Blue Door

My surgery was three months ago, and I experienced extreme fatigue as well along with feeling very light headed when standing for more than a few minutes. I finally got my doctor to do blood work, and found out that my potassium was low. After about a week on a potassium supplement I felt dramatically better. It makes a lot of sense that with a high Protein diet with very little fruit or vegetables we are not taking in the required amounts of potassium our bodies need.
Might be worth getting a blood test just to see. Best wishes to you. Hope you start feeling better quickly.

My life has changed for the better but losing weight just trades some problems for different ones.
Negative:
People treat me differently. I would write a dissertation about it. Shifting identity was hard to deal with (I also had a lot of other life changes in the same time period so it all piled up) Loose skin (although that is getting better/more normalized) I hate shopping. I have to try every single thing I buy on and there are too many variations in womens sizing. I used to love shopping and was a shopaholic and now I just find it annoying. I have so few clothes when I had closets of clothes, tons of shoes, and lots of beautiful winter coats Replacing every single thing that touches my body, everything from jewelry, clothing, shoes, purses, towels, to socks were too large. Positive:
I fit everywhere. I don't have to think about if a chair can hold me or if I can slide in a booth. Airplane seats are comfortable I have boundless energy. sleeping is just basically an annoyance to me I sleep deeply, and wake up entirely refreshed, and I need very little sleep I can keep up with everyone else and lead, being active on vacations I am outdoors more, which I love My lap dog has a lot more lap to work with Everything I own that touches my body is new I have to shop all the time because I am still constantly changing and need things i enjoy time with people so much more because I am less focused on food (dinner is about the companionship not the food) People treat me differently

For the first time since my surgery, I took my kids to a Water park.
First and foremost, I was always one of those fatties that forced myself to "keep up" with "normal weight" people so I never visibly showed how hard it was to walk the park and climb the (freaking endless) steps to the tops of the rides. That said, by the end of the day, I used to be so exhausted I didn't want to move the next day.
This time was SO MUCH different. Never once was I out of breath. Never once did I dread squeezing my ass into a tube. I wasn't the fastest down to the bottom and my thighs didn't rub themselves into misery just because I was wet and huffing along with the group. lunch time wasn't an absolute RELIEF like it used to be -- instead, it was just lunch.< /p>
I am fairly certain I looked fine in my swimsuit and I wasn't the slow one in the group. There was one ride where the entire group had to step on a scale to ensure we didn't surpass maximum rate for the tube and I didn't sweat it for a second. In fact, I happily jumped on the scale and didn't think twice about someone seeing my weight.
I am no longer "new" to the WLS experience, but this was a great thing. For real.

@@Dub
Many reasons for not sharing personal info anywhere on the web. If you have decided not to tell people about your weight loss procedure, Fear of theft of your photos, Someone posting your photos on twitter or face book...I can go on and on .
here is my before and after video.
http://www.bariatricpal.com/videos/view-10-goal/

Wanted to update on getting RMR testing. I had my 2 week follow up visit with the surgeon and nutritionist today. I mentioned to the NUT that I wanted to get RMR testing done. She said they do it right there in the office, and I could do it right then. I went ahead and found out my RMR is 1615, which is in the middle of the average range for women my size. I am pretty pleased with that. The best part is that she said we can do it at every visit to watch for changes. Also, it was free as it's included in the follow up services. She had never mentioned it, and I don't think she would have if I hadn't brought it up. I don't know if the testing is something a lot of bariatric surgery offices offer, but it can't hurt to ask!

Would love to see your photos, but they aren't showing up.

It started for me during the pre-op liquid diet and lasted for about a month. I'm 7 weeks out from surgery and the breakouts seem to be starting up again.

Omg thank you all so much. I hope you all know just how much you just made my day.
Fyi- i hiccup every single time i eat, it is the most annoying thing on earth. And i always burp after Water. I never used to do that lol.
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It's been quite some time since I was active on the boards. My new job has me working extra hours so there never seems to be enough time.
I am 7 months post op at 125lbs down. I am 259 (sw 385). Peter (my husband) is 3 months post op and 80lbs down. I am the lowest I have weighed in over a decade.
But that is not the record I am talking about... Today I walked 21665 steps or 9.88 miles. My fitbit recorded 120 min of activity. I've gone from an average of 2500 steps a day to an average of 10000.
Peter and I pick walking as an activity (like hiking along the local levy) rather than being lazy (like circling a store parking 3 times to find a closer spot to park).
I know this is quite self congratulatory but I am so happy with the changes in my life and excited to share them.
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One of my closest friends and my inspiration to take this journey myself has MG. She has been successful on her journey thus far. She's 3 years out and over 100 pounds down at her lowest weight, she is currently pregnant so she's gained some back but is maintaining her weigtloss well.

I am 2 and a half weeks out from my surgery and on soft foods. My nutritionist says to aim for about 800 calories a day. I am not able to get anywhere near that. Today I'm at about 550 and can't imagine eating any more. I don't want to tank my metabolism, but I just can't eat another bite. I'm aiming for 60-80 grams of Protein and less than 35 grams of carbs.
Any menu ideas would be most welcome. Thanks!

You are not a lone. Whether you ate a whole pizza, or someone else ate a whole piece of cake, two glasses of wine - a lot of us come from a background of overeating and binging, followed by shame. It's okay that you are a work of progress - you are in a transition period. You are trying to change who you are as a person - which is NOT easy. The small size of our stomachs make it a little easier to change, kind of forces us to eat less and less. I'm about a month out and finally getting out of a Huge depression state. I used to find joy and solace in eating. But at the end of the day, it's your mind that makes the decision to eat. If you decide to pick something up and swallow, your stomach doesn't really have a choice. Think about your goals. Make a dream board on Pinterest of healthy bodies, motivational phrases, vsg recipes, at home exercises. Remind yourself of what you want - what you were willing to deal with the insurance company for, the hospital stay for, the possible family and friends that didn't understand your decision. You did it for YOU.

As a side note, a psychologist has really helped me. You can fix a fridge or a car, but you cannot fix a person - a person has to want to fix them self. Stay strong!

I just hit the twenty pound loss mark today, and I am 6 weeks out. It's hard when you see people with huge losses in the first few weeks and it is coming off slowly for you. Hang in there. I stalled at -16 pounds for several days, then in the last three days I've dropped over 3.5 lbs. there just doesn't seem to be any predicting how it will come off. My food, Water, and exercise was very similar the whole time from 2-6 weeks.

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Thank you for your concern, but I think you are misunderstanding what we are using treats for. He's not using food to cope with Autism, we use treats as incentives to complete certain tasks. For example, if the speech and language pathologist is over and he reads a whole page in a book he gets an M&M for each page he completes. If he talks and engages in therapy he gets rewarded. If he completes all of his physical therapy (usually swimming) he gets a bag of chips. It's no different than a parent giving rewards like ice cream for good grades or skittles for potty training. The doctors and specialists are all on board with this plan and it has helped him open up.

And he does have snacks that he receives more often that are sugar free like fruit snacks, Popsicles, and Jello. He only has therapy 3 times a week so there is total moderation in this process. I'm sure there was just confusion on what you thought we were doing for him, but I assure you he is very healthy and monitored closely by the doctors.

I would appreciate from this point on no one commenting on my son or his eating habits because this is not about my son, it's about me. I know the replies are coming from a place of love and concern but I shouldn't need to defend my doctor approved therapy for my son.

I do, however, understand how frustrating of a situation you must be in and wish you the very best of luck as you continue navigating treatment options for your son. I hope he has much success with the new tactics you have in place.

You look amazing! Congratulations, and I hope you can savor every minute of slipping on a new size. Seeing your photos is really inspiring. I am so anxious to get out of plus sizes. For years I have walked past the regular sizes and looked wistfully at the beautiful clothes that I have longed to wear. I have promised myself I'm not buying anything new until I can fit in regular sizes. Hoping that day comes soon!

You look amazing, and the happiness you radiate makes you even more beautiful. Your photos are an inspiration!

You look amazing!!! Congratulations, and thanks for sharing this. It is really inspiring!

When you can wear your 24 yo daughters American Eagle clothes!

When you can go into penny's and buy a 44R sport coat off the rack when last suit was a 54R.
When you realize your mpg is going up due to less weight being carried in the car.

You can cross the street before the red hand stops blinking

When you take a new home sleep study and can turn in your CPAP machine! :)

when your shoe laces are not knotted (tied) on the side

When the wedding rings that used to fit so snugly that they left marks fall off your fingers and you have to hunt around in the laundry basket to find them (time to find a jeweler to size them)

When the size 8 jeans you took in the dressing room are TOO BIG! (happened yesterday!) OMG....I lived for the day when I could ask the sales woman to bring me a size 6. Which freaking fit and of course I bought!