Clueless_girl

Ooh i LOVE quiche! I would love to see the recipe for this!

Yeah i'm 4 mths post op from the modified duodenal switch and I have struggled with Water nausea and issues with water tasting gross/weird to me. I feel like my taste buds have changed a bit after surgery and I can't stand the taste of water filtered from the tap anymore. I am trying to find a bottled water than I can tolerate, but isn't too expensive. Thankfully I tried gatorade zero and that has helped me, but I am STILL struggling to drink 30+ ounces a day. Have you tried flavoring your water? I just got gatorade zero powder to cut down on the extra plastic and to try to drink more water. Hopefully that does the trick!

I'm almost 4 months post op from the MDS and I've been asking myself that question, "am I overeating", on and off for the past 2 months. I've been able to figure out 2 body cues so far: feeling full to me is a pain in a specific part of my chest and feeling hungry is a intense pain in my abdomen. But other than trying to avoid those, I feel like I spend a lot of time grazing or snacking.
Because of my morbid curiousity, I weigh myself pretty much every day. I didn't experience the "3 wk stall", but my weight has bounced around a bit. Dealing with pain and nausea has made me lose both pounds and inches, which scares me more than it makes me happy. The stress of school made that worse recently, in 4 days I lost 6 lbs. At my last follow up, my dr and dietician said to slow down my weight loss by adding in some carbs. I have been doing that for the last 2 weeks and I've been able to gain/maintain a range of 2-3 pounds, so I agree with @SleeveToBypass2023's advice about the rice and such.

Everyone fluctuates regardless of whether they’re trying to lose weight or not. Hormonal fluctuations, Fluid retention, what we eat or drink one day compared to another, pooping, not pooping, etc.
If you were like me you didn’t weigh yourself often so probably weren’t all that aware of your usual fluctuation. My usual fluctuation is about 1kg (2.2lbs) so I never worry about that weight gain or loss. It’s odd the way your body reacts. I’ve discovered I always weigh more the day I break Constipation that I did when I was constipated.
Your weight loss will never be a consistently straight downward line. It will zig & zag, go up & down, drop quickly one day slowly the next. As long as your weight loss trend is going down you’re golden. And yes reduce how often you weigh yourself if you find the number on the scale is messing with you.

I have been struggling with how to tell my family and friends about my surgery. It's not even because they would judge me, it's kind of the opposite.
My brother was super skinny until about late high school and then struggled with weight gain and loss for years. Then 6 yrs ago he got the gastric sleeve and after seeing the results, my parents immediately looked at me and said I should do the same. I have always been bigger and curvier than everyone in our family, which is hard to ignore when you're an Asian girl (I'm not stereotyping here. They are all under 5'5 and the largest cup size is a B). While it has hurt me, it also pushed me to find a version of myself that I can accept and be happy with.
Oddly enough my existing health problems (which are mostly the known side effects that occur from wls) stem from a blood disorder from birth and I don't suffer from the common issues from obesity like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. Having dealt with a number of specialists and doctors over the years without any real solutions, I eventually decided to consider bariatric surgery this year. I planned on telling them about it after I had recovered, but it has been rough and I am still undergoing further tests and treatment. My brother gained a lot of his weight back while my sister has pushed herself and lost weight- both about the same amount that I have lost in a few months. I don't want either to feel shame or resentment towards me, not that I can control that.
It looks like I may have to go back into the hospital a 3rd time and get my gall bladder removed. How awful would it be if I lied and said that is the reason behind my weight loss? My family knows that I have been dealing with stomach problems and pain for years. I'm also losing weight much faster than the doctors expected due to this, in addition to nausea, and we're trying to figure how to slow it down. I HATE attention and it's getting harder to try and hide how different I look. Any advice or motivational speech from anyone would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

What version of the truth you choose to tell is up to you IMO. If you refer to the gall bladder thing as a stomach surgery and you said your “stomach surgery” is why your losing- frankly that’s not a lie because the WLS was a stomach surgery too. In terms of claiming it’s due to all the changes you are making that’s absolutely true. I made the changes three years ago and guess what. I changed back to old eating habits and I have gained it all back. I still have a sleeve but I am obese again. So that surgery did not do the work to lose the weight. I did. And the second I stopped doing my part I started gaining and ended up right back where I started. My point is it is what you are doing that is making all the difference in your weight. The surgery is just a tool. No one tells a carpenter he is taking shortcuts if he uses a drill instead of a screwdriver. So why does society assume we shouldn’t take advantage of the best tools money can buy to set us up to succeed. I am willing to bet that they all buy the latest and greatest gadgets they can afford to make things easier on themselves. And realistically it’s not even like it makes it that much easier. It just makes it possible instead of impossible!! IMO taking the lazy or easy way out would be to never try anything. We have tried everything. To include facing some pretty scary complications not everyone would face to achieve their goals. Nothing about this is easy and people who think it is are just ignorant. You just have to decide what your comfortable sharing. It’s no one’s business unless you want them to know. Honestly if someone was really going to think I was doing drugs I would just think to myself that they never really knew me anyways so what reason do I have to care what they think about me. You are facing enough with your upcoming surgery. I say Focus on yourself and your health.

I have been struggling with how to tell my family and friends about my surgery. It's not even because they would judge me, it's kind of the opposite.
My brother was super skinny until about late high school and then struggled with weight gain and loss for years. Then 6 yrs ago he got the gastric sleeve and after seeing the results, my parents immediately looked at me and said I should do the same. I have always been bigger and curvier than everyone in our family, which is hard to ignore when you're an Asian girl (I'm not stereotyping here. They are all under 5'5 and the largest cup size is a B). While it has hurt me, it also pushed me to find a version of myself that I can accept and be happy with.
Oddly enough my existing health problems (which are mostly the known side effects that occur from wls) stem from a blood disorder from birth and I don't suffer from the common issues from obesity like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. Having dealt with a number of specialists and doctors over the years without any real solutions, I eventually decided to consider bariatric surgery this year. I planned on telling them about it after I had recovered, but it has been rough and I am still undergoing further tests and treatment. My brother gained a lot of his weight back while my sister has pushed herself and lost weight- both about the same amount that I have lost in a few months. I don't want either to feel shame or resentment towards me, not that I can control that.
It looks like I may have to go back into the hospital a 3rd time and get my gall bladder removed. How awful would it be if I lied and said that is the reason behind my weight loss? My family knows that I have been dealing with stomach problems and pain for years. I'm also losing weight much faster than the doctors expected due to this, in addition to nausea, and we're trying to figure how to slow it down. I HATE attention and it's getting harder to try and hide how different I look. Any advice or motivational speech from anyone would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

At my largest I was size 24. I'm currently size 18 and I still have things in my wardrobe that are size 16. Once I shrink beyond that I will either have to buy new clothes, go to a tailor and have my current clothes altered or rock out baggy clothes until my weight stabilizes. I'm trying to have a no buy year for 2024 so my plan for this calendar year is to make due with belts, tailoring , baggy clothes and dresses until next January, with the exception of underwear and bras which I refuse to wear incorrect sizes for.

Well you are being such a trooper I’ll tell you. I hope you get it worked out real soon.

Probably stuff you already know about the low carb if you’ve had a sensitivity to gluten. I just going to say that I learned that fajitas and Italian sausage witb peppers and onions which I like both (minus the rice of course) are relatively low carb. And cauli rice isn’t bad as long as it’s mixed in something witb flavor.

Night before last I learned that crustless quiche is super easy to make and In the muffin tin it’s perfect little portions. Last night I made a low carb Italian bake that was Italian sausage with spinach and cheeses (the recipe called for mushrooms but I substituted onions). That one I’m not sure about the fat though. It wasn’t listed but for 6 servings it has two cups of mozz cheese, a quarter cup Parmesan and 16 oz of ricotta.

I’m waiting to hear from my surgeon what my post op fat requirements will be and I need to work that out and see if it’s on plan. That recipe worked out to 373 calories but I didn’t calculate the fat before I tossed all the packages.

Tonight I had leftovers of the Italian bake that is probably too fatty and I baked instead of cooking . I made low carb banana muffins that another poster shared with me and they are pretty yummy. They use almond flour and Allulose to cut the carbs. They are surprisingly tasty.

Basically I am not really a big cook and I did not experiment with healthy dishes last time around. I Just tried to commit to eating like you have to now (meat and veggies) but for life and I couldn’t do it. I got board and I found things that were within the allowed calories while the portions were small but once I could eat more they actually added up too fast. This time I’m just trying ti find at least A handful of things that are actually tasty to me that will work when I finally get back to regular foods. Something to look forward to while I’m in the weight loss stage. And it’s kinda weird but I’m not hating the cooking as much as I used to. It’s kinda like knowing that it’s actually something good for my body makes it a little less of a chore to me.

I don't think I'm a common case but malabsorption of Vitamins is expected of all bariatric patients. I've been dealing with random abdominal pain for years, alongside the gluten sensitivity so now my surgeon is looking at removing my gall bladder.
But I know a few patients will have a rough recovery like mine and IV nutrition will help them tremendously. I am able to eat and the bruising I have from every lab/blood draw is taking longer and longer to disappear (making me look like I'm a drug addict 🤣), so I don't want to go that route.
Oh but feel free to talk about the recipes/issues you're having with low carb food, it's not a trigger for me and I could always use ideas to adapt!

I almost took a picture the other day (a mirror selfie no less), bc on camera it seemed like I looked the same even though I could tell it wasn't. But I instead opted for trying on some outfits I wore a few months ago and I swear the shirts are longer besides being baggier.
I've slowly dug in the closet and tried on some clothes I haven't seen in years. Being able to fit into them was great of course, but also made me mad 😤! The fact that I can fit into both, a dress I wore 5 yrs ago and one I wore over 12 yrs ago when they're different sizes and materials is just crazy?!

I almost took a picture the other day (a mirror selfie no less), bc on camera it seemed like I looked the same even though I could tell it wasn't. But I instead opted for trying on some outfits I wore a few months ago and I swear the shirts are longer besides being baggier.
I've slowly dug in the closet and tried on some clothes I haven't seen in years. Being able to fit into them was great of course, but also made me mad 😤! The fact that I can fit into both, a dress I wore 5 yrs ago and one I wore over 12 yrs ago when they're different sizes and materials is just crazy?!

I'm almost 4 months post from the ds so I'm no means an expert, but I've been sensitive/intolerant to gluten for the last like 7 yrs so I can chime in about food restrictions. Having to find substitutions for food you know and love is ROUGH, more so when you're sick or recovering. I've had problems with nausea, abdominal pain, and Vitamin deficiency during my recovery so my dietician is still having me focus on Protein with a little soft cooked, non-starchy vegetables (I really miss eating fruit). I have ADHD so eating the same thing for more than like 2 meals is almost impossible.
However, there are a lot of other people who are dealing with low carb and bariatric diets so finding suggestions and recipes isn't hard. Unfortunately that also means it takes a lot of research and trial and error to find what works for you specifically. There are a lot of different alternatives for gluten free/low carb/no sugar/etc. products available online that are a bit pricey, but might also be a good option for what you want/crave too.

I think many of us have our own places where we self-sabotage. For me, going into this surgery, I knew consistency was going to be a challenge because I have ADHD and my brain really struggles with routine, even though routine helps my life flow better... The biggest thing I've done to help myself is to not allow things into the house that I'm not supposed to be eating. I put them all in a basket and put them in my partner's office. Out of sight, out of mind. LOL To support me, they keep the snacking in their office, thank the gods.
The other thing I did was educate myself on what will happen to my body if I consistently fail my Protein, Vitamin, and hydration goals. Some other surgeries can get around this, but DS patients cannot. It is a very unyielding surgery. When I was younger I had a friend who had an old school bypass and was non-compliant with the dietary advice and Vitamins. She'd sit there and chat while eating M&Ms, breathe through the dumping symptoms, and keep on eating them. Her hair was falling out and brittle, her skin was dry, she'd get heart palpitations with the slightest bit of exertion because her Calcium was off. I can't even imagine what was happening to the strength of her bones... I don't say this to scare you, I say this to illustrate what can happen long term when we can't get our habits under control.
I know for her, she just had the surgery. She had no aftercare. No psych care. No mindfulness coach. No dietician. No one supporting her through these difficult changes and helping her understand what was happening to her body when she was making less than stellar choices. Every time I'm tempted to ignore my vitamins or skip a meal I think of her and march my ass to the fridge and eat some cheese. 😂
You have a good list of things to help course correct. I've seen you post before, I know you are trying. Where is your support system to help you achieve your goals? If you have no one local, where and how can you cultivate them? I find when it is hard for me to act in my best interest, that's the time when I most need my support system to kick in and give me a helping hand...or a kick in the ass.

Instead of focusing on what you need to NOT do, how can you frame those things as a list of supportive things you can add to counter those behaviors? It is so easy with our dieting history to get into a restrictive mindset, but I've been working with a mindfulness coach who has been encouraging me to be additive instead of subtractive and that helps a lot with the mind game that surgery is! So instead of fussing at myself for missing my 3rd snack of the day, I've instead added a morning protein cocoa made with Fairlife milk, GENEPRO protein, collagen, and a hot cocoa mix. It packs almost 30 grams of protein in one go and soothes my queasy early morning tummy. Plus by front loading it in my day, I increase the chance of having time for that post dinner snack! And yes, dehydration and lack of protein will make you snack and feel hungry... Try a snack/meal with protein and fat.

Thank you for the replies.
Summerseeker : "Food should not be boring. I just do not live to eat it anymore." I don't Iive to eat, I never have, but good food contributes to a good life. "Variety is the spice of life" variety I can't have. Yes, I knew this goes into this but, it doesn't make it any easier!
What I was attempting to say is its boring because;
1. Unlike you I detest cooking so the thought of sitting down to think out my weeks meals sounds tedious and time consuming (even if necessary) I really wish I had the time and inclination to do it and I'm jealous of those who are willing and able.. I just don't want to add yet more measuring, weighing prepping to my day off since I do enough of that weekly in very exacting details (down to microns) 😛
Perhaps its also the lack of options..see #2;
2. With this new way of eating and my intolerance of carbs it makes my options very limited. After all there are five food groups and I've eliminated 3 of the five as it is - grains, most dairy unless you want overly processed artificial dairy and fruits. Add to that my food texture issue (symptom of ADHD) ..this leaves me with low fat beef, fish and chicken for Proteins and veggies (non starchy).
I do track everything I eat and drink as well although I love your way of if you get your proteins in and still want a "biscuit" and a bite of noodles you have it. Perhaps, I'm being overly controlling of my diet out of fear of regaining the weight and its causing me to feel this way.
Arabesque:
I understand why drinking Water and peeing is important and your body should adjust to more water consumption, but, after 9 months I still go 20+ times a day - very inconvenient when I work managing a pathology lab - I have to remove a lab coat, gloves and mask, then go through decontamination processes each time I exit the lab and then upon entering resuit up and on top of that no drinks allowed in the lab - so in order to get my water in I have lunch time and when I get home OR leave the lab for my sip. So, this means working 10 hours a day it gives me a very short window to get my water in especially since I can't drink large quantities at once. I should have explained better (but my post was already long). My apologies. I guess my lack of "thirst" has developed from years of training from this job and my last. I just worry about not getting the required amount in.
Anyway, its just me whinging. I'm just finding it difficult and quite frankly tiring (getting up several times a night to pee doesn't help).

My partner is Chinese and their family ALWAYS did this when we lived close to them!! They'd discuss their weight right at the dinner table, comment on how they needed to lose weight and were getting fat, then pass the dishes over for them to finish and send the leftovers home with us! Made me SOOOO pissed off. 🤣
Those close to me noticed first. My doctors were almost in tears that the surgery has been working so well! It was really sweet to see. I take pictures once a month on the 1st of the month and take measurements then too, because I wanted to be able to track for myself what was changing. It was really cool to see how my posture has changed. I keep taking pics in the same outfit and it is so weird to see the shirt getting longer even though I know the shirt isn't getting longer. LOL
I saw my family at Christmas. They live several states away. I recently sent them a full body pic and they were shocked and excited for me because it was pretty clear I've lost weight and my shape is changing. Today I passed my 50% mark towards my goal weight!! I've officially lost 76 lbs since my highest weight (320) and 63 lbs since my surgery weight (307). It just feels so unreal to me...

Soft Proteins, yes.

I used my own recipe.

2 eggs
15oz part skim ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1tsp ground garlic
1tsp black pepper
Dash of basil
1tsp Italian seasoning
1tsp salt

Mix all these well.

Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons into each spot on a mini muffin baking pan that you’ve sprayed with Pam.

Sprinkle a touch of reduced fat mozzarella on top of each.

Bake 20 minutes at 375.

I’m thinking of making a bariatric cooking/recipe blog. I love cooking and being inventive and really want to stay within my approved foods. So it may be neat!

I totally feel your pain! I already had problems with random, really bad abdominal pain that no one could diagnose prior to surgery. Then after surgery i had 6 weeks of constant, severve abdominal pain and nausea. After i went in for my first followup, i got sent to the hospital to do my labs, a CT scan of my chest and ultrasound of my gall bladder.
It turns out my potassium levels were critical and i had to be admitted to start iv (6 bags) in addition to the huge pills. After an overnight stay i was discharged the next evening with a week worth of extra pills. But then after i finished them, i was finally able to keep food down and the pain practically disappeared! It still hurts now and then, but mostly now i have to deal with painful bloating and Water nausea. So maybe have your potassium levels looked at?

I totally feel your pain! I already had problems with random, really bad abdominal pain that no one could diagnose prior to surgery. Then after surgery i had 6 weeks of constant, severve abdominal pain and nausea. After i went in for my first followup, i got sent to the hospital to do my labs, a CT scan of my chest and ultrasound of my gall bladder.
It turns out my potassium levels were critical and i had to be admitted to start iv (6 bags) in addition to the huge pills. After an overnight stay i was discharged the next evening with a week worth of extra pills. But then after i finished them, i was finally able to keep food down and the pain practically disappeared! It still hurts now and then, but mostly now i have to deal with painful bloating and Water nausea. So maybe have your potassium levels looked at?

Oh we had our surgeries about the same time and i had to stay for an extra day too due to complications. Congrats on 60 lbs!
Well i'm asian and while asians are known to be pretty quiet, when it comes to weight- they don't hesitate to comment. Whether it's your family, friend of the family, distant relative, or someone they've seen a few times at the store. They call you over for dinner and when you've finished, they tell you you're fat and pack up all the leftovers for you to take home. (Say no all you want, it's gonna happen anyway). That being said it's kind of concerning that they haven't said anything at all.
I don't go out much so it's mostly dr's visits and they've noticed and said something right away. So i have a weird sample size. But i have to see i dont really take any comments to heart, i just wanted to see if anyone could tell and it's kind of a mixed bag atm..

I'm sorry and i think i may experience abdominal pain similar to yours even prior to surgery. I ofc haven't found someone to correctly diagnose it yet. But i use salonpas (u can find them at walmart) and place them wherever i feel the pain, sometimes drinking hot tea helps too (i imagine i'm burning the pain away), and finally holding a boiling hot water bottle (the old school like rubber bladders) wrapped in a towel and putting that wherever i feel the pain. I sleep with it too. I've found all those things more helpful than just taking meds.

That was sweet of her, I hope you guys kept in touch. I mean even if my bf doesn't say anything, I ask him things like if this changed or is that is noticeable, ect. I've already landed myself back in the hospital once due to critically low potassium and the symptoms I had were obvious. So now I'm trying to be more aware so I can spot signs earlier. But yeah I do have to keep in mind that it could seem rude to say something without me bringing it up first. I just saw my therapist and after I said I had surgery, she said I could tell by your collarbones (its a televisit so the view is just to mid shoulder).
You're so right about the body dysmorphia! I'm trying to find a balance between: not being obsessive about how much or quickly I'm losing and remembering to appreciate even the smallest change. I've never really taken pics or measurements even prior to surgery, but I did buy this body fat scale I saw another bariatric patient suggest. I am taking the information with a grain of salt, but it is satisfying to see the numbers trend downwards. Aside from that, it is strange to have to tighten my shorts and be able to wear shirts that are a size smaller.
I don't want to Celebrate too early then hit a stall/weight gain and spiral. But the idea of being able to wear that one dress that's been sitting in my closet?? Talk about a dream come true! Did you go out and strut when you got to that point?

Thank you for the advice! It's weird, a day or 2 after I last replied, the random nausea and intense abdominal pain practically disappeared on its own. Of course now I've been fighting with trying not to eat so fast I make myself sick and getting tired of eating the same thing over and over. Do you actually weigh out your food? I'm avoiding that because it reminds me of all the failed attempts at dieting. I doubt I'm hitting my Protein and Water goals still, but it's been an improvement from the past 6 weeks. You have to stay positive right? Do you actually eat 3 meals or at specific times? I'm still trying to recognize my body cues on that.

I miss eating fruit cups. I miss eating mango and pineapples and peaches.

I have the worst luck, of course I'd be part of the 5% lol. I just had my post-op appt so it'll be a bit before I get my labs done. But if the pain and nausea usually go away after week 4, I guess I'll do my best to stick it out. Thank you!