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.

My job requires working closely with surgeons. I recently had an opportunity to shadow one of my surgeons in the operating room, which meant putting on surgical scrubs. I haven't gone into the OR since nursing school, and required, basically, the largest size scrubs on the shelf, and they still didn't fit well (OR scrubs are cut for men, no thought to hips or butts!). This time I wore size L and they were baggy!

This is a fantastic and thought-provoking thread. I got the surgery (among other reasons) because I was terrified of ever seeing a 300+ lb weight on the scale. The closest I got was ~283 (that's my highest weight that was recorded). I'm currently bouncing up and down between 170 and 179 lbs (have been since about April of this year), and I noticed, curiously, that I'm pretty worried about getting to 180 or higher again. I almost feel like if I let myself get to that point, the deal's off, I'm a failure, and I might as well eat like it. I feel like if I'm able to get down below 170, though, I'll end up with 170 as that new bright-line, don't-cross benchmark. I don't know how long that would hold up, though - if I got down below 160, or 165, would that be the new line? I really don't know. I do know that I'm pretty happy with my body as-is right now. I've got kinda a "pooch" of loose skin on my belly, and I notice belly bloat a lot more than I ever did before, but overall I'm pretty happy with my shape and if it were effortless, I could happily stay at 175 for the rest of my life.

This is kinda gross - content warning, toenails!! 😂 At my biggest, I had to get pedicures to trim my toenails. If I tried to do it myself, I'd be out of breath and sweating from trying to stretch down and reach. This past weekend, without even thinking about it, I grabbed the clippers and took care of it. I could probably even paint my own toenails at this point, which I've not been able to do since (probably) middle school (age 12?). Imma still get pedicures though 😝

The lack of chafing is one of my favorite parts of having lost all this weight. This is my first summer with thighs that graze instead of constantly rubbing, and it's been incredible - no more heat rash, no more discomfort from sweat.

I've noticed significantly less chub rub this summer than all my previous summers. I live in Arizona. I had to make sure my thighs were shaved dolphin-smooth before I went out in a dress in the summer, or I would have heat rash and chafing within an hour. Usually I ended up with that anyway, so I would wear capris or jeans. Now it seems to be a complete non-issue. I still get hot, but not even close to the degree I did when I was 100lbs heavier. It's like I was wearing 2 winter coats every summer before this one!

One of the events in my life that spurred me to start pursuing surgery happened when my son was not quite 2, and my daughter would have been 4 or so. We had gone to my parents' mountain cabin around 4 hours' drive away, in the winter. We planned to get snow gear at the local WalMart so the kids could play in the snow. I brought the only warm clothing I owned, jeans and a sweatshirt (we live in a desert where it rarely snows, and a sweatshirt is sufficient for the wintriest weather at home). I quickly realized it wouldn't be warm enough to play with my children in the snow, so we spent several hours of our snow-day morning going store-to-store in this fairly small mountain town trying to find a winter jacket that would fit me. I ultimately ended up with a men's XXL skiing-type jacket, which still would barely zip over my hips/butt. We ended up having a great time playing in the snow, but the jacket shopping was truly humiliating. Anyway - long story short, my NSV is that I fit into an Old Navy Medium women's raincoat last week. This morning I achieved my lowest-ever adult weight. I am so fortunate to have this tool to help me live a longer and more fun-filled life for my kids!

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.

I wear a white scrub warmup jacket as part of my work uniform. I started in a 3X.. down to an XL a couple of months after surgery.. and yesterday I picked up a new jacket in a medium. Unbelievable, but exciting!

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

I took a bath last night and fit in my 1970's era small bathtub without my hips hitting the sides. I used to live in a house with a massive garden tub and I barely fit in there! I was extremely uncomfortable sitting flat on my tailbone, so I had to shift from buttcheek to buttcheek - no padding left!

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.

I like the Lemon Ginger flavor - a little spicy and sour at the same time. It does have a little fermented/vinegar-y flavor that I don't love, and the carbonation does bother my sleeve a bit, but I do enjoy drinking it. It's not a calorie-free drink, though, so be aware!

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.

Soo.. this one is actually a scale victory. But I want to share it anyway! My highest ever recorded weight was 282.4 lbs in 2010. I'm now 178.6 lbs as of this morning.. so I've officially lost 100 lbs. I can't believe I ever carried that much weight on this body. Now just 24.6 lbs to goal.