our journey, good days or bad, head hunger or not, tastes changing that it's all part of the journey to better health.

And contrats on your great loss. I hope I do that well.

I am so relieved to hear the actual hungar has gone. That is really what I'm counting on to help me get healthy. It has scared me to read posts where people are starving because I know I'm not strong enough to battle all this weight while surpressing hungar...my unsuccessful 20 years dieting is proof of that!!!

I also don't get hungry very often, but remember we don't want to start with bad choices and establish a bad habit of skipping meals. My nutritionist said that I should choose a time 3 times a day for a meal and two others for snacks and whether I am hungry or not - eat. So far, it is working - I am eating about 900-1000 calories a day and losing about 1 # a day. Remember that it is the bad habits that got us into the position we are in in the first place- we need to find a way to incorporate the good habits.

By the way, one of the reasons that I got so overweight was that I skipped breakfast and often lunch. My nutritionist told me that I was basically malnourished and that my body had gone into starvation mode; it started to hold onto every calorie thinking it would not be fed again. To skip meals now would put me back into the bad habits of the past. This may not be your problem, but when you find out what it is that brought you to this point - then you need to find the correct principle that would help you to re settle your body inot a more healthy one.

Hugs,
Kathy

Wow you go me thinking a lot about the step I am getting ready to take in 9 days. I am so dam hungry all the time I can't control my self. I am so tired of being the fat chic In the room. I want to feel really good about myself. I have very very bad eating habits but just preparing for my surgery not eating what I want is a job in self. so I am hoping for a break through. I am so glad you are coming out ok.