Welcome to the forum! It can be very discouraging when friends and family don't understand why you want to have surgery. They see shows like "The Biggest Loser" where people lose a lot of weight, and wonder why you can't just diet and exercise your way out of this. What they don't see is that almost all of those people regain the weight. Or they've heard some horror story on the news about someone who died after the surgery, and they don't know that the surgery is extremely safe as long as you have an experienced surgeon. It should get easier once people see how successful you are, and how much better you feel after losing a bit of weight. I was surprised at how much of a difference just the first 10 pounds made to how I felt.

Hearing from others who've had the surgery, on forums like this one, can help a lot to counteract the bad vibes you're getting from others. Remember that your friends and family haven't spend the months or years that you've spent thinking about your weight and exploring your options. You are better informed than they are.

On low-fat diets, raw fruit is generally considered a free food because:

• It's hard to consume an excessive amount. Even without surgery, consuming five oranges would be a daunting task, but consuming the equivalent amount in candy bars or ice cream would be easy enough.
• It provides lots of nutrients.
• Although it contains sugar, that sugar is packaged with fibre in a way that slows its absorption.

As far as whether it's better to be on a low-fat diet or a low-carb diet, the most reliable research suggests that there isn't much difference in effectiveness, so you follow the type of diet that's easiest for you to stick to.

I'm female, a year post-VSG. I find that at an average of about 800 calories per day, I lose weight at a nice rate. That seems to be typical for females on this forum. I haven't reached my goal quite yet, so I don't know how many calories I need to maintain. From other female posters, about 1000 calories seems to be typical.

The amount of protein you need depends on who you ask. I average 55-60g per day, and my dietitian is satisfied with that. Some people say you need more. I think the best answer for this would come from a dietitian who works with WLS patients rather than a doctor or surgeon. (Men need more protyein.)

My best tip would be to track everything you eat, as the post above suggests. Then look at the foods you eat most often, and see if there are any small changes you can make without feeling deprived. Don't try to change everything at once.

Drink lots of fluids. That's necessary for weight loss. Also, often when I feel hungry it's actually excess stomach acid rather than actual hunger. Drinking something often makes the "hunger" go away.

I agree with romanceauthor, My WLS team told me if I go more than 4 weeks without weight loss to make an appointment with the nutritionist. They would rather we come in and get it corrected early than come in having gained back most or all of the weight back. Also it's good to be accountable to someone other than yourself.

Hi Janet

We've all had our version of the "i'm done" moment... I remember thinking "will this chair break if i sit in it?" about every plastic chair... i was always wondering if people were staring at me. I'd go to bed thinking "i'm fat", and I'd wake up feeling like sht about myself. All of those feelings are long gone!! I feel SO much better about myself- and, I still have a way to go however I feel like a better version of myself!

Its great you have a journey buddy and you always have this place too!

Good luck to you!!