HeatherS.

Thank you! I'm all aboard for friending and cheerleading! The proportions are pretty good, and I feel lucky there, but like you, I carry a LOT in my arms, some of which may not go away (thanks, grandmas!), but I find that's by this point post-surgery, I'm not as bothered by what I now recognize as relatively minor and non-health-affecting things. My boob surgeon, unfortunately, didn't take anything off the side boob, so I'm still camouflaging that with tight tanks under my clothing to cut down on the chafe. hopefully, some day, there will be lipo in the cards for that area. My one regret, looks-wise, is trying to keep the appearance of fullness in my cheeks. When I don't, it ages me a good 10 years. Not a great look with neon blue hair. I admit I had to look up the term xiphoid process (thank you - I love new words), and that seems to be a common place for things to go pear shaped. (Or literally apple shaped, I don't know!) I have noticed though that's there's a pattern to rapid loss and a lot of people first lose the weight they'd put on last. I had to pass 250 for my stomach and thighs to start going crazy out of down side to my shape Is that its so easy to think, around 200 or so, that I've lost enough weight. But I'm still classed as higher risk then and I need to keep going. Hopefully, that will be easier with the smaller stomach and accompanying nausea I get eating the wrong things. (Just had two beef gyoza for early dinner, and they were delicious.)

Has it surprised you in any way where the weight comes off of you first? I'm not completely sure what I was expecting, but having no children, and being able to feel that most of my stomach fat was on top of the muscle, I had a reasonable hope that my relatively small waist was still under there somewhere. What I wasn't expecting is for all the weight to start literally falling off my stomach and upper thighs quite like it did without touching my booty (hurrah!) So this rambling post is all leading up to one thing: a celebratory jump for joy that my waist is now 35" and heading down, putting me in the healthy waist range again for the first time in years. I went from 52-49-56, which blew my mind and made me want to cry when I saw it two and a half years ago to 45-35-46 now. 7 inches off my chest, most of them from my back I and under arms, and an acceptable amount from my boobs, which still look boob-shaped and lifted* My back isn't as "melty/bulgey" as it was before, and my ribs visibly go "in" under the bra, rather than my breasts sitting on top of my stomach. I do have more issues with slipping out of the bottom of my bra a little if the band isn't tight enough. 10 inches off my hips, whichever came mostly off the lower stomach area and saddlebags. My booty has always been muscular, and only lost a thin layer of fat, which my wife says just defined the muscles already there more. Losing fat along my back also re-revealed the top curve of my butt, which is nice. I feel cute in dresses again, but I've gone back to looking a little weird in floaty clothes, which is boo because I do like floaty Stevie Nicks Witchy Hippie Goth looks. I don't measure my thighs, but they have definitely gone down. My legs are more symmetrical, and the wife swears she can see muscle in the back through the cellulite. Which is never going away, i know, but I'm okay with that. I've made my peace. Then the big hurrah. I lost fourteen inches off of my waist. Some of it is from the stomach, some from the back, some from the flanks, so everyone chipped in, but I did not in my wildest dreams expect to recover my waist so quickly. I got married in a custom Victorian corset two years ago when my waist was almost at maximum size, and my corset maker, bless her, made the corset for tight lacing, getting me down somewhere around forty twoish at the wedding with more room to pull tight. I thought I'd never be able to wear the corset again, but I tried it on yesterday, and it just barely fits. The laces close all the way, and it just gently shapes my hips a bit and holds my waist in that particular corset shape, but it still fit, it was soooo comfortable, and it looked even better than it did on my wedding day. I should get a picture of that. Maybe the whole outfit, which was steampunk and had the corset on top, so that should hold it together. On the down side, when I was rushing to get dressed, I grabbed an old favorite retro dress that my wife wore to our ring ceremony (hers was a size smaller than mine, and mine was very tight at the time), pulled it over my head without unzipping, and looked down at what should have been a cute skull and roses dress, but was only shapeless skull and roses fabric gaping over my bra. I'm still debating whether to have it tailored in or make pillows. What changes and discoveries about your weight loss patterns and changing shape have taken you most by surprise or lit you up with celebratory joy? * This was a huge worry for me, as I'd had breast reduction in 2013, and while I'd be happy with smaller boobs, I really didn't want to go back to flat, shapeless boobs, which run in the family. Just not enough strong connective tissue in our lineage, plus that weird stretchy Celtic skin. Whew. I suspect I dodged it, because the surgeon removed as much non-glandular tissue as he could while trying to preserve nerves and glands, so that's may have left me with relatively de-fatted boobs, in case anyone was considering a breast reduction BEFORE gastric surgery. I was 42J+ at my most extreme, 38E at surgery, and now 36DD or DDD, possibly 34.. I haven't gone bra shopping in a while.

I think I speak for all of us when we say we're ready for that update.

Sorry the reply is so late. Thins HS in life got a little crazy and I've been away. I haven't tried the psi bands. My doctor gave me scopolamine patches to use along with the Zofran, but they burned the skin behind my ear. It's too bad, because they worked pretty well. The good news is that now, 3 months out, I'm easing back into ginger, as it's starting to taste normal again. The weird thing is that in times when I would have reached for the ginger, now I prefer a handful of leaves from my herb garden (mostly various basils and mints).

Sure thing. I'll get it for you, though I warn you it's more of a method than a recipe. It's Tia's way of cooking, pretty straightforward, but you need to prep in advance because there's a long soak involved. I also can recommend requeson if you live near any Hispanic markets, or ricotta, which is the closest you'd find in a regular grocer. (The requeson is more flavorful). Homemade REAL Mexican food is so handy in the soft/mushy stage.

Update time!!! It's hot today here in Los Angeles, and without even thinking about it, I straight up guzzled half a bottle of water. This is a first for me since surgery, and the closest to an ill effect is very very slight nausea (which I'm prone to anyway, so that's probably just me). Im only 3 months out, so hang in there, OP. You'll get there. While I was still struggling with the water nausea and inability to drink much, I found that herbal teas and infused waters were easier to drink than plain water. Just keep checking in with yourself and watch out for dehydration. It'll happen.

I'm so glad you've got good care! Thanks for the update. You already know to keep an eye on it if it gets worse or you develop a fever. Here's wishing you a speedy recovery!

That looks bad and seems like a dramatic change from last night. You may want to strongly consider a visit to the ER with a call to let your doc know you're going. ETA: and make sure you're 100% honest with the history of your surgery and wound. Avoiding a potential lecture from the doctor isn't worth your life or health. Sending good energy your way!

I wonder if that has to do with history of gallstones or acid reflux? My doctor said if I could tolerate coffee and caffeine, it was fine. But I had no gallbladder or acid issues going in.

Everyone is right. I grew up in the desert, and I don't find sweet things refreshing, so I definitely had my struggles. I'm three months out, and finally water is my friend again. I can't take big gulps still, but I can drink a bottle of water within a short ish span of time. Granted, that's a 16oz bottle, and before, I could toss down 32oz easily in a go. I'm getting better at not letting thirst get ahead of what I can consume. That helps.

It took me a couple of months before coffee appealed to me again. These days, I favor light roasts and breakfast blends. Dark roasts make me nauseous even smelling them. Current favorite is Wolfgang Puck Breakfast in Bed for keurig type machines.

Nah. Totally normal. My doctor even warned me about it in advance. Just keep taking care of yourself, and the weight will fall off.

Day one and ten look pretty much like mine did, but day 15 is a textbook example of what my (US) doc told me to watch out for. Im glad you're calling your doctor this morning. If you haven't yet, do it now. (seriously, don't risk sepsis. That spreads FAST.)

You know the answer: it's not possible for you to have gained 16 pounds like that. its just a differently calibrated scale, probably along with some travel and time related water weight. I saw my longest plateau around 7 weeks.