Neensyb

On 6/8/2021 at 12:04 PM, acbenford said:

I haven't gotten as far with my weight loss, I'm on week 3. However I was thinking something similar about what my life will be like without food for entertainment and bonding with others... Like what is enjoyable in my world outside of food and how to keep my activities fun and consistent.(outside of fast food) thanks for sharing your thoughts, I definitely feel less alone!

Sent from my moto e using BariatricPal mobile app

Food can still entertain, just not in the quantities you consumed beforehand. I've been reading so many posts with the theme of missing food....I have to admit it goes through my mind sometimes too. A change that I've recently made is to not be distracted by TV, phone, computer etc, and with every single mouthful think about the nutrition, texture, taste. I feel like I'm eating a lot more mindfully, and starting to really enjoy a (small) meal.

I've started growing herbs from seeds. Strange I know, but I work from home in a very isolated place that we have just moved to. No close friends nearby, and sadly had to have our dogs put to sleep last weekend. I have no company at all during the day, and just the family at night. The delivery man must think I'm nuts, I chatter away non stop to him! My point is, I am inside all day at my desk, so taking an interest in growing herbs and shortly a full vege garden gets me outside and doing something that keeps me active and my mind busy.

This site is a great place to get advice and just chat to people. Good luck on your journey, it will get easier every day.

On 8/12/2021 at 1:35 PM, DoodlesMom said:

My husband thinks I should be able to lose the weight on my own without surgery. He thinks it's too drastic of a step to take. Your husband sounds so supportive. He's even doing the preop/liver shrink diet with you? That's love!! Thank you for your prayers.

I am really sorry to read this. I'd definitely go to a close friend and ask for support; not only for the transportation, but when you need someone to talk to afterwards. This isn't just a physical journey, but very much a psychological one too.

Good luck, I am sure your husband will come around once he sees a healthier you x

3 hours ago, Chip L said:

Just because your doctor says to move on to soft food doesn’t mean you have to. Don’t go above the dr recommend diet but if you need to back up to liquids and eggs then do that. Try other foods again in a week. It’s really important to get your fluids Protein and other Vitamins. It could count for why you’re feeling so bad cause you’re not getting the proper nutrition cause you can’t tolerate the soft foods yet.

just back up a step. Eat whatever makes you feel comfortable as long as it’s within your diet. The biggest problem I have had is speed. You really have to eat slowly. I usually eat while web surfing cause I need both my hands so it makes me wait several minutes between bites. Also chew chew chew chew. Savor the flavor and enjoy it because we all know we can’t have too much of it before our tummy’s yell STOP!

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! You are 100% correct in everything you say....I am also a work from home person in IT....I get the need to remove myself from my desk to have meals.

Very wise words!

21 hours ago, Lucylovesfood said:

For you it's already more than 6 months and you still feel full after 1 mouthful? That seriously sounds like torture T___T

Have you gotten used to it? What about the discomfort and heartburn and tummy grumbles? Does that still happen to you?

I most definitely have got used to it. My tummy grumbles mainly after I've had liquid and it stops pretty quickly. I haven't had any heartburn at all, one of the very lucky ones in that instance.

I've actually learned to really enjoy my food, which is quite a change from my gobbling down a full plate prior to surgery. I used to tell one of our twins "hurry up, stop damned well mucking around and eat your dinner!". Now I am the one still at the table with him, enjoying every bite. We try to get our kids to eat what's on their plate without thinking about the habits we are getting them to form. Our other twin inhales his dinner just like his dad! It's actually quite awful watching it, but I need to take some of the responsibility for it.

I promise you things get easier. You have to remember, with a gastric sleeve they remove up to 90% of a pretty important organ - that's MAJOR surgery. Focus on how much better your life will be once you get through the next few months. Fill up your belly with really good nutrition, one mouthful at a time. Stay on liquids until you feel 100% ok with moving to the next stage - trust me you will know when that is.

One thing that I found probably the most difficult is not feeling hungry. That was really odd to me, instead I feel "empty". Does that make sense?

Feel free to send me a direct message, I'm more than happy to keep in touch.

xxx

Oh gosh, your post brings back memories. I had my WLS done in January this year. Straight afterwards I had buyers regret....what the hell was I thinking....every mouthful I felt ill, I worried I would dehydrate as I wasn't getting enough liquids. So I sat myself down and gave myself a stern talking to 🙂

Take one day at a time. If one mouthful fills you up, great. Just move on and take another mouthful in an hour or so. I still feel full after just one mouthful now, so I break it up into tiny little bits, and graze for an hour over my food. I can get about a half to full cup of food in over that period of time.

Psychologically the struggle was real. I fought with myself that I needed to eat more, and when I was full and still had a delicious mound of baked potato with lite sour cream and bacon bits sitting on my plate, I got so sad. That's when I really had to work hard to only put on my plate what I knew I could finish, and start mindful eating and enjoying the company I was with.

This is a huge lifestyle change for anyone who has the surgery, and I don't think any of us really understood the impact outside of the physical.

If you can only cope with liquids, stay on liquids and make sure it's full of nutrition. Very slowly increase the thickness, puree leek and potato Soup, pumpkin soup with tasteless Protein (you'll laugh, one pot of soup lasted me 3 months...I froze it in half cup lots). Pulverize chicken noodle soup.

Good luck, we'll be waiting for an update 🙂

On 4/17/2021 at 12:02 PM, Hopefulin2021 said:

Yea true, I was basically wanting to know if anyone else had a small glass a month out of surgery. I haven’t had any complications and I don’t want to start now, I can wait lol. Thanks for the feedback!

Yep about a month out of surgery I did have a glass of wine and it's starting to creep up a little. I've decided to give it a miss altogether, I need to let my body heal. I am four months post surgery.

My sugery was 4 January, and I comfortably started coffee 2 weeks later. Now I am back to a max of 4 cups a day.

Oh and I don't take any coloxyl any more.

I am in purée/ soft food stage (sorta in between) and I noticed a little constipation the other day and dr office said to take Fiber so I did all day yesterday but then I didn’t go at all. After surgery they said if you didn’t go for two days it was the start of a big deal is this the same now? Should I just take the milk of magnesia after two days like right afterwards. Is getting enough fiber going to be a lifelong challenge?

Gosh I remember month one and two.... no consistency in bowel movements at all!! I had TERRIBLE Constipation the first month, only going once a week at most, crying and sweating on the loo... christ it was awful. I was advised to take coloxyl every other day which cleared me out (Thank god I work from home!) and to eat weetbix in the morning, increase Water and add some fruit. I did the first two and it made a difference, but I have to say that exercise was the major contributor to regulating toilet habits. Just walking or swimming.... and I had an immediate improvement.

Yep, this is my feeling of full....actually its over-full. My goal is always to finish eating before I reach this point. I am successful maybe 80% of the time.

You are so right...my dietician and surgeon have said over and over, eat until satisfied rather than feeling full

Ha, yep, I am LOVING being the winner of flatulence in our house for once (hubby and I have four boys...gross little monsters....two are adults and the twins are 11). Though it can get embarrassing.

It will ease, you'll work out what foods it is causing it.

Agree, many people have difficulty building up their Fluid intake. Just keep at it, things do improve I promise. I mix half and half apple juice and Water (I actually couldn't stand apple juice before) as plain water just didn't sit well.

5 hours ago, Shanibani said:

My family went out to dinner the other night and I felt so jealous that they could.

I still am eating the exact same meal every single time I eat. I've spent the last month or so like this because I just can't find meals that work for both my son and I together. So he eats what he eats, and I make my little meal in the microwave every day.

I finally got up the courage to ask my family to go out to eat a couple weeks back with my son and I, and hated every minute of it. Felt like I wanted to cry the entire time because every meal I looked at was breaded chicken, burgers, Pasta and seafood (of which I despise.)

The only other thing that I could eat was a salad, and quite frankly, the idea of trying to eat a salad when everyone else was having nachos, Pasta, pizza, meatloaf, breads and french fries just brought me even lower. And you KNOW those salads that they bring is 90% lettuce, maybe 1 Tomato, 1 cucumber (which I'm not allowed to eat yet) and 2 spirals of green peppers.

It might be my own fault of putting too much "mental" thought into what I eat every day, as I'm the pickiest person I've ever known, and I've mentally told myself, I can't eat burgers (even without the bun) cuz they're not lean. I DEFINITELY can't have fries or onion rings or nachos like my family ate... pasta isn't permitted at all, and all I eat at home is my egg/chicken/peppers/onion mix.

Being only 2 months post op, I'm still in the soft foods label... so trying to find things you're allowed to eat outside the safety of your own purchased items is daunting. - I spent over an hour trying to figure out what to eat only to get talked down to by the manager of the restaurant for wanting a piece of grilled chicken and steamed carrots, when they normally have to add all this extra sauce and stuff to their meal... that just made me want to go out to the car and cry even more because here I am trying to have an evening out with my family, and this lady looks at my overweight self and says "So... you JUST want a little piece of chicken and some carrots?"

I mean COULD I have even eaten all the extra bits and sauce and everything else they add to their meals 2 months post op? - wouldn't that have just fueled the addict in me for food? I mean sure, the smaller portion would be a huge difference, but that nugget of knowledge would have me say "oh, it's okay if I eat the burger, because I'm only eating a small amount" "It's okay to have nachos and cheese if it's just one or two"

At this point, I've stopped going out, declining when my family asks, but let them know my son can go... saying I have to work late or do something else important.. the only time I get out is to go to the gym...

Maybe I'm taking it too extreme... or perhaps I'm justified in requesting the piece of grilled chicken alone and steamed carrots... either way, I feel way too nervous to even try again now because of how I was spoken to and feel like it's just not time to try to go out with family and have a nice meal together.

Oh I want to reach out and give you a big hug. I know EXACTLY what you are saying/feeling. I was sleeved on 4 January and have been out a couple of times. I have learned my lesson BIG time! I don't order anything. Hubby does, and I have a couple of bites of his dinner. He might order a side of mashed potato or steamed veges, and i'll have a couple of those too. I still can't get through more than 1/2 a cup at a time, so why waste money on a big plate of food for me, only to walk away from it.

I always look at the menu online before going anywhere. It helps me make a decision without holding other people up and drawing attention to myself.

Do you mind me asking what the issues are with your sleeve? I hear quite a bit on this forum that people have a bypass after a sleeve.....I am just curious.

40lbs in 12 weeks is an awesome effort, how much would you have lost if you hadn't had surgery 🙂

You may have had a couple of mini stalls. Stay on point, keep at it, and maybe if you feel like you are too sedentary you could get out for a 15 minute walk each day in the morning ? It's a beautiful time of day, fresh air, new start, you don't know what's coming in the day. You know what, I'm going to do exactly that, starting tomorrow morning!!

Thanks 🙂

Stay as long as they allow you to.

Get up and walk walk walk as soon as you can. It will help with recovery and get the awful gas pains out of your system.

NEVER trust a fart.....for a few weeks anyway 🙂

I mixed apple juice with Water, and didn't have it icy cold. It was easier to consume.

SMALL sips, all day.

If you have any relatives that want to help, get them to make some home made clear chicken Soup and strain it. For me it was heart warming, homely comfort that I needed.

Whenever you cough or sneeze, try and get a pillow on your tummy and hold it hard in the first two weeks. If you are near one that is. If not, hold your arms across your belly, it just offers a little more support when you'll be a little tender.

If nothing else, follow 100% the advice of your doctor and dietician. With all due respect to everyone who is active on the internet, your doctor knows YOU, your dietician knows YOU. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa.

You may have buyers regret for a day or two afterwards...I did, and so have many others. Just remember that feeling will pass and you'll be so much better for it. How exciting, I am so keen to hear how things go for you.

Take care

J

Trust me when I say, you'll all get through this time. I have found adding apple juice to Water and not drink it icy cold was helpful in the first weeks.

Consider looking at recipes like wonton Soup, and just have the broth of that. It's got more flavour than normal broth, and you can add tasteless Protein as well.

Within a couple of weeks you'll be having puree or mash, and you'll find things far more palatable. Mashed pumpkin with butter and cracked pepper, leek and potato soup etc.

Remember you've had major surgery, your body will tell you when it wants more or less. Keep smiling and know that in a short period of time you're going to start feeling so much better, not just physically by mentally too.

🙂

On 3/17/2021 at 2:27 PM, ms.sss said:

Hmmmm.... i see you are nicely tanned on the pic on the right...were you keeping your scars out of the sun? I forgot I had to do this too and spent a couple vacays exposing them a couple years back (even though they reminded me not to...just forgot). Apparently newly formed scars don't like the sun. ☹️

My scars haven't seen the sun yet, but one is quite dark now. I have some oil that I keep forgetting to put on them that helps lighten them...my own silly fault really.

On 3/17/2021 at 12:56 PM, ChiNaDoll2285 said:

I thought they said the scars will FADE? But u look good! Ur my inspiration to walk more to fit into a bikini by the summer.. already bought it so give me some time to walk & exercise ( stretching) to get to where u r. U look awesome!!

You are so kind, I am pretty proud of how I am progressing. There is a really good site for swimsuits that are good for big busted women (no matter how much I lose my ta-ta's are going to be a size D or DD!) and it's called Baku. They are priced well for Australia and excellent quality.

On 3/18/2021 at 12:56 PM, Blueslily said:

Have you experienced any complications?

I am really really fortunate that I haven't had anything out of the ordinary. I felt bloody horrible for about a week, like that awful drained, short of breath, bleugh feeling. I struggled to drink half a litre for the first couple of days but persevered. I've not had any vomiting and only one bout of dumping a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying new foods often, and in small amounts.

The annoying thing is, the more weight I lose the darker my scars are grrrrr.

1 minute ago, nessie said:

Good advice. I'll wait!

But please do share some of your creative recipes 🙂 you sound like you're on a journey of success, good on you!

Oh no, what's going on for you? I was 4 January, and just recently feel sociable again.

I never thought I'd post pics of me in undies/bikini! But here goes.

20kgs lost so far. I have none of my full body at my heaviest, I couldn't stand to look at it. The two body pics are after 10kgs lost and after 20kgs lost.

No regrets at all.

If you make a batch of Soup for other people, try a wee teaspoon and see how that goes. It's slowly slowly in the first six months. Be prepared if it doesn't agree with you though 🙂 I personally would wait until you are tolerating more pureed foods.