kiel_d-01

Hey y'all! Glad to see some updates around here. It's been 4 months and some change, and I've lost 70 lbs since surgery! Almost 125 since my highest weight. I feel better than I have in years. I started off as a 5XL and now can wear 3XL and even some 2XL! Went from a 30 in jeans to 24 (which are loose on me, so I think I may be 22 or lower now - I still need to update wardrobe) I had a stall in mid-December and just recently had another that lasted 10 days where my weight only went up and down or stayed the same! Finally started trending downwards again a few days ago. My pouch tolerates everything I've given it. No problems there. I eat whatever I want at this point but still do 1 protein shake/day. I'm hovering around 800-1000 calories per day. Pros: I used to get horrible pains in my lower back and hips and now I have a ton of stamina and can actually walk around a grocery store to go shopping! Sex is a lot more fun! ☺️? I can feel my bones. Especially when I sleep on my side at night, my kneecaps actually touch each other (can also be a con lol) I can cross my legs! I can sit on the floor and not feel like I'm going to fall over backwards! It's fun to jiggle parts of my body ? Physical hunger still gone and full cues still intact. I know to stop when the hiccups start. Food bills are so much cheaper!!! I'm content with a happy meal. No heartburn (yet)! Cons: My mood is ALL OVER THE PLACE. Hormones from fat loss make me up and down all the time. I never know what kind of day it's going to be when I wake up. I also have a mood disorder to begin with, so that doesn't help either. Loose skin everywhere!! If I'm too "active" it will make a clapping noise. Like it's cheering me on. ? I'm a bit self-conscious about the skin under my neck The rest of it I can deal with, lol. My boobs and butt are leaving. Mental hunger is rude! I have to carefully watch myself from grazing. Some days are harder than others. I think my food addiction has turned into a shopping one. I'm still lazy and don't really work out. I do a lot more than I used to though, so it balances out I think. ? Food isn't fun anymore. But that's also a good thing... I can say it has been way easier than I expected it to be though. I thought I'd be more upset about it. Here's some before/after pics! They're from last month, but I don't think I've lost much more 10 lbs since then anyway due to the stall I had. This one was right before the liquid diet and the after is the end of January, so about 75 lbs difference. This was on my way to my first appointment in early 2022 and then last month. I've lost 105 lbs between those 2. This is a fun graph of my weight loss since the beginning of the liquid diet. I weigh myself everyday using this app (Libra) so I can see the trends. Then I only record my actual weight every week in MyFitnessPal. It's worked well for me so far. My current goal is to hit 100 lbs lost before my 6-month surgiversary! 30 lbs to go!

I'm 3 weeks and a couple days out now and I think I'm hitting the dreaded "3 week stall" or at least for me, the 3 week slow down. I was losing 1 pound a day before and the past few days it's been closer to .1-.2. I'm okay with this still even if it does come to a halt for a while. My stomach healing seems to be going backwards though. It has started cramping a lot while eating and drinking, and even occasionally when I'm just sitting here doing nothing. My team told me to go back to liquids for a couple days, so I've been doing that. ☹️ I was supposed to start soft foods next Tuesday but now it looks like I won't be able to.

I love the fruity syntrax nectar flavors! Crystal sky, twisted cherry, roadside lemonade, and strawberry kiwi are my favorites. I like that they are just a flat 100 calories per scoop with water. They do foam up a bit after shaking but I usually let them settle for 5-10 minutes before I start drinking. I can't stand the milky protein shakes anymore since post op so I can't suggest those. I want to try the fuzzy navel one but it's always sold out! ☹️

Sounds like a good hobby. I wouldn't worry about it! ?

I had my 2 week appointment today and I've lost 14 pounds since surgery! I'm pretty happy about 1 pound per day. ? Can't wait to be cleared for exercise - my PA says no sweating so I'm basically stuck with short walks. I'm not allowed eggs in puree either. I'd love a scrambled egg. 2 more weeks and I can go to soft food... ?

I was mostly curious if my pouch was working. I've had very little issues since the beginning and I was starting to wonder if they made my pouch too big or something. That's the only reason I went for the whole .5 cup. Which was stupid in hindsight. ? I do struggle with eating too fast though. I ordered some little sand timers so I can slow down between bites. I was always a fast eater before surgery so that transition has been a bit difficult.

I ate a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese today and ooooof did I feel that. I was full the rest of the day and almost had a hard time getting my water and protein in. I'm glad my pouch is working as intended. I won't do that again. ?

Yep it's the same for me with the protein shakes! I can finish off a 8oz shake easily. Liquids just go straight through ya

I'm the same way. One week out and I'm easily getting my water in (70-90+ oz a day). I don't need to sip and feel like I can drink a lot at a time. I can't necessarily chug anything (tbh I haven't tried cause I'm scared) but I have caught myself gulping a few times and it was fine. I contacted my team and they say to be grateful to be staying hydrated and that some people handle it better than others. And liquids run through you quicker. It should be way different when we get to solid foods. Mashed potatoes are pretty thin compared to something like a chicken breast which should fill us up more. I have my moments where I worry about it too though. I'm really trying to trust the process and follow my programs recommendations. Mine recommends no more than 1/4 a cup per meal so I'm sticking to that. I'm not full but satisfied enough that I'm not starving. Puree stage sucks lol.

So update on puree... it was... not as good as I expected. The texture of everything (besides the ricotta bake) squicks me out. I can't get over the "baby food" thing especially with the puree chicken I put in my chicken enchilada puree. The crab rangoon was a no go. I threw them away. Tried making deviled egg puree cuz it sounded good. Ended up being gross. I took some buffalo chicken dip and thinned it out with cottage cheese and that was ok I guess. The best was the ricotta bake. The texture isn't so bad but it's just kinda meh on flavor. Next time I'm gonna try adding more italian seasoning. I was able to handle 2 tablespoons eaten over a 20 minute period which left me satisfied. So that was a win. I'm kinda bummed overall but at least it's not forever.

That sounds great! Lots of yummy flavors. My program has us using 3 shakes a day even in the puree phase. 6 weeks/soft food I can bring it down to 2/day. 6 months/solid food I can go down to 1 shake but that continues for a year. Then it's whatever we feel like. So for right now I can only do 2 meals a day that are real food (supposed to have 5 meals/day). I know I'm gonna be sick of protein shakes by the end of it all. lol I had my breakfast protein shake today and will be eating my first puree at lunch time! Wooo hooo!

This is the one I used https://www.food.com/recipe/shellys-baked-ricotta-324036