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I’ve been gone a while from the forum. life has just been busy and I guess time just gets away from me. It’s like I turned around and I’m old 😂 not really old but you know what I mean. looking at my profile it’s hard to believe I’ve been banded since 2014. I can only imagine where I would be if I never had the surgery. Or if I had done it sooner…. today I’m probably the healthiest I’ve ever been. I’ve got to be the mother and grandmother MY parents and grandparents never were and it’s because I changed. My career my marriage and my family has all flourished! is it all because of the surgery? Maybe not. But I definitely attribute a lot to it! the way I feel, the activities I can do…my overall mental health….i still deal with body image issues….still that chubby woman in the mirror, stuck episodes and bad days. We all probably do. But the good definitely outweigh the bad! I recently went to the dr for a horrible sting and when she took my blood pressure it was 55bpm I said “isn’t that too low?” she said “honey, you are almost 44, sitting cross legged on my table and just told me about your 20 mile mountain bike ride. Just looking at you I would say other than this sting you appear pretty healthy. It’s just fine.” coming from a family tree with tons of health issues, cancer and obesity I felt a huge win! so here’s to hoping the band holds up another 10 years😂 (I see a lot of horror stories) she has been a lifesaver and a huge help. Without her I don’t think I would be where I’m at! cheers to you all! Wishing you all the best of luck on your journey!

Same on heart rate! In fact I thought it was hypersensitivity to the few carbs I was having. My bariatric team had me wear a glucose meter for two weeks because of it. I wonder why the heart does this? At second thought I felt maybe it was due to different stomach placement with in the thoracic cavity and I was just noticing it beating "as normal" and perhaps it always beats that fast, but my heart on average beats 68bpm. When I checked when full it raised to 90bpm. I'm glad someone else experiences this as well!

I’m no dietician and very new here as well, but if you really have no access to other food (hopefully on a temporary basis), could you just order the protein and veg? Maybe skip the rice and noodles? Consider adding another protein and veg combo like shrimp and veg instead of the lo-mein. I’ve noticed many Chinese restaurants have “diet” offerings with low oil sauces, sauces on the side, etc. And sorry, I’m only 8 days post-op so have no idea about food fixations at this point. 😄

I have a choice of 2 breakfasts, either 150 grams full fat Greek yoghurt with berries 170 cals and a homemade latte, 100 cals and all this adds to about 25 grams of protein or a 27 gram sachet of porridge oats with milk and added ginger jam to sweeten it and a latte. I love ginger jam. This adds up to 25 grams of protein and 280 calories Lunch is either home made soup with lentils and bacon/ chicken added for protein or a 2 egg cheese omelette, scrambled eggs or fried eggs. Around 250 calories and up to 20 grams of protein. Snack, Milky coffee, a piece of fruit and some blue cheese 200 cals and 8 grams of protein Evening meal, Homemade family meal minus the carbs or a salad with fish or meat. About 250 cals and 15 grams of protein. Snacks of either fruit and cheese, fruit lolly or a almond magnum, packet of low fat crisps and a homemade cheese dip. I aim for 60 grams of protein and 1500 calories for maintenance. Once a week I may go over on a hungry day and one day I will forget to eat and be miles under so it all balances out. I realise I eat a lot of dairy but my cholesterol is ok at the moment.

I love Mexican food and deli sandwiches lol! So the week before my husband told me to choose foods that I wanted and the whole family would eat it. Then I ate chocolate, cake or sees candy. All the things!

I had the sleeve and work at a desk job, I took 3 weeks off and loved every single min! my hubby took the first week off and took the kids to school for me that week. I was so tired from barely eating and recovery. I "could've" gone back after 1 week but I enjoyed the time off, as I was paid for it anyways.

My doctor wrote me off work for 2.5 weeks - 2 weeks out, I'm fine, and after the first week, I probably could have (a bit miserably) gone back to work, but I think I really needed that first week off. Even though I had minimal pain, some days I just needed to sleep. Your body is going through a lot! Treat it well ❤️

I agree with @Nepenthe44- the biggest thing is going to find something you like. if you dread it chances are you won’t stick with it. Mix it up if you have to! Personally for me I love running and I also enjoy weights. when it is nice out I skip the gym for my mountain bike! good luck!!

Awesome suggestions as I'm preparing for the sleeve

I was curious what causes the 3-week stall, and this is what I found out in doing a little digging. When we experience calorie deprivation, whether a diet or after surgery or just not having the usual amount to eat for a bit, our bodies first turn to our store of glycogen to keep things running. Glycogen is a form of stored sugar, and for each gram of glycogen in the body, it's bound to 3 grams of water. So, if you burn a gram of glycogen for energy, you lose 3 additional grams of water as a bonus. Your body will always burn glycogen before it burns fat because that's how we've evolved to handle brief food shortages. Which means most of the weight you lose right after surgery is not actually fat, but water (and that's fine!). But after a few weeks, your body is low on glycogen and you still haven't hunted down a wooly mammoth to eat, so now it starts burning fat to keep running. At the same time, it does what it can to replenish those glycogen stores with whatever calories you have coming in, because it's a little worried you won't survive the next famine. Glycogen makes me think of the $100 cash my mom always kept stashed in her sock drawer for an emergency. If she used any of it, as soon as she got more cash, she replenished that first before putting anything in her wallet. Remember, each gram of glycogen comes with 3 grams of water. So you might burn 4 grams of fat, but also replenish 1 gram of glycogen (along with the 3 grams of water that tag along for the ride), and the scale shows you the same weight. Now you feel like nothing has happened and start to panic. But you still lost fat, which is the goal. And once your body does what it needs to do to replenish that glycogen, it'll start showing on the scale again. I really wish doctors would explain this process to patients before surgery! Some mention plateaus in general, but they rarely explain what causes them, and the 3 week stall is the type of thing they really should explain in detail so we know what's going on because it's basically a given.