Blue Door

Your old boss walks right past you not realizing who you are. Happened to me last week.

It feels so great doesn't it?

I used to be a business traveler and I had my own seat belt extended I purchased so I wouldn't have to be embarrassed and ask for one,

I took a flight last year and not only did the seat belt fit, I was able to pull it super tight, and I had room in my seat!

Thought I'd share a couple of pics
Went through a small stall but starting to drop again slowly - was 132kg on Op date 11/1/2017 now 101.1kg 19/04/2017 Feeling pretty good about life again
 

I haven't told anyone about my VSG surgery. I told my work that I would be out for 2 weeks for a hiatal hernia. I had been doing my Protein Shakes prior and had lost some weight, so when people asked what I was doing I told them Atkins (everyone knows Atkins), so when I came back to work 25 lbs lighter after 2 weeks off, they just think it's from surgery and my Atkins. Which is not a lie at all, I did have hernia repair. I just don't tell them about the other surgery I had. So I just tell people I'm on Atkins and walking a lot. They just say that is awesome keep up the great work!

I'm tracking my progress a variety of ways... weight, body fat percentage, measurement, pictures, and of course, how my clothes fit.
I was stuck at 215 for about a week (technically a stall is longer than that) , I started feeling a little frustrated, so I pulled out a pair of "too small pants" that had been too tight on the tummy... And they fit!! Progress!!!
Think about those NSV and all the little things. The other morning I got out of bed wearing a short nightie and noticed how much smaller my legs look. My rings are fitting looser. My bras need to be on the tightest hooks. I have big calfs and can't wear tall boots (not even my hubby barn boots) but today?? I was walking past them and though "maybe??" and low and behold, my leg slides in!
Celebrate every single little moment!

I had the same thing at a week or so after surgery. It would wake me up from a sound sleep, and was very much physiological hunger. It would be eased by drinking a Protein Shake, but would be back again in a couple of hours. That feeling of hunger stayed with me until I started on solid food. Now at almost 4 weeks out I only feel hunger if I haven't eaten in several hours. It does get better, but it is hard to deal with while you are experiencing it. I felt very discouraged by the hunger feelings because I thought the surgery would curb that feeling. It did, it just took a while.

I'm here to tell you this is TOTALLY NORMAL! Rest easy folks, this is the magic of the allusive Metabolism. Oh man can it get bitchy too! lol!

So I've lost almost 200 lbs in 4 years. There are lots of times you will be doing everything right, exercise, eating, Water, Protein, sleep, etc. yet you will hit a pause. I hate calling it a stall because that implies the engine has stopped. It hasn't at all. In fact, it's working so hard it's decided it wants to slow down cause the body doesn't like to drop weight that fast.

But here's the trick. Keep measuring yourself. And this is the fun part:

Measure your head -because your head will probably lose weight too. Mine has. Though if you ask those that know me they will guess it was brains I was losing and not fat. ahaha!!
Measure your neck, upper arms, forearms, wrists, breast, rib cage, waist, wides part of the butt, hips, thighs and calfs.

Cause the things is we are doing a lot to our bodies and it is changing in ways it's hard to see. So measure yourself and then do it again in 2 weeks and 2 weeks and 2 weeks and so one. You will see that even when your weight doesn't drop your size is still changing.

I went through 8 weeks of not losing one single pound but I dropped 3 clothes sizes.
Last month I walked 12-15K steps a day, stuck to the protocol and and only lost 4 lbs the entire month. This month I've been slammed at work and got sick so I was only doing 5K steps a day and no stairs as I had a lung cold. Guess who dropped almost 20 lbs this month? lol! Yup.

So don't use the scale as your only beacon showing you your progress. Measure yourself as well. Also, the more you can move the more you should move. That was the other tell for me. "Oh! I can walk 1 mile in 17 minutes? How far can I go in 30???" or "OMG I can squat down and work on the project and then get back up and feel great!! I'm gonna squat and stand to do things as many times as I can!! This is so fun!" lol! i just love moving my body and the more I can move it the more I want to move it.

It's ok, I know this is a scary thing and pauses or stalls can really derail you - if you allow them to. But the scale is not your full story or journey so don't let it be your only tool to measure your success.

Thank you. I'm going through this now as well and it sucks. Your feedback helped.

Sent from my QTASUN1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I really appreciate your sharing your experience with me. It's actually a relief to hear - I am worried that I will be one of the unlucky ones who never lose that hungry feeling! It's a very disorienting experience and one, needless to say, that I haven't been great at tolerating in the past. But I'll be on pureed foods in a few days and that should help. I am making sure that I have two Protein Shakes a day using unflavored Unjury b/c I really dislike the sweetness and sharpness of the artificial flavors. But hungry as I am, a third Protein Shake feels daunting, but it clearly is an effective remedy.
My doctor only asks that we track our Protein and liquids, not calories, but I actually did track my calories today and sawI actually consumed less than 700 calories which may also account for my feelings of hunger!
Thanks again for responding - it really helps.

I had the same thing at a week or so after surgery. It would wake me up from a sound sleep, and was very much physiological hunger. It would be eased by drinking a Protein Shake, but would be back again in a couple of hours. That feeling of hunger stayed with me until I started on solid food. Now at almost 4 weeks out I only feel hunger if I haven't eaten in several hours. It does get better, but it is hard to deal with while you are experiencing it. I felt very discouraged by the hunger feelings because I thought the surgery would curb that feeling. It did, it just took a while.

I had the same thing at a week or so after surgery. It would wake me up from a sound sleep, and was very much physiological hunger. It would be eased by drinking a Protein Shake, but would be back again in a couple of hours. That feeling of hunger stayed with me until I started on solid food. Now at almost 4 weeks out I only feel hunger if I haven't eaten in several hours. It does get better, but it is hard to deal with while you are experiencing it. I felt very discouraged by the hunger feelings because I thought the surgery would curb that feeling. It did, it just took a while.

Open incision! Yeah he needs to get with the program!! Laparoscopic is where it's at! lol no body has time to be in the hospital for a week! Lol he's trippin! Glad you went else where! Lol

I had a grade 3 para-esophageal hiatal hernia repaired at the time of my sleeve. At first my surgeon suggested RNY, but when I said I didn't want that he was fine with doing the sleeve. The surgery was quite a bit longer than is typical for the sleeve, but to me it felt like a bonus to get both at once. The first surgeon I saw for my hiatal hernia wanted to do an open incision surgery with a week in the hospital and 6 weeks home recovery. My bariatric surgeon did both and I was home in 2 days and back to work in 2 weeks!

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!

Almost 4 weeks out, and I'm still drinking most of my Protein and calories. Full fat dairy, and most days I get around 1000 cals. Carbs are higher though.

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!

That stinks! I feel like they should be the most supportive people. Sorry you are experiencing that.
Im frustrated because my follow up appointments are with my surgeon's PA. She's very nice, but she's about 12... ok maybe that's an exaggeration, but most questions I have she has to step out and call him in the OR while he is operating on someone else!
it seems reasonable that if you aren't happy you should have the option of following g up with someone else.

I don't eat peeps - not my bag. However, blowing them up in the microwave is great fun! 30 second cycle; they get huge then quickly deflate. Fun for the whole family.

I had a mini Cadbury egg the other night, just one, it was delish. I'm 15wks post op and down 76lbs. I do allow myself a little treat from time to time but I also count it in my daily values and hold myself accountable. I think that's more important, accountability than never allowing yourself another treat again. We are all human.

I think you're unreasonably angry. Maybe you need to eat a peep

I've belonged to another online community about a specific interest for years and you see all the same types of stuff. About every 2-3 years a big chunk of people packs up and goes off in a huff to form a new group somewhere else. It's the ciiiiiiiircle of liiiiiife.
Meanwhile I'm freaking out about my surgery (not until May 22) so this is a nice distraction.

Everyone has a PHD in fat here. Some people are just know it all's because they read the handouts the surgeon gave them lol. I regularly roll my eyes and bite my tongue but there are enough positive posts with good or at least interesting information to keep on this site. However, peeps? Ewwwwww!

This is an open forum where we should be able to express our goals, accomplishments, and failures. Berating someone because of what they ate is extremely unhelpful. Instead we should try not to judge. Not one of you is perfect or you wouldn't be here in the first place.

How do you all know your RMR? Have you had testing done? I am interested in doing the testing, but want to be sure it is worthwhile.
Thanks.

And it's not our job to edcucate people about weight loss, decisions are tough enough without people saying it's our job to edcucate. Do what you want !