jess9395

Your blood calcium levels are a measure of how your parathyroid glands are functioning and nothing else. If they don’t get enough dietary calcium they will leech it from your bones because if you don’t have enough calcium in you blood you with have severe muscle spasms (tetany) and eventually not be able to breathe because calcium is necessary for nerves. Bones are secondary. I developed osteoporosis with a high level of blood calcium because I had problem with my parathyroid glands. Please don’t rely on blood calcium to see if you are getting enough.

I do! And I mix it with water. Earlier in the process I used fairlife milk to get in extra calories and Protein but these days I mix with water when I use it, mostly because it’s so easy to carry around and you can always find a bottle of water to pour in the shaker bottle! That said, that’s what I personally like! Others might find it gritty or chalky.... I don’t but I don’t like thick shakes, they make me gag. Everyone’s preferences are different. But the cool thing about the powders is you can mix to your preferred consistency by adding more or less liquid!

I second Lands End! Great quality and variety and an open ended no questions asked return policy!

This is true when you have a NORMAL Anatomy which we do not! It’s because the meal stimulates acid production. But we don’t have enough surface area left in the case of a sleeve and it’s not in contact with the surface area in a bypass so there isn’t enough acid exposed to the carbonate for proper digestion.

Caltrate is carbonate. For NORMAL people that is ok but here’s the thing... carbonate needs acid. So if you are on an acid inhibitor or have had your stomach altered (hello WLS) you don’t have enough acid to properly extract the calcium. Please all don’t rely on carbonate!

So funny and exactly why I recommend everyone keep trying because there are SO MANY kinds! I can’t choke down a Premier Protein on a bet! Too “creamy” for me because it feels syrupy. I prefer thinner and the powders are where it’s at for me. They don’t feel gritty/chalky to me at all.

160 or 260? You said 260 above

What about a rash guard? I always made my son wear one so he didn’t get burned. They are like compressive tees

Like they’ve said, at this point you’re totally safe and it’s a mental thing

Oh gosh, my brother in law is a stylist and has done my color for more than 20 years, I have NO idea what product he uses but they are a somewhat high end salon, so there’s that. Dunno if that makes a difference.

Re the bra issue. Many of you might be wearing the wrong size band. Most American women are. Check out these guidelines— https://www.reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits/wiki/beginners_guide https://www.reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits/wiki/manual_sizing_guide I finally got my mother in law to get sized at a GOOD bra store (not Victoria secret who will put you in what they have not what you need or a department store where teen girls aren’t well trained) and she switched from a 40B to a 34D. The cup size is just in relation to the band size so our popular culture notion of D’s being “big” is quite flawed. I wear a DDD or E and everyone says to me “you aren’t that big” well yeah cuz I’m a 32! Give it a shot, take your measurements with the instructions above. You might shock yourself! If your band rides up in the back and won’t stay down below your shoulder blades your band is too big.

As@gassygurl suggested, many of us lose no matter the vitamins or protein. Telogen Effluvium is real with any post op/body stress not just bariatrics— http://drnichter.com/hair-loss-after-surgery-explained/ And yes I got my roots done during the loss phase and didn’t seem to make it worse.

Yes! I avoided it for years, it hasn’t played nicely. I did try it again recently at 4.5 years out... I cut fresh from the corn and threw in a griddle to get a char on it. Then added to some carmelized onions. Was doing it for my family but decided to give them another try and HOORAY no issues! I’ve had it twice since, once more fresh and once frozen and have done just fine!

Some of us lose hair no matter how much protein we intake. It’s a process called telogen effluvium— http://drnichter.com/hair-loss-after-surgery-explained/ Like you I couldn’t possibly get in all my protein requirements without supplementation till well after a year post op, my restriction was too high. Try switching your shake! If it’s whey isolate move to one with caesin or whey concentrate or a combination. Or try plant based protein. Just stay away from collagen or genepro.

What is “enough calories?” I only ate 300-400 for several months, got up to maybe 600 by six months out and finished a year at 900. I eat well over 2000 a day now in maintenance so it didn’t kill my metabolism.

I can’t do carbonation, it’s just painful, even at four and a half years out. So beer and a lot of mixed drinks are out. I do wine. I do vodka Collins or Tom Collins. The bars almost always have low cal Collins mix. Vodka/light cranberry if mixing at home. Grapefruit juice and vodka is a greyhound and I like those, if you don’t have acid problems.

My favorites are Quest and Syntrax Matrix! I prefer to mix my own from powders, the pre mix are thick and syrupy to me

I’ve done Spartans but no Goruck. Sounds fun! Will have to look them up!

Yes! But be careful cuz for some people they can be a slider and they eat too many. My favorites are the Quest bars but I also like the Oh Yeah and the Power Crunch.

Four and a half years out and it hasn’t stopped yet!

As creek said, summing is more of a bypass thing most of us sleevers don’t dump. I never have. I have some foods that don’t agree with me, but no dumping.

Poshmark, mercari, Facebook marketplace.

Wellbutrin and Naltrexone. Narcan is Nalaxone. Two quite different things. Narcan is an emergency drug used to treat an opiate overdose. Naltrexone is used to treat dependence and they find it also does well with compulsive overeating/binge eating disorder. Wellbutrin is a unique anxiety/depression medication that works on neurotransmitters and again has been useful for compulsive behaviors and addiction. These are next generation medications that are very different and treat some of the underlying issues leading to obesity for some rather than the “speed” type amphetamines in the past, and have a much better safety profile. But they will likely only work for those who eat compulsively/binge eat.

There are no exercises that will actually reduce the skin... only time can do that. It will “rebound” to the extent that genetics, age and physical limits (how long you had it stretched out, how much you went up and down and destroyed the elasticity and how much it was stretched) allow. You can use weight training to build muscle to fill out the loose skin to a certain extent.

That 70% is an average and includes everyone from those who gain it all back to those who reach a healthy weight. Control is in your hands. I lost more than 100% of my excess weight with the sleeve.