Healthy_life

51 minutes ago, Snackpak5 said:

Looking for advice if you after 2 years and steady maintain, then started to creep up and 7lbs are there before you know it, what did you do to get it back in check and drop the gain?

Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hope other members have better advice than mine.

Trying something new may get the scale to move.. Some change diet plans to Keto, intermittent fasting, paleo, vegan etc... It's easy to go off track a bit. I had to clean up my diet and find my discipline. I went back to basics. logging food, exercise and hydrating. I played with my calories and macros to find where my body loses weight again.

Wishing you the best in finding what works,

Jenn

9 hours ago, paulamelton said:

My mom had the bypass surgery years ago and after even after all these years she keeps very little food down. She can keep chips down but no salad or chicken or any kind of meat. There are so few foods she can eat. This scares me. I’m wondering if any of you find you can’t hold down a lot of healthy foods.

I agree with @James Marusek Has your mother talked with her surgeon? Vomiting after meals is not typical. This may be a medical issue.

9 hours ago, paulamelton said:

I’m wondering if any of you find you can’t hold down a lot of healthy foods.

I had sleeve surgery four years ago. I have never vomited after surgery.

I can tolerate all foods. including sugar (no dumping syndrome) This means I have to choose my food wisely or I will gain weight. I prefer and enjoy eating healthy food.

1 hour ago, Xapphirea said:

Hi everyone. Today I encountered something I have seen a couple of times now. I am 6 weeks post operation and I am losing sloooowww. Which is fine. But sometimes people ask me about how much weight I have lost. Can be friends or family or total strangers. Today I was shopping for some smaller size jeans, and I was debating with my SO wheither I should buy 2 or 3 pairs of jeans. His answer was, let's take 2 and come back in a month, to get more. The sales woman looked puzzled and my husband told her I had an gastric operation. She then proceeded saying how good that was for me. And asked how much I have lost. I told her friendly, that I am not saying that, it is private. She really got a little angry telling me that it was only to support me and why was I angry. I told her I was not angry, I just consider that private. She got really upset about that. I ended up paying for my clothes in a bad atmosphere.
But even other people keep asking me. I do not consider that a rude question or something, it is just private and I don't want to tell people. Maybe because I was hoping for more weight loss, but honestly I think not, I think I just don't want to share that information with people who are not in the same situation.
What do you think? Do you tell random people your weight lost? Do you tell friends/family?

You don't owe anyone an answer to things that are private. Her anger is her issue. Share what you want with who you want.

2 minutes ago, elcee said:

I wish someone would tell my hubby that photo angle is everything. The Christmas day shots he took are awful and he gets annoyed with me for being upset.

The other photos he takes are great but the ones of me horrible. If he would just take them from higher up it would be an improvement and considering how short I am it shouldn’t be that difficult

I was less than happy that my hubby snapped the recovery room photo above.😠. But now...I'm glad I have it. I don't have many pre op photos.

I think my pre op photo explains why I have turkey neck. Photo angle is everything *laughing* At 50 years old I'm good with the situation. I knew I would never be a model after WLS. My goal is to be a badass grandma.

*laughing* I feel your pain. I can't to any type of rice. Brown, white or wild. The bloat and trying to get things to move days after.

I was told to expect to lose 60% of my weight with the sleeve. I gave myself the first golden year to get the most out of my WLS. After being on this site, I was realistic about slow, normal, and fast weight loss rates. I got to goal in six months. Totally unexpected. I would have been fine to reach it in a year or more.

The only thing that matters is getting your health back.

Weight loss seems to be such a controversial subject. People are overly opinionated. I'm not and I don't want to be the spokesman for bariatrics. I don't feel the need to educate anyone on WLS. They can do their own research.

Don't invest time in negative people. Keep life simple.

52 minutes ago, CharlotteWebb said:

I have ZERO support from my family.

It sucks that they dont support me. I shouldn't be surprised as they were ZERO help after my stroke, either.

Sent from my LM-V405 using BariatricPal mobile app

Sorry to hear your family is not supportive of you. Know that there are some great people on this site. Talk with us anytime.

😠Ugh family 😠 I had to cut ties with some family members. I keep positive people around me. No need to let people drag you down.

2 hours ago, Missouri-Lee's Summit said:

“This is actually a problem with physicians, too. Often they give patients advice to lose weight, but they don’t refer the patient to a weight loss specialist.”

I found this to be true. My family Dr advised me to lose weight with diet and exercise. I was not given a diet plan or a referral to a dietician. He never mentioned bariatrics as an option.

1 hour ago, Agarate24 said:

I'm 9 months out. And I'm starting to get worried I've ruined my stomach. I've eaten several times so much that I puke and puke until everything is gone. It hurts super bad. But now I'm noticing that I can eat more and more and dont feel full. Just like when I was pre op. Or I can eat, then come back an hour later and eat more.

Anyone who have any advice on this? Did I ruin my stomach? I'm terrified I wont hit my goal weight. I'm only 20 lbs away, but I just am not losing anymore weight.

Call your surgeon's office

CDC Center of disease control and prevention USA

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html

WHO World health organization

https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/

Global obesity observatory

https://www.worldobesitydata.org/

1 hour ago, IvyAddison said:

Anyone with similar starting stats that can tell me how far out you are, what you've lost?

My BMI 38.9 Weight day of surgery 234 height 5' 5"

• Six months out 140
• First year out lowest weight 125
• Four years out I maintain in the 130's

1 hour ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

You know, I think you're right about not recognizing a healthy bmi. Our entire society is skewed in the plus direction. I am on the borderline of normal but not there yet and clearly my weight concerns people.

Your comment about the front desk secretary reminded me of when I was pregnant with my twins. An enormous pregnant belly is just too tempting a target for some folks. They just had to come up and touch like I was some kind of Budda statue!

Nice that the support group nurse could give you advice on appearing less "skeletal". That had to make your day!

I'm glad to hear that people eventually accepted the new you! I'm looking forward to that, especially since I'll see a ton of family tomorrow that haven't seen me in a year and I know the awkward comments will be flying!

Thanks for your insight!

I would love to know how things go over the holidays with your family. Post back when you have time.

6 hours ago, TXlowbmi said:

After surgery I overall feel pretty good. My joints don’t hurt as much as they did before and I sleep better. I do have a hard time getting my recommended Water intake as well as my Protein. That is a work in progress. I do not work out yet, as I don’t feel completely healed nor have I been released to. I go back to the doc in early January.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Some insurance companies approve low BMI with comorbidities. Glad you found a self pay route. Congrats on your weight loss.

29 minutes ago, Niabird said:

I’m a very nearly 40yo mom and wife who has been on the weight roller coaster since probably birth. Im self pay and booked in at Blossom in Vegas around president’s day. Most days I’m sure this is the right choice since I just cannot keep near a healthy weight, but other days I think that a starting weight between 225-230 (depends on time of day) is not enough to justify this drastic of a change. Any input?

Day of surgery I was 234 and 45 years old. It was enough to justify having surgery to get my health back. Second guessing, getting nervous, and questioning your decision is normal.

You have time to think this over.

4 hours ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

now that I am close to goal weight, people have started asking if I intend to lose any more weight, and then promptly tell me not to. Believe me, I am nowhere near anorexic. I'm still a solid size 14 in most clothes. I think their perception is the "difference" in my weight, not in the physical reality of what I weigh now.

4 hours ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

It has aged me considerably. The first place I lost was my cheeks (both face and butt!) I'd never realized how much rounded cheeks mattered. But I think some of that will even out once I hit maintenance and hopefully, some of the remaining fat redistributes. If I'd stopped once my face got too thin, I'd have had to quit about 70 pounds ago. An extra 5-10 pounds won't make a difference to my face at this point. Happily, most of the loose skin under my chin has tightened up 😁 I thought that area was going to be super bad.

I understand the rant, *smile*

I don't think people know what a healthy BMI looks like. People cant help but notice our weight loss. Yes, Is it rude that people comment on our appearance. WIll it stop them. NO.

The rapid weight loss is hard enough for us to deal with. People don't realise the comments can be a mind fu**.

I kid you not,

My bariatric support group nurse told me I would look less skeletal if I gained 10 pounds (I was at a healthy BMI nowhere near anorexic) The same day my surgeon told me if I lost 10 pounds I would be my ideal weight.

Visit with my family Dr. The front desk secretary had not seen me in six months. As I passed her desk, she reached out and wrapped both hands around my thigh and said "your so small" In what world is this appropriate - Awkward moment.

Top weight loss comments

• Don't lose any more weight
• Do you have cancer?
• You look gaunt and old
• you didn't have to work as hard
• you look great now - (I guess I looked crappy before)

Years out, most people just except this is me and are used to my size. They have forgotten how overweight I was. The comments have stopped and life is normal.

1 hour ago, AutumnTheAries said:

Hey everyone. This is my first post to this forum. I am one week post op, and I am feeling so down. Of course, my love of food is partially to blame. But, I live alone and I'm pretty much going through this by myself. Yes, I have friends who live far away that are supportive, but I still have the "sads".

I am afraid for a few reasons.

1. I'm afraid that I'm gonna lose my hair. I've grown my locs for 7 years and nothing would be more devastating than to have to cut them off.

2. I'm in the full liquid diet stage and idk what to think. I had cream of wheat, about 6 bites, and I didn't get full (I don't think) but I stopped because I was afraid I would overdo it.

3. I'm extremely tired. Even though I work from home, I'm afraid I won't get through the day on my first day back tomorrow.

4. I'll be starting my Vitamins tomorrow and I'm terrified because nobody seems to be able to tolerate them.

Idk, yall. I just want to live a normal life and I can't see it. I need to see it.

Thanks for listening

-ATA

Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Sorry you have the "sads" Pretty normal at this phase.

Let yourself heal. You will feel better as your diet progresses. Life will become a new normal - A healthier and happier normal!

8 minutes ago, tinaattanasio said:

My DS surgery is scheduled for Wednesday and today I cheated on my pre-op diet! I had some chicken wings and pizza for dinner I know I need to look into getting help with not giving in to the food but does anyone think I messed up my surgery? I am supposed to be drinking two shakes a day and one lean meat meal with veggies.

Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

You can get back on plan - This is a lifelong process of making food choices. It starts today!

6 hours ago, mitty said:

so i got some very good Vitamins

with a high absorbability rate

and i do get blood work every 3 months.

i looked at some of the posts here

and this is a summary:

calories-- 500 to start with going to 800 to 1000 for life

1/4 to 1/2 cup of food 2 to 6 times a day

Vitamins and blood work

high Protein from 63 to 80 grams

less than 100 grams carbs

less than 5 grams of fat and sugar at a time

(or in a day im not sure)

this was gleaned from several different posts

does this sound about right?

for me to try?

All of us here have struggled with our weight. Diets did not work for us long term. This is the reason we had surgery....... Some things to think about and try .

Pre -operation weight loss:

I had a six month weight loss requirement by my insurance. Many people here are also losing weight without surgery to get approval. It's a more realistic diet plan. People in pre op phase can relate to what you are going through. They will be a great support system.

Pre op weight loss for me was 1000 to 1200 calories 60 to 100 grams Protein - 50 to 80 grams carbs - Carbs came from mostly plant based sources-( no bread, rice Pasta or processed food)

My dieticians bariatric recipes - Nutrition should be flavorful to sustain it long term:

http://insidekarenskitchen.com/bariatric-friendly-recipes/

Food log and drink plenty of water:

Log your food in myfitnesspal or lose it . It becomes habit and much easier to do over time- If you are not logging you have no idea where your calories actually are. You can't out exercise a poor diet - Knowing your calories and macros will make a difference.

food app downloads:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android&hl=en_US

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fitnow.loseit

Search for pre op weight loss in the search option on this site for support:

https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/416984-pre-op-weight-loss/?tab=comments#comment-4661471

https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/421170-weight-loss-pre-surgery-doctor-required/?tab=comments#comment-4720075

https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/421661-what-is-expected-weight-loss-in-pre-op-diet-anybody-else-had-issues-with-menstrual-due-to-diet/?tab=comments#comment-4727598

2 hours ago, johnsons13 said:

I had my surgery about 9 months ago and I have been stalled for the last 2 months. I know that I have been overeating and eating all the wrong things. I know I am stretching my new stomach out and I'm so angry and disappointed in myself. Has anyone else struggled and what did you do to get back on track.

The holidays are so hard for me emotionally for a few reasons. I'm a recovering alcoholic/addict and after getting clean and sober 7 years ago I went to using food for comfort (I already had food issues before but they doubled). I have reverted back to my old comfort of eating and yes, I am in therapy.

We know when we are self sabotaging. We know what we should be doing. What will it take to get your mind back in the game? IDK seems to be different for each of us.

I struggle with my behaviors around food. I have had a gain. I beat myself up and was not where I wanted to be. Getting back on track was work. It's a mental battle. Glad that you are working through things in therapy.

What works for me may not work for you.I justified and made excuses for my food choices. I needed a reality check, More like a smack upside the head to force myself to get back to basics.

I gave myself perspective : A person with cancer and days to live would gladly trade places for my weight loss struggles. Yes, getting back on track is hard. But, dying from cancer is harder. This can be done. You already overcame addiction/alcohol. Obesity is the next challenge.

I wish you the best in finding what works for you.

4 hours ago, Starry*Night said:

So, I've noticed an odd behavior in myself after losing some weight.

I've lost 33 pounds so far - not the biggest deal in the world, but I definitely see a difference. When I've lost weight like this in the past, I usually feel really good and can't wait to show off my body. This time however, I find I'm doing the opposite - I hide my body. I wear my biggest, puffiest coat, haven't bothered putting on makeup, and try to draw as little attention to myself as possible.

It's odd because when I catch my reflection I like how I'm looking smaller, and when I catch men checking me out more I feel flattered. So I'm not sure why I'm feeling compelled to hide my progress?

(Side note: I also find that I wish I could just hide away until this transformation is complete and I'm at my end goal.)

I had to work on body image. It took a while to find a comfort zone with new attention/compliments. The weight loss is rapid and it takes time for your head to wrap itself around the physical changes.

You are beautiful inside and out! Own it!

I have no problem with steak as a Protein choice. He didn't eat the whole portion and doggie bags are cost effective for bariatric patients.

Support groups can get a bit crazy. My top local support group things not to do.

A person a week out from surgery ate doritos and ended up in the ER.

Bariatric surgeons potluck. We were asked to bring bariatric friendly foods/recipes to share. Someone made a Sugar Free Chocolate cake with real sugar frosting.