ms.sss

i stopped drinking in the first day of my 2 week pre-op diet. And no, i didn't have to take a blood-alcohol test at any time. Had my first drink (2-3 sips of red wine) at around 3 weeks post op. Had my 2nd (partial) drink around 2-3 months post which gave me one of the worst dumping experiences i have had to date (it was a sugary soju-sake cocktail). I had maybe 4-5 (partial) drinks during weight loss phase: vodka sodas or very dry red wine. Now im just a normal regular drinker for the most part (but i still try to stay away from overly sugary drinks). Im 4 years post op.

i took one of my couch's back cushions and brought to my bed to prop myself up on to sleep. Did this for a few months. It took a couple weeks to get used to cuz i was a stomach sleeper prior to surgery. At first it was for ease of getting out of bed as well as to alleviate abdominal pain from surgery. Later, after i healed, i used it to alleviate any middle of the night regurgitation... i was very susceptible to this in the early months. Im 4 years out now and i sleep with regular pillows...in every position imaginable lol. Edited to add, i do sleep with a small pillow underneath my stomach/hips (if im stomach sleeping) now to avoid back pain in the morning though...now that my stomach bulk is gone, i seem to hyper-extend my lower back when on my stomach so the pillow helps.

these were my reasons for choosing sleeve as well. BuT...i dump anyway. Excess sugar (especially on an empty stomach) is my downfall. Am 4 years out and am still susceptible to too much sugar. As for NSAIDs, i seem to be ok taking them occasionally, but the daily one i used to take pre-surgery became unnecessary after surgery for some reason so I cant really comment on regular long term use.

I dunno if i would classify as awful! salt is lovely, lol. My doc actually told me to consume MORE salt around 1 month post cuz my blood pressure was so low.

+1 i had like 4-5 partial drinks during entire weight loss phase. Now, i am what one would call a regular drinker (some may even, dare i say, call me an alcoholic). I was a drinker before surgery as well. (Though before surgery I would drink lots in a short amount of time, every few weeks, now i drink less at a time, but more often). My increased drinking frequency had a lot to do with Covid lockdowns starting in 2020 though. From a weight-loss perspective, what little i did drink during weight loss phase did not seem to affect ME in getting to goal. Nor does the amounts i drink now seem to affect my ability to maintain my current weight (note though that i simultaneously keep an eye on my total calories - alcohol or otherwise- , so there’s also that) I get tipsy quite fast post-wls (and on small amounts), but I also sober up in record speed. As others said above, if you really want to, try it out and observe how you react, and then decide if want to again. Or, don’t. Up to you…you know yourself best. Sincerely, An alcohol-drinking-DRINKER (from Canada). (i also smoke, drive above the speed limit, and am late paying my taxes this year…)

That would be hard! I did 25g NET carbs, so I didn’t count fibre nor sugar alcohols…

Dinner! (Salad with chicken): 214 calories. Ate all the important stuff (i.e., the chicken and cheese), lol…leftovers is basically lettuce.

No with spices for me either, heat or otherwise. BUT…i did notice after surgery that my spicy heat tolerance has lowered considerably. I was a suicide-wings level kinda gal before surgery, now not so much. Doesn’t stop me from trying though!

Its a pita chip kind of day 1st and 2nd meals of the day: 2 poached eggs with 1/2 oz of pita chips: 190 calories; and homemade guac and pita chips and an espresso martini (not shown): 321 calories. Ate everything shown.

(Warning: this is long) tldr; for ME, in MAINTENANCE, carbs consumption makes little difference to my weight. K. My NUT didn’t give me a carb goal/limit per se, but did instruct me to aim for my meals to consist of 25% carbs/starches (with another 25% being protein and the remaining 50% to be low-glycemic veggies). With that said, i did my own thing (and told her so): i ended up doing ultra-low carb, i.e., less than 25g NET carbs per day. Got to goal in 7 months, remained carbophobic, lost a few more pounds and basically still went out of my way to avoid them. I wasn’t ultra-low carb as during weight loss phase, but i was still pretty low. Eventually, i started eating more and nowadays (4 years post), i probably eat as much carbs as a “regular” person. I have remained under goal weight this entire time. These are my takeaways of going low-carb (and this is from MY experience, YMMV) 1) weight loss is rapid. but you need to remain low carb for an extended period. If i carb up on a day, the weight loss slows down or pauses. There is a science to this phenomenon regarding ketosis, the explanation of which is beyond the scope of my post (just google it if ur interested). Also want to say that i was also ultra-low calorie so obvs that contributed! 2) there is a period of a few days that, once passed, my cravings for carbohydrates went away. (Which is why once u start, stick to it because u may have to go thu the “white-knuckle” phase again to alleviate urself of the cravings (see note 1 above) 3) now here is the kicker: during MAINTENANCE (i cant say if this applies to weight loss phase because i didn’t try it)…i discovered that, for ME, it does not matter if my 1800 cals average i eat a day consists of 20g of carbs or 200g. My weight stays the same regardless. What does make a difference is CALORIES. So long as my calories stay at around 1800 (however it is comprised) then im good. 4) carb consumption affects my looks. When i low carb, my body is more defined (which i like) and my face more gaunt (which I don’t like). These days my face is lovely (lol), but my body could be better. Mind u i have also been slacking on the exercise front so that is also a factor, but i digress. In any case, the point is i am still basically the same weight as my low-carb maintenance days. And that concludes my dissertation for this evening lol. P.S. I want to point out also that i am NOT insulin-resitant, nor suffer any other medical conditions that affect my weight, nor take any medications that would either. So this may not be everyone’s experience. P.P.S. Sorry this was so long!

I didn’t have my period for about 2 years prior to surgery…i assumed i was in menopause. 2-3 weeks post surgery, i was surprised when it showed up. It was pretty heavy…for me. It lasted about a week and a bit, compared to the 3-4 days when i used to get it (previously i would have 1, maybe 2 days of tampon-worthy flow followed by 2-3 days of “spotting”). This period was tampon-worthy for a good week. After that first post-op one, i got my period like clockwork every 4 weeks, lasting 3-4 days again like i used to. I’m 4 years post op. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was today years old when i googled Horchata and learned what it was.

Haha good point. When i ask for a glass of water no ice, plus a glass of just ice, no server has ever asked me “why?”. (Nor when i ask for everything on the side, or when i ask for an extra empty glass plus some celery salt in a saucer, or when ….the list goes on, lol) PSA to servers: dont fear me when i come in, i tip well 😂

Oops pic forgot to add the pita chips with the soup… +25 calories 😂

What i’ve eaten so far today: Cheese and oven baked (leftover) pita with hummus: 269 calories. Homemade creamy potato and mushroom soup, and a couple of the aforementioned pita chips (omg so good, lactose pills def a requirement beforehand!): 245 calories. Ate it all. Also, i had some beef jerky and pistachios in between (270 calories)

I, for one, don’t believe i feel bad nor harbour any shame about my wls (or any other medical/surgical procedures i have had). I think its just not my bag to share my business to all indiscriminately (i mean, i have even been known not to tell new acquaintances my real name for months lol 😉 ) I have a friend who does keto/low carb. Whenever we go out to a meal together, she has a several minute conversation with the server about her food choices and why, and sometimes shares how much weight she has lost to date (or gained recently by “cheating”). Meanwhile, i just quickly ask to swap out my potatoes or whatever for salad and internally hope (while simultaneously outwardly looking like i’m waiting patiently, ha) for my pal to finish her discussion so we can get our food already!! 😂 But i get it, she is passionate and proud of her lifestyle and progress, and she’s a sharer, so of course she wants to share. And if/when she finds an eager listener, then score! Win-win. At the same time, there are others (like myself) who prefers to discuss aspects of my life to a curated audience. Ain’t nothing wrong (nor weird) with either.

The Kid took home a doggy bag from her meal out so I helped myself to it! Chicken wings & Crispy Riblets: 382 calories for whats shown. Leftovers went into the trash.

I was advised to take them as soon as I got home (i.e., tue day after surgery). And yes, they made me nauseous…particularly the calcium pills, and the multivitamin to a lesser degree, but still quease-inducing. After a few weeks I switched to calcium chews, which where much better, and I dealt with the multivitamin as best i could (i tolerated them better when i had something in my stomach, but i ate very, very little the first month, so it was challenging. Around 2 months post, when i could stand to eat again, i would bury my multivitamin in a tbsp of greek yogurt and down it. That seemed to do the trick.

Salad! With a side of…chicken and gravy! Lol. Remember, don’t judge me…haha 264 calories for the bowl, will eat the rest in a couple hours.

How tall are you?

Regarding consumed vs absorbed, i would hazard a guess that consumed calories is the measurement. Wouldn’t absorbed calories de difficult to determine? Everyone will have different absorption rates. Maybe better to over estimate than under. Your scale and labs will tell u if u need to eat more or less. Regarding weight loss calories, again it depends on the person and their current weight as well as their current activity level. For me, i could lose weight eating 1800 calories when i was very active, but today that same amount is my maintenance level. My NUT was more concerned about the macro makeup of my meals vs a caloric goal. But she did say, if I remember correctly that i should aim to be at 1200 cals by 3 months and more or less the same forever. Well. I was like at 400 cals at 3 months, and sub-800 by the time i got to goal. And now at 1800. So yeah, her caloric goal did not/does not fit my experience. Best to do some trial and error to find what combination of calories/food types/activity works for YOU. And keep adjusting as necessary. Good Luck! ❤️ P.S. Im 5’2” 119 lbs this morning, and 4 years post op sleeve.

…and now because i like to wrap things up into a nice conclusion, here is yesterday’s 4th and final meal. I haven’t logged it yet in MFP cuz there are so many components and i was too lazy (and drunk, lol) to do it last night. So I took a pic of the menu to remind me to enter it later. Ahi tuna appetizer: 320 calories. Ate everything above the rice. Didn’t eat the rice cuz I didn’t want to get too full, plus it was touching the ginger glaze “lake” at the bottom which was waaaay to sweet for my taste. Lavender lemonade: 200 calories. So pretty, right?! Drank it all. Also had 2 vodka sodas: 150 calories, not shown. sooooo…if my math is right, i ended the day at about 1900 cals (i also had some pistachios, some cheese and crackers and a Lindt Lindor truffle chocolate as snacks in between these meals). It really does all add up.

Yeah it all adds up. Mind u if i skipped the salad dressing, i could’ve cut 25% off the total….

Not sure either, but my default reply to your post (and other posts like it) would be: follow the advice of your doctor. Until, of course, you have valid information not to. Have u asked your doc for his reasoning? My own, individual experience : I’m 4 years post op. I stopped taking my vitamins just a little over one year post op. I’ve had several labs done since then and they have all come back satisfactorily. My next checkup/lab is at the end of the month..if the results indicate i need supplements, then I’ll take them, otherwise, i’m good.

May as well post my 3rd meal today too: Persian Food! Salad and grilled meats: 271 calories. Ate it all. (also had 2 sake cups full of…sake beforehand +75 calories, not shown