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Good morning! Im 143 days into lapband revision to GB and down 41lbs. I had a 3 week plateau. I was not eating enough protein and was starting to snack. (Death in family , depression, weather is terrible) perfect storm for over eating. So anyway . .. if anyone is struggling my recommendation is to tell your team. They hooked me up with a counselor, im taking some depression meds to het me through this tough time, dietitian gave me some tips, and really supported me. I lost 3 lbs this week!! Hang in there and talk it out.

I had a revision to SADI on 8/7/2024. Lost 70 pounds but then I started chemo for breast cancer that I was diagnosed with a day shy of my 3 month surgiversary. I was told not to lose quite as fast by the oncologist and the oncology dietician so I have since only lost ten more in 2.5 months. Anyways, my double mastectomy is tentatively scheduled for 5/8/2024. During that surgery they remove all the breast tissue and put in Empty bladders they call expanders and then they slowly fill them each week with saline in the office to stretch the skin making room for the implant. The cosmetic dr says that I could take my time and try out all the sizes and go up and down and then do the reconstruction surgery to put in the saline implant when I’m sure of the size I want and I loved that idea because I want to go smaller but I know it’s going to take a while for my brain to get used to it. The problem is that I have to begin radiation 6 weeks post surgery and the process does something to your skin that makes it very hard to stretch so the radiation Dr says I need to decide on a size before I start radiation treatments. Well I don't think it would be a good idea to postpone radiation just to decide on a breast size so I kinda need to know what my goal is right away so he fills it fast enough for me to get there within 6 weeks. At the same time it will hurt worse the faster we go. I am currently a 36 G. I was thinking maybe a 36 C or D would be small enough that they don’t get in the way with exercise and hurt my back and neck but not look too small after seeing myself larger for so many years. Also if I drop more weight and get to say a 34 I would be a D or DD but what if I lose more weight I mean I want to keep going if I can and then I’m a 32 DDD. I was a 32 C when I was younger and I think when I got my implants I went to a small DD but I sorta doubt i will get that small again, honestly. how much weight did you guys lose between band sizes. I was thinking that if I get to 158 I would be thrilled and that’s only 20 more pounds so I know that I won’t get to a 32 at that size. Do you think it’s possible I will get back to the 120’s. I know the last two months threw my pattern off a bit but I was losing steady at 3-4 pounds a week before all of this. Is there anyone with similar stats that can tell me about their experience with SADI or maybe a virgin bypass. My loss trend was similar to that according to the NP at 3 months out. I really wish I could do this after I get to my low weight and stabilize. All I want is to be able to buy bras in a normal store and not have to pay a fortune for lunch lady bras anymore or have my back breaking and poor posture from a too large chest. But at the same time I don’t want to look too small. I figure that I would find the smallest size that I could get used to so when I lose more weight it will probably be perfect but I won’t have time to get used to it like the surgeon and I hoped. 😢 So I get that cup size is a matter of preference but can anyone with similar stats tell me how much they ultimately lost if they were losing 3-4 pounds at 3 months or how much weight they lost between band sizes or 36-34 and 34-32. Or anything else that may help me. I’m so scared I’m gonna decide on a size and my body is going to change but since it’s all implant after this surgery my boobs won’t change with me with loss or gain and I will be way too big or small for my frame.

to this question: i was told to have 3 protein shakes a day for two weeks (and that was all). that said, i HATED the protein shakes they told me to drink (too sweet, omg), so i maybe had 2 shakes a day for the first maybe 8 days, then went down to 1 shake a day until the end. (btw, after surgery, i found a less sweet protein shake, thank goodness).

Chewing for 22 times or 22 seconds is fine. But then wait at least that long between swallowing and taking the next bite. That's how you make your meal last 20-30 minutes. Very small bites, lots of chewing, and pausing between bites to let your fullness signals have a chance to catch up. It's hard to explain how small your bites will need to be after surgery to remain comfortable and not make yourself sick early on. After surgery, I bought a set of cocktail forks and demitasse spoons. They are tiny, like something you would use for a doll. For the first three months, I ate with those. My bites were the size of a pea. Picture your golf ball size meal. Mentally cut it into 20 pieces. Or literally get yourself a 3 oz meatball and actually divide it into 20 pieces. Right now, you don't have any restriction, so it will feel crazy to do this, but after surgery, you can consume one piece per minute and you will most likely feel great. Faster and you risk feeling bad, at least for the first many months. I just made the mistake of eating about 1/2 cup of raw baby carrots too quickly because I was distracted by work, and I am filled with regret. And belly pain. I feel like I've gorged myself on Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings and gotten it stuck halfway down my throat. I now get to reflect for the next few hours about why that was a bad idea to not slow down. It's a learning process, even well after surgery.

Maybe check out Dr. Matthew Weiner’s pound of cure weight loss book. He goes over a handful of things that you can change and you can pick which one you want to start with. For me, the fruits and veggies was a good one because I actually like fruits and veggies. Replacing a lot of the process carbs with healthy carbs for me is the most important component to weight loss not just to cut calories in the short run but to stop cravings in the long run. For me processed carbs, make me crave sugar. One cookie and I want pasta I want cake. I want it all and I crave it for a week. Natural carbs do not do that to me and they can help reduce the cravings a little while I get through the week or so to detox from them. Once I am off of the processed carbs so long as I get my protein, I stay feeling full so it’s much easier to sustain a healthy diet. Keto never worked for me either and I have learned post surgery that is most likely because of not being able to eat hardly any carbs at or it was all the processed junk I was eating instead of natural food. They alter things by adding more fiber to cut the carbs and all of that and that may be reducing your calories to help you lose weight, but for me it wasn’t the same for my body as a veggie with fiber. It’s not sustainable because my body was still craving the carbs. I would lose weight in the beginning, but the cravings were horrible and eventually I would give in to them and then I just wanted even more. Anyways, you may not be able to replace every unhealthy carb with healthy carbs on your own before surgery, but if you can reduce some of them by trying out different recipes to find fruits and veggies that you like, it may cut enough to lose your 10% and be a good start to finding healthy carbs that you enjoy

I have an appointment already this week. My body composition is done via bodpod at my bariatric clinic. So the accuracy is pretty spot on. At 12%, it's very concerning.

lol no, not at all i am just a ridiculous exercise addict these days. started in the summer and now i just can't seem to stop...i actually feel BAD (mentally and physically) if i don't do SOMETHING every day. i am paying the price though...my body just feels worn out every day now when i'm at rest. the only thing that makes the pain and achiness go away is more exercise. its a vicious cycle honestly. the weight loss is not on purpose. i got myself braces in September, and my total annoyance of having to clean my teeth after every single time that i eat something, has effectively stopped me from snacking. so i'm eating less overall and its showing on the scale (and my abs! lol). i started adding an afternoon protein shake about 2 weeks ago and gained back 2-ish lbs....(two weeks ago i was down 13 lbs, today i'm down just down 11 lbs since september) BUT...i have to say that i actually kinda like that i lost that bit of weight (how's that for body image issues?!?!). but i also know i need to eat more for health's sake.

My program allows both but hesitant about trying about three weeks post op.any experience ?

My questions were: How long are we looking at for the actual surgery time and time in recovery before getting to the actual room? How long is the recovery and what can I expect during it? How long will I be in the hospital and how soon after the surgery will I be up and walking? Should I use a stomach binder the first 2 weeks to help with the pain after the surgery? What is the recommended time for each stage of eating post surgery, how many calories and carbs should I be getting in, and what are my fluid and protein goals at each stage? When will I be getting follow up blood work (I personally had it at 2 months, 6 months, and 1 year post op)? Is there a list of acceptable exercises to do at each stage of healing until I get my final complete clearance, and at what stage will I get that? What pain meds will I be given and how long will I be able/expected to take them? What, specifically, is dumping and what has been known to trigger it and how do we get through it if it happens? What hormonal changes are to be expected as the weight drops off, especially during the first 3 months? Please tell me EVERYTHING you can about stalls, in as much detail as possible. What medications are affected by the malabsorption that comes with bypass (typically it's extended release, but there could be others). That's all I can remember that I asked, but I hope this at least gives you a good start!!!

I'd suggest taking a look at The National Weight Control Registry at http://www.nwcr.ws/. This is a long term list of over 10,000 successful "losers" that have lost weight and kept the weight off for long periods of time. If we dig into the data a bit, a few things seem to come to light as keys to successfully maintaining weight loss: 78% eat breakfast every day. 75% weigh themselves at least once a week. 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week. 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day Of course, another thing you'll see in the data is that there really is no one size fits all model for success. While the trends above are helpful for most people, there are people that are successful that don't exercise, that never weigh themselves, and don't eat breakfast. The point is that ultimately you have to find out what works for you.

yeah I'm glad my program at least lets us have lean mean and no fatty meat, I'm also doing the no sugar Jello which is actually ok lol, but after surgery comes the 2-week full liquid diet i heard bone broth is actually good but have yet to try it

I never got an advice on "mindful eating" until AFTER I was a week post-op. I had a total of 15 minutes with a therapist pre-op. I have had to go back to staying on liquids because I just can't stop eating too quickly when it's purees. Even yoghurt is too heavy. It's definitely better to get in the habit now. I still haven't mastered it.

Just to echo what @SpartanMaker has said in developing a habit - I only started going to the gym a few months back, after pressuring and guilting myself into not going to the gym since the start of my weight loss journey. I just started with going once a week, doing a short full-body workout, and then from there I sort of just fell into it once I realised my body was capable, and I wasn't in pain with it! I think my brain was putting it off so much because I was relating it back to my experiences with exercise when I was 100+ lbs heavier! Needless to say, it was painful and I hated it. Just take baby steps, and find what works for you, even just a short walk to clear your head (which may help with the mental health too), and go from there. Wishing you all the best ❤️ You have smashed it so far, you will smash this too!

So glad to hear you're out the other end of the surgery OP. My advice is prioritise your fluid goals for the first week or two. Honestly vitamins and protein goal and almost everything else can be caught up on later if you can't make them right now.

My GP put me on a 12 WEEK liquid diet. I've lost almost 20lbs (10kg) it's a struggle the first few days, but it gets easier!

Oh, perfect timing. I’m picking up my ground turkey today to make turkey meatballs one day this week. I plan to double the recipe this time because my hubby likes them too and I intend to freeze a bunch. I think I’m going to make half with seeds and half without just in case we don’t love the crunch. Sounds good though.

As others have said, absolutely not. Fruit, veg, and lean protein is essential to good health. I had protein shakes for the two weeks before surgery to shrink my liver, and for the first few weeks after as my insides healed. I would never want to rely on them beyond that. I can't even imagine how horrible and unfulfilling that would be. I've continued to have maybe one shake a day as a supplement when it's difficult to hit my protein goals. Tonight I'm having a protein hot chocolate from Premier Protein because it's chilly outside and a nice treat. But mostly I eat real, minimally processed foods. It's important to remember that supplements and vitamins and minerals are only able to provide the nutrients we know about, the ones scientists have discovered are directly responsible for diseases and disorders if you don't get them. But there are countless thousands of compounds in natural foods that we need and that are absent from shakes and supplements because they haven't been studied. The only way to get that is to eat a wide variety of real whole foods.

This won’t help when you are out but I read that a coffee mug warmer can be fitted with a saucer plate to keep a small portion of food warm. I don’t remember what portions were like at three months but if your home you could always go for seconds if need be. Also a tip for leftovers is to bring your own takeaway container because they are far less bulky and can fit into a cooler but also because you can do it right away so that you aren’t left with a plate that looks like you haven’t touched it.

You have NOT failed. Please stop catastrophizing. You are only 7 weeks post op. Super duper early. There are literally more options now than ever before to aid you on this journey. Tell your team you are struggling and need help. It’s very likely you need more than just the sleeve and white knuckled willpower but what that looks like is ultimately up to you. You’ve come this far already, so you know you’re committed enough to make lifestyle changes. Please keep going. ❤️

all that for $82 ??? my groceries list this week will fit in my purse and cost almost as much as that. also that is a whole lotta meal prep, am totally impressed! ....remind me again how many people are in your household???

Last night I felt the need for a walk so even though it was -2c / 28f I decided to go around the block and post my Christmas cards. Didn't plan to post them until at the office next week (and they won't be collected by post any earlier) but it was great to get out for a 1.5km brisk walk. In the olden pre-op days I would have ignored the feeling and just stayed on the sofa with popcorn and tv. I had also earlier walked to and from the dentist, normally I would have taken a bus so that was another few km done in the day.

Honestly, I am feeling amazing! I have hit a little bit of a slow down on weight loss being 2.5 months post op, but I am now hammering the exercise and still losing inches off my body. When I say a slow down, I mean I've gone from losing 4-5 lbs per week to around 2lbs per week. An example of the exercise, I never imagined i'd have felt comfortable on a treadmill pre-op, and I am about to go onto week 3 of the 9 week couch to 5k program on the treadmill at the gym! How are you doing this week?

Yes, I had sleeve 3.5 years before I started my journey to revision. It’s considered fairly “new” In the medical community but finally got endorsement by the ASMBS so it should become more prominent now but finding info on it as a standalone procedure was tough enough, nevermind as a revision. Like @Arabesque said I had a really difficult time making my decision between the SADI and bypass but i did finally land on the SADI and I am happy with it. This week at six weeks out I was down 40 pounds (including the weight I lost on my two week preop diet which was basically two shakes and a low carb dinner). With the sleeve I felt like I was on a diet. The reduction of the hunger hormone helped me to keep my portions small and get down to 167 (i’m 5’8”) but I was able to eat more than expected from day one. Not a lot more but enough that once the hunger came back and I was eating several times a day I was gaining from even healthy food. The fact that I felt like a failure for not reaching my goal and that I was gaining in spite of my best efforts discouraged me and bad habits started slipping in bit by bit but rather quickly I gained it all back plus some. Things that have been different with the SADI. For one, my level of commitment. I quit going to my follow up appointments at the Dr and stopped posting here when I regained a big chunk of weight post sleeve because I was so embarrassed and I never went to the in person support groups to begin with. After I started my journey to revision I began posting again and committed to doing the in person groups when they meet monthly. I also have made even more than the minimum required appointments with my team to acquire as much information as I can and I asked to do my follow ups more often which helps for now with my anxiety over healing but also will help to keep me accountable In the future. In terms of the surgery itself it seems to have made more metabolic changes for me. For one thing I was actually a salty snacker before my sleeve but post sleeve I craved sweets. I actually woke up from my sleeve surgery craving various desserts but with SADI I was craving Fish Tacos (a meal I never even enjoyed pre surgery) and I have been eating all kinds of stuff I had to force myself to eat pre surgery and I’m actually enjoying them. I mean not like pizza but still pretty good I am back to regular food now and I may have a sugar free popsicle once a week. Other than that I don’t really want sweets and my food cravings are very quiet and good choices are really good. In terms of motivation and energy I have a ton more. Part of that may be due to my exercising this time compared to the sleeve in which I didn’t do any. This time I started out a little shy of a month just walking to the end of my street and back and now I’m up to over 15k steps a day (sometimes 19k) and I’m getting ready to try YOGA at my community center (waiting for my 8 weeks post op just to be safe). I feel fantastic. It’s not just he honeymoon phase either. I actually wake up hours earlier eager to start my day and at night when I hit the bed I feel accomplished and I sleep so much better. Everyone I talked to said fat was okay with the SADI and carbs were the enemy but that has not been my experience. Maybe processed carbs are bad but in things like veggies, fruit and oats or brown rice are okay for me. I actually do lower fat because I had my gallbladder out so think almond milk and 2% cheeses or non fat yogurt (surprisingly not bad tasting though). In terms of carbs if I remember correctly she started me at. 60g and then increased me to 80 because of my activity. They did not resleeve my stomach so my return to food progressed a little slower than yours will if your getting re-sleeved though so that will not be the case this early out. You won’t be able to eat the volume of food that I do at this point. I can actually eat every 3 hours. Most times I’m already up but I have an alarm set for 8 and I wake up and have my proffee which I finish by 9 with my multi vitamin and then every three hours (12,3 and 6) I have a small meal with my three calcium chews. My last meal being a snack at 9pm and I take my magnesium and hair vitamins. I seriously have so much energy. I care so much about what I put into my body. I make everything from scratch and before it was all about convenience (hated to cook) and I won’t lie and say I love exercise but I want to do it. In fact I’m nursing three blisters now and they just weren’t healing with the continued training so I’m having to force myself to slow down today. It’s so weird. I haven’t exercised in over 20 years. I have avoided it at all costs!! I mean I had to make the decision to get started of course but the surgery gave me the energy to do it. Ooh, the recovery was a bit tougher for the SADI, well a lot for me but they took my gallbladder too. I was okay without pain meds once I finally was able to pass gas (like 7 times one morning) but I spent five days in hospital because I couldn’t pass gas and my pain was only managed on meds they wouldn’t send me home with. Once I got home I took half of one pill because my husband forgot to get the Tylenol and I had to wait for him to get it I the store but after that i managed without it. With my sleeve I work up and refused pain meds and was fine the next day. In fact i almost forgot I had surgery when I was out front and asked my husband to pass the basketball to me. So night and day difference in recovery but it wasn’t horrible. Just not expected. Anyways, I’m sure that once I get closer to goal I will be tempted by less desirable food choices and it won’t be as easy as it is now but I honestly do feel like it will be different this time. For one, I have more support but also, I am actually changing my entire lifestyle this time. I am even looking for organic and cleaner ingredients in my food instead of just processed junk that’s diet friendly. I feel great and I want to continue feeling this way for a long long time. That got kinda long, sorry. I really hope some of it helps.

Some of us do gain during stalls, so try (try! lol) not to worry too much about that either. ❤️ I just want to say, kudos to you doing so well on this extended liquid diet. It probably gets easier as it goes on, but I'm sure you'll have tougher days and easier days. If you ever need to vent, we're here for ya! But seriously, it sounds like you're really killing it already!