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@jultrim18 I can’t yet do volume and rarely eat breads...one slice would be too filling, but natural peanut butter is an everyday food source. I can def increase that! @greentealael had a great suggestion with nuts. I can def add in unsalted raw nuts...love them. I will be seeing my BariatricPal surgeon in 10 days or so (depending on my face/neck lift recovery progress after next Tuesday). Can ask questions then. I actually forgot that my healthcare plan will provide me with specialized healthcare coaches for anything I desire, free of charge. Husband just reminded me that I just have to call and ask. Der! I don’t have an ongoing nutritionist because I was a lightweight Band to Sleeve revision and had maintained for years. I guess they assumed that I knew a little something. Not so much! This is a whole new world!

Hi, folks. I have not been on this board for a long time. Today, I had a visit to my bariatric surgeon's physician assistant (PA). I am 16 months out from roux en y surgery and have lost a total of 101 pounds. I went there today because I have been experiencing severe abdominal pain, bloating and flatulence at night, every night x 2-3 weeks. I should add that I am an RN and am one semester away from completing my Family Nurse Practitioner Master's degree. The PA gave me some advice, ordered some meds and labs and I checked out--it was about 4:10pm. She had told me to do the labs today, due to the severity of the symptoms I was having. Their office was closing. I went to my PCP's office--which has a lab tech--and they were closing and the lab tech had left. I went downstairs to the outpatient lab and it was closed. The only lab open was the STAT lab on the 2nd floor. Since I was still in the building, I thought I'd just double check that the PA did not want these labs to be drawn STAT. I went back to the office. It was locked. I knocked on the door. I had already heard the cackling and loud voices from 10 ft away. As I got closer, I heard the PA saying "I know, and every time she moved her arms! I couldn't believe it! And she had her teenage son with her!" Needless to say both me and my teenaged son (almost 17) heard this. He drove me today because I wasn't feeling well and he also needs to rack up his driving hours to complete his driver's permit and get his regular license. Just then, the PA, the receptionist and someone from the billing dept emerged from the door. They turned white as ghosts. Their jaws almost hit the floor. Being the classy person that I am, I didn't reference that I overheard them talking about something on my body just then. Their reaction confirmed what I thought I overheard. I asked the PA if she wanted the labs STAT, she said no, and my son and I walked to the elevator. The women huddled back by the door, somehow frozen. The only way to either the stairs or the elevator was toward the direction my son and I walked. Clearly, the women felt ashamed (?)/shook by being overheard body-shaming a patient, violating HIPAA, and being overall terrible people. As we drove home, I was pretty hurt. Most patients at a bariatric surgeon's office are going to have body image issues. Whether they are pre-op or post-op, they have likely experienced some type of negativity about their bodies (either from within or without, or both.) Also, I should add, I am a breast cancer survivor. December 2018 is my five-year anniversary of having stage 2 invasive breast cancer and having a b/l radical mastectomy and subsequent reconstruction, followed by a hysterectomy. One year after my b/l mastectomy, the reality hit me that my GG breasts were now AAs, mutilated and scarred. I felt unattractive, repulsive and beyond depressed. I was thrilled to be alive and that it was caught in time to prevent spreading to my lymph nodes and that by doing a b/l mastectomy, I didn't have to do chemo or radiation. I failed to be able to tolerate Tamoxifen, and had to be put on a cocktail of other meds that resulted in me gaining about 50 pounds to my already Rubenesque 225 lb body. It was a low time. Then, I got my reconstruction. My breast did not, do not, and will not look like "porn star" boobs, or "stripper boobs," although many people have suggested that was the "up side" of breast cancer. See, when you get a radical mastectomy, they hollow you out like a cantaloupe. Then, either at the same time, or at a later surgery, they insert implants (or, in some cases, spacers). Because I was 220 pounds when I got my reconstruction, they put the biggest implants the FDA allows--800 cc. The reconstruction surgeon repaired a lot of the scarring caused by a severe post-op infection from the initial surgery, during which both of my breast turned black and I had to debride the dead tissue myself at home. I was and am thrilled that I had a good reconstruction surgeon and, after recovering, felt a little bit more whole. While I had no breast tissue before, but now, any extra cushion vanished as I lost over 100 pounds. My breasts are skin and implant. It's definitely not a "hot" look. Well, all this cancer talk comes into play because what the women were talking about was my breasts. You see, when you get a breast reconstruction, your breasts don't look like regular breasts. Again, they are hard, stiff, and look like "robot boobs," as I call them. Today, at the office, I was wearing a bamboo material sundress, that was mostly dark teal, but also had other colors tie-dyed into the design. In the front is a "peekaboo" hole. The rest of the dress is just an A-line dress with a full skirt. It is not particularly "sexy." (Including my flabby/flappy wing-like arms!) But because my breasts don't move, there is a tiny bit of "side boob" seen protruding into my armpits. Not regular side boob--because remember, nothing is "soft" anymore. No, it's part of the round, button shape (just imagine an implant covered with skin, literally.) As I reconstructed what the women were saying, I recalled more and more of the beginning. I guess in the moment, in shock, my brain kind of protected me and I somewhat blanked out. Look, we are all human, I get it. We all make mistakes. But for God's sakes, you would think that the staff--including a provider--would be a little more sensitive about yucking it up about patient's bodies while anywhere near the doors/exit. I am posting here in general for support because it just feels yucky. I know I've never done anything like that as an RN, but one never knows how one's words may affect another person. Also, the HIPAA violation bothers me. I work very hard to whisper, even when I am behind closed office doors, because I know how much sound carries in offices. I often tell my patients "I'm sorry I'm kind of talking softly, but these room walls are paper-thin and I want to protect your privacy." I know I won't have the b*lls to tell the office. I feel like somehow they would turn it around on me, even though 3 of them were there and me *AND* my son heard that. And as a mother of a 16 year old son, a 19 year old son, and a 21 year old daughter--it's creepy. The implication that my son--who has seen me go through hell and high water with cancer and this gastric bypass--would even think about looking at my breasts is disgusting. This can only come from a woman with no children. The PA is probably like 35 (I am 44), no wedding ring. Normally, I wouldn't even mention any of that because I fully believe in living my own life and others live theirs but for f*cks sake, please don't foist your sick thoughts on me. I would like some thoughts on how I might handle this. I feel like I won't have the courage to say anything, for fear of being "gaslighted." But, I also feel like there is a lesson for their staff to learn. It occurred to me to write an anonymous letter to the surgeon/head of practice and give a little vague summary of what happened and advise that his staff might want to not be so catty, mean, and to stop violating HIPAA. I don't know. I just know it hurt. I'm hurt. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

YLime you are one loved woman today! And we thought we,could get,along witout you? Boy we were wrong, you are the Center of the Universe, at least in Colorado you are! Put that baseball bat down, you know that weighs more than your 10 pound weight tolerance! You can bash them on the noggin another time!

It's been done before, but many new people on here since the last go 'round. I'm at a complete set of Oxford Dictionary, a sperm whale's brain, and a guinea pig all together 1 pound = a Guinea Pig 1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts 2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs 3 pounds = an average human brain 4 pounds = an ostrich egg 5 pounds = a Chihuahua 6 pounds = a human’s skin 7.5 pounds = an average newborn 8 pounds = a human head 10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year 11 pounds = an average housecat 12 pounds = a Bald Eagle 15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs 16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain 20 pounds = an automobile tire 23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year 24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream 30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year 33 pounds = a cinder block 36 pounds = a mid-size microwave 40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg 44 pounds = an elephant’s heart 50 pounds = a small bale of hay 55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner 60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!) 66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year 70 pounds = an Irish Setter 77 pounds = a gold brick 80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape 90 pounds = a newborn calf 100 pounds = a 2 month old horse 111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year 117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11″) 118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica 120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month 130 pounds = a newborn giraffe 138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year 140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year 144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4″) 150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary 187 pounds = an average adult man 200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds 235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger 300 pounds = an average football lineman 400 pounds = a Welsh pony

Awww thanks guys but this was not a post for me. Me and the scale are in love actually. 10 pounds down. This post was for the people I see on here struggling with stalls. Thanks for the encouragement though.

I had my lap band surgery in September 2007 so I am almost at 11 years. I have a 4 cc band with just a little 1 cc of fluid in the band anymore than that and it is too tight. I am usually a little tight in the morning so I normally have a protein and banana shake in the morning. For the better part of the 11 years the band has kept me from overeating. My problems have been my on doing eating to fast. Meal times are not usually a problem for me I normally eat what I am supposed to eat. Before the band I would eat late at night so I combat that by going to bed by 9:00 pm and getting up at 4:00 to go walking. If I do not exercise I tend to eat a lot more and if I drink with my meal I will eat more. I tend to make more good choices then bad choices. it is amazing to me that what I consider a binge is completely different. Where before I could eat 10 to 12 tacos in 20 minutes. Now 3 tacos in an hour is a binge for me. Congratulations on only being 20 lbs over your lowest weight. I would say that you are in a good place.

I have to get my mindset right. I am having a revision from sleeve to bypass on 9/10 so I start my 2 week full liquid diet on 8/27. I know where I need to be, and I will get my mind right but this week I seem to be struggling to get there. I am struggling with wanting to eat everything I know I can't and won't be having anymore. I find myself sad thinking about the things I won't be able to enjoy anymore to keep myself on track. I am a full time nurse and my husband and I also own an antique mall so I work the equivalent of 2+ full time jobs. So we both work very hard 7 days a week. We don't party, drink, travel, etc, so the one thing we do enjoy is going out for a good meal or treating our self to ice cream etc. I know it seems ridiculous and I believe me I know I want to loose the weight and to be healthier, but I am just having a pity party for myself that our highlights will now be smashed cauliflower and grilled chicken...lol...which I actually do like. To give you a little background, I had the sleeve 5 years ago and I did great the 1st year I lost almost 100lbs. But once I hit the year mark I couldn't lose anymore and it was struggle to maintain. Even with eating right, exercising, etc. I found myself getting down over not losing an and the scale creeping back up and a started making back food choices. Over the last 5 years I have fallen back to back habits, and I have gained back 60lbs and all of my reflux symptoms. I really wanted to start restricting myself this week and next so that the full liquid diet maybe wouldn't be such a shock to my system. When I had the sleeve I only had to do one week and that was hard enough, but I know I can get through it. But my mind keeps saying go ahead and eat it now, because you won't be able to eat it anymore in a few weeks. I know I can do this I Just needed to vent a little! Thanks for listening! Anyone else have the Last Supper Syndrome??????

So...I currently weigh 138 at 5'1". I have no idea what my accurate BF% is because I've lost 130 lbs this year thanks to a modified duodenal switch surgery (aka Loops DS/SIPS) that also helped address my PCOS symptoms. Oddly enough, I'm a size 2/4 at this height and weight. I have a lot of loose skin, some of which I'm getting addressed at the end of September with a tummy tuck and brachioplasty, so I'm hoping to lose some more inches that way and get a more realistic understanding of my weight and measurements (although I'll still have loose skin left on my thighs and butt and boobs, but my stomach and arms are definitely the biggest problems.) My cals are a bit weird because the amount I can eat (and the amount recommended for someone who's had my surgery due to malabsorption/less room in the stomach for food) makes my average calories around 1000-1400/day depending on whether it's a workout or rest day (this is cutting.) But I need to figure out how to calcualte my TDEE with adjustments for my limitations due to the surgery as well as macros. Does anyone know how to appropriately do this after WLS? I do SoulCycle 3-4x a week and do toning (eg: barre) or weight training 2-3x a week and have been doing this for about a month. I haven't lost a single pound but have lost 1/2 an inch on my waist and an inch each on my thighs, hips, and calves. Measurements: Waist: 27.5" Hips: 36" Bust: 32" Thighs: 20.5"

I took 2 weeks but was cleared after 10 days only took pain meds for the first 4 days 10 days is the minimum to be cleared for driving according to my Drs

For me head hunger is seeing food, seeing others eat and wanting it. Simply just thinking I’m hungry. True hunger is stomach hurting & growling. I haven’t had true hunger yet I’m 10 days post.

I am 10 days post op saw doctor yesterday only 7lbs loss. I measured yesterday I hope I lose inches how often should I measure?

Had surgery on July 25 and the last week I have not lost anything but still watching what I eat and just eating a few bites of my meals. I guess the 3 week stall is really. But i also feel that i have not lost much in total 20 pounds 10 pre and 10 post. Just keep telling myself this is more weight loss that i have seen in a long time. Just hoping that i start losing again and that this surgery was not done for nothing. Sorry just had to vent. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Same here, when I drink I get a sharp pain inside. I drank at least 10 ounces yesterday and still starving!!! Sent from my SM-G928T using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey guys and gals I'm on day like 9 of my pre op diet and while mine is far more of the easy road I keep thinking about the things I can't have not alllllll the things I can I know I need to address this in therapy but my therapist is at a conference until right before my surgery and I really need her. Oh well big girl pants time. I've got 12 days until surgery which means 10 more days before I gotta switch to clear liquids only guys help me get thru those 48 hours lol Sent from my SM-T380 using BariatricPal mobile app

This is from an article that I read recently. I am considering buying the vitamins she mentions. its a bit long but well worth the read. I went to an excellent and brilliant doctor who my best friend uses. He practices Oriental medicine & uses a different approach than other doctors; he doesnt want to treat the problem but find out the cause, then fix that. He ordered a full blood work up like all the other doctors do but this time he added something no other doctor ever did and that was my ferritin levels & my iron saturation. My iron came back totally normal, as it always had BUT my iron saturation was 14% and my ferritin level was a 34. There it was, MY SMOKING GUN. I ran home & googled low ferritin levels and there it was; the most common reason for losing hair is a ferritin level below 70. Why the hell this never came up before when I searched I dont know but whatever. nothing was going to get me down now because I found out what is wrong with me so now I can fix it. I did ask the Dr why I have low ferritin & he said its not important why or how, lets just get my iron stores up. I eat red meat at least 3x a week so it was pretty shocking that my iron is low but for some reason my body wasnt able to store it. I started on 325mg of FERROUS SULPHATE 2X A DAY , after 1 month my blood was tested & my ferritin level went to 41. Did I notice any hair improvement? A tiny bit maybe instead of losing 1,000 hairs a day it went down to 950! Then I decided to search for a better way to raise my levels & thank the lord for the internet because I found out that the best iron with the greatest level of absorption is FERROUS FUMARATE so I started myself on 325mg twice a day AND with each pill I take 500mg of L-Lysine & take it with a big glass of orange juice if I have to take it with water then I add 500mg of vitamin C.then I waited, but not for long because within 2 weeks my dream came true. The shedding really slowed down. but I thought it was my imagination /maybe I was going insane because I was at my breaking point with my damn hair. i saw my best friend who said, holy **** your hair looks so thick on top, I think its working she asked me to take it down from the clip but I wouldnt. Not yet. Another week passed and it wasnt just a dream or wishful thinking but I could tell my curls were longer & when I showered it wasnt ALL over my body. Its been about 5 weeks since I began taking my ferrous fumarate cocktail and I am wearing my hair down. I can hardly believe it. I just took a shower and hardly anything came out. A lady at Target came up & asked me if I permed my hair or if my curls were all natural, and I had such pretty hair.TOTAL SHOCK!! I COULDNT EVEN THANK HER BECAUSE I WAS SPEECHLESS. I havent had a compliment on my hair in about 14 years.14 LONG years! So this is my story with a very happy ending. All it took was a simple blood test followed by 4 weeks of supplements and the nightmare has ended. Every 30 days I will get my blood tested to make sure I dont go into iron overload but my goal is to get my ferritin levels over 100 and keep them at about 120sih. If I had read a post like this 10 years ago I would have avoided a decade of hair despair. And if your ferritin levels are fine, keep searching for your smoking gun because it is out there

I have no investment in Facebook, and don't like some of the things I hear, but have been a member of several of its Pyloric Stenosis groups for 10 or so years - and learnt so much! The biggest and best groups are "closed" - you have to join them before you can "see" or access and post to their discussions. Well over 1,000 adult and infant PS survivors are members and form an impressive range and depth of experience. WLS for people with scarring from the infant and adult PS surgery has been discussed several times.

I am 2 weeks out, get in 350-550 calories a day. I have only lost 10 pounds since surgery. Also, my surgeon found a small, cancerous tumor on my stomach, which was removed with my surgery, and I see an oncologist next week. It was a surprise find.

10 days post tomorrow... I’m drinking strained cream soups, sugar free popsicles, sugar free water packets, sugar free jello & pudding, g2, Powerade zero and broths. Oh yea I will never take veggies for granted again!

So I started at 304lbs ( 21' 10 ) for the uk'ers and blimey did I feel every pound! I have lost steadily and I am now 245lbs (17' 7!) so very chuffed, and cannot believe how much my life has changed. Here are a couple of before and afters, one at my heaviest and the other, two days ago for clarity. I can't really see a massive difference myself but others have told me they can definitely see it, can you?

I honestly,wouldn' t go down more than one sixe. The larger you are the more you have to,go down to change sizes,, it's not fair but that's the rules. of ladies clothes. But as we get smaller the sizes change quicker, there might only be 5 pounds between,a 10 and 12.

I had gastric bypass surgery on 8/10 and am the maid of honor in a wedding in mid October. How many dress sizes would you say to go down so my dress isn’t crazy large?! I’ve lost 13 pounds is less than a week too.

Two week post op today and it is my first day back at work. Feeling great to be back, but EXHAUSTED already and it’s only 10:30!

I cannot eat two eggs at 10 months! One. I still slime if i eat too fast, or one too many bites. You have to slow down and learn to quit early. It takes practice, I know!!!! You will learn quickly or suffer more...lol We have all had that lesson.

Even at 10 months out, I eat one piece of rye toast w avocado with my egg for breakfast. It has to be toasted. Bread just balls up to gunk in my sleeve if not toasted and feels really uncomfortable to me, wraps don't work either. I eat a corn shell taco, a few triscuits here and there, and one square of thin crispy pizza. That is it for bread products. I don't eat pasta, have had a tablespoon of rice. Rice is tricky, it actually expands more as it gets wet. I really don't miss sandwiches per se, at first it felt weird but is just routine now. For road food, I carry P3 meat n cheese packs, cold cooked chicken thighs, pea pods, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes. I really don't tolerate lettuce very well either, slimey and wants to come back up no matter how well I chew it - that I do miss. I use thin bell pepper strips in my taco instead. I don't think I am suffering much while I wear size 10 jeans, and looking forward to size 8, then 6......lol

@Matt Z I'm a planner, so I wouldn't get this done until next summer. I also want to try and lose another 10-15 pounds before then, but I want to know my options and pricing. I've considered going to Mexico to save costs, but it scares me to death. My luck, I'd be one of those patients who ends up on a TV show of plastics gone wrong. Anyway, thank you for replying. Glad to see I'm not the only one considering this option. By the way, there is a surgeon in Texas who feels that the muscle reconstruction is actually not really necessary and unduly painful for the patient. He always does tummy tucks with the repair. I thought that was interesting.