Arabesque

Your rate of loss is very personal. Some older women lose quickly, others more slowly. Just as some younger women lose slowly & others rapidly. You may have fewer or more stalls on the way. I do remember people used to say it was harder to lose weight as you get older. Not bariatric surgery related. Just one of those things people said. Old wives’ tale or fact I don’t know. In saying that, I was 2 months shy of 54 & menopausal when I had surgery. I reached my goal at 6 months (31kgs/68lbs) at a pretty average rate. I then lost more in the year after - just over an additional 11kgs/25lbs. A good friend, a year older & also menopausal was slower, about 9 months to lose a similar amount to reach her goal & she’s way more active than me. Good luck. You’ll get there in your time.

Not meeting or being close to your protein goal would be a contributing factor too. Protein is very good at satisfying hunger. What are you eating if you’re eating so little protein? Generally we’re told to eat our protein first at any meal than any vegetables, etc. you may be able to fit in. At purée stage, probably 80% of what I ate was protein. The rest was stock, gravy, mayonnaise, a few vegetable puréed in soup, etc. added to help purée the food. Scrambled eggs, milky rolled oats, mashed boiled eggs & mayo, yoghurt, puréed chicken breast with stock/gravy, puréed soup, ...

Exactly. While you’re losing weight, your body will burn the additional calories it needs to function from your fat stores. By the time you get to your goal weight & maintenance you will be consuming more. The point of maintenance is to reach a balance between the food we consume (calories) & the the calories the body needs to burn to function. This will keep our weight more stable. The reason we were all overweight, & likely unhealthy , before is because we ate way more calories than our body needed to function. The excess was stored as fat. The benefit of eating healthy nutrient rich food is that we’re providing our bodies with all the nutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.) it needs to function effectively & optimally. Before we likely ate a lot of empty calories from foods that provided little in the way of useful nutrients & an excess of what we didn’t need & cause health issues - high fat, high sugar, high salt, etc. Caffeine is a false energy as it’s a stimulant not a source of calories for your body to burn. It has no nutritional value. That’s why it’s seen as a drug albeit a legal one. Good luck with your surgery.

I’m not a medical person but it seems odd they’d prescribe Celebrex as it’s a NSAID which we’re not supposed to take after surgery (damage to the stomach lining). Tylenol doesn’t have blood thinning qualities so it’s the only over the counter pain med you can really have pre & just after surgery. But it does cause issues if you’re diabetic. Ask your medical team why you have to take them before you go to hospital? Any benefits would have worn off after 3-4 hours & I don’t think any of them are cumulative. I didn’t have to take anything. The hospital provided all the meds I needed pre & post surgery but I’m in Australia so it may be different here. Good luck with your surgery.

I put on a lot of weight when I hit menopause too so again when my hormones went haywire. In the intervening years I bounced between 60 & 75kg. Menopause begins & I’m suddenly 91.

Aaah, The vagaries of the scale. Mine can weigh more or less depending upon which tile it’s sitting on in my bathroom. My mother’s weighs about a pound more than mine. Wearing different shoes & clothing can give you a different result too. My doctor made me take off my skirt once because it was leather so heavier & they were concerned I was losing too much. Track your weight at home. Weigh yourself at the same time, in underwear or naked, at the same time, post or pre bowel movement. As long as you’re consistent. There are some easy to use apps to record your weight. Some fancy scales will send your weight & other body stats to your phone. As long as your trend is going down you should be fine. Did your nutritionalist say anything about the different weights?

My taste buds changed after surgery. Lots of things I used to enjoy tasted disgusting. I used to love vegetables but all I could tolerate for months was cabbage & cauliflower. Some people say their sense of smell went into overdrive too & the smell of some foods turned their stomachs. But it does go back to as it was in a couple of months. Because I cut out a lot of sugar, artificial sweeteners, etc. out of my diet, I lost my desire for it. Foods that were sweet became excessively sweet & inedible. A very good thing for me. Best thing that happened for me was that I was lactose sensitive (milk bad, yoghurt & ice cream risky, cheese ok) prior to surgery thanks to a lovely little parasite that had lived in my lower tummy for decades. Post surgery, I have no issues with lactose. The surgery did what multiple high dose antibiotics couldn’t - got rid of the parasite. It was cut out. Yay!! It’s a perfect time to break old eating habits & try new foods & recipes. Don’t give up on something if you can’t tolerate it the first time. Give it another try in a couple of weeks. Our tummies can be pretty picky for a while.

First congratulations on your surgery. In weeks 5 & 6 post surgery many of us on on soft food (minced meats, fish, eggs, rolled oats, slow cooked casseroles/stews, chunkier soups, etc.). But there are many different programs. What did your surgeon recommend you should be eating at this stage? Do you have a nutritionalist? If you don’t, ask your surgeon for a recommendation to one who has experience with bariatric patients. They should be able to recommend foods you could be eating for breakfast, lunch & dinner & offer guidelines for a healthy, balanced eating plan. At weeks 5 & 6 I was eating about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of soft food three times a day & a drinking yoghurt. I was advised to aim for 60g of protein each day. Again some surgeon’s recommend more. I wasn’t given a caloric goal either just the portion size recommendation & that was a plenty big enough serving size. It can be challenging to find foods that taste nice & your tummy will tolerate the first couple of months. I worked out a fairly simple rotation of food I could eat & then slowly added new things. Plus if you’re like I was & you aren’t hungry or interested in food it can be even harder. I just made myself have something. Two bites is better than none in regards to getting your nutrients in. 32lbs is not an ‘only’ amount. That’s averaging about 6lbs a week. Pretty darn good. Celebrate every pound you lose.

Like @ms.sss, I’m not a standard case either. I’m the weight I was when I was 12 which is the year before high school for us. It’s also the age I began menstruating & from when I started to put on weight - about 5kg a year & I was exercising more & eating less. Prior to that I was not overweight. Damn hormones! The calculator was way out for me too. It gives results on the 60 - 65% average weight loss stats. But it is guide as to what you could expect. PS - Pretty amazing cake @Crick.

I never got the pouch thing. Isn’t it still your tummy just smaller? Kangaroos have pouches to raise & carry their young. A pouch is like a pocket, a sporran or a backpack to store extra things. Let’s ban the word pouch. BTW - Moist never bothered me. I use ‘journey’ a lot here - sorry.

So glad things are going better for you. It’s great news. Congrats on your progress too. Standing, walking, being sick less often - terrific. It’s all coming together for you.

Perfectly usual to have questions & to start feeling nervous when you’re close to your surgery date. My bmi was 35 when I met with my surgeon. No pre existing conditions, except for sore feet, but they likely wouldn’t have been far away. By 6 months I was at my goal of 60kg & a bmi of 23. At 12 months I was 50kgs. At almost 2 years, I fluctuate between 48.5 & 49.5kgs (bmi 19). I struggled to find my sweet spot in maintenance. I just couldn’t seem to consume enough to balance what I was burning. My metabolism has slowed a little & I’ve been pretty stable this year & I’m eating less than in the first 12 months of maintenance - about 1200 calories. And no, I’m not all bony. I was always told I had a medium/large frame but I actually have a small/medium frame. And I look like me. People I haven’t seen in years & only knew me as obese, still recognise me. It’s still my face just with a lot less fat. I have cheekbones & only one chin now. 😁 This is my story. You’ll find some have similar stories & experiences & others quite different. It sounds like you’re motivated to find success on this program which is a big part of the battle. The doctors will give you the average results. Like in years 2 & 3 many have bounce back weight of about 10lbs & most only lose 60-65% of the weight they have to lose. But with all averages, the stats include those who do better & those who don’t do as well. They also include those who chose not to lose as much to better fit the lifestyle they want or don’t lose as much for other reasons like physiological issues, medications, etc. But all have lost weight which is a win. Good luck on your journey.

it’s surgery & all surgeries have some risk for possible complications but generally they are pretty low for sleeve surgery. The best person to ask about these is your surgeon. You’re having surgery & are changing how you partially digest food so there are going to be some changes for you & your body to get used to. Generally, my surgery went well. No real issues or problems at all. Little or no pain & I happily looked after myself after surgery. And there ‘s been no significant issues since. My energy levels were low for some time after surgery. It was complicated by low blood pressure & some hypoglycaemia. I always had a tendency towards these so nothing new. They just happen more frequently now. Also it was discovered after my surgery that I have Gilbert’s which explained why I always picked up bugs more easily than others & why I take longer to recover. Low blood pressure (postural hypotension) can be an issue for some but it generally passes. I vomited a few times in the months after surgery. But it wasn’t a retching vomit. More gentle. All but once was from my multi vitamins. They made me very nauseous but vitamins usually did in the past. Was just worse but I don’t take vitamins anymore. I think I had diarrhoea once. Constipation was the bigger problem but I managed that with powdered fibre, added fruit & vegetables as soon as I could & took a stool softener if I reached about 3 days without a bowel movement. It improved a lot in maintenance. I had stress related gerd which was also aggravated by certain foods before I had surgery but I had already cut those foods out of my diet anyway (no fatty or overly rich creamy foods, rarely had carbonated drinks, no spicy food). I took Nexium only as needed. Now the gerd is still there but different. As long as I don’t have a solid protein before I go to bed (liquid is fine ) & take a Nexium every morning I’m fine. A liver function scan at about 6 months did reveal a very small gallstone but they think it may have been there for ages. Didn’t & still doesn’t cause any issues. Food intolerances are pretty individual. I’m not good with potato or pasta - sit like a lump in my tummy. But no loss. I choose to remove these from my diet anyway & only tried them out of curiosity a few months back. Some struggle with sweet things others with fatty. As for pasta & your family. There’s a lot of high protein vegetable pastas out there which many don’t have an issue with in maintenance. It was what I unsuccessful tried. If I want ‘pasta’ I use fresh zucchini noodles. While losing, just avoid the pasta & eat the sauces or just the inside of filled pastas. Portion size may be more challenging. Only 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup for a while slowly increasing. I have about a cup now but it ‘s really about what is a recommended serving size. My friends & I always enjoy having a ‘few’ drinks. Now I have a glass of something & that’s it. I sip on the one drink for an hour or so. Hasn’t changed our relationship or how we socialise at all. They say more for them to drink. 😁 We’re all individuals & how we respond to the surgery & how how body reacts to the change to our digestive system is very personal. Much is tied to your pre existing conditions or tendencies like mine. Sure some will be similar but really it is your journey & experience. My surgeon & his team & my GP are wonderful. I can’t complain about their follow-up & ongoing care & support in the almost 2 years post surgery. Between my surgeon’s blood tests, my GP would ask for one. If I had unusual for me symptoms they’d order scans & additional tests. It’s how they picked up my Gilbert’s. Nothing was ever found to be wrong it was just how I was reacting to the changes & the additional hormones & such being excreted as a lost fat. For example my previously fine cholesterol level sky rocketed while I was losing then went back to normal. Plus they shared all information about my health with me & each other. Having a supportive medical team behind you can not be undervalued. I haven’t regretted my surgery a single day. Sorry for the long post. Good luck.

We’re all different. Some get their energy back quickly. Some don’t . I didn’t. No energy for ages. Low blood pressure & sugar drops. Even going to do my grocery shopping was exhausting. I’d start off fine & then 5 /10 minutes later I’d hit a wall: jelly legs, cold sweats, light headedness, narrowed vision. Would have to sit down, sip an electrolyte drink or a cup of tea before I could think about moving again. It got better. How long it takes you will depend on your body. Good luck.

It’s really difficult to avoid all the artificial sweeteners. They seem to be in everything these days. I wanted to reduce or kill any craving for sweet/sugar after surgery. My way of overcoming them was to prepare & cook most of my food myself. It was the only way I could control the ingredients. I don’t use sugar alternatives either. I know there’s sweeteners in the yoghurt & protein bars I buy but that’s really it. I generally avoid sweet things except for naturally occurring sugars like in fruit & I do put a little bit of honey in my rolled oats to help offset the odd hypoglycaemic episodes I can have in the morning (I used to have them occasionally when I was slim in the past too). As soon as I passed the fluid only stage post surgery I never had another protein shake. I made a lot of soup as I went through the post surgery stages. Now if I want something dessert-like I make chia pudding (lactose free milk, chia seeds, vanilla extract). Cooking your own food my be a way for you to not consume the sweeteners you want to avoid. I like to cook so it wasn’t an issue for me. These 6 months will allow you to do lots of research into suitable alternatives. In Australia we don’t have the 6 month pre requisite. I had three weeks between the first appointment with my surgeon & my surgery. This is bit of a thing for me so I apologise if I sound preachy. There’s a lot of interesting research about now about the side effects of sweeteners & the disadvantages. Sure there’s lots of research showing replacing sweeteners with sugar will cause weight loss but of course it will. Going from consuming 100s/1000s of calories in non diet soft drink to 0 calories by drinking diet sodas will result in some weight loss. Dig deep & you will find some research that’s now showing sweeteners can cause weight gain. Good luck.

I did & still do the same thing as @ms.sss. Though now I have a bite of protein, wait 4-5 minutes before my next protein bite but will have a bite or two of vegetables in between. The asking do I really need the next bite as against just wanting it can be very helpful in reflecting on why you eat. Never be afraid to put your cutlery down & sit back or even to push your food away. I also ate using teaspoons or buffet forks so only small mouthfuls. In those first couple of months I’d take 20-30minutes to eat 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup of food. Now it takes me about 30 - 40 minutes to eat a cup. But I take 60+ minutes to eat one of my giant salad bowls which are predominately lettuce. If I eat to quickly, my restriction kicks almost straight away & there’s no way I can eat another bite for quite a while. It does take a while to learn how your digestive system now works: all its signals, triggers, likes & dislikes. Then after you think you’ve worked it out it will change again especially in those first few months. Give your medical team a call. Better to be safe than sorry. Good luck.

This has been becoming more frequent since the surgery so nothing new & not an uti. Never had or have an issue with coughing or sneezing incontinence - not having given birth definitely helps with delaying that. OMG it may be an age thing. 🤣 I always was a frequent night pee-er. Partially because I drank more water at night after I got home from work as I was often so busy I didn’t have the opportunity to drink or pee much during the day. Not uncommon for me to go 4-6 times a night & more frequently during the day as well now. It’s just weird. But I do like @JDLane’s suggestion about not having weight pressuring my bladder anymore. Maybe I just have to relearn my signals. Maybe, my bladder doesn’t empty as well because of a slight prolapse??? Looks like a chat with my GP is needed. Thanks everyone. 🙂

It’s the best isn’t it. Did you keep looking at the size tag cause you just couldn’t believe it? I put on my ballet costume from when I was 12 & it ft. So freaky. Blew my mind cause I wasn’t an overweight child. Congratulations. You’re looking fabulous. And I think it’s time we reclaimed our bat wings. 😁

I’ve never talked about, read about or worried about my bowel motions as much as I have since surgery. Lol!! Yes, yoghurt can help. I also added benefibre to my diet every day. I took a coloxyl tablet if I got to two or three days of no BMs. I didn’t want it to get past that third day: so much harder to get things moving again & not pleasant. I was very happy when I became more regular again once in maintenance. I was eating more in general & eating more carbs (whole & multigrain only). Do I still get constipated? Yep. Today is two days without action. I’ll take a coloxyl tablet tonight. Sometimes I know why I’m constipated: didn’t have enough water, didn’t have all my fruit & vegetables. Sometimes I have no idea. ( I have no idea why this time.)

Initially I was every day - same time, just underwear. Like @Jaelzion, i recorded my weight everyday but I didn’t let the little fluctuations bother me either. They’re normal regardless of your weight. I just watched the trend - loved the graph in the app I used. I continued daily weighing the first year of maintenance because I kept losing & I was monitoring that closely. Now at almost 2 yrs out, I’m not as regulated. I weigh myself 4 or 5 times a week. I have a 1 kg window I fluctuate within & I’m okay if that’s where my weight is sitting. I didn’t get on the scale this morning as I’m a bit constipated so I knew the number on the scale wouldn’t be truly accurate. I agree with @The Greater Fool. We have to find what works for us & then stick with it. I didn’t want to be on a ‘diet’ for the rest of my life. I’ve made changes & this is just how & what I eat now. But I also know myself & I weigh to keep myself accountable. In the past, I wouldn’t go anywhere near a scale if I thought I’d put on weight. Ostrich - sand! And then the reality would be a slap in the face when I eventually did. Plus, seeing what I weigh now is really motivational.

Hey Silly Kitty. Lovely to hear from you again. Love those pink leggings - very Spring. We’re in lockdown again in Brisbane. Just three days but everyone’s gone crazy at the supermarkets again. I don’t understand it. Didn’t a lot of people just do their weekly shop on the weekend?? How can they be out of food already? Anyway, my friend’s daughter just got her hen’s do in. She had an 80s theme - that family lives a good dress up opportunity. The bride’s friends bought her a just lovely 80s wedding dress plus the ubiquitous floral headdress, synthetic fabric, leg of mutton sleeves & lace inserts. 😂 The Princess of Wales has a lot to answer for. No 80s for me. Been there. Wore the clothes. But my dress did have shoulder pads - coincidence though.

Weren’t you told you would need to take multi vitamins from after your surgery? Depending upon how well your body absorbs vitamins & minerals from your food once you’re in maintenance, you may need to take them for ever. I stopped taking them about 9 months after surgery & 3 months into maintenance with my doctors approval. My 3 monthly blood tests continuously show I have very good levels so I have no need to reintroduce any supplements. If your levels are good, it’s a waste of time (& money) taking them. Plus a lot of vitamins have negative side effects if you have excess levels in your body.

There’s some research coming out now saying artificial sweeteners actually encourage weight gain. The body tastes sweet but there’s no calories & no ‘sugar’ (glucose/fructose/etc.) which it does need in small amounts. Your body reacts by storing additional calories you consume as fat. That’s the basic explanation. So all those so called diet sofas & other no added sugar foods are actually making you gain weight. If I don’t let the bubbles go out or at least reduce a lot from the tonic in my occasional G&T, my restriction kicks in. Plus I get the hiccups. I drink a large glass of sparkling water everyday but I pour the glass in the morning & let it sit for ages till it’s practically flat. I usually don’t finish it until mid to late afternoon. It’s just a change from plain water which I also drink through out the day.

I used to take BioCeuticals vitamins (specifically women’s essential but they have ones for men, Tim). They’re in capsule form so pretty easy to swallow - only two a day. They’re considered a practioner-only product so high quality. I believe you can get them in America now. They contain no sugar, sugar alternatives or sweeteners unlike chewy multivitamins so no calories. Another win.

It is a very individual thing & depends on how far a long the journey you are. My surgeon was a no to rice, bread & pasta. He was a eat your protein first, then if you can some vegetables (not starchy ones), then fruit. Carbs of any sort were way down on his list. In maintenance I added more carbs but only whole or multigrain ones. I eat quite a lot of dairy every day. I still avoid rice, pasta & bread at almost 2 years out. Mainly because if I can only eat a bare cup of food it’s going to be all nutritionally dense food. I was not going to fill or partially fill myself with empty calories. I did try soya bean pasta because it’s more nutritionally rich but it sat quite heavily in my tummy. Ugh! But this is me. You may be different & can tolerate it. There are lots of people who successful eat high protein low carb bread, pasta & rice in maintenance. I avoid fatty foods. I avoid as much sugar, artificial sweeteners & sugar alternatives as I can (it’s challenging). I generally don’t do so called low calorie, low fat, low carb, no added sugar, diet products. Don’t really do take away - three times I think in two years (chicken & cashews & steamed gyoza - ate the filling only) while with friends & no fast food at all. I cook my own food from scratch most of the time. That way I control the ingredients & how they’re prepared & cooked. I do eat out at restaurants but am very selective of what I eat. Though, I avoid sweet foods i.e. desserts, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ... I did eat some fruit cake at Christmas & had a little bit of dessert but only then. I can eat them without issue but they’re danger foods for me (as are bread, pasta & rice). If I start eating them I know I’ll start gaining again. I don’t really miss them. There may be food you can’t tolerate well. There may be foods you decide not to eat anymore. There may be foods you allow yourself as an occasional treat or are a regular inclusion in your diet. It’s about working out what’s right for you to maintain a healthy weight & a happy life.