Mountain Gal

I literally watch this YouTube from Dr. Weiner every month. I want it to be a constant reminder of the myth of "restriction and malabsorption" or as I say, "everything in moderation" and instead focus on developing ongoing relationships and desire for deeply nutritious foods!

I am so thankful for the clinic psychologist at the place I had my surgery.

His lesson that he hammers every time he gets the chance is that WLS has 3 major traps:

Trap #1: you will initially lose weight NO MATTER WHAT. You can have the worst habits and diet ever and still lose weight. This is a bad trap as there isn’t negative feedback for unhealthy behaviors.

Trap #2: because of the reduced size of your new digestive tract, you can eat small portions of metabolically disruptive foods (carb-laden and devoid of protein) and be “okay” because it’s only a few bites. Nope,nope,nope! Even in teensy amounts, foods that promote insulin resistance are only going to put you right back into a bad metabolic state over time. Best to avoid them (or save them only for very special occasions) altogether.

Trap #3: You don’t stop becoming a “fat” person just because you lost a bunch of weight.
It’s kind of like being a smoker or an alcoholic. Just because you’re not actively smoking or drinking, it doesn’t mean you can magically pick up smoking or drinking again and not expect difficult consequences. Fat brains stay fat brains for life and we need to be ever-diligent to not fall into any of the “fat” behaviors that got us needing WLS in the first place.

I actually wrote all of these traps down after my sessions with him and I keep them taped to a cork board in my bedroom. I see them every day and try my best each day to keep those lessons close to heart.

This is sooooo common. It's the thing I've been yelling about since surgery, but there are very few newbies who want to listen to this. Obesity is a disease. It has many factors. And some of those factors include our own relationships/behaviors with food. It's not just the substance--meaning it's not just "what" we eat, but it's also "when" we eat, "why" we eat, and even more-- "HOW" we eat. Then there is the metabolic derangement that goes along with things that creates obesity.
The surgery is just a tool to jack our hormones and tummy capacity for a short window of time, and can help us lose weight quickly, and in the process it hopefully allows us time to gain new skills, develop new behaviors and relationships with food. But the further out you go, the less and less protection it offers. Our tools "mature." Few stretch--minority of the time--most just simply mature to an increased capacity. The doctors expect that. But many do not warn us. So we end up over eating, not learning our lessons up front, or just being human. And we regain. And we feel like we fail WLS.
The beatings will never make morale improve. ((hugs)).
Make a list of 3 things today that you need to accomplish and CAN accomplish. Make them actionable. Make them attainable:
1. Hygiene: Shower, do your hair, put make-up on, and get dressed in fresh clothes.
2. Plan your meals for the day (protein first 3-4oz + steamed veggies (al dente) + avocado/tomato salad (1oz each). Stick to that plan. (Don't forget protein first and no drinking water with your meal or 1 hour after) - weigh your food
3. Walk 5 - 10 minutes x 3 times today.

Check them off your list. Go back to basics. 1 cup of food per meal. 3 meals per day and 1-2 tiny snacks if you can't eat only the 3 meals. The snacks need to be BORING! The snacks need to be <100cals, <5g carbs and healthy (i.e. hb egg, 2oz turkey lunch meat, or veggies with Grk yogurt ranch dip).
Go to bed and sleep 8 hours in a completely dark, cool room.

You can do this. Do it one day at a time. Join a local WLS support group. Go back to your RD. Get a referral to a counselor!!! Do it!!! It's not too late.

It seems to be extremely common. Some sort of metabolic or hormonal reaction. Weeks 2-6 were really bad for me, my fingers and toes would regularly be numb with cold but it has gotten better. I am 3 months out now and while I am colder than I used to be pre-surgery but it is better than those first few weeks. If it lasts it will be nice to not sweat like a pig all summer though.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but these are totally the bomb.com. I want to try making them in the air fryer.
http://fluffychixcook.com/crunchy-low-carb-fried-zucchini-grilled-cheese-gluten-free/

When I first started this journey I decided to be completely honest with others about my experience, in hopes to help others who needed someone like I did. My family and coworkers have been a very strong support system during my journey. People have started noticing the weight loss now and I have been honest with those who have asked and tried to explain the process and that this is not just a "fix all" like some people seem to think. However, I've found that with most people, as soon as I say I had weight loss surgery... eyes glaze over and they don't even listen to the parts about drinking tons of water, healthy foods, proper portions, workouts 5 days a week. All the hard work they just block out. That has gotten me a bit discouraged recently and I find my self wondering now if I want to continue being completely honest with everyone or maybe just do it as a person by person basis. I knew I would be judged by some people when I told them but I was really hoping to change there mind and stop some of the stigma that revolves around this surgery by explaining all the hard work that goes into it. So now I'm rethinking being so honest with everyone.

When I first started this journey I decided to be completely honest with others about my experience, in hopes to help others who needed someone like I did. My family and coworkers have been a very strong support system during my journey. People have started noticing the weight loss now and I have been honest with those who have asked and tried to explain the process and that this is not just a "fix all" like some people seem to think. However, I've found that with most people, as soon as I say I had weight loss surgery... eyes glaze over and they don't even listen to the parts about drinking tons of water, healthy foods, proper portions, workouts 5 days a week. All the hard work they just block out. That has gotten me a bit discouraged recently and I find my self wondering now if I want to continue being completely honest with everyone or maybe just do it as a person by person basis. I knew I would be judged by some people when I told them but I was really hoping to change there mind and stop some of the stigma that revolves around this surgery by explaining all the hard work that goes into it. So now I'm rethinking being so honest with everyone.

I was the same way. At first i would tell whoever asked. After a few interactions with normies (that's what we call non-surgery people in our support group) I now go by a person by person basis. In general I say "I worked with my doctor on meal and exercise program". That usually is enough for most.

Life is short. Don't carry grudges. Besides, living well is the best revenge. And so you continue your journey--you always look put together and smokin' hot and you kill with kindness. And you live your life--secretly gloating that you look and feel F-I-N-E, FINE and that you won't ever be taken in by his stupidity.

When I first started this journey I decided to be completely honest with others about my experience, in hopes to help others who needed someone like I did. My family and coworkers have been a very strong support system during my journey. People have started noticing the weight loss now and I have been honest with those who have asked and tried to explain the process and that this is not just a "fix all" like some people seem to think. However, I've found that with most people, as soon as I say I had weight loss surgery... eyes glaze over and they don't even listen to the parts about drinking tons of water, healthy foods, proper portions, workouts 5 days a week. All the hard work they just block out. That has gotten me a bit discouraged recently and I find my self wondering now if I want to continue being completely honest with everyone or maybe just do it as a person by person basis. I knew I would be judged by some people when I told them but I was really hoping to change there mind and stop some of the stigma that revolves around this surgery by explaining all the hard work that goes into it. So now I'm rethinking being so honest with everyone.

I’ve been completely transparent with my decision to have surgery, for several reasons. It took me almost 3 years to make the decision to have surgery because I bought into the lie that weight loss surgery is the easy way out and that it’s something shameful. I was afraid to ask anyone all the questions I had because of fear of judgment or ridicule. When I finally realized that the only thing I was scared of was admitting to myself that I NEEDED the surgery, my mindset completely changed. I would have been given anything to have someone that I could have talked to during those 3 years, who could have helped me on my journey. So I’m sharing everything with anyone who wants to know. I post about it on my social media, my family, friends, and coworkers all know. I am NOT ashamed and, more importantly, I want to help other people. I’ve had 3 different friends start down this road since I started sharing my journey. This was the best decision I ever made and I won’t fuel the negative thoughts or judgements of others by keeping quiet about it. I am PROUD of this decision.

There is nothing stopping you from starting over. Do a "pre-op" prep diet, then fast for a day or 2 pretending you just had surgery, then start your recovery post-op diet from scratch. It's hard, but it's totally doable, seriously NOTHING is stopping you from starting over.

Also check into Intermittent Fasting (IF), the science is sound and, it's free. There are a few of us on here doing it and I can say with 100% certainty that it has helped me out drastically. I was getting stalled hard around 230-235. I picked up IF and I'm down to 210 now... it's gotten a bit harder overall, but, 20-25 lbs of extra weight loss I can attribute to IF.

Plateaus happen for us. Read up on this Getting past the Plateau so you can better understand them. You may very well be inducing the plateau. I had a 5 week stall 3 months ago.
@FancyChristine15 is right. My nutritionist had me go from 1000 cal to 12-1400 a day because the amount of exercise I was doing. She said that the body starts to go into starvation mode because your calorie intake is way less than your output and the body is trying to balance itself. She had me add healthy fats such as nuts or all natural peanut/almond butter for a bit more calories without the amount being to much for my sleeve. Also try some whole grains in your diet. Don't go overboard but a single slice of bread with a bit of nut butter of your choice prior to a work out will help out alot and you will burn through the carbs during the workout. Also if you are doing the same workout routine try changing it up. Congrats @Fhroa you are doing great, keep it up.

We all have or will get frustrated with our weight loss.
We all have or will question if we are doing things the right way.

I'm not different.

I wanted to showcase why focusing on the short term isn't the best thing to do.

Here we have my 1 week weigh ins. I'm so super frustrated with this. I've got this goal I want to meet and it's getting tougher and tougher. 2.7 lbs is still a respectable drop. But, I see this line and it makes me sad.


Here is my month. 7.4 lbs. This isn't great at all. The downward trend is good, but the rate, really gets me frustrated.


Here is where things start looking much MUCH better. Here is my year in review. 85.2 lbs total. Here is where we can start seeing why it's so important to look at the whole journey and not just the small daily/weekly or even monthly numbers. I am proud and pleased when I see this chart.


And here is my full weight loss weigh in history. Here is where you can clearly see the struggles. You can see where I got the Lap-Band and started this whole process. You can see where the Band and I stopped working well together. You can see the gains and losses, all the super frustrating stalls. But what I really want people to take away from this is, the whole picture shows the real story. When we focus too much on the small things, we lose focus. When we don't take the whole journey into account, both past and future... we lose sight of our own successes.



I hope this helps someone to get through a stall or to realize that, it's never too late to start over.
Just keep moving forward and try your best not to worry about the small little blips when the whole history will show something much different.

Stay Strong.

I’m so glad you asked this! I was sleeved on 9/12 and I feel the same way. The only time I really even notice a difference is if I try to drink really cold water. I’m glad to hear that it’s different with food- I was getting worried.