LaLaDee

I'm about the same as before Christmas. Hovering around 112.5kg (248 pounds). When I don't lose weight for a few days, I panic that I've entered a little stall which is ridiculous. I wouldn't mind losing another 2 or 3 kg (6 pounds), just so that I could say I had lost 100pounds. I'm Australian and use the metric system, but 100 pounds sounds like an awesome milestone. But I WILL get there.

Nivea skin firming Q10. Cheap and cheerful!

I probably wouldn't have started with broccoli and beef. I was warned about broccoli. It has to be very soft cooked, practically mush. Like salads, it's the kind of food that can give you problems. I would be mashing sweet potato or sticking with something like that. As suggested, try chicken or tuna or a minced meat. I'd eat a beef, chicken or turkey meatball or patty or something like that. Lots of stews and meaty soups. Have you got a dietician? If not, I would consider getting a bariatric cookbook because I think it would be helpful. I also got toddler utensils. I have a "Frozen" themed fork that is tiny. It's a bit silly but it ensures that I could only take small mouthfuls. I'm four months out and I'm a fast eater. It's not a problem now but I used to be in pain all the time so you need to force yourself to eat slowly. Take a small bite, then set a timer on your phone for 60 seconds and don't even consider another mouthful till then. This part isn't forever. You will get through it. Good luck!

I'm glad to hear it grew back thick as before. I'm not looking forward to the growing in phase. I'm expecting to have spiky bits going in all directions. I'm a long hair girl but I guess I might have to get a shorter cut.

I'm about 4 months out from surgery and I'm losing a lot of hair. A lot. Like, brushing my hair is a horrible, horrible experience. There are bits of hair all over the house. My bathroom looks a crime scene where Chewbacca was violently sheared. I've seen posts here where people talk about how they were able to avoid hair loss by taking biotin or whatever but I'm not that lucky. I take my multivitamin, I try and have lots of protein and drink lots of water. But my hair still falls out! It's so awful. I know that there's a bigger picture here - I'm losing weight and getting healthy but it's still upsetting. At my heaviest weight, I had thick wavy hair that I could get shiny with the right styling tools. Now, it feels like I'm practically bald. I think my hair loss is definitely noticeable to others - at least people who knew what my hair looked like before. If I had to guess, I've lost at least 30-40% of the hairs on my head. I have this stupid skinny pony tail now. I'm not at the point of getting hair extensions but I've been googling hair thickening shampoos. I also won't be straightening my hair anytime soon. I think a curlier texture makes it look a little thicker. I know I should just focus on getting healthy and reminding myself that it will eventually grow back. This hair loss thing is difficult and miserable.

How long since you lost weight? Are you just in a stall? How long since your surgery? It is harder to lose weight as you get lower down.

Thanks everyone. I'm feeling a bit less alone on this. I know that I need to be realistic about what I can achieve at the moment. I've been so worried that I've started jumping on the scale about 4 times a day! How much damage can be done in a week or month anyway? Once 1st of January arrives, I will be back on the wagon. In the meantime, I'm just trying to do my best.

The Christmas stress is getting to me. I have eaten out so much this month! Multiple Christmas parties so much champagne! It's a strange thing to think about. There's just the four of us having Christmas and my mother is planning a turkey (4kg) and a ham (4.5kg). That's over 2kg (4.5pounds) of meat per person! I literally cannot deal with all the extra treats too. There's chocolate, cheese, chips and dips, baked goods, super huge cooked breakfasts every morning. If it was just one day, e.g. just one meal on Christmas then I could deal but it's like the entire month is like this. I've lost about 42kg (92 pounds) and I feel like I'm about to gain it all back this week. Ugh. I'm just in a really bad situation. You know, 4 months in, I've tried to have all this control over my food, meal planning and tracking, carefully shopping every Sunday. Now, it seems like it's all beyond my control. There's other people to consider and it's their Christmas too so you don't want to be selfish but I'm very stressed out.

My surgeon wanted to know that I had tried to lose weight before. It was hard trying to remember it all, weight watchers, jenny craig, calorie counting, low carb etc. It's a good idea to write it all down. In addition to my detailed medical history, I also had to know my family medical history, which I didn't know. Have your siblings, parents, grandparents had diabetes, cancer, heart problems etc. The other thing to bring is an open mind, I wanted the gastric band and my surgeon told me the sleeve was more appropriate. Good luck!

I'm terrified of Christmas. In the past, it was just about socially acceptable binge eating. Now I'm at a loss. I've even been drinking lately.

My dietician told me to be careful about gluten free processed products. Apparently they can be high in calories, fat and other bad stuff.

Lol. Well, you look great! Hopefully that is motivation for you to keep the weight off!

I've also had my life turned upside down in the three months since my surgery. A close family member died, I ended up back in hospital with a lesion in my brain (which led to me going on steroids - which affected my mood and my ability to focus on the diet), my father lost his company, I had to move house, I've had endless problems at work, financial problems from taking time off work, etc. It can feel like the universe is picking on me. Jen, it sounds like you have had it even worse. I'm so sorry to hear about what you are going through. At this point, it doesn't really matter if the surgery was the cause or not. You're going to need to focus on the future. It's really unfair, but you are going to have to move forward with the hand that you have been dealt. Don't worry about whether or not you should have gotten surgery. It's done now. You can only move forward. I'm sure that you have a bright future, you just have to get through all this now. It's OK to ask for help. I've been having therapy lately and it's been helpful. I think you need to focus on getting help and support. I'm sending you hugs across this forum! xx

Congratulations Bigsel! You look amazing!! How did you achieve that in less than two months?

I have to second bio oil. I also live dove skin firming lotions for the body. For wrinkles on the face, start a good skin routine. At night, the first step is cleansing - this will help your products actually absorb into the skin. If you wear makeup, consider cleansing the skin twice. There’s no need to spend much on a cleanser - just make sure you have one! After that, you need a gentle face exfoliation product (it’s like a light chemical exfoliant, don’t use anything grainy. Find a product with AHA or BHA or that says it’s glycolic acid) I like Alpha H Liquid gold and Paula’s choice BHA skin exfoliant. Depending on the product (or your skin sensitivity), you may only use the exfoliant every other night. Then you want to find a good serum. If you have age spots you might go with vitamin c, if it’s wrinkles then I would try Olay or Estée Lauder or anything with retinol). The other thing to consider is moisture, get a product or moisturizer with Hyaluronic acid. I have a range of serums and night creams depending on how my skin “feels”. If it’s daytime, you will want to cleanse and then wear a sunscreen SPF. You can then put on a hydrating moisturizer (to save time you could get a daytime moisturizer with sun protection in it). Never go on a walk outside without a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. About has once a week, I also use a skin mask. You could buy one or make one at home with your own natural ingredients. Also make sure you are taking your vitamins and drinking lots of water. Think carefully about your makeup too. Filling in your eyebrows can make you look younger. Get a shimmer for your cheeks. You want a light glow without looking like a glitter ball. Use a lipliner to give your lips definition (they can get thinner as we get older). I avoid matte lipstick. Something with satin or a touch of gloss/shimmer can look more youthful and less dry. Consider avoiding heavy black eyeliner if your eyes are very lined and wrinkles. Brown, gray or even navy applied with a light touch can be more flattering. Use lots of lashings of mascara. Finally, don’t worry about wrinkles! If you look at before and after weight loss photos, people in the after photos always look younger and happier! Getting healthy and doing something good for yourself will make you happy and that will shine through!

Congrats Rach!! I wish we could control where we lost the weight. I have a big belly, a flat butt and disproportionately thin legs. No luck finding jeans that fit with this body! I keep hoping to lose belly weight but no such luck. It’s the belly fat that is so dangerous too. We have to cross our fingers and be patient!

I was actually thinking about this today. I'm starting to get batwings under the arms and I can't even talk about what's happening in my bra! I've lost 36kg (about 80 pounds) and I'm starting to sag everywhere. I have lost large amounts of weight before (pre-surgery, I was very good at losing weight, I just can't keep it off) and it just wasn't this bad. It might be that I'm getting older or that the weight loss has been much faster with the surgery. It's just so expensive to even think about plastic surgery. I don't know if it's OK to fly to some developing country and get it done there to save money. If I do have it, it wouldn't be until I've maintained my weight for at least a year or something. The body does repair itself a little.

I'm really proud of us August sleevers. Whether you're meeting the chart or not, I think we're all doing so well. I have literally told three people in my life about my surgery (about half my immediate family) and so this whole process can feel totally lonely so I love seeing how everyone else is doing. It's not a competitive thing - some people are taller, younger, or better at exercise etc than me and doing much better. The point is that we're all doing our best here. It's just nice to know people have the same feelings and obsess over the same things (I want diet coke so badly).

That chart is pretty accurate for me!! Was about 320 pounds on day of surgery and three months later, I was 268 pounds.

Before my surgery, I bought lunch every single day and probably grabbed takeout or fast food a couple of nights a week. Now that I have to be good, I'm cooking more often and meal prepping and doing a lot of things I never really did before. For example, now I plan out my meals, look up recipes and then go to the supermarket once a week. Before, I'd get the urge to cook something and have to make multiple trips to the supermarket during the week just to pick something up. I have a whole new relationship with food. I do feel a bit obsessed though. Like I'll find myself googling recipes or watching cooking shows. I've also had to adapt a lot of my previous recipes to be lower carb (you know, zucchini spiralised pasta, cauliflower as rice, lettuce leaves as burger buns) and I'm always thinking about healthy ways to have my old favourite meals. It is definitely an obsession. Sometimes I do worry because I shouldn't think about food so much. Every night I have 2 pieces of dark chocolate (this is my last vice, I've given up milk chocolate - not to mention alcohol, caffeine, most carbs and dairy) and it is literally the happiest time of the day. I wish I could flip a switch and not obsess over food. :-(

I had a little victory this week that I wanted to share (hopefully in a non bragging way). My BMI is under 40! Which by most standards means that I'm not morbidly obese anymore - just obese. Pre-surgery, my BMI was over 50, which was pretty shocking to learn. In a couple of weeks, I'm doing a bunch of blood tests. I'm hoping to get some good results. Prior to my surgery I found out I was pre-diabetic, insulin resistant, my thyroid was not functioning well, I was vitamin D deficient, and there was some hormone thing they identified too. My whole journey here has always been motivated by health. I think my Mom thinks I want to lose weight so that I can look good or buy nice clothes or meet "someone". Those things might be nice, but it's more about not being dead at 50 years old.

Lol. This was one of my biggest dears. I have a collection of chilli sauces in my pantry. However, I was adding chili sauce to my soups during the puree phase. Thankfully no issues whatsoever.

For the liquid stage, I stuck to Optifast (or slimfast or whatever you can get your hands on) and protein shakes. For the puree stage, you will want really high protein soups (like meaty soups and lentils and stuff like that). I made a soup out of chicken breast, potato and leek and blended it till it was very liquidy and froze a million tiny portions. Never ever have like a plain vegetable soup (like pumpkin or tomato soup). It's a waste of the limited space you have in your pouch. You have to stick meat and beans or something in there. I also basically took one of those hand held blenders and would puree a tiny portion of casseroles, beef chilli, bolognese (without the pasta) and whatever my family was having as long as it had protein. There's also runny scrambled eggs and fat free puddings, cottage cheese/ricotta cheese things (google VSG recipes for the pureed stage). You can also have milk, yoghurt and smoothies. Plus, if you can still stomach them, carry on with optifast shakes (at least once a day). Otherwise, use the opportunity to start making your own protein shakes which taste much better (throw a frozen banana, some chocolate protein powder and honey with skim/almond milk in a blender and see if you like it). Some people will eat mash potato and things like that, but remember they will do nothing for you nutritionally. I found the puree stage the most unpleasant. Puree most foods and they look pretty disgusting. However, the puree food stage goes by pretty quickly. You will survive it. The truth is that I wasn't that interested in food anyway, so it was just a matter of trying to get some protein before I felt totally full. Other than protein, protein, PROTEIN (you get the idea), make sure you are drinking water constantly. Best of luck JuniperBug. If you want more information than your team gives you, then you should order a book (written by doctors and nutritionists). I had weight loss surgery for dummies and that was pretty helpful. There is a lot advice on the internet, on forums and youtube etc but remember that people can tolerate different things and different doctors have different plans, so generally you should stick with your doctors advice.

I drink a lot of peppermint tea to settle my stomach. The bonus is it helps with water intake.

I initially wanted the band because it's reversible and seems less scary than having part of my stomach removed. However, my surgeon talked me out of it. He said he barely does a handful a year and that he spends lots of time doing band revisions and removals. Apparently, a lot of people have had to change from the band to the sleeve. There are a lot of complications like band slippage. With the sleeve, you also don't have to get adjustments or worry about as many follow up appointments. Also, it can restrict your ability to eat healthy foods like raw vegetables and chicken, but then things like ice cream slide very easily down. For me, the main thing that freaked me out was having this foreign object in my body. I read on the internet about people who can see or feel their port through their skin and I didn't like the idea. I think you should talk to your surgeon and do as much research as possible. My surgeon did say that for someone with a lot of weight to lose, the sleeve is better. However, if you don't have much weight to lose then maybe the band could be for you (or you might consider the laparoscopic balloon or another alternative).