catwoman7

I agree with others. Children's menus rarely have good choices. I've always either ordered an appetizer, or something like soup or chili, or I've ordered a "safe" entree (lots of good protein, nothing fried) and taken half (or more) of it home in a to-go box. To be honest, a lot of never-been-obese women eat that way regularly.

contact your clinic. If you can't keep food down, there's a chance you could have a stricture. You're in the window for it (they usually occur 1-3 months after surgery - they're very rare after that)

not sure where you are in NC (I lived in NC for many years!), but there are several surgeons around the country who deal primarily (or exclusively) with massive weight loss patients who did their residences under Joseph Hunstad in the Charlotte area. I don't know of anyone who's actually gone to Dr. Hunstad for surgery, but since he's trained so many specialists, he may be one to take a look at, too. I just googled him - his website (hkbsurgery) is down at the moment also - check realself.com for reviews done by patients. They review all kinds of doctors, but most seem to be plastic surgeons.

I had it - and yes, I could use the bathroom.

I was also told no gummies. Centrum Silver (and the generic equivalents) don't contain iron.

we were told to just focus on protein and fluids, not calories. At least for the first few months.

also, I don't think most patients end up with a sick look. Some do, but I don't think most of us do. And like I said, most patients never even make it to normal weight let alone get too thin - they end up "overweight" or "class I obese" (which is, of course, infinitely better than being super morbidly obese....). Here's me at my lowest weight - and where my body naturally stopped losing. I was at a normal BMI (still am), which if you'll look at stats, only 10-15% of WLS patients are able to make it to. So there'd be a pretty small percentage of people become too thin - smaller than the 10-15% who make it to a normal BMI. Again, yes, some - but chances of that are pretty low. I'd focus on losing as much weight as you can during the early months - but of course, while eating according to your plan. You need the nutrition.

agree with this 100%. Things shift around and people who've lost too much tend to look a lot better after awhile. Also, be aware that there are a lot more people who never make it to goal than there are those who get too thin. A LOT. I would follow your plan and focus on losing as much as you can during the first few months when it's relatively easy. If you get "too thin", you can always increase your calories. But I would not worry about being too thin at this point at all. Like I said, a majority of patients never make it that far.

the vast majority of us experience stalls along our journey. It's an extremely common part of weight loss. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale if you need to whenever you hit one. As long as you're following the plan, the stall will eventually break and you'll be on your way again.

14 lbs in two weeks is a lot, especially given your starting weight isn't nearly as high as some of ours was. I lost 16 lbs the whole first MONTH and I started out at 373 lbs. Not sure what you were expecting, but your loss is very normal . If you're trying to compare your loss to the people on "My 600 lb Life", don't. Those people start off MUCH heavier than the average WLS patient, and starting BMI has a huge effect on how much weight you lose initially. You are fine.

just stick to your plan and stay off the scale if you need to. The weight loss should start up again..

I see you're in Virginia. If you want a nationally known surgeon who specializes in body contouring for massive weight loss patients, then Joseph Michaels in Bethesda is one to consider. I believe he's also on the faculty at Johns-Hopkins, and he does his surgeries at two different hospitals. it's usually cheaper to have more than one procedure done at a time, but some surgeons don't want their patients under anesthesia for more than six hours or so (plus...they get tired! I don't really want some tired guy with a knife working on me!). If yours is one who limits the time, then whether you have it done in one or two surgeries depends on what all you want done. You might want to set up some consults - somewhere between 3-5 consults is good, because some of them will have different ideas than others. Sometimes consults are free, sometimes they'll charge you for them ($100 or so), but if the latter, they'll usually deduct that cost from your surgery if you go with them. Even if they didn't, it's still not bad - they're spending time with you, so... if you're comfortable going to Mexico, you'll usually pay much less for surgery. Just do a lot of research before you go. There are some excellent surgeons there - and some not so good. Francisco Saucedo in Monterrey and Laura Cardina Carmenas in Tijuana also specialize in body contouring for massive weight loss patients and have done several of us. I've read on here that plastic surgery in Miami tends to be cheaper than elsewhere in the US, but i don't know of any surgeons there - but some people on this site have used them and can get you names.

I'm a "bored" eater as well. Being trapped in my house during the worst of the pandemic was a challenge. Sometimes I just have to leave the house to get my mind away from food!

that's pretty universal, from what I've read (i.e,, two if it's an over-the-counter brand). Here are the guidelines from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (see below). If one Costco supplement meets the requirements, then you're fine. With most drugstore and grocery store vitamins, you have to take two to meet the requirements. my clinic has both RNY and VSG patients on the same vitamin regimen, but yours may be different https://asmbs.org/app/uploads/2017/06/ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf?/app/uploads/2008/09/asmbs-nutritional-guidelines-2016-update.pdf

yes - too much or too fast. Plus, some people have a hard time with eggs the first few weeks or months after surgery, so it may have been partially that, too.

by revision, I bet she met gastric bypass (RNY). About 30% of sleevers develop GERD, and a minority of those get it bad enough that they revise to bypass (bypass often improves if not cures GERD). Although if it's mostly due to the hiatal hernia, she may be able to fix that when she gets in there.

screwed-up hormones is a common complaint during the first weeks or months after surgery. A lot of women report screwed-up cycles, mood swings, etc. It eventually stabilizes. I'd guess it may be due to this -- but you might want to run it by your doctor just in case.

55 lbs in six weeks is amazing. I'd lost 28 lbs by the end of month 2 (I just checked my records). I don't know what I was at six weeks out since I only put my weight in my spreadsheet once a month (on my surgery date), but since I was 28 lbs by eight weeks out, I would have been less than that by six weeks out - maybe 23 or 24 lbs lost by then. And I was no light weight - I started out at 373 lbs. Not sure what you were expecting, but 55 lbs in six weeks is an amazing loss! also, stalls are very common - most of us have several of them on our journeys. When you hit one, just stick to your program, stay off the scale for a few days if you need to, and know that it will break and you'll be on your way again.

the only exercise I was cleared to do for the first month after surgery was walk. At four weeks out, I was cleared for everything except for weights. I was allowed to do weights starting at eight weeks out. the first year after surgery I mostly did walking, swimming, water aerobics, and yoga. I still do all that plus bicycling and Zumba.

if you do over the counter vitamins, you have to take two a day to meet the requirements.

not Benefiber - but I've done it with plain Metamucil (for those early out, Benefiber is safer than Metamucil if you need extra fiber for whatever reason. I was allowed to do either once I was a few months out). I actually learned that trick from my former PCP (from way before I had WLS). She's not heavy, but she said she's ALWAYS struggled with keeping her weight down. Since her main problem time was at night, she'd have a beverage with Metamucil in it after eating dinner. It usually kept her full until bed time.

that's a question for your bariatric clinic. Some allow it, some don't.

the usual recommended amount for weight training is 2-3 days a week, with a day or two in between, so you're fine. it may be different during the rapid weight loss period (as in you may lose weight regardless since you're in the honeymoon stage), but for normal-weight people, or others who are at a stable weight, often when you start weight training you can gain up to 5 lbs because a) muscle is dense and b) muscle holds water, but you usually look the same - if not thinner - because a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. And then eventually, you'll lose that slight bump up in weight - if not more - because having more muscle increases your metabolism a bit. but again, with you still in the honeymoon stage, you'll probably continue to lose weight regardless.

I've actually never taken bariatric vitamins - I've taken over the counter ones like Centrum since day 1.

rate of weight loss is affected by so many factors that's it's kind of pointless to compare (and comparing can stress you out if you're a slower loser, but there's nothing wrong with being a slower loser!! I was one of that crowd and ended up losing all of my excess weight). Yes - height is one of the factors, but so are age, gender, starting BMI, genetics, metabolic rate, body composition (your percentage of fat vs muscle vs bone vs water), activity level, how closely you stick to your clinic's food plan, yada yada yada. About all you have control over is your activity level and how closely you stick to your program. If you do well with those, and your weight is generally trending downward, you're golden!