Babbs

It's none of her business :) :) :)

If this is true, and not just an issue with your scale (find another one to verify), you may have a medical issue that's causing that sort of water retention. Verify that 15 pounds is indeed the case, and call your surgeon as soon as you can to discuss.

There are so many variables, it's hard to even get an average amount of weight lost each week. People are different, and lose weight at different paces. Age, gender, starting weight can all have an effect on how much weight is lost each week. I do know people tend to lose faster and the most in the early weeks and months, but once again not always. Then it slows down to more 'average' weight losses of 2-4 pounds a week, once again depending on many factors. Weight loss is never steady. Some weeks you'll lose 5 pounds, some weeks 1, some weeks (sometimes many) you'll lose nothing at all.

Let her mother handle the situation. It sounds like she's health conscious, and more than capable of handling the situation since she's already discussed it with the child's pediatrician. If someone came on a message board and was asking for advice about MY daughter's weight "problem", I would have an issue with that. It's none of your business.

All due respect, but what business is it of yours if it's your friends daughter?

I've said it before, but I think the surgery changes everything, so we aren't the "norm". I truly believe it changes our physiology. Like @@JamieLogical said, I have observed differently after being on these boards for almost 2.5 years. I have also observed the opposite with myself. Every time I stalled, increasing my calories would break the stall, and I would actually start losing again more consistently. I was at 1100 by the time I hit maintenance, and now maintain on 1300 calories. Anything over 1300 I gain.

You really should throw ol' diet mentality out the window. With the surgery, your physiology has changed. You're basically in starvation mode, and your body is using up muscle and glycogen for energy. With the diet mentality, upping calories is a bad thing. In the early weeks and months of WLS, it's necessary to keep our metabolism going and getting energy from fat stores as opposed to mostly muscle, hence weight loss. Also, believe it or not, too much exercise can be counter productive to weight loss when the calories are lower. So until you can get up to at least 900-1000, don't kill yourself. Do enough to get your heart rate up and build muscle. Otherwise you may stall often. As long as your calories are coming from mostly protein, it all works to equal weight loss. And upping calories as you progress in months is important to help set your metabolic rate, so when the time comes you aren't having to maintain on 600 calories the rest of your life! So yes, more calories is good for you Your surgeon sounds like they know what they are doing.

Yeah, I kind of panic about becoming hungry, so I get REAL pissy if I'm past a feeding schedule. I know if I get honest to goodness hungry, I run the risk of making terrible choices because I frankly just don't care at that point. That's why my motto is if I fail to plan, I plan to fail.

Your posts have been smart, thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable. I also wish more people took the more thoughtful approach when deciding whether or not to have the surgery that you did. For that, I completely admire you. Surgery is not for everyone, that's for sure. I wish you nothing but the best as you continue your journey in your own way. I have a feeling you're the type of person who succeeds at whatever they set out to do, anyway. You're going to be just fine.

@@Dairymary Wow. What an inspiration you are! I'm only 2 years out, but I hope to be as successful as you have been maintaining at 6 years out!

Yeah, no.

Believe it or not, you're not always going to be able to eat itty bitty portions. Also, what we call the honeymoon period ends and hunger and cravings may return. So basically, as time goes on, we still have our smaller stomach, but can put away more food. Add to that the cravings and hunger, and people run the risk of falling into old habits such as too much sugar, processed foods, and drinking calorie laden drinks. By years 3-5, some can eat up to a half a plate of food. And grazing all day long becomes much easier as time goes on. I could easily put away a whole pizza in a day if I put my mind to it! So it's pretty simple. You will gain weight consuming a half a plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and washing it down with a soda, as opposed to a piece of grilled chicken and a green veggie. Add lack of physical activity, and boom. Weight gain. Sticking to the rules of WLS (Protein first, lower carb, healthy fruits and veggies, move more, lots of water) helps people keep their weight off long term.

Honestly, no matter what size a man is, if he's self confident and sweet, there's nothing more sexy. You seem sweet, so be self confident! You sexy thang!

I'm so doing this!

HAHAHAHAHA!! You realize you're disagreeing with a VERY successful WLS person who has lost beyond their excess weight AND has maintained it AND is running marathons, right? And losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise, know it all. I've seen people who have had surgery lose all their weight with no exercise at all. How do you explain that, professor? I think exercise is critical to weight loss and maintenance, so this person wasn't even disagreeing with me, just misinterpreting my posts I think? I just ran a full marathon on the 18th. Clearly I'm a big proponent of physical fitness! Nutrition is definitely where it's at for weight loss, because it's the best way to create a significant caloric deficit. But exercise is critical for keeping your metabolism up, preventing muscle loss, and I HIGHLY recommend it in maintenance for keeping your weight in check. And exercise can come in MANY forms. I like running. Some people like classes. Some people like fitness DVDs. Some people like team sports. Everyone needs to figure out what they enjoy, what they can keep up with, and what motivates them. This person pretty much said, if you don't exercise, your weight loss will stall out. The also stated that if you don't exercise, you won't lose the weight you desire. Both are false. Obviously I'm not encouraging people to not exercise, as I have been very physically active and have exercised going on 2 years now and probably am the most physically fit I've ever been. I also probably have the lowest body fat % I've ever had. But I've seen people who have done little to no exercise lose all their excess weight, and people who exercise stall all the time and NOT lose their weight. That was more my point.

Butter and cheese are life.

Uh, I eat full fat cheese, mayo, sour cream etc and I have lost all my excess weight and have been maintaining for a year. I eat very Atkins like. Lots O' meat, green veggies, very low carb, and full fat everything. Even real butter. I find this way of eating keeps me satisfied in between meals. I also try to mostly eat real food. No fake, processed, or pre packaged stuff. I think that's the key, also. That's actually my goal, although I hope that for "special occasions" (Thanksgiving comes to mind), I can sneak in the occasional spoonful of mashed potatoes or baked squash! @@leebick Oh, don't get me wrong. When I have a hankering for some potatoes, I'll either bake up or throw on my grill some sweet or red potato goodness. With a pad of butter even. When I do want some complex carbs, I will go for whole grains only. No "white" stuff. It's rare for me, even in maintenance, but I try my best to have more of a balanced diet. I just find when I eat something starchy or carby, the cravings after can kick my butt

That's the bypass surgery, also. We are all sleeves (I think) that responded in this thread. There is a malabsorption thing going on with the bypass that we don't have, so I think alcohol effects bypass patients even more. I know it does my hubby, even at 10 years out. Two beers at dinner, and I'm driving, lol.

Uh, I eat full fat cheese, mayo, sour cream etc and I have lost all my excess weight and have been maintaining for a year. I eat very Atkins like. Lots O' meat, green veggies, very low carb, and full fat everything. Even real butter. I find this way of eating keeps me satisfied in between meals. I also try to mostly eat real food. No fake, processed, or pre packaged stuff. I think that's the key, also.

Your weight changes through out the day and different days for many reasons. Water retention, poo retention, etc... Sounds like you're in a bit of a stall, too, where your body is trying to adjust. I used to gain a pound every time I stalled. Here's one of the reasons it fluctuates: Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs. of water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when a patient is not getting in enough food, the body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. Then when 2 lbs. of glycogen is used a patient will also lose 8 lbs. of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs. that most people lose in the first week of a diet. However, when the body stays in a caloric deficit state the body starts to realize that this is not a short-term problem. Then the body starts mobilizing fat from adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But the body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. As it puts back the 2 lbs. of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs. of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though the patient might still be losing energy content to their body, the weight will not go down or it might even gain for a while as the retention of water dissolves the glycogen that is being reformed and stored.

At 2 years out, it doesn't effect me any differently than before except leaving my system faster (weird, right?). Any buzz I get from it seems to be gone much quicker than before. I have always been a lightweight because I don't drink very often. I can literally count on one hand how many times I've drank since surgery. Between any buzz that wears off to quickly and the empty calories I'm trying to avoid, it doesn't even appeal to me anymore

My "old favorites" got me to 230 pounds, gave me high blood pressure and diabetes. I intend to not go back to that, so I'm mostly staying away from fast food and junk. But hey, to each his own.

No? How about tacos? Or chicken nuggets? That's okay though, right?

Oh dear lord, were you sleeved by a team of chimpanzees? Is that all the guidance your post op instructions contains? Special K protein' drinks' are not your best option, BTW.Actually I have an excellent doctor! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Then why don't you ask him if you can have a milkshake 2 days post op? Your instructions are the most ridiculously vague I have ever seen. No wonder you're confused.

Okay, so Protein Shake would be okay? Even 2 days out of surgery? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Okay, call me crazy, but what does your plan say? Are you still on clear liquids? If so, then NO you shouldn't even have a protein shake yet. And a milkshake? I'm 2 years out and STILL haven't had a milkshake! For God's sake it's been 2 days. Stick to your plan until you are given permission from your surgeon to advance stages. They aren't doing it to torture you. The post surgical instructions are there for your own safety as you heal. I know its hard, but suck it up, buttercup.