Arabesque

You may have been lucky this time but I wouldn’t push it. There are a lot of sutures & staples holding your tummy together & the staged return to eating is in place to protect your wounds & support your healing & recovery. Generally we’re told to avoid pasta - not just during the staged eating phase. It, like rice & bread, are more highly processed, nutrient poor food that will swell & feel heavy in your tummy. It fills your much smaller tummy restricting you from eating the nutrient dense foods you need to be eating like your protein. In a while you may be able to add carbs back into your diet, but then the rule usually is eat your protein first, then any vegetables & finally if you’re able any carbs you are allowed.

First we all fluctuate. It may be a pound or two or it might be more. Tracking your weight will allow you to see your natural fluctuation & help you recognise that versus weight gain. Secondly, a 50 pound weight loss in about 5 months is great. Why do you think you are failing? Does your surgeon, dietician or team say you are failing? The only people who lose more than that in the first months are those who start at much higher weights than you like on My 600lb Life. They may start at losing 50lbs a month but that doesn’t last. Like everyone their rate of lose slows as they lose weight. I echo others suggestion of tracking everything you put in your mouth - solid or liquid - ensuring you weigh & measure everything. Do it for a few weeks, then discuss your food records with your dietician to check you aren’t missing something or confirm you are on the right track. PS - Real fruit is always a better choice than fruit juice. You get more nutrients, better fibre & still get fructose as a natural sugar to help with your diabetes.

Unfortunately, yes your hunger comes back as do all your cravings, old bad habits, etc. it can be difficult at first to discern between real hunger & head hunger. Real hunger feels different. I feel restless as if something is wrong. There is always a logical reason I feel hungry (haven’t eaten, missed a meal, didn’t eat much,). If there isn’t a reason to feel hungry or if I crave a specific food, flavour or texture I know it’s head hunger. Head hunger often passes real hunger doesn’t. If you are still producing too much stomach acid you may have hunger pangs. Hunger pangs & your tummy rumbling usually isn’t a sign of hunger as we were always told - it’s just either too much acid (try taking a ppi or antacid) or your digestive system working properly. Distractions can help. Go for a walk, craft, read, clean out a cupboard or drawer, ring a friend, check this forum, play a game. Even set a time - I’ll have something to eat in half an hour & then chose a nutrient dense low calorie option. Sipping a warm drink can help too. Many find counselling very helpful to understand your relationship with food & what drives you to eat (your cravings, emotions, habits, etc.). They’ll also help you work out ways to manage these when they feel like they’re taking over. You won’t stop the but you’ll better identify why you want to eat & work out ways to take away some of their power.

While I agree that selecting the right tool is important (right for your needs, health & medical considerations, lifestyle etc.) getting your head right is equally as if not a more important part. Not everyone loses their appetite after surgery & if you do it’s temporary. We all say, the surgery changes your body but it doesn’t change your thinking. It doesn’t stop your cravings, emotions, habits. They’ll still be there when your appetite returns. You have to do the head work as well. It is possible to eat around your tool, to make poor food choices & then not lose or regain your weight. Changing your relationship with food, understanding why you eat (habit, emotional support, craving, boredom, etc.) are essential. It’s like getting a gym membership or buying a treadmill, how successful you are depends upon you changing your behaviours & actually using the treadmill or going to the gym. Many people find working with a therapist extremely helpful in understanding & developing strategies to manage what motivates or drives our eating & the food choices we make. Unfortunately, life does tend to throw crap at us at times, & knowing how to manage the emotional turmoils that usually come with it & not fall back on old eating behaviours will help you continue your weight loss & maintain in the future. As @NickelChip said, Dr Weiner & Dr Pitcher have amazing resources but I do encourage you to consider seeking counselling. Your doctor, surgeon & team should be able to recommend someone with experience in disordered eating & bariatric patients. (Many insurances require at least one visit as part of your approval anyway.) All the best.

Stalls are common & a necessary part of your weight loss. It’s when your body stops & assess the changes you’ve made & resets things like digestive hormones, metabolism, etc. based on your changes & new needs. Think of it as your body taking a breath to understand the stress you’ve been putting it through. Once it understands what you now need, your weight loss will start again. Stick to your plan, don’t stress your body more. Your stall will break when your body is ready. They usually last between 1-3 weeks but it can be longer. Can be difficult to compare what others are doing or achieving at a certain point in time. I was barely eating 900 calories at 6 months. Barely touched a carb except what was in vegetables & fruit & barely any sugar (still average less than 10g added sugar a day often only 5g). Most are eating way more than that. With your calorie intake you will still lose weight but I agree, your dietician is your best help.

The dizziness is likely orthostatic hypotension or in simple terms drops in blood pressure with postural changes - getting up after sitting or lying down. You can get it reaching up too. It’s pretty common in the first weeks after surgery & I think aggravated by the low calorie intake but for most it’s temporary. (I had a tendency to it before surgery & now I have it everyday.) Keep your fluids up. Add a little more salt to your diet if possible. Get up slowly, in stages & wait before moving. When I do move I generally try to keep near a chair, table,wall, etc. so I can grab it & ground myself if my vision narrows. Even been known to grab a person too - LOL. Depending upon how much weight you’ve lost so far, your upper body pain could be from your body finding it’s new centre of gravity. Your body used to hold itself in a certain way to compensate for the weight you carried. Now it doesn’t have to & your muscles at relearning how to hold yourself when standing, walking, etc. And yes it’s pretty common & can be experienced at different time while you’re losing.

Glad you’re feeling better @ms.sss.

I’d question the fitbit too. You’d have to run for around four hours to burn 3000 calories & lift weights for about 8 hours. https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/how-to-burn-3000-calories-a-day/ Remember, exercise contributes to only about 10% of any weight you want to lose. Many benefits to exercising of course but don’t make it your focus for weight loss. I didn’t ‘exercise’ & I lost all my weight & more but that was because my body’s new set point was a weight lower than my goal. But I am an outlier & beat the average stats of losing about 65% of the weight you are to lose with a sleeve. I agree with @learn2cook’s suggestion to speak with your dietician & your surgeon may help too. All the best.

I was an equal opportunity savoury & sweet eater. I eliminated most sugar in the weeks after surgery when anything with sugar, artificial sweeteners or sugar alternatives tasted extra crazy sweet & was off putting. I haven’t really let it back into my eating. I get my sweet from blueberries every day & the occasional additional serve of fruit. It can be hard to eliminate it & the alternatives completely. It is added to just about everything in firm or another. I know I have about 5g of added sugar (multigrain crackers I eat) a day & some artificial sweetener (yogurt, protein bar & peanut paste) but that’s it. And none of these things taste sweet. I will have dessert at Christmas but that all I have of traditional sweet food. (I did have a small piece of wedding cake earlier this year.) There is some sugar in the rare G&T I have. None of these things make me crave sweet again. I remember during Covid, when the grocery shelves were bare, I could only buy a box of honey instant rolled oats - it was awful, super sweet & I couldn’t eat it. Personally, I’d rather eat something with real sugar than artificial sweetener - that stuff is so bad for you. Good luck.

I started at a lower weight than you & I reached goal at 6 months. I kept losing for another 11months or so (albeit very slowly). I wasn’t trying to lose more & in fact I was eating more & more. The lower weight was where my body wanted to be - my new set point which is the weight my body is happiest at. Your set point is the weight your body will gravitate back to & is easier to maintain. It is reset through the surgery but it may not be reset to a weight we want. We used to have much higher set points which is why many of us used to lose & then regain it back or struggled to lose at all. You mentioned you are eating fewer calories in an attempt to lose more. Remember you will have to continue to eat fewer calories & be more active to maintain a lower weight. This is not always sustainable & can impact you long term (including slowing your metabolism). Have you spoken with your team - surgeon, dietician? They should be able to advise you on how to best get closer to your ultimate goal.

Not foamies. Sounds more like dumping. It occurs after eating foods high in fat or sugar & yes for some people carbs or dairy. Have you raised it with your surgeon or support team? This link has information about dumping. It is for bypass but dumping with bypass is the same as dumping with sleeve. https://asmbs.org/resources/bariatric-surgery-postoperative-concerns#:~:text=About 85% of gastric bypass,syrup) or high glycemic carbohydrates.

Yeah, I was not told to count carbs either. Just was told to avoid pasta, bread & rice, like we usually all are, & to keep carbs lowish. I still keep my carbs lowish & still don’t eat bread, pasta or rice. I look to multi or whole grains & mostly those that are low processed (which will give you extra fibre) like traditional oats. Remember your vegetables & fruit have fibre which will compensate for having fewer carbs because you have to count whole carbs. Our bodies have different needs which is why someone may lose weight following one way of eating & someone else can’t. Low carb may work for you or may not in the long term. Now you are getting closer to your goal you can start to work out what your body needs in regards to nutrients to function effectively. What you discover can be quite interesting. I discovered I feel better with lowish carbs & very low sugar. I also feel better if I eat breakfast a little later (around 9am) after years of not eating breakfast or feeling blah if I did. Oh, yeah, you can’t break a stall. It’s a natural & important part of your weight loss. The stall will break when your body is ready & has adjusted (digestive hormones, metabolism, etc.) to meet your new needs. You’ve been putting it through a lot. Best thing is not to make changes which will stress your body more.

You’re a week out from what was a pretty major surgery. You’ll be healing & recovering for a few weeks & will feel random spasms of pain or discomfort during this time. Sometimes it’s simply moving in the wrong way or bending or lifting that can cause what is like a muscle pull. There are often internal sutures to support your tummy & intestines which are easy to ‘pull’ or ‘strain’ if you do a little too much, too soon, or move too quickly. Same with feeling tired & having little energy. If you feel tired it’s your body telling you to rest so it can heal. It does get better & you’ll start to feel like your usual self soon. Of course if the pain gets worse, is stronger than you have been experiencing or is persisting, get in contact with your surgeon or go to your nearest medical centre just to be sure everything is okay.

Your title may be laugh too. Thought you were going to talk about the awful constipation &/or diarrhoea. LOL! Corn is one of those foods that can be difficult to digest & therefore pass. It can cause gas & bloating too - it’s the cellulose in it. It is also high in natural sugars (especially sweet corn) so it’s often not included in some diets like keto & in many of our plans for a while. Yes, the mayo, cheese or even the chilli could be causing your body to go nope not for us too. Not sure how far a long you are but maybe give it a break for a while & then see how you go. If you aren’t that far out, your tummy may still be a little fussy & sensitive.

@catwoman7 put it perfectly so I won’t add to her advice & information except echo yes, you count your fluid protein as a liquid as well. Purée can be a very difficult stage for many of us. It can be a struggle to find anything that tastes okay & that the texture isn’t off putting. Thankfully it is only for two weeks. I think I ate the same few things every day. Lol! Try blending your yoghurt with milk to make a drink so you get protein (milk & yoghurt) & fluid (count how much milk you add & sip like a drink. Have you tried protein water or blending some protein powder into your oatmeal, farina, soup, the yoghurt drink, etc,? Try puréing meats like chicken (thigh is less dry than breast) with lots of gravy or stock to make it a purée. It’s a shame you can’t do eggs. Wonder if it’s because many struggle with them at first - worth asking about it. They can be a great option - egg salad, runny scrambled eggs, etc. Make a vegetable & meat soup (can add beans or lentils too) & purée that - you get meat & vegetables that way. Oh & don’t beat yourself up if you don’t hit those fluid & protein goals. As long as you’re close & getting better at it you’ll be okay. I didn’t hit them regularly for ages.

Thank you @BayougirlMrsS. I’ve been assessing what I have in my wardrobe recently & decided I have way too many clothes so haven’t been buying for a few months (except that skirt). Please tell me I’m not the only one with outfits they’ve only worn once (or not yet). They’re beautiful pieces which thankfully won’t date but still crazy ridiculous. How have you been @BayougirlMrsS? Long time no post.

Oops. Impatient clicking.

What do you mean by not always having real protein? What are your current protein sources? I was eating lamb, steak, chicken, pork, fish from solid foods so week 7.

What do you mean by not always having real protein? What are your current protein sources? I was eating lamb, steak, chicken, pork, fish from solid foods so week 7.

What do you mean by not always having real protein? What are your current protein sources? I was eating lamb, steak, chicken, pork, fish from solid foods so week 7.

I’ve never been able to drink cold water or other drinks (except champagne & a G&T they’ve got to be cold - LOL!). Can’t change it. Just have to live with it & dress accordingly & be prepared just in case it’s colder than you expected (like in cinemas, hospitals, doctor’s waiting rooms, etc.) You may be one of those for whom it improves & you’re not as sensitive.

I can’t recall when it started either. I’m pretty sure I just felt my usual feeling more cold than everyone else response through the first winter which was when I had my surgery. While some say it passes or improves over time, I still suffer from it 4 yrs out. I just dress accordingly & am prepared just in case. The alternative benefit is you don’t feel the heat as much.

Very easy to make @spinoza. This is the recipe & the one for the caramelised onion tart I made for the previous drinks. As per usual I took the recipe & made small changes to suit me. Who follows recipes 😆😆 Next time I do the caramelised onion I think I’ll add olives. https://www.easypeasy-lemonsqueezy.co.uk/puff-pastry-tart-with-tomato-burrata/ https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/recipes/caramelized-onion-tart

@catwoman7 asked the same questions I was thinking. But I will add that dumping occurs after eating sugars & fats which you would be avoiding anyway. Could it be the foamies? Lots of thick saliva which you spit up, a feeling something is sort off stuck & then you may regurgitate what you ate. It usually happens if you eat too quickly, too much, or your food is too dry or too coarse or fibrous (some vegetables can be like this). Could also be your sensitive, fussy, still healing tummy. It’s not uncommon for our tummy to say nope don’t like that (even things we always enjoyed) & up it comes. If it is that, it does get better as you continue to recover. There is a lot of trial & error in the beginning to discover what your tummy likes & sometimes your food options may end up being quite small but as I said it does improve & before long you’ll have plenty of options. If you’re feeling nauseous as well ask for some anti nausea meds to help. Be warned often your multi vitamins can make you nauseous & vomit.

Day three I had diarrhoea - single event, dark, smelly occurred without warning. Then it was another couple of days I think. Initially I only went about every two day but if I went for three days I’d take a stool softener to keep on top of it. From purées I think I added a soluble fibre. Don’t be surprised if you only go every couple of days for the first couple of months & what you pass is much smaller than what you’re used to. You’re not eating much to excrete. Also at the moment the strong opioid pain meds will can make you constipated too.