fruitandveggies

I've actually gained weight the last couple of weeks because my BED is trying to come back. I guess I would say to stay vigilant and be aware of what you're eating, like @orionburn said. Keep tracking and see if anything has snuck in there that would make your calorie ratio go the wrong way or if your sodium is too high.

Yes, totally normal! I wasn't over 400 calories until at least a month. Wasn't hungry until 3 months or so.

Fat cells are highly estrogenic, so as we empty them our hormones go wild. Can't wait to stable off!

Just want to chime in and say there's no possible way to gain 10 pounds of fat in 2 weeks at that calorie level. Remember, one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. If you calculate your TDEE, you can see how much you burn just doing your regular activity. It's probably somewhere around 1,500-2,000 calories a day if you're 180 (depending on height). It's not physically possible to gain fat without a calorie surplus. It's against the laws of physics. What is possible is water retention. Just 400 mg of sodium is enough to make you retain TWO POUNDS of water. For reference, that's about the amount of sodium in one slice of bread. Not only that, water retention is very much affected by hormonal shifts, which include your cycle but also anything having to do with stress, not sleeping enough, new exercise routines, new medications, etc. So certainly start tracking your food, you might find you're getting way more sodium than you thought. And if you can't get much water in, that imbalance is even worse. This might be happening to you now because you have an electrolyte imbalance after so long of eating so little. You need potassium to be in balance with your sodium levels or you will retain water as your cells are trying to protect themselves from damage. So as much as you might get attitude from your doc, you should at least get checked out to make sure you're still healthy.

Same! I really don't understand the mechanics of this. So they severed all the "nerves" in our brains? Hahaha

What I can't figure out is how much we actually need to eat. I know it varies by individual, so there's no real answer. But it still drives me nuts. My nutritionist is telling me that a bariatric patient at maintenance needs about 1000 calories a day. What? How is that possible? How is it that regularly sized humans are maintaining their weight at 1000 cals? So I've been aiming to do that much daily but it's freaking impossible. I feel like I'm starving all the time and my BED is coming back full force. The last few days I said screw it and ate whatever I wanted and ended up eat over 2500 cals and laying in bed most of the day (so I'm eating way over my TDEE). I'm trying to be compliant but every time I try, I end up eating like a crazy person. So I'm with you, I must be having REAL HUNGER. Not sure what calorie level will turn that off.

My diet has basically gone back to what it was pre-op, just less of it. I aim to eat three meals a day, no snacks (as per guidelines from my surgeon), but there's many days I don't do that. Honestly it's really not much of a change, just learning to eat more slowly (and without water) to ensure satiety.

I actually am getting this too, no matter what I eat. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but I've noticed it's more pronounced if I don't take small bites with about a minute in between. Maybe a form of dumping? Don't know why it's just starting now though...

What, I didn't realize Joe Cross still eats meat! Wth dude, there's no good excuse for that. My husband has been camping alone in rural Texas for the last two weeks and has no problem staying vegan. There is literally NO excuse for that guy. He just wants to feel pleasure in his mouth. I personally love juice fasting, but I'm also vegan. So I'm going to choose being vegan AND juice fasting!

@dreamynow, I was recommended to do this, so I'm taking 10,000mcg a day, which seems to be the upper limit recommended. But it's not known to be toxic anyway, you just pee out anything your body doesn't need (it's water soluble).

You know, I've also noticed my lashes have been longer and thicker! I've been taking a double dose of biotin every day, so I'm guessing that it, like you say.

I hear you, it's really weird having people staring at your body and realizing they were thinking about your body beforehand (and now). But honestly, I just cheerfully say "thanks so much!" because I know they mean it as a compliment. Literally every time I go to the gym someone new comes up and compliments me. It's not every day that they see someone who lost 130 pounds! It's weird, but I try to think about it as a positive thing.

Hey guys! @mylighthouse and @Tealael inspired me to celebrate my 130 pounds lost. Here I was 11 months ago and the other day! Hoping to drop another 55-60 lbs.

My cramps are always worse when I already feel crappy. And at 3-4 weeks I was still feeling pretty bad and week. The worst part is we can't take NSAIDs anymore! I feel your pain, I hope it gets better in time. *hands over heating pad*

Wow, pics or it didn't happen! That's incredible! So your doctor wasn't concerned about that? I would certainly ask for some other kind of testing to make sure you're okay.

Haha, that's awesome! I wish that was my problem!

Everyone is different of course, but my IUD experience was terrible. So much incredible pain every single month. I've never had kids, but I feel like the pain was similar to that of childbirth. I had to take opioids and muscle relaxers to get through the 5-9 days of my period and I bled so much I became anemic. I also believe it gave me ovarian cysts and falliopian blockage, as that is suspected to be related to IUDs. Now I have to be on hormonal BC to control the cysts. Of course there are people who love it and have no issue. But I can't recommend after what happened to me.

I was on Camila for a couple years and it was totally fine, no issues! The one thing I will say is my hormones have changed after surgery and I'm much, much more depressed, moody, and sensitive during PMS time. Just keep record of your symptoms because you might need a lower dose as you lose weight.

Thanks so much everyone! It really helps to hear all your nice words as I'm feeling super stuck right now. Bad habits coming back and I can't seem to shake them! Feeling really down on myself, but reflecting on my accomplishments so far helps!

YES, this totally happened to me too. I'm on birth control, and I'm wondering if going off would make it better or worse. I personally get extremely depressed and emotional the week before my period, even while on BC. It didn't happen like this before surgery. I haven't done anything about it, but being aware at least helps me kind of prepare for that time when it comes.

Here's one thing that is really going to help: take three long, slow, deep breaths. I don't mean that to sound condescending or jerky or anything, but calming your nerves is going to help you SO much. Not only will it be much easier for you to follow your program, but your body will calm down and stop trying to store body fat and produce more cortisol. It's definitely a struggle at first, it will be! And that's okay. It's going to change as time goes on, things will get better. I am with you I HATE protein shakes. But you don't need them after the first few weeks, you can do anything for a few weeks. Soon enough you will be able to eat normal foods. But all in time. You're not failing, you're just really concerned and passionate! Just because you aren't enjoying this time doesn't mean you're failing. It really is a crappy time, no worries! And if it helps, it's physically impossible for you to not lose weight. It will happen, just take it easy! One day at a time. <3

Woohoo!! You are awesome! Great job!!

It would be interesting to track what amount of fat messes with me, but I haven't done that. And for me, I've always been sensitive to certain fats, it hasn't changed after surgery. I thankfully don't dump, but I get very queasy. And with coconut I get the worst gas ever, I blow up like the Michelin tire man! It sadly just has taken trial and error (and error and error) for me to figure out what works for me and what doesn't. However, I have recently discovered I can eat pretty much anything if I take chickpea-sized bites, 60 seconds between bites for 25 minutes. That was my instruction from the surgeon at the get go, but I let it slip by when I wasn't scared of stomach rupture anymore. It really does help to do that and I stay so much more full for a longer time--without nausea or gas!

Yeah, I think this is an old wives tale. My surgeon (and many others I've read and heard from) agree that stretching your pouch is a myth. They've told me even over eating too much junk even when I feel like I want to die from pain won't stretch it, carbonation certainly won't do a thing. The only way you can burst your pouch is if you do these things before you're fully healed (4 weeks). I drink sparkling water all the time. Both of my parents (3 months and 3 years out) drink diet soda like water, haha. No issues. I personally believe that research shows artificial sweeteners are harmful so I avoid them, but it's not because of the carbonation.

What a sweet post @Tealael! One of the things that sabotaged me most in the past was not recognizing my accomplishments, so this is really nice of you. That is awesome @Creekimp13! I looove when my clothes get too big. My bank account doesn't so much though! I guess I will humble brag that I've just hit my 11 month mark and lost 130 pounds. My waist has gone from 52" to 33" I went from a size 3x to a L or M. Thanks for letting me brag, I'm soooo happy!