Who's your favorite YouTube Person?

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

In preparation of y'alls surgeries, was there a particular YouTube personality that y'all identified with, or liked for whatever reason?
There are SOOO many videos out there... Some are cute, some are incredibly dreary. Some of them act like they're the only person alive that's had the surgery, and some are complete fricken idiots.

Anyways, I thought I'd see if there were any y'all would recommend?

 

[harrietvane]

I can't say I used YouTube. I found every other board than this one full of attention whoring, surgery politics and/or drama queens, and I felt like the type of people who would be vlogging their journey probably weren't the type of people I'd connect well with.

Rather than thinking about the medium, what are you hoping to get from other people's journeys (information? inspiration? community?)? Perhaps it might be easier to match you with resources based on intent rather than form.

 

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

LMAO! I actually really really agree.... I mentioned it before that when I went to other sites, the forums were just big pissing contests, and I had such a hard time dealing with arrogance and condescending attitudes.

To be honest, I'm so paranoid that I'm going to mess this up. I have always had issues with "Not being good enough", but this is deeper than that. I know I keep saying this, but I truly never thought I would ever get this opportunity, and now that it seems within my grasp, I don't want to fail. To me, failing is a guarantee that I will have health issues later down the road that I can't afford to treat. My family has the worst possible health history, and I'm just hypervigilant/paranoid as hell.
That being said, I feel like I have to spend all of my free time doing "research" and learning about this whole process. I've read so much that a lot of times my brain is just mush... So occasionally I try to watch videos just to get another perspective. I love looking at "What I eat in a day" videos and posts!! I like watching "What I wish I knew before surgery" videos, and "My favorite things" videos. Some of it is just tragedy porn, but the majority of it is just me wanting to get ideas, or a different perspective, but not wanting to sit still and read another paragraph. Background noise.

Any good suggestions?

 

[southernlady]

I know of two members here who have used video. @more2adore is one (she may have it listed on her profile). She isn't a DSer yet as she was so heavy, her surgeon insisted on two stages and she is currently baking a baby between stages.

The other is a long term vet who tried a few of the informational type not so much her personal journey. I have hers in my subscription list and will dig it up for you.

 

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

I know of two members here who have used video. @more2adore is one (she may have it listed on her profile). She isn't a DSer yet as she was so heavy, her surgeon insisted on two stages and she is currently baking a baby between stages.

The other is a long term vet who tried a few of the informational type not so much her personal journey. I have hers in my subscription list and will dig it up for you.

Awesome! Thank you!

 

[aaa]

Pinkfishlilly. Her name is Janine and I believe she had 2 previous WLS prior to the DS.

 

[writegirl]

Melanie Sliced Thinner has some good videos with pertinent information. She is a DSer and I like her videos because she used the same surgical group I am using, she's funny without it becoming a waste of time or distraction, and she does talk about her own experiences with some very real issues. I follow her videos. I also find Mellie Mae's videos pretty informative. She is a gastric bypass patient, but she touches on a number of issues that cross the aisle, so-to-speak. Finding Nirvana is funny, but sometimes the humor takes away from the experience of learning from her videos, but she is definitely entertaining. Nirvana has been through a great many procedures and complications that she is one I would recommend. There are a few others I have seen but do not subscribe to to many.

 

[harrietvane]

The waiting before surgery is the part where you definitely feel like you can research it to death! I think we're all convinced that we're going to be the one person who manages to not lose weight with our surgery, and that we can 'intellectualise' our way out of those feelings by endless readings.

I found it useful to be a bit practical: I used the time to read this board to death, but also to do things like find recipes that were high protein that I would be keen to make at some point after surgery, thinking about what my personal goals were and how I wanted to change things in my life about my relationship with my body, and very mundane things like sorting through all my clothes into different sizes (no doubt you, like many of us, could stock a store with a range of sizes over the years!).

As soon as the surgery was done, I found that my desire to endlessly research vanished, and it was more about the accountability and support that I find here - taking my vitamins, eating my protein and generally keeping my shit together while the DS worked its magic! I've lost 50kg (110 lbs) in 14 months - so despite all my worrying, I managed not to fuck up the surgery and be the person who never lost anything. It's hard to understand and believe, but...it just works.

 

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

The waiting before surgery is the part where you definitely feel like you can research it to death! I think we're all convinced that we're going to be the one person who manages to not lose weight with our surgery, and that we can 'intellectualise' our way out of those feelings by endless readings.

I found it useful to be a bit practical: I used the time to read this board to death, but also to do things like find recipes that were high protein that I would be keen to make at some point after surgery, thinking about what my personal goals were and how I wanted to change things in my life about my relationship with my body, and very mundane things like sorting through all my clothes into different sizes (no doubt you, like many of us, could stock a store with a range of sizes over the years!).

As soon as the surgery was done, I found that my desire to endlessly research vanished, and it was more about the accountability and support that I find here - taking my vitamins, eating my protein and generally keeping my shit together while the DS worked its magic! I've lost 50kg (110 lbs) in 14 months - so despite all my worrying, I managed not to fuck up the surgery and be the person who never lost anything. It's hard to understand and believe, but...it just works.

I feel like you're nestled inside of my brain, which is very comforting for me, and scary for you! !! You nailed it.
Thank you for having the right things to say!

 

[galaxygrrl]

What a great question. I found the videos after I had my surgery.

I looooooved this woman's - She made me laugh, cry and just talked to my heart.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKmYCxFMFgYOdozHezq2DCw/videos

There are two others I liked a lot too

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbizZSc7-3ib0lsK4NyBvqg - she has been known to pop in

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCViqFy_olp9Sw0646XZ00bw

 

[southernlady]

y body, and very mundane things like sorting through all my clothes into different sizes (no doubt you, like many of us, could stock a store with a range of sizes over the years!).

My husband and I had weeded thru clothes over the years (we moved too often to hold on to sizes that no longer fit). We had to start over.

 

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

My husband and I had weeded thru clothes over the years (we moved too often to hold on to sizes that no longer fit). We had to start over.

I had given up on my skinny clothes, and everything else, I wear it to death! By the time I'm finished with my clothes, they usually aren't even suitable for the thrift store!

 

[TvanV]

In preparation of y'alls surgeries, was there a particular YouTube personality that y'all identified with, or liked for whatever reason?
There are SOOO many videos out there... Some are cute, some are incredibly dreary. Some of them act like they're the only person alive that's had the surgery, and some are complete fricken idiots.

Anyways, I thought I'd see if there were any y'all would recommend?

I watched a TON of WLS YouTubers before and after surgery. I found them so very helpful in having realistic expectations for healing rates, etc. I'm the type of person who is grateful to learn from other people's triumphs and mistakes. Some of my favorites are Chemistry Queen, Perforce, Switched Focus, Melanie Sliced Thinner, SmilinsShrinkin, Aubrey in Wonderland, Foodie turned Sleevie, Hasta Cielo y Mas, Watch Kitty Shrink, LiftsandLaughter, Lisa Pickens DS, VSG BrittBratt, Trickie DSRider, Watch PattiMelt, SJs Journey, Sleeved Franklin, and Lauren Losing. I also do updates myself, but I'm not very fancy with my videos! My YouTube handle is Shrinking VioletDS.

 

[Ray_Of_Fricken_Sunshine]

I watched a TON of WLS YouTubers before and after surgery. I found them so very helpful in having realistic expectations for healing rates, etc. I'm the type of person who is grateful to learn from other people's triumphs and mistakes. Some of my favorites are Chemistry Queen, Perforce, Switched Focus, Melanie Sliced Thinner, SmilinsShrinkin, Aubrey in Wonderland, Foodie turned Sleevie, Hasta Cielo y Mas, Watch Kitty Shrink, LiftsandLaughter, Lisa Pickens DS, VSG BrittBratt, Trickie DSRider, Watch PattiMelt, SJs Journey, Sleeved Franklin, and Lauren Losing. I also do updates myself, but I'm not very fancy with my videos! My YouTube handle is Shrinking VioletDS.

Wow, thanks! ! I've seen a few of them. Chemistry Queen is just adorable and SmilinShrinkin always makes me feel like a horrible person in comparison to how impossibly cheery she is!

 

[writegirl]

I watched a TON of WLS YouTubers before and after surgery. I found them so very helpful in having realistic expectations for healing rates, etc. I'm the type of person who is grateful to learn from other people's triumphs and mistakes. Some of my favorites are Chemistry Queen, Perforce, Switched Focus, Melanie Sliced Thinner, SmilinsShrinkin, Aubrey in Wonderland, Foodie turned Sleevie, Hasta Cielo y Mas, Watch Kitty Shrink, LiftsandLaughter, Lisa Pickens DS, VSG BrittBratt, Trickie DSRider, Watch PattiMelt, SJs Journey, Sleeved Franklin, and Lauren Losing. I also do updates myself, but I'm not very fancy with my videos! My YouTube handle is Shrinking VioletDS.

At the risk of sounding like a creepy stalker, it just so happens that I was totally watching your videos this morning--thank you for posting those--it's so helpful to watch other peoples' journey's through WLS. Your week 3 video really spoke to me. I so identify with what you meant about being your own worst critic and policing yourself and the whole not wanting to broadcast too much about your WLS to everyone in your life.