Arabesque

It’s caused by the loose skin in your armpits which folds in over your actual pits. Your beauty therapist would stretch & pull the loose skin out of the way when they wax but it’s nigh on impossible for you to do it yourself - one arm in the air the other holding the razor. Try stretching your arm back as far as you can while pushing your pit area (& breast) forward to stretch the skin more. Or use you upper arm to try to pull the loose skin out of the way.

Don’t be afraid to eat fruit. I was encouraged to add fruit to my diet when I was able - I think from about 3 months. Melons & berries became one of my snack alternatives. Fruit (& vegetables) were a source of the fructose & glucose my body needs as an energy source & an excellent source of essential vitamins & minerals. It helped a with my energy drops & random hypoglycaemic episodes. Its addition also helped me to work towards a balanced, nutrient rich diet. If fruit is on your diet give it a go if not, leave it until your dietician says it’s ok. As with all things portion size is important, include the calories (it’s the calories not the fruit that affects your weight loss) & whole fresh fruit not juice. Avoid dried too as we tend to eat a lot more dry fruit than we would fresh - a prune is one plum, a dried apricot is one small apricot or half a large.

I avoid breads & other carb rich products too. Like you @bufbills, I think they’re danger foods for me & I’m pretty glad my tummy doesn’t like them. I have tried a bite here & there but my restriction kicks in or they sit heavily in my tummy. Last time was a bite of naan bread last month as a test. Was yummy but groan. Not for me. Maybe give it another try in a couple of months & see if you can tolerate it then. May not be a gluten allergy or sensitivity as they tend to cause bloating, pain, diarrhoea, etc. more than nausea (though they can) as you’d likely know from your brother. But you could always have a test done to be sure.

Have a bone density check. It’s a good idea to have one done regularly if osteoporosis is in your family regardless of your surgery. It will pick up if you have signs of osteopenia. (It’s more common in women over 50 but with your family history you may be more likely to have this first sign of bone loss younger.) Better to get on top of it before there’s noticeable loss of bone density & you start experiencing more complex issues. Start adding calcium rich foods to your diet (look for low fat ones though) & supplements as needed.

You need to request another dietician. There are good ones & not so good ones about but you have to find one you’re comfortable with & you feel has your best interest at heart. Mine wasn’t great but she was always supportive, would explain things & made some useful suggestions about things I could try in my diet. I can understand your dietician’s concerns about the psyllium husks - they can be too coarse to eat in the beginning & they tend to swell. If they swell in your tummy they’ll fill you up & you won’t be able to eat as much of the nutrients you need. (Look for non swelling soluble fibre to add to your diet.) But she should have explained this to you. Berries tend to have fewer carbs, less sugar & are lower in calories than bananas & bananas can cause constipation (which we already battle with). Again she should have explained this to you. The bananas & psyllium can be added back to your diet as you progress. Your weight loss will slow as you get closer to your goal & your weight loss will vary week to week. Everyone experiences fluctuations when losing & when maintaining. (I fluctuate about 2lbs in maintenance.) As long as your weight loss trend is going down you’re doing great. My protein goal while losing was 60g. In maintenance I was told it should still be 60g. By my current weight it should be about 40g based upon the 0.8g per kg of weight recommendation. I average about 55g. There is no right or wrong way to consume your calories & meet your protein goals. Some eat three meals a day, some snack, some graze on smaller meals, some do combinations. I had two snacks a day (afternoon & after dinner - fruit, cheese &/or yoghurt) from about month 3 or so. Helped me get my protein in. I still snack about 4 times to get my protein & calories in or sometimes I graze - finish off an earlier meal. Some need more calories some fewer. I eat about 1200 to maintain my current weight but I’m not overly active, am in my mid 50s & have a smallish frame. I was barely eating 900 calories when I hit my goal at 6 months. But that was me. My dietician was always happy with my food choices & eating habits. We’re all different. You have to find what works for you in regards to diet & eating habits. That’s what your dietician should be helping you to discover & advising you upon while you’re losing & then in maintenance. I hope you’re able to find a better, more supportive dietician.

Lack toast & told her aunt - hilarious @vikingbeast. You’re suffering withdrawals from caffeine, sugar, carbs, … @Vicks1990. It will get better when you’re over the hump (usually about 5 +/- days). It’s called hell week for a reason! There are several different pre surgery diet plans but just like your post surgical plan it’s best to stick to the one you were given. My surgeon gives different plans to different patients based upon things like starting weight, eating habits, weight loss history, etc. The pre surgical diet is in place for a number of reasons including to shrink your liver so the surgical field can be visualised more easily, lose weight before the surgery (so you’re healthier) & break some of those food addictions & eating habits. (Better to have the withdrawals now then immediately after your surgery when you’ll have other things to manage.) Between the calories you’re eating & your fat stores you have plenty of energy available for your body function as it needs. It’s only two weeks - you’ll get through it.

The average loss is about 65% of the weight you have to lose (to put you in the healthy bmi range) after (I think) 5 years. Some end up more than this others less hence the average. And it isn’t necessarily the lowest weight you’ll reach. Some regain because they find the diet to maintain at the lower weight too restrictive &/or the exercise regime too demanding & it didn’t fit in with their lifestyle or they felt more comfortable at a higher weight, etc. I had to lose 31kg so I should expect to end up about 20kg lighter at 71kg in 5 years based on the average. I lost about 42kg & have basically maintained that. I’m only in my third year now so who knows what the future will bring. I think some surgeons tell you the average so you won’t have unrealistic expectations but it doesn’t mean that’s where you’ll maintain in the long term.

@catwoman7 is absolutely correct. Your rate of loss does slow as you progress so what you’re experiencing is usual. The only difference is some may lose at the higher rate for a little longer some fir a shorter time. Depends upon how much we have to lose & just our individual differences - gender, age, weight loss history, metabolic rate, activity, etc. I wasn’t a big exerciser - just walked on my treadmill. Started off slow & slowly increased to about 20 mins as I felt stronger. Then I struggled with low energy & low blood pressure so I stopped & used resistance bands for a while. As @ms.sss said you may have to lose more before others notice the loss. It seems the more you have to lose, the more you’ll have to lose for others to notice. A good friend noticed after I lost about 15kg - so about halfway to my goal. I was also wearing a straight line dress that had been a little snug (& pulled across my ass) before surgery but was hanging loosely when she saw me.

What a lovely dress @GreenTealael & such a great colour on you. Your daughter was right - perfect for a date night with your very lucky man.

There’s really no right or wrong rate of losing. You’ll lose at your rate. Your weight won’t be falling off you - no 100lb a month losses like On My 600lb Life cause you’re not 600lb+ Not sure what stage you’re at yet but you won’t really start to feel your restriction until you are eating solid food (not purée or soft) & the nerves that were damaged during the surgery are more fully healed. Plus you’re likely still eating quite small portions so you’re restriction doesn’t need to warn you that you’ve eating too much. The first time you eat too quickly, too much or eat something that sits too heavily in your tummy you’ll feel that tightness across your chest. The effort you’re putting in is what will make you more successful with your weight loss this time. We used to fail to lose weight &/or maintain a lower weight in the past because we never dealt the reasons we were driven to eat and we didn’t permanently decide to eat more nutritious foods & reduce the amount of food we ate. Anyone can lose ‘too much’ just by being too restrictive in their diet & eating too few calories but ‘too much’ is individual & personal. As long as you’re happy & healthy & can live the life you want all us good. I lost way more than I thought I would be able to but I’m very happy at my weight, am in good healthy & enjoy my life. Good luck.

I’d ask for some tests to be done - scans of your back, abdomen, maybe an endoscopy, etc. I’d think you would have experienced any changes because of the surgery after the surgery not 5 years later. This may not be related to the surgery at all but it is easy to blame the surgery & write it off. The discomfort & odd sensations could be because of your back pain, a grumbling gall bladder (if you still have one), a hernia, etc. Hope they can find answers for you.

Very, very common and you’ll likely experience at least another one while you’re losing. Think of them as your body taking a breath from all the changes & stress - surgery, reduced caloric intake, change of diet, change of activity levels, etc. Just like when you sometimes need to close your door & take time away for yourself in times of stress so does your body. Some say increase your calories &/or your exercise. I never changed a thing & stuck to my plan - why make more changes to stress my body more. The stall always broke. Yours will too.

What @Luna Girl & @Crick said is correct. The average weight loss is about 65% of the weight you need to lose to get you into the healthy bmi range after (I think) 5yrs. This is the weight the calculators will say you will likely lose too. This average is not the lowest weight you may reach but where you settle after a few years. Some of this occurs because you amend your original diet because it was too restrictive, not sustainable or just not practical with your lifestyle or you change your exercise routine for the same reasons. It’s why it’s not uncommon for people to experience a 10lb+/- bounce back weight gain in yrs 2 & 3 post surgery. Like all averages you can fall above or below. But you can decide the weight you want to reach & maintain as long as the diet & exercise regime you need to follow to be at that weight is sustainable. Being healthy & happy is more important than the number on the scale. Good luck.

I love cucumber too. When able I used to put a little cream cheese on smoked salmon & wrap it around cucumber wedges for lunch. Was so yummy - except when my tummy decided smoked salmon was too rich. I also used to sprinkle sea salt on cucumber wedges for a snack - very low calorie & high water content. Plus crunch & salt for the cravings & the salt helps with the low BP. Win, win, win.

Because you’ve already have a staring point of reference because of your band, I’d probably ask about the differences between having a band & the bypass. Are there differences in the foods you can eat or may struggle with? Are there differences in specific nutrients you must include in your diet? Are there differences in how you’ll recover post surgery? Are there differences in how you’ll manage the bypass versus the band. Will you require different or additional supplements? What are the possible issues you may encounter after surgery & in the long term - what to look out for or be aware of. What should you expect the recovery time to be? How will your digestive system work with a band versus a sleeve? What are the dos & don’ts post surgery & the staged return to eating solid foods? Etc. Sure others will come up with more. Hope it goes well.

You will eventually able to drink more - how much & when is individual. You’ll also eventually be able to drink more closely to before & after you eat. The waiting before & after is to ensure your tummy is empty before you eat so you’ll get your protein & other nutrients in - essentially when you’re losing. Personally, I prefer sipping throughout the day because it keeps me hydrated all day versus not drinking then chugging glass after glass cause I’m dying of thirst. Remember much like feeling full, it takes time for the message you need fluids to get through. So by the time you feel thirsty you’re on the way to being dehydrated. I often think being thirsty is also a bit like an addiction - the more you drink the more you want to drink. Just like you slowly get used to drinking less if you cut back for some reason - travel, work, weather, etc. I struggle to drink to my goal in winter then it takes me a little while to get fully back on track when the weather warms. To use straws or not is different surgeon to surgeon & person to person. I used them to begin but found I was sucking up too much air & I can’t burp so painful. I found it way easier to drink from a glass than camel back or similar bottles. I also take the lids off takeaway tea & coffee. All reminds me too much like baby bottles & sippy cups. Lol! Just a thought. Were you diagnosed as being diabetic or being insulin resistant? Increased thirst is a sign. Often people are pre diabetic & don’t realise.

Australian health insurance works differently. No prerequisites or approval required from your insurance at all. @PCOS_Mama94’s 12 month wait would likely be because she didn’t have health insurance before. Here, health insurance is not tied to your employment. We choose our own health fund & the level of coverage we want. And we pay for it ourselves. When you first join a health insurance fund in Australian you’re not covered for any pre-existing conditions until you’ve been a member for a year. Mine all happened in a matter of weeks. Referral from my GP then three weeks for my appointment with the surgeon then about another three weeks till my surgery. He asked if that date suited & it was fine. Yours will likely allow some flexibility of date choices too. How long you will wait will depend on your surgeon’s requirements & schedule. My surgeon only wanted the two week pre surgery diet (he recommended the dietician). Said he didn’t think I needed to see a therapist but gave me the names of some if I wanted to see one. Then just the presurgery check - blood test & ecg. But friends had to wait longer because one had to have a couple of therapist appointments first & another had a 3 week pre surgery diet. Hope you’re keeping safe in Sydney at the moment @PCOS_Mama94 & hope the prolonged lockdown you’re experiencing doesn’t delay your surgery. Fingers crossed things go smoothly for you.

Congrats on your weight loss so far. Whoo hoo! Don’t forget everything you drink counts towards your fluid goals. I don’t enjoy plain water as much since surgery so to up my fluid I drink a large mug of green tea every day & flat sparkling water which I intersperse it’s water. While I was losing I also drank a drinking yoghurt (protein & fluid two wins). I also sip water during the night - just keep a bottle of water by my bed & sip when I wake or get up to pee. The BMI range takes into account your skeletal frame. The higher weight for large frames, the lower weight for small frames. But you may feel happier & healthier being more or less than the bmi recommendations. Just be aware your frame may not be what you think it is. I was always told I had a large frame based on my wrist measurement but in reality I have a smallish frame. My wrist size was large because I was obese & had fat all over my body including my wrists.

Every body recovers differently. A friend was back at her job after a week. Another took three. I took 4. I was pain free after a few days but was knocked by brain fog, low BP & low energy. I suggest take the two weeks but negotiate with the option to extend your leave or return part time if you need it. All the best with your surgery.

It’s funny how I still find myself doing something & suddenly realise there was no way I would have been able to do it before surgery. Yesterday I was standing in one leg undoing my laces to take my shoes off. Not sitting & not heaving up my leg to try to reach the laces. Just standing on one leg with the other leg raised by itself & being able to balance & reach to undo the lace without even thinking about it. Even after two years you still discover little nsv.

What vitamins did your surgeon &/or nutritionalist advise you will need? Don’t go rushing out buying heaps of vitamins you don’t need. Everyone has different needs so find out what you need first. I was told to take a multivitamin & vitamin D with magnesium. I only took the vitamin D & magnesium really briefly because my blood work showed I had more then enough & didn’t need for it to be supplemented. I then had two large expensive bottles I didn’t need. I’m menopausal so you’d expect I’d be told to take calcium but my bone density is excellent (rock hard bones) & again my bloods showed I had more than I needed. Same with iron. I had very regular blood tests for the first year - every 2 months (3 months in my 2nd year & 4 months now in my 3rd) - so if anything got low my medical team knew about it but everything was fine & still is (fingers crossed) & I haven’t even taken a multi vitamin since month 8. Sorry about your car wreck. Hope you weren’t injured in any way.

Honestly, I was eating less than 300 calories a day but that was when I was at the liquid & purée stage so first month. It slowly increased to almost 900 at 6months & then 1200 for me to maintain at about 18 months or so. But that’s me. Your needs will likely be entirely different. I was never given a caloric goal just portion sizes which I was advised to slowly increase as I was able. I was also encouraged to snack from about 2 months (?) usually twice a day. I ate yoghurt &/or cheese &/or fruit. As I was adding more vegetables to my diet, the snacks ensured I was still meeting my protein goals & eating some fruit too. Broadening my food options for a more balanced diet was more important to my nutritionalist from soft foods. As with most things bariatric, those who are given caloric goals seem to be given a variety of calories to aim for as they progressed. A lot of people are successful eating several small meals like @Bluebonnetgirl versus 3 meals a day. Or they put the leftovers in the fridge to finish later which I often did. You’ll work out what works best for you. Personally, I think your nutritionalist is not being realistic or sensible. Part of this process is to make us more aware of what, how & why we eat & introduce healthier ways of eating & more nutritious foods. Then when you get to your goal weight you have adopted a sustainable nutritious eating plan. How can you introduce fruit & vegetables into your diet if you can only eat 300 calories a day? All you are eating must really just be protein. An extremely low calorie eating plan is not sustainable nor healthy in the long term.

All plans are different. Mine was two weeks each liquid, purée & soft. But we all heal at our own rate. Some can move more quickly through the stages with their surgeon’s ok but some need longer because their tummy just isn’t ready yet. The purpose of the staged return to eating is to aid healing & not to stress & strain your tummy. You have a lot of stitches & staples inside holding your tummy together. All because you can’t see them they’re there. If you had a long wound with multiple stitches on your leg or arm would you be out running marathons or lifting weights before it was fully healed & risk infection or tearing the stitches? Your surgeon may want two weeks at the liquid stage because they want to be more confident your tummy is ready to move to more denser food & further reduce any chance for an issue. Whatever your surgeon’s plan follow it - they’re pretty experienced & knowledgeable about this. And if something does go awry (unlikely but …) they have a starting point to be able to treat your issue. It’s only two weeks!

That’s the thing isn’t it. Our cravings, habits or emotional drives to eat are always with us. They don’t disappear as we lost our weight - unfortunately. It’s a constant battle to manage them & reduce their power over us. Portion size & calories. I’m only 2 years out but that’s the key for me. And nutritionally dense food of course. As you know if you eat more calories than your body needs to function you’ll put on weight. If you eat less than your body needs you’ll lose. Sure you could go back to protein shakes temporarily as a kick start to reduce your calories & start to break your cravings. Or you could follow keto or other diet for a couple of weeks too. But it really comes down to reducing those calories & portion sizes & making nutritionally sound food choices that will be sustainable in your lifestyle. Can you go back to your dietician/nutritionalist for some hints & tips to refocus you? Have a look at some of Dr Matthew Weiner’s you tube videos about metabolic reset diets & his Pound of Cure book. https://m.youtube.com/user/DrMatthewWeiner Good luck.

You may not be doing anything wrong. We all lose at our own rate or you could be experiencing a prolonged stall - they do happen. There are lots of different plans & caloric recommendations. What does your plan recommend? I wasn’t given a caloric guide just portion size guides but I’d randomly check my calories & was barely eating 900 calories by 6 months when I reached goal but that was me. Make sure you are not just reaching your minimum protein goals but aim for your average to be in the upper end of the range you were given. Have a chat with your dietician to review your current diet to ensure all you’re eating is nutrient rich, low fat, low sugar, low carb. I presume you are tracking & logging your food. It’s easy to misjudge portion size & food mass if you’re just eyeballing it or to misunderstand nutritional content. I still do random checks of what & how much I’m eating.