Arabesque

This is a fabulous idea. Such a positive way to start your weight loss. Make it a regular thing. Once a month book in for some beauty treatments. Pampering always makes me feel fantastic. Put yourself first for a change. Good luck.

My pre existing tendencies for low blood pressure & hypoglycaemia occur more often. The low blood pressure drops which used to occur a couple of times a month now happen a few times a day. The hypoglycaemia used to happen a couple of times a year now about once a month but I have better control over that now. Sometimes i find it hard to find clothes that fit - they’re often a size or two too big. Reverse of what I used to experience. In Australia size 8 or XS is usually the smallest size stocked but I need an Australian size 4 or 6 or XXS. If they do have a size 6, I usually need the 4. It happened again with three things I tried on today - their smallest size is too big. Shopping online is frustrating cause I don’t know what size I’ll need.

I’m sorry you are going through this. What is your surgeon telling you as to why this is happening or what you can do to get past this? What are they doing to help you with your fluid & food intake (dehydration must be a real concern) or reducing the nausea? What tests have they done? If they haven’t, start demanding something be done. My multivitamins used to make me nauseous & I often threw up in the morning but after that I’d be fine. But that’s nothing like you’re going through. I’m also surprised by your surgeon saying 10lbs a week is slow. It wouldn’t t even be considered slow if you were in excess of 500lbs. At your starting weight it’s a pretty darn fast rate of loss especially at three months out. I never got that chew, chew, chew thing. Just chew & swallow naturally. At three months you’re fully healed. I hope you can get some answers & a solution soon. All the best.

I agree with @ms.sss, @BayougirlMrsS. The self tanner seems to be a subtle match to your naturally tanned skin & it’s a lovely tone. Those orange ones look so fake. Oh no, @GreenTealael. Why does this sort of thing always happen to your favourite pants, dress, shirt, etc. Sometimes if you spray hair spray on the paint stain it will help it come out in the wash if it’s a water-based paint. If you can’t get it out you can always say you bought them as hand painted leggings. 😁

I like to think this is a pretty supportive group. There have just been those odd few who make it uncomfortable or unpleasant for the rest of us. Have to admit I have reported a couple of posters. It’s those who don’t respect that others may have a different opinion or experience who annoy me most.

I’m presuming because I can still read your posts & respond it wasn’t me, Tim. 😆😆😆 Or maybe it doesn’t work that way & you just can’t see what I’m posting to you. Mmmm... thought provoking.

Did you start maintenance naturally i.e. you reached a point that you weren’t losing any more, or did you &/or your team decide it was time for you to to stop losing & maintain so you increased your intake? You may find it difficult to lose more if you had reached the point of equilibrium (your calories in equalled the calories your body burns) without changing what you were doing. To lose more you’ll have to reduce your calories to less than what you were consuming up to that time. If you stopped losing at say 1000 calories you will have to eat less than that &/or be more active to lose again. A reset may help in this situation. Remember, to maintain at a lower weight you will still have to consume less than you are eating now &/or be more active. It’s something to consider from a sustainability perspective - can you maintain this diet & activity level long term? Of course if you deliberately started maintenance, losing more should be easier. You’d have to go back to what you were eating before you increased your food intake to maintain. If you had been losing at say 1000 calories you should only have to reduce your intake back to 1000 calories to start to lose again. But I’m not an expert. Have a chat with your nutritionalist & your medical team. They’ll be your best source of information & guidance. Good luck.

Same. The loose skin wins over being obese everyday. And there’s always skin removal surgery if it’s excessive, impacts your activity or if you just don’t like it. A lot have it removed but I haven’t but I don’t have that much really & it doesn’t restrict what I can or want to wear. You do have age in your side - all that lovely, bouncy, elastic skin. How long you’ve been at your highest weight, genetics, all factor into how much loose skin you’ll have too. Congrats on your surgery.

Oh yeah. I experienced that too. I got up to go to the bathroom on day 3 just for a wee & suddenly ... Yes, embarrassing, totally unexpected & very dark & smelly. My friend was advised to wear disposal incontinence pants for that very reason. I wish my surgeon had told me would have saved the knickers & pyjamas from the bin. But he did advise to have Imodium on hand if I had frequent diarrhoea in the first week. Fortunately, I only had the one attack but my friend had diarrhoea like that for a week. Her surgeon said it’s a combination of the liquid diet & the gas with the surgery & it affects people differently. I had no gas pain but my friend had a lot which may explain why she had a lot of attacks. If it continues, contact your medical team. Dehydration is a concern post surgery. Good luck.

Losing weight is a pretty expensive process. Constantly having to update your clothes & underwear. It’s something you don’t really think about until it’s happening. Bras were the worst. I had back pain every time they got too big. In a year I went from a 18E to 12G to 1OF to 10E. Oh, & then there was the day I had to keep hitching up my knickers because they were practically falling off. 😆 Yes, St Vincent’s did very well from donations from my wardrobe. They’d get multiple bags every month. I was pretty fortunate as I had kept a lot of my smaller sized clothes. I would excitedly look forward to being able to wear a particular outfit but I was losing so quickly or the season would change & I’d miss my window to be able to wear it. Sigh! Stretchy pants can get old quickly when you’re wearing them everyday & if they’re shiny Lycra ones they can look too casual. I found a cotton & Lycra pair which looked a bit dressier with the right top or jacket. I also bought a couple of tube skirts (easy to take in too) & tunic style tops that would work with a belt as I’d drop a size. Same with a couple of dresses. I had a couple of events to go to while I was losing & was able to get away with one dress for three of the events with three size drops - God bless that belt ... though I had to buy a new one for the third wearing. Lol!

I think our restriction doesn’t come into effect as often as we progress because we’re more aware of what sets it off & avoid those things. For me if I eat or drink to quickly, don’t leave enough time between eating & drinking, eat or drink a little too much, etc. my restriction kicks in pretty fast. Generally, because I know what my portion size limits are, eat slowly, etc. there’s no restriction. I can guarantee my restriction will kick in every time I eat out because I can’t eat slowly enough. Wait staff wanting to clear away & I also seem to eat more quickly to be in sync with whoever I’m dining with.

Changes to your taste buds are very common. Your sense of smell changing is less common but it does occur. Certain smells become amplified & others turn your stomach. It didn’t happen to me after surgery but when I developed an intolerance to chilli & curry some years ago it did. They used to hold curry cook offs where I worked & the smell would permeate the office through the air conditioning. I’d have to leave as I felt like I’d throw up. It was like a warning to avoid that food as it would make me sick. Walking through or near food courts at shopping centres can be a nightmare. Unlike mine which is permanent, yours is temporary. It will get better for you.

The weight loss period is a great time to try new foods & new ways of cooking. Just remember your tummy can be pretty fussy for the first few months. It may turn its nose up at things you used to enjoy or you eat something one day without an issue but the next day your tummy says no way. I was told the reasons to avoid breads, rice & pasta during weight loss is that they are filling & are not nutritionally dense foods. When you’re only able to eat say 1/2 cup of food it’s best if all that food is nutritionally rich. Remember every meal should be protein first, then vegetables or fruit if you can. Honestly, I still follow this thinking. Cauliflower rice & zucchini noodles are great alternatives when you’re losing. When you get into maintenance try some the low carb high protein breads, soya bean or chick peas pastas, etc. I tried a small amount of the soya bean pasta a few months back out of curiosity but it sat heavily in my tummy. But that’s me you may be fine. I don’t miss breads, pasta, rice at all.

Can’t comment on any issues with taking blood thinners & the sleeve but there are a lot of way better blood thinners than Warfarin out there now. Years ago everyone was prescribed it but now you rarely hear about it. I also remember some of my mother’s friends who were taken off it saying they generally felt a lot better on their new prescriptions. If you have concerns contact the doctor who did your surgery. It’s the safest I also always check drug interactions & now ask where the medication is absorbed - stomach or intestines.

Oh, you should have worn the evening gown @ms.sss. Glam wear is always right even on a driveway. It would have brightened everyones’s day & the neighbours’s too. Mind you, you still looked great in your jeans & cap.

I disliked the protein shakes too & as soon as those first two weeks post surgery passed I never drank another one. I’m a big advocate of drinking yoghurt & wished i’d discovered them sooner. They can be a bit thick but you can dilute them with additional milk. Also bone broths are a good source of protein. Congrats on your surgery.

The portion size thing can be a bit freaky at first. I was only eating about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of food at 6 weeks. I couldn’t eat a egg. So 2 to 3 bites is pretty normal. Just make sure you’re waiting between bites. As you progress you will eat more. At 6 months I was up to about 1/2 cup. Now I eat about 3oz of protein & some vegetables or about a cup of thick soup, etc. It’s just under a recommended serving size. I ate using teaspoons & buffet forks & I put my food on tapas size plates & bowls or side plates. It’s like a psychological trick so you think you’re eating more.

The shock of the surgery & reduced caloric intake accelerates your natural hair loss cycle. You can’t do anything to stop it as shedding hair is a natural bodily process. All the supplements you could take may only help your regrowth not the hair you are losing. It’s already dead & has to be shed for new growth to occur. This hair loss cycle is something you just have to live through unfortunately even though it can be frustrating. It does slow back to your usual shedding rate. Just give it about 3 months +/-. As you’re losing you are regrowing hair. It’s just regrowing at it’s usual rate & isn’t as obvious as the loss. You don’t usually notice your regrow but it happens all the time. You may also eventually notice a change in the texture of your hair from the anaesthetic. It affects the regrowth. I noticed at about 12 months my hair had become more flyaway & finer.

My dietician recommended BioCeuticals Women’s essentials. You can get these in America now. They included all the vitamins I needed & that is even as a menopausal woman. Lol! Two easy to take capsules once a day. I took one in the morning & one at night to reduce the nausea they caused me (all vitamins give me nausea ☹️.) Initially I also took a vitamin D capsule but my levels were very good & I was able to stop taking it. I think they told me to take the vitamin D at first because I avoid the sun as I’m very fair. My blood work came back fine every time so I didn’t need additional iron, calcium, etc. as some do. Good luck with your surgery.

Yes, it is hard to reach your fluid goals to begin. My surgeon told me that. Same with meeting protein goals. He said as long as I was making a real effort to get there it was ok & I would make it. One thing to remember is that all liquids count towards your fluid goals so those two protein shakes are fluid too. I used to dilute my shakes (added 1/2 as much water again). They still tasted disgusting though! I also made very milky rolled oats for breakfast. One serve lasted me for days but the milk added to my fluid goals. Honestly, I was a big water drinker before surgery but now I sometimes find it almost too heavy. I still struggle to take more than a big mouthful or two at a time. Two things I discovered was I find it easier to drink from a glass than a bottle & warm drinks are easier than cold.

No judgement here at all. You have to really want to do this. You’ve probably read & heard it said the surgery is only a tool. It is. It’s like buying a treadmill or a gym membership. If you don’t use it, make the changes & take advantages of the benefits it affords, nothing will change & you won’t be as successful with your weight loss. It’s hard work. A lot of reflection on what you eat, why you eat & how you eat. There are permanent changes you will have to make. Some people make a lot of changes some only a few to reach a point where they are happy & the changes are sustainable in their lives. But changes have to be made. If you’re not ready yet, hold off having the surgery. If you’re not in a place to make the changes & reflect on your eating habits, surgery is not the right option for you at the moment. One day you may decide this is what you really want to do then you can grab all the opportunities the surgery gives you. Good luck whatever you choose to do.

Unfortunately they were created with the aid of my GHD curling wand. I always had straight hair then about 5 yrs ago I suddenly developed a kink at the back. So the back half of my head has a bit of a wave now but the front half is stick straight. So I spend time putting in some bends in the front to match the back. And yep, mine only last a couple of hours too. That’s the two hours in look. It was wavier. ☹️ Whoo hoo @kristieshannon. That dress reminds me of Sarah Jessica Parker’s naked dress in Sex and the City. First season I think. You look fab & your shoes are a perfect complement. Love the bunny slippers @Sophie7713.

Yep. A lot of oestrogen is stored in the fat in your body. As you lose weight the hormone is released into your blood stream. Younger women report heavier or more frequent periods. My menopausal symptoms disappeared. No hot flushes. Whoo hoo! But they came back when my weight stabilised. Congrats for getting into cooking again.

Make drinking yoghurt your snack. It counts as fluid as well as a food. I used to get 22g of protein from the 260ml bottle of Yopro. Sipped on it for a couple of hours. You can make your own by adding milk to yoghurt. Throw in some protein powder for an extra boost. (I also added Benefibre, collagen & silica.) Your protein shake is a fluid too so doesn’t necessarily count as one of your meals. Well, that was what I was told. Also told to include an egg in my diet every day if possible. Two eggs scrambled (added extra milk to make them very soft) was breakfast for three days & almost 10g of protein per day.

I had stress & diet related reflux for years before surgery & overproduced acid to complicate it more. I also can’t burp so that added to the fun. I had changed a lot of my diet to avoid stimulating the production & to not aggravate it over the years. I took Nexium only as needed. Post surgery my reflux is different. I take Nexium every day. I get more throat burning than before if I forget my Nexium or eat hard protein before bed. No bad taste in my mouth anymore. No strong cutting pain across my abdomen if I had too much acid in my tummy. (They thought I had stomach ulcers but no.) And my hiccups are way better. (They used to be horrendous. Painful at the time, sometimes causing vomiting & then painfully sore muscles the next day.) So the sleeve surgery has helped a lot & while I still have reflux it’s easily managed.