Djmohr

No guilt here whatsoever! Life is way too short and I wasted 25 years of it being obese and sitting out. I have my life back and it sure as well wasn't easy making that happens. Losing this 112lbs was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Losing the next 34 seem almost impossible too and I know that maintaining it will be just as difficult as losing it. Nope, no time for guilt here, too busy enjoying my much healthier thinner self!

cheese, cheese , cheese! I eat cottage cheese every single day. Sometimes for lunch, sometimes for part of my dinner. For breakfast it is a Protein shake everyday. I also eat a lot of skinless boneless chicken breasts prepared many different ways so I don't get bored Fresh vegetables - the farmers market is my favorite place to go every weekend! For Snacks -,pistachios, more cheese, apple with Peanut Butter and pudding

I am 10 months post op and have been shedding significant hair almost since the beginning, It happens with massive weight loss for many people. It can effect anyone who has had WLS and is not only a result of gastric bypass alone. Biotin definately helps with regrowth as does cutting your hair shorter. It is less noticeable. I have tons of short hairs popping up all over. Unfortunately the longer ones are still coming out 10 months post op. There is no set time limit on when it will stop. I have had multiple experts (doctors, nurses, nutritionists from bariatric team) tell me that it will likely continue until the weight loss slows way down or stops completely. Some people have experienced this stopping after a few months but it can go on for the duration of your loss. By the way, my Protein levels and Iron levels have been excellent from the very beginning so it is not that, it is the rapid massive weight loss. The good news is, you shed all over. No bald spots with this. At the end of the day, for me, the trade is well worth it. I have my health back! Even if all my hair fell out. I would then just go get some really cute wigs. Oh, and I would rock those wigs! LOL!

@ I was a total sugarholic before my bypass surgery. It is not the reason I chose bypass but I am very glad that I did. It solved many other comorbitities very quickly post op. For me, the first 6 months following surgery I could actually eat sugar but hated the taste of it so I abstained As much as possible. I am actually allergic to sugar substitutes, they give me severe migraines so I have to use real sugar, honey or agave as sweeteners. Because of this, the only thing I drink is Water. Thankfully I broke the soda/juice/caffeine habit almost 5 years ago. I am happy drinking water or fruit infused water every day. In the last few months I have been eating more sugar than I would like to in things like pudding and even once in a while I will have a tiny serving of frozen yogurt or ice cream. For me, even eating yogurt contains real sugar. I don't have dumping syndrome so I really have to be careful and watch it so I don't get myself into a sugar habit again.

@@glo61 Please don't get discouraged. You can do this and already you have made a lot of changes. You are very early on post surgery and sometimes it takes many try's before your new tummy accepts different foods. If chicken, fish or other meats don't sit well this week, they may next week so keep trying them. My post was not meant to criticize at all, it was meant to help you understand that down the road the foods you are eating won't take care of hunger which absolutely will come back following a bypass. Once that comes back a Protein shake will not hold you for long, the only thing that does keep hunger at bay is good quality dense protein. You can do this! You are well on your way. Keep trying those things that don't work now. For me that is eggs, I get sick everytime I try them. There were many more foods on that list 6 months ago and now I can pretty much eat any protein. Good luck and hang in there.

@@glo61 i just broke a 28 day stall this morning. It is my second large stall since I had my surgery last Sept. This one was tough to break. The first stall I hit was about a month post op. At the time I was working out 1 hour a day doing cardio. I was only able to get in about 600 - 800 calories but was barely hitting my Protein goal. I was told by both my nut and physical trainer to change my routine. My body had gotten used to it. I was told to try working out every other day for 30 min instead of the hour. I was told to increase my protein a bit as well. Within 4 days of changing up my routine the weight started coming off rapidly again. I will tell you that eating potatoes, salad and cereal as your main meals will not help you long term. You MUST hit your protein goals every day and limit yourselflf to good carbs. Salads, vegetables, fruit. If you don't do well with meat, try Beans, cheese, nuts &seeds along with eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese and protein shakes. 1 gram of protein for every inch you are tall minimum. Try some yogurt with high protein granola for Breakfast or cottage cheese. I am not a huge meat eater myself but I do eat some. As time goes by, you will find the things you are now eating will not control your hunger when it comes back and you will find yourself eating more of it or more often causing grazing. Grazing is what causes people to gain their weight back. Carbs cause you to be more hungry. This is what I have experienced in my 10 months post op along with a ton of research from doctors, nuts and people who live with WLS everyday. If you change your routine and increase your protein you will break the stall. Also, that darn scale will fluctuate all day long every day. Don't let it consume you. With my latest stall I actually avoided it for a while because it was making me a bit down on myself. I am a person who usually weighs daily and usually the fluctuations don't bother me but 28 days was a very big stall for me. Good luck to you!

gosh darn it! I really wish things would settle down for you. I too would suggest talking to your doctor to see if you have stricture going on that is causing your food to get stuck.

I just had my first buff bowl from noodles and company the other day. It was probably one of the best meals that are fast food out there. - Greek restaurants always have chicken Souvlaki with a Greek salad (yum) - grilled nuggets from chick Fila with a side of fruit or a side salad - Applebee's chicken and portobello mushrooms (one of my favorites) - chili from Wendy's - Soups - chicken tortilla - shrimp cocktail when on the menu I really try to steer clear of fast food restaurants in general but if I am stuck because there are others with me, I stick to the salads that have Protein on them. I don't do well with any kind of bread nor do I want the carbs. I do eat pizza on rare occasion and will go for a thin crust with lots of toppings. I can usually eat one small square. I never eat pizza from the chains, there are way too many ingredients that contain crap. I choose family run pizza places that have very very thin crust. Of course I am in Wisconsin and there are a ton of pizza places like that here. It goes with bowling and beer! (LOL). I don't drink beer but will indulge n the rare occasion for pizza.

@@ejones8979, I still have to eat slowly and chew like crazy. It will be much easier to eat quickly but you will find out that you can overeat in a heart beat. When you overeat, it is not a good experience. You already know this but it takes time for your brain to tell you that you are full. If you eat too quickly it could be too late. I struggle with this all the time even now. If i don't chew my food well, it gets stuck and that is not comfortable at all. Mostly this happens with things like steak or pork. I actually cut my meat into tiny bites to begin with which helps. Sorry, I am guessing you were looking for better news.

@@beccaconaty87 Hi there and welcome! I just wanted to reach out and welcome you to this site. Honestly I don't know what I would have done without my Bariatric Pal family. They have helped me so many times when I had had questions or simply wanted to rant a little bit. There is one regret I have had regarding weight loss surgery and that is I wish I would have been brave enough to do this in my twenties. I was scared for all the reasons you listed. Instead I kept moving forward with yo yo dieting and adding more weight along the way. In the process I developed high blood pressure high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, Gerd, sleep apnea, stage 3 kidney disease. I have severe arthritis of my spine and have had now 5 surgeries to deal with that. My knees are bad, my hips are bad and I suffered from severe migraines. All of this was a direct result of being obese. I carried an extra 150lbs around for 25 years. I truly believe that having this surgery gave me my life back. I am down 111 lbs in just 9 months. all of my comorbitities have resolved but the damage to my spine is done and cannot be undone. If you do this for yourself, be brave and do your research. It really will give you that time back with your kids as well. Please feel free to reach out with questions. I suspect like others you will likely to told to go the bypass route because it will cure your Gerd where the other surgeries may make that worse. You only want to go through this type of surgery once.

@@CanyonBaby Definately take the discount! I am 52 and I definately look younger than 52 even though my grown kids tell me I am old all the time. I have been offered the senior discount a few times in restaurants and now even one of my favorite casinos in Vegas. In Vegas they call it the "Young at heart'" club. Yes, an actual club and you get free and discounted stuff when you are in that club. Definately take the discount, you are young at heart!

@@Cunninglinguist Thank you for sharing your story and passing on a positive message. I did not even notice your name until it was pointed out. I also do not get offended so easily, to each his own. Now if you were cursing like a sailor that might bother me, but that is not he case. LOL! I also would like to know if this led to a whole new relationship.

I have seen them but honestly I have found that simply filling up my Water bottle which is 24 oz. 3 times. I know if I am not on my second one by 11am, I need to catch up. For me what works best is literally holding my water bottle in my hand first thing in the am. I constantly sip/drink from it if it is in my hand. I go no where without it, even in my home. It's weird but I actually crave water now and this habit helped me to learn to get my water in daily. But that type of cup might help you. I would simply forget to do that on time and would have to catch up anyway. LOL

Yeah! I am so glad to hear you all are eating cherries with no problem. I was headed to the farmers market on Saturday to get some fresh bing cherries. They are only in season here for a very short window and they are my favorite. I am 9.5 months post op and am guessing I won't have a problem. Can't wait til Saturday!

Woot woot! Congratulations on your weight loss! I have 34lbs left to go and am pushing to get it done by the end of the year. It does get harder as you get closer, that is for sure.

In the beginning I ate yogurt. Then I added high Protein low carb granola to my yogurt. Now I simply have a protein shake for breakfast although today I had mine very early so I ended up having cottage cheese late morning which is a staple in my house post surgery I cannot eat eggs, they actually make me feel sick but if I could I would definately eat them. They only take a few minutes to prepare and the protein is high, also you can do so much with eggs. I have heard others leverage retried Beans as well.

@@Jenyp8409, I have not had that heart issue but I wanted to reach out and wish you the best of luck with your surgery tomorrow. I will say a prayer that all goes well and I will be thinking about you. Deb

Your pain sounds like the gas they used, which by the way pain meds don't touch. That gas pain is brutal. The only way to get rid of it is to walk a lot, sip Water a lot and use heat packs. Also gas x did way more for my pain then pain meds. The pain meds just made me so exhausted that it made the actual pain harder to handle. Try a heating pad and gas x while sitting or laying. I hope it gets better soon!

Wow, that is great that you have a buddy that lives so close to you. I think it would be so great to have a partner that knows what this is all about.

I too have had multiple open stomach surgeries and then the RNY bypass. I have a very high pain threshold as I have also had multiple spine surgery which are the worst pain I have ever had. In terms of pain you will be fine in that two weeks. I will say that the gas pain is much worse that the surgical pain but that should be well out of your system at that point. What I will say is that giving yourself enough time to get your fluids in is difficult even when you are solely focused on only that. The minute you get involved in something other than that focus you may forget to eat and drink which you are constantly doing for many weeks following this type of surgery. If you forget you get defeated and sick and it is very difficult to catch up because your new tummy volume don't tolerate it. My advice would be to take the time needed to get used to your new way of nourishment. For me that took about a month until I was able to get enough in me daily. Also those first 4 weeks I was very weak and tired and had to nap daily. Again, this has more to do with your nourishment than pain. I had no complications at all. Hope this gets you thinking about it a bit.

Good for you, it sounds like you had an amazing time!

@@scarletwitch19 That is a good idea because there will come a time when you actually feel hungry again. For me, it was right around the 6.5 month mark. I also noticed a capacity to eat more at that stage as well so what you eat becomes even more important. I will say, I have yet to be able to eat a cup of dense Protein. I can however eat a cup of salad with some protein on it.

@@Kichi My orthopedic surgeon told me the same thing. I had hoped all this weight loss would take pressure off my spine and relieve pain in some of my joints. My ankles and knees are definately better but because I am more active and my posture has changed the joints in my spine are definately impacted.

Welcome! Congratulations on making the decision to get healthy. I know for me it was the best thing I have ever done for myself.