Nay143

I'm sorry it hurts that he was a jerk, probably reacting to some emotional hurt himself. Nonetheless, you have to think of yourself and be proud of this courageous move you made. When dealing with bad situations (that in the long run really don't matter), I take strength from an Andy Warhol quote. Hope it helps you:
“Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, "So what."
"My mother didn't love me." So what.
"My husband won't ball me. So what.
"I'm a success but I'm still alone." So what.
I don't know how I made it through all the years before I learned how to do that trick. It took a long time for me to learn it, but once you do, you never forget.”
― Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

What colour bag or clutch? I think white, with a white clutch bag or gold or silver, with a matching bag. Sounds lovely. I hope you have a lovely time. Xxx

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Hi everyone,
I just want to say this has been quite the amazing journey thus far. December 18th 2018 I went into my surgery at 285 pounds. 8 1/2 months ago was the biggest decision and biggest step I ever took towards changing my life. For the past 8 years I was a very happy and unhealthy person. Gradually becoming more and more obese by the day. I truly thank my family to opening up my eyes as to how unhappy and unhealthy I was. I first went into my doctors office at a very unhappy and unhealthy 304 pounds. My pre-op diet of Protein Shakes for 2 weeks helped me get down to 285 just in time for my surgery. I am now today 167 pounds as of this morning. I have not been in the 160's since my teens and I am now 27. I still want to lose another 37 pounds to reach my goal weight of 130 due to my height. But the sky is the limit baby!! I just want you all to know post op and pre op that I wish you all good luck and hope you had and have as much success as I did so far. Hugs to you all!!!

I'm the 'stand in person' at the last moment to take my 89 year old MIL to see Phantom of the Opera at the Bass Hall here in Fort Worth. The dress is LEGIT forest green and has white twisting vine/flower things on it. I'm freaked out as I absolutely have no idea what color shoes to wear with this color combo.
I only have my extra large black sandals (not nice enough for the event) that I wear as my feet swell..and um...another pair of black sandals, slightly nicer.
Do I try to find what...nude/tan shoes? silver shoes? White shoes (did the whole 'don't wear white after Labor Day' finally go away? Serious legit head explosion going to happen...the event is this coming Saturday so i have roughly 4 days to find shoes. I just bought this dress for this occasion and hate the idea of scrapping it.
Help all you fabulous DIVA and OOTD savvy dressing ladies!!

My advice is to find and activity you enjoy. If you like what your doing, you will stick with it. I love weightlifting and have been doing it for over 2 years. You wouldn’t catch me in a Zumba class. Not because I can’t see the benefit (I can) but simply because it’s not for me. Do what you enjoy and the results will come. Just be consistent!

I had never taken Vitamins before with the lapband so it was hard to get used to, but I'm four months out from revision to RNY and just had all my labs come back perfect!
Here are the two things that helped me be successful:
1. I got one of these pill organizers with multiple compartments for each day and fill it up every Sunday. Plus I have it sitting right where I see it every morning so I don't forget to take it to work.
2. I got a free app called Round. You set up the reminders and it's a bit of a nag if you don't tell it you took your pills! I'm sure there are others but I found this was easy to set up.
hope this helps. Oh and also for calciums I prefer the bariatic advantage chews- chocolate. But I think everyone is different. Get a sampler pack before you buy a whole bag. You don't want to get a flavor you dread taking three times a day! I made that mistake with Peanut Butter and coconut. Finally I just gave them away at support group! Everyone else thought they were yummy!

One thing I've found that helps bring up Protein without adding so many calories is I add Protein Powder (unflavored) to almost everything including my shredded chicken I made yesterday which has a salsa/broth poured on top of it.
I noticed when I did not add the protein powder, I ate a bigger 'helping' of chicken..probably closer to 4+ oz & generally my pouch only tolerates UNDER 4 oz's well....I have no idea why with this food item I can 'stuff more in'. The reason I say it like that is because I was following old/bad habits, eating quickly, not chewing as much..not putting down my fork.
This is where I find I need to do WAY more head work. I can tell when I've HIT my restriction, I need to REMEMBER to measure/weigh as when I do NOT hit my restriction, my old 'stinking' way of 'thinking' starts to wonder..."hhmm..can I take another bites?". The question should be DOES my body REQUIRE another bite?
So, I realized I had forgotten the protein powder, I went back to adding it tonight & eating MINDFULLY - something I can forget from meal to meal even ONLY 6.5 weeks out! SCARY! I know this is the honeymoon period but short of trying to ensure I get 60+ oz's of protein, I should be doing whatever I can to keep calories LIMITED (this is my own feelings) AND ontinue to try to keep carbs limited. I;m a super SLOW loser & I noticed when early into pureed stages, when I had the ONE and only helping of 'mashed potatoes'...that I was in TROUBLE.
Carbs like this are a big trigger food for me and CONVENIENTLY..my 'Ms. Picky Pouch' did not signify it was full when I expected the restriction to 'kick in as normal'. It's like 'she' (my pouch) decided she could fold and flatten the dang potatoes! I decided after that to love myself enough to kick this trigger food to the curb. You will not find a trigger food in my house normally as I had been doing Keto WOL for long, long time.
I like your idea of smaller plates. I notice when putting my shredded chicken into my regular size 'Dixie bowl', I was constantly hesitating as it 'looked like less'. I must weigh/measure so I KNOW how much it is. I think I will buy the small..well, ppl would call them dessert plates..whatever the smallest size is, and put my food on that instead. Heck, I have saucers I NEVER use..I can use them..lol..what a CONCEPT!

I assumed it would be, we don't have much to work with here.

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Do the bariatric pal Protein ship to the UK? Or are there any vendors that stock it here?
Theres not much variety here to be honest.

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Oh no, I hope your feeling much better. It's so easily done. I have to keep remi doing myself to slow down and take my time when eating. Its hard when I'm at work and have a limited time for my lunch..xxx

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Absolutely gross aversion therapy, best kind I guess?!
Funny thing is I thought perhaps I had no pouch at all because I hadn't had any issues lol AND not really sure of my anatomy now due to having a sleeve first which went 'wrong' then an emergency bypass a few days later.
My surgeon only leaves a 1cm wide sleeve which is pretty minuscule, so I was like erm how on earth did he make a pouch with what was left?
Well, I now know there is definitely some kind of pouchiness going on after meatball-gate LOL
I spent yesterday pretty uncomfortable all day so not sure if I aggravated my 'pouch' and made it swell a bit from the vomiting, but nothing went down easily yesterday, even fluids weren't great and had pain all day. So Just had an early night and slept it off

LOTS of Intermittant Fasting posts here. I find it tremendously helpful. BUt….. you gotta cut the sugar. It is so addictive and will undermine all your efforts. After 3 days you won't have the cravings unless you try a bite. Then it will come storming back. I am gluten intolerant so I do not eat anything with wheat. I cut the sugar before my surgery and I have NO JOINT PAIN and my inflammatory markers are down. Sugar is such a deadly, inflammatory substance. None of us need it, especially those of us who are working toward lifelong health and weight loss. You can do it!
Oh, I also cut out caffeine, and without the sugar and caffeine, my energy levels are so good and consistent throughout the day. No afternoon slump at all. I can't believe the difference.
The biggest impacts for me have been giving up wheat, sugar, caffeine and also doing IF. Powerful, powerful stuff there, if one is willing.

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks since surgery and I have lost 23lbs. This is the lowest I have weighed in 3 years. Weight loss has now slowed significantly to 1-2 lbs a week. Averaging 900 calories a day and my doctor recommends no carbs for 6 months. I can eat anything on Keto diet and have been enjoying some recipes I got off Pinterest. Exercising 3 days a week for 45 minutes each with 20 minutes dedicated to elliptical for cardio . It is hard not to get discouraged but I have focus on goal to get to December where I can introduce healthy carbs and if I can just do 5-8 lbs a month that is another 20 lbs.
PreOp 209
Surgery 205lbs
Now 182
Sample Day
Breakfast
Triple Zero Greek Yogurt or hard boiled egg
Lunch
1/3 cup of shrimp with cucumber salad
dinner
Shredded chicken with refried Beans with salsa
snack
Hummus with veggies
Mangos sliced
Water 48-60 oz(this is a struggle)

Well, we went on that last nature walk and it was NOT supposed to rain but in the middle of it, we got hit with a deluge of rain and wind (rain coming in sideways). Made it back to car after what felt like forever, completely soaked. We managed to walk 1.7 miles that day and it may have been more if it hadn't been for the rain but that's for another time.
It's been 38 days since surgery now and I've lost 19.8 lbs. I'm made peace, at least for now, with the rate I'm losing as I was a very slow 'loser' prior to surgery (did Keto for 15 months) so I have to remember without this surgery that I definitely would NOT have lost 19.8 lb in 38 days. Yes, in my first month or two of my 15 month keto journey I did lose a LOT...close to this same rate, but that was probably at least 10 lbs of Water weight and that pace was not sustainable.
Current weight loss rate is roughly .52 lbs a day which is actually pretty great in my mind. I do feel STRONGLY that I have to keep up the physical activity multiple times a wk. And I know there are more stalls in my future & even gains as I continue to walk with my daughter and am working on a plan to join a friend at a local gym to walk an air conditioned track with her and also to have access to other machines/weights/etc.
For now I just wanted to give an update. The 'vent' that I left here the other day helped me to get things out so I could start breaking past the negativity that was going on in my mind and thinking. Thanks for the support.

I've also eaten with family & friends early out. I would either pick a meal that was in line with my new lifestyle and (force them to eat it with me 😂) share with them or simply drink instead of eating if I couldn't find anything. I had a lot of lettuce wrapped veggie or turkey burgers, epic salads or vegetable soups/turkey chili
(Occasionally I only ordered dessert still sharing it with others, but thats a radical idea & not for everyone)
Further out it became a lot easier because I was fully practiced in my new lifestyle. I ordered items that were Protein forward and added sides I knew others would enjoy. I almost never finished my food alone because I either couldn't or planned to shared it all along.
If you plan to change your mind and go out with your family for meals occasionally, plan ahead so you don't feel lost/off plan/out of control. Plenty of places are now offering low carb alternatives/lighter fare/small plates
Good Luck 💜

I don’t think I lost any the first week due to swelling etc. I think week 2 was maybe 4-5 pounds then I remained steady initially 3/week at 5 months 2-3/week. I never stalled and I didn’t follow the typical big drop initially and slowed loss over time. Take body measurements so you can see losing inches when the scale may not show you your loss.

I am about 11 weeks post op and I have lost 36 lbs since surgery day. I have some weeks when I lose 4 lbs and some where I stall and lose nothing. My doctor suggested weighing myself once a week instead of daily to help me see that my progress may be slow, but it is moving me towards my goal. I use an app that tracks of percentage of weight loss, instead of just lbs, which helps me see how far I have come.

HW: 274.4
SW: 265
CW: 229
GW: 159

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I had my surgery on the 8th August and I too lost weight pre surgery and since my surgery I lost 16lbs in the first 2 weeks but for the last 2 weeks I have lost nothing and it is so discouraging as I have stuck to the plan.
Also feeling very nauseous every day
Any suggestions for the sickness?

Prolly need to list both good and bad things I did, after all as one of you has reminded me this is great inspiration for all my surgery buddies here on BariatricPal... so here goes...
The Good: I ate mostly veggies, and used tofu, chicken, seafood and occasional beef stir fry bits for my Protein. Kept protein at the top of my mind 365: protein went in first ahead of everything. Remembered to drink milk, at least every few days. I take the bari Vitamins religiously. Bought a scale and got on it daily: every morning just to check. Started walking as soon as my surgery permitted (for me it was one week which surprised me), eventually ramped this up to walking, squats, light short runs then bicycling, biking is the easiest and most fun. Absolutely stopped buying the bad things I used to eat before and did not allow them even into the house, this includes Baked Lays BBQ Potato chips, white Asian rice for steaming Chinese style, and cut back on sushi, my weakness. I also gave away my rice steamer. Smartest thing I ever did. When Pouch signals I'm full -- hiccups, tightening chest sensation, nausea -- I stop eating. Late at night when I crave a salty snack, I eat either a little kimchi or a couple pickle slices, instead of the potato chips that I used to. Does the trick.
The Bad (Naughty): I resumed red wine drinking after surgery and you are not supposed to. I retried beer and cocktails too. Eventually lost all taste for those. Cannot resist Reunite Lambrusco: it's fairly low in calories (but high in sugar). So far Pouch has taken to lambrusco fine but dislikes other alcohols. I enjoy it in extreme moderation, about two ounces an evening if that. No weight gained as a result. But other bad things, I do not exercise as much, as hard or as often as my surgeon wants. I also do not drink any Protein Shakes. Except for wine, I have always just kind of hated sugar and sweet things and all protein shakes taste gross to me, like a milkshake. So I have to get my protein in other ways and mine are tofu and cut up chicken thighs for the most part.
Stuff the Pouch did and I had nothing to do with I think: My appetite died after my RNY procedure. I maybe eat a cup of food a day and that's almost forcing it. I have no sweet tooth and prefer hot, salty and spicy, so I never eat ice cream, candy, cake or pie. I do eat an occasional small piece of cookie when drinking my weekly milk. I have way more energy now so I exercise more than I did pre-surgery, but I believe it's because of my weight loss.
I hope this is inspirational and helps!

It hard not to weigh in daily. I was keeping a daily journal of my weight and bmi which was for my doctors visits. But since I'm past my 5 weeks i don't go back for 2 months. I think weekly may work for me now.

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Yes. This weight fluctuation is very normal. I was weighing daily, however it created much anxiety for me. My husband suggested trying once a week so I tried that. Much better for me but everyone is different.

So true...I am a 'daily weigher' and I really need to have my husband hide the scale (yes, this would actually help) and only bring it out once a week.
The most I've been able to go without weighing is 2 days.

One thing I have chosen to do is weighing weekly initially to take away these fluctuation angst and when close to goal, weigh more frequently to get prepared for maintenance. I've read enough on this forum to be aware how crazy making the scale can get.
I hope the veterans are able to calm your mind. Thanks as always for your insight orchids and dragon 🧡🧡🧡

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Here's a sample for you that is appropriate for week two. It is about 1/4cup of food per meal. You might not be able to finish your tuna lunch, but you could come back in an hour or so and be able to finish it -- in the early days.
Also, don't know if your doc allows you to drink milk. My doc wants us to drink 1-2 glasses of milk per day as part of our plan to get Calcium and Protein in, but I rarely do it--cuz I don't really like it.
You can jazz up yogurt with Water drops in different fruit flavors. I like doing plain low fat Greek, cuz then I know exactly how much yogurt I'm getting relative to the additives that they put in it.
Also 3oz of swai (pangasius) is a light fish. It is a raw measurement and it shrinks a ton. So this should give you 1/4c of cooked fish (about 1 1/2-2oz cooked). And at first, you will basically only be eating protein and some meat lube (low cal, low carb, low sugar) sauces at each meal.

I’m a newbie here....so this may exist already or just be a terrible idea. Help for me in this pre op stage would be seeing photos reading experiences of those with similar body types as myself. I been over weight so long I don’t even remember/can’t envision myself at a healthy weight. 🤷🏾‍♀️
5’2”
240
Apple shaped