Arabesque

Yes, sodium can cause water retention. Are you peeing a lot? You shouldn’t still be retaining fluid from the surgery at this point but you may not have got rid of it all yet. Constipation can make you feel bloated or heavy. Are you sipping slowly? Between getting in my fluids, shakes & soup I never seemed to stop sipping. Some people need longer to recover after surgery. I did but I always seem to take longer to heal/recover. I went back to work after 4 weeks & found it difficult: low energy & low blood pressure. I was so glad I was only part time but I had to leave early a couple of times because I couldn’t focus. If you’re finding it too much, have a chat with your manager about reducing your hours, a paced return to work or even working from home until you feel stronger. Try some electrolyte drinks to boost your energy too. Good luck with your recovery.

Protein shakes are disgusting. I preferred soups - cream, consommés, bone broths. Strain them very well to make sure there’s no herbs or small pieces of meat or vegetable in them. Warm drinks seemed to be more soothing & easier to drink. (I used to heat my chocolate shake.). It’s not uncommon for your taste buds to temporarily change or for you to become more sensitive to smells - it does pass but can make some foods taste or smell disgusting. I only bought vanilla & chocolate shakes as I thought they’d be more pleasant to drink if my taste changed. I also bought my soups, bone broths, etc. too. Buy some disposal underwear for that first week post surgery. Some us experience ‘dramatic’ diarrhoea after surgery which can be embarrassing (can literally just run out of you). Make sure you have all your over the counter meds ready at home too (pain relief, gasX, non swelling fibre supplement, Imodium, stool softener or similar, electrolyte drinks or powders, etc.). Don't be surprised if you spend a lot of time on your couch after surgery. Your energy levels will be very low. Invest in small containers for meal storage, good measuring cups, a fine strainer, kitchen scales. I used teaspoons & sporks to eat & served my food on side plates & in small bowls (tapas size). I also found it easier to sip through straws to begin. Don’t be surprised if your fridge & freezer are filled with your left overs. Good luck with your surgery.

I hardly ever eat cakes, desserts, etc. anymore (only a couple of times a year like at Christmas). I get my sweet from fruit, vanilla extract & the dash of honey I add to my rolled oats. If a friend made a bowl of fruit salad & say added a sparkler for my birthday I’d be happy & very touched that they considered my preferences. Remember too she’s only going to be able to eat a couple of bites. Your friend’s diet does seem very restrictive for carbs. I was allowed rolled oats from week three. Small amounts of other whole & multi grains are usually ok too as you progress. They’re very helpful with energy levels & easing the constipation. Definitely no processed carbs like bread, rice, pasta (which I still don’t eat). But there are many different plans out there & I admire your friend for sticking to hers.

It is challenging to meet your protein & fluid goals to begin. My surgeon said it was ok along as I was working towards meeting them. All your skates, broths your eating at the moment are liquids & count towards your fluid goals. Some people experience a lot of surgical pain &/or gas pain but some don’t. Some experience it for less than a week, others longer. I had no gas pain with my sleeve (had 4 days worth with my gall removal though) and my surgical pain was ok & I didn’t need any pain relief by day 4. Walk to ease gas pain & try some gas X. If your pain is severe & your prescribed pain meds aren’t helping, contact your medical team. It seems like people either are constipated or have diarrhoea post surgery. Try some stool softeners or other gentle stimulants (some swear by smooth move tea) in a day or so if you are still constipated. Constipation will be a regular experience while you’re losing. Honestly I have never talked about bowel movements as much as I have since surgery - LOL!! You’ve just had major surgery & altered how your body digests food. It’s completely different than what you’ve ever experienced before. You’re allowed to be be scared, confused, emotional, … We all heal & recover from surgery in our own time. Allow yourself the time you need. It definitely does get better.

Chia pudding is a good go to. As is fruit salad & yoghurt, cool whip or low fat mascarpone.

I used bio oil. Worked well for me. Some people love the silicon scar tapes too.

Some people do struggle with chicken because it can be too dry so it could have been that. Tuna can be dry as well. If it only happens with certain foods it’s likely the food. Take those foods off your meal rotation for a week or more & then try them again. The wait 30 minutes is a general recommendation. Some need to wait longer some less. It does get easier as you progress. Most don’t need to wait 30 minutes in the long term but they still have to have a wait period of some duration. Make sure you eat & sip slowly taking a break before the next bite or sip. Are you eating until you’ve had enough or until you’re full (there is a difference)? It takes time for the message to get through that you’ve eaten enough. If you eat until you’re full (the ugh I shouldn’t have had that last bite feeling or your restriction kicks in) you may need to wait longer for your tummy to empty a little to allow you to drink without causing discomfort. It does take time to work out the idiosyncrasies of your new digestive system. Good luck.

Broccoli isn’t a starchy food. Basically if it grows under the ground it’s a starchy vegetable. There are above ground exceptions like corn, sweet potatoes, peas, pumpkins which are starchy. I was put on keto but my friend followed a 2 shakes plus one meal of lean protein & vegetables (steamed preferred) diet. But no snacks, no dressings, no sauces, no dairy except milk in her tea or coffee. She grilled or roasted her meat & just steamed or microwaved her vegetables. She could add vinegar or lemon juice & any herbs or spices to flavour her meats & vegetables. I know she made omelettes a few times & baked some fish (made foil parcels with various herbs) besides basic meat & vege meals. Non starchy vegetables: Artichokes Asparagus Bean sprouts Brussels sprouts Broccoli Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Cucumber Eggplant (also known as aubergine) Mushrooms Onions Peppers (also known as capsicum) Salad greens Spinach Tomato Turnips Zucchini (also known as courgette)

Best thing to do is contact your medical team because as @SummerTimeGirl said plans are different. Mine was protein shakes, soups (cream or broths/consommés), milk. No puddings, jellies, popsicles or yoghurt. No carbonated drinks or juice. No caffeinated drinks but I could have herbal or green tea. Everything counted towards my daily fluid goal for these two weeks (whoo hoo!). Congrats on your surgery.

Yes, for many of us food can taste terrible & even things we used to love taste disgusting. It’s because our taste buds & sometimes our sense of smell changes & becomes extra sensitive after surgery. This will pass. Plus your tummy can be pretty fussy for a while. A food that’s disgusting or makes you unwell this week maybe more palatable in a week or two so don’t give up. I wasn’t hungry or interested in eating either. It’s a result of the surgery & the hunger hormone producing area of your tummy being removed. But I knew I had to eat. I knew I had to work at getting my protein in otherwise I’d compromise my healing & my health. My food rotation was not very wide the first couple of months. I slowly tried new foods to see how I would tolerate them. On soft foods your food should still be a bit sloppy. If it’s too dry the food could feel like it’s stuck &/or cause discomfort. Slow cooked casseroles, stews, etc. are perfect. I ate a lot of mince slow cooked with tomato, celery, onion. I also made soups with finely diced meats & vegetables - let them simmer for ages. I also ate rolled oats, scrambled eggs, yoghurt poached fish. Try tinned salmon or tuna, beans, add herbs & spices. If you want salty try adding extra salt to what you’re eating. If you want sweet try some apple purée. Some people struggle with beef or chicken to begin so take them slowly. Discovering why you eat is extremely important to your success. As is making changes to what you eat. It won’t be easy to work out how to manage your cravings & not succumb to them. Succumbing to them lead us to being overweight in the first place. As did eating the way we did. This is the having to do the head work we all talk about. It’s not easy. There’s not an quick solution. Those cravings will always be there. Many try therapy to help identify what’s driving the cravings & to develop strategies to support them to manage them. It does all get easier but just not overnight. There’s a lot of work ahead but it’s so worth it. Good luck.

Snap! I’ve lost about a kilogram (about 2lbs) in the almost 3 weeks post surgery too @WishMeSmaller. Just wrote about it OOTD. Was 49 day of surgery. 51. 5 two days after surgery (fluids) & hover around 47.9 - 48.2 now. It’s because I’m hungry but not hungry & don’t know what I want to eat. (Plus I’ve had diarrhoea from body getting used to not having a gall.) Do you feel the same? I’ve just put it down to getting over having surgery & that it’s temporary. It’s odd how every pound we lose seems to mean so much more when we’re on the lower end of the scale. Three weeks ago my surgeon was happy with my weight. Yesterday, he says I have to put on weight all because of one kg. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Finding that balance in maintenance is hard. I just added more snacks though it’s a challenge when you’re working to keep eating. I snack 4 or 5 x a day on combinations of peanut paste, multigrain crackers, yoghurt, cheese, chia pudding, fruit & protein bar. I also added non diet salad dressing & a little honey to my porridge. Because I detested protein powders & shakes my dietician suggested enriching my milk with powdered milk - extra calories & protein. I found it too sweet with my porridge but it worked well with chia pudding. I had a couple of hypoglycaemic events before my weight finally stabilised. I find I just have to eat regularly & keep my fluids up. I usually carry a protein bar with me. I did have an event a month ago - my fault - standing way too long in a crazy long queue & needed food & water. Hopefully you’ll work out what you need to manage yours or it sorts itself out when your weight stabilises too. Love the bikini pxts. You look so good.

Had to see my surgeon post gall removal. He said I looked good but then said I needed to put on a couple of kg. Three weeks ago he said I’d done very well after he weighed me so I’m a bit confused. I told him I’d dropped about a kg since surgery - hungry but not hungry, don’t know what I want to eat & I’ve had some diarrhoea. My skirt is a bit big on me so I maybe I looked like I’d lost more. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s amazing how different we all are @WishMeSmaller & @Starwarsandcupcakes. I’m very fair too & avoid the sun as much as I can. Some days the only sun I see is when I walk to my mail box at my front gate - about 4steps - yet my vitamin D is really good. Never been an issue.

As we get older, our ability to absorb vitamin D is reduced. The recommended daily allowance is 600 to 800iu depending upon age. But as @Soon2bFit21 suggested, a dose of 10000 may be to restore vitamin D levels to an acceptable range. I would expect the dose would be reduced once levels improved but it is possible you will always need to take a supplement … &/or do daily naked sunbathing as @Creekimp13 suggested 😉.

As you lose weight, oestrogen which has been stored in your fat is released into your blood stream. This hormonal flush can exacerbate any of the symptoms you experienced with your periods like making your periods heavier, more painful or more frequent. For you it’s possible this means you become nauseous. (Hormones are a b##ch.) If this is the cause, it will eventually pass. Always best to give your medical team a call especially if you’re concerned, it’s debilitating, persists or restricting your life.

Every one loses at their own rate. There is no right or wrong amount of weight to lose each week. Yes, there may be average amounts of loss people who are similar height, weight, age, gender, etc. may have in common. As long as you see the trend of your weight loss going down you’re succeeding. The amount you lose each week will also slow as you progress. It is possible you are experiencing a stall as has been suggested. These are extremely common. We talk about the three week stall but that first one can happen at week 2, 3, 4, 5 …. It’s just your body taking a breath & trying to catch up with the changes (surgery, weight loss, reduced calories, dietary changes,…). You will likely have other stalls as you’re losing. We’ve all been on that gain, lose, gain roller coaster. Personally I know the reason I always regained after losing was because the diets I was on weren’t sustainable or I just went back to the same old way of eating. I’d start regaining a couple of weeks after the diet ended. The difference this time is that I work at sticking to the changes I made to how I eat, what I eat, why I eat every day. I have many years ahead of me but I’m going to work my butt off to try to stay my course cause that desire to go down my old path is always there. I just understand it & manage it better now. Your success starts & ends in your head. It’s not just what you put in your mouth. You have to do the head work. Many do this with the help of a therapist, others do it themselves. There are lots of people here who are happy to share experiences & offer support. Follow your plan, meet your protein goals, get your fluids in, be more active and your weight loss will continue. You’ll get there.

So sorry you are experiencing such severe gerd. It is really important you get your fluids in & not risk dehydration. Try some warm drinks like herbal or uncaffeinated tea or even warm water - the warmth is more soothing than cold. I’d probably avoid the flavoured waters & Gatorade too as there could be something in them which aggravates the gerd. When my reflux was diagnosed almost 30yrs ago, I made but changes to my diet. I cut back on all carbonated drinks (couple of glasses of soda, tonic or sparkling water a month only), cut out all spicy food, reduced my fat intake, avoided rich creamy foods & high acid foods, etc. which helped me a lot - didn’t stir up the excess acid in my tummy. I’m sorry this isn’t working for you. I also slept on a elevated bed like you do. (I used bricks under the legs of the top of the bed so your whole body is on an incline not bent at your upper chest/neck which causes the acid to pool there.) I was experiencing some late night acid burning in my throat & I was advised to avoid hard protein 2 hours before bed - liquid or soft protein is fine. May be helpful so you can a little more comfort at night. Just suggestions. I hope your surgeon can help you.

We’re the same height & about the same weight. I struggled to find my maintenance point too & lost about another 12kgs. I’m only 2yrs out but it took me a year of increasing my calories to find the right balance & stop losing. As I couldn’t really increase my portion size for my meals (I physically couldn’t eat any more) I added snacks - what felt & still seems like lots of snacks. I was eating 5-6 nutritionally beneficial snacks a day. Now I eat 3-5 a day just depending. I’m pretty consistent in what I eat. My lowest weight was 48.2kg but for the last 6 months I usually sit at about 49kg (swing 48.5-49.5). I have dropped a bit lately (been 47.9 a couple of times) because I haven’t been overly hungry or interested in eating. I’m sure this will pass. If not I’ll have to work harder at getting in my 1200 calories which seems to be my golden number. Are you still tracking & weighing your food? Do you have a caloric goal or average number you consume in each day? I do random checks to ensure I haven’t misread caloric or nutritional information or am misjudging portion size - it’s easy to under or over estimate. I suggest going back to your dietician & revising your daily food intake for a few weeks with them. There may be something you’re missing & they should be able to recommend or advise on a plan forward. My medical team were concerned at first especially when I was still losing but they’re ok now cause I’m stable. I’m pretty small boned so I don’t mind being on the lower end of the BMI scale. (For years I was told I was big boned but it was just fat - lol!) Congratulations on losing your regain. Good luck.

Walking 7-9 miles is great. The joint pain could be from your changing weight distribution - your centre of gravity changes as you lose weight. (I found myself slouching as I lost weight.) Could also be additional strain on joints that have already been stressed from carrying your weight over the years. Walking, though less hard on the joints then say running, still causes jarring to joints. It’s like getting sore muscles when you first start exercising or start a new exercise program. Were you very active in the years before your surgery? Were you fitted for your walking shoes? Old shoes, non supportive or badly fitting shoes can cause joint & muscle pain. Of course I don’t know your history so these are just suggestions. Congrats on your surgery. Enjoy your vacation.

Possible dehydration, low caloric intake, low blood pressure, recovery all contribute to a lack of energy after surgery. I experienced low energy levels for ages & my tendency to low blood pressure (random drops) became full blown orthostatic hypotension after surgery. Every time I got up the world would go black & my head would sometimes get a bit doughy. It’s not quite as bad now - only happens a few times a day & not all day long. If the dizziness is from from drops in your blood pressure there are things you can do to help avoid injury from falling. Get up slowly. Once standing don’t move for a minute. When you do start walking making sure there’s a wall, chair, table near you that you can grab to ground you if you get dizzy & stop moving (I’ve even grabbed people 😁). It passes in about 10 seconds for me. Have a chat with your medical team & get your BP checked. Up your fluid intake & add some extra salt to your diet. If you’re on meds for high blood pressure they may need to be adjusted. Take things slowly.

Some foods are just too dry or too coarse & can cause problems. It’s almost like they get caught or they make your restriction kick in (that tightness across your chest). Chicken or steak can be troublesome for some. I can’t do char grilled meats or vegetables. Is it specific foods that cause the discomfort or all food? If it’s only certain foods, drop them from your diet for a while or try other ways of cooking them. Are you eating slowly? I know we all say we do but …. I still take ages to eat (40+ mins to eat about 3oz steak & a cup of vegetables last night). Take a small bite & put your cutlery down. Doesn’t matter if it’s 5 minutes or more before you take the next bite. Have you spoken to your medical team? It does get easier but don’t push yourself to do more than you can at any time.

I agree it s a lot of weight to drop in 3 weeks. Though your scales may not have been accurate for a while as the batteries were failing. Maybe time for some new scales???

Recumbent bikes are great. My mother got one after her double knee replacement & loves it. She’s 81 & rides it every day (while watching Judge Judy 🤷🏻‍♀️ 😂). She finds it very easy on her knees & body. Give one a go at sports store & see how you go with your arthritis.

Most GERD suffers are encouraged to go down the bypass route as the risk of GERD developing or worsening is greater with the sleeve. I had reflux before my sleeve but it was mild. I made a lot of dietary changes when it was diagnosed which reduced the number of attacks. Post surgery I experience it more frequently but it manifests differently. One of the symptoms I previously experienced were terrible hiccups (prolonged, deep body wracking, strained muscle ones). Now if I get the hiccups they’re much shallower & pass quickly. I take prescription Nexium every day now (only took it as needed previously) which generally controls it. Main exception is if I eat dense protein close to when I go to bed then I’ll have some burning in my throat later but if the protein is soft or liquid like yoghurt I don’t have a problem. As @catwoman7 said you may be a lucky one or you may not be. You have to weigh the risks.

Magnesium & calcium can help the leg cramps. Speak to your doctor about Lyrica - it’s great for nerve pain. But it does increase your appetite. Start at a low dose because if the dose is too high it can make you dopey.