Chantel

Thank you for this post. I've been wondering about this...

If she was burning fat and eating extremely low carb, the smell could be associated with ketosis.

I was told that your hair gets thicker during pregnancy and then returns to "normal" post partum. This was pre VSG, though.

My BMI was 36.3 with high blood pressure and sleep apnea. I was approved by BCBS of TX. :-)

Yes, I replaced my energy drink expense with Isopure. Lol. I haven't had an energy drink in 8 weeks. Giving them up was easier than I expected. I'm lucky in that I've always liked plain ice Water. :-)

I also make a really good Protein smoothie, when you are allowed blended fruit... A scoop of vanilla Protein powder (I use the Body Fortress brand from Walmart) 1/2 of a frozen banana (I cut it into chunks before freezing) A few frozen whole strawberries Unsweetened vanilla almond milk Ice Yummy!!

I really like the grape, icy orange and coconut flavors! Also, sugar free Popsicles. :-) Also, I'm 6 weeks post op and still have one most days to get about 1/2 my required Protein.

Isopure!!

I'm not eating many carbs at all. I would say low carb, in fact...

By the way, I'm 5'3". :-)

I was sleeved on July 9th Start of pre-op diet: 212 Day of surgery: 197 Lowest weight since surgery: 179.2 on 7/26 Since then: gained back up to 185.2 by 8/10. This happened around the time I went off full liquids and onto soft, mushy food. I'm wondering if part of it was related to increased sodium. As of today, I am 183.2. Which basically puts me back to where I was on 7/20, over 3 weeks ago. Total weight loss is 28.8 pounds, which is great. But I feel like I am in an almost month-long stall. I'm getting between 500 and 1,000 calories per day. Lots of Protein and fluids. And I've just added exercise back into the equation. I burn about 450 - 550 calories on the elliptical in an hour. Do I need more calories or less at this point? What suggestions do you have for me? I really want to continue to see progress. Thanks in advance.

You look fantastic! Congratulations.

I took two weeks off. The first week back was hard, but I also have three small children. In hindsight, I probably should have taken 3 weeks, which is what was approved for my leave of absence.

And did anyone gain weight when they went from full liquids to soft foods? I'm suspecting that sodium is the culprit, but I'm not certain. I'm beginning to get frustrated and worried that I'm doing something wrong.

I forgot. I had one appointment with a nutritionist. But it was over the phone and it only lasted 45 minutes or so.

I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks pre-op. Surgery date was 7/9. I've lost 16 more since then. :-)

First appointment 5/1. Surgery 7/9. I had a psych eval, an EGD and and EKG. :-)

I was surprised how good the Bariatric Advantage orange cream is. Especially because I had not heard great thing about their shakes.

Got it! Thank you.

I used the link, but I'm not getting the $20 credit. :-( What did i do wrong?

I love your red dress! You look great!

Hi, all. I'm 41 years old, 5'3" and my current BMI is 35.4. I have hypertension and mild sleep apnea, so I was approved by insurance. I'm on day 11 of my 2-week pre-op diet and I've lost 12 pounds in the last 10 days. My surgery is on Tuesday, 7/9. Best of luck to everyone with July surgery dates. :-)

Thanks, everyone. Just in case anyone else has this experience in the future and is looking for insight, I thought I would update this post. My doctor called in a prescription for me today. I have to take Potassium CL ER for the next 4 days. 20 MEQ tablet, 2 times per day. I believe that is equivalent to 3,000 mg (for the 2 tablets combined), but that's just based on internet research. Then, they will check my levels again before surgery. OTC potassium contains only 99 mg or 3% of RDA. RDA is 3,500 mg per day. :-)

I am scheduled for surgery on Tuesday and had my EKG and labs yesterday. Then, yesterday afternoon, my doctor's medical assistant called and said that my potassium is low and that it must be addressed before surgery. They wanted me to work with my PCP if possible. Called PCP and she is out until Monday. Nurse said she would ask the backup doctor, but they did not get back to me yesterday. And now, of course, it's a holiday. :-( I'm hoping to get this sorted out tomorrow, but was wondering if this has happened to anyone else. How quickly can you get potassium back in the normal range? I'm in the middle of my 2 week pre-op diet, so I can't really go eat a bunch of high potassium foods. And I don't know how quickly that would work anyway... I'm really hoping that my surgery won't have to be postponed. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I have BCBS of TX. BMI is about 36. I was approved in less than a week and did not have to provide a history of my weight or BMI in previous years. Good luck!