Nikki@50

@loli_lotus oh my lovely I feel your pain. [emoji3059] I have also battled with depression and my weight for many years and I also had all the doubts and questions that you have. I first considered the surgery 3 years ago, all the doubts and questions made me change my mind and I decided to try dieting again ( because I thought I could do better this time). Fast forward 3 years and no matter how hard I worked at dieting, I struggled to lose weight. I finally had surgery this March! I still had doubts, questions and family trying to dissuade me but I finally realised that I couldn't do it myself I needed a help. I didn't want to spend anymore time sad and obese with no confidence or self esteem. I'll be honest, it hasn't been easy, I've had to deal with emotions that I previously ignored by eating. I now have counselling to help me deal with this. I reacted extremely well to surgery and for 8 weeks the smell of meat repulsed me, this happens when your hormones change after surgery, it doesn't happen to everyone though. I now struggle to eat a great deal and have to eat little and often. food was my best friend and now I don't enjoy eating. I find it a struggle to eat more than a few mouthfuls, but I keep reminding myself that it won't be like this forever and I need to take advantage of this. I also remind myself that I chose to have the surgery and how much more confident I am already! I have lost 36lb in 10 weeks, dropped two dress sizes and now feel OK looking at myself in the mirror. Everyone reacts to surgery in they're own unique way and it is a personal decision that only you can make. It isn't a quick fix and it is a difficult journey, but you are already putting in the hard work of working on your mental health. For me, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I now look forward to going out and doing things I previously would avoid and I'm continuing with my counselling sessions to make sure that I don't return to emotional eating in the long run. I hope this has helped you, I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you, sending you a huge hug x

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@loli_lotus oh my lovely I feel your pain. [emoji3059] I have also battled with depression and my weight for many years and I also had all the doubts and questions that you have. I first considered the surgery 3 years ago, all the doubts and questions made me change my mind and I decided to try dieting again ( because I thought I could do better this time). Fast forward 3 years and no matter how hard I worked at dieting, I struggled to lose weight. I finally had surgery this March! I still had doubts, questions and family trying to dissuade me but I finally realised that I couldn't do it myself I needed a help. I didn't want to spend anymore time sad and obese with no confidence or self esteem. I'll be honest, it hasn't been easy, I've had to deal with emotions that I previously ignored by eating. I now have counselling to help me deal with this. I reacted extremely well to surgery and for 8 weeks the smell of meat repulsed me, this happens when your hormones change after surgery, it doesn't happen to everyone though. I now struggle to eat a great deal and have to eat little and often. food was my best friend and now I don't enjoy eating. I find it a struggle to eat more than a few mouthfuls, but I keep reminding myself that it won't be like this forever and I need to take advantage of this. I also remind myself that I chose to have the surgery and how much more confident I am already! I have lost 36lb in 10 weeks, dropped two dress sizes and now feel OK looking at myself in the mirror. Everyone reacts to surgery in they're own unique way and it is a personal decision that only you can make. It isn't a quick fix and it is a difficult journey, but you are already putting in the hard work of working on your mental health. For me, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I now look forward to going out and doing things I previously would avoid and I'm continuing with my counselling sessions to make sure that I don't return to emotional eating in the long run. I hope this has helped you, I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you, sending you a huge hug x

Sent from my SM-G980F using BariatricPal mobile app

@loli_lotus oh my lovely I feel your pain. [emoji3059] I have also battled with depression and my weight for many years and I also had all the doubts and questions that you have. I first considered the surgery 3 years ago, all the doubts and questions made me change my mind and I decided to try dieting again ( because I thought I could do better this time). Fast forward 3 years and no matter how hard I worked at dieting, I struggled to lose weight. I finally had surgery this March! I still had doubts, questions and family trying to dissuade me but I finally realised that I couldn't do it myself I needed a help. I didn't want to spend anymore time sad and obese with no confidence or self esteem. I'll be honest, it hasn't been easy, I've had to deal with emotions that I previously ignored by eating. I now have counselling to help me deal with this. I reacted extremely well to surgery and for 8 weeks the smell of meat repulsed me, this happens when your hormones change after surgery, it doesn't happen to everyone though. I now struggle to eat a great deal and have to eat little and often. food was my best friend and now I don't enjoy eating. I find it a struggle to eat more than a few mouthfuls, but I keep reminding myself that it won't be like this forever and I need to take advantage of this. I also remind myself that I chose to have the surgery and how much more confident I am already! I have lost 36lb in 10 weeks, dropped two dress sizes and now feel OK looking at myself in the mirror. Everyone reacts to surgery in they're own unique way and it is a personal decision that only you can make. It isn't a quick fix and it is a difficult journey, but you are already putting in the hard work of working on your mental health. For me, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I now look forward to going out and doing things I previously would avoid and I'm continuing with my counselling sessions to make sure that I don't return to emotional eating in the long run. I hope this has helped you, I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you, sending you a huge hug x

Sent from my SM-G980F using BariatricPal mobile app

@Nikki@50 - so sorry to hear that you've had a tough few weeks, but well done for staying positive, and also congratulations on a 34lb loss, that's phenomenal!!

One of the things I worked on with my psychologist was keeping a food diary, but as well as noting down what I ate (or what I thought about eating but didn't) I had to note where I was physically (turns out I do a lot of my emotional eating standing up in the kitchen!) and how I was feeling at the time. By doing this we managed to identify some of my triggers and, as well as coming up with other things I could do until the emotions passed, it's also helped me to get ahead of the emotions a bit when I can see them coming, This article describes it better than I have! https://www.helpguide.org/articles/diets/emotional-eating.htm
I appreciate it'll be trickier to do the food diary stuff following surgery, but maybe tracking emotions and thoughts when you do have those impulses might help?

Thanks for the offer of support - I'm sure I'll have loads of questions over the next few weeks. Surgery is tomorrow and I'm a mixture of excitement and anxiety with full on butterflies in my stomach! Trying to keep myself occupied with working today, but clearly that's not working as I'm on this forum ;-)

Keep finding the positives (34lb!!!!!!!) and hope that you can get the Water and Protein consumption up a little bit this week. One step at a time xxx

Hi all - after two cancelled surgeries earlier this year, I'm now three days away from my gastric sleeve appointment!
I've needed to stay away from this board whilst waiting as I was thinking 'what if...' far too much, but it's been great catching up with all the posts and seeing how supportive and helpful everyone is to each other.
@Nikki@50 Hope your surgery went ok and that recovery hasn't been too tough so far?
I'm a mixture of nerves and excitement; one good thing about the delay is that I feel more confident than ever in my decision to take this step. I've been doing some work with a psychologist for a few months about emotional eating and I feel stronger and more confident than I have in a long while.
Look forward to continue reading about your experiences, and I'm sure I'll be asking loads of questions over the coming weeks and months xx

If it’s been 7 weeks, I’d probably have a chat with your medical team. You should be fully healed by now. But in saying that, I still have days where I don’t feel as comfortable with a fitted waist & I’m 3 yrs out.
Also chat with your dietician. Certain artificial sweeteners & the lactose in dairy can make you bloated (& windy if you are experiencing that too).

Hi kcuster83, that exactly how I feel! Cooking for my family is torture, everything makes me heave! I might just give that nose clip a try, thank you [emoji4]

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Maybe YOU feel better when people are giving you tough love, but most people do not. Most people find "supportive" comments make them more inclined to change their behavior. And, you were probably struggling with your weight for years before surgery. Did anyone "telling you the truth about how you're doing everything wrong" cause you to meaningfully start eating healthier and exercising more? If it did, you wouldn't have ended up getting surgery.
There is so much scientific literature that shows that BULLYING is not helpful. Telling people that they MUST be doing everything wrong or else they'd have great results is NEVER going to make someone change their behavior, and it ASSUMES that there is something wrong with what they are doing.
Since you are not their doctor and have not examined them, and you do not follow them around all day watching what they eat and do, you can only assume that she is doing everything wrong; you really have no evidence, and I know there are a lot of people who do everything right and still don't loose much weight.

JUST STOP BEING MEAN AND UNHELPFUL

All,
I was attacked by another member for telling a poster what I think is the truth to try to give them some tough love and open their eyes to what is happening. When people post on here, it is not a stretch to assume that they have a real problem and are looking at real solutions. What good does it do to reassure people that they are just fine and they are doing the right thing just to make them feel good. They are on here because they have a problem they need help with. If they want to solve the problem, sometimes they are going to have to hear something that may not make them smile. Sometimes the truth hurts and in order to come to a solution, you have to look at everything realistically to make the corrections needed.
I was accused of purposely being unhelpful and I take offense to that. I have posted many more encouraging posts to people than the opposite because most people here just need a little reassurance and they are doing the right things to be successful. Once in a while, people are not doing what their surgical team recommends or may be doing things counterproductive and I have said that point blank. Does that make me a "mean" person as this person accused me of? Maybe, but maybe, just maybe the original poster needed to hear the "mean" truth in order to understand what needs to be done.
Bottom line is, if people post on here, I again assume they want people to be truthful and helpful, not just be a cheerleader and try to make them feel better. They will feel better when they are successful in their journey.

I called my surgeon's office today and asked if it was ok to try a little bit of mushy food, just to see how my stomach handles it. They said yes, but to go slow. So I did tonight when I started to really feel hungry. I had 1 tsp of classic hummus and it was GLORIOUS!!!!!!! The taste was amazing (more intense than I remember) and best of all, NO PAIN!!!!! I stopped at 1 tsp because I didn't want to push it. And I was actually full!!!! From a teaspoon of hummus!!!! It was so cool!!!!! My head immediately went to "omg that tastes soooo goood, eat more more more!!!" but I didn't. I recognized that for what it was, and I got to have a taste and feel full, and such a small amount was all I needed. I happily put it down, and now I'm here sated, very comfortably not hungry, and so excited that my stomach isn't going to give me trouble with this next step. I'm going to stick with my shake in the morning, my Protein waters in the afternoon, but I'm definitely having hummus at night (which is when I'm the most hungry). I'll bump it up once I officially hit the 2 week mark. I want to go slow with my stomach and not push it. I just can't believe it went so well!!!!! And took such a small amount of food!!!!!!! This is so cool

Oh, gosh, the super nose. My sense of smell was ridiculous for the first 3-4 months. It has backed off a bit in the past few months. It still more sensitive than it was in the beginning. I basically turned into a bloodhound and could smell everything.

I dont feel sick cooking for my family but I certainly do have the heightened sense of smells. Like a few others have mentioned I smell things that no one else in the house can smell lol. The only thing that happened to me post op was by day 6 I could no longer tolerate the commercial Protein Shakes. I gagged every time I tried to get it down. Finally by day 7 I just started making my own Protein powdered smoothies and I feel great. I cant drink protein Water either, too sweet and it gags me.......odd huh?

Yes the super nose I forgot about that bit 😅

It's normal and it should pass, I hated the smell of cooking meat straight after surgery and a few other things but I happily cook meat now with no problems. It all settles down and gets better with time.

Interesting. I am almost at week 4 and the only taste change i have had is certain drinks i dont like anymore.

You may still have swelling & strained muscles. They pump you full of fluids & gas & prod & poke you internally during the surgery. And of course the inflammation swelling from the actual surgery on your tummy like any wound.
I had a sort of general tenderness & found anything tight on my waist uncomfortable for a couple of weeks. I used to roll down the waist of my pants so they sat on my hips & often gently rested my hand on my tummy under my pants. It was sort of comforting like I was protecting it.
It will pass. Just give yourself time to heal & recover.

My ribs are uncomfortable off and on as well! No i havent figured it out. I took some Miralax last night and drank a cup of peppermint tea and This morning my guts cleared out it seems and I feel a little bit better as far as the bloating goes

I have been so focused on hitting my Protein goals that I completely forgot that once I hit it (2 shakes and a protein water) I can drink what I want. So my husband went to the store and got me sugar free tea, sugar free fruit juice, gatorade zero, and as a surprise, brought me a matcha lemonade from Starbucks. It makes it SO much easier to hit your fluid goals when you're drinking stuff you like and want and not all the same stuff every day. I know this is common sense to most people, but it honestly never occurred to me. The last 2 days I have been hitting my protein goals but struggling with my fluids. I think this is really gonna help.

Hello!
i am new here
I had gastric sleeve surgery on May 3. I started my journey in December. My first scan at my appointment I weighed 264 pounds, yesterday at my checkup i weighed 234.
I am struggling because my stomach feels so large. I can’t even wear my exercise pants from when I was 264 pounds, they feel like they put so much pressure on my abdomen which in turn puts pressure in my chest making me very uncomfortable. My belly feels bigger than it did 30 pounds ago. I don’t understand what’s happening. I would assume that I’m losing weight in other parts of my body.
Could this be some sort of post op bloating? Even taking a deep breath is uncomfortable, it reminds me of when I was super pregnant I'm really bummed.
im hoping someone might have some insight.
Thank you guys

has this been going on since surgery or is this something new?

Right now, I've been scouring the kitchen because I SWEAR there's something rotten in here, but I'm the only one that can smell it. I can say the smell of eggs cooking grosses me out now, when it used to be a staple of mine. I've also seen a few things taste different to me now. Not bad, just different. The tea I used to love suddenly has almost no taste to it. The sugar free fruit punch tastes super sweet now. Everything else seems to be normal, so far. I read several posts on here about this, and it seems tastes do change after surgery sometimes. I hope things calm down for you really soon. Have you called your doctor about it, just to see if they have any suggestions?

My sense of smell is more sensitive, like things smell very strong. But I don't have an issue with everything smelling repulsive.
Maybe a stupid idea but can you like clip your nose with one of those swimming clips so you can't smell while you eat? Just to be able to eat something so you don't end up malnourished.
I have heard of it happening and some people say it gets better. I read a post about a woman who literally had a trash can she carried around while cooking for her family because the smell made her vomit. She said there are still some smells that get to her but nothing like the beginning.
Good luck, check with your team. They may be able to help!

I think this is one of the less common effects post surgery but I have heard people on here reaching out about this immediately post op but I assume it goes away because the posts do. I mean I have never heard anyone who says they are several months or a year post op with the same issue. I wish I could help more. Have you spoken to your doctor about this??

Update- So April 8th was the original post I made. I was 273.4 lbs. I fluctuated between that and 274 up until a week ago. I had to start working out. Getting my food plate together with all my macros on it, but most importantly i had to get my sleeping in order I was only getting 4-5 hours a night, which was horrible for my goals. I’m now at 263, so that’s a 10lb loss in 2 weeks. Still in the slow loser club and happy to be here!

I’m expecting my body to stall soon but I do know how to get through it now. It is sooooo mentally important to understand your body is complicated especially mine lol and you’ve got to let it go through what it has to in order to accept your decision to change it’s mechanical or hormonal structure.

Absolutely, you will do just fine, usually knock on wood I don't have issues after surgery, so far so good, this definitely hasn't been a easy road but you will get there, trust me it wasn't rainbows for me either the liquid and pureed stages well hell on me, just have faith in your team.