Meganator

Checking in as we're about to head into our 10th month post op together. Anyone else still around from October 2021?

I'm now about 115lbs down total and less than 10lbs away from post-op loss of 100lbs. I'm getting close to getting out of the plus sizes when shopping (my top is usually a M/L, but bottoms have been slower to lose because lipedema). Still about a 1x downstairs.

Less than 40lbs away from my doctor-perscribed long term goal of 180 (still obese), but I think I'm going to push further to see where I can get comfortable maintaining eventually. I'm thinking somewhere in the 140-160 area (still overweight, but whatever, right?), but we'll see!

We're close to the end of 7 months out from October. I'm officially 100lbs down from a year ago (80ish PO). There's been a bit of a fast track kick start in my weight loss right now and I'm kind of just riding the wave (my start felt fairly slow, so I'm fine with it). I'm currently in the 220s- which I haven't seen since senior year of high school. I'm less than 50 from the big goal that makes everybody happy (surgeon, PCP, etc)- at 180lbs. This is my freshman year high school weight (how my PCP determined my goal) and the weight at which my surgeon expects I can maintain long-term.

My BMI's top range is about 135, but as someone who likes to lift, I'm fine at a weight anywhere between 135-180, to be honest.

As I get closer to this reality of meeting or surpassing 180, I may choose to lower my official target (for maintainence mode purposes). It's still a ways away, but just something on my mind lately!

Hope all my October 2021 people are doing well in y'all's journies!

On 4/14/2022 at 10:52 AM, Queen ApisM said:

This is awesome! Congratulations on all the great milestones you have hit.

It can be really hard to see changes day to day but when you get a chance to see the big picture of all the changes, like in your post, it really hits home.

Keep up the awesome work.

Thanks! I just hit 90lbs down today, ahead of my hopeful schedule by about 10 days, so I'm feeling amazing about that. I haven't been this weight since I was a junior in undergrad back in 2008. It's like time travel. I'm pulling out clothes I've kept from college and tossing ones from my life a year ago. Wild.

I'm 6 months post op this week. Surgery day, I weighed 310 and this week I was 245 - so minus 65lbs in 6th months and it feels surreal! I'm also down 87lbs from my heighest weight last May (trying to push for an even 90 by the time my "Get serious about weight loss" anniversary rolls around). What an accomplishment in and of itself!

But as many of y'all know, a lot of this goes beyond the scale, so I'm about to talk about labwork and measurements!

Labwork/Blood Health

I ran comprehensive pre-op, simple 3 month, and comprehensive 6 month labs. Here are those results!

Pre-Op Vitamin D was a dismal 15. I've taken a daily 5,000 supplement since starting Vitamins and I'm now close to 70. Normal Range.

A1C went from 6.1% pre-op to 5.4% six months out. Normal Range. Pre-diabetes off the table.

Fasting Glucose went from 121 pre-op to 103 at 3 months to 80. Normal Range

Cholesterol (total) went from 265 to 226 to 221. From high to borderline, but vastly improved.

LDL from 195 to 166 to 153. From high to borderline high.

All other labs were normal range prior to and post op.

Added blood health bonus: Taken off my Blood Pressure Medication completely.

Measurements (in inches)

Waist from 50 to 39.5

Right Thigh from 36.25 to 28.75

Left Thigh from 36.5 to 26.75

Hips from 69 to 52.5

Right Bicep from 18.5 to 14.5

Left Bicep from 18.25 to 14.25

Chest from 49.5 to 40

Neck from 15.25 to 13.5

Roughly a size 3x/4x, 22-26W to a about a 1x/2x, 14-16W

Moving Forward

I'm looking forward to what the future holds. I'm so happy with my progress so far! We often get hung up on the scale, but there is SO much more at play here. Be sure to track all your progress!

Checking in! Howdy!

This month has been alright. Met with my PCP the day after my 3 month follow up with my surgeon. Everyone is pleased with my progress and I'm on the right track.

My menu has been opened up to "normal" foods for the last month, but I've yet to come across foods that don't agree with me (just have to have food or a shake before Vitamins or else ugh).

I've definitely lost more than I've ever lost on any previous weight loss program (max was always 35lbs) and every day I'm amazed at how I've adapted to making this a true lifestyle change. With prior programs, there was always that moment I could just get off track and stay there. With this, I am linked to my surgeon's office through Baritastic (so they have access to my food logs) which adds an extra layer of accountability. I'm also self-pay, so I have a lot of skin in the game riding on this. I'm on a pretty regimented schedule for intake because I can only do 4-6oz of stuff at a time and that stuff is usually something that is going to help me meet my daily goals.

As I get closer to 250, which is about my lowest weight as an adult, I can't help but be a little nervous... like "What if I get stuck there and can't push past it?" Ridiculous thoughts, but still acknowledging they're there.

I've found my area's support groups to be a major help. It really helps with getting my headspace in check and thinking about things from different perspectives.

I've also seen performance increases in my gym. I've been regularly working out (5-6 days a week) since being cleared for it and at Orangetheory this past month for both benchmarks, I PR'd. On the 200m row, I went from 40.65 seconds to 40.1 seconds. On the 1 mile benchmark (3 miles on strider for me), I went from 7:39 to 7:14 shaving a total of 25 seconds off my time. Things feel easier in a smaller body than I had before.

Anyway, that's a long post, but this is the month where I'm finally feeling that "It's finally happening," feeling.

I had to readjust the headrest on my car because I'm loosing butt-cushion that props me up. It's probably the weirdest one I've had so far.

A little late Christmas dinner spread. Normally at home, I weigh & measure things- so this was one of my first times venturing into guesstimating territory. I picked the thinnest pork chop my mom sliced up (most were like an inch thick!). Green bean casserole, bell peppers/zucchinni, and a mac & cheese with bacon. This was my first try with Pasta anything and everything sat fine with me. I did cut up some pieces for a leftover meal.

Hey October '21 friends! Checking in. How is everyone doing?

Things "feel" good over here and I'm healing well. Started hitting Orangetheory two weeks ago and it feels good to be working out again (I was an avid fitness person for years pre-op, so it's part of my identity).

I feel like I've been slow to lose- which honestly, I'm OK with. I'm following my surgeon's office orders, but I feel like they'll tell me at my next appointment I'm not losing quickly enough (they mentioned it a little at my previous 1 month appointment)- anybody else struggle with that? I know I'm getting smaller, but my office doesn't measure me each time I come in.. only weighs.

Been meeting my hydration, Protein, and calorie goals. Starting on the 29th, I'll be asked to up my calories again and pay attention to carbs & fat as well (I'm already paying attention to these as I've set the recommendations in my Baritastic app already).

Anyway, that's how it's going here in my 9th week. I am about 1lb away from a 50lb total loss since starting my journey in May, so that's something to Celebrate.

6 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Good looking cod! How were the sweet potato puffs made?

I was kind of winging it. Peeled a small sweet potato, diced, and blended briefly. Prepped my baking sheet with a tiny bit of pam spread with a paper towel. Scooped them using a small baking scooper and tried forming them into something tater-tot like. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes (probably could be crispier longer).

Tonight's dinner! 2oz cod, 1oz green bean experiment, and 1oz sweet potato puffs. Couldn't finish it all, but it was tasty. Had it with my color-changing toddler spoon (matchbox for scale).

After a month of drinking every dang meal, I have finally made it to the puree phase! I have to admit, I looked at every page in this thread during my 9 days of clears post-op and really liked what I saw here. So I wanted to take a moment to share what I've prepped for breakfasts and lunches for the next few days.

For breakfast, I made:

-1oz egg whites
-1oz pate consistency chicken sausage
-1oz pulverized spinach artichoke dip (was planning on creamed spinach but this was easier and had a similar nutritional value per ounce)

Ate everything for my first go-around. It was everything I wanted and dreamed of.

For lunch, the menu was:

-2oz deli turkey breast sliced on a 1 (my program OKs slices on a 1 or less for purees... lucky me)
-1oz of fat free refried beans
-.5 oz red salsa to help moisturize the turkey and add a little flavor

There were also no survivors for this first try and my little container was emptied.

So far, I haven't felt any animosity towards these foods, so fingers crossed. Hope to share more appetizing-looking dishes in the future with true before/afters.

1 hour ago, Pricilla said:

Ooooo yassss I’m here for this tread!

Is turkey considered a soft food?

Actually, what should we avoid at Thanksgiving during soft foods? Is everything pretty much ok to taste?

I agree with pintsizedmallrat. Usually we roast turkey, but I think I might be somewhere this year where they might smoke or fry it. Fry is juicy usually- but fried. Smoked is usually pretty dry and will need something extra. If it is super dry, I'll probably use wetter food to help it go down better.

Ham also seems to be on the menu and it's hard for me to resist. I might have a small taste, but focus more on turkey breast (higher protein).

Thankfully our green bean casserole is mostly canned stuff. My guess is that I would have to avoid the fried onion topping.

I would avoid skins in mashed potatoes as well if they include them.

I'm just afraid my eyes will be hungrier than what my pouch can handle.

Not everyone there will know I had surgery and a lot of what this family does revolves around food. Hoping I can be able to lay low enough to not be awkward and enjoy myself.

Hi!

I will be on soft foods during Thanksgiving this year. I know a lot of Thankgiving foods can be in the soft category, but I am curious what your plans and strategies are. What are some traditional foods you would avoid on a soft food diet?

I expect there will be a lunch followed by a leftover dinner. Thankfully, I do enjoy most Thanksgiving Proteins and am not a big dessert person at all. I'm wondering if maybe I should bring my own small plate and coordinate with the host on what will be served.

Let me know how you've rolled in the past or what your plans are!

How is my October sleeve crew doing? I'm recovering well. Tomorrow I'll hit the one week mark. The only pain I have is incision pain at the stomach extraction point. Hit 64oz yesterday, so I'm proud of that! It's also looking like I may be under 300 at my first post op appointment on Friday. Still on clears until then and then I'll move to all liquids for two weeks.

On 10/7/2021 at 2:01 PM, Meganator said:

Doing the sleeve NEXT WEEK! On the 13th with Dr. Sashi Ganta in Austin, TX.

Currently on day 2 of 28 of liquids only (pre op 1 week & post op - 1w clear, 2w all liquids) and trying my best not to be hangry or cranky about it. But I am kind of hungry and cranky about it right now- not going to sugarcoat it.

But I am otherwise super excited about everything!

Tomorrow is the big day! Yesssss! Looking forward to counting down the days to purees.

Doing the sleeve NEXT WEEK! On the 13th with Dr. Sashi Ganta in Austin, TX.

Currently on day 2 of 28 of liquids only (pre op 1 week & post op - 1w clear, 2w all liquids) and trying my best not to be hangry or cranky about it. But I am kind of hungry and cranky about it right now- not going to sugarcoat it.

But I am otherwise super excited about everything!

17 minutes ago, Shay27 said:

I had my gallbladder removed about 10 months before getting sleeved.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Hope mine goes similarly. My surgeon specializes in single-incision laproscopic surgery (belly button), so I'm kind of hoping he'll decide to do that- but will ask at the last pre-op appointment.

This makes me a bit hopeful. My recovery for gallbladder was fairly simple and I wasn't on meds very long to help control pain. Fingers crossed!

My date was set yesterday - 10/13/21 - for the Sleeve. I'm self-pay, so everything is moving pretty quickly. I had to cancel a few sets of plans, but it'll be worth it!

Hi all!

Did anyone have their gallbladder removed prior to their weight loss surgery? Prior to considering weight loss surgery, I was doing Jenny Craig for a bit in 2020, but dropped it after about 6 months for a number of reasons. Prior to that, I never had any issues with my digestive tract. Over the last year, about once a month, I was getting what I found out were gallstone attacks. It got really bad the week of Labor Day and I went in for emergency surgery by the end of the week (Sept 10).

Also over the last year, I was researching options for weight loss surgery. My insurance does not cover any weight loss anything, but I found out that the options out there were actually affordable for me self-pay. Once my gallbladder came out (baby's first surgery), I knew it was time. I'm already having to change the way I eat- why not go all in? My surgeons from both sides agreed they could be done fairly close together.

I had virtually no real pain in recovery for the gallbladder removal and both surgeons have told me VSG will be a similar pain level, up a notch, for post-op recovery. Since my last surgery was pretty much forced upon me, I didn't have time to consider options or worry for weeks about surgery... I'm finding myself now post-consult with a surgery date in-hand (October 13th) and feeling pretty confident about getting the procedure itself.

I know gallbladder removal is pretty common post-op, but did anyone have it done pre-op? How did the pain compare to your WLS? How long were you between surgeries? What are some things that got easier or more difficult pairing the two removals?

I look forward to hearing about your experiences!