Some friendly advice from someone who is (almost) 2 years out.

Hey guys.

I had surgery on Sept 1^st, 2015. It has been a long, very long 2 years. My SW was 330 LBS. I was able to lose 100 lbs by myself, but ended up gaining back to 259 before my surgery.

Do I regret my decision? Absolutely not. I weight 140 lbs right now and in less than a month I will be going through plastics. (belt, boobs, butt) I look amazing, I am 90% happy. But I want to also be super real with everyone here.

Here goes nothing.

You are going to immediately regret your decision, but it gets better.

The first few weeks are hard and I have coached a few people through them because they felt like they had just made a huge mistake. So did I, but we didn?t. These emotions are real and common. The first few weeks are just hard. Keep your chin up.

If you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.

Yeah, I know that sounds lame, but its true. Many of the people I connected with prior to surgery have experienced a large amount of retain. Why? You are 6 months out and you eat a hamburger because it tastes delicious. You think, well, I am still losing. The issue is you are absorbing so little that you just fueled your body with crap. You will, over time, become loose with the rules. You will think you know best because you have lost a lot of weight. This will lead to a massive slowdown in weight loss and eventually you will regain. Follow the plan. From my group, there are only 3 of us that haven?t had regain and its? because we work for it.

Work to keep it or stand to lose it.

Start to resolve your food issues now.

Do you stress eat? I know I do! When I stress eat, I gain. I have had to learn different ways to cope with stress because it is an instinct and patter from years of doing it. I don?t actually think it will ever go away so I work at it every day!

Skin. You may feel just as bad about yourself post rny.

Lots of skin, lots and lots of skin. I am talking, I could cloth a whole other human with my excess skin. I feel lumpy and gross, but I am healthy so that?s what I tell myself when pants don?t fit because my hips are large due to the skin. Fitting into clothing is still tricky. Mentally prep yourself.

Okay and my biggest suggestion, be sure that this is the right solution for you and that you have gone through everything first.

I have always had a low heart rate. I workout, I eat well, I stress eat but I should never have been the size I was. I used to fight, I played roller derby. I was an active woman but my Dr. said that I had been heavy for so long, my body refused to lose weight.

There was no reason when I was a kid for my weight either. I was ALWAYS active. But teasing about my size led to stess eating that led to further weight gain.

Turns out, no one EVER tested my thyroid. If they had, they would have seen that was the issue. I am 33 years old, I was a chubby kid and really started gaining weight at puberty. NO ONE EVER TESTED MY THIROID. I had countless, COUNTLESS Dr. apts about my weight while growing up. It was all, eat healthy and exercise.

I was then told that surgery was my only option. This went on for 10 years until I caved and did it. Surgery should never have been an option for me. Had my Dr., or any Dr for that matter tested my thyroid. . .

So, there is my advice. See, wasn?t that bad! If you want to see my before / after shots. Or, if you want to creep my surgery results you can peek at my insta account. Warning, it is mostly todder images, but lots of body shots in there for you to see. Ton?s to come. June 8^th is my surgery date. Wish me luck!

Instagram: Unprotectedtext.

(https://www.instagram.com/unprotectedtext)

Also, if you need encouragement, feel free to message me there! I would be happy to chat.

Good luck! You're gonna do great!

Thank you for the frank and honest advice. it is good to see that I am going to go through a lot. sometimes it seems like all you hear are dire warnings and rosey glow stories. but this realistic advice really helps me get to know what i am in for.

when you said you are only cheating yourself it really struck a chord for me. and I have been meaning to get back to working on my stress eating. i think i have done well. due to my cir****tances I was tested on my stress eating. but I did eat a little more than i should. but i have the summer to work on that. i have my birthday coming up. it happens to fall on my vacation so usually it is a time of great celebration and eating. so much eating. but i am going to try to find other ways to celebrate (as you said)

thank you again. for all your wonderful advice.

I hope you find new and awesome way to celebrate! Enjoy your birthday! It sounds like you are on the right track.

Noelle

Thank you for your post. I haven't had my surgery yet, so your post is a reminder to me that this is more than just surgery. I need to make overall lifestyle changes.

So true!!! I'm only almost 4 months out but for the first 2.5 months I was thinking WTF did I just do to myself! I could hardly eat. Max was 1/4 cup AND couldn't eat normal food really. Didn't want to do much else than liquid or soft foods. Hated chewing and the taste of food made me want to throw up.

For the past month I have been able to eat, food tastes better (still can't handle a ton of chicken due to taste) and I'm really enjoying the way I look - IN CLOTHES. My stomach is sagging - between being big from 2005-2007ish and then again since 2009, having 2 kids stretching out my stomach it isn't and wont' be pretty. My arms are already jiggling and my boobs sag. I look good in clothes so far. I'm still far away from my goal but catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror I don't look away anymore.

It's super tough to have gone through RNY but I'm beginning to really like myself again. :)

So glad you are beginning to love yourself again. :)

Great Advice

That is some really good advice! I am almost 3 months post op and have been doing pretty good I feel! The best part of this journey so far is that I have been off all my 3 insulins for my diabetes, blood pressure meds and cholesterol pills as well! There fear of gain is so intense for me! I am follow Guelph's guidelines but I am always scared I'm eating to much or not enough! Just a quick question where r u having your skin surgery and will it be covered by Ohio, if not around how much( if u don't mind me asking, roughly)? My arms and thighs are so bad already and I'm just wondering what I have to look forward to in the far distance! Thanks so much, great job!

Noelle, I remember you from a few years back. Good to see that you are at goal have been maintaining. You are right that it is hard work and it's a daily challenge. Wishing you many happy healthy years ahead.