Kat410

I am 16 weeks out from surgery - moving nicely, but for the past week I have experienced being very fatigued. It is now interfering with my work and I am having difficulty focusing. I typically have a lot of stamina. I work on average 65 hours a week. I have an active social life. I sleep well and uninterrupted (no sleep apnea or other sleep disorders). I sleep between 7-8 hours a night. I am not tired when I wake up - it's more a general sense of fatigue throughout the entire day. I think it may be nutrition related - I am averaging about 800 cals/day, 55-70 grams of protein, 60 ounces of water (not including other liquids). I take regular vitamins and vitamin D supplements. I am going to call my doctor if this persists for longer than another week - but if anyone has any insights into this I would appreciate it.

Thanks Chel1. I do track my Vit D with my PCP, it's now at the low end of a normal range and has been for a few months. I don't have a fitbit, so that may be a good investment. I am starting to feel better today, but if this persists I will call my doc to get whatever tests I should be getting. Sometimes it seems like my body needs time to catch up with all the changes that are happening. I have a busy weekend this weekend, but I have scheduled myself for full 8 hours sleep + a nap on Saturday and a nap on Sunday. This morning I met with my trainer and had a really good workout and that also seems to have helped. Thank you!

Right now I am using the higher end of a "normal" range BMI. It may be too low, but if it is, it's not by much. It also may be too high because I picked that number based on what I weighed when I was in my early 20s. Truthfully I plan to reassess at 200 pounds.

I am so with you. I remember the first time I crossed my legs in ages and it was like.... OMG!!!!!!!!!! No one else cares or notices, but for me it was a big milestone. Another one is no longer having anxiety about getting up off the floor. Congrats on your crossed legs, on to the heels :-)

I don't have chronic fatigue. This is something that has been going on for a week. And I am still working 65 hours a week, but am just not myself. I dealt with this the first 4 weeks after surgery, then it seems like my body got used the calorie deficit and not eating etc and now my energy level feels like I am back to square one. I am upping my food a little, adding more water, etc. But damn, it's so frustrating.

I went off the antacids 3 days after surgery. I suppose I was lucky. No nausea, acid reflux, etc If only I would stop shedding massive amounts of hair.

If you're measuring carbs or sugar, watch the bread and butter pickles. Loaded with massive amounts of sugar. I am not sure how much in the store bought variety, but my dad makes them home made and I have witnessed the pounds of sugar going into a batch first hand.

How long have you been on the internet? I used to participate in usenet forums in the early 90s. This is nothing. That said, in person - people disagree, fight, argue and say nasty things. On an online forum - people disagree, fight, argue and say nasty things. In an online forum there is no repercussion or real consequence to doing so. So, take the good with the bad and participate in whatever way works for you.

Hilarious!

Unbelievable. So you are going to troll this member.... and just to make sure I get this straight... you are going to troll them based on an argument that muscle weighs more than fat? This is just comical. Look up the word 'weight'. A pound of X weighs the same as a pound of Y. A pound of X may take up X space (mass), while a pound of Y may take up Y space (mass). If you have two 250 pound people standing side by side, but they have clearly different masses does one weigh more than the other? Obviously not. The scientific principle you are unsuccessfully grasping for is density, which is the relationship of mass to weight. 5th grade science lesson for the day, you're welcome!

Just to pipe in again about the issue of stretchy clothes. This morning as I was dressing for the gym I realized that the only clothes that I still wear from my preop are my yoga pants, leggings, etc. the Spanx yoga pants I put on today to work out are a 3x and fit me when I was 80 lbs heavier. I will be able to wear them for probably another 30 lb loss. Yes they were snug before. Yes they are a tad loose now. But the point is, these pants will work for a hundred pound weight range. OMFG!!!!! For me - NOT GOOD!!!! Fine for gym. But that's it.

This is just for me... YMMV I introduced one food at a time. I started with proteins. Various kinds of meats turned out not to be a problem. Eggs turned out to be very unpredictable. It was shocking how little I could eat following the protein first rule. On some days proteins that had been well tolerated are not well tolerated then they are fine. It takes a surprising level of mindfulness to chew as much as I am supposed to. It really works to weigh food and track. My calorie average actually went down on solids. I was not getting enough protein or calories so I went back to doing one protein shake a day.

If I could support you with anything, I would offer you this. Stop beating yourself up and take responsibility for the choices that got you where you are now. You did not chose to the issues with your health, but you did chose what food you were putting in your body. You did what you did and you didn't do what you didn't do and you were dealing with whatever circumstances you were dealing with. When we make bad choices we are not bad people. We just made bad choices. And we are capable of learning from our choices. And as someone who has spent my fair share of time thinking there is something wrong with me or some fundamental character flaw instead of being responsible for the choices I made that had me gain, I can say there is no cheese down that tunnel. The good news is you have done this before. And you can do it again !

I sucked it up and kept moving. Sounds like you are doing exactly that. The more you move the faster you will recover. I also slept a lot but for short periods of time, then up and moving! Rest, drink, walk and repeat. You got this!

I had a gall bladder surgery 3 years prior to my VSG. My gallbladder surgery was started laparoscopically and they ended up opening me up due to a rare but serious complication (Mirazzi's syndrome which is when a stone is impacted in one of the hepatic ducts) I had surgery in Mexico but I did all of my lab work in the US with my PCP and advised my surgeon in advance of my prior surgery. The surgeon actually removed some of the scar tissue which was great because certain movements caused me abdominal pain due to adhesions. Truthfully there's not much they can predict until they get in there.

So inspiring! Thank you for sharing your story. Life is precious and the opportunity to take control of our health is a gift. I hope to have my body be useful for decades to come. Best wishes and keep on going !

I count from when I started the pre-op diet, which was 10 days prior to surgery. That's what made sense to me given that's when there was an immediate and significant change in the management of my diet. For me, mentally, emotionally and physically the start of the pre-op diet is when this journey began.

I know a lot of us (myself included) get fascinated with the scale stats - This is my weekly loss (currently in week 15). I made this spreadsheet to track % of excess weight lost based on a target weight of 175 (which may need to be adjusted - that is a slightly overweight BMI). I started with a BMI of 50, size 24w clothing, pre-diabetic, age 50, no other co-morbidities. I was relatively active (given my weight) and have been able to significantly increase my activity level. I am on the high end of the curve in terms of weight loss, but I wanted to post this to hopefully disrupt the illusion of 10 lb/week weight loss. I didn't track my 10 day pre-op diet by week, so the 16 lbs with that is not divided up by week. Date Week Weight Cum Loss Weekly Loss Monthly Loss Tgt Weight Excess Weight % of Excess Weight Loss 5/12/2017 0 335 175 160 5/27/2017 0 319 16 16 144 6/3/2017 1 308.6 26.4 10.4 29 133.6 16.50% 6/10/2017 2 301 34 7.6 126 21.25% 6/17/2017 3 294.8 40.2 6.2 119.8 25.13% 6/24/2017 4 290 45 4.8 115 28.13% 7/1/2017 5 288.6 46.4 1.4 12.6 113.6 29.00% 7/8/2017 6 284.2 50.8 4.4 109.2 31.75% 7/15/2017 7 280.4 54.6 3.8 105.4 34.13% 7/22/2017 8 277.4 57.6 3 102.4 36.00% 7/29/2017 9 273.4 61.6 4 10.4 98.4 38.50% 8/5/2017 10 272.6 62.4 0.8 97.6 39.00% 8/12/2017 11 269.4 65.6 3.2 94.4 41.00% 8/19/2017 12 267 68 2.4 92 42.50% 8/26/2017 13 259.8 75.2 7.2 84.8 47.00% 9/2/2017 14 257.4 77.6 2.4 82.4 48.50%

As someone who almost never wears clothes with "x", but rather sized clothes (need to wear professional tailored clothes/suits for work), there is a big difference when you can no longer fit into your clothes. While this wasn't the deciding factor, without question one of the contributing factors in getting WLS was when my size 24 pants started to get too tight. It was just like the final straw. Now I am wearing 18s. This weekend I bought a pair of silk palazzo pants and was shocked when the 18 was too big around my waist. Those pants were an anomaly - but it was still kind of disorienting to put a pair of 16s on that fit. Loose comfy clothes are fine for lounging around the house, exercising, etc., but I like the kind of life that requires me to dress great, wear tailored clothes, identify the silhouettes that work best for my body type. I am ruthless with clothes that don't fit with a few exceptions (items that I am considering getting altered). They get cleaned, folded and put in a bag for donation.

I had never thought the benefit of being tall - thanks for forwarding the article!

Wow, this sounds like an unbelievably difficult situation. I wish you and your family the best in working this out. If you are convinced the bypass triggered this, then I would consult with both western and holistic doctors about anything physiological that could trigger changes in particular any kind of vitamin or mineral deficiency or hormone imbalance. However at the end of the day, there is nothing you can do until your sister chooses to help herself. While I don't walk in your shoes, if I were faced with a similar situation I would pack my things, tell my sister that I love her and will come back when she is ready to do the work. And I would encourage her husband to do the same. Then there is the psychological stuff. A very high percent of obese women have past issues of abuse/trauma. Eating was a coping mechanism for many of us. When that coping mechanism is no longer available and the underlying issues aren't being resolved, the same behaviors get expressed in other ways (other addictions). I wish you best of luck. You obviously love your sister very much and I hope that she finds what she needs to get the help you are offering.

Your starting weight definitely has some impact on your rate of weight loss (and it is not the only thing that has an impact). It takes more calories to maintain a 300 lb body than a 200 lb body. It is simple physics.

Based on the posts on this board there are a surprising number of people who have odd and unrealistic expectations of weight loss surgery While calorie deficit is not the only thing that impacts the rate of weight loss it is at least a place to start to give you a sense of what might be possible for you. You can get a reasonable estimation of your BMR and adjust for your activity level and then estimate your calorie intake post surgery and see what you get in terms of monthly loss I am someone who never had difficulty taking weight off, the issue was unbelievable hunger once I lost about 50 lbs. the best thing for me about the surgery is using the absence of hunger to build new patterns (both in my brain and my daily routines). My weight loss rate is on the high end of the scale. If you take the first week out where I dropped 16 pounds, I am averaging about 3 lbs a week on a daily calorie average of about 800 That matches pretty solidly with an estimate of my calorie deficit. Anecdotally it seems that people's bodies work differently. You will not be able to control how quickly you lose and you will be able to impact it by following a plan and using your metrics to experiment and adjust. I watch the people on this board who have long term success because at the end of the day that is what I am interested in. They take the long view, they work their plan, they establish new patterns, they do not obsess over stalls, they deal with what got them obese in the first place. You may be one of those people who looses weight quickly. If not, what then?

Reading your posts is considered one of my NSVs.

Shopping in my closet was one of the great NSVs of the first six months! I was wearing a 24w when I had surgery and had some old items in my closet down to a 20. It was empowering to size down when what I was wearing no longer fit me. Now the days of shopping in my closet are over and I have an interim wardrobe.