Arabesque

Rice, pasta & noodles (& bread) were on my do not eat list. They are highly processed, nutrient poor, simple carbs. They take up room in your tummy stopping you from eating all your necessary protein & other nutrients. I still don’t eat them as they sit too heavily in my tummy, filling me more quickly but that’s me. Generally, the rule of thumb for eating while you are losing weight is to eat your protein first, then any vegetables you are able to eat & finally any complex carbs you may be allowed. Don’t be surprised if all you can eat at some meals is your protein only. There are lots of alternatives to traditional style rice, pasta, etc. Cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, vegetable pastas (low carb), etc. are options while in your losing phase. Who knows what you may be able to eat (how much & how often) when in maintenance. Best advice is to check with your team.

Nope. Do not miss being big at all. I was very happy to get rid of my large clothes. One of my motivators for the surgery was my size was limiting the clothing & designers I could buy & wear (I loved clothing & fabrics, the designs, etc.) I’d kept clothes at lower sizes so as I lost I was able to wear some of those but at times the weight loss meant I missed my window to wear them or only wore them once. I donated a lot of it. The only clothing I’ve kept, regardless of size, were special pieces - because of the memories or the clothing designer. I have kept more items that are a size too big - just in case I guess. I’ve altered clothing in the past but it never really worked. Plus you’ll drop so many sizes it’s impossible. I dropped 6 sizes. You can’t just run in a seam. The whole outfit really needs to be recut.

What about trying a fodmap diet? It cuts out lots of foods know to aggravate the digestive system & then you slowly reintroduce them to see which ones don’t work for you. Your dietician should be able to give you information on it & the eating plan. My cousin is on it for strange digestive issues. It’s not a quick process - she’s been doing it for 6 months now. I believe she went to a gastroenterologist who recommended the diet to try & identify the cause of her problem. I believe most bariatric surgeons are gastroenterologists. Mine was so maybe your surgeon is too & would be worth going back too if you haven’t (but that could just be in Australia).

It was at about two months. I had a gin & tonic which I sipped for hours - not kidding. Then it was another couple of months before I had another. I actually sort of lost my taste for it. Four years out & I still don’t drink often - usually a glass about once a month (except last weekend with girlfriends & a wedding - was a glass & a half of champagne each day for three days). A glass or two while you’re away likely won’t hurt. But do check with your team because plans differ. Remember it does slow your metabolism & the effects of the alcohol may be stronger & you may feel the effects more quickly. Track the calories & keep your non alcoholic fluids up.

Yesterday I put on a pair of trousers I hadn’t worn since last year. Pulled them up, zipped & buttoned, fitted perfectly & then it hit me. I didn’t have that fear of the pants not fitting. You know that fear. That I would have put on weight & then the expectation that what I wanted to wear wouldn’t fit. I used to feel that way just about every day (unless I was wearing elastic waists LOL!). Even with something I’d recently bought. Will my pants zip? Will the waist of my skirt be tight? Will my shirt pull across my chest? I realised I haven’t felt that fear for a couple of years now. The wonder & miracle that is maintaining a stable weight. Something I’ve never been able to do in the past.

It’s very likely your goal weight will not be your final weight - where you settle & maintain. This is controlled by your new set point, any bounce back regain, a settling weight, any lifestyle choices you may make & the weight you feel happiest & most comfortable at. I picked a goal weight that had always been my low weight in the roller coaster that was my weight loss/gain history. My surgeon said it was a reasonable goal. It put me at a BMI (love it or hate it) of about 23. Though I felt I would be happy if I just got close to that weight & a long way away from what I did weigh. Yes, I did exceed my goal but that was totally unexpected. It’s my new set point weight where my body is happiest. And I can fairly easily maintain it without limiting or restricting my life. Goal weights have the potential to mess with your head if you don’t reach it or maintain at that weight. It’s just a number on a scale often selected for emotional reasons. The bigger wins are improvements to your health & well being. Be flexible. Allow for fluctuations & influences beyond your control. Some people set a couple of goal weights. Like a good, better, best but recognising any would be an achievement which would improve their life.

Actually it’s not that common. It could just be others have not remained active on the forum or as you wondered they haven’t updated their stats. Their profile weight might be their lowest weight & not the weight at which they settled & maintain - there is a difference. The average weight loss is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthy weight range for either bypass & sleeve surgeries which is usually informed by BMI (love it or hate it) at the three year point. But with all stats there there are those who exceed that stat & those who don’t for many reasons. Some we have control over (dietary & activity choices) & many we don’t (medication, gender, age, genetics, health issues, mobility, set point, etc.) But statistically the number who reach their goal will be less & the number who exceed it even lower than those who lose the 65% average. Your goal weight is a weight you picked. It may be based upon BMI. It may be based on a weight you’d been before. Or a weight that seems okay to you. Some even adjust their goal weight as they progress. I call it my head weight or emotional weight. It often is not the weight you end up at. Some find they prefer to be at a higher weight - easier to maintain without limiting or restricting their lifestyle or they feel they look better or are more comfortable at a higher weight. There is also a bounce back regain weight many experience. You can’t really tell what your finally weight will be before your surgery. Some surgeons say they can predict approximately how much weight you may lose at specific points in your weight loss post surgery. I think it may be double the weight you’ve lost at 3 months but I’m sure some one will confirm the actual formula. Though again this is based upon stats & some exceed this & some don’t. And I don’t know if it takes into consideration bounce back regain or settling weight or is just the lowest weight you reach. Would be worth asking your surgeon about it though. The trick is not to get tied to your goal weight. It’s not your body’s new set point weight (the weight your body is happiest at). It can really mess with your head if you don’t reach it or you don’t maintain it. Even when maintaining, allow yourself some realistic fluctuation & wriggle room with your weight. Try & remember it’s just a number on a scale & there are many more important wins to celebrate like your health & well being. I am someone who exceeded my goal (based on the lowest weight I always cycled around in the past) & exceeded the stats (132% lost). Not by anything I did. It’s my body’s new set point & where it happily stabilised. My lowest weight was 48.2kg & then I settled at 48.5-49.5. I gained a couple of kilos because of a medication issue but resettled & stabilised at 49.5-50kg after sorting the issue. I find it pretty easy to maintain & not limiting or restrictive.

Purées still have to be pretty soft & runny. Think sloppy, gloopy & dollopy to help you swallow your food & make it easier for your still healing tummy to digest. Refried beans can be on puréed food list but you may have to add some stock or gravy, etc. to make them runny enough. The patty itself would be fine in the soft food stage. But do check with your team to be sure about their requirements.

It can be a real shock when you first see the hair in the shower even when you know it happens. Remember it does pass & your new hair is still growing just at it’s usual rate. A hair positive I got through all of this is my hair isn’t as oily as it used to be before surgery. The dry hair is often from the anaesthetic. It can become fuzzy or frizzy too. It usually grows out. Treat it gently in the meantime & try some treatments to keep it soft.

1200 calories a day for someone your height & activity level seems very low when you’re maintaining @ErinBrooke1982. Check out a BMR calculator for an idea of the calories you need. You’ll soon work out if that’s too few or too many calories to support your maintenance. Actually calories weren’t a consideration with my surgeon or dietician. They were more focussed on portion size & even that was more of a guideline & not rules. They did encourage me to eat more when I first stabilised but then took into consideration I’m more finely built so decided my weight was quite okay. I’m a three meals a day plus snacks person. It’s the only way I get all my calories in. My snacks are all pretty nutrient dense & offer protein & other nutrients I need. If just three meals a day is difficult for you (you can only eat what you can eat at a meal time) try reducing the meal sizes & add snacks. The snacks can be portions of your meals (leftovers) to begin or you could try 4 meals a day. You just have to find what best works for you & it may not be what your team suggests. PS - I checked a BMR calculator out of interest earlier this year & it advised I needed to consume about 1500 calories to maintain my weight, at my age, height & activity level which was about what I was consuming. I’ve been pretty stable with my weight.

Just as something to consider: Dr Matthew Weiner (his you tube videos are great) posted this about lunch meats & other ‘protein’ snacks recently. Maybe try cooking up a little chicken breast or thigh or turkey yourself & freeze small portions to defrost as snacks. You could marinate it, add your own herbs & spices for flavour. I’d sometimes buy a quarter BBQ chicken from the supermarket eat some as a meal & freeze the leftovers in small portions for snacks. I did eat pork sausages when I first got to solid foods. I got them from my butcher who makes his own & not those mass produced highly processed supermarket ones. PS - I did run & check my protein bars for the 10:1 ratio. Mine are little over, oops, but I’m 4 yrs out so not as important.

Just as something to consider: Dr Matthew Weiner (his you tube videos are great) posted this about lunch meats & other ‘protein’ snacks recently. Maybe try cooking up a little chicken breast or thigh or turkey yourself & freeze small portions to defrost as snacks. You could marinate it, add your own herbs & spices for flavour. I’d sometimes buy a quarter BBQ chicken from the supermarket eat some as a meal & freeze the leftovers in small portions for snacks. I did eat pork sausages when I first got to solid foods. I got them from my butcher who makes his own & not those mass produced highly processed supermarket ones. PS - I did run & check my protein bars for the 10:1 ratio. Mine are little over, oops, but I’m 4 yrs out so not as important.

Generally the food aversions are temporary & related to changes in your tastebuds & sense of smell post surgery often because of the anaesthetic. Apart from the general aversion to anything even remotely sweet, all the shakes were disgusting to me. The sweetness & the hideous grainy texture coating my teeth. Shudder! The weirdest one was vegetables. I love my vegetables & was so looking forward to the first time I could eat asparagus & sugar snap peas again but nope. Awful. Super pleased when they were palatable again. They were really the only things. Weirdest one was smoked salmon. Always found it that bit too rich & strong a flavour so could only eat a little. Gave it a try after surgery & it was fine. Ate it without an issue with some cream cheese wrapped around a wedge of cucumber. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But about two months later, it was back to being thanks no thanks. Oh, I made chicken cacciatore while on soft foods and of course added about half of the requisite white wine. Bad move. The wine tasted sour (it wasn’t) & flavoured the whole dish. I couldn’t eat it though my mother said it was delicious.

I thought hormonal flush too. Personally my skin seemed to get less dry specifically on my arms & legs. It’s funny how we all react differently. Maybe see a dermatologist or just your GP for something you could use on the dry skin patches. It could be possible you are getting in more B12 than you need. Have you had a blood test recently to check your levels to rule that out? Recitalist contains vitamin A (retinol), albeit a rather low level (0.3%, but that can cause dry skin patches too. Are you applying a sunscreen to protect against a sun reaction with the retinol? Damn acne. I’m 58 (tomorrow) & every now & then I still get a pimple. Had a blind one on my chin a couple of weeks ago & then a run of the mill one of my cheek last week. I had terrible cystic acne as a teenager (11+ years of hideous skin) so feel I’ve more than had my share of acne & am soooo over it. When does it ever stop. Waah! PS - I’ve been using the L’Oréal midnight cream & serum (only cones as a night cream). It’s lovely. I’ve been using L’Oréal products for years but this one is the best so far. Even got my 83 yr old mother on it & she’s a convert too.

You can also scroll down to the bottom of this page to the Together we’ve lost section. It will have your starting weight so you just add your current weight & then click the update your weight button. That ticker will click up with your loss too. It updates your profile which you’ll see on your next post.

I was allowed milky instant oats & runny scrambled eggs which were great. I puréed quite a few meats (used gravy, stock, ricotta & cottage cheese to keep them runny) but a lot just tasted dreadful (those temporary tastebud changes can make it hard) - tinned fish was the worst. I ate a lot of thicker soups (puréed meats & vegetable soups too), boiled eggs mashed with mayonnaise & high protein yoghurt. I did have some baby food a couple of times if what I’d prepared to eat was disgusting.

I didn’t exercise before surgery & I didn’t after either. Just upped my daily activities & changed some routines (park further away, make multiple trips up & down my stairs to carry groceries, walk up escalators, walk at a pace, etc.). Sure I use resistance bands & do some stretches now but that’s really for my back & to keep me limber - I wouldn’t burn 30 calories. Not exercising didn’t hinder my weight loss or maintenance (lost more than my goal & have maintained with about a kilogram regain from my lowest weight - am four years post surgery). I also ‘exercise snack’. That is I do my stretches, etc. in short batches about 4 times a day 5-10 minutes each. They say this is just as beneficial as doing a single period of activity. You may find that easier on your body. Exercising only accounts for about 10% of any weight you are to lose. So want to lose 100lbs, exercising may only help you lose about 10lbs. Of course there are many other benefits to being active. Try using resistance bands to build strength, look into the you tube videos about exercises for those with mobility issues. A lot are done seated or lying down. Water based activities may be useful. Try one of those recumbent exercise bikes (hire before you buy) as they put less pressure on your joints.

How much pain you have is variable. I had none after my sleeve but I really knew about it with my gall removal. But the surgical gas is mostly in your abdominal cavity not in your digestive tract so burping & farting have minimal impact. The surgical gas rises up behind your lungs putting pressure on nerves which cause the pain. The gas is absorbed into your lungs & breathed out. Walking, marching on the spot, pumping your arms up & down, slow deep breathing all help you breath that gas out. Heat packs can help with any discomfort. It usually takes about a week to fully pass. Additional burping or farting can be from the shakes, any sugar alcohols used in the shakes or drinking too quickly, plus the change in your digestive process could be adding to it while your body gets used to the changes. GasX may help with this gas. As with everything if it persists or gets worse give your team a call.

This is very common. You’re losing your layers of insulation (fat). Your body doesn’t have to work as hard to move & function with your lower weight. You will always feel colder than you did but you do get a little more used to it & your body acclimatises more over time. I still feel the cold. I take an extra coat to the cinema, keep a coat in my car all year round, hate the cold sections in the supermarket & winter is awful - my power bill is ridiculous (yes, even in sunny Queensland, Australia). Though I find summer much more pleasant. So it all balances out.

Yep it happens to almost every one at least once. And it is an important part of your weight loss. It’s the time when your body takes stock & reassess your needs with your lower weight. It’s when your body resets digestive hormones & enzymes, your metabolism, etc. They usually last 1-3 weeks but of course sometimes they last longer. It just depends upon what your body needs. Stick to your plan, don’t stress your body more by making more changes than you are required too & the stall will break. It’s not a sign that your surgery has failed or what you’re doing is wrong but a sign everything is right. Even though the scales aren’t moving, some find their body measurements may change. You may notice your clothes are still getting a little loser. Have you noticed this?

That’s amazing @BigSue. (You need to change your name to tiny Sue). Congratulations!

If you’re not meeting or close to your protein goals, go back to adding a protein shake as a snack. Or add a high protein yoghurt or blend the yoghurt with milk to make a yoghurt drink. I ate yoghurt & a yoghurt drink as an afternoon snack to push me up to to my protein goal. And don’t forget to eat your protein first, then if you’re able any vegetables & last any allowed carbs. There were often times when I ate my protein serve only because I’d eaten enough by then.

I wondered if it could be a lactose intolerance which we can develop post wls. Diarrhoea, bloating, wind are the usual symptoms an hour or so after eating lactose. Sugar alcohols (in some artificial sweeteners) can do the same thing. And yes, as the others have said, dumping has many more symptoms which are temporarily debilitating. I don’t know about the beef. I was easily eating steak & pork pretty soon out after solid foods (probably from around weeks 9 or 10). But we are all different & our tummies can be fussy & sensitive for a time about certain foods.

I have stairs in my house too & I handled them easily. Actually walked them a couple of times a day as part of my daily activity routine. Did the same after my gall bladder surgery & it helped to get rid of the gas because you breathe a little harder with walking stairs (you breath the surgical gas out). Just see how you go but you do need to start moving as soon as possible after surgery.

The sugar alcohols used in many artificial sweeteners cause problems for many people: diarrhoea, bloating, discomfort, … Personally I try to avoid or reduce as many artificial sweeteners, sugar alternatives & sugar as I can. It’s hard because it’s in almost everything you buy. I did it to kill my sugar craving - it has. (Artificial sweeteners & sugar alternatives still feed your desire for sweet.). Also there is a lot of research being done into how artificial sweeteners still lead to weight gain, affect your immune system, etc. But this has been a personal choice for me. Generally if I want something sweet I’ll eat some fruit. But again it’s been my choice to do this. I have made chia seed pudding & used vanilla extract as flavour. There is natural & added sugar in it but it’s very little. Also added milk powder which gave some sweetness (& extra protein) & a natural sugar. What about a fruit crumble? Cook up apple, berries, rhubarb or other fruit & sprinkle the top with a mix of rolled oats, coconut, nuts, a little plain flour, cinnamon a little butter & bake until golden. Use a little monk fruit for a touch of sweetness if the fruit is a little tart & in the crumble topping. Congratulations on your daughter’s weight loss. So wonderful she’s been inspired by you to make changes in her life too.