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LOL! Mine are mostly grey now as well & have to get them dyed every 4 weeks too. I supposedly have a little scar tissue on the inner of my brows - deep, can’t see or feel anything. That’s the only ‘issue’ I’ve had and it doesn’t hinder the annual touchups I get. Find a reputable technician. I had a 30 min consultation where she went over everything, asked about allergies, experiences with other dyes, etc. & then I made the appointment to proceed after that. I’m given an antiseptic cream to apply twice daily for a week after. It dues bring tears to my eyes when I have it done even with a prescription strength topical anaesthetic.

I had my sleeve done by Dr. John Rabkin at St. Mary's (he also works out of California Pacific.) I was in LA at the time, but the Rabkins had more experience with the sleeve than anyone down there (they had been doing them as part of the DS for around twenty years then.) Other names to look into are Dr. Gregg Jossart and Dr. Paul Cirangle. Jossart did his DS residency with the Rabkins and Cirangle seems to have specialized with the sleeve. I like that all three are DS qualified, even if one is not particularly interested in that procedure, since owing to its technical challenges, only the better qualified surgeons perform it routinely. And, as it is based upon the sleeve, it means that the DS guys tend to have more sleeve experience than others. Also, while they are all fully capable of doing bypasses, they generally don't do them as a default, reserving them only for those patients have a particular need for it. If one has any liver related comorbidities (not uncommon in the obese population,) Rabkin would be the choice as he is also a liver guy, doing biliopancreatic transplants in his "spare" time. The other thing that I liked with the Rabkins is that their whole process is pretty straightforward - no extensive pre-op diets (other than the usual day before thing,) and a fairly rapid post op progression, as tolerated. Good luck in getting through all of this!

I needed to hear this today! I'm losing around 3 lbs a week since sleeve was done Dec. 2. But went out of town to see my mom and sibs and drank her sweet tea and ate nibbles of things I normally don't now and I'm up in weight. Was 204.2 and now I'm 206.2. (On my phone right now but will change my ticker soon! 206 is better than 215! Lol!) Frustrating! I didn't eat much as I still feel extremely restricted but I think the sugar must cause inflammation and salt always makes me hold water weight. So I'm happy to be back home and working a lot and eating my grapefruit, cucumbers and protein shake, etc. daily. Hopefully I can begin going back down this week. So close to Onederland! Thanks for sharing this. Goes to show just how fast it CAN come back on us. I've lost and gained lots over the years. Hoping this surgery was the tool I needed to help me get my weight down and keep it there. At this point I'd be thrilled just to get to and stay at 199 forever. LOL! But my goal is much lower. But once I get into the 100s I know I always FEEL better. So I'm looking forward to that milestone!

@Kimberly740 My surgery isn’t for another week 10/21 on 2nd week of pre op diet. Not doing the perfect following of it though. Did you have problems with having a BM during the 2nd week of pre op diet? Swallowing is hard because of my hernia. Just started a couple of days ago with this difficulty. How are doing now other than wanting something more substantial?

This is my current situation except I’ve been on Wegovy for only 3 months. I haven’t lost any weight. The food noise is there and I don’t feel I’m eating less. I tried to get Zepbound (my insurance will cover it) but I haven’t been able to find a doctor who will prescribe it (because of my previous VSG surgery). I’m planning to meet with a Bariatric surgeon this week to discuss a possible revision surgery.

Congratulations on your success so far! I completely empathise with the surreal feeling - it is almost like a weird out-of-body experience! I can answer a couple of your questions, obviously not the one about maintenance as I am only like 7-odd months post bypass now I think! I believe I have lost almost 100lbs now (45kg, 7 stone), and in the initial first 5 months I was really struggling to go to the gym so I wasn't very active. I have started going to the gym now and I am really enjoying it, not seeing as fast-paced weight loss currently, but that could be because of muscle gaining at the gym and normal stalling! I think my biggest challenge/lesson has been listening to my new stomach now. Understanding when it is full, and also looking at food differently - I just see it as fuel now, rather than thinking about it 24/7 which has been hard. It has also been a challenge to actually accept that I am smaller now - I still instinctively reach for my old clothing size in shops (UK 22-24), and am genuinely shocked when it is too big, or when something I see as "tiny" fits me. The changing the mind is a long haul lesson I believe! All the best for you on this journey x

My surgery is in 6 weeks, looking for recommendations on what to eat leading up, what to have on hand after for food and comfort. Also is there anyone else going under on the 19th who wants to chit chat and support each other? I know I can do this, I just don't want to do it alone.

I heard that reflux could be a side effect of taking GLPs, but I went on a low dosage of Tirzeptitde 6 weeks ago, lost 27 pounds, and am at my goal weight. Before losing weight, I took 40 MG of Omeprazole in the morning and another 40 MG in the evening. Since losing this weight, I've switched to once in the morning and have almost zero reflux! Losing the extra weight did the trick for me. BariatricPal does offer Saxenda (Liraglutide), Contrave (Bupropion/Naltrexone), Phentermine-Topiramate (Qsymia), and Tirzepatide in lower doses, which are known to cause less or no reflux. If you're interested, you can talk to the doctor, and they will prescribe what makes sense for your situation.

I work in healthcare as well, and I know that feeling all too well. Epic is gonna Epic. Worst three years with trying to work the kinks out of this thing. So are you back on for the 16th?

Hi everyone! I have been a little MIA lately; things got busy. I am in a slump lately and haven't really lost any weight in a couple weeks. I know this is normal, but because we have had a lot of events and fun things lately, I also haven't been eating as healthy as I would like to... so really either could be the reason for my slump. I'm trying to stay optimistic and get back on track. I'm so close to FINALLY being under 200 lbs and I refuse to stop losing weight before I reach it! I hope all of you are doing well and I look forward to updating you guys when I have hit Onederland!

I sort of think of it as 2 to 3 "rest" days, because that's how many days I don't run. While my lifting is still a good workout, I don't really accumulate a lot of systemic fatigue from it. Keep in mind too that I take a deload week about every 4th week. In those, I drop down ~25%-30% in mileage and typically also don't do any lifting. That means I truly do have 3 full rest days during those weeks. As far as how long my long runs take, It obviously depends on the overall length, the terrain, and the pace I run it at. This can vary as my fitness changes. but also varies based on the weather and how I'm feeling that day. Right now, they probably last around 1.5 to 2 hours, but I have done a few that were in the 2.5 hour range. I would typically advise folks that are training for a first half marathon to work up to long runs that will take about the same amount of time as they expect it will take them to complete the race. In other words, if you expect to be about a 2 hour HM runner, then you should be doing long runs leading up to that of about 2 hours. It will obviously be a shorter distance because you'll be running slower, but for this, it's time on feet that really makes the difference. For someone training for a marathon, it may not make sense to try the same thing unless you're pretty fast. For example, I think the average marathon finish time is around 4 hours and 30 minutes. If you're a 4 to 5 hour marathoner, doing long runs that long would just be too fatiguing, so 3 to 3.5 hours would be about the max you should be doing.

After three months I would have thought everything is healed sufficiently for nothing to open just from eating or moving but I'm no expert. If you are in pain or have serious concerns call your doctors office to see what they recommend, I have made the egg bites a few times and varied the recipe but the most recent one I logged on MyFitnessPal was;

Is cottage cheese the wrong texture for two weeks post op?

Peanut butter chicken sounds good. Remember them spring rolls had a sauce that was equal parts of peanut butter and soy sauce. I’m glad you just reminded me of it because I really liked it and it was good on chicken too. Sorry to hear about your hip. Really sucks that we get tested with hurdles so soon after surgery but maybe it is just that a test. Test to see if we are truly committed even when it doesn’t come as easy as it did right off the bat. If so, I think we are crushing this test!! 10K steps is awesome. I bet you will not stop at 30 days. When I was doing my normal walking it felt so good I didn’t ever want to stop. As soon as I figure out this thyroid thing I’m gonna start again. Or if the cardiologist says it’s safe. Just scares me that my resting heart beat has gone up and I get notifications from my watch about weird heart stuff so oncology ordered test and did referral for an oncology cardiologist. I need to call that office too another reminder. Anyways, as soon as I get the all clear I will be working back up to join you. I’m telling you it helped me with everything. After doing it consistently my mental health was far better and it made me think twice about my food choices. I was feeling so good I didn’t ever want to do anything to ruin it so healthy nourishing choices were so much easier. I hope your hip is better soon and you meet or even exceed your walking challenge! I am bummed that my clinic has cancelled yoga for next week because the instructor is out but they are adding gentle yoga the following week and I think I am going to check out meditation this week since she will be gone and it’s at the same time so I couldn’t before. I wish these things were offered more than once a week. Kinda unfair for the people who do treatment that day or the day before if their treatment makes them feel icky. They also have a physical trainer that they offer who will do some free sessions but I’m saving them for after surgery since I will be needing more direction then. Right now I just need clearance and then motivation to get back at it After surgery I will have limitations. My range of motion will be an issue and I will need help pushing through them but not pushing too fast. I talked to the guy and he said we can’t go any quicker than my dr clears me but I am going to tell the dr I see him weekly and ask to see the dr more often to get clearance quicker if I’m ready. i am so ready to get back to my pre chemo activity. I can already tell my lack of activity is affecting my mood. I want my happy positive rainbows and unicorns outlook on life back. Drove my hubby crazy but I liked it and I’m pretty sure after dealing with my being cranky and irritable for over a month he is probably missing it too. 😂

Hi everyone! I have my surgery date scheduled for the 16th of March 2024. Due to a high BMI of 61 I have to do 4 weeks of the liver shrinkage diet. I started on Friday the 16th and I'm really struggling. I'm on total meal replacement shakes x 3 daily with just sugar free squash and water to drink alongside these. My total intake per day is 800 calories or less. How did you guys do it? I know I HAVE to do it, but it's so hard. I cry daily because I'm hungry and I want food. My stomach constantly growls, my stomach hurts and the shakes never feel like they satisfy any of that hunger. My partner is so supportive, he eats away from me and hides food so I don't feel any further distress and jealousy. I know why I'm doing this but I don't know how I'm expected to do this for a whole 4 weeks. Any advice or support is welcome. If anyone is doing the same atm for their March surgery please let me know, maybe we can buddy up! Thank you all ❤️ xKirstenx

That's a great suggestion! I'm actually starting to feel hungry again (5 weeks post op now) so I need to nip this behaviour in the bud now.

Very frustrating but they reckon it’s normal between week 2-4

Here's my one-week update after making some adjustments! I've been focusing on protein-rich meals and keeping my intake under 1,000 calories, leaving a bit of room for those extra nibbles. My protein has been between 70-100 grams, and guess what, ladies? I lost 2.2 kg this week, bringing my total loss to 16 kg! I'm so thrilled—I feel leaner, lighter, and fresher, with no hunger cues at all (which feels strange, honestly). If all goes well, I’ll be out of the 90s in just two weeks, which feels like a dream come true!

Thanks. I think it may actually be more than 4500 a day. Isn’t one pound 3500 calories? I swear I read that somewhere. Not sure if it was accurate, though. But yea, it unrealistic to think when the scale goes up a couple of pounds it’s because we had one thing off plan. I think I just panicked a little because I know that I cannot maintain two or three hours or exercise a day forever so if I’m doing all of this and still not really losing then what happens if I slow down. I figured once I get to maintenance I would probably cut that slowly but probably down to half that. I mean physically I feel like I could do it forever but it’s a very big time commitment between that and the healthy meals taking more time too. Maybe I will get to where I can do like one hour of more intense exercise. And then my Yoga a couple times a week. I really like that. It is a pretty good workout for me still but I can tell it’s eventually going to be really relaxing and feel good. I think I may ask my hubby to hide the scale. Someone else on here said they did that and it seems like a pretty good idea.

I’m going to eat a little of everything. I am just going I pay for it for like a week because when I do carbs my body craves carbs. Just have to pay the price I guess.

Hi there! I have had surgery mid September last year and from a prop weight of 213lbs I have become 138lbs (as of this morning). I don't have any restrictions either and my weight loss has plateaued now. I get quite hungry often too and have had multiple stalls. Please trust the process and wait it out. You'll be fine

It's almost midweek again, so I'll chime in! I'm pleased that after a 30-day stall, not only has the scale started moving down again, but I officially hit a BMI of 29.9, so I'm officially overweight instead of obese! My focus this week is on meal prepping, starting to get a system in place to help keep me on track as the busy school year approaches. I'm trying a combination of meal prepping and ingredient prepping, so the hope is to have several days of breakfasts and lunches ready to grab-and-go in the fridge, build a stash of freezer meals in single portion containers that can be microwaved when in a hurry, along with having the things I need, such as chopped veggies or marinated meat, already waiting and ready to go when it's time to cook something fresh during the week.

In the last couple of weeks I realise that I grieve being able to have a cup of coffee at the same time as eating a snack. Like at the moment I want one of my Christmas mince pies to take a bite out of in between sips of coffee. 😢 Instead I will have my coffee now and then wait about 30 minutes to eat the pie, not exactly the same satisfied feeling.

Hey guys, How is everyone coping with life after being sleeved? I am doing a lot better than I was a few weeks ago but I still have a long way to go! My surgical wound that would not heal had to be packed by the nurses for a month. I'm 10 weeks post op and it has finally closed but it seemed to take forever! The head hunger is very up and down for me and torturous at times.... but I am starting to learn new things about myself when it happens. I am still very much navigating my way through dealing with it, I have good days and bad days depending on what's going on in my life. Depression is definitely a thing for me, I am very up and down. I have suffered with it on and off my whole life and at times I feel so lost. I am snappy with my poor hubbie and I am forever apologising to him. I have times where I feel as though I am crawling around on my hands and knees in the dark searching for the light switch that never seems to appear. I am distant at times even from my family but I don't want to be alone, probably because I don't wanna sit with my thoughts because I can't deal with them. I notice that when I am feeling low the obsessive food thoughts creep in to torture me. I am starting to look into getting some therapy for this, it may help. Anyway enough about me tell me about how you are doing! How much weight have you lost, how are you coping with your new lifestyle and please show us some progress pics! xx

Your body is still swollen from the surgery, it is in recovery, be patient. Your weight will come off, you need to let your body heal, it has only been about 1 week, once it heals, it will be easier for your body to adjust if you did not obsess and keep weighing yourself. This surgery is a tool, not an easy way out. Walking is good, keep it up. If you keep going and pushing yourself, you'll go farther. Think about joining a support group like Barination or Unjury, to learn about the new you and what to expect. Don't be so frustrated yet, you will lose eventually. You want to lose weight for good, and healthy lifestyle habits are important to learn if you haven't learned them yet.