Arabesque

OMG! We literally lived about 500m away from from each other. I knew I recognised that view. ? You were in the Cutters Landing complex & I was in Freshwater on the western side of Admiralty House. Mind blown! I lived there from 1999 - 2014 when I then bought my house ‘down the road’ on the hill at Teneriffe. My apartment faced Admiralty House which was between our two complexes. We probably passed each other roaming around the suburb or at the Powerhouse Markets. Yep, the Flood installation is still there & it’s still being climbed upon by young people. They have a Brisbane one on the river at QPAC now too. Your tree is amazing. It’s so tall. Who gets to climb the ladder to put the decorations on the top half? I know neither you nor I could reach - tee hee. Met up with my maternal aunts & uncles for lunch today. Just wearing a little but of black. Ha! I’m finding my size 6 pants (US 2) are all a little loosish & are bagging in places & not falling nicely. Sigh!

Oh, it’s gorgeous Sophie. I love your bird decorations. As you can see I have a white peacock as my tree topper. (My ceiling is too low for a star or angel lol.) Hear. Hear. Bring on the Christmas tree pxts. We need things that bring joy & happiness.

Oh @BayougirlMrsS. I’m so sorry you’ve been going through this. Sometimes the world just keeps dumping crap on us & truthfully we can only carry so much before we have to drop something. Forgive yourself for dropping the part that manages your weight loss. I know, you’ll pick it up again. You’re strong & determined. That’s why you lost the weight to begin with & why your family goes to you. Find, even 30 minutes a day for you - I know easier said then done. Turn off your phone, shut the door. Spend it doing something you enjoy. Read some of the books Jake suggested. Go for a run, have a bubble bath, meditate. May be find another therapist, one you can click with & feel comfortable with. My mother has a saying: God only chooses special people to carry the cross of Jesus. I don’t know your faith, but I always think of this when my world is turning upside down. It gives me extra strength to get up & face tomorrow.

I did it alone no trouble. Though this was before covid, you should be fine. I just made sure I was stocked with everything I needed: shakes, broths, over the counter meds, etc. so I didn’t need to go out or have anyone pick up things for me. I went out early in week 3 to get some yoghurt, milk, ricotta, etc. which had to be bought fresh. But I was in & out of the store pretty quickly. I had to lie down when I got home though. Ha! I was happy to be alone. I could just potter around doing things at my pace, eat when I wanted, rest when I wanted. No one else to worry about. Good luck with your surgery.

A little straight talking: Loose skin versus your health & well being? Personally, I think it’s a simple decision. I have glaucoma & the medication gives me dark, purple shadows under my eyes which nothing will cover (spent a fortune on different concealers). I’m very fair & it’s very obvious. People think I’m sick. But my choice is dark, purple shadows or my sight. Sight wins every day. How much loose skin you will have depends upon many factors like your age, general skin elasticity, where you carry your weight, how long you’ve been at your weight, your history of weight gain & loss, & how much you lose. I don’t have a lot of loose skin - just sort of droopy, loose, crepey bits on my inner thighs, inner upper arms & on my belly. A good pinch but not a handful. It all hides well in my clothes. I wear fitted knit dresses without any type of shape wear & even wear tops with wide straps - I just don’t wave my arms in the air lol. I’m not someone who’d have my body on display anyway - no shorty shorts, bikinis, plunging or strapless tops for me at any weight. ? So the loose skin doesn’t really impact my clothing choices at all. I was almost 54 when I had my surgery so I had age against me in regards to my skin bouncing back. Honestly, when I hit my goal I had very little loose skin - was pretty cocky about it too. But the extra 11 kg loss gave me what I have now. I’ve decided I won’t have any surgery to remove the excess skin. I earned that skin & a part of me, for good or bad, thinks I deserve it too. It’s a good reminder of where I was & where I am now. But it is your decision. We all have things that are personally important to us (for me it is my hair). I hope I haven’t belittled yours.

I can hook you girls up any time you’re down this side of the equator. ? What suburb did you live in when you were in Brissy Ms.SSS? That view across the river with the city cat looks very familiar. I’ve decided not to put up my Christmas tree this year. I know. Sigh. It’s just so much work - before & after. But I will gather my nieces & nephews to put up mum’s tree. I think she & I will be hosting Christmas there this year.

You’re likely in a stall. They’re very, very common. The first one usually occurs around week 3 but it can begin before or after that. I thought of them as my body needing a breath to catch up with all the changes - the surgery, the reduced & changed diet, the weight loss, etc. They can last one week or a couple of weeks & you’ll have a couple of them on your journey. You will start to lose weight again. Just relax & stick to your plan. Good luck & congrats on your surgery.

Being prepared by doing lots of research is a good move. If you haven’t yet, look at your current diet & start making small changes. You could cut back on your portion sizes, reduce your caffeine, alcohol & sugar intake or reduce how many carbs you’re eating. Look for healthier food choices & cooking methods. Add some exercise into your daily routine if you don’t now. Introducing some of these changes will make it easier in the long term. You could start thinking about why you’re eating - habit, boredom, emotions or actual real hunger. What do you crave - sugar, salt/savoury, caffeine, carbs, ... This is part of the head work we all have to do. Start making new habits now. Even if your approval is delayed, the changes will be of benefit to you. Good luck. I hope you hear positive news soon.

Sleep is your body’s normal response to aid healing. You’ve been & are going through a lot: surgery, dramatic change of diet. Your body is trying to heal & dealing with the changes which is stressful. Listen to your body & give yourself time to recover & come to terms with the change. Also, add some electrolyte drinks like hydralite to your daily routine to give yourself a boost. Good luck.

Every surgeon has different requirements for pre & post surgery plans. So there is no right or wrong requirement as long as it’s on the plan you were given. Broths or consommé are your best bet for clear liquids. Your surgeon &/or nutritionalist should have given you a list of recommended foods for pre & post surgery. If they didn’t, give them a call, & ask for some guidance. Good luck with your surgery.

Just under 8kgs so about 17lbs like you. You’re doing well so relax & celebrate every pound you lose. Remember you didn’t put on all your weight in a couple of months so you can’t expect to lose it that quickly. Also the rate at which you lose will change. You’ll have high weight loss weeks & non existent loss weeks when you stall. As you get closer to your goal, you’ll lose more slowly too. Follow your plan, do the work, make the changes & you’ll lose the weight.

There are a few other hormones besides oestrogen stored in our fat too including ones that regulate our appetite, insulin, metabolism & blood pressure. You may find that these go a bit crazy too. My cholesterol levels also went up as I lost weight & then settled back at it’s normal range after I hit my goal.

Oh, believe me, you will need all your will power if you go down the wls path & want to be successful. Plus you’ll do a lot of work to recognise & come to terms with why you eat & then reprogram your brain & thinking. The surgery doesn’t get rid of the cravings, the things that drew you to eat, etc. That’s the work you have to do. It’s a lot of hard work & you’ll have to continue to put in the effort even after you hit your goal. I was almost 54 when I had my surgery & had just made the BMI 35 minimum thanks to Christmas, a holiday & an inability to shift the 5kgs. The surgery hadn’t been something I’d even considered. I had a friend who’d been successful & one day I decided I’d had enough & made an appointment to speak with my GP. Five weeks later I was in surgery. The surgery has been the best thing I did but I still have to work at it every day. It’s wonderful you’re daughter has been so successful on her journey. She’ll be a great support for you if you decide to go down this path but don’t be surprised if you have different experiences if you have surgery. Good luck with whichever path you choose.

This is very common. Remember, you’re not eating much & your body is using every bit if it so you’ll have a lot less waste for your body to excrete. If I went every second day I was happy especially in the first few months when I was consuming so little. If I got to day 3 or 4 without any movement I’d take a stool softener. I was advised to add benefibre to my diet every day to help with bowel movements. Avoid the fibre supplements that swell in your tummy. Keep your fluids up.

Some people say yes but I remember when I was slim (many, many years ago) I always felt cold. I think it may be individual. I have a friend who’s always been slim & she never feels the cold.

I had the reverse happen the hormonal flush ended my menopausal symptoms. Goodbye breakthrough hot flushes. Then they came back when I hit goal. Waaah!

About 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup depending on how wet & loose your purée is & how slowly you eat. The reality of the quantity is really weird to begin. I used to make scrambled eggs from two eggs & eat them over three days so like you @GivinItMyALL. A serve of rolled oats took three or four days. My fridge was full of dishes covered with cling film. Lol

I get tightness behind my rib cage if I eat or drink too fast. I get a full or heavy feeling if I take that extra bite & eat too much. It’s just at my chest not my belly. It’s like I’m filling up into my oesophagus.

Great achievement. Congratulations.

Very common. I’m cold all the time. I keep a coat in my car all the time & I speed down the refrigerated aisles in the supermarket. Congrats for being almost at your goal. Whoo hoo.

I struggled too cause I wasn’t hungry but I just kept working at it. I didn’t enjoy protein shakes or powder so that didn’t help. Was easier when I got to solid foods & as I could eat a little more. My surgeon was fine with me not meeting the goals to begin with but that was his position on it.

Have you tried any of the migraine medications? My mother swears by them. Takes one at the onset & it’s gone. She used to take concoctions of codeine & ibuprofens, lie in a darkened room & be out of action for days. There’s different types of medications depending upon how your migraine manifests & affects you. May be worth a conversation with your doctor & surgeon. For many, headaches are a side effect of the change of diet & ketosis. This could be why your are experiencing more migraines. Also as you lose weight, the oestrogen stored in your fat is released into your blood stream. So if your migraines are hormonal induced this could explain the increase in frequency.

For me, my restriction feels like a tightness which runs down the centre of my rib cage. So I guess running the length of my oesophagus. I find myself rubbing that centre rib cage ridge as if to ease the tightness by massaging the bones. Lol. I sometimes thump it too. Crazy the things we do subconsciously. I get it if I eat or drink too quickly (usually when dining out), or if my tummy isn’t enjoying something I’ve eaten.

There’s not as a great an issue with malabsorption with sleeve patients compared with those with a bypass. I get my calcium from at least three serves of dairy a day: yoghurt, milk, cheese. I get a 4th serve a few times a week from chia pudding which I make on dairy milk & powdered milk. Ask your medical team if you can have more frequent blood tests to see if upping your calcium through your diet has any impact. I have one about every three months requested by either my surgical team or my GP.

First, congrats on your surgery & your weight loss so far. Whoo hoo! There’s a saying: the more you have to lose the faster you’ll lose at the beginning. But in saying that, we’re all different & some people lose very quickly & others lose very slowly. As your starting point is lower than many of us you’ll likely lose more slowly, however, if you’re losing 2- 4lbs a week on average to begin you’re doing well. Your loss will slow as you get closer to your goal. It’s always good to consider you didn’t put your weight on in a couple of months so you can’t expect to lose it all in the same time. Stick to the program, do the work and you’ll be successful. The surgery isn’t an easy fix. You’re changing your life & you want it to stick. It will happen. Good luck.