Sunnyer

51 minutes ago, karakent said:

Today is month 4 post op. I’m making good and steady progress, slower than some and faster than others but good enough for me. I’m about to go on winter vacation so I am hoping to focus on my exercise during that time and start a routine. How is everyone else?

I'm happy that I've now lost a little bit more than half of my goal. I've lost 19.8 kilos (43.65 pounds) and I have 19.2 kilos to go to reach my goal weight.

Also, since I'm at 93.2 right now I'm likely to reach my goal weight of 93 this month. Of course, it's Christmas this weekend, and I have to be a bit careful, but I think it will be ok.

The only negative is that I have an UTI, for the first time in more than a decade. I looked it up, and yes, there's an increased chance of UTI's after bariatric surgery. So, I went to the drs office and got antibiotics. Hopefully, they will work and I won't be sick during my Christmas break.

9 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

I didn't find the arm lift or breast lift that painful (the lower body lift, on the other hand, ugh - way worse than WLS). Although you can't do any heavy lifting or reach up to get things for awhile. Luckily, I'm married, so my husband took over pet feeding. If you put things at a level where you don't have to reach up and in containers that aren't very heavy you may be OK, though (I didn't have a thigh lift, so I can't speak to that...)

What is the difference between a lower body lift and Tummy Tuck? Is that the same thing?

21 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

I've had a lower body lift, an arm lift, a breast lift, and a face/neck lift. And yes - I'm very happy with the results.

many surgeons will recommend you wait a year once you reach goal to make sure your weight is stable before having plastic surgery. Reason being is that a significant gain can affect your results.

Do you really have to wait for a whole year after you reach your goal to have plastic surgery? Even on the face?

I don't expect to reach my goal until 12-18 months after surgery. And then one year after that - that would mean I would have to look bad for two to two and a half years.

I could at least have my eyelids done, right? I was going to have them done before WLS, but I had to change the dates and I didn't want to do it while I was still recovering from WLS.

Have any of you had or wanted to have plastic surgery after weight loss, or other beauty treatments, especially (but not only) in the face?

I've lost 41 pounds and I see it in my face. I really would like to have eyelid surgery and I also need to have something done with my neck, since I'm developing a bit of a turkey neck for the first time in my life. What's even worse, it's a bit off center. I'm wondering if it will get better or worse as I lose more weight.

I also want to have a breast lift, and possibly a breast reduction, but I probably have to wait another year for that since I need to be at or near my goal weight for that. I'm hoping to avoid a Tummy Tuck, since my lower stomach is relatively flat after a liposuction there decades ago.

What kind of plastic surgeries or treatments (laser, plasma pen etc.) do you want to / plan to have, or have had? And if you've had any plastic surgery or treatments, did you get the result you wanted?

My plan doesn't have a carb restriction, but I'm supposed to eat the Protein first, so often there's no room for much more.

I have a hard time with simple carbs anyway, especially bread and Pasta. I'll have a tiny bit of rice sometimes, and a little popcorn. I try to eat a little veggies with every meal too, which are complex carbs.

I can eat popcorn and I still like it. The trouble is having too much, so I measure out a cup and don't allow myself to have more.

What I can't eat still are a lot of dairy products. I can eat a slice or two of yellow cheese, but greek yogurt and fresh mozzarella upset my stomach. Also, I can't really eat bread or Pasta, which is OK, since I was on low carb for a long time and haven't really had them for years. Even the Protein bread, which I ate while on low card, doesn't agree with me all that well and I can have less than one slice.

On 12/14/2022 at 12:53 AM, Smanky said:

I picked 75kg, because I vaguely remembered that being my weight back in 1998 when I was at my thinnest and wearing a size US 8/ AUS 12. I set that as my goal, as I felt confident at that weight. My surgeon's goal for me was 80kg, but I was just fixated on being the 1998 size again. I've well surpassed his, and even slipped under mine. Beyond this I'd like to get to 73kg for that bit of wiggle room, but I don't want to lose too much more as I'm already quite skinny looking.

We are almost the same height and have a similar goal weight. I will be at normal BMI at 75 kilos based on most calculators, but I wanted a little wiggle room, so that's how I chose 74 kilos. Secretly, I'd like to be 73 kilos, since that would be 40 kilos even from my highest weight.

Ironically, when I was 72-74 kilos in my twenties, I wanted to be under 70 kilos. I had friends who were 60 something or even 50 something kilos, and I envied them, but I didn't factor in that they were shorter than me.

I went to a restaurant during the puree stage. Unfortunately, I went with people from work and didn't get to choose the place. The restaurant had no Soup, so what I ended up eating was a small serving of guacamole. The serving was small, the kind you get on the side. It was ok. The main part was to go with the group and eat something.

If your restaurant has soup, I would have that.

Surgery date August 9 2022

Surgery weight 243 pounds

Current weight 207 pounds

Target weight: 163 pounds

My next goal is 93 kilos/ 205 pounds, which I hope to reach this year. And then there's 91 kilos / 200 pounds which I will hopefully reach in January. After that, I'll no longer be classified as obese, and also I'll weigh less than I've done in almost ten years.

5 hours ago, Char V said:

Hello all,

how is everyone’s exercise regime going?
I have managed to walk an hour or more a day for 4 days this week. Spent an hour in the pool doing laps and half hour in the spa.

im unable to do anything else as the shoulder is still giving me grief. But I have returned to working as it’s one of the busy times of the year for me and orders are piling up.

The exercise routine is not going great, because there is so much snow, and it's hard to walk outside when the snow is up to your knees. Normally, I would exercise by shovelling snow, but like you my shoulder is hurting so I can't. I was supposed to have shoulder surgery on Monday, but I had to cancel due to unexpected cost.

I did buy a 6 month card at the gym this week and was planning to go to a zumba class this morning, but my car got stuck in the snow and I couldn't go, since the weather was too bad for me to walk to the gym. Hopefully the weather and the roads will be better tomorrow and next week, and the sidewalks shovelled, so I can take a walk and also go to the gym.

4 hours ago, SuziDavis said:

I am on week 3 of a stall... I'm trying not to let it bother me. I have seen a few reset diets, I am thinking of trying one if I can't kick this in the next week.

Most of November and the first week of December was a stall for me, but now the scale goes down a little every day.

At least I know now that I will get over a stall eventually, now that I’ve had two. It’s frustrating, but it’s just a matter of continuing to do your best and waiting.

After a stall for a while, my weight finally went down today and I'm 94.3 kilos, which is a little less than 208 pounds. It has become more likely that I'll meet my goal of 93 kilos (205 pounds) before the end of the year. That would meand that I'd lost 20 kilos even (44 pounds) since this summer.

Of course, reaching 91 kilos (200 pounds) would be even better, not to mention 90 kilos (198 pounds). That would mean I was no longer technically obese and also at 90 kilos I'd weigh less than I did a decade ago. That's the next goal for the new year.

But I'm happy to see the number on the scale moving again. I'm trying to get used to shorter hair, although I feel it makes me look older.

On 12/1/2022 at 7:17 PM, I Am Enough! said:

Hey August Buddies! I'm looking to see if anyone is interested in being an Exercise Accountability Buddy. I have been exercising but not enough to be consistent, and I need more motivation. Does anyone have the FitBit app and might want to try sharing fitness and exercise plans?

I definitely need to start exercising more, and I have a fitbit, but I lost my charger. I was walking outside, but not that it's getting a lot colder and slippery at times, I plan to rejoin a gym. I'm just finishing up my final assignments at university, which are all due next weekend.

However, I don't know if I'll have the time to work out five times a week. Walking outside is easy, but going to the gym takes time. I pretty much just have the time from when I finish work until my son needs to be picked up or comes home. Some days that's an hour, some days only half an hour or less. I definitely don't have the time to work out with a trainer, but I plan to have a trainer I know create a plan for me that I can follow on my own.

In other news, I had my hair cut to shoulder length today. My hair looks thicker, but I think I look worse. Not necessarily older, but worse. At least, it will take some time getting used to. Maybe I'll look better after I've lost more weight. If not, the hair will hopefully grow back.

I'm 3 and a half months past surgery and I've lost almost 39 pounds, which I'm very happy with.

Prior to surgery, I did have a hint of a double chin, and now that it's going away, I'm getting a bit of a "turkey neck" instead. Meaning, there's some loose skin there and a couple of vertical lines I can see in the mirror and in photographs. Also, if I shake my head, my neck wobbles back and forth.

Is this something that can go away as I lose more weight, or am I stuck with this look unless I have plastic surgery? Has anyone experienced this and found some solution? Are there any less invasive procedures like lasers or peeling that actually work?

Also, I'm losing hair like crazy and I had planned to cut my hair to make it look thicker and healthier. My hair is currently about 15-20 cm past my shoulders (6-8 inches) and I had planned to have it cut to shoulder length or maybe even shorter for Christmas.

But now I worry that shorter hair will make my wobbly neck all the more visible. I have wavy hair, so I also worry that shorter haircuts may look like "old lady" perms. Any thoughts or experiences with good haircuts that can hide or minimize a turkey neck and still look good ?

I went back to work after six days. I had surgery on Tuesday and went back to work on Monday. It went well, although I was a bit tired and threw up a few times.

My surgery was originally planned a week earlier, and then I would have had two full weeks before going to work, but the clinic unfortunately had to postpone it.

If people have a desk job and everything goes well, returning in one week is completely doable. That said, I would have preferred a two weeks rest, had it been possible

20 hours ago, KikyL said:

Congrats Libby! Felicidades @karakent. Lost 61.2 pounds since my surgery, feel amazing, have drop two sizes of clothes (maybe more from a size 28-30 to 26-24 comfortably, 22 snuggly). The surgeon cleared me for exercise, but haven't started yet, for me that's the difficult part. Hospital where I work has a 50% discount for employees in a Wellness Center, I will contact human resources for them to do the enrollment thing, after that comes from my paycheck I´ll force myself to go and think in the other amenities they have, like the sauna.

One of the things that hurts the most is losing hair, so I dye it and cut it, been drinking a lot of s... for Hair loss and applying a lot of hair products, but I know it is part of the process and that hair grows back. I can´t believe those pictures are 4 months apart, my eyes have been always big, now they are like look like big big, my face is losing "the fat", I was afraid to look older, but I like what I see in the mirror.

You look great, and not at all older. That haircut and color also looks good on you.

I'm thinking of cutting my hair too, and maybe getting some highlights. I too worry about looking older and since I have wavy hair, I also worry that shorter hair will look like an old lady perm. But hopefully my results will be as good as yours.

On 11/22/2022 at 2:12 PM, AliceFD said:

Good for you! That's quite a milestone. I've lost nearly 40, it seems to follow 5 pounds, then a stall, repeat. I'd like to have lost more, but I don't have as much to lose as many people, so I have to factor that in.

You've still lost 40 pounds, which is a lot.

I did feel a bit bad, reading all the posts here from people who have lost 40+ and 50+ pounds, when I've only lost 36.

Still, I've never lost more than 10-15 pounds in the last ten years or more, and always ended up gaining them back. Normally, I'd lose the 10 pounds or so in a few weeks, then stall no matter what I did, and then regain. Sometimes slowly, sometimes more quickly. Sometimes I'd manage to keep 10 pounds off for a while, but it always ended the same way.

So, in that context, 36 is not too shabby. I hope I too will get to the 40+ pounds lost soon, maybe even this year.

On 11/8/2022 at 6:36 PM, fed-up said:

When I went to my 6 week post op consultation ,I happened to sit in close proximity to a woman who had also had the Gastric Sleeve .She thought she looked wonderful - I thought she looked terminally ill ."I'm nearly at my wedding weight " she said proudly .I smiled and said nothing .She was the opposite of how I wanted to look .Her hair was thin and lack lustre , her skin sagging and dull .I listened in horror as she explained she was still trying to lose weight .I thought she summed up the very look I never wanted to have .Her slimness did nothing to inspire me .So I am 3 months post op .I can now walk freely , breathe better ,and I fit into my favourite jeans .I am not at my ideal BMI but if I don't lose further weight ,I'll be content .I eat more healthily and do more . So I suppose that is my story and I'm happy with it .

It's great that you are experiencing so many health benefits and that you are content. That is the goal for all of us, or at least most of us.

Hopefully, that woman you saw is experiencing health benefits, too. And it varies how much people focus on their looks. If she's happy and healthy, that's great too.

A friend of mine was pretty negative when I told her I was going to have gastric sleeve, because she has another friend who had weight loss surgery a few years back, and to my friend that woman looked similar to what you are describing. But, that woman was feeling better and was happy with that, which is the most important part.

I'm not anywhere near my goal weight, and I'd be disappointed if my weight loss stopped here. I have been able to stop taking medication for high blood sugar, but I want to be able to stop at least one of my two blood pressure meds and get below obesity weight into the "overweight" category.

If I end up 10-20 pounds above ideal weight, that's not a big deal to me. But we all have to find our own goals and our way to health. I'd rather be healthy, and if I will be saggy or whatever I'm not averse to plastic surgery if needed.

On 11/14/2022 at 2:36 PM, SuziDavis said:

I am 3 pounds for being under 300 for the first time in years, But I hit my second stall since September... 😫

It's so frustrating!!!

The stalls are a bit frustrating. I'm having one too, but I'm not as desperate now as I was during my last stall.

I have passed my initial goal or getting under 100 kilos (220 pounds). My next two goals are 93 kilos (205 pounds) because then I will have lost an even 20 kilos from my highest weight, and then 91 kilos (200 pounds) which was what I weighed a decade ago after I had my son. Also, 91 kilos / 200 pounds for my height is the cutoff for obesity according to BMI, so once I'm below that I'm considered overweight but no longer obese.

I know BMI is not an exact science, but it still makes a difference to me psychologically. Initially, I wanted to be 91 kilos / 200 pounds at the end of this year, but maybe 93 kilos is a more realistic goal. Still, I'm thinking of taking up more exercise to help me reach my goals. I have 7 weeks to go until January 1st, so I should be able to lose at least 3 kilos, and maybe more. Fingers crossed.

On 11/14/2022 at 6:29 PM, I Am Enough! said:

Hey August Buddies! I finally broke through my last stall - I hovered at 203 forever... but it finally broke through with more exercise. I have been doing a regular regimen for my hair and **knock-on-wood** it's working. So I wanted to share with you what I'm doing.

1. Daily take high-quality grass-fed collagen in my Water. This is what I currently use: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074T8HKGF It has no flavor and dissolves great!

2. collagen works best with a REAL food Vitamin C. It helps the body absorb and utilize collagen better. Not just a regular Vitamin C Ascorbic acid. Here is the link to what I use, and I swear by it. Here is the link: https://shop.drberg.com/vitamin-c-complex

3. I take 2 supplements a day of Dr. Bergs hair supplements. Here is the link: https://shop.drberg.com/hair-formula-capsules

4. Three times a week I massage my head to bring blood flow to the roots of my hair. Even pull and tug on my hair to give it circulation.

5. I use Morrocan oil on my hair after a shower. I try to only wash my hair twice a week to help keep its moisture.

So overall, I am trying to hydrate from the inside and from the outside, and so far it's working!! I've seen a little increase in Hair loss, but nothing compared to when I was on Keto full-time.

I'm also doing intermittent fasting for 16:8. I eat for 8 hours a day and then I'm done for 16. It really helped me get over my stall too.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for sharing what you are doing.

You mention grass fed collagen. Since we don't have Amazon in my country, it's expensive to order here. Do you think marine collagen is as good? There are several local products with marine collagen, very popular but expensive, albeit not as expensive as ordering from overseas.

I didn't know there were different kinds of Vitamin C, will definitely look into that.

Are the dr. Berg hair supplements large? I have serious trouble still taking large pills and supplements, due to nausea and gag reflex. I looked into Gummy supplements that my hairdresser recommends, but they have a lot of carbs.

Last week, I was allowed to start eating bread and Pasta. I know plans are different, but this is according to my clinic's plan.

I tried pasta during lunch at work, and I had the sudden urge to throw up after only a few bits. I do have a tendency to sometimes throw up my dinner, but it almost never happens at lunch.

This weekend, I tried some bread, but it felt like eating rocks. I had some Chinese food with rice for dinner tonight, and although iI ate very little, I threw almost all of it up again.

Does this mean I'm not ready to eat carbs? Does anyone else tolerate carbs well at this point (3 months past surgery), or do any of you experience the same with eating wheat or rice?

On 11/10/2022 at 4:17 PM, SuziDavis said:

That is how mine is... Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do except wait it out.

I was luck that I have a lot of hair, but it is noticeable for me still. Shorter hair definitely helps.

I have wavy hair past my shoulders. I wonder if I will have to cut it after all this Hair loss.

On 10/3/2022 at 4:43 AM, SuziDavis said:

Anyone’s hair start shedding yet? Seems like mine has. 😭

My hair is leaving my head. It started this month, and I lose a ton every day.

Even if I just run my fingers through my hair, I'm left with a handful.

Is there anything that can be done to stop the Hair loss? I'm taking Vitamins.

On 9/22/2022 at 3:51 PM, I Am Enough! said:

Hey team! I wanted to share this chart I found. It shows the natural progression of wright loss after surgery based on your starting weight. I thought I wasn't losing enough, but come to find out, I'm within the healthy range of wright loss as scheduled. Hope this helps provide a guide 😊

Thanks for sharing!

I recently had my six week evaluation and so far I’ve lost 12 kilos or 26 pounds after surgery, so I’m pretty much on track for my starting weight.

Yes, the stalls can be very frustrating and I had one for almost three weeks in the beginning of this month. But then the number on the scale started moving again.

I still vomit sometimes, especially after dinner, no matter how careful I try to be. Happened tonight. So that’s my biggest problem, still.

Has anyone experienced pain on the left side? I've had this pain on the left side for two days now, near the waist or hip, somewhere in between.

It's not acute pain, more like if I had a cut or something there, but there's nothing visible. This is lower than the surgery scars I have on my tummy and more to the side. It's unlike gas pains, at least unlike anything I've had. And I'm taking the antacids still.