WhoKnows

If you measure your food out ahead of time, and you know you have the right amount on the plate, does it matter how long it takes? As long as you chew well enough and don't eat so fast you hurt yourself, what's the difference between 10 minutes and 50?

I definitely don't take that long. I'd say I only take slightly longer than the "average" person would to finished my pittance of food. I guess I need to slow down. I measure out all my food in advance and weight everything, though sometimes if it's something like a little sandwich it's more than 1/4 cup. I should be more careful.

Oh gosh, that means this is week 8 for me today! I totally forgot! It feels so normal now. I can't believe it's only been two months.

I'm nearly two months out and I'm still not regular. Something will happen here and there on it's own, maybe every other day or so, but I usually drink a cup of Smooth Moves tea every week or two just to make sure I get everything out every once and a while. I haven't found that I've been so uncomfortable at any point that I've wanted to resort to harsh chemicals or anything though. However, I do find myself pushing more than I'd like when I have poo without the tea. I've been thinking of trying to supplement some Fiber and see if that helps.

I'm nearly two months post-op right now, and I already feel the esteem boost! There are still some things I'm physically restricted from doing, but I already feel so much better! Getting back into shape has been a major milestone as well! Like I said though, I'm mostl excited to be able to take my fitter body traveling.

Excited to travel without having to worry about: being (more than normally) uncomfortable in airplane seats, if it will be too hot for me to function/enjoy myself, whether everything will hurt after a day of walking, that I stick out as an American tourist because of my weight. I'm just excited to travel more and say "Yes!" to more things in general!

Sometimes I do feel like I'm eating too much (though my trainer, who knows about the surgery, is afraid my calories are too low, ha), but even with two protein shakes, I don't know how else to hit my protein goals. I also can't imagine not drinking shakes anymore. I know some people get off them eventually, but I'm doing pretty serious weight lifting and I just don't know how else I could eat enough protein (even though I eat very protein dense foods). I think they say a gram of protein for every kilo you weight, so maybe when I weight way less...

I don't know if this is right or not, but I'm averaging 37.5g of fat, 35g of carbs, 92g of Protein and 830 calories a day. I don't eat meat or eggs; I do eat some dairy, but generally I try to keep my fat sources plant based. As long as the majority of my fat isn't coming from dairy (I'd say it's just under half), then I really don't worry about it much. I just concentrate on getting 80-90g of protein, eating whole, "clean" foods, and keeping carbs as low as I can. If I ever hit a really long stall, I'll consider upping my carbs and (plant based) fat and see if it helps.

Yeah, I'm skeptical...

And what did "The Doctors" conclude?

I was told four days after the stitches were out, but everyone gets different instructions.

I've been doing really well with Protein post-op. I almost always manage 80-90g of protein a day (a bad day for me would be 75g), but since I'm a vegetarian, I hadn't yet had that really long term full feeling people talk about having with meat. Well, today I was ecstatic to find that my local vegan grocery shop started selling Beyond Meat* and of course I bought some of the chicken so I could try it! I made a chicken salad and dished out my usual 3-4 tablespoons. It took me about an hour to finish (ate half, waited 40 min, ate the other half), and now two hours later, I still feel (almost uncomfortably) full. Now I get what everyone means about the full feeling that comes with dense protein! Like I said, I haven't had trouble getting in protein, but tofu and chickpeas (and even other meat substitutes) definitely sit differently. *If you're curious about Beyond Meat, have a look at this video from the TODAY Show: Or read the wonderful Mark Bittman's op-ed from 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/opinion/sunday/finally-fake-chicken-worth-eating.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Oh, and I might just add, the chicken salad I made was AMAZING! If I hadn't made it myself, I wouldn't have eaten it because I would have been convinced there was really chicken in it.

But would psoriasis cause lumps under the skin? You should really have it checked out.

Are the bumps deep under the skin and painful? If so, it sounds cystic. Like I said, I had that when I stopped taking the pill. The only solution was Accutane, which I view a little bit like the surgery. Yes, it's a pain (though the reputation is worse than the reality), but it's also the only thing that's actually proven to work in any real capacity. Again, you should really go see someone, both to have your hormones done, but also just to make sure it is indeed acne (it probably is).

Acne tends to be seriously misunderstood. Cosmetic companies want to be able to sell over the counter topical "solutions," so we've all been lead to believe that our acne is the result of dirty skin. If that were the case, little kids would have lots of acne (kids are dirty). But who do we associate with acne? Teenagers! That's because (most) acne is hormonal - especially acne that's deep under the skin. For a lot of people, serious acne stops with puberty, but others aren't so lucky. Some women break out on a monthly basis that ties in with their cycle. I had a terrible explosion of deep cystic acne when I stopped taking the pill when I was 22. So, if you're experiencing acne for the first time in your adult life, I'd go have your hormones checked. What you shouldn't do: over wash your face! Irritating your skin will only make matters worse. Choose a mild cleanser like Cetaphil and use it twice a day tops (frankly, if you wash your pillow cases enough, you can just use warm Water in the morning). Also, don't pick your skin or pop pimples. It can lead to infection. Most of the time, prescribing antibiotics for acne goes nowhere, but if you can't stop touching an already irritated face, it could be a different matter. Again, go get your blood work done by either a dermatologist or an endocrinologist.

I haven't been too open, but I think if an overweight friend/acquaintance were to ask how I've lost all the weight, I'd have to be honest. It's funny, of the people I have told, some people are so much more inquisitive than others. I have two friends here who I only told because I needed help translating my application for the surgery into German, and now that it's over, they sort of pretend it never happened. But my best friend from home who has known me since high school always wants all the details. We skype a few times a month and he always asks what I'm eating now, how weight lifting is going, if I've gotten a short haircut yet, etc. German/American cultural difference maybe?

Jeez you guys are fast losers. I'm 1-2 pounds a week.

Oh my god, you look great! I hope it isn't too forward of me to ask, but what's your situation with skin? In the picture it looks like you really lucked out! Did you do anythjng in particular?

Oh man, I'm saving soon much money! I always cooked healthy at home and that hasn't changed but preop I would make a totally loaded salad with all fresh organic ingredients which could serve maybe eight people, and it would last two meals (for around 30 Euro). Now I'll make something similar, halve the recipe, and it'll last me nearly a week, with a cost of maybe 15 Euro. I almost never eat out and I pack my own lunches. The only problem I have is buying too much and seeing it expire before I have the chance to eat it. I would estimate that between the smaller meals and the not eating out I'm saving between 150-200 Euro a month.

Yeah, I mean, I get the whole Facebook thing. It just makes me paranoid to post on there about this. Even if the group is private, there's still human error and I could mess something up. Plus, I don't trust Facebook with anything too private anyway, and this is certainly private. Too bad about the mass exodus though

So I have always had dramatically asymmetrical breasts - as in, one is a D, one isn't even an A, I wear mastectomy insert even though I haven't had a mastectomy - that kind of asymmetrical. Honestly, on my right side, it always just seemed like what an overweight guy has: the shape and the feel are totally different from a woman's breast and there's no real breast tissue. But today I realized, it seems like my right breast has grown. I think I feel some breast tissue and I see a stretch mark that I don't think used to be there. I'm nearly seven weeks out and I've lost almost 40lb since starting the preop diet in the middle of May. Is there some kind of hormonal reason why this might be happening all of a sudden? I don't know how to feel about this. I had actually just been hoping to get a reduction on my left side once I'm at goal. I really don't want big breasts... EDIT: I posted this in the "powder Room" for a reason, but just realized it will show up on the side bar as well. My guess is some guys will read it. Maybe the content will make them uncomfortable. I dunno. As they say, tough titties

Yeah, I think monthly is fine as long we always remember to post a link to the new ones so no one gets confused. Where is everybody though? I mean, I know we're all posting less, but some people seem to have just vanished.

I have huge calves as well (I think they'll always be a bit disproportionally large), and so the pants that are in style now (so straight leg or skinny) simply don't fit me. By the time I find something that fits over my calves, the waist is like on clown pants. Hence I stick to leggings under skirts. I actually think it's more flattering that poorly fitting pants, but that's me.

But do people who have other surgeries under general anesthesia also often experience hair loss? This isn't anything I'd ever heard about until I started becoming familiar with this surgery so I assumed it was somehow specific to us. Maybe the people who experience the worst loss are the ones who couple an anesthesia related loss with a prolonged nutrition related loss? I'm six weeks out, so we'll see if I get anything before month 3 (my hair has always been sensitive to things like changes in medications, so my guess is if the anesthesia thing is true, I'll get it). As of now, according to Cronometer, I'm hitting my RDA for almost everything, but I'll try and do better until I'm over the 9 month hump.

I just haven't been wearing pants. I stick to jersey skirts and dresses over leggings. I can't wait to get back into pants, but my legs haven't caught up to my waist.