Arabesque

Thank you soooo much everyone for sharing your eating struggles and how you approach your daily life post surgery & weight loss. So enlightening & reaffirming. I too eat the same basic menu every day so I don’t have to think about what I’m going to prep & eat - makes grocery shopping a breeze too cause I buy the same foods every week. If I’m going out to eat, I check the menu & choose what I’ll order before I go so being tempted by what’s on the menu (or agonising over what I can eat) is greatly reduced. Genetics and hormones make losing weight a fight you have with one hand tied behind your back. I grew up hearing about my overweight relatives & how I would have to always watch my diet or I’d end up like them. I first put on weight when I went through puberty & then the last large weight gain was during menopause. I grew up on a vegetable farm so eating ‘healthy’ was my norm - lots of meat & vegetables & being very active. I believe my weight problems were exacerbated because I didn’t eat until dinner throughout my high school years. And then regularly skipped lunch when I was working - too busy to stop & eat. So I killed my own metabolism. At the moment it seems to have been resurrected & hopefully it will have a long, long life. Thank you for sharing.

I don’t worry about my arms too much either (we call them tuckshop lady arms here in Aust - the mums & grandmothers who volunteer to man the school canteens). I wear sleeveless & tank tops all the time. I just avoid shoe string straps & action back as the crepey wrinkle skin is more noticeable in these for me.

I love that you’re shopping for all of us @Sophie7713. Really like that dress on you. I’d go sheer black hose with the black shoes. (Love the touch of mesh.) if it was a day event the nude would work but the black for an elegant evening. Keeping the colour going all the way thru will make you look taller too - a bonus for all of us under 5’4. And aren’t the men bringing it. Hot! I just donated all my old XL hoodies, track pants, tops & running pants which led to an expedition to my local Bonds store for more appropriately sized options (XS). Strongly motivated by a trip to Bunya Mountains next month with my baby brother & his family. Lovely bush walks & native animals to enjoy (& a few drinks on the verandah). My new babies - and only 2inch heels. Not suitable for bush walking though. Lol.

This isn’t unusual. Just annoying. Even going every 15/30 mins. It will eventually settle as your body gets used to the increased fluid intake but you’ll still have times when you feel like you’re living in the bathroom. It usually happens to me at night unfortunately.

I ended up having to stay three nights in hospital because of back spasms. I was made to get up on day two to have a shower & to put on my pjs. So glad I threw in extra pjs & knickers because on day three I experienced some awful and very unexpected diarrhoea thanks to all the laxatives I had been given. Not pretty. 😱 I found putting on clean pjs each day just made me feel better. Understand not wanting to buy pjs when you don’t wear them, but maybe find some track pants (soft, loose, drawstring waist are most comfortable immediately after surgery) even from a local 2nd hand shop & wear with your T shirts. I lived in soft track pants after my surgery. And yes to non slip shoes for doing your laps around the ward. Good luck 😁

I can’t chug water like I used to either. I have bottles of water around the house so I can take a mouthful wherever I am. I can just manage a second mouthful but I often hold it in my mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. And hell yeah to the bony butt pain. Driving any distance is a struggle. I feel pain if my pjs or sheets bunch up under me during the night. When I get up after sitting for even 10mins, and I’m bent over like an old lady. Owwww.

Oh I do buy from high street stores in fact have a dress on now I picked up for $40. 😁 I often also mix high end with high street especially tops to go with pants, skirts & under jackets. Never been a big online shopper - like being able to feel the textures & see the true colour of fabrics. Plus being short & curvy means I’m not always easy to fit so I’d send a lot of stuff back. Plus I like the immediate gratification of buying in stores. (Oh yeah baby) And I do love a good sale and loyalty rewards. Just before Christmas I picked up a $50 linen blend T for free - paid for with loyalty dollars. Woo hoo.

Congrats. Doesn’t it feel fantastic when you get there. And you’re just off your goal weight too. Double celebrations.

I understood weight loss is required for everyone though not linked to insurance requirements in Aust as it is in the US. Basically, the weight loss is to reduce any fattiness around your liver which allows the surgeon greater visualisation & movement around your stomach when they operate. It also shows a commitment to the weightloss program. You will be sent to a dietician who will put you on a diet & will monitor your pre surgical weight loss. They will guide you through the post surgical weight loss journey as well. I was put on a keto diet for two weeks prior to surgery & lost 4.2kgs. My BMI was 35. Your surgeon will have his requirements as will your insurance company based on your individual case. You can’t really compare. Treat this pre surgery time as when you begin to re-educate yourself & start your new lifestyle - how you eat, what you eat & new exercise routine. This is a life long change.

Oh yeah a lot of us have heard this too. If not your partner, it’s from your family, a best friend, or in the case of my best friend, her doctor. So it’s what you haven’t tried to lose weight before & tried hard? Why do they think you will be successful now when you haven’t before? It is frustrating & devastating. The thing is, the surgery is only a tool. Yes it will physically help you to reduce your food intake BUT you still will have to work hard. It is not a miracle cure. Snap your fingers & your weight disappears - no. It will only work if you make changes to your lifestyle, exercise routine, what you eat & how you eat. If you’re not willing to work hard & make the changes to take advantage of the tool you will not be successful. Remember why you decided to have the surgery. Remember what you wanted to achieve with the weight loss (health, fitness, lifestyle,...). I’m so glad I did it.

Miss a few days & miss lots of fabulousness. Love that skirt & tweed jacket @AngieBear & I can’t wait to see you looking glamorous at your gala @Sophie7713. Congrats on your nsvs @november11 - looking good. I love spots & stripes too @kristieshannon. Big love to @AngieBear & @Sophie7713 promoting self worth. Sadly, making judgements about others based only on how they look is becoming endemic in society. I put my hand up shamefully & admit to have done it too. Worse that, in a previous life I taught 11/12yr old girls & would push individuality, resilience, self confidence & respecting others. Went to see my surgeon today. Bought the dress about 6wks ago & it’s a little big now. Those 2.5kgs I unintentionally lost have dropped me down a dress size (pity party thread followers know of my pain).

I guiltily admit I buy 90% of my clothing from high end boutiques. I have a very good one down the road from me - an institution in Brisbane for 40+yrs. I’ve been a regular for decades from when I was a size 10 to size 18 often popping in just to say hi & chat. They stock labels from Japan, Germany & Belgium as well as some Aust lines. I’m waiting for the Comme des Garcon range to go on the floor as her sizes are small. I bought a few archive (from the 1990s) Comme pieces in Melbourne but there was one dress I couldn’t even get on! The average Aust size is about a 16 (US 12) now too. Aust size 8 or XS is often the smallest size boutiques stock in Aust so needing a size 6 or XXS now is why I’m having trouble. I just hit the online sale of a Scandinavian avant-gard designer a friend loves so I’m hoping the clothes I bought will fit. Only Selfridges had the latest range of one of the Belgian designers I love but not the pieces I was seeking. Saks still had last season’s which I have.

Just had my appointment with my surgeon & told him I wasn’t taking my multi vitamin & why. He was fine with it. Agreed better I eat than be nauseated & not eat. He also confirmed they are not as necessary for sleeve patients as they are for bypass BUT I had to ensure I was eating a balanced diet. My medical team will continue to monitor my bloods as usual.

My BMI was 35 & I am so glad I had the surgery. I was fortunate that I didn’t have any weight related health issues, except for sore feet & poor stamina, but I knew they weren’t far away & I was hurtling towards being morbidly obese. While I’d always battled my weight & yo yoed for decades, I’d never been this weight before and didn’t want to be. However, I just couldn’t loose it. It was frustrating & depressing. I decided to have the surgery because I wanted to be healthy (& wear high heels again & buy clothes off the rack ha). I have nine nieces & nephews aged from 2 to 24 and I wanted to be there for them. I also have an 80yr old mother whose health is slowly deteriorating who I need to be able to care for if needed. Most importantly I wanted to do this for me. So I could actually be who I was inside. Why did you originally decide you wanted the surgery? How did you want your life to change? To improve? What do you think is ‘heavy enough’ for surgery? Have you been to any counselling yet? You need to be in the right head space & really want this or it will fail.

Seventeen lbs in a week this far along does sound odd. Like @sillykitty weighing myself regularly is a good motivator for me too. I weigh myself almost everyday and allow for fluctuations - unexpected change of diet, water retention, constipation (lol). (Hormones aren’t an issue for me anymore but they were a b*tch for unexplained weight gain/loss.) A lot of people take regular body measurements as well & have found the measurements will change even if the scales don’t. Also keep your scales in the exact same spot. Electronic scales are sensitive to uneven floors (tiles are the worst).

@FluffyChix & @AJ Tylo are right & I especially agree with the suggestion to find a team (or at least a nutritionalist) who understands what a vegetarian lifestyle entails. Carbs in foods like bread, pasta, rice, cereals have low fibre, high GI and are digested quickly. That means you’re hungry again sooner & your blood sugar levels will swing. Post WLS, carbs fill up your small tummy before you can consume the vital nutrients like protein you need. In saying that, I ate plain oatmeal for breakfast, as an alternative to eggs, once I was into my 4th month post surgery (2/3 of my original weight loss goal lost) - 1 serve was = to 3 or 4 meals. Oatmeal has a lower GI than other carbs, is a whole grain, contains protein & soluble fibre. Steel cut are best as are less processed. Now in maintenance I eat multigrain crackers with hummus & avocado as a snack option. There are plenty of low carb/ no carb options available you can enjoy once down the weight loss path. I love zucchini noodles & last night I had cauliflower & kale rice. You can eat them on your pre surgery keto (no carb) diet. Use this time pre surgery to reassess your eating habits and try new things. Look into keto diet plans for vegetarians to get you started. It’s the start of a new life.

What stage are you at? Can you eat broths or strained soups yet? I didn’t like the shakes either (flavoured & unflavoured) - too grainy, coated my teeth & tasted blah - so glad when I could start on soups. I used to microwave the chocolate shakes to pretend they were real hot chocolate. Also used to add a dash of real vanilla to the vanilla shake to intensify the flavour. Diluting the mix helped a bit. Some suggest blitzing the shake with ice.

You’ll be ok but don’t make this the norm. Eat slowly so you get the message you’re getting full before you hit the ohh I ate too much tightness point. Mindful eating is key. Don’t be afraid to take 20, 30+ mins to eat your 1/4 cup/1oz of food & don’t worry if you don’t eat all of it. Your tummy is still healing so you don’t want to put stress on it by eating large serves or the wrong foods as you work thru the stages. Small portions are your new normal. (Check out the before & after food pxt thread. I found it reassuring through the process & when I reached the maintenance stage.) Think about why you ate the second egg (though an excellent source of protein). Were you really hungry or just head hungry? Use this time while losing weight to think about why you eat & what you want to eat vs if you need to eat. The head work is important. Good luck 🙂

For me it’s take my vitamins, feel nauseous, don’t eat. Don’t take my vitamins, feel good, eat. I’d rather get my nutrients in, esp my protein, than not.

I’ve given up my multivitamins now because of the nausea & the random bringing up of bile (no food). I initially stopped the morning capsule last month because I was away & didn’t want to be caught with the immediate need to vomit while out. Now I don’t even bother with my night time capsule. And I’m enjoying not feeling nauseous every day. Better to eat than not eat because I feel sick to my thinking. I also understood they weren’t as vital for sleeve patients once in maintenance & upping food intake. Last month my surgeon was concerned by the nausea & random vomiting & suggested alternative brand of multi vitamins. I told him i’d taken that brand before & they always made me ill & their dose was 3 ‘horse tablets’/day but he didn’t give me another alternative. So I thought stuff it no more tablets. I only was taking a multivitamin - full dose was 2 caps/day which I split to 1 AM & 1 PM. My iron levels & stores are good (iron constipates & who needs to make that worse lol) as are my vit D levels (hilarious as I avoid the sun & am ghostly pale). I get plenty of calcium thru cheese & yoghurt every day (eating more than I ever did prior to surgery) & bone density is excellent. I also take liquid silica & collagen every 2nd day. I see my surgeon again next week so I’ll see what he says.

I’m devastated. And I know it’s a first world devastation but it doesn’t take away from the depression I’m in now. I’ve admitted I’m a shoe ***** but I also love clothes. Not trendy stuff but pieces that are different, special & not found in every shopping centre. Pieces that are never ‘out of fashion’. One of my rewards for losing this weight was I would be able to fully indulge my passion for certain designers like I once could. I didn’t want a tattoo. I didn’t want to be able to run a marathon. I wanted a wardrobe of gorgeous clothes & to be able to wear high heels again. Superficial I know but it’s my addiction. It’s like art to me. The fabrics, the cut, the designs are just so beautiful. They make me happy. I keep the pieces for ever & as I was losing this weight it was a joy to wear my old favourites again though these archived pieces are all too large for me now because I’m the smallest I’ve ever been. Well, I just went to my favourite boutique (my dealer) to buy (get my fix) from the new seasons of three of my favourite designers (my drugs of choice) and NOTHING FIT. Absolutely nothing! The smallest sizes they had (size 38) were all too big. Some like hugely too big. I even put on the only size 36 they had, pants, & I could take them off without undoing the button or zip. WTF!?!? I did have trouble when shopping in Melbourne last month but this was the lowest point. I’m experiencing withdrawal symptoms. I’m going to have to visit net-a-porter but virtual shopping isnt the same as physically touching & trying the clothes on in a store. More tears. 😭

I agree with @FluffyChix. Remember your tiny tummy can only fit in a small amount of food. At this stage I could barely eat a quarter cup of food. The bread alone would fill you up & then you wouldn’t be able to eat your protein which is essential. I would go easy on your tummy - you’re still only 5 weeks post surgery. Treat your new tool with care. I was told not to even consider carbs like bread (or rice or pasta) until maintenance & then only multi grain crackers as a snack with hummus or avocado. Like @Superman84 I haven’t bought bread since I began my pre surgery diet last April & I threw out the loaves I had in my freezer months ago. I don’t even even eat wraps though I might try a lettuce wrap soon.

Dita von Teese has been my fantasy ideal for years. So stylish & polished ... with & without clothes. 😜 I agree, Dorothy Dandridge had it going on too @GreenTealael. Yep, I’m with you @KaysMommy. All a bit same ol’ same ol’ wardrobe wise for me too. Been raining for hours here (yippee!) & it’s cool. And I have ‘a little man from the village’ here servicing my air conditioners. They’ve been blowing air so frigid I had to dig around in my hamper to find a grungy old grey hoodie that’s at least 3 sizes too big so no photo from me today. Lol

Besides giving you a false feeling of being full & having no nutritional value, carbonated drinks can aggravate reflux as well & not just the belching & hiccuping side effects. I gave them up years ago & it was the best decision for my reflux & acidic stomach. The only carbonated drinks I have are soda & tonic water (with my occasional gin) but I drink one over hours so the bubbles are way gone before I finish the glass. I also have issues with the artificial sweeteners in the diet soft drinks. First their chemical make-up but most worrying to me is how they continue to feed your sugar cravings. It’s not easy to cut out the processed & artificial sweeteners from your diet but it worth the effort to consciously reduce it. Sorry that’s my rant.