Ginger Snaps

I typically have a night snack after dinner, I just make sure it's a healthy snack. I'll eat a handful of almonds or maybe eat a Greek yogurt or sugar-free popsicle. If I'm low on Protein for the day I'll drink another shake. Maybe a banana or apple. I don't think there's any reason to deprive yourself of a snack if you're hungry -- just make it a good choice.

I go out to eat a lot, too. I usually try to find a Protein heavy (not fried) appetizer to order instead of a meal. If my crowd notices or says something, I just say it's all I want. I try not to use the "I'm not hungry" because if you're eating out with them frequently, they'll wonder why you're never hungry. Since they know you're losing weight, you could say something like "It's part of my new healthy eating plan". I've told a lot of my coworkers now post-surgery because it's just easier than tap-dancing around the questions. They have all been very supportive and don't require any explanations now. I find it perfectly natural to box up my leftovers (even from appetizer portions) and if the waiter asks if I enjoyed it or if something was wrong I just say "It was wonderful and will make a great Breakfast tomorrow". The weirder part for me is when they ask what I'll drink. I always just say Water and then don't drink it. Easier than trying to talk them out of bringing water.

Don't panic. I ended up back in the hospital with pneumonia after being released and didn't get the shakes while I was in. I doubt if I had 20 grams a day that first week or so. Once I got to full liquids, I had more options and had shakes I could tolerate. And then when you can start some food, it gets easier, too. Are you not able to tolerate the shakes? Can't find any you like? Try some of the sampler packages like

I find random bruises on myself all the time. And they seem to take forever to go away. Sometimes they're in spots where my boyfriend held my arm while we were walking or something like that... I think some spots are just super sensitive like the inside of my upper arm. Other bruises just randomly appear on my legs or sometimes on my hip. Not sure why... I know it can happen if you're on blood thinners or certain meds.

I didn't tell my mom before surgery... I live a couple of thousand miles away and so it was easy to avoid the topic when we talk. I didn't know how she would react and really didn't care but I just didn't want her to worry. Once I told her, she was very happy -- she knows I struggle with my weight and she does with hers too. Now, when we talk, she just asks how much I've lost, how I'm feeling, what the doctor says... all the normal "care about you" stuff. Funny -- she's very supportive of the surgery but very unhappy I'm in a new relationship. With a new body and improved confidence, what did she expect??? I was going to stay a nun? lol

If you look at before and after pictures, you'll see SO many people look younger as they lose weight in their face. I never understood how that happened and here it is, it happened to me too! Don't worry too much -- moisturize like crazy and just enjoy the transformation!

I have extreme constipation every time I take Vitamins with Iron. I tried once again right after surgery and ended up wishing I would die I was in so much pain. So, I've changed to a Vitamin without iron and the labs came out good, so I guess I'm an iron factory or something. My doctor recommended taking 2 stool softeners a day (Colace) and making sure to get enough Water and Fiber. But, even with the fiber supplements and softeners, I ended up taking 2 laxatives a day just to get anything moving. I was miserable. Talk to your surgeon!

Being on week 7 of a couch to 5k program and realizing just 9 weeks ago (missed two weeks) it was a challenge to do 1 minute walks with 15 second running intervals. Now, ran one 10 minute and three 5 minute intervals without stopping. WOW! And, having your surgeon put your testimonial up on his website with pictures and all!

What an incredible transformation! And so happy to see some exercise pics in there! Congrats on all the hard work paying off!

Thanks for your responses though... Did help me get through the stress before the visit!

Great news... My Protein was also low and said that could bring the ferritin down low too so I just have to up the protein. Hemoglobin is great... No anemia! Thank God! I can't tell you how in tears I was over the idea of having to have infusions!

I went out dancing with my new man Friday night and we danced about 2 hours straight. First time I've done that since I was 21 or so, many many moons ago. We were just cutting up and having fun, dancing like crazy and I think it's the best workout I've had since surgery!

It's when you go WOOT WOOT in the dressing room because the size 6 jeans fit!

@bellabloom It's a tough question that only you can answer. Yes, people do have complications, yes, sometimes you become Iron deficient, yes, sometimes people have bowel obstructions or hernias. You have to weigh the risks of surgery against your health risks without the surgery. I had bowel obstructions before surgery twice. I had pneumonia just after surgery but haven't had other complications since. I just got my 3 month lab work and seems I have developed an iron deficiency so I'm gonna have to deal with that now. However, I had sleep apnea before and it's completely gone. My blood pressure is MUCH better than before (never was on meds). I have NO reflux at all ever any more. What a relief that is. I'm running now, exercising like the Energizer bunny and wear a size 6 jeans (and I'm not even at goal yet). I feel like a reinvented version of myself where the way I feel inside (young, active, excited to be alive) matches with the outside. Would I do the surgery again? Absolutely! Even with the iron issue now, I'm on less meds and healthier than I was presurgery with at least 70 pounds of excess weight on my body.

Woot woot! Nothing better than a new size jeans (as long as it's a lower number than the last pair!)

@@Texasmeg Did you only have to have one IV? And did it give you the constipation problem? My B12 was actually about double the high end of the range (I think the range goes to 800 something and mine was 1500 something) so if I had to have the IV and it didn't make me constipated, the B12 wouldn't be an issue.

I see the doctor tomorrow to review my month 3 labs but they were posted online through a patient portal and most look fantastic except I am very low in ferritin and like double the B12 I should be. I supplement with B12 so he'll probably just have me drop the supplements. Looking online, it's very rare to be high in B12. I'm also low in Protein and ferritin. I understand the protein, it's a sign of malnutrition and very common after WLS... I'll probably just have to redouble efforts to get 60 grams a day or he may have me set a higher daily goal. The ferritin bothers me a lot. I CANNOT take Iron supplements at all... never have been able to. From the first day I take them I get so constipated I can't go at all. Right after surgery I tried to take them but go so stopped up I was having to take 2 stool softeners and 2 laxatives along with Fiber supplements to even go at all. I was developing hemmorhoids (sorry if TMI) and at one point thought I was going to have to go to the hospital because it hurt so bad and I couldn't do anything. I paranoid he is going to try to get me back on iron but I just CANNOT go through that again! As great as I feel with all the exercise and energy, I was really surprised to see that result come back like it did. I feel like crying over this one... anybody else have a similar problem with iron and any ideas? I can't live on laxatives and stool softeners and STILL be in so much pain. Ginger

I love unjury chocolate splendor -- I use a shaker bottle with the wire ball thing in it to mix with Unsweetened Almond Silk milk. I don't like to use the blender because it puts too much air into it and makes the volume bigger which makes it hard to finish. I think it has 20 grams of Protein per scoop (the milk adds to that too). I also drink Muscle Milk 100 chocolate. I think it's around 18 grams protein? I track everything through My Fitness Pal so I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head. I like several of the Syntrax flavors -- they have a wild grape flavor that you mix with Water that tastes a lot like grape Koolaid. I agree about not stocking up before. I bought a couple of samplers before surgery. Immediately after surgery, you won't need more than maybe 2 a day, so you have plenty of time to order the ones that really meet the taste test. It's not like stocking up in your old way of eating -- stocking up for me now means 4-5 greek yogurts (to last a week or more), two 4 packs of Muscle Milk light (to last about 2 weeks)... very small quantities can last a LONG time!

I mean this in an encouraging way, but if you say you know you shouldn't have rice, why would you start eating it? I'm originally from Louisiana and we put everything over rice but now that I've had surgery and changed my eating patterns, I find even gumbo or stir fry still taste great without rice. It just adds carbs and nutritionally empty calories.

I'm not "trying" a low carb diet, I'm doing it. I focus on Protein -- getting 60 grams a day (goal set by my doctor and NUT). If I eat that much protein, I have little room left for anything else. I usually get around 60 grams of carbs (all from fruits and vegetables or beans) a day. Maybe 30 grams of sugar if I have a couple of pieces of fruit. Almost no bread. I will eat a "sandwich" from half of a whole wheat deli thin every now and then or maybe a wrap using half of a whole wheat tortilla, but even those usually make me feel a little uncomfortable and once the tortilla from the wrap made me dump. I consider this my normal way of eating and have no plans of changing. I don't feel the urge for carbs or sugar anymore. When I get somewhere I feel like is goal and go into maintenance of that, I plan to just add in more veggies and continue to avoid the processed carbs. This is not a diet -- it's a new way of eating and it's working and I feel wonderful.

@Rogofulm Thanks for jumping in with the man's point of view. It is awkward to have some of those pre-intimacy conversations but they are critical and best "before the moment arrives" like the Cialis commercials talk about! lol I've been having some of those conversations with my new guy and it's funny how some of that goes. Last night I 'revealed' to him I've had WLS not because I felt like it was important to know before being intimate but because the conversation went there -- we were talking about body image and I had told him I had lost a lot of weight this year. He told me he understood and then told me his ex-wife had struggled gaining a lot of weight after their children and that she had WLS. Since the conversation was "there" already, it seemed like the right time to share. Of course, after I told him, he said "I knew already". I asked him how he knew and he said he recognized the diet from the dinners we've had together! I feel like the closer you get to someone, the better it is to come clean on things as the situation presents itself or before. If I had waited long time to tell him after we had conversations about it, he might wonder why I withheld telling him when there was a prime opportunity to do it. Besides, he's always asking me why men having been beating down my door because of my "hotness" (his word! ) and it's hard to explain that 4 months ago I was MUCH less "hot!"

@TEXASLADY52 Have you talked to your doctor and NUT? It's true we all do lose at different rates but it would be worth tracking your food and sharing that with your team to see if there is anything you are doing that might be slowing things down for you. Hang in there, stick to the plan for food and exercise and things WILL turn around for you!

I take my Multivitamins in the morning, squirt b-12 under the tongue and take a high dose Vitamin D pill every 2-3 days. I chew some caramel Calcium citrate caramel things during the day and take Biotin at night. Really the main things not to take together are the Iron and calcium. It's really not a big deal. I also use My Fitness Pal to track food and mostly just watch the Protein (I hardly eat any carbs). If late in the day I'm low on protein, I just drink a shake before bed. I should probably track Water but don't, but there's a place in My Fitness Pal for that, too.

No drain here... I asked my surgeon beforehand and he said he only does it when necessary in extremely obese patients. Good question to ask.

I think it's a completely normal fear and I'm guessing everyone on these boards either struggled with losing the same pounds over and over again only to gain back or they were like me and just never could seem to lose anything. After surgery, life is completely different. You get help from your smaller tummy and/or rerouted plumbing. I didn't have a presurgery diet I had to do but it had gotten to where even on Weight Watchers I wouldn't lose more than a pound or so the first week. When I was younger and went on WW, I'd lose 5-6 the first week. We have all had surgery because we weren't successful in losing any other way.