ZZinBC

Welcome to the Marchers!!! My surgery twin!!

My shoe size has also changed from a 10WW to a 9W. Even though I lost so much weight, my feet are always a problem due to neuropathy.
Dressing in layers is something I never had to do before, I was always hot before.
I can do housework now. I couldn't even vacuum before.
My bum is completely gone, and it hurts when I sit down even after 10 minutes or so.
The really weird thing is that my freckles have come back. I used to only get them in the summer. It is dead winter here, and they are all over my face.
I used to drink ice cold Water, and now can only drink room temp.
The biggest one for me is that I can walk without a cane. No longer have to use a wheelchair to get around.
I am sure there are lots more....it is a journey.

K...I'm 2+ years out so alot of my surprises are long behind me. But here are some observations from the past year and a bit:
I am no longer freezing. Yeah, i still wear socks year round and generally wear a sweater when others around me are not, but my temp regulation is waaaaay better. For instance, my thermostat reads 25C at the moment and I'm wearing a tank top...this would have been unheard of my first winter. All the hair that fell out is back and just as long as the hair around it (I've got almost-shoulder hair) My skin & lips are no longer as dry as the were pre-wls Its been over 2 years since I last broke out (i had a bad case about 2-3 months post op, none since then) My pits don't stink! I can get away without wearing deodorant (when I'm not running). My pee goes straight into the toilet...it barely touches any part of my body/skin that needs lots of tissue nor multiple wipes. Restricting carbs seems to actually have zero value-added effect in terms of losing actual lbs from the scale...but they do have an effect on my looks (they make me look puffier) My body strictly follows CICO. No secret tips or tricks. If I slack off on tracking my food or weighing regularly (i.e, every day), my weight WILL creep up. There is no glaring difference with how people treated me when I was fatter vs. now (well, at least not to my face, LOL) People no longer care how much weight I lost or what I eat.

I am constantly cold, I dress in layers now.
It is so much easier to do everything!
My husband says I am too boney, my hip bones stick out and my spine.
I am shocked when I look in the mirror and sometimes find myself staring at myself saying who is that?
My wrinkle (y) skin drives me crazy!
I feel pretty darn good!

I love walking. I can keep up with my husband and don't need to rest!
I have hip bones, and sitting on the toilet can get uncomfortable with my boney bum.
I don't think about food, I have fallen into eating about the same all of the time.
My craves are fruits, grapes, blackberries, and peaches.
I dress in layers now to stay warm.

I need a body pillow to sleep because my thighs don’t keep my bony knees apart and it hurts.

I’m cold. A nice change from being a swamp monster.

Yard work and house projects are enjoyable.

I honestly didn’t realize how fat I was (“I’m just a big guy”).

Which coincides with:
I’m mortified when looking through old photos.

A few things I wasn't expecting 5 months out from surgery.
6. I would have to get smaller shoes. I was a size ten 1/2 in shoes and now 8.5.
5. Also always being cold, I wear thermals almost every day to work , but I live in a cold environment. I always wear a scarf.
4. Loosing hair was a bit traumatic for me, but it has stabilized
3. the amount of time I think of food has been transferred into new coping skills, like crafts with yarn and having fun science experiments with my kids.
2. the need for silence to be alone with my thoughts.
1. how anxious I get when buying new clothes. what are some surprise that you had?

I was sleeved 7 years ago and regained all the weight. I maintained my weight loss for 5 years and then over a 2.5yr period I gained it all back. I am now scheduled to have a revision surgery. I feel a lot of shame about regaining, which I am now learning isn't helpful. What I have learn't from regaining is that I have an addiction to food. For me to be successful going forward I need to focus on what motivates me to overeat, and come at the problem from a psychological perspective. Despite everyone saying that you need to work on your head, after my surgery I thought I would never regain and I could get away with not looking at how I became morbidly obese in the first place. I don't know what is happening for you, but if you haven't already I would possibly look into Overeaters Anonymous or seeking help from a therapist, plus a dietician.

... but not for the reasons you might think.
I questioned whether I should make this post in the preop section or here, but since it's my first post on the forum, it might as well serve as an introduction as well. My apologies in advance for the verbosity, as I have a tendency to ramble.
At age 54, I've been morbidly obese since I was a teen. I have no personal frame of reference as to what it means to be fit or eat healthily. Sure, there's the cognitive recognition of what those concepts are and what they should mean, but nothing in my own life experiences that are relatable. I'm 6'1" and at my heaviest weighed 410. Five years ago I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which medication has fortunately kept under control. In June of 2019, when I weighed 385, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It was at this point, that I realized I actually needed to do something about losing weight beyond paying lip service.
I've been feeling it more in my knees and ankles the last few years, and the notion that should I ever need a knee replacement or other major joint surgery, that I would likely be denied due to my weight wasn't an enticing prospect.
I've made token efforts at points in my life to dieting and exercise, but nothing consistent; nothing that "stuck". So I spoke with my primary physician about bariatric surgery options and started down this road. After consultations and doing my own research, I decided on the sleeve gastrectomy. Over the several month "trial period" (not sure what the technical term is), meeting with dieticians, the surgeon, the psychologist, etc., my surgery was approved and scheduled for mid April of this year... well, you can guess what happened. Thanks to COVID-19 everything was put on hold.
I freaked out a bit at that point. My work schedule is such that certain times of the year are no-go as far as being away for extended periods. What if my recovery takes longer than expected? What if due to the quarantine and stress eating (believe me, it's a thing), I gain weight again and they kick me out of the program? Having all this uncertainty on top of all the uncertainty going on in the world... being in a high-risk group for COVID, the business I work for having to completely retool how it does business, the financial market crash (at the time), the civil unrest in an election year, etc.,put my head in a not very happy place.
I'm also stressed by the fact that I have no immediate support structure in the event things go wrong (either medically or if I slip with respect to eating habits). I have no family, no significant other, and I live alone. Under normal circumstances, I'm perfectly fine and dandy with all three of those things, but for the first time in my life, I'm faced with the prospect of not having support when I might need it. I've never head surgery in my life, outside of two colonoscopies, which all things considered, I've been blessed in that regard, but again I have no frame of reference of what to expect and what to do in the event things don't proceed as planned.
I've avoided reading many of the threads here simply because I don't want to read about worst-case scenarios, as I know that my mind will tend to drift there, and I don't want the negatives of what *might* happen to dominate my thoughts right now.
So back to the present... at the beginning of June things started to open back up in the state, at least as far as allowing elective surgeries to be back on the docket. I'm scheduled for surgery on July 13.
The 14-day preop diet (which I started on June 29) that my hospital prescribes is more restrictive than many others. No meat in addition to no carbs or fats. It's a 1000-1150 calorie per day diet. As someone who normally would eat 3000-5000 calories per day, that's effectively a snack.
So I'm in the middle of day 6... and everything is fine.
And I have no idea why.
I *SHOULD* be frothing at the mouth, hangry, threatening to eat the neighbor's cats, etc., but for some reason I'm not hungry at all, and this cognitively makes no sense to me based upon my "normal" eating habits.
I've been actually eating less than 800 calories per day, not even up to the recommended 1000-1150 calories.
Breakfast: Protein Shake (30g Protein, 140-160 calories depending on brand) Morning snack: Yoplait light yogurt (90 calories) Lunch: 12-oz pouch of steamed vegetables with garlic and pepper (80-140 calories depending on what mix I use) Afternoon snack: apple slices (50-80 calories) Dinner: Another protein shake (140-160 calories) Evening snack: another yogurt (90 calories) I'll mix in sugar-free Jello (5 calories) throughout the day or some celery sticks as needed, and if feeling peckish will do an extra pouch of steamed vegetables.
What's freaking me out is why I'm not freaking out... if that makes any sense. It shouldn't be this easy, and I worrying that I ma be lulling myself into a false sense of security/complacency.
Or is my brain somehow making this easier on me, as somewhere deep down in the depths of my subconscious I fundamentally realize that I *have* to make this work?
I don't know; it's hard to convey.
I was at 351 on Sunday prior to starting the diet (and yes, I pigged out on Saturday and Sunday knowing what was ahead) and am now down to 339 as of this morning, which is a good thing.
Just trying to get a handle on why my brain is operating the way it is...
At any rate, good to be aboard.

Its been almost 4 years, i havent reached my goal body weight, but im on the way,

Sent from my VOG-L04 using BariatricPal mobile app

I haven't posted in a while. Here's my before and after. RNY: 4/11/17, HW: 334, CW: 179. I'm 155lbs lighter and feeling great.

This is the most recent comparison that I have. SW (5/1/19) 327, VSG (12/17/19)- 264, RNY revision (8/11/20)- 211, Thanksgiving weight- 185
I had emergency surgery 12/26/20 so I haven’t taken a current photo lately but my current weight is 157, so 7lbs from goal.

The first picture is from when I started the program. I had my surgery on Aug 24, 2020. The second picture is my 4 month post op. I am down 55lbs. I feel amazing I am so glad I did it. In total I have lost 85lbs since the first picture was taken.

I had my rny on july 23 2020 I'm down 95 pounds my goal is to be 130 I'm 190 right now

Sent from my SM-A205U using BariatricPal mobile app

Starting weight over 220 (not sure I wouldn’t get on a scale but estimate that) RNY July 2020, current weight 138. Wearing size small/medium and 6/8 bottoms. In the before I was wearing 18 shorts and XXL tops. I feel so amazing and so happy with the results!!

HW on the left; 5lbs to my goal weight on the right. A little over a year for this transformation. Will never go back! So thankful!!

I am only 3mo post op and I saw the difference in my progress photos today and wanted to share - just my belly - I think it is 1 week post op vs 3 months. I am a slow loser, or more of a staller dropper (I have had a stall of at least 14 days all three months lol) so taking photos really helps me!

May of 2017 vs today.

Oh fun! I’m one year out as of 2/25/21-
5’6”
SW: 330
W@S: 235
CW: 155
GW: 145

I’m still trying to lose just a tad and continue to tone up

Slightly old picture, and still WIP, but this is about 160 lbs down...

Here you go.

I’m one year post op.
5’4
Hw/sw: 284
Cw:152
Gw:160
New goal: 140

You lost 100 pounds....and gained a dog!😁

photo on the left was at my heaviest.
photo on the right was last week (pardon the mess in my room lol)
my rny was september 25, 2020 - down 63 lbs so far. still have about a 100 to go but feeling great! i have way more energy and recently started swimming at the Y.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SURGERY! Best decision I ever made.

Okay, I'll play along! I don't have a "before" pic that really represents how big I was, because I generally avoided being photographed back then. My before is from a chorus concert I did--and I will admit that I was wearing a "man girdle" at the time. (Cringe.)
I went from 250 to a low of 132 before bouncing back up to 142.