learn2cook

Slip ups happen to everyone. I found I could no longer work nights anymore. As soon as I stopped, 10lbs came off and stayed off. Melatonin and cortisol levels get all mixed up, I think we all know this at this point. I kept the snacking limited by eating “breakfast” at midnight. I prepared healthier Snacks that didn’t trigger a binge, and left all money and bank cards at home, even deactivated the Apple Pay. Best of luck!

“I found the psychological aspect to be the most important long term.” I wholeheartedly agree! Not everyone needs this but therapy has helped tremendously for me and my family. It’s important to address the underlying issues while making new healthy habits.

I went on a brunch date that was nice. We chatted about everything and I ended up blurting how I lost the weight because they knew me from before. eggs were a good choice, and yes I drank real coffee with milk in it. No sparks but the beginning of a good friendship.

I was talking with a (never been fat) friend at work and she was sharing all the meal planning and prep she does for herself in little containers. OMG how did I go my whole life and not know that regular thin people spend their time doing all this prep stuff!

I wasn’t counting calories then my dietitian did and explained I wasn’t eating enough. I’m still not a stickler but she’s right, eating up to 2k does make me loose. I do track faithfully every thing I eat so I’m honest with myself.

I colored and used my Fitbit to track my Water. I mindlessly watched YouTube videos. Do whatever it takes to pass the time. It gets better each day. You’ll be so happy to sleep in your own bed (day 4 for me). Then I was so happy when I could get out of a chair easily, (day 5). I made a habit of watching sunsets and being grateful for another day done. Then the weight really starts to come off, and you’re not even hungry. Going up stairs after two weeks feels like floating. It will get better.

I never had the band or anything else. I’ve had bypass and it has helped with GERD issues for the most part. Only a small portion of us get dumping, like 10% or so? Anyone can correct me, please. I still have to plan meals, weigh and measure everything to keep myself on track. I work it as hard as any time before surgery only the surgery reinforces Portion Control and increases my odds for loosing and keeping it off. You will need to meet medical criteria to getting bypass or mini bypass. It sounds like you’ve done a lot of work to get to where you are now physically and emotionally! Congratulations:) There’s a thread on here or two about band to sleeve/bypass. You might find better info on there.

I LOVE that you can see non-scale victories! (I wish I had had the courage to do that.) You are fierce!

I always feel very dizzy and nauseous. Sorry, nothing euphoric. That would have been waaay better!

My cousins near Boulder said the same about random food shortages and weather. I used to live near Vail and we would take my truck down to Denver to load up at Sam’s club for a month’s supply of food because back then, 90’s the local stores carried fois gras but no lasagna noodles! That would be very tricky with an MS flare up. I’m glad you found a good solution for your situation. Price is relative in that state for sure!

My brother used to call me “Niagara Falls” after a giant waterfall because my nose ran so much. I did indeed cough and gag on the shear tonnage of mucus. Allergy meds now do the trick. This spring in the US has record pollen due to global warming/ weather. GERD feels like allergies too so I still agree with above posters. You will have to figure it out by process of elimination.

Yeah, I love popcorn too. I had some at a baseball game. It put me in a major stall because then I wanted some at home every night. At one month I wouldn’t try it because it’s so rough. Just remember it’s a carb, try it later after you’ve been given the all clear. Then test it for yourself and see how you do both digestively and weight wise.

On 05/21/2022 at 00:16, ja1721 said:

I got sleeved 4/10. I'm not able to answer your question precisely but I'm kind of in the same boat. Currently I don't eat with my family, but I do eat with my friends. I simply check if the menu offers Soup or ask if they can accommodate me. If all else fails, I order herbal tea with artificial sweetener. I've only went out with my best friend, who knows I had the surgery. It's definitely not recommended to do so now but I just had my graduation ceremony.

My aunt did the gastric sleeve years before I did. I don't think she began to eat "normally" until after a year. She never fully finishes a meal but will want a small snack afterwards (yogurt). She can't handle spicy food for anything, even now. She doesn't follow the rule of 30 anymore. Almost every time she eats out, she gets heartburn, indigestion, etc. When she finishes eating, it's not because she's happily satisfied but because she's uncomfortable. That's not to say that she doesn't enjoy her food. Obviously, this is when we would go out for rich, once-in-a-while type food. She doesn't really experience this with home cooked foods. Bear in mind, she also fell into some of her old habits. Thankfully, she didn't have too much weight gain. I've also noticed she's a lot pickier now, taste wise. Downright acts like a food critic. Overall, she definitely eats enough that it isn't obvious she had WLS. She just appears to be finnicky with a sensitive stomach.

Her initial recovery was a month long so that spared her from dealing with people who didn't know she did the procedure. When she went back to work, her coworkers were all up in her business demanding to know why she was eating so little (and not out of concern). They would bring her sweets even though they were fully aware she was dropping weight. It was clear they were trying to sabotage her. Outside of work, the only people she's had to deal with were family and her husband's friends. So, she only had serious social gatherings around the holidays, and she was sleeved in the Spring.

WLS is obviously not ideal if you have a robust social life. For me, even when I get to my soft food stage, I'll still order Soup at restaurants because I'm not going to ask them to make my food nursing-home soft in front of who I'm having dinner with. If anybody has an issue, I'll say I ate earlier. Can't drink after WLS. I'll say I've gone sober. Drinking ages you, anyway.

“Drinking ages you, anyway.”lol clap, clap, clap

I make it a point to eat with my family too. No one cares that I skip the rice or burger Buns. They are happy we are eating meat again instead of veggie burgers or Beans. I do miss sweets like Cookies or candy. I HAVE to have a snack before shopping to avoid it! If I bring it home, it lives in my son’s room. The horrible teenage boy smells keep me out of there!

On 03/16/2022 at 08:33, Tonib91 said:

Can someone tell me why I’m still

Having menopause symptoms

After mini VSG ? I only had 60% removed . Currently 5 weeks post op

Fat cells contain and can help create estrogen, so when you loose weight quickly you unlock some of the stores of estrogen. I call it my personal global warming. I’m post menopausal and experienced a fake period, and random hot flashes. I can limit the nighttime flashes by going to bed a little bit hungry. I’m still trying to understand the food hormones and gender hormone links? Anyone else?

I can see the allure of comfort being in charge of yourself, but I would not have been able to go out the same day. In the evening of the surgery I got up to go to the bathroom and was suddenly overwhelmed with both dizziness and nausea. The nurse with me hurried me back to bed and spent (what felt like forever but was probably 45 minutes) getting anti-nausea meds. Then it took a while for the meds to work.

If I had fallen I knew at least a team of people could have been there to get me up. I’m not sure I would have the wherewithal to tough it out in a hotel room, or that my friend would either.

Well, I do see the financial difference of just getting it done while you can. And truthfully, I had a difficult hiatal hernia repair that made my whole surgery time 6-8 hours. All I remember was going down in the morning and waking up at night. No one plans on extra difficulties. I’m hearing you on the financials/health and wishing you the best of recoveries! I’ve never regretted my RNY.

On 05/09/2022 at 01:29, Tina 2.0 said:

Tami, Re #1, the rings. Windex works so much better than lotion. It sounds crazy, I learned that at a jewelry store years ago. I have used it since then and it really works better than anything else.

Hope your list continues to grow w/ NSV!

All I could think of was the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding!” Lol

I had the same symptoms as ms.sss. At 3 & 1/2 months on Thanksgiving, I tried Ben and Jerry’s lactose free ice cream. I had 1/4 cup and it hit me half an hour later, maybe less. I’m finding any sugar/carby food can trigger it, or sometimes it’s a reactive sugar drop a few hours later. Air popped light salt popcorn triggered it last time. I was never diabetic. I find dumping does keep me on the straight and narrow which is good! If you do want to try new foods, it helps to be at home with a time block of a few hours and a Protein Shake to counter the sugar lows.

For those who think dumping is a get out of jail free card; there’s no weight loss. There may be a slight loss sometimes, but it’s Water from the both ends pushing it all out. Mostly I find I still gain weight and trigger an asthma attack from all the inflammation. I have even measured my ankles and found them to be 2-3 centimeters bigger the day after a carb incident.

I’m remembering what it felt like when I miscarried. I felt like it was my fault. I felt like my body betrayed me. I felt alone because it wasn’t something you could talk about. I’m glad you said something, and I’m sorry for your loss. It wasn’t your fault, medically the offspring wasn’t viable, usually it’s chromosomal. Your body didn’t betray you, it was telling you something was wrong. As you move through your grief, I hope it brings you and your husband and family together. Treat yourself well and don’t be afraid of taking a deep reflection of your life choices. I found making small healthy goals to be helpful like brushing my teeth more, going to sleep earlier, and training for a 5k, then half marathon. Use all the healthy ritualistic habits in your back pocket, like drinking Water all day or, regular prayer/meditation whatever that looks like for you. Eventually you will feel ready to tackle bigger goals like weight loss, a new career, to give meaning to the “why” of your loss. My deepest sympathies-Meg

On 05/01/2022 at 20:08, catwoman7 said:

I know this sounds funny to say now, but enjoy it while it lasts. Because it won't. Honestly, once I got used to it, I hoped it would never end because it was so easy to lose weight when I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food. My hunger and appetite came roaring back at about five months out, and then things got A LOT harder. For all but a very small minority of people, your hunger and interest in food WILL come back sometime during the first year. So take full advantage of this period to lose as much as you can while it's relatively easy.

Amen!

On 04/30/2022 at 12:16, canadianpopcycle said:

I had 6 months of sick time accrued, so I took 6 weeks. I really wanted to spend that time working on changing habits, forming new ones and walking. I really wanted to make sure I was cementing my 'new life' before I introduced another element into the change.

I didn't have any post op complications or issues. I know not everyone has the ability to take so much time off, but I found it really helpful for my emotional well being as well. I didn't know if I'd be super hormonal, in pain, or whatever and I thought healing mentally and physically and only focusing on ME would be beneficial, and it was.

I LOVE that you were able to do this! (I say this as someone who is trying to turn toward self care instead of food when problems arise.)

I felt similar to you. Hang in there, you will find new favorites or old ones that work for you. Right now you are newly healing. Follow your plan, but mostly just get your Water in and the Protein. Many of us find stuff tastes differently from before. There’s several threads on crystal lite and sucrose. Many of us find warm tea, Soups, or broth more comfortable in our bellies early on too.

I cook often in an Iron pan. It helps boost the iron content. It can go right into the broiler or oven. I take Vitamin C like the others said too. Raisins have a high iron content if you’re looking to add a little extra here and there. A couple times a week, who am I kidding, weekends only, I remember to throw in some spinach/ham in an omelette and eat it with 4oz of V8. Kapow!

Yeah!

You can do it, the surgery does make a big difference. It takes patience and perseverance to jump through the hoops but it looks like a lot of medical problems will actually help prove your case with insurance. Do it for you.