PdxMan

My hair started falling out at the 6 month mark. Continued for 3 months and then started coming back. 12 months post-op, you would have never known I had lost any hair. I have heard of the anaesthetic playing a role in hair loss, but I have had 3 more procedures since my VSG where I was put under and never had any issues with hair loss. Of course, it is going to affect everyone different and I am not saying it isn't what happened for anyone here, but for me, I don't think it is related. If you look up reasons for hair loss, hormones do play a role. I know of folks who stuggle with this (non-sleevers) are referred to endocrinologists for help. We also know that hormones are stored in fat, so ...

I don't believe there is as I was eating close to 1,800 calories, getting ample Protein and carbs, exercising like crazy, taking all my Vitamins and Biotin daily. What was happening was I was losing weight rapidly. It is my belief they hormones contained in the fat being constantly released is the reason. If you have slower weight loss, more in line with "normal" diets, you may be able to curb the hair loss as your system wouldn't be quite as flooded with these hormones. But do know that the hair does grow back and this is a temporary thing. Well worth it, in my books.

Congrats Butter! Yeah, those big races do get a bit annoying with all the people. I can never understand why the walkers would even WANT to be at the front getting jostled by all the runners ... oh well ... Races sure are fun. The people, adrenaline and everything. Just being surrounded by so many (relatively) health-conscience people. I can't wait to get back into it. My physical therapist says about another month before I can try running again. Congrats to you, too Mass! It was suggested that I swim as an alternative to running, but I just can't do it. Staring at the bottom of a pool for an hour just drives my crazy. I've tried ... wanted to, as I have a desire to do tri's, too, but I gotta enjoy it. I enjoy swimming recreationally with my kids and whatnot, but as an exercise routine ... oye. If they could have one of those stationary, infinity swimming pools with and LCD screen on the bottom, I could do it. I gotta have something to look at besides blue tiles ...

Also, race day adrenaline will make you start out faster than you may intend. With all the folks jostling around, it is difficult to get that initial pace. But, that adrenaline will also push you faster, too. Just keep yourself in check and you will do fine. Good luck!

I showered the afternoon of my surgery (outpatient). I was told to just avoid scrubbing the incisions.

Hey, the old saying is true. More than a mouthful is a waste.

I have the 410. I wouldn't get any model before the 410, for sure. BtB, don't be afraid to carb up heavy on Friday

I am (was) a fellow monthly weigher, too. After about 3 weeks post-op, and weighing myself daily, I read a post from a woman that went something like this: WTH!!! I weighed myself at lunch and I am 0.3 pounds heavier than this morning! Tonight, I weighed an additional 0.2 pounds! WHAT AM I DOING WRONG! I KNEW I WOULD FAIL AT THIS!!! I was like, "Woa, I don't want to be like that." I knew that I could easily be this was as I can tend to be obsessive about things. From then on I weighed only once a month and saw a loss every time. I never saw a stall and was never discouraged by my progress. As I tell lots of people here, the scale lies to you. It only measures weight loss, not fat loss, and that is what I was looking to lose. Congrats on weighing once a month. It was the best decision for me.

I loved it when people noticed my moobs getting smaller.

When were you sleeved?

For me, drinking Water has never been the same. I used to drink 100 oz a day, no problem. Post-op, it never has been the same. Now, Gatorade and the like, I have no problem with. Don't know why that is, but it is. Perhaps give something like that a try and see how it goes down.

For me, this was an indication I needed to take a step back with my progression. Sometimes it is a two steps forward, one step back kinda thing. We have to move back to move forward. Listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs to do. Don't over-do.

Early out, my first concern was hydration, not Protein. I could end up in the ER due to dehydration, but not due to lack of protein. As far as variety goes, I could have cared less. Yeah, it sucked a bit drinking the same thing day after day, but this was such a small amount of time I needed to do this. For me, the biggest issue was the lack of texture. That is what drove me nuts. My teeth just craved something of substance to mash on. Just find a Protein shake you can tolerate and know that this will pass soon.

I got the Garmin Forerunner. For me, it is great. There are so many settings that you will seriously need a week to learn all of its functions. One of them is to set a range of BPM and it will alert you if you are too low or high, so you don't feel you have to be checking it constantly. If you have a course you like to run, you can race against yourself, or, someone else. You can find runs other people have done in your area, download the course and virtually race against them. The watch will direct you when you need to turn and all sorts of stuff. My main purpose, though, was to monitor my heart rate during running and HIIT classes (nope, it's not just for running). My fitness level dictated my pace, so I always knew that as my training progressed, I was getting a great workout. If I ran at the same pace I had 6 weeks ago, I would not be getting the same workout because I was more physically fit now. I would also then look at my runs after on the computer. VERY cool feature. There is a USB dongle that I left plugged into my computer. Before I even got my shoes off, the watch had connected and uploaded my run automatically. I would get my Protein drink or Gatorade, sit at the computer and take a look at my run. It would show the course, elevation, pace and heart rate. For races, there would always be several others who also interface with the Garmin site, so when I got home, sure enough, other runner's info would be there if they chose to share their runs publicly. I picked mine up off of Craigslist for $75.

Do you have a heart monitor? That is what I used for training and races. Training, 155 beats per minute. Races, 170 - 175 BPM. I ran at whatever pace my fitness level would allow me to sustain those heart rates. I would always finish races completely spent. My FIL, who is an incredible runner, told me that I should be wasted the entire day following a race. That way I know I put in full effort. If you feel "good" after a race, then you didn't run hard enough. The 175 BPM pace always fulfilled that, for me, on a 5K race, 170 for a 10K race.

Yeah, it's crazy. I was always the warmest person in the room. I lived in Colorado for awhile and my friends would always ask to exchange gloves with me while skiing because they knew they would be toasty. My wife would always be "on me" trying to get warm. Now, the tables have turned. I am always cold. One of the small negatives of the weight loss, but worth it. I wouldn't necessarily say it is due to extra skin in so much as our skin is no longer stretched out. I think a younger person who wasn't obese for long who lost the weight and doesn't have the extra skin, may also have the same problem. From what my Dr said, I'm guessing any person whose skin was tight and no longer is may have this.

My 600 Pound Life on TLC. I don't have cable, so I will have to find it on the internet to stream or something.

I asked my dermatologist this question, as it is quite common. You will see many threads here on this topic. He said it may be caused by the capilaries near the skin, which are dense to begin with, to be even more dense with the weight loss. This increased density causes rapid heat loss, thus the sensation of being cold, even in a warm room. That was his explanation, not mine. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on T.V.

OMG, Laura and Dean are here! This thread is going to turn into a Troll magnet! j/k

Someone who comes into a forum for no other purpose than to stir the pot ... be contrarian ... make statements outta left field.

I hear everything you are saying ... you are completely missing my point. I wish you the best.

If you read all of my posts on this thread, the point I am trying to get across is that we can blame a multitude of reasons as to how/why we got to be obese, but the bottom line for me is it boils down to my relationship with food. Period. I, too, work in the IT world since the 80's. Currently, I work with 12 other IT professionals. Out of that group, only one of them is what I would define as obese. They all fit my mold exactly ... kids, homes, demanding job ... what then, could be different between myself and them? I can't blame my job or job stress for my obesity. Look around at your work place. Is everybody else who does a similar job just as obese as yourself? No, I don't know their family life, but I am sure some have it better than me and others have it worse. So, how do we find the recipe of obesity all the while excluding the fact, that for me, it was me abusing food. I can understand that most people don't want to face this as a possibility. And, to be honest, I don't think I could admit this fully until after I was sleeved and I learned just how much I did abuse food when I didn't have the ability to abuse it like I did. I worry that I am coming across here like I am preaching, which is the last thing I want to do, so please, re-read my post as if it were coming from someone who has gone through the fire-fight. I have taken the bullets. I know what it is like to be ridiculed and discriminated against because of my obesity. I just want to stop making excuses for it. Own it for what it is. Only then can I move forward with a solution.

Riddle me this ... You know this person who has this job working at a manufacturing company. Been there for years. But, part of their job is to work a material that is slowly killing them. Bit by bit, day by day. This is a great, rewarding career for which it would be difficult for them to change. They know this is the cause of major health issues and will continue to cause health issues for them until l they die from some related issue. You tell them time and again, "How can you continue to work here when you know this is the root cause of problems?" They respond, "How else am I going to pay the bills and support my family?"

Couldn't agree more. Just wanted to ensure a new sleever wasn't setting themselves up for a trip to the ER.

Carbs aren't the thing to avoid. As a matter of fact, you will find me on here advocating NOT doing a low carb diet for sleevers. But that is a post for another day. The issue with spaghetti at this point is it is an expander. Within the first 6 weeks, you are still at risk for a leak. The staple line has not scarred over yet. Starchy foods typically (not all) are expanders. Rice, Pasta, breads, crackers and the like. You get full on them and they expand in your stomach. The stretchy part of the stomach has been removed, so you begin putting pressue on the staple line, potentially causing a leak. I'm not saying this is going to happen to you or happen all of the time, but I know for me and for most of the folks on this board, they were advised to avoid these types of foods early out for these reasons.