Ok what??? HOW??? I was staying between 177-179 for the last few weeks so I thought I was FINALLY at the place my body was setting at. Apparently not!!! I've even increased how often I eat. But it seems like the more I eat, the more I lose. The less I eat, that's when my weight stays pretty much the same. And that seems pretty messed up to me. So I have to starve myself to STOP losing weight but if I eat well I'll keep going lower??? What??? I don't WANT to go lower. I was supposed to stop at 190!! Make it make sense, cuz the math ain't mathin. Just had blood work done. Other than being anemic (thanks lupus!!) everything was normal, including my thyroid.

My nutritionist and I got my calories up to 1600 per day when not working out and 1800 when I am. Protein up to 90g on non work out days and 120g on work out days. Carbs are trickier since I'm super sensitive to them, but we got them up to 35g on non work out days (up from 20-25) and 45g on work out days (up from 35). Healthy fats we upped to 70g on non work out days and 100g on work out days. My fluids are always good. Normally I drink around 80 fl oz on non work out days and 100+ on work out days, which 20 of those being an electrolyte drink like Prime hydration, Propel, or Gatorade zero.

Being that I'm 2 years and 4 months removed from my 1st surgery and 1 year and 2 months removed from my revision, she's really surprised that I'm still losing. I said "You and me both, lady. Now how do I make it stop?" She said to just keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully my body will eventually hit it's set point and stop on its own. Um...what?? I'm now 15 pounds below my goal. I understand the whole "bounce back weight gain" or whatever it is, but that can't happen until my body finally picks a weight to settle at.

I really don't like how I look at this point, and it's frustrating that nothing fits...again. I know it seems crazy to complain about this kind of thing, and believe me, I never EVER thought I would be the one doing it. But something's gotta give, you know? I'm really starting to look sickly, and in my line of work, that's not a good thing at all.

Edited August 25, 20241 yr by SleeveToBypass2023

50 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I'm a lot weaker than I used to be. I've been losing a lot of strength. I'm always tired and super fatigued. I'm losing muscle. I'm losing stamina. I'm getting more headaches. Not to mention how bony and veiny I look. My clothes and jewelry literally hang on me. I'm noticing I'm achy more often, such as muscles and joints. I take my Vitamins everyday. I take an Iron supplement but now need to start my iron infusions again.

Honestly if them iron infusions don’t make you feel a lot better I would just check in with my primary provider. It sounds like the physical symptoms are enough to warrant at least asking to me. I mean you have been on here a while and you weren’t complaining of these physical things the whole time. Assuming they are new or worse and this troubling I think it’s worth a second opinion. You have been through so much I really hope you get it sorted out soon ❤️‍?

Edited August 27, 20241 yr by ShoppGirl

1 hour ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I'm a lot weaker than I used to be. I've been losing a lot of strength. I'm always tired and super fatigued. I'm losing muscle. I'm losing stamina. I'm getting more headaches. Not to mention how bony and veiny I look. My clothes and jewelry literally hang on me. I'm noticing I'm achy more often, such as muscles and joints. I take my Vitamins everyday. I take an Iron supplement but now need to start my iron infusions again.

ah, then i totally misunderstood. my bad, sorry! i was under the impression you were feeling healthy...i see know that you are totally not.

with all your ailments, i would go back to your doctor and request some help! not sure this is something your nutritionist can take help you more than you doc can with if all your labs coming back satisfactorily..(besides the anemia, but this is par for course as you mentioned...)

(also. maybe cut back on the workouts until you regain your strength??)

I’m wondering if you still aren’t eating enough for your current height, weight, and activity. I eat about 1600 calories to maintain and am shorter & weigh less than you & I’m not active at all. I mean my stretches and resistance band use burns nothing really. So I’d expect I would need fewer calories to maintain my current weight than you yet your non workout days you eat the same. Yea I am making a generalisation and we are different but ut is something to consider.

I’ve linked a BMR calculator below which may give you an idea of the number of calories you may need to be consuming and it maybe something to discuss with your nutritionalist.

I get the looking tired and unwell. My uncle told my mum I looked like death when I first stabilised. A few months later he was telling me & my mum how great I was looking. Give it time.

PS - I too was wondering if you need to take a break from your workouts like @ms.sss suggested or reduce the frequency or intensity.

https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?cage=45&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=5&cpound=175&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&ctype=standard&x=Calculate

17 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

I’m wondering if you still aren’t eating enough for your current height, weight, and activity. I eat about 1600 calories to maintain and am shorter & weigh less than you & I’m not active at all. I mean my stretches and resistance band use burns nothing really. So I’d expect I would need fewer calories to maintain my current weight than you yet your non workout days you eat the same. Yea I am making a generalisation and we are different but ut is something to consider.

I’ve linked a BMR calculator below which may give you an idea of the number of calories you may need to be consuming and it maybe something to discuss with your nutritionalist.

I get the looking tired and unwell. My uncle told my mum I looked like death when I first stabilised. A few months later he was telling me & my mum how great I was looking. Give it time.

PS - I too was wondering if you need to take a break from your workouts like @ms.sss suggested or reduce the frequency or intensity.

https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?cage=45&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=5&cpound=175&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&ctype=standard&x=Calculate

I only work out 2 days per week now because I work on my feet as a medical assistant 5 days per week, but I think I'll back off those for a bit and see if that helps at all. I hadn't even thought about that, to be honest, because I was working out 5-6 days per week and had to cut back to 2, so I figured that was already a huge drop. But being on my feet all day moving and working with patients is probably enough right now.

1 hour ago, ms.sss said:

ah, then i totally misunderstood. my bad, sorry! i was under the impression you were feeling healthy...i see know that you are totally not.

with all your ailments, i would go back to your doctor and request some help! not sure this is something your nutritionist can take help you more than you doc can with if all your labs coming back satisfactorily..(besides the anemia, but this is par for course as you mentioned...)

(also. maybe cut back on the workouts until you regain your strength??)

Nothing to apologize for at all. I've been complaining about how I feel AND look, so you didn't really misunderstand I was feeling great for quite a while, but as my weight continued to drop, I started to feel worse. Once I went below 180, it really started to go downhill. But i was ok at around 182-185, which is why I wanted to get back to that weight. But nothing I do gets me there. I think I'll demand my doctor really listen to me and do some additional testing. I've been saying all of this to her and I feel like I'm talking to a wall for all the good it's doing me.

2 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Honestly if them iron infusions don’t make you feel a lot better I would just check in with my primary provider. It sounds like the physical symptoms are enough to warrant at least asking to me. I mean you have been on here a while and you weren’t complaining of these physical things the whole time. Assuming they are new or worse and this troubling I think it’s worth a second opinion. You have been through so much I really hope you get it sorted out soon ❤️‍?

I get the iron infusions yearly because the anemia is chronic due to my lupus. Been this way since I was a teenager. I don't feel a lot different after them, but it is what it is. I felt good when I weighted between 182-185, but once I went below 180, that's when I started feeling like crap. And no matter what I say to my doctor, it's like I'm not saying anything at all. She isn't taking me seriously because my labs are fine. It's really irritating me!!

5 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I get the iron infusions yearly because the anemia is chronic due to my lupus. Been this way since I was a teenager. I don't feel a lot different after them, but it is what it is. I felt good when I weighted between 182-185, but once I went below 180, that's when I started feeling like crap. And no matter what I say to my doctor, it's like I'm not saying anything at all. She isn't taking me seriously because my labs are fine. It's really irritating me!!

Yea. Sometimes you get a doctor that just doesn’t really listen for whatever reason. For me at this point I would give them one last chance and ask what tests they were referring to earlier just in case they are specific to the surgery. Then say okay let’s do them. If they won’t then speak with another Dr and see what they say they think it could be. I wouldn’t tell them what The other Dr thinks until after you get their opinion. Then say you would like to know if they think the other tests are warranted and ask them to do both. Sometimes you have to tell them that you are over it and want to just do the tests and be done with it. I’m really sorry that you are not being heard when you tell this person how you are feeling. I can only imagine how infuriating this must be for you. Just don’t give up. Advocate for yourself as you would for one of your patients. I really do hope you get to the bottom of it soon. You deserve to enjoy the life you are working so hard for.

1 hour ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I get the iron infusions yearly because the anemia is chronic due to my lupus. Been this way since I was a teenager. I don't feel a lot different after them, but it is what it is. I felt good when I weighted between 182-185, but once I went below 180, that's when I started feeling like crap. And no matter what I say to my doctor, it's like I'm not saying anything at all. She isn't taking me seriously because my labs are fine. It's really irritating me!!

Silly question but have you been checked to make sure that your Lupus is behaving?

2 hours ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I only work out 2 days per week now because I work on my feet as a medical assistant 5 days per week, but I think I'll back off those for a bit and see if that helps at all. I hadn't even thought about that, to be honest, because I was working out 5-6 days per week and had to cut back to 2, so I figured that was already a huge drop. But being on my feet all day moving and working with patients is probably enough right now.

Do you track your daily steps? If not maybe you want to wear a sports watch that gives you an idea of what your daily step count is? Walking over 8000 steps a day generally results in expedited weight loss for people in a calorie deficit.

7 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Yea. Sometimes you get a doctor that just doesn’t really listen for whatever reason. For me at this point I would give them one last chance and ask what tests they were referring to earlier just in case they are specific to the surgery. Then say okay let’s do them. If they won’t then speak with another Dr and see what they say they think it could be. I wouldn’t tell them what The other Dr thinks until after you get their opinion. Then say you would like to know if they think the other tests are warranted and ask them to do both. Sometimes you have to tell them that you are over it and want to just do the tests and be done with it. I’m really sorry that you are not being heard when you tell this person how you are feeling. I can only imagine how infuriating this must be for you. Just don’t give up. Advocate for yourself as you would for one of your patients. I really do hope you get to the bottom of it soon. You deserve to enjoy the life you are working so hard for.

Thank you!!! I love evrything about this. I feel like you heard me, and it feels good. I literally got so frustrated trying to explain it to hubby last night that I started to cry, and I NEVER cry. He kept saying "well, just eat more, move less, and try not to think about it so much". I threw a pillow, 2 stuffed animals, and a paperback book at him and told him not to "help" anymore.

6 hours ago, MrsFitz said:

Silly question but have you been checked to make sure that your Lupus is behaving?

Actually....no. I know my MS is ok right now, but I honestly didn't even think about my lupus being stupid!!! I'm going to call my rheumatologist today. THANK YOU!!!!!

6 hours ago, Lilia_90 said:

Do you track your daily steps? If not maybe you want to wear a sports watch that gives you an idea of what your daily step count is? Walking over 8000 steps a day generally results in expedited weight loss for people in a calorie deficit.

No, I don't. I didn't think about that, either. I'm going to look into getting one of those next payday. Now that you mentioned it, I'm curious what my daily steps are. I hadn't given it a single thought. Now I wonder how much actual "working out" I'm doing 5 days per week at work....

19 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I'm going to look into getting one of those next payday.

In the meantime, a lot of phones have a step tracking app available, so if you carry your phone with you most of the time, that can be a good estimate. I've compared my Fitbit count to my friend's phone app (hers is one that comes with her iPhone) when we've gone for a walk together and the results were very similar.

1 hour ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

Thank you!!! I love evrything about this. I feel like you heard me, and it feels good. I literally got so frustrated trying to explain it to hubby last night that I started to cry, and I NEVER cry. He kept saying "well, just eat more, move less, and try not to think about it so much". I threw a pillow, 2 stuffed animals, and a paperback book at him and told him not to "help" anymore.

I’m assuming he either got the point or a little dizzy ? Poor guys- they really just don’t get us sometimes. They try, bless their hearts, sometimes they just really suck at it. I tell my best girlfriend stuff mine does all the time and sometimes question how my marriage would work if not for her sticking up for him when I go to vent.

One thing I picked up somewhere is that when you talk to your significant other sometimes it’s best to tell them up front if you are just venting and don’t want any solutions. Sometimes we just need someone to listen and give us a hug and that’s really enough. I have told my husband that and he honestly looked relieved that he didn’t have to try and figure out how to respond. ?

14 hours ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I'm a lot weaker than I used to be. I've been losing a lot of strength. I'm always tired and super fatigued. I'm losing muscle. I'm losing stamina. I'm getting more headaches. Not to mention how bony and veiny I look. My clothes and jewelry literally hang on me. I'm noticing I'm achy more often, such as muscles and joints. I take my Vitamins everyday. I take an Iron supplement but now need to start my iron infusions again.

I am not sure what age you are but did you get your hormones checked at all recently?

Maybe some of the symptoms you are feeling are connected to peri/menopause. I thought my exhaustion and lack of concentration was all part of my bariatric recovery however my GP had me do a hormone test and now I am on HRT which has made a huge difference.

May not apply to you at all but just something to maybe consider getting tested if you haven't already.