Arabesque

There are a few other hormones besides oestrogen stored in our fat too including ones that regulate our appetite, insulin, metabolism & blood pressure. You may find that these go a bit crazy too. My cholesterol levels also went up as I lost weight & then settled back at it’s normal range after I hit my goal.

Oh, believe me, you will need all your will power if you go down the wls path & want to be successful. Plus you’ll do a lot of work to recognise & come to terms with why you eat & then reprogram your brain & thinking. The surgery doesn’t get rid of the cravings, the things that drew you to eat, etc. That’s the work you have to do. It’s a lot of hard work & you’ll have to continue to put in the effort even after you hit your goal. I was almost 54 when I had my surgery & had just made the BMI 35 minimum thanks to Christmas, a holiday & an inability to shift the 5kgs. The surgery hadn’t been something I’d even considered. I had a friend who’d been successful & one day I decided I’d had enough & made an appointment to speak with my GP. Five weeks later I was in surgery. The surgery has been the best thing I did but I still have to work at it every day. It’s wonderful you’re daughter has been so successful on her journey. She’ll be a great support for you if you decide to go down this path but don’t be surprised if you have different experiences if you have surgery. Good luck with whichever path you choose.

This is very common. Remember, you’re not eating much & your body is using every bit if it so you’ll have a lot less waste for your body to excrete. If I went every second day I was happy especially in the first few months when I was consuming so little. If I got to day 3 or 4 without any movement I’d take a stool softener. I was advised to add benefibre to my diet every day to help with bowel movements. Avoid the fibre supplements that swell in your tummy. Keep your fluids up.

Some people say yes but I remember when I was slim (many, many years ago) I always felt cold. I think it may be individual. I have a friend who’s always been slim & she never feels the cold.

I had the reverse happen the hormonal flush ended my menopausal symptoms. Goodbye breakthrough hot flushes. Then they came back when I hit goal. Waaah!

About 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup depending on how wet & loose your purée is & how slowly you eat. The reality of the quantity is really weird to begin. I used to make scrambled eggs from two eggs & eat them over three days so like you @GivinItMyALL. A serve of rolled oats took three or four days. My fridge was full of dishes covered with cling film. Lol

I get tightness behind my rib cage if I eat or drink too fast. I get a full or heavy feeling if I take that extra bite & eat too much. It’s just at my chest not my belly. It’s like I’m filling up into my oesophagus.

Great achievement. Congratulations.

Very common. I’m cold all the time. I keep a coat in my car all the time & I speed down the refrigerated aisles in the supermarket. Congrats for being almost at your goal. Whoo hoo.

I struggled too cause I wasn’t hungry but I just kept working at it. I didn’t enjoy protein shakes or powder so that didn’t help. Was easier when I got to solid foods & as I could eat a little more. My surgeon was fine with me not meeting the goals to begin with but that was his position on it.

Have you tried any of the migraine medications? My mother swears by them. Takes one at the onset & it’s gone. She used to take concoctions of codeine & ibuprofens, lie in a darkened room & be out of action for days. There’s different types of medications depending upon how your migraine manifests & affects you. May be worth a conversation with your doctor & surgeon. For many, headaches are a side effect of the change of diet & ketosis. This could be why your are experiencing more migraines. Also as you lose weight, the oestrogen stored in your fat is released into your blood stream. So if your migraines are hormonal induced this could explain the increase in frequency.

For me, my restriction feels like a tightness which runs down the centre of my rib cage. So I guess running the length of my oesophagus. I find myself rubbing that centre rib cage ridge as if to ease the tightness by massaging the bones. Lol. I sometimes thump it too. Crazy the things we do subconsciously. I get it if I eat or drink too quickly (usually when dining out), or if my tummy isn’t enjoying something I’ve eaten.

There’s not as a great an issue with malabsorption with sleeve patients compared with those with a bypass. I get my calcium from at least three serves of dairy a day: yoghurt, milk, cheese. I get a 4th serve a few times a week from chia pudding which I make on dairy milk & powdered milk. Ask your medical team if you can have more frequent blood tests to see if upping your calcium through your diet has any impact. I have one about every three months requested by either my surgical team or my GP.

First, congrats on your surgery & your weight loss so far. Whoo hoo! There’s a saying: the more you have to lose the faster you’ll lose at the beginning. But in saying that, we’re all different & some people lose very quickly & others lose very slowly. As your starting point is lower than many of us you’ll likely lose more slowly, however, if you’re losing 2- 4lbs a week on average to begin you’re doing well. Your loss will slow as you get closer to your goal. It’s always good to consider you didn’t put your weight on in a couple of months so you can’t expect to lose it all in the same time. Stick to the program, do the work and you’ll be successful. The surgery isn’t an easy fix. You’re changing your life & you want it to stick. It will happen. Good luck.

Oh my gracious, you certainly have been though the wringer WishmeSmaller. I thought bad things came in threes. You’ve way exceeded your share. I hope that everything turns around for you soon. Hugs.

First, congratulations on your weight loss. Oh yeah, supplements can be crazy expensive. I don't take vitamins or any supplements at all now. I have the support of my medical team & successive blood tests have shown my levels are all very good. I get all my vitamins through what I eat. Are you eating a balanced diet? How much dairy are you consuming? If you struggle with lactose, canned sardines & salmon (you have to eat the bones too), almonds, kale, spinach, beans, lentils, tofu are good sources of calcium too. If you can up your natural intake of calcium each day you may not need to take as many supplements & reduce the costs that way. Have they checked to make sure there is not an underlying cause, beside diet, for your low calcium levels?

I started a new contract about 2 weeks after surgery. I was still pretty run down & my blood pressure was crazy low. They knew I’d just had surgery before commencing work & were very understanding if I had to leave earlier. I was never asked what the surgery was for because the boss presumed it was female issues. Sometimes it helps to be in your 50s. Lol! Good luck with your surgery.

You may need to add more water, milk, stock or whatever to what you’re pureeing. It should be pretty loose & sloppy. You can purée lots of things. It’s just trial & error as to what you’ll enjoy in regards to taste & texture. My friend told me she purée poached chicken thighs (breast is too coarse) with lots of gravy & stock. Unfortunately she told me on the last day of my purée stage. Sigh. I tried pureeing tinned fish but it was disgusting. I had good success with rolled oats & scrambled eggs.

Take it after you eat. This is key otherwise you may become nauseated. The sip of water you’ll need to swallow the capsule is negligible. But see how you go you may need to wait 5-10mins. We’re all different. I used to take one after breakfast & one after to dinner to make it easier but I still got nauseated & vomited a couple of times. I hope you don’t have any problems.

I agree with the advice you can generally eat what you’d like once you’ve well established your maintenance. However, there are a few things you have to remember: portion control, frequency, what your system will tolerate & your danger foods. At 18months, I don’t have rice, pasta & bread. I avoid sweets (desserts, cakes, biscuits, ice cream, cream, etc.) 99.9% of the time. I don’t add sugar or artificial sweeteners to anything. I’ve reduced alcohol to probably once a month. No fast food but have had Asian takeaway three times when with friends. I call it my reduce, restrict, avoid plan. It allows me to have a little of certain foods (the odd treat) limit other foods & avoid the foods which would equate to weight gain for me or fill up my tummy too quickly. I switch up foods to healthier choices & use healthier cooking methods. As some random examples: I make chia pudding (milk, milk powder, vanilla extract & chia seeds) if I want a dessert. I use an air fryer for a crispy finish instead of frying, use non stick pans & spray olive oil. When I had the takeaway I chose either chicken & cashews (braised) or steamed pork & prawn gyoza (ate the filling only). I just don’t buy certain foods - if they’re not in my house I can’t eat them. I also deleted the home delivery apps off my phone - lol. I take my lunch to work so I’m not hitting up the food courts. It’s not easy and I work at it every day. I just hope one day I will have ‘rewired my brain’ as @AZhiker mentioned & it will be a little easier. I just don’t want to be overweight again. But in reality, it all comes down to finding what works for you. Good luck.

Gorgeous interior @Sophie7713. Love both dining chair styles. I remember when you got that dress. So glad you had the opportunity/excuse to wear it. So lovely on you. And on a similar theme... Everyone deserves a throne of sorts. Saw these golden numbers at a store on Tamborine Mountain on Sunday. There were four of them but I have no where to put even a single one as a feature piece.

It’s not unusual to feel weak & tired in the first couple of months. You’ve had surgery, altered your body & are on a restrictive, reduced calorie diet. While your dietician is right in advising you not to overeat, your surgeon would be concerned about the possible health impacts of rapid weight loss. How many calories are you consuming? It can be hard to get in a realistic amount that allows you to lose weight without stressing your body or leaving you open to health complications especially at the beginning when your appetite is very low & your restriction is in full force. Instead of pushing you to eat more, what about enriching what you are eating - quality vs quantity. Your dietician should recommend some options to enrich your diet or other food choices you could try. I struggle to maintain & I did not enjoy protein powders. So my dietician had me add milk powder to my rolled oats, which I already made on milk, every morning so I’d up my calories & protein. I found it too sweet so I add it to my chia pudding which I eat 4 times a week. If you can tolerate it, add extra protein powder to your smoothies or yoghurt. You can sip on the smoothie all day as it counts towards your fluid intake.

The lethargy is pretty common. I made up bottles of diluted hydralite (it was too sweet at full strength) to boost my energy levels. The electrolytes, including glucose, which give you a boost. You may find it a little easier to drink too than just plain water to help with your fluid intake. Good luck.

Every surgeon has different requirements so check with them first. I was told no caffeine by my surgeon but I could have herbal or green teas. Can’t recall a time limit on this. I haven’t drunk coffee or soft drinks (soda) for 16+ years instead drinking green tea so an easy request. One cup a day supplies minimal caffeine. Caffeine is probably pretty harsh on your healing tummy. Plus it’s always good to break addictions. 😁 My father had kidney problems. He was always being told to increase his fluid intake & that two cups of tea or coffee a day was ok & could be included in his daily fluid requirement. It was two cups too - 500mls total maximum - not two ginormous mega mugs. Just something to consider.

I see someone from my surgeon’s team about every 3 months & have a blood test before the appointment. It as more frequently to begin. For the first year I was seeing my GP in between those visits & she’d get me to have a test too. My liver function went crazy while I was losing & they were watching that closely. I also had a liver scan during that time. (Everything’s fine now. It was just all the stored cholesterol & hormones being released as I lost weight. Whew!) It was reassuring that my medical team were so actively monitoring me. I’m not sure what will happen when I hit the two year mark with my surgeon. But I’m pretty certain my GP will keep ordering blood work for me.