FrankyG

The fat! It jiggles now!! I have been losing weight evenly all over for the last year. Even from my fingers apparently (have had to buy smaller rings twice now)! But the last month or so, I've noticed that I'm really, really jiggly. Like the fat parts are looser, less firm and much more Jello like (I was always a very solid/firmly packed fat girl). After searching all over, it appears that this is a good sign that the fat areas are jiggly, because they are filled with Water instead of full fat cells; because the fat is in the process of being broken down and used. I have been doing really well exercising and noticed also that holding my legs or arms out a certain way causes the fat areas to sort of hang off like fabric and I see the muscle definition very clearly. But the skin itself is doing fine, thank goodness (no real saggy stuff happening yet). This also could mean that if I'm drinking enough water, I'll start seeing a real reduction in the jiggly areas soon. So does this sound about right? Anyone else have experience or insight into the jiggle?

I just saw these in the refrigerated healthy food section of my local Kroger and wondered about them. Now I think I might have to pick some up next time. I do miss my noodles!

Too funny! I'm of German ancestry mostly and I have always said I look like a sturdy German milkmaid. I a probably medium boned (can't wear many types of bracelets due to larger wrists). I have always had a very solid layer of muscle under all this fat and have shocked the hell out of people about how strong I am. Like when I was helping my inlaws to move some furniture and was carrying a queen sized mattress (in the front) so fast I was told to slow down as my FIL couldn't keep up with me. The doc said the same thing - my "ideal" weight was something like 135 and I busted out laughing so hard. I told him even in high school when I was not fat at all, I weighed right at 155, and the idea that I'd lose down to 135 at my age (early 40s) was ridiculous. I'm shooting for 175 and in being in killer shape.

I think he had a brain fart... or else he's just really good at saying stupid things. It's a gift! But really all you had to say is that he is an engineer. Known too many of them not to get that they all seem to think very linear and lack social skills and tact sometimes. I big pink puffy heart love sushi and there was no way I was giving it up... so I modify the way I eat it now. I mostly eat sashimi but still order some sushi, but I take the fish off the rice ball, separate out about 20 ish (I'm not counting but it's roughly a green pea sized) portion of the rice, add some wasabi and then dip that in the light soy. I still get a tiny taste of the yummy rice, but it is probably barely a spoonful once I'm done with my meal. I'll also unwrap some rolls to remove most of the rice and request rice free rolls if available.

I make it several times a month. I make dry rub for a big batch of chicken drumsticks, then after we eat on those, I add about 6-8 cups of Water, the chicken bones to the slow cooker (have also saved bones from thanksgiving in a freezerbag with all the air squeezed out - the neck bones are particularly good for making bone broth and have very tender meat), dump in the ends of things like celery and onions (I throw them in a separate veggie freezer bag also as I'm chopping veggies and save up the bag until it's full), add a dash of either apple cider or red wine vinegar or lemon juice (supposedly helps break down the collegen/marrow) then cook on high for at least 12 hours sometimes just let it go on low overnight. Roast the bones first (like in the oven or slow cooker) as that adds more flavor. It is perfectly fine to save the bones from a meal you and your family have eaten; they'll be totally sanitized/safe after boiling for hours. I let it cool, then using a fine metal colander, strain off the bits and bones and put the broth in quart containers and freeze. I use the broth for all kinds of Soups, chicken and dumplings...

My doctor said the same thing, but added that it was because the body's metabolism adjusts after about 12-18 months to the new eating patterns and activity levels, therefore meaning you'd be basically having to eat even less and exercise more to get results... sort of like where we started before the surgery (well, kind of, since we've had such a great opportunity to relearn healthy eating habits). I don't think this is exactly the same across the board for every person, just a general caution. I'm coming up on 13 months out now, and still losing. I've also started feeling really good and getting into exercising. I was doing okay through the summer into the fall, but the drive and enjoyment levels have really ramped up for me at this point and I'm now pushing past my usual routine and advancing into uncharted territory for me. So I do think it is possible to continue to improve both eating and fitness wise after the 12-18 month period, but you have to work for it harder.

Yeah, the powders made me throw up every time, even tried them again just to see at about 7 months, and same thing. They just make me gag even smelling them. I'm using Boost glucose control (usually all the diabetes nutrition shakes are much lower carb) shakes now - purchased both at HEB and Krogers. They have 16 grams of Protein and 16 grams of carbs, and they are pretty good. There have to be some Protein Shakes out there you can drink, so I'd suggest you try a few different ones and see if you could find one that works. Then drink several a day to supplement your protein until such time as you can get the solid protein up to a decent level. I eat a whole lot of eggs and soy sausage, canned tuna or chicken salads, baked fish (Swai fish is cheap and high protein and really easy to get down because it's so soft). And high protein milk (like Fairlife or Mootopia from HEB... if you're an Aggie, I suspect you might live in Texas, so check it out - one 8oz glass has 12 grams protein and only 6 carbs).

Fat stores hormones and can interfere with a woman's cycle and can cause infertility. Some of those hormones, especially progesterone, can make you feel a whole lot better and improve skin/hair as well as increase cycle regularity. If you are sexually active, make sure you're using precautions as there have been many incidents of pregnancy after surgery due to the loss of fat/hormone flooding that occurs.

Call your doctor. Running a fever is not something to play around with after this type of surgery, especially coupled with pain as you describe. It could be nothing, or it could be serious; in any case, get it checked out ASAP.

Fat stores hormones like estrogen in great quantities. As you lose fat, the stored hormones are released back into your bloodstream. That in turn means you're constantly dealing with a flood of hormones and will feel irritable, angry, weepy, depressed and joyful - sometimes in rapid succession. This will likely be an ongoing issue until you stop losing weight. I would just advise you to be aware of the possibility of having a hair trigger/easily to set off, do your best to remind yourself when you are feeling angry/sad that most likely it's just hormones, and take some deep breaths and try to get control of yourself. And also advise close family or friends that you likely will have some pretty wild mood swings and hope to not subject them to too much crazy. I am also loving exercising as a means to deal with the mood swings and am feeling better when I get out and do an hour or two of something a bit strenuous.

I know right? I also have had to get new (smaller) rings twice over the last year to replace my plain wedding band. My fingers were soooo fat!! Oh, and ankles! I have ANKLES!

I got hot flashes and light headed/sweaty with anything sugary too! It sucked, but then again, I now avoid most of that stuff because of the feelings, so maybe not such a bad thing. Definitely discuss with your doctor, but it likely is just an intolerance for certain foods now.

Wow! That is awesome. You sound so proud and confident! I hope to be even half as content as with my body in another year or two.

Thanks so much for all the thoughtful replies! I am getting in my vitamins/calcium every day. Hitting all my protein (and then some), drinking 64+ oz of water... the food/nutrition part is golden. My favorite exercise is swimming and I used to do that and water aerobics, but our pool is closed until summer (May) so I have to make do with walking/biking and yoga right now. No nearby gyms even with pool - closest one is over 45 minutes away and would cost several hundred for a membership. The issues may very well be related to my back and just transmitting pain down to the hip/leg areas. I have a giant rack still (currently wearing a 36 G bra), and even when I wasn't fat I always had giant boobs (was a DD in 6th grade and that was way before I gained weight). As I've lost weight the only thing that has changed is my band size (used to wear a 44 G). So I know how to buy supportive bras, but I may need to get some specifically for sports/compression and see if that helps as well. I will go shoe shopping this weekend. I realized after reading all the mentions about how important shoes are. The ones I just reglued are over 14 years old... the glue might have failed just from age! I never wore them that much until the last year, and now I wear the hell out of them, so my frugal nature just said "fix em' and save money" and it didn't even occur to me that the support might be shot by now. Oops. I'll keep doing my stretches and warmups and ease off of the jogging and stick with walking for now. I do think I'm getting much better, but with this much weight loss, I'm having tendons, ligaments and muscles behaving like a gangly teen and definitely will give my body more time to adjust. And will keep physical therapy in mind if this situation doesn't improve. Again - thank you so much all!

I love walking at night. Stay safe, watch your walking path for obstacles and enjoy yourself.

First off, losing 22 pounds in just over 2 months is not at all slow. When have you ever lost that much weight that fast? That is awesome and you should be really happy about that much weight gone. Second, yes, many people are slow losers. You can't compare how fast your body loses weight with how fast other people lose weight. It's not a race, and your body will do what it needs to do at exactly the pace it decides. Not anything you can do about that as long as you are getting your protein/nutrition, Vitamins, Water and exercise as defined by your doctor. Lastly, yes, starting out at a lower weight overall is going to mean the weight loss overall will be much slower when compared to someone starting at a high BMI/weight. Instead of looking at actual pounds, why not look at percentage lost? Keep doing well with your food/water and exercise, and the pounds will drop away. It might not be as fast as you'd like, but you'll get there in the end.

It took me 6 months before I really got an exercise routine down. I was just plain exhausted and could barely complete a slow half mile walk up until then. I'm doing super now at a year out, and it really didn't make too big a difference to me that I didn't get going until the 6 month mark; I'm walking/jogging 3+ miles a day most days, doing yoga twice a week, and biking and swimming (in the summer). The real key for me was to find things I enjoyed that didn't feel like a chore. I knew I'd never do it if I didn't feel at least a little happy doing it. My walking is because I have a super trail near my house around a bayou with lots of pretty birds, turtles and other wildlife - I enjoy walking because it's so pretty and the trail is well laid out. Didn't really like it that much before. Ease into it. You'll start feeling better the more you can up your calories and the more you try to exercise.

The amount of drugs you just had from surgery, and pain meds after... it's a wonder we remember how to do basic things like brush our teeth! My dad had heart surgery many years ago, and I was visiting him in the hospital, helping him pay his bills that would be due the following days. He was trying to balance his checkbook because he was a bit secretive about me doing it for him. But he couldn't do the simple subtraction and was getting really agitated. It literally was basic, grade school subtraction. He was a former math teacher and chemist and knew how to use a slide rule and do complex algebraic/calculus formulas in his head... so he was really really freaking out. I had to ask a nurse to come explain all of the mind-altering drugs they would have used during surgery and that he was currently still on for pain management would seriously compromise his ability to think and do even simple routine tasks. And that he'd be just fine in a week or two after it was all out of his system.

Did you take measurements? Are your clothes feeling looser?Many times when you're not seeing movement on the scale, you'll see your size go down due to losing fat and gaining muscle. A pound of muscle is much leaner and slimmer than a pound of bulky fat. Even if it is a true stall where nothing is happening, your body is in full on freak out mode from the surgery and now the total change of nutrients/calories it's getting. It may be trying to gauge if this is the new weight setpoint, or if this caloric intake is to continue, and figuring out what to do with your metabolism, hormones and other intricate processes. You should forgive your body for this - it will figure things out shortly and get moving on the weight loss again. There is no way it won't happen eventually, so just keep hitting your nutritional/water goals and moving as much as you can and you'll get through the stall. And just so you know... I've had stalls that lasted over a month. It's okay; my body is doing what it needs to do. Just have to have patience.

Way to go!

It's just a month longer - you can totally handle that. You'll do super great, and won't even remember in a few months the longer wait time. And wow on the heart issues - that is so scary and also great that this surgery possibly saved your life even before you had it... most folks don't find out about blockages until they've had a heart attack!! So glad you're doing well now.

They usually start feeling better after a week or so. Non-rubbing clothes, and using the roll to the side and push up with your arms move to avoid stressing your abdomen when getting up or down will help too. I had some success using a small firm pillow clutched to my abdomen too as I sat down or stood up to help minimize the pulling/pain. The less stretching/pulling on your middle, the better.

Fat stores hormones (especially estrogen) so as you lose fat, all those hormones get flushed out into your system... and can screw up your body temp regulation. That, combined with just losing fat stores in general can cause things to go haywire (you may experience mood swings through the weight loss period too due to this - frequent crying and sad/mad for no reason).

I had a momentary freak out the morning of my surgery and told my husband I wanted to go home. He said if I'd insisted, he would have taken me but we'd have had to figured out how to get the IVs out at that point and that could have been messy. It's perfectly normal, and you'll be fine. Deep breaths and calm thoughts!