Janice's Journey

So, so sorry to hear you lost the pregnancy. I was just reading through older postings and read that sad news. Take care of yourself and keep healthy. I wish you all the best.

How

How is everybody doing?? Happy 6th month Anniversary to all. My 6 month anniversary was 10/29/13. Went to the doctor's for my 6 month checkup. He said I was on schedule for my weight loss, maybe a little on the lower end. I am at a plateau. I haven't lost anything in about 7-8 weeks. Very discouraging since I am only eating about 1000 calories a day, getting about 60+ grams of protein a day, drinking all my water and taking all vitamins. Not to mention all the time at the gym. The doctor said he thinks I will lose another 10-12 lbs by my one year visit in April, and he doesn't think I will lose much more than that (without a superhuman effort). I want to get to Onederland, but I have been at a stall. I had really wanted to get to at least 175 lbs, but the doctor seems to think I've maxed out with my weight loss. My labs were all good, except my protein was low. I am still in the "obese" range on the BMI chart. Has anyone else slowed down or stopped losing weight? I try not to be discouraged, knowing how far I've come, but I can't help wish that I could lose another 25 lbs. But I won't give up trying.

Gosh, I could talk for hours about terrible in-laws! I feel so sorry for you. I got married at age 23, and my in-laws never accepted me. I've always treated them with respect and kindness. My father-in-law was very nice, but he was so afraid of his dragon lady wife, he went along with it. My husband never stood up to his mother...I think he was afraid to and had a life long fear of "standing up to mom" and suffering her wrath. We even went for counseling about this, but my husband never learned to support me. When they didn't acknowledge the pregnancy and birth of my 2nd child, I decided I was done with them (age 34). I told my husband he could visit them any time, with children. He did a couple of times, but then they started to treat him badly (because I wasn't there to take all the slings and arrows), so he stopped visiting them. The in-laws went to their grave rejecting us and our 2 lovely daughters. Their loss! Anyway...I was always respectful of my "elders", and I go to great lengths to avoid confrontation. At age 53, this is what I've learned. You teach people how to treat you. If you allow them to treat you badly, they will continue to do so. I wish I had stood up to them when everything started when I was age 20, but I didn't have the confidence or the skills to do it. It is CRUCIAL that your husband backs you up and stands up to his parents about their behavior. If things don't improve, cut them off. Do not allow anyone to treat you badly. Value your (lovely) self more than that. If your husband loves and respects you, tell him that you two are a united front. Marital loyalty comes before parental loyalty. I will stop here, but I am very passionate about this and suffered greatly for years at the hands of my in-laws. Every holiday and special event were ruined because of my mother-in-laws nastiness (I suspect it had a big mental health component to it). Anyway, I don't know you, but I detect a sweetness and a kindness in you. Value yourself. You are on a fabulous journey to self improvement. Make how you allow others to treat you a priority. Don't wait until your 50's to learn this! I've said my peace. Good luck to you.

This conversation is so funny! I was a 48DDD(F), and now am a 44D. I much prefer being smaller busted. Down 2-3 clothing sizes. Just wish my stomach would shrink down more.

I'd be interested to know how your 3 month visit went. We have the same surgery date My visit is scheduled for early August. Got labs 2 weeks ago and requested a copy, but haven't received them yet. Anxious to know how I am doing. I am looking forward to checking in with the doctor. I feel I am losing too slowly, but I will get more info when I get weighed on their special scale. I hope you have a good visit!

So sorry to hear about your car accident, but glad you are OK. Scary pictures. Take care. Janice

Hi there! I'm still having problems with meats/fish/eggs. But, I've been really enjoying watermelon, cantalope, blueberries, and cherries in small quantities. I know they are not protein, but they don't bother my stomach and are delicious. Went to a party yesterday and I was very hungry. Ate a small piece of pepperoni bread (probaby too fast), and was throwing up in 5 minutes. Mostly "slime"...I guess that is what my NUT calls "the foamies". I thought those days were over. Had meatloaf tonight....could only eat about 2 oz. I get a "hollow" feeling in my stomach when I am hungry...can't really call it hunger. There was so much fabulous food and desserts at this party, but I couldn't eat it. I admired it all, but I can't really say I felt deprived. The desire to eat it is just not there. I guess that is a good thing.

Hah! So funny. I told my husband we are going to walk around the house in our underwear now that there will be no kids in the house. Not sure that will be too pretty of a sight! I have you "friended" on MFP, and I can view your menus. I have two "friends" now. Woohoo. It is interesting to see what others are eating. Seems like we are so limited. I loved eggs before the surgery, but even a few bites starts things gurgling and I get these loud reflux noises coming up my esophagus. Not sure what that is all about! Chicken and fish don't go down well, either. Tonight I had 2 oz of low salt ham and 1 oz of cheese in a small salad, and that went down well.I guess it is just going to take time. Of course, carbs go down great...crackers, fiber one bars, etc. But my nutritionist wants me to stay away from carbs. Melons and berries are sitting well, too. So my food world is expanding. Vegetables are a little harder to digest. I feel so lucky to have the friendship and support of my on-line friends! :wub:

Just got this answer from the post-op nurse regarding Medic Alert bracelet: "It is good to have something on your person that lets people know that you had a gastric bypass and cannot have any NGT or OGT(nasogastric or orogastric tubes)." I think I will look into getting one. Also, I will look you up on myfitnesspal. Haven't done that yet, but I am sure I can figure out how to "friend" someone. I am having a hard time getting enough protein and staying in the 700-800 calorie range. Plus, chicken, fish, and eggs are still not my friends. There is not much else to eat! Today I had some decaf coffee (I didn't want to wait anymore!). It was delicious. I only drank 6 oz. But my stomach did feel a little strange afterwards. Eating chocolate...that was my biggest addiction. I've found that I can eat it, but I can only eat a small amount and I am satisfied. I can live with that! There is so much candy around my house, because I had a huge candy station at my daughter's graduation party. But once it is gone (not eaten by me!) I will not have anymore in the house. She heads to college at the end of August, and my house is going to become a no-junk food zone. I am so bothered by the fact that I am losing maybe 1 lb a week, but I am down 2 clothing sizes, so at least I am seeing improvement (just not on the scale). I lost 38 lbs before surgery, and 27 since surgery, so that is 60+ lbs. I just expected the weight to drop off a lot faster after going through a difficult preop and surgery experience, but there is nothing I can do about it. I guess I need to get to the gym more and walk more (even though it's been about 95 degrees in the Phila area).

Had a wonderful week with my family in Siesta Key (Sarasota) Florida. (In between the rain downpours!) Exercised like crazy in the pool and was very active all week. Didn't record my food all week (took a break from myfitnesspal) but pretty much ate the same foods every day. I went to a Publix supermarket yesterday and they had a huge scale in their lobby. Showed I had lost 10 lbs. I was so excited. Weighed myself as soon as I got home today on my own scale. No weight loss in 10 days. I guess the scale in FL wasn't accurate. I drank lots of water all week to try to prevent dehydration in the hot weather. I hate to complain, but I will be 10 weeks post-op on Monday, and I thought I would have lost more weight by now. There are so many of those Medic Alert bracelets on-line. I don't like things around my wrist...I don't even wear a watch. But I will ask my doctor what he thinks...if he thinks I should get one I will. I just got a script in the mail for my 3 month labs. I hope when I get the results everything is OK. I am keeping up with my vitamins and I try to get all the protein in, but 80 grams a day is almost impossible. I just eat as much protein as I can, because I still can't tolerate too much chicken or fish, and can't eat more than 1 egg, if that. I sat here this evening catching up on everyone's progress, and I am amazed at how much weight some people have lost. I guess everyone's bodies are different and I know I shouldn't compare myself to others. I am just happy for everyone's success . The bad news is that I learned I am not sugar intolerant. I nibbled on some M&M's and red licorice on vacation, and it didn't bother me a bit. I didn't gorge on it, but I felt no bad side effects at all. Plus, I had watermelon every day and it was very delicious and refreshing.

Good question. My mom emailed me today urging me to get one because of something she read on-line about a bariatric patient. I will ask my doctor about it when I go for my 3 month visit. No mention of a bracelet has been made at any of the support meetings. I guess it is a personal decision to make.

Wow, congratulations! That is a lot of weight!! I had surgery the same day, and I am at 27 lbs lost. Just got back from vacation and ate very little. Got on scale for first time in a week, and the weight was exactly the same. I exercised and was very active all week. Very disappointing to not have lost anything at all.

40 lbs is awesome! You are way ahead of me. Next time you go to your doctor's, get a printout from the bariatric scale. You most likely are gaining muscle weight, which is a good thing. If your clothes are getting looser, you are headed in the right direction.

Where is the recipe section?

Hi, how is everyone doing?? I just sat down and read the last several pages of blogs. Wow, so much going on with everyone. Sorry to hear not all of it is good news. I am doing well. Just graduated my youngest from high school and had her party this Sunday. I'm exhausted! The good news is that we head to Florida for a weeks vacation this Friday. I can hardly wait to have some downtime and get away from work for awhile. Saw the nutritionist yesterday for my 8 week visit. She said I am doing well and am right on target for weight loss. Not enough lbs for me, but I will take her word for it. According to her scale, I am steadily losing fat weight, so that is good. The scale just is not going down quickly. Next month I get my first labs. I hope everything looks good when I get my blood work. If anyone is looking for recipes, I have a Board on Pinterest under JaniceE-. Don't forget the dash after the E. There are some bariatric recipes on my Board, and I am regularly adding more when I have time to surf the web for them. I am eating about 550-750 calories a day. I log everything on MyFitnessPal. I still cannot tolerate eggs, fish, or chicken so it is really hard to get all my protein in with food. I am getting tired of the protein drinks and can no longer tolerate drinking one every day. I have a liquid protein I ordered from Wellesse.com that has 10 grams of protein for two tablespoons, so I usually do that once a day to increase my protein intake. My nutritionist said I should be consuming 80 grams of protein a day by now, and I am only doing about 47-50. She said to add 100 calories of nuts to my diet a day. It is still a challenge to drink 80+ ounces of water a day, but I work on it hard, especially now that the weather is so hot. Good luck to all of the April surgeries! Please post any food ideas. I am getting tired of eating the same things every day. Joyce: I am 53, so now you don't need to feel like the old lady of the group. Hah! I am excited about focusing more on my own health in the future now that my children are older. Pre-surgery Weight: 299 lbs. Surgery weight: 262 lbs. Current weight: 235 lbs. Date of Surgery: 4/29/13

I talked to the nutritionist today. She said most people have lost 30-40 lbs by this point. I have been 100% compliant with the program. I have an appointment with her next week. She said she'll reserve judgement until she sees what the scale readout says. She said even though the scale hasn't changed, she'd like to check how much body fat I've lost. She said the scale doesn't tell the whole story.

I was 299 lbs on 1/15/13, and lost 38 lbs before RNY on 4/29/13. At 7.5 weeks out, I have lost an additional 23 lbs. I wish I were losing more quickly, but at least I'm losing. But, if I look at the big picture, I've lost almost 60 lbs since January. Actually, I've only received a few comments about my weight loss. But I'm wearing a smaller clothes size and I feel better about myself. I can hardly wait until I get below 200 lbs. It will probably take months, but I am on my way. Anyone else losing this slowly?

OMG, I'd better start taking my Biotin. I keep forgetting it is in the cabinet. I am almost 7 weeks out. I didn't realize the hair started coming out so soon!

Thanks for your kind words

Well, I went in for RNY, but ended up with a hiatal hernia repair, umbilical hernia repair, gallbladder removal, and bowel resection (in addition to RNY). Whew!

My surgery was 4/29/13, and I am only down 18 lbs. The scale is just not moving. Went to bariatric support meeting tonight. Talked to nutritionist a bit. She said I am doing everything right, and to hang in there, the weight will eventually come off. She said because I had 5 surgeries that day of my RNY, I may still be healing. She also said by 8 weeks most patients typically lose 30-40 lbs. Well, I am 6.5 weeks out and still at 18 lbs. I feel discouraged but am trying to have a positive attitude.

OMG, you are my hero! You had surgery the day after I did, and I've only lost 16 lbs. You are definitely doing something right. I can't seem to get all my protein in unless I incorporate at least one protein shake a day. I'm getting sick of them, so today I used only one scoop of bariatric advantage instead of two. Only up to 320 calories today, but I am heading to a party. Hope there is something there I can eat.