biginjapan

chronic Constipation is pretty common in people who've had RNY or the sleeve. I know a lot of us (myself included) who take a capful of Miralax every day. Others take things like stool softeners (like Colace), magnesium tablets, prunes, Smooth Move tea, whatever works! Even with the Miralax, I still get backed up once or twice a month. When I do, a night or two of Milk of Magnesia will usually get things moving again.

Three weeks in. Started soft diet this week. Concentrating on Protein and fluids. Started colace. And resorted to milk of magnesia today. Any tips on keeping things moving along and not getting backed up? I had gastric bypass surgery on March 3.

I just came across an article. I’m guessing your malabsorption is due to surgery but wanted to pass this along:

Dr. De Latour says malabsorption (and floating poop) is typically caused by three main conditions: celiac disease, lactose intolerance, or pancreatitis.

My Vitamin d was low for A long time. I had my gallbladder removed during surgery due to chronic inflammation and perhaps my low functioning gallbladder contributed to my low vitamin D.
Low vitamin d can be symptom of an underlying illness and supplementing with high dose vitamin d can make it worse. Plus I don’t feel that the prescribed doses or form are utilized by the body very well. It needs to be in a form that’s bioavailble K2 MK7 with D3. I personally think Multivitamins and any Vitamins should be Whole Foods based and in chewable or sublingual or liquid when possible.
i Buy this for my mom. It’s also a good value
https://www.vitacost.com/pioneer-chewable-d3-k2-gluten-free-spearmint
personally I was taking garden of life my kind organic whole food based (prenatal) Gummy multivitamins, along with a Calcium + D3 supplement and my vitamin D levels returned to normal for the first time in a long time and they were low years before I had surgery. I like the natures way alive calcium plus D3 gummies although I have been taking a tablet for the past two months. I did switch up my multivitamins for now, because I needed a three month supply but the my kind are the best.

I agree with all of this.
I knew I was done when I could see every rib and I would have been embarrassed for people to see them. There were some tops I couldn't buy or wear because the collars were too low and people could see a bunch of bones (I'm fine with my collarbones showing - but my ribs, no - that was a bit too much). Plus I had a DEXA scan once which showed a fat percentage of 22% (which is considered lean for a woman) - yet I lost another 15 or so pounds after that -- meaning my body fat was probably WAY too low when I was at my lowest weight. I wanted to at least get back up to a 22% body fat range. Also, I wanted to be at a weight that I could maintain without too much difficulty. I was totally fine with having to watch what I ate and counting calories - as well as getting regular, moderate exercise - but anything where I'd have to take extreme measures to maintain a low weight - no, I didn't want that.
that said, one can always lose more weight. But at some point, do you want to continue doing so - for all those reasons Summerset listed?

Just posted this a week ago, You can blow past your doctors guess and reach any healthy weight. Mix up your calorie intake One day go 1000 next go 500. Also Fasting works do a 10 hour fast then eat healthy then go to bed and fast another 8 while sleeping, You have to trick your body back into burning instead of storing.
Its rather easy to do- For me the fasting broke it loose again.

I know when i got the band my body stopped losing at 143. I am 5'2" and my SW was 232#. There i stayed for 7+ years. Until i had to get her out 3 years ago in 2017. Over the last few years, i put back 30#. I decided to do a revision and got sleeved 8/28/19. SW 173.5, today 129. My weight loss is slowing and currently only losing about a pound a month.
Your body will definitely decide on where it wants to be. But, you have to be doing everything you can to make sure you are doing your part. Continue to portion out your food and exercise. You will benefit greatly from logging in and weighting/portioning what you eat. Exercising in a different way will help also.
If you simply cut back your cal to 1000 per day and up your exercise... you will start to lose again.

Hmmmmmmmmm, IMO I think this is a tough question to answer because one has to take several things into consideration, "desired weight" (can you hear this little voice of vanity in the head?) is unfortunately just one. When I look at BMI 30 my gut reaction is: "You're not done and there is wiggle room!" - but this is just gut reaction and looking at the weight/BMI only.
IMO one should keep several things in mind, e. g.:
- how do you feel physically at this weight?
- how healthy are you now?
- do you like yourself when looking into the mirror? (loose skin being out of the equation)
- does the possibility of having to exercise more sound appalling or appealing?
- do you want to restrict your diet even more?
- you you think you could be happy at the weight you're now?
An interesting concept is that of "best weight". https://obesitycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Best-Weight-Book.pdf
I think the whole PDF is worth a read but the concept of best weight is explained on page 12 and I think it can be applied to WLS patients as well:

My original goal weight was arbitrary, since I hadn't been anywhere near that weight in more than 30 years. Once I got to my original goal weight, I decided to lose ten more pounds based primarily on a gut reaction (how I looked and felt).
That turned out to be my ideal weight--but I kept losing after I reached it and had to try to gain eight pounds (which was such a strange concept). Since then, it has been a process of trial and error to find the find the right number of calories and types of foods that will keep me there, and I'm still tinkering with it.

You are not done, you can still lose some weight.
Though you are at a lower BMI now, and with your height (and without now your age or incidental activity level) your maintenance calories (before adding in any exercise calorie requirements) would be quite low, and wouldn't leave a lot of scope for slip ups. If you haven't already determine your calorie requirements for maintenance based on your age, gender, current weight, height...from there you can deduct an amount to allow for weight loss (maybe 500 per day?).
If you aren't already make sure you are weighing your foods, eyeballing volumes doesn't cut it, and don't rely on 1/2 cup or cup volumes as calories will vary greatly as contents settle etc. Weigh everything, buy some food scales if you don't already have some.
My fitness pal site can help calculate weight loss calorie requirements, you could also track your current food intake for a week see where its at and where it can be tweaked. If you prefer not to use MFP, start with determining daily calorie requirements. https://tdeecalculator.net/

Of course - any calorie deficit will most likely result in weight loss. I think what the surgeons are referring to is the honeymoon period after surgery, where weight loss will happen the most rapidly, and the most easily. Eventually it does slow down, and for many people, hunger returns. But I've known people on this site, and other places online, who lost 80-90% of their weight in the first year (often faster), but took 2-3 years to get to their goal weight. It's not impossible. But I think it also sets up people to feel like a failure if they DON'T reach their goal, and that's not true either. Many people make it to the overweight BMI and can't go further into the healthy range (or can, but find it harder to maintain). But even then they've lost 80% or more of their excess weight. That's something to be proud of. Even for myself, I'm trying to manage expectations - I'd like to get to a healthy BMI, but I know that weight loss is usually not as dramatic with revision surgery, and that it will probably take me longer to get there (if ever).

Of course - any calorie deficit will most likely result in weight loss. I think what the surgeons are referring to is the honeymoon period after surgery, where weight loss will happen the most rapidly, and the most easily. Eventually it does slow down, and for many people, hunger returns. But I've known people on this site, and other places online, who lost 80-90% of their weight in the first year (often faster), but took 2-3 years to get to their goal weight. It's not impossible. But I think it also sets up people to feel like a failure if they DON'T reach their goal, and that's not true either. Many people make it to the overweight BMI and can't go further into the healthy range (or can, but find it harder to maintain). But even then they've lost 80% or more of their excess weight. That's something to be proud of. Even for myself, I'm trying to manage expectations - I'd like to get to a healthy BMI, but I know that weight loss is usually not as dramatic with revision surgery, and that it will probably take me longer to get there (if ever).

Of course - any calorie deficit will most likely result in weight loss. I think what the surgeons are referring to is the honeymoon period after surgery, where weight loss will happen the most rapidly, and the most easily. Eventually it does slow down, and for many people, hunger returns. But I've known people on this site, and other places online, who lost 80-90% of their weight in the first year (often faster), but took 2-3 years to get to their goal weight. It's not impossible. But I think it also sets up people to feel like a failure if they DON'T reach their goal, and that's not true either. Many people make it to the overweight BMI and can't go further into the healthy range (or can, but find it harder to maintain). But even then they've lost 80% or more of their excess weight. That's something to be proud of. Even for myself, I'm trying to manage expectations - I'd like to get to a healthy BMI, but I know that weight loss is usually not as dramatic with revision surgery, and that it will probably take me longer to get there (if ever).

This.
Weighing is much better. With cups & spoons it's way easier to accidentally underestimate. For calorie tracking food scales are best.

I can't help myself, I find this statement more and more irritating the longer I'm out of WLS, especially that one about "the window of weight loss closing". It puts patients into an unnecessary state of anxiety and builds up equally unnecessary pressure. I wonder if surgeons and dietitians sometimes are being misinterpreted here or - if they're interpreted correctly - if they're aware of the consequences they provoke.
My first surgery was 2001. The MGB was almost 4 years ago. After my latest revision 4 weeks ago my weight went down again during the liquid phase (i. e. eating less calories than my body is used to) and I'm in the middle of a normal BMI range.
My findings are: if I'm in a calorie deficit (screw the macros) I'm losing weight. I doubt I'm the big exception.
However, creating this calorie deficit is definitely harder for some people! (Think age, height, gender etc.).

Telogen Effluvium: a form of TEMPORARY Hair loss associated with a stressful event, shock or trauma. It's caused by a disruption in the growth cycle of hair and usually happens around 3-6 months after surgery.
It is normal it is temporary there is very little you can do to prevent or reduce the amount of hair loss There are some schools of thought that you can mitigate it by taking hair supplements BEFORE surgery. I've seen stories where people claim that they have been able to avoid it. I can only speak from experience. I took hair supplements for months before surgery, but that still didn't stop me from having a lot of hair loss after surgery.

Yes, this is common for many people, not just gastric surgery patients. When your body goes through an extreme event (any kind of surgery, pregnancy, etc) some Hair loss will occur. It can be upsetting and disconcerting, but probably the only people who will notice are you and your hairdresser. It will stop, it will grow back, just give it a few months.

Yes, this is common for many people, not just gastric surgery patients. When your body goes through an extreme event (any kind of surgery, pregnancy, etc) some Hair loss will occur. It can be upsetting and disconcerting, but probably the only people who will notice are you and your hairdresser. It will stop, it will grow back, just give it a few months.

One of my favourite doctors on YouTube, Dr. Weiner, says that in his experience, the four-month mark will be the halfway point of your total weight loss. Most people lose all of their weight in the 6-12 months post-op, it’s not as common, although possible, to keep losing weight after that. So I don’t know why your doctor said that you’re done at four months - I’ve never seen any guidelines that have remotely said the same thing. You are still technically obese but close to overweight in terms of BMI. From my experience, both on this site, and with sleeve surgery a few years ago, I’d say you are either in a stall, and/or you need to be prepared for your weight loss to be happening at a slower rate than before. Maybe mix up your diet a bit more (get off the Protein Bars and eat real food), and change up your activity. It doesn’t have to be going to the gym, just upping the intensity of walks or playing physical games with your kids may be enough.

I just had bypass a few days before you and I've been on purees (and full liquids) since the day I left the hospital (day 3 post-op). I haven't had any real issues except with Greek yogurt (I guess I'll be a bit lactose intolerant for a while, common with bypass, not so much with sleeve). But I had the sleeve 3 years ago so have already been through this once before, where I had to wait a couple weeks before going on purees. In both cases, waiting, or starting right away, I've been doing well. I've been drinking blended Soups, pureed veggies, soft tofu, cottage cheese, etc. Just go slow and start with small amounts at first. Try one new (pureed) food per day. After a few days, try adding another pureed food for a second meal. Your sleeve will let you know what's working and what's not.

Yes, this is common for many people, not just gastric surgery patients. When your body goes through an extreme event (any kind of surgery, pregnancy, etc) some Hair loss will occur. It can be upsetting and disconcerting, but probably the only people who will notice are you and your hairdresser. It will stop, it will grow back, just give it a few months.

I'm surprised someone at your clinic didn't mention this - it happens to almost everyone. It can supposedly happen after any type of surgery because it can be due to the trauma to the body plus the anesthesia, but I'm guessing you see it more in bariatric patients since we're taking in so few calories the first few months.
it'll last a few months and then it'll all grow back. For most of us, we're the only ones who notice it.
there's really not much you can do about it other than keep on top of your Protein and Vitamins so it doesn't get any worse than it would otherwise. Some people say Biotin and special shampoos work for them, but others say they don't do a thing. You may just have to wait it out.

almost everyone has their first stall within the first 4-6 weeks after surgery. It's called the three week stall since it's USUALLY the third week, but not always. Just stick to your plan - the weight will start dropping again. Mine lasted for two weeks

I’m 3 weeks post op and I’ve lost 13 pounds. I thought it would be more. We’re about the same weight so I think those that weighed more lose more weight at first. You’ve lost 20 pounds in 5 weeks so averaging 4 pounds a week, that’s awesome! How long have you been stalled?
i know we’re told not to weight ourselves every day but of course, I’m stubborn so I do. I don’t lose weight every day. I lose a pound or two every 3-4 days. It’s not what I wanted, but it’s working. Just stay your course. Keep an eye on your Protein and Water intake and make sure you’re getting those daily.
can you switch up what you’re eating for soft foods? For me, a lot of things I try are making me sick so I’m sticking to eggs and Beans right now along with my Protein Shakes.

I am now 16 days out from sleeve surgery. As tired as I am of liquids I find I’m very hesitant to start moving on to the puréed. I feel great no issues just hesitant. Anyone else have that issue and suggestions to get started? Thank you.