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Hi beauties! I'm in so much pain. My face have been doing whatever it want to do. My chest broke out first a few days after my sleeve. It's been about a week now that my face have followed. It itch and burn so bad. I don't know what could help. My Dr is currently out the office this week and her team is acting really slow. The dietitian told me that I may need to contact my primary care. I informed her this happen after surgery so maybe its a reaction to it. She acting as if this isn't some what common after the procedures as if I'm making this up. I have read several research articles of this happening to patients from different studies surrounding it. I have sent pictures and everything. Even informed my surgeon before she left for her mini vacation. I guess my surgeon thought it would heal by now but no. I feel like i need some medication to help stop the burn and itch and to heal my face properly. I'm afraid i will have marks left on my face whenever it do finally calm down. Have you experienced? How long did it take for your skin to resolve? Did your Dr prescribe medication?

When i explored the insurance route, I was looking at Anthem BCBS— i had to have BMI of 4o or higher, or 35 with provable comorbity, a psych evaluation, meet with nutritionist and have a sign off from primary care. I had to wait a month -6 weeks for nutritionist meeting then another month to get approval from insurance, as they wouldn’t start that request until all other was done. I decided my max out of pocket was about the same as me going to Mexico, so there you go. My BMI was 37, and i decided i wanted to get started ASAP, and they told me not to lose weight or i might not quality— so off to Mexico I go this week!

I feel like I'm losing my mind. I am 6 days post-op sleeve and haven't had this much energy in YEARS. Is this all nerves or residual excitement for this life change? I'm (of course) still on full liquids for at least another week. I want to start walking more but am worried about feeling hungry if I do too much before I'm eating again. Don't get me wrong, I'm up and walking around, and trying to keep busy for at least 10 minutes every hour, but tomorrow I'm back to work at a sedentary job. I have my first post-op appointment in 2 days, and another 6 days after that until I see my dietician again. Hopefully I'll get to move on to pureed food stage next week.

Hi Krasavitza, Im on day 13 of 14 on a liquid diet. I went with the milk and yogurt diet. I had also the option of 2 shakes and 300cal meal with extra veg. But the first was easier to go with. Day 3 is hardest, but after that it gets so much easier. Spoke to my bariatric nurse on friday and she said as Id lost 20lb in 10 days to swap out some of my yogurts and add a 300cal dinner. So if after a week you are still struggling speak to your nurse to see what options you have or swap outs you can do. Good luck, you’ve got this [emoji1303] Sent from my SM-A528B using BariatricPal mobile app

Hope everyone is doing well. I’m officially 3 months and almost a week out of surgery and 60 pound down since first thinking about WLS and that puts me at 50% weight loss from what I put as my goal weight. Had my 3month appointment last week. We went over calorie goals, macro distribution, any issues we are having and learning curves. We went over goal weight and the RN said that most of the patients say they have 20-30lbs to go on the 6-month appointment and during that appointment is when we go over the goal weight we should be aiming for and what we need to change to reach that. I should be able to get back on track with protein, fluids and exercise this week. I’m going to start with having protein shakes again at least daily (some days I was trying to meet it only with food) and carrying my 48oz water bottle with me every where and go back to weighing myself weekly. Wishing everyone good and positive energy in your journey!

Hope everyone is doing well. I’m officially 3 months and almost a week out of surgery and 60 pound down since first thinking about WLS and that puts me at 50% weight loss from what I put as my goal weight. Had my 3month appointment last week. We went over calorie goals, macro distribution, any issues we are having and learning curves. We went over goal weight and the RN said that most of the patients say they have 20-30lbs to go on the 6-month appointment and during that appointment is when we go over the goal weight we should be aiming for and what we need to change to reach that. I should be able to get back on track with protein, fluids and exercise this week. I’m going to start with having protein shakes again at least daily (some days I was trying to meet it only with food) and carrying my 48oz water bottle with me every where and go back to weighing myself weekly. Wishing everyone good and positive energy in your journey!

weight fluctuations are normal - they're due to things like water retention and how full your intestines are. And yes - weight loss does slow down quite a bit after the big drop the first month or so. Plus you may be dealing with occasional stalls, too, which are also very common. If the fluctuations are playing with your mind too much, try weighing just once or twice a week - then you'll be more focused on long-term trends and won't be distracted by the daily fluctuations.

Agree, had some pants I never wore, tried it on and they were a little tight when sitting, 3 weeks later they were loose, only wore those once [emoji57] Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

At 10 weeks I was still on purees and was eating a lot of soft scrambled eggs, greek yogurt, refried beans and various soups.

I have a mostly-remote desk job but I have to report in person once a week to a location 3 hours away that I have to drive to; I was entirely off for one week but worked entirely from home the second week because I still wasn't up to the drive.

I’m on week 5, what calories should I be aiming for? ❤️

Thankyou so much for your advice. I will take time away from scales & start just try benefitting my life.. I’m at a 8kg weight loss now at 5 weeks so I’m hoping I’m turning it around a little x

I had surgery 2 days before you. nothing (literally, lol) makes me sick. I take the barimelts. Theyre... okay. initial taste is fine but have a terrible aftertaste/burp. lol im on all solid foods (soft/chewed really well). about the only thing i havent tried yet are raw veg/salad. I figure ill give that a bit longer just because I know its a bit harder to digest. I am getting all of my protein from food at this point, 60 grams and am eating around 7/800 calories a day. losing around 3 pounds a week (lower BMI), which I am good with. Slower rate of loss means more muscle kept and less loose skin

I’m 10 weeks post gastric bypass surgery. Can’t really eat anything- weight loss is slow infact some days scales go up!! I’m exercising daily. What should I be attempting to put in my mouth???

I’ve found setting a routine of when I eat very helpful. Started doing it because I had no appetite or interest in eating but knew I had to eat something. I still eat to a routine almost 4 years later. I’ve never set a timer not even to remind me to sip fluids. I just eat to the time on the clock. I can eat earlier or later than those set times or miss a meal/snack (conflicting appointments, commitments, travelling, not hungry, etc.) but I don’t eat additional snacks/meals between those times. Honestly, I really only ate two ‘meals’ a day those first two weeks. Sipped those shakes & soups for ages as I diluted them for extra fluid & so they’d taste a little better (they didn’t). Started my breakfast shake at around 8am & my dinner soup around 5pm if I remember correctly. On purées I began three meals a day & I added a mid afternoon snack I think from solid foods to ensure I was better meeting goals. My surgeon & dietician were okay with this as I was slowly increasing my intake every week.

I'm learning now that I have had the surgery I am already having a few issues among them both of the things you just mentioned. These issues are only an issue if they go for an extended time not for a week or two. That can be overcome/ combatted with assistance. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Surgery 2/10. First 24 hours was pretty rough with the gas but lots of laps in the hospital helped. During the two week postop diet, I was struggling with fluids and protein because I was just so over it. I’m not stressing about it. I just do what I can. I’m now 16 days postop and it’s easier to get my fluids in but I’m still so sick of protein shakes. I found Oikos Greek yogurt with 15 grams of protein. The vanilla flavor is amazing…. Yum! I’m on puréed diet for the past three days, threw up twice just eating too fast because I was starving. But now I have adjusted to eating more slowly so I don’t throw up. The only issue I have is the bariatric vitamins. I’ve been taking the chewable ones and they are absolutely awful and they make me vomit. I’ve taken them on a full stomach too, and they still make me sick. I’m trying to find a good vitamin to take that doesn’t upset my stomach. I just ordered the Barimelts which I know are not recommended by my doctor, but they are known to be gentler on the stomach, so something is better than nothing. I have the calcium chews and those are fine. Does anyone have a good vitamin that they like it doesn’t make them sick? Also, I’m down 18 pounds and I’m fine with that as I am a lower BMI.

Thanks everyone I'm back on track with my Vitamins and have an appointment next week with my PCP plan on having the blood work done as well . I'll give you an update asap again thank you.

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 am 13 days post op and I can tell you it does get easier! I didn't make my fluids or protein goals at all until about 4 days ago and I've been able to make both (barely!) If i concentrate on it. This is also with me going back to work last week as well so hang in there!

Surgery was 2/23, and I was feeling pretty good and getting my specialty water in, even 4 oz each day of home made bone broth. I somehow missed the clear protein options however and today I’ve been super weak and light headed. Managed 3 oz of yogurt and protein drink with 42 grams. Finally got in a shower and now I’m exhausted. It’s a beautiful day today and I was hoping to take a little walk, but I’m not going to get far at all! How is everyone else the first week post op?

Hope everyone's doing well! I'm almost 7 weeks PO and feeling great. Everything I've eaten has sat well with me and I've been able to eat some of my favorite things again.

I took 2 weeks off after VSG. I have a somewhat physical job (OT) but it was the perfect amount of time. I had crazy energy come back after a week and a half

I'm not sure motivation is what you need. I think you need better habits. As you said, old habits die hard. You're just not going to wake up one day and suddenly start following your plan, track your intake religiously, exercise regularly, etc. Instead, you have to pick one teeny, tiny change to make at a time. Pick something that seems almost insignificant, and do JUST that one thing for 2-3 weeks until it becomes the new normal for you. Once that becomes habit, then pick another small change to make, and do that one for several weeks until it's automatic as well. Keep building new habits until the old bad habits have been replaced by the new healthy habits you actually want. As an example, maybe you've found yourself having a glass of wine every evening. Instead of trying to quit cold turkey, try drinking three ounces instead of four. Or if it was two glasses a night, maybe a few days a week, you only have one glass. After a few weeks of that, maybe you skip it entirely one day a week. You get the idea. The changes need to be so small you don't really notice the change. Another strategy that can really help is to play mind tricks with yourself. Maybe you really LOVE chocolate. Convince yourself that you hate the taste of chocolate. Go ahead and eat it, but the entire time, think of all the sensations about it that you don't like, such as the weird melting sensation, the earthy flavor, etc. You may find after a while of doing this that you really don't crave chocolate much anymore. The mind games don't even have to make much sense, what's important is that you actually start to believe it over time.

I think the best way to resist temptation is to avoid it as much as possible. Don't buy junk food. If it's not around, you can't eat it. I take it a step further and use online grocery shopping (pickup or delivery) so I don't even have to go into the store. I shop mostly from my favorites lists that only contain healthy foods. On the rare occasion I go into the store, all of the temptations are in my face and I find myself tempted to buy something I shouldn't, "just this once." The more you have to face temptation, the more mental effort it takes to resist and the more likely you are to give in. Another thing that helps is having healthy, delicious foods readily available. If you like to cook, go on Pinterest to find healthy recipes that you look forward to trying. I live alone, so I always have a lot of leftovers that I freeze in individual portions, so I have a variety of healthy meals that I can easily grab from the freezer and heat in the microwave with some cauliflower rice. I meal prep a bunch of salads every week and have a variety of Skinny Girl salad dressings on hand. I eat a lot of sugar-free Jello with sugar-free meringue (made with pasteurized egg whites so it's safe to eat raw), and sugar-free meringue cookies. I also eat protein bars (Built Bars are my favorite) as a healthy-ish treat. This is so important, and it's really easy to take for granted once you lose the weight -- to forget how hard it is to live with morbid obesity. I recently saw a guy at work who was so big that he looked like he was struggling to walk out to the parking lot, and my heart broke for him because I remember being that big. I don't really think about it much anymore, but there was a time that I dreaded walking to and from the parking lot or up a couple of flights of stairs because it was so hard when I was carrying an extra 200 pounds. And that's not to mention all the social stigma on being fat, which I never want to experience again.