glitter eyes

My hair loss was probably about a 5 out of 10 scale. It began about month 7 and lasted until about a year and half post op. I called it the "Bariatric hairstyle"!! I was one of the ones who lost hair despite taking 10,000 mg of biotin, getting all my protein in (80-100 gm), taking my vitamins. My hair was really thick to begin with so the hair loss was manageable. What was bad was the dryness, brittleness, and breakage. What helped me was I began drinking bamboo tea- high in silica and I added marine collagen powder to my water. The collagen slowed the hair loss way down and the bamboo tea really helped combat the dryness, made my hair silky and shiny again. It also stopped the breakage. I also cut a few inches off my hair and that helped too. I am now a little over two years post op and my hair is pretty much back to normal.

Honestly my goal was to be able to lay out in my beach chair and roll from front to back without feeling and looking like a beached whale!! That and being able to walk long distances without getting short of breath!! I am still a few pounds from being a normal weight on the BMI chart- but my beach chair says I am fine. I am inclined to listen to my beach chair. It's nicer than a chart or a scale. Congrats on your success!!

@OKCPirate. I am dying laughing!!

@@Madam Reverie. Don't hide- we have all missed you. 22 lbs is nothing to be ashamed of- you can get it off again!!! I have missed your comments here. I remember when I was new here I always looked forward to reading your responses.

Wow!! I am two years post op and consider myself successful. I have been maintaining since about post op month 9. There are many things that have helped me get to where I am at today. That being said what works for me may not work for anyone else. I think it is vey rude to say that if someone is doing something different than you or doing something different than a research article suggests then they are wrong. I would never shove my opinions down someone else's throat or condemn them for taking a different approach. It's great to have a normal BMI but sometimes being a nice person is even better!!!

What a beautiful costume. You look amazing in it. Such talent to have sewn it!! What a week from hell you had. My hat goes off to you having the mental strength and patience to work with chronic pain patients. Hell has no fury like a pain addict not getting their meds. Hope it's a better week.

Can't imagine anyone getting offend over this thread!! What a great way to get to know each other and celebrate our uniqueness.. Here goes my list, spoiler alert- I am pretty boring... Been happily married 25 years and started dating him when I was 16. True love I have 17 year old daughter who is going to be a senior this fall. She is outspoken, smart, witty, stunningly beautiful and doesn't look anything like me or my husband. We think she is adopted. I have been a nurse for 21 years- have worked in administration for the last 10 Love to read. Want to write a book. I am about a third finished with one. The only thing on my bucket list is to be on the TV show "Survivor". Just need to suck it up and apply Love to hike, kayak, sunbathe, read, and nap I am passionate about makeup, skincare products, nail polish and pretty much anything with glitter!! If I could dip my face in glitter I would. My eyeshadow collection grows weekly. Like LipstickLady I hate and am terrified of spiders!!

I am two years post op and still lose some hair in the shower. Mine started falling out about month nine. I think mine was just the luck of the draw. I have always gotten my protein in, vitamin levels have always been normal. My hair also had a lot of breakage and dryness. Two things that helped my hair tremendously was taking powdered collagen added to my water and I started drinking bamboo tea which is high in silica. These two things slowed my hair loss way down and fixed the dryness and breakage. My texture is back to normal. Bioten never helped me. I even started taking it pre op. Hair grew like crazy everywhere but my head. LOL. Good luck most people's hair eventually grows back and gets back to normal!!

It probably varies from person to person. For some reason soup feels me up super quick so I rarely eat it since I usually can't eat enough to get my protein in

@LipstickLady- I paint my nails when I have head hunger too. My nails have never looked so good. I now have a nail polish addiction. LOL

Let me give you a quick run down of my experience. I gained my weight from poor portion control. I mainly ate healthy just huge amounts like a horse. Don't get me wrong I ate poor choices occasionally too. I have hypothyroidism and that never helped my metabolism a lot. When I was going through the six month wait for my surgery I really began to look close at my diet. I cut out all caffeine and sodas first- switched to water only... Still didn't lose anything. Then, about two and half months before my surgery I cut out all my refined sugars and all junk... Still didn't lose weight, but I was eating large portions. I didn't track my food so I don't remember the calorie count. Then six weeks before surgery I cut my calories back to 1,200 a day, still no sodas, sugars, or carbs... No weight loss. Then did the two week liquid diet. Only lost 4 stupid pounds and I never cheated!!! I was wondering if surgery would work for me. Post op my weight began to drop off. I was at my goal in about 9 months. I went from 271 down to 150. I tracked religiously from day one. It took a lot of experimenting but I have come to the realization that my body likes to be around 900-1000 calories a day. If I start to consistently eat more I gain. So thanks to this sleeve I eat about 1,000 calories of highly nutritious food a day, get my protein in and occasionally have treats and have lost weight and maintained it. I am two years post op. So for me I just needed WAY fewer calories than I was eating pre op. I think if you track consistently then you will be able to find what works for you and that will help so much! Also, like someone else stated you might be surprised on how much you are eating now. When I like back in retrospect I was eating way way more than I do now. It can work for you. Hard work and dedication will pay off!!

@@Tssiemer1 congrats on your surgery- I try to keep up with all the posts but I must have missed yours when you had your surgery. So happy for you. If I remember correctly you had a few bumps in the road that delayed your surgery a little bit (apologize if this wasn't you- I try to keep everyone's info stored in my brain and it's not as young as it used to be). So glad you are post op and doing good!! Sorry for hijacking this thread! BTW- sex is better than ever after surgery/weight loss.

Awesome!!

Early post op I had a bad taste in my mouth too and everything tastes terrible. Even when I was past my puréed mushy stage and could eat regular food everything tastes terrible. I would have to brush my teeth after I ate to help get the taste of food out of my mouth. I just looked at good as fuel for my body and made sure I got my protein in. It did go away after a few months. Now that my "honeymoon" period is long gone everything taste great and my mouth seems fine.

My favorite things I took to the hospital was a small travel size pillow (got mine at Walmart). I was able to use this pillow to brace against my stomach when I walked and that really helped the pain. Second fav thing was biotene mouthwash. My mouth was so dry and this is a moisturizing mouthwash and came in so handy!!

It took me a long time after my surgery to feel hungry and want to eat again. I just concentrated on meeting my fluid and protein goals and looked at food as fuel. Sounds like you are doing good getting your fluids and protein in. Maybe by next week you will feel ready for some mushy foods. I had to experiment with a lot of different foods, spices, and textures until I found what kind of food worked for me. If it makes you feel any better the hunger does return for most of us. At least to the degree that you won't mind eating!! Congrats on your surgery

You have gotten a lot of good suggestions so I will pipe in with the hair question. What has worked for me the best was I drink a cup of bamboo tea everyday. Bamboo is high in silica which helps skin hair and nails. I also drank powdered collagen in my water for several months and that stopped a lot of the hair loss. Those two things combined helped my hair the most. Good luck

I think it just depends on each individual and that's why I feel logging your intake is so vital at least until you know what works for your body. Personally I have always had to keep my calorie and carb count kinda low- more the carb count than the calories. I just have always had a sluggish metabolism and having hypothyroidism doesn't help. During my pre op waiting time I was eating around 1800 calories a day and cut out all refined processed sugar and sodas. Then I had a two week liquid diet- through all that I only lost 4 pounds. Post op my calories are on the low side. I am two years post op and have been in maintenance for about a year and half. For me I need my calories around 900-1000 a day and keep my carbs around 50 or less. This works for me. I do have the occasional day where I have some treats and that will bump up my intake. Also, I listen to my body so much more now. I will have days where my body tells me I am hungry and I eat- protein first then veggies so occasionally I will get around 1200. However if I ate 1200 every day I would begin to creep up. My energy levels are great and so is my blood work. I have plenty of energy to work out too. Now if I go on a long several day hiking/camping trip or paddling my kayak all day then I will be hungry and I make sure I bump up my calories to compensate. There is another member on that website who is a few years post op and she has mentioned that she has to keep her calories around 1,000 too. I do agree with everyone that if you can bump up your calories and still keep losing and or maintaining then that is the way to go!

I am two years post op and can still only tolerate tiny amounts of plain water before the nausea hits. I don't really like the crystal lite type drops. I drink propel water. I can tolerate some fruit infused water, but not lots. Hot herbal tea goes down fine.

I am two years post op this month and have been at goal for about 14 months. I don't know if I obsess about food, but I still have to be constantly diligent about food. I still log my food daily, I watch my carb and protein amounts. I do have days where I splurge and eat treats, but I am mindful of what goes in my mouth. As you become further out its a different kind of "obsessing". In the beginning it is so challenging to learn how to eat again and how to get all your protein and fluids in- seems that consumes your day. Later it just transitions into being aware of what you are eating. I just consider my obesity is in remission and if I don't watch things it could rear it's miserable head again.

Looking amazing!!!

If anyone doesn't want to swallow collagen pills. I use a collagen powder that is almost tasteless that I add to my flavored water.

I was one of the ones who lost a significant amount of hair. Plus my hair turned very dry and had a lot of breakage. I am two years post op and my hair is still prone to falling out. This despite meeting my protein goal almost everyday, taking my vitamins, biotin, having normal labwork. I tried coconut oil, Argan oil, emu oil, various essential oils, scalp massages, and multiple shampoos for hair loss. The only thing that helped me is I began adding powdered marine collagen to my water everyday. This helped cut the fallout by at least half if not more. I then began drinking a cup of bamboo tea everyday. Bamboo tea is very high in silica which is one of the building blocks for healthy skin hair and nails. The bamboo tea really helped my hair hair become soft again and also stopped the breakage. My hair is much better after adding these two things into my diet!!

I am a registered nurse. I am in administration, but walk a lot and stay busy responding to codes, patient complaints and dealing with staff. I took off four weeks and was so glad I did. That gave me plenty of time to allow my body to heal, take naps during the day if I needed it, and also allowed me time to learn how to eat according to my plan. I am glad I didn't go back sooner. However, everyone is different.

It sound totally doable!! It's amazing how your life can change after this surgery.