Arabesque

Firstly, congrats on your surgery. Whoo hoo! A lot of nerve endings were cut during surgery & for some people this temporarily results in not feeling full. This is why it’s so important to stick to your plan’s quantities. Don’t push more as you may affect your healing. Also fluids go through the system more quickly so you may not get the full message before it’s passed through your tummy. Cravings are in our heads which is why we need to do the ‘head work’ & identify why we eat, what we eat, when & how we eat. Are you eating out of habit, because of emotions or because you really are hungry. It takes time. I’m still learning. Good luck.

When we make a mistake we really pay for it. I guess it’s a way to make sure we don’t forget & don’t, or at least try not to, do it again. One thing I’ve learnt along this journey is that I’m always learning about my eating habits. I guess what happened to you was an old habit of how you ate when socialising kicked in. Something similar happened to me when I accepted some birthday cake when it was passed to me last week. I had a forkful at my mouth before I remembered. I ended up having two bites of the sponge - it was crazy sweet to me. I was very glad I had no side effects. I just have to make sure that was an exception & I’m not letting an old habit return. I hope you feel better soon.

An amazing achievement Jami.1992. And you look fabulous.

I’d go with the too soon too. For many of us, we were advised liquids for two weeks, purées for two weeks, soft food for two weeks. So sausages would not be on the diet until at least week 7. But surgeons do have different plans. In the first few months, you may struggle to find foods you can tolerate. Your tummy can be very sensitive, your taste buds can change, things suddenly smell terrible & certain textures can be unpalatable. Over time this passes but you just have to be willing to take things slowly. It’s a lot of trial & error to work out what you can eat easily at the beginning & then that will change as you progress. Good luck.

First, congrats on getting your surgery date. Those ‘sweet’ chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, etc. flavoured shakes become old very quickly & you’ll crave something more savoury. That’s why the soups & broths are key. Once you’ve had your surgery, make sure you strain & purée the soups & broths extremely well so they’re only liquid. You may find spicier soups hard to tolerate at first post surgery so take it slowly to begin while you’re healing. BTW - I used to make my chocolate shakes on hot water & pretend it was a hot chocolate. It took a lot of imagination - lol! Good luck. It’s sooo worth it.

Your so lucky, AZhiker. I’m 17months & still cold (which is great as we’re heading into a Queensland summer). I froze doing my grocery shopping yesterday. It’s the lack of my old fat insulation I know. Feeling cold post surgery is caused by the shock to the body & the anesthetic. It usually passes but then as you lose your fat insulation, you too will will be more sensitive to the cold. Congrats on your surgery.

Ok, so this is probably not what you want to hear but ... When you had your surgery, most of the area within your stomach that produces the ‘I’m hungry’ hormone, ghrelin, is removed. Small amounts can be produced in the brain, pancreas & small intestines. So while some of the hunger you are experiencing may be real, most of it is likely head hunger. You’ve been on a liquid diet for weeks & consciously or subconsciously you’re probably bored & wanting some solid food & the foods you always used to eat. You’re also coming to terms with smaller portions, eating slowly & less frequently. Your head is saying to you: this isn’t enough food for me I need more. Plus this has all been very stressful. Prepping for the surgery, the surgery itself, the change to your diet, etc. & many of us turn to food when we’re stressed or emotional. This is all head hunger not real hunger. This is some of the hard work you have to do. Understanding your hunger - why you eat, when you eat, what you eat - is important to your success. But you can do it. It will get better & easier. Just give yourself time to come to terms with it all & what it means for you. It’s going to be soooo worth it. Good luck. BTW - Protein reduces the production of ghrelin - another reason why you need to work at reaching your protein goals each day.

It’s all the fluids you’re consuming & it’s a side effect of ketosis. Perfectly normal. Worst thing you could do is to reduce your fluid intake.

Don’t worry about still eating smaller portions. To people who don’t know I had surgery, I just say I’m continuing to eat small portions to maintain my weight & if I ate larger portions, I’d put the weight on again. It seems to satisfy everyone. I have to snack to get in the calories to maintain my weight. I eat three meals & 4 - 5 snacks. I feel like I eat all day.

Oh, yeah lots of fun around here & everyone is happy to share all their gory, embarrassing, surprising stories & experiences. 😁

Congrats on your upcoming surgery. Whoo hoo! Yep, the information overload can be alarming but it will be ok. Sorry there’s a lot to read ahead here too. Take some time to go back over all the information you’ve been given then break it down into what you can have at your liquid, purée, soft then solid food stages. Once you’ve done that you can focus on the stage you’re on or about to begin. Personally, I did a lot of reading before surgery & then cherry picked the information I needed & worked for me as I moved along the way. It’s a lot of trial & error for the first couple of months about what you can & can’t eat. Your tummy will be sensitive & your senses of taste & smell may change. You may not be able to tolerate things you previously enjoyed & some things just smell disgusting. But don’t worry it does return to what it was. What others who’ve had surgery can’t eat may be a breeze for you. A lot of people struggle with eggs, chicken & steak to begin but they were no problem for me. Listen to your body. If it says no, avoid that food for a while. It may be fine to eat in a couple of weeks. For me, I cut out as much sugar (& artificial sweeteners) & processed carbs as I could. I did my own cooking from scratch (I always cooked so not much of a change). That way I had control of what was in the food I was eating & how it was prepared. Make spray oil & non stick pans your friend. Eat from small bowls & plates. I used teaspoons & sporks as cutlery. And I froze a lot of food - in single serve snap lock bags & small storage containers. Avoids waste & makes for quick meals on those days you just can’t face cooking. The eat slowly rule & don’t drink before, with or after eating are there for a reason. You don’t want to cause discomfort (sometimes pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, etc.). Don’t eat till you are full for the same reason. Stick to your plan, measure/weigh your food & work at meeting your daily protein & water goals each day (water includes all liquids: tea, soup, shakes, ... so yippee). Some people log their food every day. I was a random checker especially if I changed my diet. I still eat very much to a routine of when & what I eat. The head work is important. Working out what are your triggers - why you eat, why you crave, are you really hungry or are you eating from habit will be invaluable to your success. There’s a lot of great info on this forum too. Even if you think if you have some random issue, search for it & you’ll be amazed by the responses. It’s not easy but it is sooooo worth it. You can do this & it will be amazing. Good luck.

Unless your doctor makes you strip down. Mine makes me take off my shoes, coats & once even my skirt. No where to hide when they do that. 😁 Good luck.

It could also be a stall - extremely common - except for the weight gain issue. Stalls usually start in week 3 but can start earlier or later & can last for 1 to 3 weeks. I liked to think of them as my body taking a breath to catch up with all the changes - the surgery, reduced caloric intake, change of diet, change of activity levels... You’ll experience these along your journey. Some say increasing or decreasing your caloric intake or activity level will kick start your weight loss again. I just stuck to my plan & the weight would start to drop again. If you’re keeping to your plan, weighing/measuring your food, logging what you’re eating & drinking, making healthy food choices you’ll lose weight. Good luck.

Oh yeah, I often realise I’m touching myself (not in the Christina Amphlett ‘I touch myself’ way 😁). Some of it is feeling the smaller body parts but another is my smoother, softer skin. I used to have a lot of dry, bumpy, itchy skin on my arms, legs & feet but not any more. Whoo hoo! I’m saving a fortune on body moisturisers - don’t need to use as much or use it as frequently. And it’s still odd to feel & see bones. One of my young nieces is always touching the loose skin on my upper arms. She says it’s because it’s so soft & squishy.

Sugar can make you dump. It’s not as common with sleevers but it does happen. Check the sugar content of what you’re eating - there could be some hidden sugars.

I think I’m one of the unusual ones as I eat a lot now & eat all day but my metabolism is seriously working over time. Some days I have to make myself eat cause I’m just not hungry so I try to be very routine in what & when I eat. I can lose 500g if I miss a meal or snack over two days. It took me a few months slowly adding food until I where I am now. My doctors have been wanting me to put on a couple of kgs since January but I haven’t been able to. I’ve actually lost about another 4.5kg in that time. (Told to eat more again by doctor last week - don’t know how I can physically do so.) And I don’t exercise - can’t afford to burn the calories. 8:30 - 1 sachet rolled oats + about 200ml lactose free milk + 15 blueberries (10g protein) 11:30 - 300ml green tea + 6 vita weat multigrain crackers with liverwurst (eat over 60-90 mins) (5g protein) 1:30 - string cheese (5g protein) 3pm - 2 cups salad - combination of lettuce, cucumber, pickled onion, 50g chicken or 100g prawns + dressing (eat over an hour) (10-15g protein) 5pm - 160g tub yo pro yogurt 15g protein) 6:30 - about 80g meat (beef, lamb, pork, seafood) & half cup vegetables (mix of beans, sugar snap peas, asparagus, broccolini or cauliflower). (15g protein) 8pm - fruit (rockmelon, grapes, red paw paw) or 1/3 cup chia pudding (made on milk, milk powder & vanilla extract) or protein bar (10g protein) Seems a crazy amount I know but one day my metabolism will slow again & I’ll have to drop the snacks. Hey Jaelzion how are you getting in that much protein with what you eat? I only get in about 60g.

Happy birthday Cheeseburgh. Hope you have the most beautiful of days. 🎉🎉🎉😵🥳🥳🥳🎈🎈🎈🎁🎁🎁

That’s the thing with diarrhoea- when you have to go you have to go right now. It may be too high a dose of miralax or you’re taking it too regularly like your doctor suggested. Because you’re not eating much & most/all of it liquid you can’t expect to have solid bm every day. I was happy if I went every second day. I only took a stool softener if I hadn’t gone by day 3. I’d take it at night so I’d have a normal bm the next morning. It may be something in the protein shake that is upsetting you. Can you try a different brand? Hope you feel better soon.

What a sweet husband BayougirlMrsS. He has good taste too. Looking good.

First, congrats on your surgery & weight loss so far. Some of us lose quickly others lose more slowly. We have weeks we lose more then the next hardly anything. The rate can depend on our age, gender, metabolic rate, past weight loss history, etc. all things we can’t control. The thing to remember is you’re losing. Whoo hoo! You didn’t put on all your weight in a couple of months so you can’t expect to lose it that quickly. Follow your plan. Measure your food. Keep a track of what you eat. You will reach your goal but it you have to put in the effort to have long term success. There are no short cuts. This is your journey & there are many things to celebrate along the way. Good luck. PS - Sleevers tend to lose weight more slowly than bypass patients at first but the average weight loss is about the same.

Yep, talk to your doctor. Better to be safe than sorry. I’m with you on the protein shakes. Shudder! I persisted with them for the two weeks but did dilute them. I also added broths & soup - home made chicken strained really well. Made it like you make stock - simmered chicken pieces on the bone with big chunks of celery, onion & carrots, a little garlic & ginger for a couple of hours. My surgeon also said not to be too focussed on getting all your protein in to begin but keep increasing your intake over the first couple of weeks till you reach goal. I could only consume 1 shake & a bare 200 mls soup/broth each day (I’d sip them for hours) so no way I hit 60g of protein.

I swear by bio oil though I understand some people react to the fragrance in it. Vitamin E was always the go to for scarring. What ever you use just gently massage the scar when applying it. I did it twice a day. Congrats on your surgery.

I was just told he’d take about 80%. The ‘about’ related to the size of my original stomach. If I’d stretched my tummy over the years, he’d take a little more. If my stomach was more usual size he might take a little less. I presumed it was more about getting my tummy to a specific size in regards to what it would hold post surgery - about 200mls I think???

Unfortunately it would require being totally pulled apart. ☹️ It has multiple panels & inserts to give it that puffiness & shape. It looks fine when I’m not pulling it in just better when I do. 😁 Tried it with a belt but it didn’t work. That is an amazing piece Cheeseburgh. Can’t believe it was a carriage seat. Was it a random find or an inherited piece?

Congrats on your surgery. Whoo hoo! You seem to be doing fine. That’s great. Just remember, we all move the stages at our own pace. Some more quickly, others more slowly. Same with what our tummy can or can’t tolerate. Many can’t tolerate chicken or eggs or steak but I never had any problems with them. You’re doing the right thing by sticking to your portion sizes. When you feel your restriction it’s definitely time to stop eating. It’s best to stop before you feel the restriction. Always eat your protein first & eat slowly so the message you’re full or almost full gets through. When you feel full you’ve likely already eaten too much. As you go along you’ll discover some foods are sliders - they slip through your system quickly so you won’t feel your restriction when eating them. I’ve also found some foods trigger the restriction more quickly than others for me. Stick to your plan. Listen to your body & you’ll continue to do well. Good luck.