Thoughts after WLS

You know since having the surgery and going through everything I am, I have begun to have a deeper understanding when the doctor tells you this surgery isn't for everyone.      Aside from feeling sick to my stomach quite often, even when I do everything I am told to do, and feeling ugly most of the time.  (HORMONES) Not being able to eat what others eat and see them eating something that just a few months before you could eat can really bring a person's self worth DOWN a few dozen notches.      I mean I am not trying to scare anyone out of the surgery because I will be the first to tell you straight out it IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE PENNY!  I am just noticing things.  Things that I am most positive every post weight loss surgery patient has or will go through.      I mean I can not eat so many different things (mostly my favorite starchy foods LOL).  I know, I know bad Jennifer BAD for thinking that way, but there are some things I do miss being able to enjoy every once in a blue moon.  Like for example a piece of apple pie.  Not a big one just a small piece.  But unfortunately there is soooo much sugar in it number one and two white flour.  TWO number one naughty items.  Apples are good though.  I do occasionally enjoy a good apple now and then.  But honestly it is not the same.  Oh and potatoes I miss potatoes.  ~sigh~ Just too much starch.      I still get to enjoy my chicken and fish and vegetables though which makes me happy.  I love vegetables.  Too bad no one else in my household does.  Eric absolutely HATES vegetables unless its corn.  Which for someone like me is another starch I just can't have.      Another thing I have noticed is foods that are not normally sugary tasting with taste soooo sweet I have to spit it back out and a good example is the skim milk from the store.  I know it does not have sugar in it or any fat but it tastes so sweet I can barely stand drinking it.  That and tea.  I don't have to add any sugar to it believe you me.      THEN there is the fun issue of just smelling something and know it won't settle right in my small tummy. Which can be most frustrating at times.  Especially if its something I had only two nights previous and it was fine then.     Sorry if I seem to be venting a bit in the process of writing down these thoughts.  I do not mean to sounds that way.  But it sorta does.  Anyways back to subject at hand.      Another thing i find difficult is going to restaurants of ANY kind.  I do not eat a lot and these restaurants see me coming and basically dig out the big plates.  Like the other night I went to Deny's with the family and only ordered a glass of water and 1 hard boiled egg.  I didn't need any more than that because the rest of the family was going to share a small bit of their chicken and veggies.  But I had to order something.  Well danged if I didn't know it they bring the rest of the family these platter like plates of food and I swear to god I got the biggest chicken EGG I have ever seen in my poor life.  And it seemed like every three seconds she was asking me if I was sure I didn't want anything else.  I wanted to yell at her a few times telling her, " NO GOD DAMN IT I DON'T NEED ANYTHING ELSE I AM A POST WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY PATIENT NOW GET OUT OF MY FACE."  But I kept my peace knowing she was only doing her job and didn't know i had gone through the surgery.      But unfortunately this situation happens more often than not.  I mean yes I have had the surgery I am 6 months out but I still look heavy.  Not as heavy as I did before the surgery (dang cloths keep falling off me) but still heavy.  And unfortunately in the restaurant industry they see someone who still looks heavy as a potential money train because they have it in their head that big = big money.      How I come up with this is because they believe persons on the larger side of the scales eat and eat and eat and eat and eat etc., etc., etc. But what they don't know is that is only a small amount of us.  Me for example:  My sizable weight increase was due to pregnancy.  I still ate the same amount of food as before I had gotten pregnant.  Only difference is the food was not being used by my body the same way it was before the pregnancy.  Something inside my body switched to the off position and so my body stopped being skinny.     Now, well now i eat even less than i have ever in my entire life.  And the restaurants still want to bring me HUGE PLATES of food.  Frankly I wish there was a restaurant even maybe a CHAIN of restaurants out there that was designed specifically for weight loss surgery patients. I mean everyone can eat there but the food is designed for the weight loss patient instead of mass population.  Number one the portions would be WAY smaller and it would be food that we could actually eat and not feel like OMG IF I PUT THAT IN MY MOUTH I AM GONNA PUKE type of food from normal restaurants.  I mean, if there was a place like that, food served at the correct proportions and smaller proportions for the weight loss surgery patients I honestly think a lot of people would go.  I know I would.  Weight loss surgery or not.      I mean I never really went to restaurants before the surgery just every once in a blue moon with the family but I never did really care for restaurant food.  Mostly because they always serve TOO much and its always so greasy and loaded with salt.  YUCK!  And besides you always hear all this stuff on the news how the food industry makes obesity and that XX amount of billions of people are obese.  And I have to say that yes that is true and No it is not true.      Number 1 The food industry is yes bad! In the way the prepare their food and the amount they serve.  But Number two No one made the mass population pick that food; pick up their fork; and shovel it into their mouths.  They did it on their own.  And the funniest thing is they now expect the food industry to make healthier food and smaller proportions to help regulate the food intake of the mass population.  And ironically the ones who have made said changes still have their highest selling from the food that caused this mass hysteria in the first place.  So really yes the choice for healthier food is there but most people down the greasy, salty, unhealthy food.      Freedom of choice.  However if there was a food place out there as I was describing earlier geared toward weight loss surgery patients I know a great many people who would go.  Not to mention the fact if you had it set up as a regular restaurant with a fast food window there might be a lot of the fast food regular****ting up the window for the healthier foods.  I mean that is one of the main reasons "fast food" is so popular even though most KNOW its a bag of grease.  Its because the healthier restaurants don't have fast food capabilities.     Anyways enough of my neurotic ramblings.  Enjoy your days. And remember Even though the surgery isn't for everyone IT IS FOR THE MOST DETERMINED.  Have faith. GOD BLESS!

Great post. Life isn't always all roses after WLS but it works if we make it work. If we aren't willing to make it work, what's the point?  I totally agree with you on the WLS restaurant. I'd go there. But it would be hard to get dh to go with me cuz he's now eating for two. LOL. He isn't really, he's just trying to pick up the slack from my former eating habits. We take ALOT of stuff home and I don't feel bad about giving it to the dogs either.  What I'd really like to see from the food industry is less white carbs/starchy foods and less high fructose corn syrup, choices. The whole world knows these are bad for you but no one offers enough alternatives. And the people who insist they absolutely have to eat that bad crap..It boggles the mind. There are alternatives to the grease and fat, you just really have to look hard and insist they make it the way you want it. I order cottage cheese instead of hash browns. I order the Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap instead of the Crispy (and McDonalds) and read read read labels. But you're right. No one but us even cares about the healthy alternatives. I get the same thing at the restaurants. When they see that there's still alot left on your plate they automatically think something was wrong with their food and they sure don't want a dissatisfied customer (they really want that big tip) so they push...Maybe you want something else? Maybe you need a refill? I just smile and say, I'm fine..The regular waitresses usually know everything is okay but the new ones worry. I was a waitress for a while so I understand. I usually ask for a carry out box so they know it's not the food but the size of the portions. That makes them feel better. And the more they come and ask me, I figure the more they are concerned that my experience was good. I tip pretty high anyway.  Your post was really good and food for thought...Maybe someone will open a WLS Food chain...Cool! I'll be right in line behind you!

WTG on your weight loss!  And yes it is kind of food for thought for both the pre WLS patients and the Post WLS patients.  Because it is a HUGE decision.  And no one can make that decision but YOU.  AND if I could get the funds I would sooo totally open a restaurant geared that way.  Some day maybe.  ~HUGS~ God Bless

Your post brought back some memories for me. I remember right after my RNY, I couldn't eat squat, and here I was a 300+ pound woman in a restaurant who would only eat three bites. Every time, somebody would ask me if something was wrong with the food. I know they'd think, Damn, this woman should be able to eat five of these plates. Since I've shrunk so much, I don't get asked that as often, but I used to get tickled by it (and sometimes annoyed, depending on my mood). You hang in there, all that will get better. I still take spells that I wish I could gorge, but if I could eat like I used to, I'd be right back up there at 340 pounds. So I'm grateful for the limitations.

Don't get me wrong I am happy for my limitations as well. And I am getting better with the eating things.  But it can still be difficult at times.  Before the surgery I use to be 485lbs.  But that wasn't my biggest... at one time I was at 550Lbs.  AND I HATED IT.  But at the time there wasn't a lot I could truly do because of my special condition from the pregnancy.  My Doctors always told me no I couldn't get the surgery and that if I only dieted and at all these certain types of food, and exercised I would loose the weight.  So I did everything they told me to.  And for a while I would loose.  Then all the sudden I would gain and gain and gain.  And no matter How much I exercised, stuck to the diet, and ate EXACTLY to a T what they wanted me to eat I would gain.  Funny! What they didn't tell me is that It really wasn't my fault that I was so large.  The only doctor who had ever been able to tell me that what had happened all those years ago after the pregnancy was not my fault and that I was part of a very VERY Small group of women who's internal workings stop working right.  (Dr. Marema).  I am grateful to him for that too.  It has opened a WHOLE new outlook for me. And my parents were from an era where abuse was considered good parenting.  You know the whole if you keep eating that way you are going to get big as a house.  Even though I barely ate all that much.  But they saw me getting bigger and thought I was eating like a pig or something where I would gorge myself.  But funny thing is almost all the food I ate during the pregnancy was healthy.  My worst craving was for a bowl of rice, broccoli, carrots, califlower, and cheese all mixed together.  I loved that stuff and had to have it at least once a day. Anyways enough about me.  I am so happy for your weight loss.  keep up the awesome work!  ~hugs~ God Bless

I had all the same problems that you are talking about and more. It does get better. You order off the appetizer menu then ask for a box with the meal and put it away. I could never reheat anything but I still put it in the box and took it home and threw it away. You nicely tell the wait staff that it all you need but thank you for asking. You have to just let it slide. I told the waitress at Red Lobster they should be ashamed of themselves for feeding people on turkey platters. I am sure she walked away thinking what is her problem.

You will be able to taste some of the things you now miss. I am 3 years out and have been put on some medicine that has made me gain 8 pounds. I wish I had never eaten anything but what I could eat at 6 months out because I might of only put on half of the 8 pounds.  It seems no matter what I do now the scale does not move. Remember you are eating to fuel now not to comfort yourself.  Oh am I telling that to you or myself…In 6 more months you will be feeling better about everything.  

Certain places.... wait second thought.... MOST places like restaurants I can't order off the appetizer menu cause of the amount of grease.  I never liked a lot of grease before the surgery and its even worse now.  Just thinking of grease makes me .... a bit green if you know what i mean. And I agree about Red Lobster.  They as in the company should be ashamed.  Especially since lobster has the highest cholesterol content.  And congrats you look great in the picture of yourself.  And 8 lbs isn't as bad as some of the post WLS patients I have seen coming back into the clinic for a second round of WLS.  So don't beat yourself up too much over it.  Remember after you are done with these meds that are making you gain your body will regulate yourself again and you should be able to easily loose the 8 pounds and keep it off.  Just keep the faith.  ~hugs~ God Bless

>Frankly I wish there was a restaurant even maybe a CHAIN of restaurants out there that was designed specifically for weight loss surgery patients I am currently taking some classes in resturant managment etc so I personally can open some resturants that cater ESPECIALLY to people like you and I who have "food issues". Which, honestly is most of America. I plan on focasing on tasty beautiful food served in small potions with nutrition information available on request. It'll take some time to do it.. but just to give you hope.. I'm letting you know. You're not alone!! 

Well then if you open the restaurant I will be the first in line LOL! God Bless