Arabesque

Started work again a couple of weeks ago helping out a former employer who had lost some staff recently so I’m way behind in checking out how fabulous everyone is looking. I swear it’s taken more than an hour to try to catch up.

Just a couple of pxts of work clothes - when I wasn’t rushing out. The short silk caftan top is from my archives - about 14yrs old. The dress was one I bought in Melbourne -1992 Comme de Garçon. It’s a little big on me cause I’ve lost those few extra kgs. The jeans I got today. Great dark navy & you know I love a wide leg pant. Plus the shoes I couldn’t leave behind - the heel changes colour (pink to gold) depending how light hits it. Designed to look like the aurora borealis. They won’t be very sensible when I go to the Bunya Mtns next weekend though. 😜

After about 12 weekly treatments & another couple of monthly Radio Frequency treatments, I think I can confidently say yes, I can see an improvement. 🎉🎉🎉

The marionette lines on my left side have reduced quite a bit. They’re a shadow of what they were. The right side has lessened but are still very visible. Though this side was far worse than the left. The finer lines under my chin have reduced dramatically too.

The unexpected improvement has been the horizontal creases which ran around my neck. I can hardly see them now. (Though they are still noticeable on the side of my neck.)

Mind you I also take silica & collagen several times a week as well. So I could be finally seeing the effects of the collagen in my skin being stimulated from a combination of RF & the silica & collagen.

It does end. I’m 9.5 months post surgery & I feel pretty confident is saying my Hair loss has normalised (knock on wood). I lost more than 50% which was pretty scary too me. As were the handfuls that came out every day & don’t start me on the huge amounts that fell when I washed my hair.

I took silica & collagen but nothing helped. Now my weight has stabilised, I’m better at ensuring I eat my Protein every day & I’m eating a more balanced diet, the hair loss decreased.

Give it time. Don’t stress. As my surgeon said: your body has better things to do with the nutrients your consuming than grow hair at the moment. Plus your body is going through lots of changes & learning to function with a reduced diet while your losing weight.

Was waiting for my micro blading follow-up appointment at the swanky local day spa this morning when in walked two young, thin ‘beautiful people’ (all spray tans, botox & body con clothes) and I suddenly felt uncomfortable & embarrassed. I thought oh I’m so fat & they’ll look at me & judge me.

WTF!! Where did that thought come from?? I’ve always been pretty self confident & never really felt that way when I carried weight (probably because I saw myself as ‘only being overweight’ not the reality of being obese - body dysmorphia). And now this random thought of being less than & being judged by how I look comes into my head. Worse was the realisation that I still saw myself as being fat.

It threw me. I had to give myself a mental slap & looked again at the women with clear eyes. The reality was I was actually smaller than they were.

Looks like I still have head work to do. Maybe I’ll be working on it for a long time as there’s obviously some buried stuff that needs to be dug out.

Congrats on losing 50lb - amazing.

I think some people have a mental image of us & it takes a long time for it to change to the new reality. A friend said she was surprised when I told her how much I weighed because she didn’t think I was anywhere near that big - I was. A niece asked me last month when I’d cut my hair. It had been >4months since I’d had 12inches cut off & I’d seen her several times (ahh self involved youth).

Also we all carry & lose weight weight differently. Unfortunately it seems the higher our starting weight the longer it takes for any loss to become noticeable. You may find people will comment on a loss of a couple of pounds when you’re near or at your goal.

I think we like to hear positive comments about our weight loss progress because it’s motivating. They reaffirm our achievements & hard work. We are human & we all like to be acknowledged & receive praise. 😁

I set myself a goal of 60kg as it was a weight I had been happy with in the past & my surgeon confirmed it was a sensible goal. Achieving mini goals (1/3 of the weight gone, 2/3 gone) was a great motivator too. Watching those numbers drop on the scales was amazing as was watching my BMI decrease.

One of my 6yr old nieces likes to play with mine. She says she likes them because they’re soft & squishy. Embarrassing ... but funny.

I gurgle a lot too. Most often if I eat a bit too much or a bit too quickly and sometimes for no reason at all.

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.