CHM

You're very welcome. My bypass was in Jan 2016, yes. My ticker is kind of deceiving though - only about 35 lbs of my loss has been since surgery, which is a normal amount I think. The rest was lost pre-op on my required 3 month supervised weight loss plan.

*comes out of hiding* Is it over...are they gone?

In my case the issue seemed to be that I wasn't eating enough. I was only eating 2 of the 4 solid meals I was supposed to be. Adding a 3rd meal on most days got me moving again. It just all depends on what the issue is for you - and again, sometimes there isn't one and the body just needs a break. It's difficult to tell.

I'm 7 weeks post-op tomorrow, so pretty quickly after, especially considering I'd already been stepping out of my 11s for at least a month before I finally replaced them. In fairness I had already lost 86 lbs while in pre-op, so I had a good head start.

Yep, I just had to buy new shoes yesterday. 10.5 (or 11, since 10.5 is virtually non-existent) to a 10 so far.

My immune system has definitely gotten stronger. In previous years between October and March I'd typically get one flu and 2-3 colds, each followed by about a month of bronchitis. We are now mid-March, I've been exposed to a LOT of sick family members, and I have yet to actually fall ill. My husband did just get over a really bad cold, and 3 days ago we thought I'd caught it because I had a slight cough, but I woke up the next day and nothing. This is pretty awesome. Must be all the vitamins!

During pre-op my husband was the only one who knew. Once I had a surgery date scheduled. I let his parents in on it since we were staying with them at the time and there wasn't really any way to hide a 2 night hospital stay and the recovery that would follow. About 2 weeks after surgery, when I was looking and feeling more normal again, I told my mother-in-law that I'd be okay with the rest of family knowing. She's a big gossip and I know it was absolutely killing her to keep it zipped. Plus she is far more vocal and confrontational than I am, so I knew if there were any negative reacters she'd have had them whipped into line before they ever got to me. As a housewife, coworkers weren't an issue for me. I still haven't told my own family and probably never will - they live 2400 miles away and can be quite critical and judgemental.

I hear you - my nearest support group is 2 hours away and I don't drive either. Hence I hover around here excessively.

This question is best directed to your nutritionist. The reason for this is that it doesn't take but 5 minutes of reading these forums to see how extremely varied surgeons' plans for food reintroduction can be. My surgeon's was a more accelerated one - week 1: clear liquids, week 2: full liquids, week 3: purees, week 4: soft foods, etc., but I've seen others have these stages introduced much further down the line. Regardless of what stage you are on, protein and fluid intake should be your top priorities, and carbs and sugars should be as limited as possible. That one is pretty universal across the board.

Unfortunately I'm not in your area, but as a fellow Canadian I thought I'd pop in and say "Hi!" I'm in North Dakota right now, but I was born and raised in the Niagara region, so not terribly far from you. As for support groups, perhaps your surgeons office can direct you to one? I know that local support group info was one of things included in the big binder I was provided by mine.

I love super crazy dark chocolate. As in Lindt 99% dark (yes, it does exist). Pre-op I would eat one square of the bar every evening. Its so intense there was never really a desire for more than that. I haven't tried it post-op yet. I'll be asking at my next follow up on Wednesday if it would be okay to try it. I expect it will, given that one square provides a whole 10 calories, 1g fat, and a miniscule amount of sugar (the entire bar has 1g), and it doesn't trigger anything for me.

How long have you been at a stand still? Stalls are very normal and necessary as we drop the vast amounts of weight we do after surgery, and they often last much longer than we'd like. I just ended a 2.5 week stall and I'm 6 weeks out. Its not a big deal. Just focus on keeping your protein and hydration on point. Once its done taking a breather, your body will start working its ass off again (literally) if its getting what it needs.

I am currently using a NuvaRing, but I'm going to call and make an appointment to have a Mirena inserted. Even with the once a month dosing of the ring, I'm having a hard time remembering to pick up my refill, remove, and replace it in a timely manner. I haven't been on BC in 14 years (haven't needed it), so I'm just not in the habit. I can't imagine me on daily pills! Lol. Haven't had any side effects with it though. As for the first period after surgery, mine was extra long (3 weeks, arriving a week after surgery), and normal on the heaviness and discomfort scale (though I have neither endo nor PCOS). I did stall for a couple weeks as soon as it finished though.

Wow, you've done such a great job! Hopefully this is me in a year! Lol

My ID was refused. I had to bring up my Facebook profile on my phone to prove that the name and address matched my driver's license. Guess its time to get to the DMV!

My husband suggested I try alternating a Water day with a food day so that I can both right at least half the time! Lol. I'm on day 3 of trying that. The food days are tooooorture. I don't know that this will work long term. But I'll get there!

I'm 6 weeks out and I still don't want to eat. I drink plenty though, and therein lies my issue - it's not that I don't WANT to eat, it's that I don't want to give up my water for an hour and a half 4x a day. Plus on the odd day that I do eat a reasonable amount of solid food, I don't get nearly enough hydration. Seems to be one or the other for me right now, and given the choice, I'd rather drink than eat. Every time.

Maybe we all have!

@@smpruitt I would say if anything that its a very GOOD sign that you're mulling over all of these things now. It shows that you're not going in blindly with rose colored glasses. You not only know whats involved and what the possible downsides are, but you are actively giving them thought rather than pushing them out of your mind because you'd rather not think about it. That, to me, shows readiness, not a lack of it. This is a really big thing, and a lot of people are never 100% sure - this doesn't mean they shouldn't proceed if they know its whats best for them.

So is this the new normal then? Does it taper down? Though if I think about it, pre-morbid obesity and pre-severe depressive episodes, this kinda WAS my normal, so maybe I just answered my own question. I'm getting plenty at home, though not as much as I need (in fairness, one man working long hours can only go so many times a day, no matter how much he wants to keep up. Lol). My problem is that I'm a natural flirt and usually don't know that I'm doing it - I just think I'm being nice. Plus I don't really notice that someone is into me until they're already trying to stick their tongue down my throat. It usually doesn't occur to me that they might be, and then when it sinks in, you're right, it's absolutely intoxicating.

Thank god I don't know any girl scouts. In past years I'm pretty sure I've single handedly kept the Lemonades in production...

How wonderful for you! Congrats!