ShooterInTheSix

On 4/28/2024 at 4:12 PM, Spinoza said:

Oh it's fab to se your loss OP! Joyous actually. Enjoy those size 38 jeans and look forward to the 36s and the 34s. Welcome to the rest of your life.

When I first read this at the end of April, I laughed thinking there's NO WAY I'll ever fit into a 36" waist, never mind a 34". I recently bought a pair of shorts at a thrift store (I don't want to spend a fortune on new clothes while I'm still losing and it's tough to beat $6 for a pair of shorts that only need to get me through this summer) that are indeed a 36" waist.

Stepping on the scale for a second, I broke the century mark a couple of days ago; I'm down 102 lbs since my September RNY, so maybe you're right, though while my head says not a chance, my clothes are telling me otherwise.

Here's a good one; for the life of me, I can't recall the last time I was able to wear a pair of jeans which have a waist size that started with a '3'. I won't forget that today was the next time.

First image; size 50 jeans I was wearing a year ago (surgery was mid-Sept. These were my regular every day jeans). The second is the size 38 I bought today, -95 lbs 7 months post-op.

Still a long way to go, but this was a pretty big deal.

 

I just spent the past six days on business half way across the country. Flying didn't require a seat belt extension - and on the return flight, I was in a middle seat without issue.

The best though, was a couple of days ago when I got into an Uber and asked the driver if he could move the front seat forward. He apologized and said, "I'm sorry. I had a heavy person and he had to put the seat all the way back." He could never have known that 6 months and 85lbs ago it's very likely that I would have been that guy in the front seat.

I'm only four months post-op and have lost 65lbs as of this morning. I've been trying to maintain 900-1000 calories per day with a minimum 70g Protein and trying to limit carbs to 50g or less and fat to 35g or less.

At my three month post-op consult with my bariatric nutritionist, she was satisfied with those numbers and was happy with my weight loss progress to that point, which was 48lbs. I'm currently riding a plateau and have only lost 3lbs over the past couple of weeks, but it's my second one since surgery and while frustrating, I know it'll pass.

6 hours ago, summerseeker said:

Look at you ! I love these photo's. Congratulations. I will look forward to seeing your progress

Thank you. I still have a long way to go but after four months, I'm almost exactly 1/3 of the way to my goal.

3 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

I did the same - I had my husband take pictures of me every month on my surgery date until I hit maintenance 20 months later. It's much easier to see your progress if you can refer back to previous photos. You can't always tell a difference from month to month, but comparing photos to ones taken three or four months earlier - yep - you can definitely see the difference! Plus it's great having photo documentation of your journey! Congrats, by the way - you're doing great!

Thank you.

You're absolutely right; I've taken a picture every month since my surgery in September and lining them all up, there's really not much difference month to month, but taking out months one, two & three and putting month 0 and 4 side by side as I've done here, there really is a significant difference and it's definitely encouraging.

Four months and 64lbs later. Same shirt & jeans. I'l be taking these progress pictures every month for a year. Eight months from now I think I'll be absolutely swimming in these clothes.

I can count the number of people I've told on one hand. I'm self employed and a lot of my work where I actually see any colleagues is seasonal, revolving around the professional league of a widely popular summer sport in North American so I won't see any of them until mid-April, by which time I expect I'll have lost 80-100lbs since they saw me last in late summer (I had my surgery mid-September).

When, not if, they comment, I'm just going to tell them I lived at the gym all winter, and that will be the end of the conversation. Not because I won't talk about it more, but we're all guys and my explanation will be enough and the conversation will simply move on after a couple of, "Wow, good for you's".

10 hours ago, ms.sss said:

...not a fan of caramel...

That suddenly reminded me how much I miss real deal pecan pie.

For reference a slice (1/8 of a 9"pie) is;

I'm going to be missing it for a long time!

I can take that kind of talk a big step further; my ex-sister in law has always been a less than kind person and would often speak meanly to my ex about her directly to her face. They were having a conversation about it (I wasn't present) one time and my ex, referring to me said, "Even he notices the way to talk down to me..." She replied, "Well he's just a fat f*cking pig who isn't entitled to an opinion!"

Needless to say, we don't exchange Christmas cards though my ex and I are still friends and she's thrilled for me with my progress; she was even the one who picked me up from the hospital after my surgery.

Two years ago I bought a 3-in-1 winter parka that I'd had my eye on for a very long time, finally deciding to just do it. Now, 3 1/3 months post-op I can wrap it around in front just like one of those bathrobes and have put it up for sale on eBay (it was over $400, otherwise I'd just donate it locally).

Now I'm on the hunt for the same jacket, 4 sizes smaller.

I had my RNY mid-September and while I'm in a weird headspace where I don't think I'm losing weight 'fast enough' compared with some of the stories I've read here (I know, don't compare, everyone is different; intellectually I get it, it's still something of a challenge sometimes...) I HAVE lost 55lbs.

More importantly, the jeans I was wearing pre-op now fit like I'm trying to look like a 20 year old rapper wannbe, hanging half way down my ass if I don't cinch down a belt (which I've had to punch several new holes in and currently wraps around to my side when I use it), and I'm regularly wearing jeans that haven't seen the light of day since I blew up my knees (three months apart, one after the other in 2008)

I had my surgery on Sept 14. I'd lost 20lbs during my two week pre-op liquid diet, and another 22lbs up to Oct 19 (5 weeks post-op) and had no change the next week and this week actually gained three pounds. Not impressed!

11 hours ago, Arabesque said:

At what point post op do you mean? Your calorie intake increases as you progress with your weight loss.

I was a low calorie consumer and therefore my stats are very different from others but I am different from others too. I was never given calorie goals just portion sizes & wasn’t told to count calories - I did it randomly for my own interest & still do it like this. Was barely eating 300 calories in soft food & I think I was barely at 900 calories by 6 months. I stabilised at about 17 months (about a kilo less than I am now) consuming around 1300. I eat about 1500/1600 to maintain my weight now.

Everyone has different caloric needs. (Metabolic rate, activity levels, age, weight, height, etc. all contribute to what calories you need.) Please check with your dietician as to their recommendations for what caloric goals you need while losing & then maintaining.

With my now being six weeks post-op, I'm curious what others' calorie intake has been in the early stages of typically rapid weight loss after surgery and am well aware that intake increases and body weight decreases.

I realize everyone is different, and clearly stated in my original post that I have already spoken about this with my dietitian for my own case.

I'm not seeking medical advice from an internet forum on what my target should be; I'm opening a conversation about the topic to see where other bariatric patients have found their own successes with respect to their caloric intake as one metric.

I'm now 6 weeks post-op and have the green light to start introducing regular food items after having successfully gone through the liquid and soft phases.

I'm curious what everyone else is consuming daily for calories. I've looked through all of the materials I was provided and the only thing that's stressed is maintaining a minimum of 70g of protein; no mention of calories anywhere. I had my first post-op consult with my bariatric nutritionist two weeks ago and specifically asked her and she said they don't publish calorie targets because....'everyone is different'. I've been working to stay around 900 cal/day and she seemed satisfied with that provided I'm hitting my 70g target.

I've lost just under 45lbs to date, so it's working, but I'm wondering where others are for comparison.

What say you...?

On 10/16/2023 at 7:50 PM, BlondePatriotinCDA said:

"...Its a shame it takes just losing weight for men to finally see the real you..."

Trust me; it's not exclusive to men, women do it as well.

Always look into the lens of the camera to make eye contact with the viewer; it seems you're watching yourself on the camera's LCD screen so from the viewer's POV, it appears you're looking at something over our left shoulder. Once you've set yourself in frame, you don't need to look at that screen at all - it's actually quite distracting.

I recently bought a container of unflavored Protein Co. whey powder.The powder itself has a slight 'milky' smell in the container, but I've added it to everything from my regular Protein Shake to scrambled eggs and if I didn't know it was there, I wouldn't know it was there. It adds 28.75g of protein at 122 cal per scoop.

I bought it on Amazon - a 4lb container was CAN$75

Surgery was 4 weeks ago yesterday. Between the start of my two week liquid diet and this morning, I'm down 40lbs which is kind of wild to say out loud.

It's my first day of purees. I just blitzed 4 mini Italian style meatballs with 1/4 cup of Tomato basil past sauce and 1/6 cup of shredded skim mozzarella, and it's entirely possible that it was the best thing I've ever eaten in my life.

220 cal, 13g Protein, 15g fat, 8g carbs

12 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

It’s officially sweater weather so I’m very interested in warm foods again 😂. Is anyone still cold all of the time like me?

An old friend of mine who I hadn't seen in many years had RNY two years ago. We reconnected a couple of months ago before I had my own surgery two weeks ago and spent as couple of hours talking about his experience. He went from 355 on his surgery day to 180 and said one of the things that really struck him was that he's very often cold now.

3 hours ago, mzRonnie said:

Hello everyone I was just sleeved 9/19/23. Currently in the liquid diet stage. I am drinking a Protein Shake. And really not getting enough liquids so I’m working on that, but what can we have? broth, sf Jello, Water, but I see some people saying they are eating pudding and yogurt? Is that allowed?

My program is;

1.Clear fluids (1–2 days while in hospital)

2.Full fluids (2 weeks)

3.Pureed diet (2–4 weeks)

4.Soft diet (2–4 weeks)

5.Regular diet

Full fluids after the hospital stay are defined as;

Blended broth/cream-based soups (no chunks)

Cooked Cereal, thinned with milk (e.g. cream of wheat)

Milk or alternatives (e.g. soy, almond, rice milk)

Low-fat, sugar-free pudding

Vegetable juice

Low-fat, sugar-free yogurt

Protein shakes/powder

70-100g protein daily



Tired but feeling good. I do still feel a little achy in my abs but it continues to improve daily.

I had a Zoom call with a nurse this morning and she was happy with my healing progress and with what I've been eating (averaging 80-85g of Protein every day).

My scale this morning said I'm down 11 lbs since surgery day last Thursday and now 31 lbs since the beginning of my two weeks of pro-op liquid diet at the end of last month.

I had my RNY on Thursday morning & was discharged from the hospital today. So far, so good. I didn't experience any gas pain at all, primarily just intense ab muscle pain...but only when I move. It's definitely gotten much better since Thursday afternoon and now broadly feels like I did way too many sit ups.

I didn't have any last minute second thoughts and have zero regrets.

Now the real work starts.

Let's try this again. I was booked for my RNY for Aug 28 and after waiting in the hospital in my gown & booties for 5 hours, it was cancelled due to an emergency trauma case. Tomorrow is my new day, arrival at 6:00am, surgery at 8:00am.

Let's gooo!