Arabesque

500 calories is 500 calories regardless of where the calories comes from. (500 calories is just a random number pulled from nowhere in particular.) If you eat a big piece of chocolate cake equal to 500 calories & nothing else for the rest of the day it is exactly the same as getting 500 calories from protein shakes. The difference is the quality of nutrients in those calories. Your body will burn the calories to function but it just won’t function well on the calories from the cake alone. As you slowly introduce real food you will slowly be consuming more calories but they are nutritionally dense calories which your body needs to function well & healthily. It’s important to monitor your food intake, portion sizes & calories consumed to ensure you’re following your plan & taking best advantage of your surgery. Your weight loss will slow as you progress. The glory days of the first weeks are just a kickstart. But every pound you lose is a win. Just watch the downward trend than the just numbers on the scale & celebrate all your non scale victories. Stalls happen. I liked to think of them as my body taking a breath to catch up with the changes. I know some people suggest cutting back your calories. I never did & my first stall only lasted a week. Your stall will end when it ends. Congrats on your surgery & good luck.

You’re doing so well. Congratulations. But I do understand that lethargy that comes when you’ve been so vigilant. Our will power & focus starts to waver & it all just seems to be too hard. I think most of us experience it at some time. As @GummyBearQueen suggested reflecting on your non scale victories can help regain your focus. Are you moving about more easily? Has your health started to improve? Have you dropped clothing sizes? Is it easier to bathe or do your hair? I loved looking at the graph of my weight loss. Watching that line going in a downwards direction was often more motivating than looking at a number on the scales every day. Also reminding yourself why you made your decision to have the surgery helps. Set yourself some staged goals (every time you lose another 20lbs, walk 3 kms, ...) & reward yourself with a new haircut or colour, a spa day, a new accessory or jewellery, etc. when you achieve them. How we feel when we’re full or hungry is different after surgery. One of my learnings was the difference between feeling full & having eaten enough. You don’t necessarily need to be full to have had bough to eat. I still ask myself do I need this bite or just want it. It was a bit of a come to Jesus moment for me. Seems like you’re meeting your water goals, increasing your activity & if you’re meeting your protein goals, you’re already ahead of the game. To begin you are really focussed on your food intake. You’re learning to eat in new ways & it does take a lot of effort to ensure you’re doing the right thing for your plan & for you. I’d like to say in time you won’t be consumed by what you eat (bad pun) but it does get easier. I know what foods I can eat & what ones my tummy doesn’t like all that much (like oily fish or char grilled meats). I’ve worked out what foods I don’t want to eat anymore (processed carbs) & what foods/drinks I’m happy to have less frequently (alcohol) or those I’ll have only on very rare occasions (desserts, cakes, etc.) I used to worry about how much I thought about food but then I realised I used to think a lot about food before surgery. Before surgery I was always thinking about what I could eat & when I could eat again. Now I think about good food choices, the nutritional benefits of a food & if I really need to eat. But it is so worth it.

I’m sorry you’re having a difficult time. The surgery, dietary changes, etc. seem to stir up a lot of emotions & sometimes we need support to work our way through them. It is likely anxiety that is driving your desire for food, your poor sleep patterns, emotions, etc. Finding a therapist or counsellor to talk to will be very beneficial. The surgery can help you lose weight but you have to be in the right emotional place to understand how & why you eat & to make the changes to take full advantage of the surgery. We do lose at our own rate. Some more slowly, some more quickly. Both are right because every pound you lose is a win. Your 13lbs loss is great. I lost about 7kgs (about 15lbs) in my first 4 weeks so pretty similar.

Before surgery, I often boredom ate on weekends. I’d get all my chores done in the morning & then nibble to fill in time in the afternoon. It can be a hard habit to break. Finding something to occupy your mind or distract you for a while as @Hopscotch suggested does help. I’ll read. Watch a documentary. Play a game on my iPad. Check my social media. I also ask myself why do I want to eat? Am I really hungry? I also make myself wait 15 to 30 minutes &/or have something to drink to break the desire for something to eat.

Oh, yeah, those first experiences of dumping, foamies, etc. are unforgettably bad. Every plan is different but one week after surgery & on to the soft food stage seems very fast. I mean your tummy is still healing. You have a lot of internal stitches & staples there. Most of us go to purées after liquids then soft food over about six weeks. Maybe you need to go more slowly too. Some people do need to go through the stages more slowly just like some can progress through them more quickly. Depends upon how you heal & what your tummy can tolerate. My vitamins used to make me nauseous every day & I’d experience that weird saliva vomit several times a week. It’d come on me really quickly. No pain thank goodness just oh no bathroom now. You’ll have to learn what feeling full or feeling that you’ve had enough feels like to you now - it will be different. What feeling hungry is like will be different too (real hunger versus the head hunger that used to drive us to eat). Eat slowly. It helps the message get through that you’ve had enough. If we eat too quickly, it’s often too late when the message gets through that we’ve had enough. Good luck.

I know we all say to follow your plan but you have to make allowances for how your body reacts. One of the reasons your team suggests to reintroduce carbs maybe for the fibre but you can find fibre in vegetables & fruit. Or you can add soluble, non swelling, fibre to your diet. (I added Benefibre.) It’s better not to eat something that makes you vomit cause you’re just bringing up a lot of the calories & nutrients your body needs that you just ate. If you’re concerned have a chat with your dietician/nutritionalist.

Congrats, Jake. 🏆 And, man, look at your thighs. Phwaaa! We in your fan club have been ogling your arms for a while now as you know Jake, but OMG. 😁

The closer you are to goal, the more slowly you lose but in saying that you may have reached your balance & are in maintenance. That is the calories you are consuming are equal to the calories you are burning. To lose more you either have to consume less or increase your activity. Whatever weight you end up at has to be sustainable. Many bariatric patients end up at a weight that is higher than what they may have initially wanted. But they’re at a weight they can maintain while still enjoying & living the healthy & happy life they want. It’s fine to eat several smaller meals across a day or graze on three meals as long as caloric intake is constant. It just has to work for you. I eat three meals and about 4 nutritious snacks every day because I can’t physically consume enough in three meals to maintain - my restriction kicks in & I can’t eat any more. My total caloric intake sits at about 1200 calories a day. Another path you could look at is Dr Matt Weiner’s videos & books about resetting your basal metabolic rate which could enable you to lose more if you are interested. The intent is to reset your metabolism to run faster so your body burns more calories just to function. I guess the big questions are do you want to have to take appetite suppressants for the rest of your life to maintain at a lower weight? Do you want to live your life consuming fewer calories &/or maintaining a higher activity level to stay at a lower weight? You may say yes to either of these questions & that’s fine. It’s your decision. Congrats on your weight loss & good luck whatever you decide.

My program was no bread, pasta or rice or any other processed carbs as well. My program was strongly protein first then nutritionally dense foods. Processed carbs like bread, pasta, etc. are generally considered nutritionally poor. But there are lots of different plans about. For the first couple of months all I could eat was my protein & maybe a couple of beans or a small cauliflower floret at a meal. I couldn’t imagine even trying to eat a heavy carb that swells in your small tummy & fills you up more. Actually that could be why you have the foamies - too much in your tummy & it’s literally oozing up as the bread, rice, etc. swells. I’m two years out & I still can’t eat bread, pasta or rice. They sit like dead weights in my tummy. Mashed potato is the same. Doesn’t bother me though. If I want pasta I eat fresh zucchini noodles. I tried plant based pasta but it filled me up too quickly. I was able to eat rolled oats from very early out & still eat them very regularly. I also can eat multi or whole grain crackers (vita wheat multi grain crackers & wholegrain rice crackers). I eat these as a snack. Everyone is quite individual in what they are able or unable to tolerate. What I can eat successfully, you may not. What you can’t tolerate now, you may be able to eat successfully in time. The carbs may just be too heavy for your tummy to handle at nine weeks out.

As you progress you will be able to eat more. And don’t worry, you won’t have stretched your tummy. It takes a lot of concentrated effort of eating large portions & over a long period of time to stretch your tummy. If you eat until you have had enough or until your restriction kicks in you’re fine. As you’re male & taller, you’re dietary requirements will be a different from mine. Plus I’m in maintenance. I do snack several times a day but when I was losing I snacked on yoghurt or cheese initially then added fruit. I alternated eggs with rolled oats for breakfast. I love rolled oats. Lots of fibre, a good carb, & if you make it on milk you boost the protein content. You could even add protein powder as well though I didn’t. I eat it with blueberries now - yum. I try to ensure everything I eat is of nutritional benefit to me & not empty calories. I eat multi/whole grains twice a day, fruit twice a day, vegetables 2 or three times, dairy 2 or 3 times, meat &/or seafood twice a day to reach 50-60g protein & eat <30g of fats (salad dressings are my weakness). Some serves are the recommended serving size but others are less it just depends. Some people find they have no issues eating a wide range of foods but others discover their tummies just don’t tolerate certain things. I can’t do char grilled meats or vegetables, mashed potatoes, oily fish, fatty meats, breads, rice or pasta. Some fruits make my restriction kick in early (like mango & apple skin 🙁). I don’t do beans often because they give me terrible wind. Lentils are fine & I’m going to try some barley soon. I can eat lots of lettuce - it’s a slider food for me so my salad lunches are huge 😁. It’s a bit of trial & error to work out what you can tolerate especially in the first few months. Don’t give up though, you may be fine with something a few months on. Check with your dietician if you are unsure. Plus they should be able to give you a list of foods you could eat &/or a template diet plan to work from. Good luck.

Earlier this year I had a day when I truely felt ravenous. I was craving processed carbs - bread specifically which I don’t eat anymore. It was weird. Took me most of the day before I realised it was just like my old pre menstrual craving day. A couple of days before my period I would often be hungry & nothing would satisfy except lots of bread. But I’m menopausal, haven’t menstruated for years & haven’t had the craving for that long either but it was the exact same feeling. Weird. The next day I was fine. Hormones can powerfully drive a lot of our desires. May not be what’s happening to you but you never know.

My surgeon asked what my goal weight was & I suggested 60kg & a BMI of about 23 which was the lowest weight I’d reach whenever I tried to lose in the past. I was always told I was a medium to large frame so the higher end of the BMI range seemed reasonable. He thought it was achievable too. Hit my goal at 6 months & then lost another about 12kg trying to find the balance in the first year of maintenance. I generally sit at 49kg now (+/-500g) though I sat at 48.5 (+/-500g) for a couple of months once I stabilised. The lowest weight I’ve reached was 47.9kg last month but that was an anomaly. Yes, I did look thin at first & family would comment I looked drawn but everything seems to have resettled & I look fine now. Funny thing is I actually have a smallish frame so I can carry my lower weight & BMI. I maintain at about 1200 calories but I’m not very active. Some days I feel hungry others I don’t. My hunger started coming back at about 18 months or so. My restriction is still active. Generally I eat to routine to allow for times I’m not hungry & also allow for days I am so I ensure I still eat about 1200 calories. I’m a big believer in finding the right balance for you. You have to be able to maintain your weight & be happy living your life. You may be able to maintain at a lower weight but are the costs (more restricted diet, increased activity) worth how it may restrict your life. For you, the answer may be yes but for someone else it may be no. Both answers are correct. A healthy, happy life should be more important than a number on the scale or the size label in your clothes. Of course those numbers can be incredibly empowering but the reality is they’re not as important as health & happiness. But that’s my opinion.

There are a couple of general adages to go by: 1: The more you have to lose the more you’ll lose in the beginning. 2: You will lose at the rate that’s best for you. Some people lose slowly, others more quickly but both are right. It’s not a race or a competition. 3: The closer you are to goal, the more slowly you’ll lose. Simple things we say but all are true. Honestly, the reason why this has been the most successful weight loss experience I’ve ever had (& I’ve done a lot: diets, clubs, medications, ...) is that I’ve actually stuck to the changes I made to my diet to lose the weight. In the past, I’d reach my goal & then I’d slowly but surely go back to how I used to eat & I’d start to gain again sometimes within a week or so. I’ve never stuck to it as I am now. That has been the difference for me. Good luck.

Well my Sunday night was a lot of fun. 🙄 How can one small gallstone cause so much pain?? Far out!! I thought I was dying. My tolerance for pain is pretty high but I was groaning, moaning, almost crying with the pain, rolling about on my bed, doubling over, stretching out, sweating, ... all from my single gall stone which decided to revolt & stage an escape. Thankfully it only lasted about 75 mins & not hours like some experience. I swear I was a minute from calling an ambulance when the pain quite rapidly reduced. After about 5 minutes I was pain free except from a vague discomfort that seemed to trace across & around my intestines. I wondered if I had actually passed it & the excruciating pain was the stone actually it forcing itself out of the bile duct & into my intestines. I’m glad I was pretty sure the pain was from the gall stone. Not knowing what was causing it would have been way worse & extremely frightening. I saw my GP this morning & she is sending me for an scan to confirm if the gall stone is still there or if I did pass it. (I forgot about the need not to eat before the scan otherwise I would have had it right after I saw her - blast.) If it’s still there, she’ll send me back to my surgeon to remove the stone hopefully endoscopically or smash it by ultrasound. The stone could have formed because of my weight loss, high bilirubin levels, being on HRT or I could have had it for years without knowing. If I hadn’t had a scan at 7 months post sleeve because my liver function was off & had high bilirubin levels, I’d never had known I had a gall stone.

So sorry you are experiencing this. Has anyone suggested other ways of you getting in nutrition in the meantime? My dad had a temporary feeding tube after his stem cell replacement & he couldn’t keep anything down. Sounds scary but it helped build up his strength again & he only had it in for a couple of weeks.

Surgery all over & home less one gall bladder. My surgeon used 3 of my sleeve incision sites & only added one new one. My blood pressure was very low after surgery. I spent 4 hours in recovery but it only got up to the 80s over 50s. Have to say the pain is worse than when I had the sleeve but not that bad. It feels more like I’ve pulled all my stomach muscles & some I didn’t know I had. I also had some gas shoulder pain which I didn’t have at all with the sleeve. Took an oxy last night (night 2) but nothing today for day 3. No issue sleeping on my sides but have to say sneezing or coughing is a b*tch. Just got to get the bowels moving again. 😁

I think the anaesthetic messes with your hair causing it to become frizzy & dry. Mine went like that too & I had to wait for it to grow out. I tried a couple of hair masques/treatments but ... 🤷🏻‍♀️ Hair oils can be helpful to smooth frizz & add lots of shine. I still like moroccan oil (not good for blondes apparently though) but any of the argon oils are good.

Your natural hair loss cycle accelerates due to the shock of the surgery & reduced calorie intake - excess stress on your body. I also think the oestrogen flush we have as we’re losing weight probably adds to it like the hair loss it causes in a lot of pregnant women or after childbirth. This is hair you would have usually shed over a longer period of time concentrated in a short time frame. But just like new hair grows when we shed at our usual rate, new hair is growing in while we lose at the accelerated rate. It’s just the new hair is growing at it’s usual rate so it’s going to take time to catch up. There’s nothing you can really do to stop it or slow it down. The hair you’re losing is already dead & ‘scheduled’ to fall out & be replaced. All the supplements can do is maybe make your new growth stronger. I just cut my almost waist length hair to shoulder length so the new growth wouldn’t take as long to catch up to the hair I had.

A stitch is like a crampy spasm that runs down your side. I used to get them when I ran (well that jogging thing I used to pretend to do). Best way to alleviate them is to stretch the muscle (raise the arm on the stitch side, stretch it out) & breathe slowly & deeply into the stretch. Wouldn't be surgical gas pain this far out from your surgery @lottie2021 but you could have excess digestive gas. When I had a abdominal scan at 9 months out I was apparently full of digestive gas though I wasn’t at all windy or bloated so 🤷🏻‍♀️. Maybe try some gas-X or similar - won’t hurt. Some surgeons use a long tethering stitch so it could be that pulling a bit as it’s dissolving. Guve your medical team a call to be sure.

You could possibly reduce your protein since you’re in maintenance & it’s very filling & up your vegetable intake. Daily requirement in the US is 0.8g protein per kilo you weigh so you could reduce your intake to about 50g. But check with your surgeon & dietician first. (My dietician said I needed a little more because of my age so I work at 1-1.2g protein per kilo of weight.) I can eat more now than I did at 6 months & more than I did at 12 months. To get my calories in to maintain (about 1200+/-) I feel like I eat all day long. I snack about 4 times a day on dairy, fruit & multi/whole grains in addition to my three meals. I also still take ages to eat: 30-40+ mins for breakfast & dinner & about an hour for lunch but it does enable me to eat a little more. Are you still leaving time between when you eat & drink? Have you tried plant based proteins? I believe they can be easier to digest & may not upset you or fill you as much. I really think you need to have a conversation with your surgeon & then your dietician because you’ve been struggling so much.

Is there a specific ingredient you can’t take? There are a few different types of laxatives that get you moving in different ways: softeners, bulk forming, emollient, saline, etc. Generally stool softeners are less harsh than laxatives but some of the other laxatives can be equally gentle. I’d avoid anything really strong to begin if you can because they can cause strong intestinal cramping or have ‘dramatic’ effects but if you’ve been constipated for several days you will need something stronger. Some people swear by smooth move tea. Always follow the instructions on the pack & observe the dosage recommendation. Try to keep on top of any constipation so it doesn’t become chronic. If I got to day 3 without a bm while I was losing, I’d take a softener before bed & things would be moving again the next morning. Now I take one if I get to day 2. Have you added a soluble, non swelling fibre to your diet? I took Benefibre. Good luck.

Some places are frustratingly difficult when it comes to protein rich, nutritionally sound food options that are not heavy on the fried or processed carbs. Ask for a bun free burger. All the salad fillings & the protein but no bread. A beef patty can be fattier than turkey but it will be ok to have occasionally. Do any do chicken or fish burgers? Any soups? Salads? Fish (ask for grilled)? Any all day breakfast places where you could have eggs? (I chose something off a breakfast menu for lunch recently - poached eggs, spinach, avocado, yum.) You could also take with you or purchase while you’re there, some protein rich snacks like protein bars, cheese, yoghurt, protein shakes, etc. so if your main meals are protein low, you can go for protein rich snacks. Good luck & enjoy your holiday.

l love it when children do that @starladustangel. Was it a ‘I can dress myself’ moment or just starting a new fashion trend? 😁 Can’t beat a striped T shirt dress. So easy to pop on, little ironing if any needed, pair of flirty sandals or runners & you’re set to go. PS - 4X to a M - well done you.

There are lots of different post surgery plans around. Some restrict certain foods that others allow. Some shorten the time at each stage others make them longer. But it’s always best that you follow your surgeon’s plan. Re eating red meat. This is very individual. I can eat red meat without issue, could from very early out. Others struggle with chicken (especially breast). I can’t do oily fish or mashed potatoes. Some can’t eat certain foods at the beginning but after several months they can. Some develop sensitivities or allergies like developing a lactose intolerance.

I think you call paw paw papaya & rockmelons cantaloupe.