Jen2020MGB

This is an interesting thread. When I first had surgery, I didn't feel I deserved to have a healthy and slim body, I just wanted to feel a bit better. Now much of my excess weight has come off, I am so sad for the pre surgery me, who was so low and underconfident she couldn't even dream of being a healthy weight. Funny how things change.
I have been feeling a bit fed up with my dietician saying it's not likely I'll hit my own personal goal (which would be a BMI in the region of 22-23). I hit 29 with little effort (beyond surgery, not eating much, and the challenges that come with a tiny stomach of course!) and am now enjoying exercising in a variety of ways. I am 9 months out, and while I appreciate weight loss will (and has) slow down, I didn't go through all of this to remain at an unhealthy weight! I may not get to my ultimate goal, but I'm certainly not going to give up before I've tried. We have gone through a lot to get to where we are now, and we deserve to succeed.
So I say go for it - set your goal and work towards it. Set smaller goals on the way (the first 25, the next hundred bracket, lower than 5 years ago, that sort of thing) and Celebrate each win. As you get closer to goal, you can always revise it if it doesn't feel right.

Well dang I don’t remember signing on to become a lifelong bariatric surgery counselor when I got surgery. I’m a private person and I don’t discuss my medical issues with people I’m not very close with.

There’s a huge difference between me just living my life and not sharing my personal medical information and someone positioning themselves as a weight loss expert/influencer and not disclosing it. I’ve had some comments on how great my skin looks at my age as well, and for some people I offer a thanks, and for others I offer information on my Botox provider. It’s almost like I’m an adult who doesn’t owe every human I meet my life story. Do you think I should put a sign on my door that outlines my various surgeries and medical procedures on the off chance it influences someone? Oh maybe I should also list any marital/child rearing difficulties I’ve ever had and information on my bowel habits too. Or do I maybe have the right to decide who I share what information with?

Let people live their lives and worry about yourself and your own decisions.

After 6+ months of working with my personal trainer, while I did lose inches, I lost very little weight. And after going on a hike with my trainer and a few of her clients, I saw pictures of myself and couldn't believe the way I looked from behind. I felt like I looked like a wildabeast. It was then that I made the decision to take the plunge and get the surgery.
I have always been a curvy woman. But over the years, I just kept getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. I realized it was hindering me from doing a lot of things that I wanted to do and my mid-30s was old enough for me to allow this to go on.
I also felt completely invisible to the opposite sex. Like, completely invisible. And as a teen and in my early 20s, that was never the case in my experience. I really just wanted to take my life back.

I can see the veins on the back of my hand (and elsewhere) now! A huge plus, before it was always really horrible having blood tests, noone could hit a vein apart from one wonder nurse. Straight after surgery I had two anaethetists struggling too! But now it's easy, and I don't have to be a human pin cushion for routine tests.

I can see the veins on the back of my hand (and elsewhere) now! A huge plus, before it was always really horrible having blood tests, noone could hit a vein apart from one wonder nurse. Straight after surgery I had two anaethetists struggling too! But now it's easy, and I don't have to be a human pin cushion for routine tests.

I can see the veins on the back of my hand (and elsewhere) now! A huge plus, before it was always really horrible having blood tests, noone could hit a vein apart from one wonder nurse. Straight after surgery I had two anaethetists struggling too! But now it's easy, and I don't have to be a human pin cushion for routine tests.

I was the same, it got better! Someone on here gave me the suggestion of using an egg cup or shot glass for fluids, and setting a phone alarm to go off every ten minutes to remind me to drink. I am pleased to say I can now drink reasonably normally, it really does get better, but feels a bit grim at the time.

I am 4 months post op, and pretty lucky in that things seem to have gone quite well so far. Something I've noticed in the last month or so though is how hungry I feel at night, and sometimes I feel like I really need to eat before I go to sleep, which is usually about 4 hours after my last meal. I often wake up feeling the same. Right now I am awake at midnight, not being able to sleep and and feeling like I need to eat. I don't think it is head hunger because I don't actually want to eat, it's more like a sensation of emptiness. Has anyone else had this? Am I actually hungry?! I am consuming around 500-900 calories a day. Pre op I was told I was prediabetes, so I wonder if my blood sugar might have something to do with it. Maybe I need to spread my meals out a bit more? Any ideas appreciated.

I had silken tofu and added some flavour, but that was after about 2 weeks post op.

I blanched all these yummy green vegetables for our Christmas Eve feast. Tossed them just with butter, salt & pepper & let their goodness shine. Had races eating the Beans & asparagus with my 3yr old nephew. Num, num, num, num, num. 😁

it could be your hunger coming back. Mine came back at five months out.

I have this exact same problem- I’ve learned that I just truly am hungry and cannot sleep unless I have something in there. I usually have flax pita, yogurt, or chicken on hand to consume on the fly. Lately because I know I’ll be hungry I’ve taken to drinking tea or Decaf coffee when I’d normally eat so I can save some calories for later when I’ll need it just before bedtime. My new years resolution is to start drinking tea- also helps to get more liquids in, keeps distracted, etc. still trying to find one I like.

Maybe you can consume something like a stalk of celery before you go to bed or when you feel hungry? I am two weeks post op and sometimes I get that hunger you are referring to, but am not able to consume much right now. You might also not have enough Protein throughout the day? Just a though

Over the last couple of weeks I've been feeling more hungry than I have before (9 weeks out). Quite often I'm not sure if it's hunger, thirst or head hunger. So now when I feel hungry I first have a drink, then if still feeling hungry I think "ok, do I want 50g of cottage cheese? " and if I don't then I know it's head hunger.
If your hunger is always at night maybe you need to factor in a snack an hour before bed? Or I think I read in another thread that somebody keeps a snack back that she can have if she wakes up in the night hungry?

Congrats on your success so far.
You could be experiencing real hunger. My real hunger makes me feel uncomfortable & restless. A lot of people have an increase in stomach acid which makes them think they’re hungry. Take an additional esomeprazole at night & see if that helps. I sometimes do if I feel my morning dose has worn off.
Are you only eating three meals a day? Speak to your dietician about a healthy snack you could add after dinner to tide you over during the night as you may need to be consuming a few more calories. Have a small piece of cheese, a carrot stick, a couple of blueberries or strawberries or a small piece of chicken or other meat you may have in your fridge.
Good luck.

Whenever I "feel" hungry and I'm not sure if it's real hunger or not, I first start with drinking more Water, or here during Winter a hot coffee with sugar-free flavored Syrup in it. If that soothes the feeling, then it wasn't really hunger and I'm good. If it doesn't, and it does 99% of the time, I eat a handful of almonds or something small just to make the feeling go away.

I am 4 months post op, and pretty lucky in that things seem to have gone quite well so far. Something I've noticed in the last month or so though is how hungry I feel at night, and sometimes I feel like I really need to eat before I go to sleep, which is usually about 4 hours after my last meal. I often wake up feeling the same. Right now I am awake at midnight, not being able to sleep and and feeling like I need to eat. I don't think it is head hunger because I don't actually want to eat, it's more like a sensation of emptiness. Has anyone else had this? Am I actually hungry?! I am consuming around 500-900 calories a day. Pre op I was told I was prediabetes, so I wonder if my blood sugar might have something to do with it. Maybe I need to spread my meals out a bit more? Any ideas appreciated.

Iced latte with a milk that also has Protein, so cows or, as I have it, soya milk. That is my go to in the morning as I never want food until lunchtime, so I at least get in some fluids and protein. The coldness also soothed my stomach early on after surgery.

Iced latte with a milk that also has Protein, so cows or, as I have it, soya milk. That is my go to in the morning as I never want food until lunchtime, so I at least get in some fluids and protein. The coldness also soothed my stomach early on after surgery.

A little update. All went smoothly with my surgery. I felt ok for the first week, just very tired and it was a huge effort to take in enough fluids, and I felt sick a lot of the time and did vomit on several occasions causing some panic but all settled down. sleeping propped up was not the best, but I couldn't lie flat because I felt so nauseous when i did.
Two weeks and i felt worse, blood pressure low, dizzy, and generally just not myself. Tired all the time. Vomited in my sleep and nearly choked, was pretty awful and scared me. There was no way I could've done a full days work, although I did do the odd hour at my desk doing emails etc.. I had to count the drops of Water going in my mouth because I was so sensitive to over filling.
By the end of week 3 i was feeling more myself, but still had a job getting in enough fluids and sustenance. Was sleeping lying on my side again which made all the difference.
After 4 weeks I was back at work and just had to be careful and make sure I took time to drink and eat regularly, not super easy when teaching all day, on duty and wearing masks. The other slight issue i had was the length of time to eat, I would finish two spoons and my one break of the day was over, and then for half an hour my stomach made really loud noises! Iced lattes got me through for fluids Protein and being able to sip it throughout the day. I also think the cold was soothing on my stomach.
I noticed a shift after 6 weeks when I could go hours without remembering I'd had surgery, and now by 11 weeks ish it's all good and I'm eating lots of different things just small portions and my usual - if not higher - energy levels have returned.
I was deliberately vague about the surgery, I wasn't ready to tell colleagues and they haven't asked. Only one has mentioned my weight loss. I'm still drinking iced coffee a lot (shot of coffee, ice and soya milk, no sweeteners). I think a few suspect but honestly I don't know them well and can't be bothered yet with explaining everything. I was prepared to dismiss any questions at the risk of sounding rude, rather than talk about it, but it's not been an issue.
It is major surgery, and impossible to predict how your body will react. Healing takes time. In hindsight, I think I was convincing myself I'd be fine so quickly afterwards because I was actually really nervous about having the surgery, I just hadn't realised it.
I hope it goes well for you TrueNorth1.