Indieflickers

@@jess9395 @@JamieLogical thanks for the reassurance!

@@Djmohr oh that sounds terrible! I don't have any itching. Well not related to the surgery. I got a big bite on my arm, which was infuriating because I couldn't quite tell where the itching was coming from due to the fact that I was still numb along the incision! @@jess9395 I think I had some lipo but not much. The combo of the swelling and hunger is terrible because it makes me feel like I've gained due to over eating!

@@Daisee68 that makes sense. I've been averaging about that! I just don't know if I should still be doing that now that I'm farther out. I was actually at about 2000 calories before plastics because of how active I was but boy was it anxiety provoking to eat that much when I was essentially sedentary! I'm back to being incredibly active at work but not doing serious cardio or strength training yet.

@@James Marusek ah gotcha. I think part of the hunger may be recovery from plastics but I can't say that for sure. I would like to lose about 12 - 15 more pounds but it's hard to do when constantly starving and unable to do serious exercise!

@@James Marusek thanks for the advice! I actually get a ridiculous amount of Protein. Probably a little too high since I've had to stop strength training whilst recovering from plastics. Are you considered maintenance of you're not quite at goal? @@JamieLogical it had started to go down but has increased a bunch since my activity spiked. It's really disconcerting to seem my rather round stomach! I guess I have to keep reminding myself it'll go away eventually. Did you do anything to help minimise it or did you just leave it alone?

I'm about seven weeks out from brachioplasty and tummy tuck. I'm back at work and my swelling has gone waaaay up. My job is really active - I walk an average of 10 miles a day and I'm on my feet 14 to 20 hours a day. My arms are fine but my stomach is swollen enough that I look like I'm nearing the end of my first trimester! Also, I'm ridiculously hungry all the time which is not helpful as I am constantly surrounded by food. How did you guys manage the swelling? How long did it take to go down? I'm wearing compression 24/7 but I'm not sure how much it's helping.

Thanks @@Kyn13!

@@erp that's impressive! I didn't know they were that cheap at Costco. I don't have a membership though.

@@CowgirlJane yeah that's kind of what I assumed. Do you happen to remember how many calories you were getting?

I used to bake with protein powder a lot but my oven is really crappy and just bad at baking things in general. I used an unflavoured protein powder. You can replace 1/3 flour (be it whole wheat, coconut, almond, etc) with protein powder. Also I've heard casein protein is better to cook with because it's thicker but I've never actually tried. There are a lot of really great sites with protein powder recipes though I mainly use Pinterest to find ones I want to try.

I tend to buy the Fage 0% Greek yogurt there because it's cheaper there than the other grocery chains. Also the Quest bars are about fifty cents cheaper there than any other brick and mortar store, though I tend to order them in bulk from Amazon.

For the first ten months after surgery I weighed only once a month, on my surgery date. I think this helped because a) it meant I didn't really notice stalls the weight loss was usually a good, big number and c) it kept me from obsessing. As long as you're following the rules, the weight will come off. Now that I'm almost 15 months out I weigh once a week. I was told you shouldn't weigh daily because there are a multitude of factors that affect the number on the scale, many of which are completely out of your control.

@@CowgirlJane my appetite has definitely gone way up, just like you said your did. I'm getting obscene amounts of protein but I was wondering what else you did to keep from gaining? Were there foods or meals that you found particularly filling or did you just have to live with being hungrier.

@@jess9395 it's a combination of both. I do seem to be more thirsty than usual. I'm also pushing the liquids more than usual in an attempt to stay hydrated and also to help a bit with hunger. I'll try cutting back to 64 ounces and see if that helps with swelling.

@@jess9395 my salt intake is average and I'm drinking about a gallon of Water a day. Thanks so much for the advice! I'm sure it will be worth it. Even swollen, my arms look ten times better than before so I'm sure it was worth it!