Folly

@@Elode My DR and I have went around and around over this issue. I was lucky enough to never have metabolic disorders even at my highest weight - it surprised the heck out of me when this started. It can be incorrectly diagnosed as A-Fib, surprisingly. I wore a monitor for two weeks when my symptoms presented. My Dr thought I would come back with A-fib but it turned out orthostatic hypotension is the culprit. We can't figure it out specifically (diet is good, labs come out good, electrolytes in balance, etc) but it's being attributed to my weight loss. I haven't figured out how to prevent symptoms but they are much, much worse when I'm thirsty or hungry.

@@More than this I've been where I plan to stay, meal-wise, for about a year. I made myself very ill several months after surgery and ended up letting people down because I was too ill to be with my siblings when my father passed. I was in a hospital ICU because my body was too depleted and weak to fight off a common cold. I've learned from this. Over-restricting not only sets you up for weigh-loss stalls/fails, it leaves the body vulnerable. Have you reviewed your diet with a NUT?

I could barely walk for the first year or so - my weight was just too high and my joints/back too damaged. I still have never went to a class but I go do go to the gym twice a week. Today I did 35 minutes on the incline setting on the treadmill going very briskly. Almost needed oxygen but this is my commitment. Most of us eventually do give in and do something about getting physically fit. The weight loss stops being a passive process after a while.

isn't that one of the components of phenfen? (Fenphen? Phen-fen?....whatever)

@@bhopeful Can't answer that - only meds I ever tried were illegal and it was 20 years ago. Is there a justification other than weight for you to be taking victoza?

Keep it private as long as you feel you need to. I've noticed a lot of people have a crummy attitude toward WLS and, in general, feel they have a right to opine loudly whenever they hear about it. No reason to set yourself for annoyance or hurt feelings.

One of the functions of the pre-op diet is to get you in a very good place nutritionally so you have reserves to support you through the first several weeks. Over months, no not enough and your health could suffer and you might need to address it with a good NUT. Over several weeks, you're OK. Whatever you do, please don't force anything. If you can tolerate it, I would encourage you to get Protein enriched waters (I think one I could stand was Isopure but there are lots on the market) so you can bolster the protein intake while still getting enough to drink - killing two birds with one stone.

Be careful about drinking faster than your stomach can empty... it can be quite painful (and dangerous). I would encourage you to take no more than a couple ounces at a time and be in the habit of sipping whenever you're not close to meal time.

I went to the gym today and it really is the first time I looked at myself in a full l length mirror and SAW me as I am now. I suppose it matters that it happened at the gym. I was wearing incredibly baggy clothes but I noticed my hips and shoulders line up correctly - shoulders and hips are the same width and are wider than my torso. It's weird to keep discovering yourself - or at least it is for me. My sister told me a few days ago I have to stop seeing myself as someone huge because I've actually lost more than I currently weigh... If I dwell on it too much it gets a little surreal.

Reading everything written here makes me feel proud of all of you... and humbled. I'm so glad we have a place to talk about these things without people taking pot shots at us. :-)

It took a long time for mine to feel ok again. It took a couple of months for that feeling to go away. (It's still a delicate little princess that has to be handled carefully.)

@@BigViffer I still love ya, Dolly!

I started out wearing size 36 - I still have one pair of pants in that size. I used to put them on about once a week and run to the mirror just to see. Wearing size 16/18 these days, which isn't really all that small but I can buy clothes in a regular store now - big milestone for me. Nothing fits for long. Funny part is that my feet even shrunk. Isn't it kind of awesome to always have wardrobe issues because your clothes are just too big?

Just a few weeks out it's pretty normal to take little sips throughout the day and 2 or 3 bites of something several times a day. As you heal your stomach will relax a little bit and you'll be eating more substantial foods. You'll be spacing things out to 3 or 4 hours but the tiny meals 4 or 5 times a day are a fact of life for quite a while.

Hunger feels different for me than before WLS. It's extremely uncomfortable and becomes nauseating if I don't do something about fairly quickly. The good news is that I don't feel it very often through the day.