BrighterSide

First time in a while I took my camera, but so glad I did. Featured bee actually flew into frame just as I took the picture :-)

No regrets. The first 2 days the wind pain in my shoulder was really bad, panting through contractions kinda bad in between morphine, but stopped dead teatime day 2. My only stomach pain was forgetting to be careful and pulling or straining wounds, or taking more than tiniest sips. The rest of the first 4 weeks was a real challenge to get protein and liquid in and if I never have to eat anything purées again I will be happy, but I’m a pickyish eater, so struggled maybe more than some. Pain of that wore off fast when onto soft then full diet. Did have total mood rollercoaster too. Shock to my system of the surgery, massive nutrition change and hormonal chaos often caused by both those things, but also fat dumping stored hormones back into bloodstream as it breaks down. If I regretted then I don’t count it as it was typical no light at the end of the tunnel, woe is me, PMSish episodes that passed fast (you’ll see I posted about it). Now, exactly 23 weeks out, 60% of my weight lost, walked 5k today and only broke a little sweat and have never had a single regret. Hope it’s the same for you!

Also remembered I kept a copy of this. Source was a VSG forum elsewhere. Has helped me with perspective!

Just popped back to say I had a gain and just came back from it. Wasn’t doing anything different I could see. Log everything daily. Maybe less walking. May 13th - 92.1 20th - 91.1 27th - 90.1 Getting a bit too comfy with this nice pattern at this point! June 3rd - 89.1kg Still grand 10th - 89.8kg Ooops. Grown up head saying it’s no biggie, childish head saying...WTH! 17th - 89.3kg Better but not back to where I was. 24th - 87.2 :-O Okaaaay. Yey! Whatever. But if you check out my chart it’s not the first time. If I had logged more than once a week it would look like a set of little ski jumps. Just learning to ride the waves :-)

I didn’t realise quite HOW much stress this would take out of getting ready to go out. That’s still changing as I have a painfully small amount of wearable clothes, so mix ‘n’ match is limited and have lots of washing to do. However, I rarely consider how much attention I can emotionally stand as a key part of choosing and the decision to go out at all (the equation that saw me stay home the vast majority of the time pre-surgery). I now, both cos of weight loss and justifiable warrior vibes produced by proudness at achievement and on-going effort, think about nothing but being covered in an appropriate and nice way for the occasion, or if heading into typically judgier waters (PTA anyone?!) I think ‘FU all, this is me, and I’m a legend’

I finally got my formal PCOS diagnosis a month ago (4 months post surgery) because I went a little ‘Falling Down’ on my local docs. Had 30 yrs of being told ‘lose weight’ ‘move more’ ‘get less stressed’ then hit early menopause and they did it again. Knew this was my last chance. I was spiralling cos symptoms of both things and resulting mental health probs and weight had turned me into an overeating hermit (oh look, finally proved them right!). Had the exact same fears as you all. Sleeved 21st Jan at 258. Highest weight 263. Down 61 pounds now. Just hit another stall. Average 650 - 800 calories a day and hit protein and fluid goals most days. Don’t move as much as many due to on-going arthritis, but do far more than before. Hope is a hard thing to embrace, but it’s here and my new gynae I found and forced them to refer me to is a superstar. Feeling very fortunate for a change :-)

Excess weight is just the difference between your docs idea of ideal weight for you and where you started, so 100 for you.

For anyone feeling worried about their rate of loss it’s great to know start weight and % of excess weight lost. I’m 45, 5’4”, 4 1/2 months post sleeve Down 67 from 258 which is 58% EWL

My surgeon said to wait to start until 3 month check up.

Initially I worked out 60% excess weight loss and rounded to nearest easy number - 30kg. That is a middle range loss based on research across all sleeve patients in a couple of studies and didn’t want to hope too hard that bigger loss would happen even with hard work. Look set to hit that by end of June (sleeved 21st Jan HW 263 SW 258 CW 199) Pic demonstrates how obsessive I can be when motivated :-). When I got close to that target (2nd target cos I’d set an initial one for first post surgery check up) picked highest end of my BMI range as new ultimate goal, but ramped down expected rate of loss for each 3 months knowing that reduced deficit cos my smaller body will burn less, will have to be offset by extra exercise I may not manage. Will monitor as I go. If more is a miserable slog after goal 4 (12 months) I’ll reassess.

Fantastic! Well done! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just an awareness thing and no judgement, but ‘nerves’ and clinical anxiety are totally different things, same way ‘feeling low’ isn’t in the same ball park as depresssion. Likely preaching to the converted, if so I’m sorry, but trivialising can have a really isolating effect on people who are already vulnerable having dared to share.

I had horrendous pain in front of my shoulder and radiating down. The kind of pain you pant through and nothing short of morphine was touching the sides. Wasn’t constant though. Flared when I moved. Especially when pushing up the bed or sitting down after a walk. Disappeared near end of day after surgery. Pain around your stomach might not be gas pain. As them to check with your surgeon. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I refused to go for bad tasting diet alternatives to good food just cos of this. I hated cottage cheese, think low fat hard cheese is awful and I couldn’t eat a plate full of plain grilled chicken and lentils if you paid me.I’ve got very good at sauces and seasonings with minimal fat and maximum flavour to just coat things without making them ‘slider’ foods (foods that slip through your sleeve too fast to leave you feeling full). Works great. Curries work especially well, but mainly as lunches to avoid reflux.Also love the deli counter. Do myself mini deli plates with pickles just small sized (max portion now is about 120g - about 4oz, less if meat without sauce or drier meat). Quick hack is to log the stuff you love then get rid of the bread, rice, pasta, or potatoes Often an immediate win. It depends what ‘great tasting’ means to you. I used to think white toast loaded with as much melted butter as it would hold was great tasting, but I rarely miss it now cos the doughy bread just isn’t pleasant and I don’t want a mouthful of fat. I have a quinoa and chia seeded Ryvita with light Philadelphia, cucumber, smoked salmon, lemon juice and ground pepper instead. About 4 x more Protein and 4 x less calories/fat. Must caveat by saying I may not be losing as fast as others, but starting from 263 on 21st Jan I hit 199 this week -about 45% excess weight loss - in 4 months. Lost very slow for about 4 weeks in the middle then faster last 3-5 weeks. Planning and tracking intake is so vital as is weighing regularly but not every day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I too am a foodie. Still. 4 months out. I don’t have any negative effects and probably eat a better range of nicer food now than I ever have. I bought tonnes of cook books before my op and built myself a new list of breakfasts, lunches and dinners, plus special occasion alternatives because despite being a foodie eating out I realised my repetitive meals at home were all really expensive in terms of wasteful calories and low on anything nutritious. Logging every bite I eat in a tracking app that breaks down everything is the thing that makes all the difference. I looked for whole grains, lower carb, lower fat, and higher protein or options where I could substitute. Best thing I did to give me leeway to have more tasty things was to find a protein water I liked. I really like Vieve. But more generally I still enjoy eating out as I share with fella and take home at least another meal worth. But in the end it depends how important food is versus the things you want to gain. I had decided that I was ready to totally change my relationship with food and relegate it to fuel rather than pleasure and reward.