Sajijoma

I am the same shape. I have no butt, no thighs really, but my bulk of my weight is across my belly and hips. I find the Lane Bryant skinny jeans work really well. They have stretch so it's not painful in the belly, but are "skinny" enough that they still hug my butt and thighs. Definitely worth it. Just don't buy too many because you seriously won't make back your money wearing them before you are on to the next size.

I first posted in this topic back in January. I had my first appointment with the surgeon on February 11 and he asked me which surgery I wanted. I told him the gastric bypass then he proceeded to tell me that he wouldn't do the bypass on me and would only do the sleeve because my BMI of 64 (weight was 399) at the time was too high and it was too risky then he told me to lift up my shirt and show him my belly, then said again I was too big. I was dumbfounded! Most doctors prefer the bypass for the heavier patients so I don't understand this at all. Then his dietician came in and said I had to lose 30 lbs before surgery but on my next appointment with her I saw paperwork that said 40 lbs. I'm waiting on my 3rd appointment on May 4 to clarify this but I'm down 21 lbs so far. I'm extremely frustrated because I've been going through this process for exactly a year now because their office keeps rescheduling my appointments. The day after my first appointment I had my endoscopy and it showed that I had several ulcers. I was put on Omeprazole and I think they are healed, but if I am prone to ulcers, isn't this yet another reason to do the bypass over the sleeve? I've had lots of time to mull this over while on my pre-op diet and I am convinced that I will fail with the sleeve and I know my body and I feel the bypass is what I need. I haven't seen the surgeon again since the first appointment so I'm hoping having had the ulcers will change his mind, but I am seriously contemplating looking into changing doctors if he still insists on only doing the sleeve. He tried to tell me I could do the sleeve then revise to the bypass, but why would I want to go through surgery twice if I don't have to? Also, my insurance is covering this 100% so I really doubt they will cover it a second time. My surgeon's office is a Center of Excellence and he has even appeared on TV a couple of times advertising his surgeries on a news show. Any thoughts on all this?

if I were you, I'd find a different surgeon. I was 429 when I met my surgeon and we sat down and talked about options and he said either rny or sleeve would be good, but rny would probably offer more weightloss. I was 386 on the day of surgery. I wasn't required to lose anything, but I tried so hard because I know losing weight does make it easier to do the operation, but seriously, unless you are like 4'9 or something and it's just inaccessible due to anatomy, it really should be gastric bypass IMO. I don't regret my rny at all and it would be better to get her done right the first time instead of suffering through a second surgery if it doesn't work out.

I'm probably going to have a lot of people disagree with me on this, but you're what, five months out? I'd actually just try increasing your calories before your next NUT appt. and see what happens. It isn't as though you're advancing to different foods, you're just (potentially) increasing your calories.

I'm a very by the book kind of person, but I'll call my NUT and see if she'll let me try it. I honestly don't know HOW I'll be able to increase it though since getting to 800 is a chore in and of itself in the outline of the program, but maybe?

Well, every diet tweak is going to result in a stall eventually, because X number of calories is going to equal maintenance intake for a given weight. You break this one just like you broke the last one...making another cut...however, I don't know where you are or how long you can do that before you reach a point where you have cut too much for it to be sustainable. I speak from prior experience...DO NOT let yourself reach that point!

I'm not sure I have anything else to cut. I literally have nothing left that I could cut unless it's the salad which isn't providing much, because I need the Protein.

sajijoma how tall are you im only 5'3 but even at my height my doc wants me on a minimum of 80 grams of Protein maybe you could bump that up

I'm 5'9. It probably would be a good idea, but I have a hard time just getting it in. I have to rely on Protein Drinks to get me as high as I am.

My NUT was very adamant that 800 cal is where I should be and that no Snacks are allowed in our program. I have an appt in like a week and a half so maybe she'll bump me up then or do you think I should call her again about still be stalled out before I do more damage.

@@Sajijoma I haven't had my surgery yet and imagine I'll be feeling the same way when I experience the stalls. I just wanted to comment that you should be proud to have done as well as you have in the past 6 months since surgery. From your stats - you lost 135lbs - that's incredible!!! Stay strong and keep it up - you've done exceptional so far - there should be nothing stopping you now! :-)

part of that was my supervised diet loss. Since surgery, I've lost 91lbs. Not quite so impressive given my starting weight.

@@katesuccess Could you give an example of what, specifically, you eat in during the day?

Thanks

my average day starts with a Syntrax Protein drink. My throat and pouch won't allow food when I wake up so it's my only way to get "breakfast". Then for lunch, I usually have either 2oz of tuna w/light mayo or 3oz of salmon baked and a handful of salad greens w/maybe some low sugar dressing like Italian. Then for a typical dinner, I might have 3-4oz of baked or grilled chicken(usually dark meat) and some salad and then about 2he after dinner I have another Protein Drink because I'm not usually near my 800 cals or Protein requirement.

I know I hate it when people tell me this, though I'm coming to believe that our bodies go into starvation mode when they don't have enough balance in our diets or enough calories to run on. After stalling out on 800 cal a day for more than two months, I fell off the wagon and gained some weight. I thought about doing the stringent 800 cal and no carbs thing, until my trainer convinced me to go with a more sane and sustainable route. Now I'm consistently losing 2 pounds a week, but it took four weeks on my present eating plan for my body to trust I wasn't going to starve it again I think. I eat 1300-1400 calories a day of 60 gm carbs, 55 fat, 160 Protein -- and I'm loving how easy it is to stay on it for me. Gym four times a week but nothing insane there either.

I hope you find what works for you @ @Sajijoma, and that you're back to the loser's bench quickly. I also happen to believe venting definitely helps, so vent away!

hmmm I'm on 800 cal/day and 60g of Protein and less than 20 carbs(closer to 0). I wonder if my body is starving. I do an hour of elliptical a day and 30 mins of resistance training 3 days a week and core tightening the other 4.

So I had been stalled out for over a month and with the help of my NUT we decided I needed to go completely no carb no starch. Just Protein only and some leafy greens. That was great and eventually that stall broke. Then I lost about 8lbs over 2wks and now I haven't lost anything for over a week! what is the deal! I cannot take anymore stalls!

I'm 5 1/2months out, and the only thing I can say really was different was the smell/consistency of my poo especially in the beginning. I only used stool softeners til my first BM and then after that, I chose to be natural and take a preventative approach using Probiotics and later on I added omega-3 capsules to my diet and I'm pretty regular.

It depends. I could have spun my wheel easily at 4 days out except for the drain hanging out. The biggest concern I would think would be the risk of mud leaking through your clothes and causing a place for infection. If you do throw, definitely wear a waterproof apron to protect your still healing body. The other hard part might be the dredging the clay before you actually start throwing. It takes a bit of effort to work it to get the air out and make it spin able. Maybe you could talk to the teacher of the class and explain you are having/have had surgery and see if they have a suggestion. If nothing else, listen in to the first lesson and gauge from there if it's something you can handle. Remember you are in control of the speed of the wheel in most cases and wetter clay is easier to spin, but harder to maintain shape so it's a balancing act. I personally fine red clay easier to spin than grey, so maybe if there is a choice, stick with the red until you are stronger.

It's hard to say. For me, I was faster loser pre op than I've been post op. At 5 months out, I have only lost 8lbs in 2 months. I was doing way faster than that before surgery, but the intense hunger was killing me and it was only a matter of time til I couldn't hold on anymore. I honestly am kind of down about it right now because I could be so much further if my body would cooperate.

When I am in Colorado (altitudes over 6,000') I wretch if I eat anything starchy. It's odd. I don't have this problem when I'm closer to sea level. It's happened twice, so I'm now very conscious of it. I don't know if its my diaphragm working harder to get air in but it is very real. Feel free to validate my experience flat landers

And, NO I wasn't smoking anything

I am in New Mexico right now. We are at 7,000 feet. I am visiting for 6 days keeping the Grandkids. I have had issues eating a lot of thing that I normally don't have issues with. I seriously think it is the altitude. I have no other explanations. I typically have no issues when I am at home.

i live in Colorado at about 6500 ft and I've never noticed a problem, but I haven't been down from our altitude to see what it's like closer to sea level. I have great restriction all the time though. I couldn't overeat if my life depended on it.

Just start slowly. If you cannot put in a full 30-60 mins of exercise start small. Walk to the end of the block, park your car further away from the door when you shop, do some light stretches, or some hand weights. Just doing anything really. Basically make a routine even before you decide what exercises you are going to do. I have rearranged my schedule to accommodate for an afternoon exercise because the end of the day exercise wasn't working for me. By then I was emotionally and physically spent and it was hard to do anything of any meaning. So carving out a protected time should be the first step and then doing just something light to cement the routine til the nausea goes. Once it's gone though you need to dig in and push yourself. It can be scary at first, but I do an hour of elliptical a day on some killer programs and in the beginning I could only do 3 mins without feeling like dying, but each day push a little harder against that wall. Challenge yourself to go to 5 mins then 10 mins etc til you reach that place you are looking for. I love my hour of me doing my thing. I feel so much better(and tired LOL) afterwards.

I can't eat anything with pork in it and the only way chicken works is if I indirect grill dark meat with the skin on and then remove the skin and drown in ranch to eat it. Otherwise it's a no go. Otherwise, I haven't had too many complaints.

@@needtorecover definitely keep your ovaries and uterus if you can. Studies are showing that without them, even with HRT that women lose part of their life expectancy when they have a complete hysterectomy. The ablation just takes the lining which for me would cure all my woes. I swear though it is harder for me to get approved for than wls was!

I know it probably isn't going to help to say it, because it only made me angry when people said it to me, but I am truly sorry for your loss. I have lost 3 children. 2 before birth and 1 at birth and there is no right or wrong way to deal or not deal with that loss. It's a deep pain that never completely goes away. If you are lucky, you manage to eventually get it into a box enough to go on with your life, but it's never gone. You will have days where you cry and scream and wish you could have died with them and you'll have days where life feels almost normal and then later that night you feel guilty for almost feeling normal again. It's a long process and for some it takes years to get to the place where they can handle living again. Grief counseling can help, but I didn't feel helped by it. I felt like they wanted to rush me through my grief to where they wanted me to be and feel and I just wasn't. Talking about it helps. Maybe talking to your grand daughter about her dad and the fun things he did as a kid or the funny things he'd say or just whatever. It can give you both something to heal with. My babies were so small when they died that I didn't have that memory to fall back on to get through to where I am. Am I "over it"? No, you never get over losing your child, and I still have days where I cry and miss them but I'm functional and I have come to the conclusion there is a reason I'm still here and I need to focus on that purpose until the day we are reunited again. You can't find the comfort for your pain in a bottle of booze, a bottle of pills, or like I did, a box of ice cream sandwiches daily. All it does is make you sicker and will eventually lead to your family mourning you sooner. Hang in there [emoji173]️

I feel kind of bummed! I don't have any cute sneezes or hiccups or burps or anything like that to tell me I'm done eating. All I get is this feeling that is a little tight between my breasts. Sometimes my tongue feels like it's drawing back and that's it. I also get the cold all the time which is AWESOME because I used to be so hot and sweaty all the time and now I can wear all my cute sweaters and mittens and scarves and it's mostly fine. LOL

My approach has been to take a neutral stance. I have told very few people outright, but if someone asks "how I did it" and they are someone who like me has had issues, then I tell them. I'm not ashamed of having the surgery, but at the same time it's not everyone's business either. I don't evangelize the awesomeness of my rny to the grocery checkout clerk when she commented how good I looked and she could tell I lost a lot of weight, but between friends and stuff, there really isn't a reason to keep it a secret or lie. I have lost one friend after she found out I had wls and that's ok because doing a post mortem on that friendship, I realized she wasn't really my friend to begin with and only wanted someone to beat down and I made a great target. If your friends turn on you let them go. Life is better without the toxic life suckers and if you do tell, it might help someone. My former college roommate was the one who got me thinking about it. We had always been the same size and then the next time I saw her she looked amazing and when I found out she did wls I thought "heck, if she did it, why can't I?!?".

I never had a csection but my rny surgery was way easier and less painful recovery than my births. It was also less painful than my gallbladder surgery, but that was a complicated mess from it rupturing, so not the best comparison, but I totally think of you handled a csection or two that this will be easier than you think. I was expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised I was even able to climb in our giant van to go home without any worries.

I think part of your lucky cramp free periods was because your body was regulating itself after having a baby and breastfeeding. After each of my babies, I didn't have a period for a year or longer each time because we breastfed and when it came back, it wasn't the painful hellish periods I was used to, but more like what I imagine normal people feel, but as time would go on, it worked itself back into the hellish mode again. I'm not saying go get pregnant again, but for me, that was a nice reprieve! Since surgery, and losing weight and weaning, my periods were all over the map, but now they have seemingly settled into a 26 day cycle(which I've always had exactly 32 day cycles so I have no idea what the deal is) but the same pain and flood of blood is coming back. By flood, I mean, I literally cannot leave the house for 3 days a month and use the giant super super overnight maximum diaper depends for pads because none of the "feminine products" are big enough or absorbent enough to even almost catch it. I still have to keep extra undies and pants in the bathroom and sit on a stack of towels to prevent leaks from ruining the furniture. I'm waiting to get hydro ablation done because I'm done having kids(7 is plenty) and that will end my period misery forever(hopefully). If you aren't done having kids and aren't ready for more, maybe talk to your OBGYN and see if maybe mirena or some combo pills might be an option to at least keep the lining from building up too much. I can't do pills because they just don't work for me. I've lost 3 babies after getting pregnant on various birth control pills because my body just doesn't absorb them or I'm a hyper ovulater or something.

My advice would be to try not to weigh yourself everyday and put the majority of your focus on just the Water, Protein, exercise and Vitamins because it can be depressing if you are expecting more on the scale. I'm not a fast loser by any means. I'll lose a lb a day for like a week then stall out for the next 3 and then lost a lb a day for the next 4 days then stall out again for a few more weeks. It just is what it is. Physically though, I'm gaining strength and endurance and my body shape is changing and my pant size shrinking. It's just not so cut and dry as many of us have been taught that it just melts off and everyday you lose weight and every few days you lose more inches. It's more like a stair case and some of us get steep stairs of loss and some of us have shallow stair steps, but we all get to the same place in the end if we keep on doing the basics and stay away from those things that really sabotage long term success.

I was that way with tea. I used to drink nearly a gallon combined of tea every day and after surgery it tastes like spinach Water. It was disgusting! It's gotten slowly better as the months tick by, but it never will taste as good as it did pre op I think. I'm actually ok with that. I've mourned that and moved on. I still get a glass every once in awhile(Splenda sweetened same as pre op) and it's ok....nothing special, but a good change when I get water bored.

My biggest mistake is not realizing how monumental losing weight would change my life. My life before was very basic and routine because it had to be. I couldn't function really and now, there are lots of fights and arguments because I'm not ok just sitting on the sofa starring at my husband play video games for hours and the kids run around from place to place while my life burns away. Even the best relationships will have periods where you have to renegotiate your life together. I mean, we aren't getting a divorce or anything, but I was not expecting to have to fight for the right to be allowed to go to the mall or go for a walk because it's not what he likes to do and he's still stuck in our old life cycle and I'm trying to make a new one.