So my parents just invited me on a cruise in December or January. I just got the sleeve this February. I'm torn about what to do. I haven't had a vacation in years and this would be all expensive paid one! However, I'm worried about only being a little less then a year out and being on a cruise. I'm looking for advise about where people were a year out of their surgeries. And any suggestions would be great.
Advise please!
- Thread starter CarolKacz
- Start date
dianeseattle
Member
Cruises are notoriously wasteful, so you're right to be concerned. If you have access to menus, you might prepare yourself in advance. You absolutely have control over your choices, but the temptation factor will probably be really high.
missyinacage
Member
I am saddened that you think you cannot go. All-expense paid cruise? Yes, please. You had this surgery to improve your life, not hide in your room with only lean chicken and water to live on.
Cruises have notorious amounts of food. Not even close to all of it is bad for you. There is sushi and seafood, lean meats, salad bars, vegetables galore. Yes, there is also baked goods and milk shakes, but everything in moderation, right? I probably ate healthier on my first cruise (years before surgery) than any other vacation. There are just so many options, I tried everything. As a person raised on processed food, it was a revelation to eat all those fresh veggies.
Make the best choices you can at any given time. If you decide to have a milk shake, do better the rest of the day. Enjoy yourself.
Cruises have notorious amounts of food. Not even close to all of it is bad for you. There is sushi and seafood, lean meats, salad bars, vegetables galore. Yes, there is also baked goods and milk shakes, but everything in moderation, right? I probably ate healthier on my first cruise (years before surgery) than any other vacation. There are just so many options, I tried everything. As a person raised on processed food, it was a revelation to eat all those fresh veggies.
Make the best choices you can at any given time. If you decide to have a milk shake, do better the rest of the day. Enjoy yourself.
missyinacage
Member
I totally understand. And even if you avoided every bad food, the temptation is in your head, not in the proximity to treats. I am almost 2 years post-op and still occasionally make bad choices. I still struggle on a regular basis to be comfortable with my new lifestyle and what I can and cannot eat. I am either very lucky or unlucky depending on your definition. I can eat sugar and fat without dumping. I can eat more than I was led to believe would be possible. This is not because I've stretched or mistreated my stomach; it's been like this almost from the beginning. Sometimes it's a constant struggle between what I want to do and what I should do.
I'm finding the key is to accept that I'm not perfect and move on from there. A cookie doesn't make me a failure, or even less of a success. I stay within a 5lb range. If I hit the high end, I scale back. If I hit the low end, I try not to think about it for a while. I didn't have surgery to make it a focal point of my entire life. I did not allow being fat to define everything I was and so I cannot allow being thinner to define me either.
dianeseattle
Member
Yeah, after a few years I could eat anything I wanted, but in smaller quantities. And the surgery doesn't remove your eating disorder. Losing a bunch up front made it easier to keep losing over time, even though I had a 5-month stall.
As Missy noted, there's a lot of fresh food on cruises. So when you go, you'll be able to make smart choices. And if the Love Boat is accurate, there are myriad exercise choices.
As Missy noted, there's a lot of fresh food on cruises. So when you go, you'll be able to make smart choices. And if the Love Boat is accurate, there are myriad exercise choices.
Missy.... you do not know how much I needed to hear what you posted right now! I am 4 years out and also can eat sugar, etc so there is only me that controls sliding backwards.
I was immobile for a year due to a foot issue/surgery and gained 10 pounds. Cant help beating myself up.
I was immobile for a year due to a foot issue/surgery and gained 10 pounds. Cant help beating myself up.
missyinacage
Member
Mary, there are quite a few of us on here that are more than a year out and still have some issues. It is SO hard to mentally get out of the same cycle of self abuse that most obese people put themselves through. Both the self abuse with food and verbal/mental self abuse.
When we have surgery, we accept that obesity took over. That our DNA, genetics, mental issues and hormones became a problem that WILLPOWER would not be able to overcome. And then we lose a lot of weight. And still consider food choices "bad" and beat ourselves up for having no willpower and not being good enough. Which is the same diet cycle bullshit we lived through before.
No one eats nothing but health food all the time. NO ONE!! And we discuss our relationships with food all the time. And okay, maybe we can be our own worst enemy, but I really wish we would/could all stop treating ourselves so badly over failures, both real and imagined. I still struggle. I still make bad choices. I ate french fries the other day that were SO good, I ended up eating too many. And then I sat there deciding whether I should just feel sick for the next half hour or go throw up. As I am not looking to become bulimic, I suffered. Half of the people on this site will read that and decide I am fucking up my tool and am headed for failure. It was hard for me not to beat my own self up for it. But, I didn't set out to make myself sick, I just wasn't paying attention. I know better and usually do better. I could beat myself up .. many will think I deserve to. But .. I've been there, done that. It happened. It's over. I paid for it. And I'll remember to pay attention now .. until the next time I forget. Because I am human. And that's okay.
JudyNY
Member
Not as much as they use to be especially if you stay away from the buffets. Dining rooms are the best choice and their portion size is not tremendously big. They also will cater to any diet if you let them know ahead. And they offer many healthy options on the menu. I feel it is much better than eating out in available restaurants if you were on a road trip.
Midnight buffets are a thing of the past, except for maybe one night the whole cruise where they might do a specialized buffet and you certainly can opt out.
There's also plenty of options for exercising, even if just walking the huge ship every morning or evening. Or you can swim or visit the gym onboard.
My advise is go and enjoy yourself. This surgery should not limit your life but instead help you make better choices along the way.
BTW, I have been gifted a cruise by my sister in June of this year. We are going around the British Isles. Don't turn down a wonderful offer like this! Enjoy!!
JudyNY
Member
Well said Missy!
rjbj
Member
I've only been on one cruise, but when I went, our table had a steward devoted to us, learned our names and dining preferences; if that's standard in cruising, you might mention that you have dietary restrictions, including leaning heavy in on the proteins and smaller portions. I'd be most worried about all the booze, myself. LOL
TraceyT
Member
Hi -
I'm a touch over 2 years post op. Had gastric bypass 1/2020. Go on the cruise - buy some sexy clothes - and show'em what ya got!! We all make choices every single day. We make good ones, bad ones, OMG ones, and we also make WTF ones. Each day is a clean slate - learn from all the choices we make.
Drinking - is a choice - what we eat is a choice. I've taken sips from my husbands drinks - it takes like a thimble full to get me moving in the dirty flirty direction - my husbands words not mine.
I still have measuring spoons in my purse - from when we first started eating out. I don't use them now - but it's just something that I'm comfortable having with me. I truly just haven't thought about taking them out.
Your body will let you know if you over do it. With food or drinks or whatever. I figured at some point I'd be able to eat sweets again - but no - and that's ok. I eat pretty much what I want - and I can't seem to gain a pound. A friend I haven't seen in several years saw me recently - and told my husband to buy me a milkshake every day so I could put for meat on my bones. My husband laughed - said yeah I'll get right on that. I could drink 1 milkshake over the course of a week maybe.
Just enjoy this lovely weightloss ride and then enjoy the cruise. You can do it!!
I'm a touch over 2 years post op. Had gastric bypass 1/2020. Go on the cruise - buy some sexy clothes - and show'em what ya got!! We all make choices every single day. We make good ones, bad ones, OMG ones, and we also make WTF ones. Each day is a clean slate - learn from all the choices we make.
Drinking - is a choice - what we eat is a choice. I've taken sips from my husbands drinks - it takes like a thimble full to get me moving in the dirty flirty direction - my husbands words not mine.
I still have measuring spoons in my purse - from when we first started eating out. I don't use them now - but it's just something that I'm comfortable having with me. I truly just haven't thought about taking them out.
Your body will let you know if you over do it. With food or drinks or whatever. I figured at some point I'd be able to eat sweets again - but no - and that's ok. I eat pretty much what I want - and I can't seem to gain a pound. A friend I haven't seen in several years saw me recently - and told my husband to buy me a milkshake every day so I could put for meat on my bones. My husband laughed - said yeah I'll get right on that. I could drink 1 milkshake over the course of a week maybe.
Just enjoy this lovely weightloss ride and then enjoy the cruise. You can do it!!