notmyname

I’m 6 months out. I’ve allowed myself to go “off plan” while on vacation - some from necessity because it’s hard to know exactly what you order when in a foreign country, some to allow myself to enjoy the local delicacies (like a mini pasty now and again). But I am 99.99% on plan at home. I had a small spoonful of my friend’s dessert and about 1/4 glass of wine on my birthday, but that’s it in 6 months. But, frankly, it kinda helped that I was sick as a dog for months 3-5 and could barely eat anything at all.

Update from me: I still feel pretty cruddy all the time, but better than I was a couple months ago. I’m traveling right now and (for better or worse) have figured out that I can eat more types of food than I thought i could. Pretty much only rice and fluffy bread make me feel worse than other things). The good thing (and, frankly, the bad thing) is that I’ve been able to enjoy the food in Portugal. Mostly eggs for breakfast and seafood for dinner, with a coffee break during the day. I’ve had a couple half glasses of wine (basically one a week) and a couple mini-pastries (OK, more than a couple, but at least they make them small). I’ve still eaten far less than I would normally on vacation. I haven’t been on a scale in two weeks, but I feel like I might have gained (I’ve NEVER gained traveling, I always lose). I’ll have to see if its all in my head when I get home. Overall, I don’t regret the things I shouldn’t have eaten, but I have no desire to continue to eat like this at home. so, that’s good. It was also nice having some time off logging everything I ate (since I have no idea what I was eating half the time) - again, happy to get back to it once I’m home. I have another few days over here visiting friends, then back to the grind. . It is nice to fit better in airplane seats and have no problem walking up and down (and up and down and up and down....) the MANY STEEP hills in Portugal, but it still isn’t worth feeling like crud every day. I still have a vain hope that one day I wont feel like total crap every day, but after 6 months, that hope is kind of fading. But, the more I think about it all, the more I realize I’m not converting to bypass. It would have been far too hard to get around and eat over here if I was in danger of having dumping - and that’s even if I’d skipped the pastries. And travel is far too important to me to make it any harder to do. Hope everyone else is doing well 6 months out ( I suppose some of you are closer to 7 months now - I had my surgery in late October).

For soft food stage, I did: Puréed beans (black or pinto). If you add a bit of cheese for the last 5seconds or so in the microwave, it’s great. And if you can tolerate it, eat with a bit of mild salsa or guac Puréed egg salad. 2 eggs puréed with 1tbl each of mayo and Greek yogurt Ricotta bake (google eggface ricotta bake). Sometimes I add a layer of puréed spinach.

According to my doc, it’s to wean you off before surgery, since you can’t have it for a bit after surgery. Better to go through caffeine withdrawal before surgery than after.

OK ladies - I'm headed on vacation. Bras take up a lot of room, so I thought about traveling with a bralette or something without an underwire/non-molded cups. But, I have the typical WLS problem of SUPER droopy breasts that are still decently large. So, anyone have a rec for a bralette or something similarly easily packable that is still supportive? Thanks!

I have joint pain too. And back pain. Doc said it is likely because our posture and gait fundamentally change when we lose weight and our bodies have to get used to it. He recommended physical therapy, which I'll start in a few weeks.

I should also have said - 30# in a month is great. Focus on the big picture, not the day by day. When else have you lost over 7# a week?

Pretty much every human weighs more at night. It is totally normal to stall, but waking up one weight and going to bed another is 100% normal for everyone - with or without WLS.

I was cleared to do Pilates (reformer) after 6 weeks. I did some private sessions to get back into the groove and tailor my exercise to my still-sore abs. I had a really hard time with obliques for the first few weeks back, but it got better pretty quickly.

I'm not coupled, but found this advice column interesting https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/askamy/ct-ask-amy-04112019-story.html

THe sofritas at Chipotle are good, but salty. Some people don't love tofu. I'd start with the baked/flavored types. Sometimes I stir fry them in a bit of some kind of sauce - curry, soy sauce, etc. But you can also bake your own. At its core, its easy to do - press the water out, marinate for a few minutes-an hour in something (soy sauce, thai chili sauce, BBQ sauce, any one of a number of recipes on the internet), the bake for 20 minutes at 400. flip and bake for 15-20 mn more. Toss in whatever. Super easy and good.

Also, if I found myself at the end of the day needing a bit more protein, I'd make parmesan crusted fish/shrimp - helps with the protein. Or, I'd figure out how much protein I needed and get that many ounces of milk. This is a great tilapia recipe, and really easy to cut down to small portions. I just froze the excess tomatoes in small portions and defrosted it when I needed it. https://www.bariatricfoodie.com/one-pan-cooking-tilapia-fire-roasted-tomato-sauce/ Also liked egg salad, sometimes tuna salad, parm chips with hummus, etc. The baked tofu you can get at the grocery can be eaten cold, so that's easy to take to work.

I'm a pescatarian. Before things went to **** (I felt great the first 2.5 months, the last 2.5 months I've been really sick), I was able to get all my protein without land-based animals. I was routinely getting 70-80g protein/day. Some of my go-tos (again, when I was feeling well): greek yogurt cottage cheese (there is one that is higher protein) ricotta bake beans/lentils (although not a lot of protein here) fish/shrimp tofu So, for example, I'd have the following: B: egg (7g), small veggie sausage (9g) (sometimes with some salsa, guac and cheese) L: ricotta bake (19g) with spinach S: cheese or almonds (appx 7g) 😧 2-3 oz fish/shrimp (10-15g), about 40g of veg. S: Fairlife Milk (13g) Total: 65-70g (not including incidental protein from veg, etc)

Yikes. I've had degenerative disc disease in my upper spine since my 20s caused by some trauma. This, luckily I guess, feels more muscular than that. Although the bad discs in my upper spine have been hurting a bit more lately too. Going to my GP monday anyway, may ask her to look at it (she's the one who diagnosed my originall DDD.

Thanks all. I am still losing really, really quickly (sounds great, but its because of some really unpleasant complications). So, I'll keep working on my core and hope it goes away.

Oh, the girls will 100% look saggy and droopy, I just don't care all that much when I'm on vacation My #1 priority is packing a little as possible in as small a footprint as possible

My normal bras all have support. I just like being a little more comfortable when I travel. And I like bras that are easier to pack than my normal bras.

I Was back at work and eating purees/feeling pretty good after a month. BUT I was not allowed to lift 10# for 6 weeks after surgery. As someone else did, that won't be a problem for the baby, but he may not be able to lift your other child. And if you have a second C-section, you won't be able to life him/her either. May not be a problem - only you and your hubs know your older kid well enough to know.

Look for local charities - particularly ones that work with homeless or abused women and help them transition to self sufficiency. Many local charities like that will help women train for jobs - including learning how to interview and providing them with professional clothes to use for the interview. But you can usually only take in season clothes that are less than 5-ish years old. Dress for Success is a national organization that does such work, too. I take all my work clothes to an organization like this, and all my casual clothes to Goodwill.

I listen to funny podcasts on the treadmill or bike (Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me; Ask Me Another). So, I laugh through my cardio.

True, but I have a hard time wearing sports bras under real clothes. And for some reason my back usually hurts when I wear a sports bra (probably because I have the wrong ones, but how does one find the right ones?)

That is frustrating. I have a slighly different situation - I met with 3 different surgeons and was pretty far down the road with my 2nd when I realized I didn't trust him. The 3rd (and final) surgeon was able to use my 2nd surgeon's records to get my insurance authorization. So I didn't have to restart my 6 months of appointments over again. Just make sure not to skip a month between your old surgeon and a new surgeon. And ask their insurance coordinator to request the records from the old office.

I've thought about it, but not sure who to go to. I saw 3 surgeons before I chose mine, and really didn't like the others. If I don't start feeling better soon, I'll have to see someone else.

Well, my 5 month update (I'm really only 5 months out because I was sleeved on 10/29). I'm down 103 total, 96 since pre-op diet, 82 since surgery (appx 68% EWL since surgery). I'd take it all back if I could. I had a great first 3 months - got my protein/liquids in from around day 3, could eat most anything I tried. Now I'm sick as a f'ing dog. Luckily, I'm at least a bit better than I was at the end of February, when I cried every day from the reflux and overwhelming nausea. Doc changed my meds a bit, so the reflux is manageable and I am not nauseous all the time, just when I eat. I can eat FAR less now than I could even a month after surgery. And I can't tolerate protein drinks. So, I'm now getting about half the protein I'm supposed to (and that's with drinking 2 glasses of milk a day) and struggling to get my liquids. I did this to improve my quality of life, and it has deteriorated rapidly. Doc doesn't seem to know what is going on, and is just suggesting converting to bypass to fix the reflux. But he admits that might not fix the nausea/inability to eat. So, his answer is to further reduce the size of my stomach and rearrange my intestines, which will cause more malnutrition, when he's so concerned about my lack of nutrition that he's considering putting me on a PICC line? Um, no thanks. Not untill he figures out why the hell I'm so f'ing sick. I see him again on Friday, so I hope we can get answers. Because at this point, I'm a little scared of what my life is becoming. I'm supposed to be creating healthy eating habits, but I can barely eat anything. So I feel like I'm creating super unhealthy eating habits, just the opposite of the ones I had before.

So, I am going to preface this with the fact that I know I am not typical. The stats show that most people don't have complications. I'm the only person I've met from my doctor's office that had complications. So, please know this is just one person's story. I feel like you asked if anyone regrets this, and I don't want you to think that nobody does. BUT, linked below is a good thread to read to remind yourself that even though there are people like me out there, there are a LOT of people (likely the vast majority) who have had a good experience with WLS. So, good luck. I had surgery in October 2018. If asked today if I'd do it again, I'd be a no. But I know that can change tomorrow. And my doc and nurse say that how I feel is not forever. But, about 2 months ago (so about 3 months post-op), after a REALLY easy first 2 months, I started getting more reflux and more nauseated by the day. I could deal with the reflux, but I HATE being nauseous. And I feel like I spent all of my energy trying not to throw up. I wwas nauseated about 90% of my day every day. I felt SO much worse than I did before and I cried every day. The doc took me off two meds, put me on a new reflux med, and I'm feeling a lot better. But I still get nauseous whenever I eat. I can eat less today than I could when I started solids 4 months ago. I can hardly drink because I'm so nauseous, and I can't drink within 1.5-2 hours of eating because I hurt so much. The doc and nurse said they'll work on figuring all out. That said, I'm not in a position where I feel like I believe her. I regret this mightily. I've even lost a significant amount of weight (over 100 total, 80 since surgery, 64% of EWL), and it is still not worth it. I broke down crying at my therapy group a few weeks ago. At this point, my team has no idea why I'm nauseated. And they are concerned enough about malnutrition and dehydration to be monitoring me closely to see if I need a PICC line. I did this to feel better - and I feel a lot worse.