MegPRN

Cigarette smoke can cause ulcers in your stomach lining and cause you to have more surgeries, endoscopies, and other complications after surgery. Nicotine is not an appropriate treatment for anxiety. See your PCP or a therapist for actual treatment for your anxiety, don't self-medicate with dangerous chemicals.

I cook with coconut milk (curries and other east/south Asian cuisine) but I don't just drink it, except for a very rare coconut milk mocha from Starbucks.

Estrogen is stored in fat cells. As the fat is burned, the hormones are released, and can play havoc with your cycle. I was having crazy periods (extremely heavy bleeding) and as I lost weight, I noticed I could feel my uterus when I touched my stomach lying on my back. I saw my OB/GYN and was diagnosed with adenomyosis, and had a hormonal IUD placed. It regulated things for me. I see that you already have one of those, so your issue is probably different, but anything going on with your cycle should be checked out by your GYN!

I'm also stuck at losing around 2lbs per month, with about 20lbs left to go until my personal goal. I started working out regularly (joined my gym at work and have a plan for fitness classes throughout the week, plus yoga on Mondays) and I'm trying to count calories, but it's become so difficult! I calculated my total daily energy expenditure, and now it's only around 1800/day. I do really well in the morning most days, but by afternoon and evening I get ravenous and have a hard time resisting the high-calorie slider foods. I'm managing to eat at maintenance, but I can't seem to keep a deficit, so I'm not really losing. I'm hoping adding regular exercise will help.

Anything fluid that's non-caffeinated, non-carbonated, and sugar-free is how my doctor defines it.

it sounds to me like this is a money-making scheme for your doctor, not necessarily in your best interest. I would recommend seeing a dietician who specializes in post-bariatric surgery patients. It also raises red flags for me when a surgeon demands a certain rate of weight loss, or gives you a scale number for your ultimate goal. The focus of this surgery should be improved health, rather than static numbers on a scale. My surgeon is great about this - his goals for me included things like getting off CPAP, being able to comfortably exercise again. He encouraged me to make my own non-scale goals, like shopping in a regular clothing store. If your doctor gives you a goal of - for example - 145 lbs, but you stop losing at 155 lbs - you're going to feel like a failure, and they're going to treat you like a failure, even if you're off insulin and CPAP and 3 of your 4 blood pressure pills, and are in a relationship for the first time in your life. Right? There are so many more ways to succeed at this than focusing on the scale.

My doctor starts us all on a regular diet starting week 4, and bars/shakes are only for supplementing if you're not reaching goal on "real", whole food protein sources (dense meats, yogurt, beans, cheese, etc). Does your doctor sell the bars/shakes he's recommending?

I tried eating pizza a couple of times in the past 8 months (literally.. I think 3 times). We used to eat pizza 3x a month, at least. The last time I ate an extremely thin slice very, very slowly and I still felt horrible after. Stomach pain, headache, nausea. I think it's the dense bread. I can eat crackers (in small quantities) but eating a whole roll or bun, or a sandwich, or slice of garlic bread makes me feel ill. I just don't even try anymore.

I was on Depo for a few years in my 20s. I gained weight while using it, but I don't know for certain that it was related to the shot. I also stopped due to the bone density concerns, especially since my mom was diagnosed with osteopenia around the same time. At the time of my second c-section I had a tubal, so that's been my birth control since surgery. I think I'm going to have to get either an endometrial ablation or the Mirena IUD again, though, because my bleeding has been really excessive since I lost weight.

Is the General Tso a fried chicken ball-type meal? I have such a hard time with anything fried, I can totally relate to that awful feeling of the food pushing up against my throat, and the nausea/overfull/discomfort. It used to be a lot worse, to the point that I would have to lie down after certain meals. It's gotten a lot better now that I've learned (over and over again!) that fried foods make me feel crummy and I shouldn't eat them. Now I get grilled/poached/steamed options and it sits much better. I have also gotten my family to eat low-carb dinners (my husband is type 1 diabetic, so it's better for him, too!) so I don't feel like I have to cook or eat high-carb meals at home anymore. It's been helping.

I take a multivitamin and 2 calcium citrate pills in the morning. I usually eat Greek yogurt for breakfast, and drink coffee with half and half. I used a generic calcium citrate for a few days, but noticed the nausea got so bad so fast that I was vomiting nearly every morning, whether I had food in my stomach or not. I switched to a name-brand calcium citrate, and I was good for a while, but lately I've been noticing some creeping nausea every morning again. It's now to the point where I get severely nauseated, feel like I'm going to vomit, and then I sneeze and the nausea goes away. I did the same thing with morning sickness when I was pregnant. Weird! I don't have a solution, unfortunately, other than maybe try a different brand of vitamin? Might help for a little while, anyway. I'm going to talk to my doctor about it.

I discovered a 4-pc grilled nuggets kids' meal from Chick-fil-a with buffalo sauce for dipping and fruit instead of fries is a great lunch - just the right portion size, 145 calories if you get a calorie-free beverage. For a drive-through meal, you can hardly do better! I also like the Vietnamese chicken salad spring rolls from Pei Wei. They're super light and full of lean chicken and veggies. At sit-down restaurants, I typically order a protein and a steamed vegetable. For example, at Red Lobster, I get crab legs or a lobster tail and broccoli. At a steakhouse I'll get a 7-oz filet mignon and asparagus (and take half of the steak home). At a Japanese restaurant I like to get sashimi, or share a kids' bento box with my 3-year-old. If we're eating at a deli or something, I'll order a sandwich but just eat half. My husband and I shared a sandwich, I ate the fruit that came with it, and he ordered a cup of soup on the side. You can still enjoy eating out after surgery, you just have to be creative about your portions and sharing!

What a difference a year makes! The same dinner, 2018 compared to 2019

No specific amount during my pre-op workup. They just didn't want to see any weight gain over my initial consultation weight. I ended up going up and down during the 6-month workup period, but didn't ever end up going above my first weight. I'm now a clinical reviewer for my hospital's weight-loss surgery program and have seen many cases where patients gain and gain and gain up to their surgery day, and they still get approval.

My periods have been more regular/predictable. I think I have less cramping now than I did before surgery/weight loss, but the blood loss is horrific. It's a lot heavier than it ever was before. I also have terrible cramping mid-cycle when I'm ovulating, which is new. I had to leave work early last week because I was worried I had appendicitis or something. I'm seeing my OB/GYN in early May to discuss an endometrial ablation or some other option to reduce the bleeding.