Cervidae

Man, I feel your pain! I also have PCOS and lost soooo slooowww in the beginning. I think I lost basically what you did! then by month 4, I picked up to about 20 pounds a month, sometimes a little over. I have never in all these months come close to losing 30 pounds in one month. And yet... 8 months and two days post op and I've lost 141 since surgery, averaging 17 pounds a month. It ain't over till it's over! And it really does all add up and even out in the end. Don't get discouraged and bogged down by the negative, it's bad for your health. Seriously though. Don't even worry about it. You have no idea what's around the corner, and in a year you'll think you were being silly about this. I know I definitely do!

Your choices are these: - get surgery, and take the risk that you may gain it all back. But also have a huge chance at becoming healthy and happy, and living a whole life that would never have happened before. - decide against surgery, and continue on this road that may be easy, may be fun, but obviously has you worried or uncomfortable enough to have sought to learn about wls in the first place. This road only leads one place, and we all know where it goes because we were all traveling down it at one point or another. Only you can make this decision deep down on a spiritual level first, then a practical level, and then in reality. Can you live as a happy fat guy? Maybe. I really wanted to live as a beautiful, happy fat chick, and I did for a time. Unfortunately, obesity is a ticking timebomb, and I chose to diffuse that bomb before it could destroy me. You may live as a happy fat guy for a time, but imagine living as a happy, healthy guy for many more decades! I struggled with this too. Only you can decide if the fear and effort and blood and tears are worth an entire lifetime. And only you are going to live with the consequences, whether good or bad. Good luck! If anything, I think everyone here knows that making this decision is no small feat. I wish you nothing but the best.

you're almost the exact same age and starting weight I was! I chose the bypass.. and I am so glad I did. I have lost 141 since surgery 8 months ago, and have no complications. The RNY isn't for everyone but I chose it because of my extremely high bmi, and it has been paying off for me big time. Good luck with your decision! Either way, you'll do well.

man, these are great suggestions! I have the exact same issue. Following.

Part of the reason the surgery works is because it seriously limits the amount and kinds of food you can eat. You'll probably feel VERY differently the first time you try eating something that doesn't agree with you. Just that unpleasant experience alone may help you to avoid eating the junk, or too much of something. It's not going to kill you but it is going to be extremely uncomfortable, perhaps even painful. So if you truly cannot resist and you have to sort of make yourself snap out of it by experiencing dumping or stuck food, well... the surgery does help in that way. Another reason it works is because it cuts out the part of your stomach that makes a surplus of the hunger hormone. For at least a few months, sometimes closer to a year, after surgery, most people simply don't feel hungry, myself included. Sometimes food is even completely undesirable. This sounds sort of miserable, because we love food... but really, it's another tool to help curb our appetites and stay on track, and to eat the food we actually need to live, not to live to eat food that was actually making us obese/sick/etc. I have PCOS, and I'm a hormonal eater too. Only now at 8 months have I started feeling it again, and I can tell you with certainty that it is NOTHING like it used to be. It's controllable. It's like what "normal" people go through when they crave something (people who never got obese because they don't have the hormone and metabolic health issues that led us here). I crave a food, I tell myself I can't or should not, or I am choosing not to, eat it, and I eat something else. Usually a measured amount of some healthy substitute, and after a few bites, the craving has died down. So manageable now compared to what my life and my appetite used to be like. This surgery really is amazing. It gives us the ability to be the kind of person and do the kinds of things we always wanted to to be healthy but could never sustain long-term. Thankful every moment of every day!

Sounds like he wanted to eliminate dairy because of the fat content/lactose sugar that may be making you have these issues. Perhaps try finding a milk-free Protein drink? I had a lot of these same issues in the beginning as well, and now I have them very rarely, and I've figured out which foods do it to me. For the moment, it's most likely your body just going through some rough times as it heals and tries to make sense of this huge trauma. Getting in your protein and Water and Vitamins in the beginning is essential! Hopefully this next visit to your doctor can help you, but you cannot go much longer without getting in the protein you need. I wish I had more advice to offer you. Just hang in there, I'm better it will be getting a lot better very soon.

Did you try to lose weight before? How did that work out for you? Early on in the process is the usual time people freak out about wls, wondering if they did the right thing, if they made the right choices, if it's all worth it, etc. I went through it, you're going through it, most people I've spoken to went through it. The fact is, it IS a process and it IS going to get better. My advice would be to remember why you did this and went through all this effort and pain to begin with. What made you make this decision? There must have been very good, concrete reasons. Remember those. When all is said and done, every person who hates the beginning and has these very same regrets is only thankful, grateful, and happy they did it by like a year out. It took you and I and everyone else here many, many years to become heavy and to become the people we are. A change this momentous is not going to happen overnight. It's going to suck a LOT before it gets better. Unfortunately, that's just the process.But in the end, when you're healthy and vibrant and living your life in a way that was not possible before surgery, you'll be singing a different tune. I look forward to that for you. I hope you get there soon. In the meantime, remember why you did this to begin with and take amazing care of yourself, and give it time. Good things are coming for you. They're already here, really, just disguised as pain and frustration and worry.

hey, welcome! this place is an amazing resource. you'll find lots of like-minded individuals here who can understand your triumphs and struggles in a way no one else can. It's been invaluable to me since even before my surgery last August. I'm having an ACL reconstruction in just a couple weeks... not looking forward to being laid up during my "honeymoon" phase of weight loss, but hey, shit happens. *shrug* We all just do what we can with the tools we are given and hope for the best. 300 pounds lost is no small feat! That's incredible! If there's ever anything I can help you with, feel free to friend/message me any time. I love making new friends. And the people here are all very friendly and kind, and generally just want to help. Don't be a stranger.

I agree with all that's been said above - there are WAYYYY too many factors to be able to accurately anticipate how much and how fast you will lose. However, I can still offer my own experience. I have PCOS, a hormonal disorder that makes it incredibly hard to lose weight, and incredibly easy to gain it. I've never in my life had an easy time losing. In fact, I would often be eating healthy and exercising and lose no weight at all... very frustrating. After my RNY, I seemed to be losing soooo slooowwwwww. I only lost like 13 the first month. A couple months I lost around 20, but I've never gone over that. I would watch these people losing like 30-35 pounds a month and feel terrible and anxious that my body is just going to be heavy and screwed up forever. Now I'm 8 months out (as of yesterday) and I'm down 141 pounds, which averages to about 17 pounds a month. Most newbies will FREAK OUT (myself included) if they lose only 15-17 pounds the first few months. yet here I am, an entire person lighter after only 8 months. Don't sweat it! It all adds up in the end. Besides, this journey isn't really about losing weight. It's about getting healthy, and the weight loss follows.

@@esskay77 quinoa is really good because it's a protein and a good carb, like beans. I know Bariatric patients are generally all "carbs are evil!" But the fact is, we need carbs for energy. To not eat any carbs for a long period of time is not good. I did it, and I felt like crap. No energy at all. Not to mention, quinoa is a grain we actually are able to digest. It's digested very slowly, for a slow release of energy, which also prevents insulin spikes. It's got a ton of fiber and aids in digestion and helps to keep your bathroom visits "regular". It also contains nutrients that our bodies need to remain healthy. It's generally just very good for you, especially if you don't eat tons of it. It's like what most people think whole grain pasta is, when in reality, whole grain pasta is awful for you. Just make sure, if you do try it, that you don't get a pre-cooked one because they almost always contain oils to prevent it from sticking. Oils are another food that should NEVER be consumed, contrary to popular knowledge. I used to eat and cook with coconut oil. Turns out it's carcinogenic, and also not something we were not made to digest. The more you know!

I used to be a DD... now I'm a B. The bust definitely shrinks.

that depends on a bunch of things - your own body, your nutritionist (and how closely you follow his/her directions) and what kind of rice/bread you eat. It also depends on whether you mean "can I physically eat digest this without getting sick" or "should I be eating this while trying to be as healthy as possible and continue to lose weight". I'm 8 months out, and only VERY recently started adding such things back into my diet. I have decided that bread will never be something I have in my diet, save for very rarely and as a treat. Wheat is something that a lot of people REALLY don't want to give up, but the reality is that our bodies are not made to digest it, it is LOADED with carbs (read: sugar!), which we generally try to avoid as wls patients, and it causes insulin spikes. It can also prevent the absorption of certain minerals and nutrients we need to survive and be healthy... and we already have enough absorption issues! Most nutritionists say that it's good, or even healthy (because of the fiber) to eat whole grain bread, but I have personally decided that the insulin spikes are not worth it, I would rather eat healthy carbs, and I can get my Fiber in other, healthier ways. That is entirely your decision, and only you and your nutritionist have any right to tell you what to do. As for rice, I'm now able to eat small amounts of brown rice, and brown rice is really good for you. I was so tired for the first six months or so, and now that I've been able to add good carbs back in (brown rice, quinoa, Beans, etc) I feel much, much better! No doubt you will get a myriad of responses here that all contradict each other. I can only offer what I have learned and experienced. The best place to ask this question would be your nutritionist's office. How are you feeling otherwise? at 4 months out, I was still sort of miserable and tired. Then again, I was also anemic at the time! Keep on keeping on... EDIT: here's an article that explains pretty much everything I've learned about why wheat is bad for you: http://news.discovery.com/human/why-you-should-probably-stop-eating-wheat-121214.htm I've learned from many sources but this one sums it up pretty well and explains the digestion and absorption issues clearer.

I've been doing this for like... a good 6 of the 8 months since surgery. At first I was kind of annoyed with myself, and annoyed that I also did not feel good about myself during these comparisons. Then I realized I was mainly doing it because my self-image and identity were, and still are, changing rapidly. Such a huge, rapid change in our bodies is something we could have known was coming, told ourselves it was coming, tried to prepare ourselves for it, etc... but NO ONE is truly prepared the how bizarre and confusing it is to look in the mirror and see something utterly different than you saw last month or last week! Even in the beginning when I didn't see much of a change, I knew a change was coming, and that knowledge was always tugging at the back of my mind, bugging me. I would say it's pretty normal to be using comparison analysis to better understand where we are and where we're going. Maybe even healthy. Just keep this in mind also: your progress and the progress of others are two completely different and independent spheres. I spent a long time being extremely frustrated that people were losing faster than me, or looked better than me, etc, and it did nothing but make me miserable and gave me a feeling of inadequacy. Just always remember that this is YOUR body and YOUR effort and YOUR journey and comparing yourself to others in that way can only lead to misery and frustration. This time is all about you and your health. Becoming healthy comes with glorious side effects - like losing weight, feeling wonderful, and opening up a whole new realm of possibilities in your life.

Hey Ashlie M. I was the same way in the beginning. Nothing tasted good and nothing sat well and nothing satisfied me. food was just a huge annoyance that I didn't even want to have to deal with. But at this point, your stomach has just been through a HUGE trauma, so it's no wonder it doesn't want to have to do any work right now. Not to mention you probably still have a whole host of drugs in your system which can affect your ability and desire to eat. It may continue to be tough for you for the first month or two, or maybe even longer. However, I'm now 8 months out (8 months exactly today, actually, woo!) and I can tell you with pleasure and confidence that those days are long gone and nothing but a distant memory. I don't often actually feel hungry - usually only when it has been way too long between food or shakes for me, and that's real hunger, not head hunger. When I do eat, I wouldn't say I exactly enjoy it, but it's not usually an uncomfortable or frustrating experience like it was in the beginning. And when I eat a few bites of food, I feel full and satisfied. You will reach this point too. I promise it gets better! It's always, always hard in the beginning. Just focus on getting in your Water, Protein, and Vitamins. Sooner than you know, these difficulties will be a thing of the past and you will adjust to your new body and new habits. Hang in there! Feel free to friend/message me if I can help in any way, or if you just want a friend to talk to.

I'm sorry you're having these issues! Vomiting up most of what you eat is not normal. You may be having trouble healing for multiple reasons... the diabetes can contribute to that but not getting enough calories, Vitamins, and Water can have a really detrimental effect on your healing. Definitely contact your doctor! It is not normal or healthy to be unable to keep your food down.

a gurgle and a burp sounds completely normal. I usually get one or both when I am full. It's entirely possible, even probably, that your stomach is still swollen so there's even less room than there will be when the swelling goes down. Just go nice and slowly, and keep sipping. Get better soon!

awesome! any questions we could maybe help you with?

That's the spirit! Acknowledge that you want to do something differently and move on. You've got this.

Having a lap: something that so many people take for granted! It feels wonderful, doesn't it? My kitties are quite happy that they can lay across my lap now. Congrats to you!

Congrats! Just caring and wanting to do everything right will go a long way toward your success. Feel free to ask any questions and the wonderful people here will probably have some insights/tips for you. Good luck! You'll do great!

I've pretty much always stuck with premier protein. 160 a shake, three shakes a day, and I would be at 480 cals a day. Getting those three and as much water as I could took literally my entire day, and even sitting on my butt doing no physical activity, that was not enough calories to sustain me. Even now, 700 calories is not enough to sustain me. I can function but I'm exhausted and my muscles tire quickly. You're still taking in way less than you're body needs, which is why we lose so quickly. We're burning our surplus.

Highly doubtful! Most likely the pain killers and anesthesia are both causing issues with oxygen intake. I had the same problem, and while I didn't use the oxygen while I was awake I did have to use it while I slept for the first two weeks. It wasn't exactly fun but the alternative is being low on oxygen which is not safe for your brain. How are you feeling otherwise? I was a mess 4 days after surgery. I basically just slept for the entire day. Hang in there, it gets better, MUCH better, and soon!

First, I'm so sorry for your loss. I applaud you for being able and willing to take this huge step to take care of yourself during a time when you are grieving. The psych eval seems to vary from person to person, ranging from a few simple questions like "do you know what you are doing" and "why are you having this surgery" to a long and tedious questionnaire. Generally, it seems that if you are approaching this journey with a sound mind and a solid understanding of what the surgery entails physically and emotionally, I think you'll do just fine. Hang in there. <3 I know I'm just an internet stranger but I am here if you ever want to message me and talk or ask questions. I have had such an amazing journey and so much success, and I want to give back. Good luck!