Arabesque

As @catwoman7 said it could be related to all the craziness of your weight loss. Hormones & other things being released from your fat as you’re losing throwing your levels out. My cholesterol & liver function rose when I was losing then settled in the healthy range early in my second year. As for the ferritin levels it could just be you & you sit at a little higher level. You wont really be able to tell until your weight & everything else stabilises. If it is still high then, you can give blood. That’s how people with naturally high iron levels (hemochromatosis) manage it. But of course check with your doctors. Do you take an iron supplement? If so maybe chat with your surgeon to see if you can reduce it (like once every two days). Generally if your surgeon isn’t worried, you can breathe easily.

Whether you track everyday, occasionally or never, I think really depends upon what you feel most comfortable & confident with. I was never given a calorie target at any stage. When losing I’d do random checks of my calorie intake out of curiosity. I still do random checks. Same with portion sizes as it’s easy to get complacent &/or over or underestimate. I always check calories & portions sizes of any new food or recipe when I first introduce them into my eating routine. I’m also an avid checker of nutrition panels on all food stuffs I buy. The only thing I monitor closely everyday is protein intake because of my absorption issue.

It’s per kilo (2.2lbs). Lamb has been expensive for a couple of years. Drought & apparently a high demand for Aussie lamb overseas. Blueberries have doubled in price also (from the recent floods) - $12.99 a punnet at my fruit shop but again high quality. If I buy them from the grocery store they’re cheaper but I end up throwing most of those out because they become overripe, soft & mouldy in a day or two. General grocery items have gone up here too. Spend $150 & walk out with like two bags. Crazy. Still have trouble buying certain items. There one day & then no supplies for several weeks or months. Taken to buying doubles of things. I’m a carnivore through in through, @GreenTealael. I enjoy the occasional meat free meal but could never go full vegetarian or vegan like some of your family. But I grew up on a generational farm & my grandfather was a butcher for many years so it’s in my blood 😁😁. Damn that bread you made looks spectacular.

Meat is crazy priced here too. $79.99 for lamb at my butcher. They do get in very high quality, very flavoursome, organic meats which is what you’re paying for. I usually justify it because two cutlets is an ample meal for me. I think I might buy some fillet steak (my favourite cut too) next week too now after seeing @ms.sss’s dinner. Mmmm

My dietician suggested I do this when I was trying to maintain so for the calories not so much the extra protein. I found it sweet though so only did it when making chia pudding. Makes the milk richer & creamier - bit more than full cream milk.

Wise words from @GreenTealael & @catwoman7. Yes, it is your body not theirs & yes only you know what goes on in your head & your body. We are all so different physiologically & psychologically there is no one size fits all. If there was no one would ever have a weight issue & there would be only one diet that works for everyone. The surgery offers you the opportunity to really learn about what drives you to eat, why you made certain food choices, etc. You’ll also start to work out what your eating routine & food choices needs to be (notice I didn’t say diet). That is what your body needs to function effectively (physical health) & what you need to include to still enjoy & live your life as you want (contributing to your mental health). How I eat now will be different to how you will eat in the future. There will be similarities of course. but it won’t be exactly the same because what my body needs to be healthy & what I need for my mental health won’t be the same as yours. The surgery provides the opportunity for you to do the work into understanding your eating habits & your emotional drives to eat, to reflect on your food choices, etc. A lot of the success of the surgery does depend on you being able to do this work. As part of the surgical process you will be given access to dieticians & therapists to support you to identify the causes & strategies to manage or deal with them. The surgery also temporarily changes your taste buds, your tummy can be sensitive to certain flavours or foods & there is a restricted diet to begin which can be used to break addictions to certain foods or tastes. The physical restriction limits how much you can eat too. I know people say surgery is the easy way out. Believe me it isn’t. Appetite suppressant medications take away or mute your real hunger. Your head hunger, the psychological drives to eat (cravings, boredom, emotional traumas, addictions, etc.) are still there shouting at you to eat. Your gain, lose & gain cycle likely occurred because when your ended the diet, you went back to eating the same way you did before. The issues behind your weight problems were still there. You still didn’t know how to recognise or manage them. Exercise is great & has lots of benefits. But the truth is exercising alone accounts for only 10-20% of any weight loss. You have to diet too and … well … I tried medications, a myriad of diets & tried all sorts of exercise programs. Sure I’d lose weight but I always put weight back on. For exactly the reasons I gave above. After the surgery, I look at food totally differently. I still have cravings but I recognise & understand them better & they don’t have same power over me. Ultimately, it’s your decision. All the best whichever path you chose. PS - I’m a rambler too - can’t you tell 😁. Just embrace it - I do!

I think you need to have a blood test to check your protein levels, vitamins, minerals, sugar, etc. Then you’ll know what your missing in your diet & your surgeon & dietician will be able to best advise you. And as @The Greater Fool said camp out at your surgeon & doctor’s & demand attention until you get answers & a way forward. I agree completely with @catwoman7’s advice around your caloric needs. We’re not all the same & there are too many factors that influence what you need as an individual. The blood test will help inform what your macros goals need to be - whether you need more, less or are consuming enough. I really appreciated the 3 monthly blood tests (& appointments) my surgeon & his colleague requested the last three years (just moved to 6months now). We picked up things like how removing my gall reduced my protein absorption, my vitamin D levels drop a little in winter, I didn’t need to continue to take multivitamins after I reached maintenance (except D in winter). I also agree with the advice to cut out any high fat or high sugar foods out of your diet & see if the dumping improves. Hypoglycaemic episodes gives me similar symptoms to what you’re experiencing though. (I usually eat a couple of berries as the little burst of sugar ease it very quickly.) Maybe your reactive hypoglycaemia needs to be explored further with your doctor too. All the best.

Remember at the beginning you’re not eating much so you really don’t have much to poop out as waste so not going every day is ok. I used to go every second day for the about first 3 months. When you start to eat more, some vegetables, fruit & a little fibre from good carbs, will help you go more regularly. Keep your fluid intake up too. Adding a non swelling fibre supplement like Benefibre, etc. to your diet everyday will help. I only took a stool softener if I reached a third day without any movement. This stopped me getting too bound up & experiencing discomfort. I didn’t take them any more frequently because I didn’t want my body to become reliant of an artificial stimulant to make me poop. Unfortunately, it can be something you will continue to experience the odd occurrence of into the future too.

You’ll find it will be similar to how the loose skin on the rest of your body responds. My neck looked pretty bad for a while. Lots of fine vertical lines running down from under my chin. They improved a lot over time - in my second year. My face looked drawn for a while too but it improved as well. You’ll notice once your weight stabilises, your body seems to resettles a bit which helps. I tried a few things like radio frequency sessions but don’t think they really did anything except I looked a bit fresher in the short term. I have a short neck too but it looks longer now because I don’t have as much fat around my shoulders & neck. You’ll discover that too.

The surgery is just a tool much like buying a gym membership. If you don’t use it & take advantage of the benefits it provides nothing will change. With your other diets, did you do what we call the head work: identify why you ate & what was behind your cravings reflect on how you ate, when you ate examine the food choices you made, the portion sizes, the nutritional benefits? Or did you just go back to eating the same way you always did when you finished a diet? I certainly did. The surgery affords you time & for a while the physical restrictions to really look into the whys, hows, whats, whens, etc. about your eating. It provides an opportunity to consider your food choices, look for food alternatives, alternative ingredients or healthier methods of cooking them. The first months can be challenging. The staged return to eating to support the healing process & working out the nutritional benefits of your food to ensure you reach nutritional goals. You are relearning everything you thought you knew about food & how you eat & learning what you & your body actually needs to function. You’ll also listen more to your body & the real cure & signals it gives you about food & eating. Again something you likely never did before. It may seem scary at first, but in time all this just becomes what you do & how you eat. All this is why it’s not the easy way & why you can be more successful with the surgery than any other program you may have tried. But it has to be a conscious decision & you have to be dedicated to the process. Embrace this opportunity. All the best.

I added vegetables like carrots, tomato (not a vege I know), celery, onion, capsicum, mushrooms, to soups & stews/casseroles from soft food. Just let them simmer away for ages. The first vegetables I ate as a side were shredded cabbage & cauliflower. I microwaved them in a little water & butter. Then I added green beans. I tried other vegetables but they didn’t taste good (even through they were my favourites) for a few weeks. Then it was asparagus, sugar snap peas, broccolini, spinach, etc. I do tend to microwave my vegetables to keep them moist. I didn’t & still don’t do potato as they’re too starchy & tend to sit heavily but I have had a bite or two of roast pumpkin over the years.

I tossed those shakes as soon as I finished the liquid stage & not one has touched my lips in the three years since. There is a giant shining beacon of light ahead for you. Happy birthday @Sophie7713. ❤️ What a fabulous way to celebrate with your wonderful husband & the equally wonderful @GreenTealael. Cucumber sandwiches in white bread were my favourite too @Starwarsandcupcakes. No spinach but soaked the cucumber in vinegar (balsamic usually). So good. We had tomato flavoured chips here in Australia (Red Seal were the best) as I grew up which I think would be similar to ketchup flavoured. They don’t make them any more sadly … but then maybe not as they would be a terrible temptation to me. So relieved you have finally pooped @ms.sss but then probably not as relieved as yiu were. 😆 It was like poop watch there for a while.

I’m wondering if you have a lactose intolerance or sensitivity?? That will cause bloating & nausea. Try swapping out your shakes & dairy for a lactose free versions. Might be worth a go to see if you feel better.

Foamies usually occur, for me anyway, if I eat too quickly or too much, take too big of a swallow, or eat something that is too dry or coarse which results in the food sort of being stuck. It rarely happens now but every so often that too dry issue can catch me. I started eating vegetables from the soft food stage just made sure they were soft vegetables or I cooked them really well in soups, stew/casserole style dishes. Then I just cooked them as I wanted. I did find cauliflower, cabbage, green beans easiest to eat as a side at first. Would probably avoid skins on any fruit or vegetables to begin especially as coarseness may be a n issue for you still. Zucchini may be a challenge as without the skin it can be just mush when cooked. Wonder how you would go grating it & making like a fritter or as a base for a mini frittata or in a quiche?? Talk to your surgeon & dietician about the protein issue for causes & alternatives.

I’m in. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all meet up. Though I do live the furtherest away ☹️ so it will be a bit more if a challenge. Even if we don’t know everyone’s faces at least we’ll recognise everyone by their neck down bodies from all these post 😆😆😆. You both look gorgeous @Sophie7713 & @GreenTealael. And you got a Bobby kiss @GreenTealael (plus more bright colours - go the pink). Looking great @sillykitty. Where are you? The scenery is gorgeous. What a lovely photo of you & your daughter @VIKING 0424. She is a beautiful bride.

My metabolism was crap before surgery as well from too many years of skipping meals. I couldn’t lose much on 900 & 1200 calorie diets in the past (like only 5kgs after 2 months - grrr) so I understand your struggles. A big benefit of the surgery is the boost to your metabolism. The surgery actually resets a lot of things. Your actual rate of loss depends on many factors out of your control: age, gender, weight loss & gain history, genetics, existing health status. Then certain medications can slow the process too. The only thing you can control is whether you stick to your plan. It’s why we say you’ll lose at your own rate. Also the more you have to lose the faster you’ll lose in the beginning. After my surgery, I wasn’t hungry or interested in eating for ages (into my second year). I had to eat to a routine to ensure I ate the nutrients my body needed. Still do. A huge benefit of this was it changed how I looked at food. That maxim of eating to live not living to eat became true for me. Eating regularly also helps keep your metabolism burning. I’m presuming your pre surgical diet is a mix of shakes & real food??? Speak to your dietician about portion sizes to ensure you don’t eat too much or too little. Did they give you a list of foods you should eat or avoid as well? It’s just as important to ensure you are getting in all the nutrients your body needs before surgery as after - another reason not to skip meals. Think of this time as beginning new healthier eating habits & routines. This surgery has been the only thing that really worked for me & it’s still working which never happened when I dieted before - lose, gain, lose, gain, over & over was my norm. I was almost 54 when I had my surgery but had no health issues … they were likely about to begin though.

I’ll add deep, slow breathing & leg raising exercises to push the gas up & out. You’ll probably find in the next day or so most of it will be gone. At this stage as long as you’re close to reaching your fluid & protein goals each day you’ll be okay. It gets easier. And it doesn’t matter if you’re low today as long as you about there tomorrow. Sip slowly & often. I still drink throughout the night to ensure I meet my fluid goal. You’ll get there.

You could still be or are back in ketosis if you’re still losing? Does anything else smell, body odour, breath, etc., like with ketosis? Maybe change shake brands to see if something in Fairlife isn't sitting as well with you. As for your nails, are you meeting your protein goal? Are you taking your multi vitamins? Are you eating a variety of foods to get in a broad range of nutrients? Were you low in anything in your last blood test? My nails are weak & ridged because of my protein absorption issue so I understand how you feel. Glad your hair loss has improved though. PS - Congrats on your weight loss so far. 🏆

Both outfits look amazing @GreenTealael. Particularly like the lavender cardigan - very cute - especially with the yellow top as a contrast. Being mostly colour adverse too, I admire those who wear colour often & you are embracing it beautifully. Go the cane storage basket! I love a good basket. I use them for belts & bags in my bedroom & towels & such in my main bathroom.

I experienced the same thing. Was eating less than 900 calories when I reached my goal & struggled for a while to physically eat more at any one time too. I had to snack & increased them until I was snacking 5 times a day. And yes I felt like I was eating all day long. My weight loss continued albeit very slowly & finally about 11 months after goal. I was still seeing my dietician through the first 6 months of this 11 months (Covid hit). For my snacks I added a second sometimes third serve of carbs (multigrain crackers), hummus, nuts, 1or 2 serves of fruit, protein bar, cheese, liverwurst, peanut paste, chia pudding, & used salad dressings. My dietician also suggested adding milk powder to my milk but I found it too sweet except in chia pudding. I eventually reached about 1300 calories. It can take a little time to sort this out in a way the best suits you. While you may lose more initially, you may also have a bounce back in your 2nd/3rd year as @catwoman7 said as you settle into a way of eating that complements how you want to live & enjoy your life. I eventually was able to eat about a recommended portion size of most foods (& I do eat slowly) & reduced my snacks to three a day. I am careful about what I eat 90% of the time. At my lowest I was 48.2kg but settled at 49kg for a good year. I put on 2 kgs a few months ago after I went on a higher dose HRT med & I had to add more protein to my diet due to an absorption issue (from my gall removal last year not my sleeve). I made some small changes to my diet but I still eat more calories as a result of the extra protein so the weight gain is understandable. All the best.

Like @Recidivist, I didn’t ever return to exercising. I walked erratically before surgery & started back again slowly after surgery. But stoped after a couple of months due to low energy & low BP. Didn’t stop me from losing all my weight & more. I still don’t exercise as such but understand some people enjoy it &/or want to establish healthy behaviours. Best to chat with your surgeon. They will likely have their recommendations around how much you should exert yourself, how much you can lift & when you can progress & do more. Most tend to advise walking only for the first couple of weeks but there are always variations on this.

After three years, still no regrets. Sure it can be a bit of a struggle at first. Recovery, the staged return to eating, a fussy tummy, reassessing & changing how & what you eat, etc. aren’t easy. That lasts a couple of months or so which is nothing when you consider all the benefits & the rest of your life. To me, it was all very worth it.

Our bodies react differently to the surgery & we recover in our own time. Take it easy. If your body is telling you no, not yet, listen. Try some electrolyte drinks for a boost of energy. I’d mix up 500mls of diluted hydralyte every day for the first couple of months to help with the low energy. You really need to be trying to get to your fluid goal each day. It would be adding to your weakness & you don’t want to risk dehydration. Remember all fluids count to your goal including your protein shakes, broths, etc. I understand yiu wanting to bathe. Could you get hold of a shower chair to use until you feel stronger?

Try iceberg lettuce first as it has a softer leaf (avoid the darker outer leaves at first). I found others were too coarse for a while. Lettuce has a very high water content which makes it easier to eat too. Chop it into small bite sizes pieces. Just a thought, I wonder if some of the initial nausea after the first bite of a new food is more to you worrying & being tense about whether your tummy will like it?? We all have things we worry about in the first months of this process & the stress may be causing your tummy to react. Then, when you realise it’s ok the nausea goes. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh my gracious no beef or pork for a year??? I would have been struggling. I eat them a lot. I wonder what the reason is?? What about trying some plant based protein options. Besides beans what about vegetarian meat substitutes? This may be a good opportunity to broaden your food preferences as your taste buds can be a bit off. Things you didn’t like before may be more palatable & you may find you enjoy them more now. Worth a shot.