Jaelzion

1 hour ago, BayougirlMrsS said:

What I'm getting at..... is all of the WLS have risks of "not working"........ but they all have the "ability" to work if worked properly.

It's true that any weight loss surgery has the potential to work, but that doesn't mean that they are all equally good options. There's a reason most bariatric surgeons no longer offer the Lap Band.

Although gastric banding was a promising treatment for obesity, its high long-term complications and significant failure rate have caused a significant decrease in LAGB insertions.⁷ This trend is also seen at our institution, where LAGB has been essentially abandoned. With this decline in band insertion comes a steep increase in LAGB removals. At our institution, the rate of band removals increased from 1 per year to more than 50 per year within a 7-year period (Fig. 1). The literature supports this trend.¹

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7006354/

Exactly what @catwoman7 said.

15 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

...for a majority of people (mostly women) no, 1000 cals a day is not usually a maintenance calorie level. However, as indicated by @Jaelzion and @Arabesque above, they do exist...but they are already at a low-ish BMI (and on the short side - sorry ladies)...

It's okay, at 5'1" I'm at peace with being short, LOL. I'll be at the forefront of the petite revolution, LOL. And it is important to note that my level of intake is nowhere near average. I'm small overall, in late middle age, female, and I have a lifetime history of yoyo dieting (so my body is very efficient at conserving calories). No one should expect to eat the way I do in maintenance.

2 hours ago, BigSue said:

It's so weird because I still think of myself as a big-chested lady and I'm not really anymore.

I also never thought I'd be a person who has a thigh gap. I just realized yesterday that I am.

OMG, me too! I'm an apple shape, so my thighs were always pretty small, even when I was a big girl. And now they are really small and I have a thigh gap. Who'd a thunk it?

3 months is still pretty early in the process. Over time, many people get some or all of their appetite back. For me, after year 1, I got about 60% of my pre-surgery appetite back. I'm hungry less intensely and less often than I did before surgery, but I do get hungry. As I was approaching my weight loss goal, my doctor advised me to incorporate higher calorie foods like avocado and nuts (more calories but not more volume). And that worked to slow and then stop my weight loss. Ironically, I do eat about 1000 calories per day, but I'm normal weight at this point, I'm older and I'm short at 5'1". So my BMR is pretty low. With all your activity and being a bigger person overall, I'd expect your eventual maintenance level of intake will be higher than mine.

I'm another grazer. I eat 6 mini-meals in a day. I start with my morning latte and I'm eating every 2 hours until about 6 (I'm not much of a night eater and I go to bed early).

5 hours ago, Mike Long said:

Thanks. I really appreciate your thoughts. I have taken the safe route since the surgery and I haven’t really been uncomfortable or sick yet. I’ve been so cognizant of it I think that’s why my friend said what she said. I’ve been afraid to eat too much. But that has also caused some anxiety about me questioning if I’m getting enough. I don’t want to lose muscle. I don’t want to get sick from lack of nutrients. I gotta say that if I had known this before I wouldn’t have had the surgery. I’m sure that I’ll laugh at that statement in a few months or years when I look back at this. But right now all I can think about is this feeling I have that I’ll never be able to eat more than a tiny piece of food again. I’d rather be obese and take my chances and be happier than miserable and not obese. Sounds awful but that’s the goins on. Anyhoo, thanks for the response. It does help.

You will definitely be able to eat more later. And you're being medically supervised through this process, right? Your doctor will be checking your bloodwork regularly to make sure your nutritional needs are being met. You have Protein goals to hit (and you can track your food to make sure you get there every day). You're taking a bariatric Multivitamin. Also, you don't have to eat more at one sitting to up your calories. You can add an extra snack or even an extra meal, if necessary. You shouldn't have to live with so much anxiety. Have you talked this over with your doctor? It might be a good idea to track your food carefully for a few days, then call and go over it with the nutritionist or nurse on your bariatric team. Any surgical intervention carries risks. But there's risk associated with remaining the size you are now too (said by someone who had a BMI of 47 not that long ago). At least the risk you've taken will pay off down the road with better health, a better quality of life and hopefully a longer life.

Yeah, I was well-hydrated and I had a beastly headache after my vaccination (both doses). I think it's just part of your body rallying its defenses against the virus. But I came home and went to bed and the headache was gone the next day (although I slept a lot the day after both shots).

20 hours ago, Mike Long said:

Thanks for the responses. To be clear, I should’ve Clarified what my friend said. She didn’t mean gorge myself. She meant that I should eat until I’m full. And feel what it feels like. This was after I told her that I didn’t think I’m actually eating until I’m full as I was nervous. She was coming at it from the standpoint of making sure I was getting all my nutrients.

I can understand the impulse to ask "Exactly how much CAN I eat now"? The difficulty is that things are different after the surgery. Pre-op, I could tell when I was getting full and I'd automatically slow down my eating and then stop. Post-op, the cues that you've had enough can be much subtler. One. single. bite. can be the difference between "satisfied" and "miserable". Early on, when I was about 3 weeks out, I ate too much for the first, and last time. The combination of pain, nausea, and distress was horrible. It was so miserable that I've never eaten too much again, in two years. I was lucky in that, the episode was short-lived because I threw up. Since then, there have been a couple of times when I took one last bite and then spit it out because I felt like it was going to send me over the edge. So when I caution you about this plan, it's coming from a place of remembering what it feels like to overeat in the early days after surgery. No bueno.

3 hours ago, Tim C said:

Most days I eat a couple of SF popsicles...What say you?

It's usually yogurt. That's my last snack before bed.

"I have a medical condition and my doctor has advised me not to fly". The exact nature of your condition is no one's business.

1 minute ago, ms.sss said:

I wish we could target where we put on weight. I'd funnel it all to my a$$.

Yeah there and I'd also take some of my boobs back. I mean, I wanted to smaller, but sheesh! LOL 😂

Sounds pretty good!

6 minutes ago, blackcatsandbaddecisions said:

Some short, older, sedentary people will have very low calorie needs.

I find myself in this category (even though I am not sedentary - I walk 1.5 miles per day and strength train 3 times per week). But I am short, and older, in the normal BMI range now, and I've spent a lifetime doing on-again, off-again dieting. Far from being a starvation diet, I am maintaining on 1000 calories per day. I was lucky that my body found its own equilibrium, when I eat whenever I'm hungry (but eating good food, not junk), it naturally adds up to about 1000 calories and that's what I need to maintain.

On 4/9/2021 at 2:37 AM, Stella S said:

I fall into the basics work to trim my regain - Water not wine, cheese not with a cracker. When I focus on Water and protien I drop the weight. Removing over 30 carb works. Admiring those who do not have to continue the work!

This is pretty much what I do as well. I try to respond when I see a 5 lb gain, so I won't have to deal with re-losing larger amounts. I reduce processed foods, reduce carbs, forego off-plan treats, and focus on Protein. In other words I go back to how I ate during the weight loss phase. So far, it works for me.

I've never really thought about ignoring anyone. If necessary, I just scroll on by...

4 hours ago, BayouTiger said:

Long: Just to add. Quite a few peoples nutritionists, surgeons and PA’s programs are VLCDs. Atleast for the first 6 months. Mine doesn’t have me going over 1100 til June. I have a biology degree with a chem minor, so I truly get nutrition stuff. However... If it’s recommended by the team, who am I to say no, you’re wrong, I need to be eating more... To a surgeon who’s been doing bariatric surgeries since they were invented, and a nutritionist with a masters in dietetics from Vanderbilt... I get where you’re coming from, I really do. And I think you’re coming from a very sincere and concerned place. But from a purely scientific standpoint we are all different. And we cannot be treated as a one size fits all. There are people with diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, mental illness, etc. who go through these surgeries and lifestyle changes. All of those pts need to be mapped out differently based on THEM and their past medical history and their familial history. Our metabolic rates, our sugars, body fat, all the stuff that people want a “baseline” for, really don’t have a true baseline. Because it’s not one size fits all. It’s never a one size fits all. What might help you lose weight might make me gain it. What is too much body fat on you might be too little on me.

Well said.

I also generally agree with your overall point @Creekimp13. Self-starvation is harmful, non-sustainable and counter-productive in the end. And my experience taught me that SPEED of loss is not as important as continuing to lose. It took me almost two years to reach goal and toward the end I was losing only about 1-2 pounds per month. But even that slow loss adds up over time and I got where I wanted to be!

But as @BayouTiger said, we really are all different. For instance, you said:

9 hours ago, Creekimp13 said:

Why do people do VLCDs? (very low calorie diets....1000 or less calories a day)....they do them because they show results in a hurry.

This may often be true, but I am currently in maintenance and eating about 1000 calories per day. I'm not restricting myself to that number, I eat about six mini-meals per day and plus small Snacks whenever I am hungry. And I am exactly maintaining on that intake (besides normal fluctuations). I track my food pretty carefully, so my calories counts tend to be pretty precise. Some days I may have what I call a "munchie" day and eat more - I don't fight it. Some days I'm uninterested in food for some reason and I'll eat less - I don't force it (besides trying to hit my Protein goal). But it averages to about 1000 calories per day. I'm short at 5'1", I've lost more than half my body weight, and I'm guessing I have a fairly low BMR.

So the assumption that everyone eating 1000 calories a day or less is crash dieting for quick results is not always valid. As @BayouTiger said, I know your heart is in the right place and someone out there probably needs to read what you wrote. But you can't lump everyone together.

On 4/6/2021 at 12:35 PM, Mckennajaims said:

I have lost all of my muscle and cannot lift a ream of paper into the copier at work and barely go up stairs no matter how much I exercise my strength is gone. I miss food from overly restricting, but my fear is so great. I faint, pass out and can count all of the bones in my body. My arms and legs get numb and tingly and my hands and feet turn red and purple and I freeze! I eat 1/3cup 3 times a day and don't eat anything in between. I know something is wrong I am just afraid to fix it.

Oh I see! With that additional information, things are very much broken. My best advice would be to seek a therapist, preferably one that has experience treating bariatric patients or people with eating disorders. This state of affairs is unsustainable and won't end well.

27 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

hmmmm....if it ain't broke, why fix it?

This right here

No one can say for sure because there are a lot of factors that go into how much loose skin a person will have after a very large weight loss. But age is on your side, your skin is hopefully still elastic and that should help. And I've never heard anyone who lost a lot of weight complain about the loose skin. Most of us wouldn't trade our new bodies for tighter skin. It'll be okay, one way or another.

I experience this too. Often when I walk up to a mirror, I momentarily think my reflection is someone else. I haven't yet learned to instantly recognize that silhouette as ME.

On 3/27/2021 at 11:45 PM, katherineheartburn said:

I was sleeved the last week of February and am now on the soft foods diet for the next few weeks. I’ve lost 28lbs in 4 weeks (am in a little of a stall currently).

I’ve found that I can eat and drink more than I expected at this stage (approx 4 - 6 oz per “soft” meal). I spoke with my doctor’s office and they said it can vary for everyone depending on swelling, and that I should go by my feeling of fullness as the indicator. Basically, my body will let me know when I’ve exceeded my limit.

I’ve read countless posts about people who can only eat 2 - 4 oz of food at this stage (or even as little as 3 bites) and I’m getting paranoid that I’m overeating and don’t want to sabotage myself. Even the guidelines given by the nutritionist call for 4oz, and it seems a little contradictory to what the doctor’s office is saying.

Has anyone else had a similar experience, and were you still successful?

Thanks!

28 pounds in 4 weeks is phenomenal. I'd say you're doing everything right!

You're pretty far out from your surgery so you may not have this issue, but I found that Xarelto no longer worked for me after surgery. My hematologist actually predicted this because Xarelto needs to be taken with a substantial amount of food to be bio-available. He directed me to switch to Eliquis but my insurance refused to cover it. So we stuck with Xarelto and six months after surgery, I got a clot. Now I am on Lovenox (injectible) twice a day. You may be able to eat enough by now that it won't be an issue for you, see what your doctors say.

5 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

I know people who were drinking coffee while they were still in the hospital!

I was one of these, LOL. I had regular coffee with my Breakfast in the hospital. My bariatric team didn't have a rule about coffee but they did say not everyone tolerates it well right after surgery. I had no problems and never stopped drinking my one cup a day.

I'd definitely run it by your doctor because none of us can diagnose you. But if it makes you feel better, I had a super sharp pain near one of my incisions too. It was near the surface of the skin, not deep inside. My doc said it was nerve pain and that it would subside over time. He was right, it did, but WOW - until then it really bugged me. I would look down at my skin unable to believe nothing was happening there because it felt like something was cutting me!