catwoman7

it's a challenge -- but most of us are required to do it. You just have to white knuckle it. I never cheated. It was hard, but I powered through it, as I suspect the majority do. Yes - some people have reported here that they cheated once or twice - but I didn't want to go down that rabbit hole. I don't know how much better it is if you have a couple of "cheats", since you have to be on the diet for 14 days, so you're still going to have many days where you're going to have to deal with the diet and the hunger. That is, unless you "cheat" every day (or most days), which defeats the purpose and can cause your surgery to be canceled. I never thought I'd be able to do it, but I did it. It gets a lot easier by day 3 or 4, when your body gets into ketosis. And that's another issue - I'm not sure your body is going to go into ketosis if you cheat. So you'll be dealing with hunger the whole two weeks. there's nothing you can really do to prepare except to stock up on things you're going to need. In my case, it was sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles, chicken broth, tomato juice/V8, and lots of clear no-cal (or ultra-low-cal) beverages, like Crystal Light. the thing I kept in mind is that if I could do this, I could definitely handle any of the post-op diet requirements.

that's really odd. Those who give you a goal (and not all do) often give you one that's right around the average weight loss (which is about 70% of excess weight - which, statistically anyway, is about where you'd expect to end up). There are definitely people who make it to a normal BMI, but my surgeon said only about 10-15% of his patients do, and the statistics I've read appear to back that up. Your surgeon giving you that number as a goal seems unrealistic. Possible, of course, but not terribly realistic.

a lot of insurance companies do cover it, but unfortunately, some employers don't want that coverage for the policies they offer their employees because the rider for bariatric surgery is pretty expensive. In other words, even if we had the exact same insurance company, if we worked for different employers, my employer might not have included that coverage to their employees' plans - whereas yours might have. So it's often more an issue of the employer not wanting that rider than it is the insurance company not offering it, if that makes sense. some people who are self-pay end up going abroad for it since it's often much cheaper outside of the US. Mexico is a pretty popular destination for it. If you decide to go abroad, though, be sure to really research surgeons - there are some excellent ones and some not-so-great ones...

lots of people have gone through that (luckily, I only have 10 lbs that I'd like to re-lose, but even that's been a bear!!). Are you still tracking your food intake? If not, I'd start there. And go back to following the rules - as in eating the way we were supposed to be eating once we were a few months out - focusing on protein and non-starchy vegetables, with an occasional small serving of fruit or whole-grain carb. if you're a calorie counter, then track what you're eating now (without making major changes yet) for a couple of weeks to figure out what your average daily calorie intake is. Then cut back by 100 calories or so for a couple of weeks. If that's not working, then cut by another 100 calories. Rinse and repeat until the scale starts heading downward. But know that with only 35 lbs to lose, that scale is going to move pretty slowly. You could also try drastically increasing your activity instead - or in addition - to cutting calories, although that method is usually a lot slower. a lot of people have had luck with formal programs like Weight Watchers, Keto, or intermittent fasting - so those are options as well... good luck with it - it's not easy, although it's good you're catching it now while it's still not really out of control!

how old are you? It could also be age-related. Some people lose body hair as they age. I'm in my 60s. I used to have hairy arms, enough that I was embarrassed by them, but now I can't see any hair at all. I haven't had to shave my legs in forever. I do have some hair on my legs, but it's very sparse, fine, and blonde - I can feel it, but no one would be able to see it. if that's not it, I guess it could be hormone-related, although I haven't heard of this particular symptom before. UPDATE: I just found this. It says thyroid changes can also cause hair loss. I'd just check with your PCP - maybe they can run some tests and figure out what's going on: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20372926

I've taken Centrum Silver (or the generic equivalent) since day 1. I started with the chewables and then switched over to regular tablets when I was about six months out. If you take grocery store or drug store vitamins, you'll probably have to take two a day to meet the requirements. With some bariatric-specific vitamins (but not all...), you only have to take one (but again - check. With some of those you also have to take two (or more) a day...)

I was already post-menopausal when I had surgery, but A LOT of women have screwed up hormones the first few weeks or months after surgery. Weird cycles, mood swings, etc. Not sure about the stomach hormone thing, but I've read that estrogen is stored in fat cells, and it's released when you lose weight rapidly (so maybe those hormones are still left to come for you, unfortunately!). It does stabilize after awhile, though.

almost everyone has that early stall soon after surgery (it's usually the third week, thus we call it "the three week stall", but for some it comes earlier or later). Just stick to your plan, stay off the scale for a few days, and know that it will break and you'll be on your way again. It'll last 1-3 weeks. Mine was weeks 2 & 3 after surgery. During week 4, it broke and I dropped like 6-8 lbs almost overnight. P.S. if you do a search on this site of the three week stall, you will find something like 17,500 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding.

plateaus are a normal part of weight loss. I just stuck to my program, stayed off the scale for a few days, and my weight loss would eventually start back up. Plateaus usually last 1-3 weeks. re: Greek yogurt. I've had that almost every day for breakfast for the last six years - that's been my usual breakfast since soon after I had surgery in 2015. A denser protein does tend to keep you satisfied longer, but there's definitely nothing wrong with eating Greek yogurt! and yes - I usually have a morning snack and an afternoon snack - I just make sure to work the calories in to my meal plan for the day. I eat all the stuff you mentioned - beans, seeds, fruit. I can't remember when I added them - but probably around where you are now. Check with your clinic and see if it's OK to start adding them.

at this point, I just see her once a year when I go in to see my surgeon for my annual follow-up. She keeps insisting I try intuitive eating because she thinks I'm too obsessed with calories and numbers on the scale, and she's probably right about that, but on the other hand, I've been really successful with this surgery, and a big part of that has been monitoring myself closely. I've read the intuitive eating book that I promised her I'd read, and I do try to stop and ask myself if I'm truly hungry when I'm in the mood to eat something - but I haven't given up my calorie counting (I also cut back on weighing myself - I do it once a week now instead of every day). other than that, I don't really have any concerns other than maintenance is a daily struggle. But I keep working at it, because I don't want to go back from where I came from. And it's easier to deal with a five or ten lb gain than it is a 50 lb gain. By monitoring myself closely, I'll catch those slight gains before they become a problem.

if you're following the program and have just been on full liquids, then you're fine. Some of us lose slower than others, and your surgeon should know that. The only time it would be a problem would be if you're going off plan, but it sounds like you're not. I was constantly behind the curve the whole time I was losing. It wasn't my fault - I was following the plan to a "T" - I'm just a slow loser.

I lost 57 lbs before surgery. I think it was around 18 lbs during the two-week pre-op diet (it's been awhile so I can't remember exactly). The rest was from the six-month supervised diet that my insurance company required.

many of us end up food planning for life. But it sounds like you've had a lot of experience doing that. I know some people who do the intuitive eating thing, and my dietitian is always pushing me to do that, but I'm afraid I'd intuitively eat my way up to 300 lbs again. Planning meals, counting calories, etc, has worked for me....so I'll continue to do it. You may not have to - but just know that a lot of us do it.

I usually use the machines. I had to wait eight weeks before going back to it, I think. You do lose some strength in the interim, but it comes back pretty fast when you start up again.

yes - it's simplistic. It may give you a ballpark, but ideal weights will vary a lot depending on so many things. My mother-in-law and I are both 5'6". She's always weighed in the 115-125-ish range. When I got down into the 130s a couple of years after my RNY, I looked like hell. No way could I have looked healthy if I weighed what she does. I actually look my best at around 150. But I have big, heavy bones and I'm very muscular. She has these little bird bones. She's probably look fat at 150. That's probably why BMI ranges are so wide - I think the normal range for someone my height is 114-154 (I know the top number for sure - not sure on the 114 because there's no way in a million years I'd ever be there, so it's irrelevant to me) also, my dietitian said that she doesn't pay that much attention to BMI ranges with bariatric patients because a lot of us have heavier bones and muscle than people who've never been severely obese since we needed that infrastructure to hold up all that weight. Of course, you lose some bone and muscle during the weight loss (and it's fine - you won't need all that anymore) - but you'll likely still have some of it when you get to goal - or moreso than someone at the same weight who's never been obese before. And of course, that extra bone and muscle means extra weight...

waiting a year is a good idea - sometimes things shift around and you start looking a lot better. Plus many of us gain 10-20 lbs after hitting our lowest weight, unfortunately. Although not everyone would agree with me, it's probably good to have plastic surgery when your weight has more-or-less stabilized.

I get full on much smaller portions now. For example, I used to be able to eat half a large pizza. No way could I eat that now - I'd be in pain. I can eat 1-2 pieces and I'm done. Or today for lunch - my husband and I split a packet of Costco's Madras Lentils (so I had about a 1/2 cup of them), and we also split a piece of naan (so that was another 100 calories - so about 245 calories total for lunch). I am stuffed. I'll probably get hungry again in about three hours, so I'll probably have some Greek yogurt. the thing you have to watch out for is grazing. The surgery will limit how much you can eat in one sitting. But it won't stop you from grazing all day. Using the pizza example, I physically cannot eat more than 1-2 pieces at one sitting. But I could probably eat 1-2 pieces at 5:00 pm, 1-2 more pieces at 7:00 pm, and 1-2 more pieces at 9:00 pm. ta da - there's your half a pizza. So that's what you have to watch out for. So I always have things like sugar free popsicles, sugar free Jello, raw veggies with some kind of dip made from Greek yogurt, or those Light & Fit or Carbmaster yogurts around for times when I'm really dying for an unplanned snack (or sugar free fudgesicles if I'm craving chocolate. They're 40 calories each). This all was pretty easy the first year, but it gets harder. This is life now. But I never want to be morbidly obese again. And as I mentioned, this seems to be the way of lot of normal weight women eat, from what I can tell.

I'm the same way. No food is worth weighing 373 lbs again (my starting weight). I NEVER want to go back there! as far as eating whatever: before I had surgery, I started paying attention to what the women at my job ate for lunch (several of them ate in the employee break room, thus I could see what they were eating). Especially the normal weight women. There were a couple of them that ate a lot (well, at the time I would have called what they ate "normal"), but the majority of them ate these little tiny lunches (or they seemed little tiny to me at the time, anyway). A bagel and a thing of yogurt. Or half a sandwich and an apple. Or a sandwich and some baby carrots. I started to think the women that ate the bigger meals were either blessed with really good metabolism, or they were very active. The ones eating the microscopic lunches - I started to think that that's just the way a lot of normal women eat (unfortunately...). And now, I've joined them...

haven't heard that one, so it may be unrelated. There are a few people who have more problems with tooth decay after surgery due to acid or dry mouth, but that usually doesn't show up for quite a while after surgery (years?). AND...it's not very common. Just keep up with regular dental checkups so they can catch things early. But again, tooth issues aren't very common - and they wouldn't show up this soon after surgery - so your situation may not be related.

^^^^^ only about 30% of RNY patients have dumping syndrome, and far fewer sleeve patients have it - so it's not something to count on. A lot of us definitely have to work on our sugar addictions after surgery (me included - there are times I've wished I was a dumper!!)

yes that's pretty extreme - although keep in mind most of us lose our hunger for a few months after surgery, so if you're part of the majority, it won't be as bad as it seems. I pretty much lost all interest in food for the first five months after surgery - for once in my life, it felt like a chore to eat. I think that's true of a lot of us (although certainly not all - a minority don't lose their hunger). Hopefully you'll be one of the former.

"they" say (whoever "they" are) that weight loss is never as quick or significant with a revision as it is with a virgin surgery, but some people can lose quite a bit of weight with them. I've read the average is about 20 lbs - although that's an average so I would think that includes people who lost most of their excess weight with the sleeve and are doing the revision because of GERD. I don't know what the stats are if you only include people who had the revision when they were still quite a ways from goal. I would think you could make it, but again, it's probably going to be slower and more difficult than with a virgin surgery.

we normally just see big losses the first month, because that's mostly water. And by "big loss", for most of us, that means 15-25 lbs (there are some who have bigger drops than that, but unless they're the size of people on "My 600 lb Life", it's not that common). after the first month, a loss of 10 lbs a month (again, for the average WLS patient - NOT the people on TV) is pretty normal. so in other words, you're fine.

I think those both stay in your system for a couple of weeks, so it probably isn't going to matter which day they test. It sounds like they'll be testing you again later. I would think if you quit now so that you're three months clean by the time of the surgery, you should be OK (but of course I don't know that for sure...)

I was on purees before I even left the hospital. I didn't have to do liquids the first two weeks post-op, like most people do. My surgeon is on the faculty at a major medical school, so he's definitely highly rated and experienced, too. Don't worry - some surgeons have different ideas, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're bad ideas...