Arabesque

We all need to be a drama queen some times. ? But it’s pretty common & understandable that you might have some trepidation. As you said you’ve never had this surgery or any major surgery before. Fear of the unknown. Perfect opportunity for some drama & attention seeking - LOL! Write down any questions you may think of & ask when you have your appointment next week. Hopefully that will help ease some of your nerves & clarify what you should/might expect. All the best.

You drink you pee. Flush those toxins out. Reduce risk of bladder/kidney infections.I can easily pee 6 times a night & I still average 8 hrs most nights. I still drink during the night every time I get up to pee & get in another 250 odd mls (8ozs). Even your snacks should be nutrient dense which is why the waiting before & after eating to drink still applies. Don’t want to waste any of those nutrients, esp. protein, by washing them through your digestive system too quickly, Yes, in the beginning it can be a challenge to meet your fluid goals. But as long as you’re making an effort & are close & getting closer all is good. And it does get easier. Take larger sips, & more frequently.

Yes, pre existing gerd is a hard no for sleeve in almost all cases. Sleeve won’t fix it & will likely make it worse necessitating a 2nd surgery to convert to bypass. I had reflux/gerd before my sleeve. The only reason my surgeon decided to proceed with a sleeve was because my reflux was mild & I managed it for years with dietary choices. I only took meds a couple or so times a year. If it was more severe, & I needed regular medication, he wouldn’t have done it. My reflux is worse & I take meds every day which manages it but the symptoms are different. We have similar stats in regards height & I had a similar starting weight (200lbs). Having reflux didn’t hinder my weight loss. Plus I’m menopausal (perimenopause & menopause was when I put on the bulk of my weight & pushed me to obesity). I lost all my weight plus more & have kept it off. And I wasn’t active at all Lol! Avoid comparing your rate of weight loss with anyone else. We all lose at our own rate & what is best for us & our body. Comparing usually leads to frustration & worry. Have you met with your dietician recently & gone through your meal tracking? There may be something you’re missing or need or don’t need. A stall of more than a month isn’t common. Try to increase your fluid consumption. You should aim for 64oz or likely more as you say you are very active. And yes, while muscle weighs more than fat it’s not that much more. Say a container of fat weighs 1kg. The same container of muscle weighs 1.2kg so we only talking ounces of difference. Have you been taking body measurements to better understand where you might be in regards to muscle growth?

Can’t help with the Amazon, but I wear Bonds/Hanes bralettes around the house. The ones I wear have some shaping which I find better for my larger cup needs. I keep my proper bras for when out in public & need good support. I started this when losing so I only needed to buy 2 good proper bras (black & nude) at each stage so not as expensive.

Ditto to what @catwoman7 said. And add if your body says it’s a bit weary & wants to stop & rest, stop & rest. Maybe try doing a task or two & then take a break. I mean does anything really have to be done right now! You are recovering from a pretty major surgery.

Happy birthday! Mine was two months after my surgery but I’m not a big birthday party person. Sure for the significant decades but others not so much. I usually just cook something I like & in the before years I’d buy I treat. In the after years, I still do the same except no treat (I’m a rarely have sweets person now). Can’t recall what I did for that first birthday. Probably just stuck to my plan - it was more important to me. Don't think you can’t go out though. It’s just a matter of making the best choices you can from the menu & stick to portion sizes. Appetisers are usually an okay size. And doggy bags work for leftovers. You can even share a dish with someone else. As others have said, this is about learning about making better choices. It doesn’t mean you restrict yourself for ever more. Smaller portions, considering frequency of eating certain foods, using alternative ingredients or different cooking styles. Love fish & chips try grilled or steamed fish with oven baked or air fried not deep fried fries if you do decide to try a cupcake, you may find it overly sweet & you don’t enjoy it because you’ve been avoiding sweet for a while now. Our taste buds can become super sensitive to certain flavours too like sweet (or salty) too. Of course it could be delicious. I used to make chia pudding a lot. You could try that as a birthday dessert treat. I’d add vanilla extract or paste to the milk to give a little flavour boost or a little fruit. Plus bonus of protein.

I’m sorry you had such a rough beginning. For some food aversions or foods you are unable to tolerate are temporary for others they’re long term. Chicken seems to cause a lot of issues likely because breast is the most popular cut & it is dry which is the cause of most of the problems eating it e.g. foamies. Thighs are a more tender & moist cut (& also more flavoursome). Give them a go if you haven’t yet. Keeping all your meat juicy & tender (no well done steak) & use sauces & gravies to keep it moist may help. About 4.75yrs out & I still don’t eat bread, rice, pasta or similar products like wraps as they sit heavily in my tummy so I feel uncomfortable & limit what I can eat. Doesn’t bother me as I’m quite happy being more low carb & not eating simple carbs. Out of curiosity, have you tried plant based proteins? They’re not as dense as animal proteins. Might be worth a try if you haven’t. Just watch your protein intake.

This is a really great place to start. Start making small changes which are much easier to adopt & adapt to. And yes the head work is incredibly important & it is also the hardest thing so starting now is a good idea too. If you do decide to go down the skin removal path, waiting until you’ve stabilised your weight for a few months is a good idea. I haven’t gone that route as I don’t have a lot of loose skin - two finger pinches so not worth the surgery. It doesn’t limit me in any way & like @catwoman7 I can hide it easily under clothes. I even wear body con clothes without shape wear. I was fortunate as I hadn’t carried my highest weight for long & didn’t have as much to lose comparatively. I certainly had my age against me but maybe good genes helped too ?.

I was barely eating 900 calories at 6 months (almost a cup of food for a meal depending on what it was & one snack) & at my goal weight. But my stats are different from yours. I’m likely older, definitely shorter & I wasn’t & still aren’t overly active. (I eat about 1600 now to maintain my weight.) You have every right to ask for greater guidance around calories, portion sizes, macros, etc. from your nutritionalist if it makes you feel more confident about your choices & comfortable about what you’re doing. If they refuse you may have to find another one who is willing to support you. Yes, I know calorie counting is considered out, but for us it is an important consideration especially until we feel more secure in what we’re doing & helps us to lose/maintain & maintain our health. We need that guidance now as most of us didn’t know what the hell we were doing in regard to appropriate foods to eat, nutrients our bodies needed, appropriate portion sizes, etc. We’re new borns about a lot of this in the beginning. If we knew it all & could do it we wouldn’t have needed the surgery. Honestly, I wasn’t given calories goals or specific macro except protein 60g for me. Just portion size, and low carb, low fat, low sugar. I was okay with that though I would still randomly check for my own interest. I did a lot of my own reading, and was very careful with what I chose to eat & checked with my dietician at every fortnightly appointment. As I said, you have to feel comfortable & confident about what you’re doing. After those first heady weeks of large weekly weight drops &, regardless of our starting weight, our rate of loss slows. One to two pounds a weeks is okay especially as you are on the homeward path now. Remember that 1-2lbs a week is generally considered a healthy rate of lose for anyone losing weight. Wait until you’re almost there & you’re losing ounces not pounds a week. Believe me, the last few pounds to lose are a b*tch to lose.

Some things I’ve learnt. I am cynical so be warned. Save your money on any supplements or creams to save your hair or tone your skin or reduce skin laxity. Of course any general body care & self care is always a good thing. My cynical self says just don’t put your faith & heart into believing all the miracle cure alls. The hair you lose is hair that you would have shed anyway - your natural shedding cycle is just accelerated for a couple of months. It’s dead hair & you can’t save that no matter how many supplements you take. Those that say it helped don’t know how much hair they would have lost & they still lose for the same 3 or so months as those who didn’t take anything or use special shampoo. Remember too your new growth hair is still growing just at it’s a usual rate. You & your stylist are probably the only ones who’ll notice your loss & in a year or so it will be as it was. How much loose skin you end up with depends on many factors - age, how long you were at your highest weight, how long you carried weight, how much weight you lose, genetics. The loose skin is skin that has been stretched too far & can’t retract any more like elastic in old knickers or an old well used hair band. Only way to get rid of it is through surgery. I’ll be honest. I weakened & bowed to social media & bought that Maey’s B cream range: see results in a month. Well 6 months later & no change. My skin was softer but any cream would have done that. Still had sagging skin & cellulite. Should have saved the $200+. Also did collagen powder & silica for months too. Any change? Nope. Best thing I did for my facial laxity was micro needling/RF. Not a miracle cure but I can see improvement. Did 4 monthly sessions a year ago & two maintenance sessions for this year. (Lipstick bleeding almost gone, acne scarring more shallow, jowls tighter, more defined jawline in general, don’t have to distort my face to see my cheekbones, skin velvet soft, …) See there are things I believe in - LOL!!! As for general vitamins before surgery, have a blood test first & find out what nutrients you may be lacking in & supplement those so you are in a healthier place before surgery. No point taking vitamins you don’t need yet. Many of them you simply pee out what your body doesn’t need. The better, more nutrient dense, balanced diet, being generally healthier, probably did me the most good. My skin isn’t dry anymore (even my feet), don’t have those little bumps on my arms, my nails aren’t as ridged, sleep better, etc. All the best - exciting times ahead for you,

Our heads are often our worst enemy. Making you crave certain foods, flavours or textures, making you want them more simply because you can’t have them, trying to convince you that this tiny portion of food simply can’t be enough for you to function, … In time you work out strategies to help you manage this but it’s not easy at first. Many of us find distraction helpful. Read, craft, check social media or this forum, ring a friend or family member, go for a walk, play a game, clean out a drawer, cupboard or pantry (get rid of the clothes that are too big & foods you can’t eat or may be tempted by), etc. Even sipping a warm/hot drink can be helpful. The change in our tastebuds & sometimes sense of smell can make it challenging to find foods you can tolerate for a while. I found the shakes disgusting (too sweet & grainy), bone broths too salty. Thank goodness for cream soups. I also diluted my shakes so I could tolerate one a day. Try making your own smoothie with yoghurt, milk, protein powder & an appropriate flavour. The change in your taste buds can have the reverse affect too & foods or flavours you didn’t like before suddenly are okay so don’t rule out something because you didn’t like it in the past. All the best.

Another thing to remember is a lot of nerves were cut during your surgery so signals to tell you things like you’ve had enough, eaten too much or doing damage just aren’t getting through or aren’t getting through clearly. You getting sick is a sign you’ve over done it. As I always say all because you can doesn’t mean you should & at the moment you really shouldn’t. It takes 8 weeks or more to fully heal & the staged return to eating is in place to protect your tummy & all those sutures & staples holding it together, & support your healing. It’s also important to follow portion size recommendations. Plans & requirements are different but double check how much you are allowed for a meal. I was allowed 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée slowly increasing to about a cup at 6 months but that was my plan your’s could be different. You’re right about the head hunger trying to convince you you’re still hungry. You can always tell if it’s head hunger if you’re wanting to eat a specific food, flavour or texture. The desire for solid food or anything you can actually chew is a head hunger that is challenging for many from the liquid stage. Plus not being able to have something always makes you want it more. Recognising it for what it really is a big part of doing that head work & learning it to manage it Many of us find distraction helps with head hunger. Read, craft, play a game, phone a friend or family member, go for a walk, check social media or this forum, etc. Sipping a warm drink can be helpful too. (I could count green or decaf tea in my fluid intake. It may be worth double checking if you can count your decaf tea.) All the best.

I was an 18E/40E & am a 10E/30E now & yes you’re right. It’s not easy to find anything larger than a D maybe DD cup especially in smaller band widths. Most brands are also too narrow in the cup for me so the underwire digs into the side of my breasts which is my biggest challenge. I’ve spent hours trying on every brand of bra & only one really fits well. Of course it’s a more expensive one ($120+++ US). Sigh!

No I don’t but as I said I only have small amounts. A sliver as my grandmother used to say. I chose to eat very little sugar (including sugar substitutes & artificial) not because I dumped or it upsets me, I just feel better without it. By product benefit is that it keeps my calories down ?. If I’m looking for something sweet, cause we all have those days, I have a little fruit. Usually fresh but I have some dried cranberries & apple in my cupboard at the moment which I’ll slowly work my way through as I’m in the mood. Artificial sugar is the hardest one to reduce because they seem to put it in every darn thing. I’d rather use/have a little real sugar than artificial. Generally I make most of what I eat from scratch which helps control a lot of what I may be consuming. Of course there are things I’m just not going to make like yoghurt or hoi sin sauce LOL! I made a red wine vinegar on the weekend & initially omitted the sugar but it needed it so I added a scant teaspoon (the recipe said a tablespoon). If sugar makes you ill, i.e. dumping, it likely always will. However many seem to work out how much & how often they can have a food that causes them to dump without them actually dumping. Remember not everyone dumps.

Fluctuations are part of life. We all experience it regardless of whether we’re losing or maintaining. But you’re eating such small portions there’s no way you could be really gaining. It’s more likely fluid retention, poop, hormonal fluctuations, less or more water consumption, your body reacting to stress, emotions, or just life. I’ve learnt a lot about my body’s quirks & how responds to things through this & why I might weigh a little more today than yesterday. I have my usual fluctuation (up to about a kilogram/2lbs) which I don’t worry about. Any more than that I question what’s changed & make adjustments. Keeps me honest. Remember, your weight loss will never be a consistently straight downward line on a graph. It goes up & down, plateaus, drops quickly then slowly.

Be gentle on yourself. You’ve never done this before so of course you have doubts & worries & questions & … Walk, walk, walk for gas pains. And yes arm movements will help too. The surgical gas is in your abdominal cavity (not in your tummy or intestines so gas-x doesn’t really help & neither does trying to burp or fart it out) & rises to sit behind your lungs putting pressure in nerves causing the shoulder pain. The gas is then absorbed into your lungs where you breathe it out hence why the activity is helpful. It’s usually all fine within a week. While you are healing (takes about 8 weeks to fully heal) & while you are losing, it’s important to follow your plan. You’ll have the best success that way. And ask questions of your team (or here) if something doesn’t make sense to you or you’re confused. Go slowly with your eating & drinking (sip, sip, sip) especially now & for the next months. Your tummy is healing. It’s very sensitive. Yes try different temps - I found warm drinks more soothing as cold drinks made my poor tummy cramp. You may find for a few weeks your tummy is very fussy & doesn’t like certain foods, flavours or textures. Even the smell of somethings can turn you off. It’s temporary & passes after a couple of months. In the long term you may choose to eat a lot of your old favourites. Smaller portions, less frequently, or variations of a favourite (ingredient swaps or changed cooking methods). That’s up to you & how you want to eat in the long term. In a few months you’ll look back & realise what you’ve achieved & how worth it it’s been. All the best.

Once you get to your final weight you’ve already started to decide how you’re going to eat long term. How much sugar is up to you, your lifestyle & what allows you to maintain. It may be very minimal added sugar in your diet. It may be an occasional or weekly sweet treat. Whatever. I’m a minimal added sugar which is my choice & my daily intake is very low (less than 5g & minimal artificial too). My exception is Christmas when I have dessert & a few little treats for a couple of days but the portions are always small. There may be the odd other special event time I may choose to have something like I had 2 bites of cake at a wedding last year. It’s funny as I was a sweet something every night person & loved dessert at restaurants now I don’t really miss it at all.

I agree with all the above you’re doing well - congratulations. Remember there is also no date by which you have to have lost your weight. Any time frames you may have seen are just averages & meant to give you an idea of what might happen not will happen. We lose at our own rate which is the best rate for us. There is also no time line for when your weight loss will stop. Many of us lose for 18 or more - just very slowly for those last months. I always said to myself if my surgeon & dietician were happy with my progress I should be happy too. Have they said you aren’t doing well? Don't give up & no more I’ve only lost X pounds. Celebrate every pound you lose because it’s an achievement.

The finished products. The zucchini tart had my Boursin cheese & was sprinkled with pistachios & drizzled with honey. There wasn’t a piece left of that so a success. The tomato had semi dried tomato tapenade & caramelised onion under the tomato - was left with half so lunch & dinner sorted for a couple of days ?. I so love the ease of pre made puff pastry. The salad cos, pear, fennel, walnuts & cranberries with a red wine vinegar. My serve in the last pxt - each piece was an 8th of the tart. Finished with a fruit platter & a truffled brie cheese & omg was that truffled goodness.

As you lose weight your blood pressure will lower. Your energy levels will increase too. You’ll become more active & improve your cardiac health & therefore O2 levels. Your hormones are modified as a result of the surgery too. So … ? All I know is there is a lot of talk about benefits but no real scientific evidence. My s-in-l’s uncle drank it every day for 18 months because it was supposed to cure his cancer & improve his health. It didn’t & it didn’t extend his life either. I’d just eat beetroots. The root cooked or raw, pickled, roasted, grated in salads, etc. Leaves in salads. You’ll pee & maybe poop red if you eat enough but … Natural is always best vs processed into a powder or other supplement. And a lot of its goodness is in the pulp which is disposed of after juicing & not in the juice. But your choice of course.

Personally I would trust any supplement that promises to burn calories especially one that relies on ‘natural caffeine’. Caffeine is a naturally occurring drug. (You’re probably not young enough to remember the Medislim craze of the 80s - everyone jittery from the excess caffeine but no one lost weight.) Only two ways to burn calories: increased activity & decreased calorie/food intake. Our hormones have already been modified as a result of the surgery. So I agree with the others. Why are you thinking about using it?

First day in hospital. That was all. Wore the compression tube tights for a few days & that’s all. However if you were advised to use the machine at home, I’d check with your surgeon. There must have been a specific reason why they wanted you to continue it so they will be best to advise how long you need to continue using it.

Another thought. lol! I presume you’re still working from home? If so try adding in 5 or 10 minute breaks where you do some simple exercises. Good for your mental health & your physical health. Lots of online programs you can follow. Buy some resistance bands & hand & leg weights. Short burst of exercise, know as exercise snacking, are just as beneficial as exercising in one single block of time. This is what I do because I don’t enjoy traditional exercise. I do 4 sessions a day of 5 - 10 minutes a day in my home. It’s easy & you should see my arms & legs. ?

You can do what you can do but do remember those cut nerves are still healing (about 8 weeks to be fully healed) so messages may nit be getting through as well or quickly. Probably best to tread more carefully for a few more weeks. Personally I still can’t chug. Any more than two mouthfuls & groan. But I drink slowly all day & night rarely feel really thirsty. I keep at a good hydration level all day I think.

Have you gone back to your surgeon or your dietician? Maybe they can offer some advice or alternatives (yes like medication). There may be something you are missing too. If you haven’t yet, clean out your pantry, fridge & freezer of any foods you may be drawn to (snacking). Cut out any high or ultra processed foods from your diet that may have snuck in (known to increase your hunger & decrease your satiety). Are you still meeting your protein & fluid goals? Do you still eat protein first, then vegetables & then only if you are able any whole/multi grain complex carbs? 1800 calories may still be too high for you. Remember ‘they’ usually say 1200 for a female to lose weight but that’s based on averages & not individual needs & stats (age, height, current weight, activity levels, health status & considerations, etc.). But your dietician will be able to advise you on what’s best for you. All the best.