Arabesque

I was only told to keep my protein at 60g a day (1.2g per kg of weight) & to slowly increase my calories until I reached an equilibrium. My dietician just reviewed my diet every month for about 4/5 months after I hit goal. She suggested a couple of alternative food choices, like adding some beans, lentils & some powdered milk to enrich my milk if I wanted but said I was on the right track. I added a second serve of whole/multi grain to my diet. Increased my vegetable intake. Added a second serve of fruit & slowly increased my serving sizes - generally still under the recommended serving size. Avoid sugar, sugar alternatives & artificial sweeteners where possible & no bread, rice, pasta or potato. I eat about 1200 calories give or take now. That’s me. You may need more calories to maintain the weight you’re happy at. I don’t take any supplements or vitamins. My blood work is very good. Honestly, I found finding the right balance difficult & kept losing for about 12 months. My medical team was concerned but were happy with my weight & that I had finally stabilised at my last appointment in January. If you would rather have more guidelines, give your nutritionalist a call. At the very least ask if they could review your diet or provide you with some sample meal plans. I don’t have appointments with mine anymore but I can contact her whenever I need. Good luck & congratulations on your weight loss.

What a lovely pxt @ANewJourneyAwaits. You’re gorgeous. Congrats on your weight loss so far too. Went to a launch of some new labels at my favourite shoe store last night. Crab meat finger sandwiches (not for me though) & Pol Roger champagne. It was a really good night. 😁 Wore my new low rise Vegan leather pants & gold sandals from one of the new labels. Got a special preview earlier in the week before anyone else did & they let me buy them. Yes! Just had to fib a little & say I bought them just before the launch event started.

OMG. I didn’t see that at all. Now I’m glad the piranha is smothered in gravy & I can’t see him. 😆😆 Didn’t anyone make you rissoles when you lived in Australia? They are the best. Basically a meatball but in a rich brown gravy not a tomato sauce. You just got to get those crunchy bits around the edges. Also great warmed & smushed on white bread with some of the gravy or a little BBQ sauce drizzled on top. Like a mince roll. Please tell me you had one of those when you lived here.

This is very normal. You’ve had a major surgery & you’re consuming very little. Remember the old adage of resting to heal/recover. That’s what your body is doing at the moment. Plus it’s working pretty darn hard burning just not what your consuming to function but also your fat stores. Some of us also have another drop of energy a few months a long. I was so tired I almost fell of my treadmill around month 4. Best advice is to listen to your body. If it says rest, rest. I never slept as well as I did after surgery. Oh & nana naps are the best. Congrats on your surgeries.

Oh, that last pound or two are the hardest. So close yet so far. I sat just off my goal for almost three weeks so I feel your pain. It’s like those numbers are just taunting you. Catwoman7 is also right. A real good bowel movement or a night peeing can see the scale drop a pound or so. (Sorry if tmi.) Try to look at your plateau as if your body is just sorting itself out & finding its new ... I so want to say its new normal but that phrase has been ruined forever. I know it’s easy to say that but it is sort of what’s happening. Your body is working out what it needs to function & maintain at a weight in relation to your calorie intake & activity level. It could just be your natural fluctuation around the weight your body is happy at. Mine fluctuates about 1kg (2.2lb) so similar to yours. Congratulations on your weight loss. It’s a wonderful achievement

Absolutely fabulous. Amazing progress.

As Catwoman7 said, lactose intolerance can occur after surgery for some people so that could be the cause. it could also be the general ‘richness’ of dairy products & your tummy being sensitive & finicky at this stage. It’s hard as dairy is an easy way of getting in protein - yogurt, milk, cheese - in these first months. I eat a lot of dairy & my tummy gurgles & groans something shockingly when I do but it’s just me now. Try some lactose free dairy products and/or some low fat versions and see how you go. Or just give it a miss for a little while & then try it again. You may be someone who just struggles to begin but then are fine. Good luck & congrats on your surgery.

I knew it would be coming. I know it does happen to us all but I’m still annoyed that the honeymoon period of increased metabolism, lack of hunger, etc. seems to be ending for me. First, I noticed a little scale creep. I fluctuate between 48.1 & 49.1kg & have for a few months now. Well I did. Now I fluctuate between 48.5 & 49.5kg. Now I know that‘s only 1/2 a kg (about 1 pound) but I also know I’ve had no change to my diet, calorie intake, activity & it’s been doing this for a month. Then two weeks ago, I felt really hungry. All day long. For three days in a row. On the second day, I realised the hunger was just like my old hormonal (pmt) craving for carbs specifically bread. It was surprising because I haven’t had a desire for bread for almost two years & secondly I’ve been menopausal for 5 yrs so no monthly hormonal fluctuations to even drive this hunger for me anymore. Thank gracious there’s no bread in my house otherwise I swear I could have devoured a whole loaf in one day & still not felt full. I did weaken & have some extra multi grain crackers though. Sigh. My sleeping has also become bad again. One of the unexpected benefits of the surgery was actually sleeping at night - anywhere from 7 to 9 hours a night. I used to average about 5 very broken hours so being able to sleep was wonderful. Now, my sleep is broken again, with 3+ hours at a time of just lying there awake. Of well, seems like I’m about to embark on my next battle. This one to continue to keep the weight off but without the help of my big guns (fast metabolism & no hunger). Have to work out additional ways to fortify my borders.

Thank you everyone for your support, common sense advice & your your kind words. As some of you know, it took me about a year & an additional loss of 10kg to find my maintenance sweet spot. And I was eating a lot - several snacks a day just to get the calories in so I wouldn’t loose more. Now I’m eating a little less & on about 1200 calories a day. I have a little wriggle room with calories I could cut but I wouldn’t really want to go below that 1200. I’d be back where I spent most of my life basically starving myself. Eating only once or twice a day kills your metabolism & I did that a lot from age 13. It was my default. And I don’t want to live like that again. Yep, I do have some wriggle room with my weight but I like my weight where it is. Though I’m a lower BMI I’m not bony by any stretch. And believe me I still have ‘fleshy’ thighs. But finding clothes that fit can be a bit challenging at times. Been watching Dr Matthew Weiner’s videos about the end of the honeymoon period & his reset diet. I have his book too so I’ll be doing some reading on the weekend. 🙂 Fingers crossed I can quickly discover what will work for me in this phase.

You just had pretty major surgery so nausea, some pain & not feeling the best is to be expected. It’s all new & different, you don’t know what to expect or how the surgery will affect you so it’s okay for you to have doubts & be concerned about your choice. By day 4/5 I was off my pain meds & apart from feeling tired & a bit washed out I felt ok. I was a bit tender around the incisions but that was to be expected. I live alone & was perfectly fine looking after myself. I did have an extra day in hospital because my back went into spasm from a pre existing condition & that was way, way worse than any post surgical side effects. You’ll be fine. Just take it easy while you’re getting over the surgery & healing. Follow your surgeon’s plan & instructions. If anything does seem unusual, not right, like unmanageable pain, contact your medical team straight away.

Made rissoles yesterday afternoon. I used to make them with my mum as a child. Had them with a brown gravy made with all the bits left in the pan. Gotta love comfort food.

Is that blue cheese I see dotted in your salad? So good. Have you tried letting a wedge melt on the top of your steak before serving. Delicious.

Congratulations. And, yes, you most definitely would have needed those new clothes. Looking great. Whoo hoo!

How awful for you. Dumping is not as common with the sleeve but it does happen. For many it’s sugar or fat that will set it off. I’ve been fortunate & not had a full dumping attack. I had the symptoms just not too badly & it passed pretty quickly. For me it wasn’t sugar or fat that caused it but a protein bar that I’d often eaten without issue both before & after. Don’t know why it upset me that day. I sometimes said my tummy was like a cantankerous two yr old who throws tantrums. I think my dumping experience was just another tantrum. Give yourself a break from the foods you ate that day & the wine then try them again separately. That’s the only way to see if it was a particular food or even the rose that upset you or just your cantankerous tummy.

Scrambled eggs were a saviour during the purée stage for me. I’d scramble two eggs with a little more milk than I’d normally use. Make sure it’s a soft scramble. Two eggs would be three meals for me so on the second & third day I’d mash them & microwave them with a dash of milk to keep them soft. Hope your tummy can tolerate them. As some can’t or they don’t enjoy the taste. Congrats on your surgery.

You can’t stop it unfortunately. Your natural hair loss cycle has been accelerated as a result of the shock to your body (surgery, reduced calories, change of diet, etc.). As what usually happens as you shed hair new hair is growing. It’s just your new hair is growing at it’s usual rate & it’s not as noticeable as the loss. It will slow & revert to your usual rate of loss usually after about 3 months +/-. It’s just hard to see those clumps of hair. Best advice is not to stress too much about it if you can. Stress will only make it worse. Some people will say biotin or other supplements helped but they don’t. The hair that is shedding is already dead. (All the exposed hair on your head is dead.) The supplements may only help your new growth. A lot of us cut our hair so the new growth didn’t have as long to grow to be even with the rest of our hair. You may notice a change in texture too which is from the anaesthetic. You have to wait for that to grow out.

I eat green beans almost every day (with asparagus, sugarsnap peas & broccolini). I’m spoilt, I have access to fresh green bean all year round - my family grows a lot of beans. 😉 I usually just microwave them with a little water & butter. So yummy. I love them with garlic & a splash of sesame oil too. Delicious raw too. Crunchy goodness.

Definitely keep working at meeting your fluid goals. Add fibre to your shakes, broths, etc. everyday like benefibre (avoid ones that swell in your tummy). You’re eating very little constipation is understandable. Unfortunately constipation is an ongoing issue as we’re losing weight. If I hadn’t had a bowel movement by day 2 or 3 (depending on what stage I was on) I’d take a stool softener. This way I never let the constipation get too bad. I also still tried to go everyday. Not forcing anything, just sitting & relaxing for awhile. Sometimes gravity can help. As can jiggling your knees up & down so I’ve heard not that I’ve tried that. Good luck.

That pink colour is so lovely on you @kristieshannon & @Dtrain84 looking smoooooth. Congrats @ANewJourneyAwaits on your weight loss. And such a bright & cheerful colour to celebrate. I love red. A face to face would be fabulous but I’m not intending to board a plane for some time yet even with the vaccine - flying incubators - shudder - especially with the number of hours I’d be trapped on board. Maybe one day we’ll be able enjoy travelling safely again & we won’t have to quarantine whereever we go. Damn virus. It’s sucked the joy out of so much. Waaah!

Gurgles, groans, moans, burbles, whines, ... I swear I have a poltergeist inside just without the rattling chains. Does it more often when I eat dairy but can also do it late at night when I haven’t eaten for hours. Though, I have to admit it’s not quite as frequent now. Hilarious it did it just now as I was writing this. 😆😆😆

No expert but it sounds like postural hypotension. Your blood pressure drops on standing - all your blood rushes to your feet & takes a moment or two to re equalise. Consequently your vision narrows or darkens, you may feel a little light headed or momentarily dizzy. At worst you can faint. Stand slowly & wait before moving until everything settles. It happens to me multiple times a day. I always make sure I have a chair, wall, table, person, etc. nearby I can touch to ground myself when my vision goes. With anything that is unusual for you, feels strange, is painful, etc, on this journey see your doctor. Good luck.

Fabulous find @kristieshannon. And not having to worry about belly popping buttons is a great win. I loved when I realised I didn’t have to worry about buttons straining & gaping across my chest. NSV are the best. A zoom cocktail party? What an idea @BayougirlMrsS. And we wouldn’t have to worry about stumbling home afterwards. 😂😂😂

Give it time. This all very new & you’ll have a lot of learning on the way. I’m about 22 months out & I still don’t eat bread, wraps, or similar. It’s a combination of my choice & I expect it will sit heavily in my tummy limiting what else I can eat like the soya bean pasta did when I tried that. I do eat multigrain crackers which I started in maintenance. I suffered from painful hiccups for decades & it wasn’t until I was prescribed Nexium (esomeprazole) did I find some relief - it actually stopped them after a few minutes. Have you been prescribed esomeprazole? Many sleevers do as it helps with the acid production & reflux. Also are you eating/sipping slowly? Eating or drinking too quickly can set my hiccups off. Your tummy is pretty sensitive & cantankerous to begin (like a two yr old). A lot of things can cause it throw a tantrum & upset you one day but then be fine the next. Treat it gently to begin. A lot of us had a very limited diet for some time - eating the same couple of things & then slowly adding foods when we could tolerate them. Lots of trial & error. Now I eat anything I want. As for alcohol, check with your medical team. I had a glass at about 2/3 (took hours to drink) & then nothing for a while. I still don’t drink often. Maybe once a month. Don’t miss it. The worry about alcohol is addiction swapping - food to alcohol. Good luck.

These pxts of our alcohol stashes are fabulous. Don’t feel nearly as guilty now - tee hee! I love a good cocktail napkin. Your mum is the best @WishMeSmaller. I love a good martini. Gin of course & plenty of olives - gotta get your daily serve of fruit in. A friend used to make a pretty mean chocolate martini but he’s in Denmark now - waah! And there used to be a great little cafe/restaurant in Brisbane that made a to die for lychee martini too. So good! And I so do enjoy the salty goodness of a margarita. Ok @WishMeSmaller, @BayougirlMrsS & @ms.sss we just need to find a date for our cocktail party. Welcome @dms75. Hope to see lots more of your posts. We do go off on tangents sometimes,, like fridge shots, here sometimes but it adds to the fun.

Don’t worry too much if you’re not getting all your protein in to begin as long as you’re close. I never hit my protein goal the first couple of weeks. I wasn’t hungry or interested in eating. I hated the sweet too so I went to soups & bone broths which were so much better. And yes it does get better & easier as you move to more solid food & as you get further along on the journey. Do you take gummies multivitamins? They have so much sugar/artificial sweeteners - that’s how they make them gummies & sweet like. I took Bioceutical multi vitamins (don’t know if they’re available in the US). They’re a regular sized capsule so easy to swallow. Good luck.