Stalled

I was a lucky one who didn't have Hair loss. I am on a daily Biotin supplement anyway though. As the commenters before me said, when your body is under stress, your hair is likely to fall out. In fact, I study the stress hormones, cortisol in particular, and the way it relates to hair loss is this. When you go through a stressful event (like surgery or childbirth) your body releases more cortisol initially to help with the recovery process and release of other hormones. But with the increase in cortisol, it actually triggers itself to shut down and produce less cortisol after a short while. That means after a duration of high cortisol, the level will suddenly drop and you will have low cortisol levels. Cortisol is an insulin antagonist, meaning that cortisol levels are low when insulin is high and vice versa. As research has linked high insulin to hair loss, low cortisol will spike insulin, causing hair loss, dryness, and brittleness.

I don’t have a hernia. My doctors gave it to me because he told that the patient’s whom used the binder healed quicker. I can walk without it but the gravity in the new stitches can really hurt and can even lead to sagging. I love the binder but I do take breaks from it and wash it. I just feel more stable with it.

Sipping throughout the day. If you need to "guzzle" because you're really thirsty, that means you are already dehydrated. You might be able to consume more ounces at once by guzzling, but for me, it actually hurt and made me throw up. This went on for about two years. Still, four years after my surgery, I can only drink about 6 oz in a minute or two. Honestly, drink as much and as frequently as you want but make sure you're not hurting yourself.
I actually had a glucose tolerance test recently and they had to cancel it because I couldn't drink all of the sugary liquid in the time they needed. I ended up throwing up.

I’m in my 8 month now and have lost 6lbs this month - definitely slowing (I’m about 2lbs off goal) :)

I see people saying that you have to be on supplements for the rest of your life with the sleeve, this isn't necessarily the case. It depends on the person and that is why it is strongly encouraged you do an absorption panel each year. What I did was stay on my supplements for two years as my body adjusted, come to find out, I was actually overdosing on Vitamins.
That being said, your diet greatly influences the type and amount of nutritional vitamins you get. Again, another reason why absorption panel is necessary each year.

When you say that you can drink a lot of Water, do you mean in one sitting or throughout the day? Being able to drink a whole bottle in a couple of minutes is a little abnormal, especially non-water drinks. I'm 4 years post-op and I still can't drink more than 6 oz at once. But if you're just drinking a lot of ounces throughout the day, that is actually very good.
Regarding the amount of food, it really depends on what type of food. My surgeon told me this "you'll still be able to eat a whole bag of chips without noticing but you won't be able to put away a whole hamburger.".
I was up and walking a couple of hours after my surgery, I had no mobility issues at all. That's a good sign.
Congrats on hitting onederland!!!

Hello again and thank you all for comments. They really helped. I knew all my life that I binge eat but in spite of all the therapy, nothing helped. this is why I decided to have the surgery. I will do the social changes too in order to keep the track. Someone said that ”if you can do liquid diet, you can do anything”. That helped also.
I do not intend to change my family life too much and not being able to swallow really did the trick in remembering not to eat. So I stayed away of food during all meals. The shakes helped too. I am now in week 2 and allready lost 6,5 kg. So lets rock the world!!!

Actually you only need to continue with Vitamin supplements with a sleeve if you personally need to i.e. blood work show you’re low in specific Vitamins, etc. The sleeve only changes your tummy not other parts of your digestive system. The additional changes that occur with a bypass does increase the impact on your ability to absorb the necessary nutrients.
I had sleeve surgery & haven’t taken a vitamin since month 8 when I was in maintenance. But digestive systems can work differently cause we have different physiologies so you may need to take vitamin supplements regardless of the surgery you have.
Generally the post surgical diets for sleeve & bypass are pretty similar. The staged return to eating (liquids, then purées, then soft food & finally more solid foods) is to support your sensitive & healing digestive system. There also are certain foods you introduce more slowly into your diet because they’re just too harsh to begin. Both surgeries tend to focus on high protein, low carbs, low fat, low sugar, nutrient dense foods. This is a lifetime thing if you want to maintain your weight loss. In time you can eat most foods just depends on how your body tolerates them but this generally is an individual thing.

I know some people say they are afraid to have plastic surgery because of the scars they will have afterwards. Well, I know everyone doesn't scar the same way but I think mine are pretty typical. I would rather have this scar all the way around my body than the rolls of loose skin I had before it was removed. I took these this morning when I realized yesterday was my one yr plastic surgery anniversary for my lower body lift and brachioplasty. These pictures are my hips and the scars are easily covered by underwear or bathing suit.

I second the low blood sugar suggestion. My surgeon told us to not worry about sugar intake for the first couple of months after the surgery. I suspect that your Protein Shake is helping because of the sugar. To test this, next time you feel light-headed, have some apple or grape juice, see if it helps. If it does, it's because of low blood sugar.

Hey hey! How are y'all creating status updates and are there "posts" that are better posted as personal status updates vs new topics here? I'm still unfamiliar to the specifics of this site and wanna make sure I'm not blowing up the topic section when i should be posting as a personal status🤔

Thanks for your advice 🙏 yes I am interesting about it, can you please send me the information about that group 😀

By the 8th month after my surgery, my weight loss drastically decreased. I would lose maybe 1-3 pounds each month after that, and sometimes I would gain weight. This isn't what is supposed to happen, yes the rate of weight loss is expected to lessen, but it isn't meant to stop altogether. I would encourage you to reevaluate what you are doing and see if you can do more or need to change something. You can also consult your surgeon to see what they suggest (new diet, more exercise, etc).
Additionally, If you would like support on your journey, I am putting together a small intimate online support group between bariatricpal members. I hope the encouragement and accountability found in this group will help us reach our weight loss goals. Let me know if you're interested

I am starting a support group for people who have stalled or gained weight after Weight loss surgery. I haven't exactly hashed out the details but it will likely be a Facebook page. I'm hoping that it is an intimate group that will encourage each other and provides accountability. The goal is to support everyone to reach their weight loss goal (without having to amputate their own leg). If anyone is interested in joining, please let me know!

To break a stall...
Chew your leg off.

Today I had an A-HA moment. I went to get my hair done and the owner came up to me and said "You lost weight! You look great!!" and I *almost* said...yes I had surgery 2 weeks ago. And I caught myself. I thought *surgery* didn't do this. *I* did this. I've only lost 13 pounds since surgery. I've lost 45+ on my own since January. Actually I don't even know why I would tell her about surgery. I haven't told anyone except my kids LOL. But it was weird that it was the first thing I thought of. But I'm glad I realized it quickly and gave the credit to *myself*. I'm the one doing the hard work. Yay me!

Water aerobics, biking, and various youtube walking videos (I especially like "Reps to the Rhythm")

I have been walking and biking. My leg are getting pretty strong but I noticed that my upper body was not. I decided to add in rowing and some weights for toning. My nutritionist also said the varying my exercise may help me get past my stall. It seems to be helping both the toning and the stall.

Sent from my SM-G998U using BariatricPal mobile app

I found the most success (pre-op) when I combined diet with weight/resistance training. What about buying some dumbbells or kettlebells? You can find training programs online if you're not yet comfortable going to the gym (understandable!).

Everything I've read says you can't out-exercise a bad diet, so I think that's where you need to focus. I have a giant sweet tooth too, so I've learned that when I don't eat any sweets except fruit, I don't crave them. Really. Personally, I can have splenda in my coffee and be fine, but some people can't. I would stop with the candy. It's got no nutritional value and you need to find vegetables you like. Try roasted veggies. You can roast them while you are studying (I roast them while I'm working from home). Try red bell peppers or cucumbers with tzatziki or hummus or greek yogurt with everything but the bagel seasoning. Eat fruits that are in season, they will taste better and be cheaper. Or use frozen fruits to sweeten light Greek yogurt. Make a pancake from a really ripe banana, an egg (or egg product), and a scoop of unflavored Protein Powder, then top with sugar free Syrup. Excellent for Breakfast or dessert.

The truth is exercising only contributes to a maximum of 20% of the weight you have to lose. You’d have to walk 6km in an hour or run 8km in 45 mins to burn 360 calories (about two slices of pizza). Of course there’s lots of other benefits to building & maintaining your fitness. Making adjustments to your diet & reducing your calorie intake is the real key coupled with portion sizes to weight loss. If you consume fewer calories then your body needs to function you’ll lose weight.
Work at reducing your sugar intake. Stop the candies for a month but avoid sugar rich alternatives. Then drop any cakes or biscuits. Look to fresh fruit for a sweet treat. Make other small changes to your food choices like @lizonaplane suggested. Again you don’t have to change everything at once. Swap out a couple of things at a time & give yourself time to get used to it. You’ll likely find it much easier to make & adopt small changes to your food choices. You may not see changes in the scale straight away but it will happen.
Go back to tracking your food - calories & portion sizes. It’s easy to let these slip especially if you’re guessing or not being as vigilant. Check your Protein & Fluid intake & increase if needed.
Did you have a therapist when you had your surgery? Maybe get back in contact with them or ask your bariatric team for a recommendation. The therapist may help you better manage your stress & what may be driving your cravings.
You can get back on top of this. Good luck.

Hi Jen! I think forming a little group is a great idea! I'm basically in the same boat. Vsg 3 years ago, never got to goal and have gained 10/15 lbs over the last year and a half. I also have pcos and am pre diabetic. I am having a hard time getting back on track and I want to lose about 25/30 lbs. I could really use the support/ motivation from people that are in my shoes.

Stall and Loridee, out of necessity I had to form my own support group. Are there others that you know who have had the surgery that you can talk with? I found that just by talking and bouncing ideas around we all benefited. I told my surgeon that he should try to set up a way for his patients to exchange emails so we could network. Prior to covid he had two group meetings a month. He tried zoom meetings but they were not effective. So far he hasn't done it. I subscribe to Dr. Becky Gillespie on you tube. She doesn't give bariatric specific weight loss advice. Hers is geared more for us mere mortals and it's usually backed up with the science behind it. I find that fasting for 12 hrs a day helps me control my weight. I don't eat between 7PM - 7 AM. I'm also considering a longer fast but don't want to try until I'm absolutely sure that I can commit. One thing I've found out from not only my experience but with others, if you do not commit to a plan it will never work.

Oof, I hear you on the difficulties losing weight the closer to normal BMI you get. I’m just 15 lbs from goal. I’ve already lost 160, it seems crazy that these last few could be such a struggle but here we are. My weight loss has slowed dramatically a few times and each time I have to look and see what’s going on. Am I snacking again? Am I eating calorically dense food like nuts? Is sugar creeping back in? I know I will slowly push the boundaries and let bad habits sneak back in. I just have to keep course correcting, and I’ll probably be doing that for the rest of my life.

My mom had the gastric sleeve before I did and an unrelated problem came to light a little over 2 years after her surgery. She had a congenital defect of her colon where about a foot would become paralyzed and loop itself. The symptoms you're describing sound exactly the same. She had to have emergency exploratory surgery to finally fix it because for over 6 months all the doctors thought it was just a complication from the gastric sleeve procedure or because of the types of food she was eating. Neither of which was actually the case. She couldn't eat, she would throw everything up, her bowel was very irregular, and she had extreme abdominal pain. If that sounds familiar, I would suggest looking up "cecal volvulus".
Before the surgery, she was eating larger portions which would mask the condition, but because she now eats much smaller portions, the defect in her colon became obvious.