Spinoza

I have also learned lots from people here who haven't done as well as they wanted to. Everyone has something to share. There's no shame in regain, it happens to loads of people for so many reasons. I say post away wherever you like. I suspect all you will get is well wishes.

I really really hope you get a better sustainable result with your revision. You're doing a good thing for your health. 🤗

cheese. It is the answer to all of life's problems post WLS. Compact, filling, nutritious and portable at room temperature.

Further down the line nuts and fruit will be your best friends.

If you can avoid processed bars then that might be good. If not, the bars might be better than the available (more processed) alternatives such as fast food.

Good luck - I hope you enjoy the field trip!

I think you're good. Just keep on keeping on!

Differences in size never cease to amaze me. I am almost exactly the same weight as you but 3 inches taller and I am a US size 8-10. No idea how that happens.

OP I am a firm believer in the concept of a new set weight after bariatric surgery. I would have been happy 15 or 20 pounds heavier than where I settled. That was my goal actually. After I got into that ballpark I didn't try to lose any more, but it just happened. And then, eating very much the same stuff, my loss then stopped. And I've maintained thereabouts for a year or more with very little effort.

If you can keep eating healthy and nutritious foods then could you just see where that gets you to? There are lots of healthy people with a BMI of 25+ and lots with a BMI of 19-. You'll find yourself somewhere in the middle eventually I suspect.

On 3/15/2024 at 3:58 AM, Arabesque said:

The final look. The designer was excited I was wearing her boots & pointed me out during her Q & A. Had a lovely chat with her afterwards. She’s delightful.

Heard that she went to Chanel earlier in the day & they made her line up outside. They made the Chanel head shoe designer line up outside Chanel! 😱 She introduced herself & they said please wait here with everyone else. And worse there was only one customer in the store. Just one person! Don’t want to be that store manager & staff if she reports back to Chanel.

Later in the evening, a woman came to me & asked if I was a 38? When I said yes, she said they were supposed to be my boots. Quick & the dead I replied. We laughed. Apparently I’m always getting in before she does so misses out.

Oh wow. Dress is amazing.

Hahaha too re the boots. You snooze you lose?

I've missed your salads ms.sss!

Stalls are stalls. There is absolutely no rhyme nor reason to them, they just happen. People try to break them by upping or lowering calories, changing exercise regime, whatever. And when the loss restarts they SWEAR that what they did caused the renewed loss.

The fact is, stalls last a few days, or worse, a few weeks and then they end. If you stick to your programme you'll start losing again soon. You don't need to do anything drastic.

Honestly can't remember but I think I had 2 weeks off but wish I had taken more. I know everyone is different. I had no complications at all but a lot of pain from my incisions, especially the big one, and trouble sleeping because of pain in all positions. I did manage my work after 2 weeks but it was a complete slog because I was still sore and tired.

I am almost two and a half years post sleeve. At your stage I was eating around 800 calories I think, but if I've learned anything it's that we're all totally different!

Well into maintenance, my typical day is:

Breakfast: full cream milk latte. I have never eaten breakfast at breakfast time and never will.

Mid morning: one or two fried or scrambled eggs, depending on how hungry I am. Generally one.

Lunch: a salad with some Protein (last night's dinner meat, tinned tuna or deli meat - sometimes cheese). Or more often Soup - usually homemade and usually with either chicken or pulses for protein. Or occasionally, if I'm feeling really lazy and can take the sugar hit, 100g tinned baked Beans with cheese and hot sauce.

Snacks, probably three a day at this point: cheese (and usually a couple of crackers with that); 150mls [approx] full cream milk kefir or a kefir yoghurt; nuts (30g approx); seeds (20g probably); deli meat; fruit (I eat at least one portion of berries or an apple every day). I tend to keep lots of meat snacks in the fridge as they're filling and help me reach my protein goal.

Dinner: whatever I've cooked for everyone else but without the carb element, or just a tiny bit. Basically protein and veg - in that order. But that includes fried chicken, bolognese, casseroles, sausages, roast dinners, fish pie (no potato topping) - everything I used to eat before my sleeve.

Supper: I do most of my carb intake here. Toast and butter, porridge (oatmeal to you lot) with stewed fruit, crackers with butter (or cheese if I haven't cheesed out by then).

Exercise: I do a 1 hour aerobic exercise class 3 days a week. I walk between 2 and 4 miles every day and I jog about a mile once or twice a week instead of walking. I am still amazed by what my new body can do. I probably should do more.

This is my diet 90% of the time. I have lots of days when I stray badly off the path and eat chips (crisps) and occasionally chocolate. I also drink wine every weekend, which I accept is totally empty calories with no nutritional value. I just track everything and try to adjust if I can. I've had a couple of regains of a few pounds now (4ish), but so far I've been able to jump on those, ditch the rubbish (carbs mainly), up my exercise and get back to 140 or thereabouts. It's no problem at all - a couple of weeks of being more vigilant about what goes into my mouth and a few runs instead of walks. I really hope I can keep doing that. I may have to accept that my set weight is higher than 140 but I am loving it here!

Just checking that that isn't all you're eating!

I'd also check with your team that the takeout food that you are eating fits into your overall plan. We have such a small capacity at 2 months that we really need to pack nutrients into every meal. Rice and noodles have nothing to offer at this point. The chicken definitely does.

In addition, the months after your surgery, when your appetite is zero and your capacity is small, are your chance to re-train your tastes. In a year's time much bigger volumes of takeout will be much easier to get through and much more apt to cause you not to lose what you should, or even to start to regain.

I totally understand that your cooking facilities are limited and that makes things hard. I hope everything goes well for you.

You're doing amazingly. What you have done is lose 13lbs in 2 weeks or so after your procedure. And 37lbs pre-op. Unbelievable.

Weight loss isn't linear - it stalls and accelerates and stops and reverses. What matters is that the trend is down in the longer term - that's what gets us to where we want to be. Not the odd week where everything goes backwards (although - they are so annoying).

Trust the process, it really does work. 🤩

If you need to increase your calories then these seem fine (and you'll be reading the room by now, LOL, they're just about fine if you can't have something else) but there are loads of alternatives to food made with artificial sweeteners you might want to think about.

When I was at your stage and missing calorie goal I had a couple of spoons of raw nut butter (no sugar) or some cheese, or a few whole nuts. I ate a tiny portion of porridge with whole milk or had some full fat greek yoghurt. I am a sugarholic though so I completely avoided anything that tasted sweet.

I hope it goes well for you!

Oh the boots are insane. The heels are perfect (I'm tall and can't do big heels). Hope you enjoy the meet!

Denim dress is lovely too. But it's not *THOSE BOOTS!!!!*

You've done amazingly well - especially given the awful time you had post op. I hope it's all better from here forward and that you lose lots more before you settle at your new set weight. 😀

I cried and cried the day I got into the overweight category of BMI - albeit totally arbitrary. Felt such an achievement. We need to Celebrate all our wins, big and small.

You already look amazing. You've done so well. I hope this surgery gets you to where you really want to be.

Oh we will always be kind here. We are mostly much older than you but who doesn't love a young thing mixing it up and asking the right questions!?!? Sounds like you have your parents to guide you but your journey will be completely different (because everyone's is).

I know that you'll be hoping to hear from really young people and I'm really hoping to hear from them too because that's a voice that has been missing here before.

I suspect your skin will be much more forgiving than the older folks but that stretch marks might limit that a little bit. It means less to me than other people who I know have had surgery to tidy things up. They can share their experiences as you go along.

Anyway - welcome. It's lovely to hear from you and I wish you all the best on your journey. 🤩

Ah - sorry - forgot what I actually started out to say. Arabesque is right (as she usually is). If you can go back to your original programme do. Protein first, veg second, carbs third or not at all. No sugar, it's ridiculously addictive and produces insulin spikes that make you crave it more. Perhaps consider a Keto week to get you started and minimise cravings - so protein and green leafy veg only?

You really can still change your life. The surgery is still working, you just need to get back on track. It is really really hard though. The hardest thing you will do and continue to do. But is IS doable because you have a secret weapon (SLEEVE!!!!)

We live in a world where millions and millions of dollars are pumped into making us eat far more than we need, of food that doesn't even nourish us or keep us healthy but makes profit for big food companies. It's so difficult to find a way through that. I would say it's impossible to do it alone when every supermarket and shop has ultra processed food showcased at every turn (that tastes so good because all the millions of dollars are aimed towards that and that alone).

Please post here lots and let us know how you're progressing. We are all human, we all make mistakes, big and small, but we're all here for you.

Lots of good advice here. I do love this forum - between us we have hundreds of years of lived experience of WLS. So little judgement and so much sharing of wisdom. 😍

I use the 'together we have lost' panel to the right of the posts on every thread. Wouldn't have a clue how to work it otherwise!

I love your jacket story too - relatable for most of us!!!!

No this isn't my experience. If I stuck to a low calorie diet (VLCD) I invariably lost weight. I've done that numerous times since my teens. What I could not do was keep that weight off. I regained it all plus more, every time. WLS seems to have changed that for me (so far - 2+ years post op).

Can you give us a little more info? What diet were you sticking to, when and for how long?? I think it would be very unusual not to lose ANYTHING ever on a low calorie diet? Far more common to lose a bit, stall, lose a bit more...etc etc

Well first - have a fantastic time! I've also done theme parks before and after surgery and the difference is absolutely night and day. You'll have a ball.

So yes - days in the parks are long and the food choices in there are all really unhealthy. I'm gonna say something different to Amber above and that's that you might want to be using your immediate post-op period to retrain your brain to tell it that processed foods aren't good, lack nutrients, aren't worth the space in your stomach, and are what got you here in the first place. But I know we're all different - that is the joy of this forum for me!

Salads with grilled chicken or fish might be your friends for this trip if you can tolerate them. If not, as summerseeker says, a small cold pack with cheese and deli meat. A few nuts and seeds go a long way - again if you can eat them this early.

I didn't do this at really. I was a chocaholic so I just ate my usual (industrial) quantities of that. I rarely eat it now but I'm sorry to say that when I do I still adore it. I wish I'd lost my taste for it but I never have. What I do have though is a steely determination not to be obese again - it's working so far.

So interesting to read these replies - we all come from such different places! I was also a binge eater. I went for the sleeve because it felt less disruptive to my anatomy - didn't mind at all losing a big chunk of stomach. I also actively did NOT want a high risk of dumping (although I know some sleevers do). My one worry was my reflux getting worse. I gambled on it not getting worse because any other time I had lost a significant amount of weight it had actually improved. I won my gamble. The sleeve is suiting me very well so far.

You have done amazingly, through all of the setbacks you never gave up. So happy to hear you so happy with your new life 😍 I am absolutely gunning for you to take a well-deserved trip to onderland!