KarenLR75

I've been on the thread and I had RNY so I'm thinking were are not 'sleeve-centric' as much as we are 'things that CAN possibly contribute to rate of weight loss and how best to address and do what we can to remove these roadblocks if at all possible..

You would click on your user name at the top of the page - there should be a drop down arrow. When you click that arrow, you will see a list of settings options including 'Ignored User'. Highlight that which will bring up your 'ignored users screen' and add their user name. It will bring up options on what you can ignore. You click the ones you want and then click 'ADD'. That user name is now on your ignored list - they will not be notified.

Amen. I actually blocked someone not because they were directly upsetting me, but because they went over the top and were rude, condescending, and plain mean to more than just 1 person on a thread that was a 'support group' for a specific situation. They have chased off some of the original posters and caused others to fear posting and no, I'm not talking about 'I'm afraid if I post my meals, they will point out that my carbs seem a bit high' or they will 'bust me cuz I had cookies at Xmas and some wine and they are going to say that is why I haven't lost for X weeks'. Everyone has a right to their opinion but when that opinion starts to become unproductive, and you move from an intent to help even with tough love to being rude and mean because by God you want your opinion HEARD then for me...that is giving opinions with malicious intent (maybe the poster doesn't even recognize it, but just like the majority of us having a history of bad coping techniques, maybe we should consider it is not just the ppl asking for help who may need some tough love..maybe the posters who want to ignore requests to please leave off with the destructive comments...should consider that this may be part of their bad coping habits showing up still(. I think EVERYONE benefits from self examination. I ask myself in my work life, my personal life and here..is what I'm saying true...and is the reason I'm saying it to be helpful/i.e. what is the true intent of my heart...when I go from both of those being 'YES' to the 2nd one being 'NO', for me. I bite my tongue. Also, I have never been asked to please stop commenting on a thread but if that ever happened, I would leave them in peace and not keep decrying my right to post... Thus...I have blocked 2 ppl in the 3 years I've been on this forum. Even though I had surgery just this past July, I've been around for a while...just offering my own personal perspective and how much I agree with the decision to block/flag for ignore - don't let anyone chase you away from your journey. Don't give up on a thread or leave if staying is TRULY beneficial to you and be prepared for some tough love but not for insults and rudeness. Reminds me of a saying from marriage counselors (i have many friends that are in this occupation) that I've heard over the years: Do you want to be right or do you want to be married? Yeah, a bit off the precise topic...but sometimes at work we also talk about 'do you want to win the battle' or win the war?

Also, for the few that seem to want to keep stirring the pot (FYI - one of the ones you may think is..I don't believe that is their true intent) and even one who stated 'there was basically no evil magic preventing us from losing' weight..not precise wording but close...if they want to continue to post despite begging to the contrary, you can go to your profile drop down and you will see a list of actions and one includes 'Ignore Users'. I've added 1 to mine in the 3 years I've lurked on these forums and have added one more from recent issues. Just an option I wanted everyone to know they have. I do NOT want ppl afraid of being able to post...

@Sheribear68 - you are so amazing! What you posted is exactly what I feel this thread was meant to be for..for support, to give the wisdom of the fact that lbs lost per week in the first 6 months, 2 months, 1st month, etc. is not the 'factor' that determines your journey's success. Long term studies I've seen show that people who do what you said - and stay on and work their plan..and yes, the more lost..the more we will have to work...that if you stick with it you WILL hit your goal DESPITE whether you dumped a ton of weight in the first few months or not. I think over 90% of the ppl on this thread are looking for general support - no one that I can recall has taken the more negative mindset and said 'hey, this surgery didn't work'...or 'I wish I had never done this'....most ppl are wanting just a bit more support emotionally and maybe if they wish, to have ppl talk about tips to address certain issues that may or may not make their own weight loss journey a bit more challenging. I hope this thread stays positive so people can get the encouragement they need and as others have said, we are here because we want to REMAIN fully committed to the journey and it is helpful when we are talking to people who are WORKING through the same thing or have been through the same thing. We PLAN and are DETERMINED to hit our goal weights - that is why this thread is valuable for me...just like Fluffy's headwork thread and several other threads.

Made me laugh! TY for that!

Also, always a good idea in my opinion to check in with your surgeon/nutritionist when concerned about weight loss. They know your history hopefully extremely well and any challenges you are facing (i.e. illnesses, diabetes, PCOS, menopause (peri, during or post), injuries etc. that prevent regular exercise)....they should not be just a team that does the surgery and goes away. My surgeon, nutritionist and I already kind of knew ahead of time that I was likely to be a slow loser and I had been an extremely slow loser in any method I chose after years upon years of yo yo dieting. So we knew I was going to likely fall somewhere in the middle range at best but we all hoped for more. They have termed me a low average to slow loser and that is fine as I know it just means I need to be more diligent on the things within my control that will take me from slow to 'no loser'. We made adjustments and tweaks along the way working our ways through stalls, through possible other issues. Like I mentioned before, I had been given, when 2 months out, my target calories and I had to push a bit to get my target macros as I favor a low carb/low fat diet. After 4 weeks, even being under 20-30 grams of carbs, things just seemed to flatten. Then they switched my macros around and increased my carbs which had me tripping out but the weight started coming off again. Sure we can come here and vent and hopefully what this leads to is productive behavior which means continuing to stick out the journey, to step away from the scale when the frustrations threaten your journey, to look at other NSV's, to check and see are their basics we are letting slip (i.e. I stopped logging food in my fitness pal for 3 days so I had no hard data when something changed)...are we choosing a 'good/valid' entry in our trackers...do we have firm understanding of some of the things we are concerned about. If ppl ask you to post your food, don't think it is that they don't believe you...there could be something you are missing or it validates what you are saying, you get others who have been down this road...their very valuable input...and then ppl can help tackle troubleshooting other things. What I hope we get the MOST from threads like this is when we are open, and...maybe a bit more careful with tone (not saying things should not be challenged or debated that are actually wrong...I just don't want to alienate someone who doesn't understand how we got to xyz reply and frustrated tone..to not post what they are doing because they are afraid. In the end we want to all help each other REMAIN on our journey whether losing 20 lbs, 10 lbs 5 lbs a month..or sometimes even 0...yes, that can happen...because we know in the end, patience and persistence will win out.

I agree...but I think as the tone increased..my concern is that his valid points would get lost. And his main reference/issue, as you mentioned, was one poster...I think. I think there are all sorts of ways to inquire/ask someone to give their supporting data if they are seeking help with it like...hey, post your menu for the past week or for the day, etc. - if the poster truly wants help with that, then hopefully they will post. If burn rates are being questioned, maybe ask how that is being reached..I was genuinely curious...but some ppl shut down completely, not always because they don't have the data to back things up or have calculated incorrectly. Maybe I'm deceiving myself....that could very well be true.

Weird..I just brought it up in Chrome (icognito mode though)

Thanks for this reminder. I forget that some of the drinks cause people more significant issues than others..

I personally recommend that everyone on this thread, if you haven't done so already, make sure to ready Fluffychix's 'Importance of doing the Head Work' as I feel the wealth of info, the videos, input, etc. will help answer many questions and will help ensure we all stay in the right mindset to keep accounting and on top of the things within our control. I've seen Fluffy's weight loss month average timeline and trust me, that chica fought for her weight loss every step of the way and hung in there and look at where she is! Don't get discouraged! The 2 year outcomes for people who truly work their plan, check in with vets, their surgeon, their nutrition, their specialists, EXERCISE, etc. are very similar to those who dropped weight fast! Stick around, do the work, don't give up!

It is true that they pack a lot of calories...I was getting in, during pureed and soft foods...maybe 1 or 1.5 or on days when pouch rebelled against what I tried, it would take hours but I'd get in 2..so overall less than 400 calories but good point to start getting protein from real food sources as soon as possible...I know my surgeon's office started pushing this around month 3 but I know everyone's input from their team may vary...lol...that is for sure...

I was still supplementing with shakes through month 5 (not every day), but definitely while still in first 2 months to hit my protein goals. You need the protein to heal from the surgery. From what I have read and encountered here, losing 10 lbs in your first two weeks is awesome. Several of us had swelling, water gain from the surgery/IV fluids, etc. and our overall first month weight loss ranged from 7 lbs to 15. 10 is great for an entire month! I take it your surgeon is aware of your AS, what limitations does it give you when it flares up? I know that some people will just walk throughout their house and I've seen them hitting amazing #'s doing this...to get things moving not only physically but to help with the gas pains from surgery and to get things literally moving everywhere. Are you able to do this?

Agreed. The message has been communicated and the facts that we can and should derive from it are tipping from helpful into hurtful. The message is being lost in the way it is being harped on. We get it... You may notice that about 90 to 95% of the posters in this thread are women and yes, it has been proven that men TYPICALLY lose faster than women. Please give us credit for some intelligence and the ability to read and take what we know to be true and/or our questions back to our professionals and find ways to work with/deal with and continue on our WL journey whether we are losing 10 lbs a month, 5 lbs or have stalled. Fluffly's definition of what her team determines to be a stall was helpful. I think much good can come from this thread. The majority, to me at least, seem to be interested in getting clarification, are acknowledging things they are facing they can't do anything about - menopause, etc. while also admitting things they need to do something about. I personally know that I will not consider the month of December in my weight loss average as I went on a cruise, admitted to gaining 1 lb and I know that will skew my results. We also have been around long enough to help newbies, as i was shocked that my first month loss was so low but my preop had been SO LONG (switched dr's - long story) and the way the surgery impacted me...my weight didn't really start moving until weeks 3 and 4. It was good to hear that this happens for others. In fact my surgery sibling group had me back away from the scale. NONE of us were, at that point..or almost none of us..eating more than 400 calories so we knew even w/o exercise that the scale would INDEED MOVE.

LOL..that works for me! Then we can order from the adult menu since we are splitting 3 ways and I don't get the narrowed eye stare when I ask about the kid's menu...seriously..I want to color, what is the harm in that?

PHEW...was starting to feel like even more of a slacker.......like dang...I'm on a thread with triathletes on it..where is the normal person thread? LOL... Seriously though..kudos to everyone who can burn through so much...I know from following some other threads, there are ppl doing some really hard core serious workouts - I mean like multiple hrs a day! That is one reason I get irritated that there is such a misconception/misperception that WLS is the 'easy way out'...those ppl have no clue...

Dear Lord! That should count for all least 500 calories PER CHILD!!! That is how I do my math...LOL... I can TOTALLY understand wanting to eat 'all the things' when they crash...may be the first time you've been able to actually eat sometimes and I'm recalling that from having only 2 kids....LOL..OMG, I was a sedentary Mom in comparison too..to be honest, I was in decent shaped in my 20's, was never morbidly/super morbidly obese until my late 30's and wow did it take a toll on this poor body. I have made myself one rule for late night eating that...sigh....I have not enforced the past 3 weeks and that is anything I eat late at night (ok, for me this is like 11 PM...I work globally so I can be up as early as 7 AM CST and work sometimes until 2 or 3 AM depending on what we are working on - this does NOT help my overall health - lots of shift work disorder issues. Oh, back to rules: 1) It needed to be less than 20% of my overall calories for the day. I then made it really simple and stuck to sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles..basically anything under 100 calories 2) It needed to NOT be in my bedroom, on the couch or in a recliner. If I was hungry enough to eat, I needed to eat it at my dining table even if the lights were completely off (husband has normal job) I had to make these rules because as I was watching my 600 lb life I realized I was slowly trapping myself into exactly what I was watching - ppl who had to struggle so hard to do anything, losing the ability to get out of bed, ONLY being able to eat on a bed...and reminded myself at 390...I was SO CLOSE to being on that show. Not that there is any shame in that but things were hard enough, embarrassing enough, and with the knee injury from working out ironically, I finally had a true physical limitation where I had never had one before..not even at 390 - I could walk across entire warehouses with no issue. ONLY 1/2 of my weight loss that is shown came from 'after WLS' - the first half took me 15 mos of TRULY dedicated keto and moving some..until I tore left meniscus on right knee running down stairs (BAD idea for working out, by the way)...then 4 mos later, I tore the right meniscus (same knee) walking down a hill. I knew when I struggled to walk, to do grocery shopping..that I had to make a major change and that for me was WLS. I had considered it for 3+ years and prepped for it - mentally and physically....obviously mental is an ongoing work in process.

YES, YES and YES to your first question. Didn't realize there were 2 camps but for me..since I am not very active..NOWHERE near as active as you and others...I thought hitting 2.5 miles hiking multiple times a week was rocking it....and I think that calorie burn at the pace, my stride length, etc. was er....between 300 and 400 calories?? I will have to look it back up..lol. I have noticed that I had a bad habit of night eating..and eating a lot on my way to getting to be super morbidly obese. I have also noticed that I am repeating that same pattern recently...not enough calories early enough in day and eating bulk at night...which of course right after I do it...I go to bed...so not good. At least for me - it is a bad habit and leads to me making not so ideal food choices as I feel pressed for time - this is even with me staying within my calorie/macro limits. When I was in months 2 and 3 and pretty much stopped this, I was losing weight faster..and now it has snuck back in. I have a very very sedentary job where I sit..for sometimes 14 to 16 hrs a day. Not good, I know...so getting out hiking...and earlier in year I was hiking AND swimming...I thought I was the bomb..lol. My body responded decently because let's face it...going from 0 to something...does have an impact. I am mentally trying to do the math....how do pedometers account for things like...let's say that in 1 hour YOU can walk 4 or 5 miles...while I'm doing good to hit 2.5 in 45 to 60 minutes (and then my right knee balloons up). I would think that you are exerting more energy (i.e. faster and/or longer strides)...so your calorie burn for that same '1 hour period) should be much greater than mine...right? How do step counters account for this - especially ones on your phone that you are 'carrying' and not let's say...a fit bit or some other device that may or may not be more advanced than me swinging my phone around while I walk? I guess I need to google/study 'burn rate'. I would think that maybe having a better metabolism..one that is more revved up may also play a factor? That is the reason I started exercising after WLS - I knew that having been so very inactive for more than a decade, I had harmed my own internal metabolism and that WLS was only a tool but if I didn't get my rear in gear, nothing would change in the end (this is what I personally feel). Flash forward from my surgery in July...to 3 mos later when I hit my first 2 miles hiking (no major elevations due to torn up knee)...& I was SO bummed out that I had to stop as my knee just exploded in swelling. I have learned how to manage to keep the swelling reduced but it involves slowing my stride...and also...stopping before I overdo it. Have managed to push it to 2.5 miles now - don't get me wrong, weight loss is helping but it can't cure everything for my knee. I never ever thought I would enjoy hiking! Heck, I'm in awe of hitting 4 miles per day and more on a cruise! So....what the heck do you do to burn that many calories in a day? Is it hard core stuff like running? I'm a slightly reformed/newly reformed couch potato so I am in NO WAY challenging your burn rate...I'm just learning from this thread..that there are other things I need to factor in although my main focus will remain on hitting my dietary goals/keeping to the calorie and other macro limits....as well as making sure I'm getting at least 1 hr of physical activity 3 to 4 times a week and work on increasing that up.

LOL...no, sorry...solid middle class.

I always wanted a son!! I value my 2 girls as well. That female in your life is simply an egg donor, not a mother. If you ever miss having the actual 'role' of a Mom filled...message me..lol..my adult girls would love for me to focus some 'Mom energy' elsewhere...LOL Seriously, I'm SO PROUD OF YOU and your ACCOMPLISHMENTS!!

OK, I feel compelled to be honest....I did try drinking on the cruise...and honestly..it gave me no issues (pouch-wise, i mean)..however in hindsight..and I had determined this by day 3 or 4 of the 7 day cruise, it just doesn't do anything for me that makes it worth the calories. No soda means no 'keto/low carb' drinks with just diet coke. Honestly, not a big deal in my mind to eliminate soda from my life anyways - never was a huge soda drinker. I DID try drinks that had VERY high calories as they were mainly fruit juice based (Hurricanes, Rum Punch). HONESTLY, NOT WORTH IT for me. If I had not done this, I feel I likely would have shown a weight loss when I got back. Not interested in switching addictions around...no plans to go back to even my..what was maybe a once monthly drink or glass of wine. All I generally felt in the end when I drank was feeling tired, draggy...and a bit disappointed that I had had the drink..I'm sure my blood sugar had to be through the roof (no am not diabetic but am not interested in retaining anything that is high in sugar in my life so this includes 'fruity drinks'). In the end, I got more of a "buzz" out of being able to WALK! To fit in ONE AIRPLANE SEAT! NOT NEEDING A SEATBELT EXTENDER!! WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Serengirl - by the way, CONGRATS on this!!! I went on a Christmas cruise....and on some days I stuck to my plan and on a few, I did not..just being honest. I was terrified when I got back that the scale would show at least a minimum 5 lb gain but more likely 10 lbs...my ankles and calves were so swollen, I think there must have been way too much sodium in the foods I was eating. What I didn't factor in though is the WALKING! ALL OF THE WALKING! Whether down the long boat ramp, back and forth across the ship (on purpose and sometimes on accident when I got lost..lol)...getting to excursions, going on mainly snorkeling excursions and I am a very very active swimmer despite my weight so I was not slowly snorkeling along...I was on hyperspeed!. Ended up walking almost 4 miles each day at least....only reason my knee held up when it cannot hold up past 2.3 to 2.5 miles when hiking is because the walking was divided out across the entire day AND night (yes, we stayed up late..lol). I came back to a total of a 1 pound gain and within 2 days, that was gone. This has been so unlike my annual holiday gain of at least 10 lbs EVERY SINGLE year for the past decade or more (Thanksgiving, Xmas and New Year's). If I had not been on the cruise or RATHER, if I had stuck just even a tiny bit more to my plan (not like there is not enough variety on the ship to be able to do so), I would have come back to a loss but I'm not getting to fret over it. I'm taking the 'win' of just the change of being ABLE to do all of the activity I did! I would NOT have been able to do it without the weight I lost before and after surgery. Even if I go down to only losing 5 lbs a month...I would NOT trade what I've done for anything...and as I find new ways to be active that don't blow up my knee, I plan on aiming for 7-8 lbs a month...but doing what others have said and watching for the non scale victories.

Serengirl - out of curiosity, as you mentioned you have set amounts/portioned out/weighed, etc. of what you eat every day so you know your caloric intake and all the macros that everything falls into....i'm only asking as I DO track what I eat but at month 6, mine is not so disciplined which I think actually would be helpful for me to do. I do weight/measure everything as when I have 'fallen off the tracking wagon' for a week or 2, I know I have no hard concrete data to work with when I see a slow down or even more shockingly...an unexpected weight loss amount (lol..rarely happens but I get so MAD at myself for not having the data at hand to review). I'm an analyst in my day job and am very very data driven. I did find out that I have to be careful when using apps like Fitness Pal (not for calorie burning...am talking tracking). I have this crockpot low carb/low fat shredded chicken dish that I make. I found an entry for crockpot shredded chicken that only counted the chicken...I hand calculated how much 'per serving' the other things I put in the crockpot should come out to = (i.e. salsa, a bit of low fat cream cheese, chicken broth, taco seasoning)....but recently realized that there are 2 DIFFERENT entries for Crockpot shredded chicken) and the calorie difference when I selected one over the other...with BOTH of them tracking by ounces..and I WEIGH all my servings...bottom line is based on what I logged I thought I was at 800 or less per day but on days where I chose the wrong entry.....if I had chosen correct one, I was hitting 900 to 950. What I have to do now is I'm going to enter my entire recipe in my fitness pal so I can account for all ingredients per serving in ONE entry instead of the 4 I'm doing now. I'm mainly mentioning this as something maybe to check for others who may be logging dutifully in my fitness pal to be careful about using 'canned' entries for some things. I've also noticed 2 other things that slow my weight loss that are in my control...not getting enough water EVERY day...in my twisted mind I have adopted the thought that 'if I only hit 48 ounces yesterday, but I drink almost 90 ounces today'...then I'm good. Well, am pretty sure that is not how it works...just old habits kicking in. I think I read that you drink PLENTY of water though....just mentioning in case it helps others. OH - another bad habit I've brought back into my life about 50% of the time (WAY too much) is I eat so little calories in the AM...that I am still 'calorie heavy' in the PM which I know is not good/ideal. The other BIG issue for me is...well..constipation. Er....um...ok..embarrassing..but when I have a BM and it is a few hard 'nuggets' if you will...I can feel in my gut...literally....that there is still more that needs to come out. I am HORRENDOUS at getting fiber in and I need to supplement AS well as plan for getting more natural fiber into my body. Just some things that came to mind.........

lol..you made me almost spit my coffee out through my nose!

Congrats on the weight loss! You are what..roughly a 6 days past your 1 month 'surgery anniversary' date? 1 lb a day is still much faster than what I was losing in my first month and my first week my calories didn't even hit 300. My 2nd week I hit 400. I didn't reach 700-800 calories until I was 2 months out - everyone is different and my doctor has some very very strict food phases and lengths. I actually lost more in my pre-op phase than in my 1st month post op but I lost weight and was glad. I have surgery siblings who were roughly close to my age (those who were in their 20's and 30's lost vastly more which was no surprise to me) and starting weight that lost double what I did. 1 person I knew was busting out the exercise so I knew or felt that this helped her dramatically as she was, like myself, a relentless food/intake and water intake tracker. I have torn the meniscus on both sides of my right knee so when I took up hiking I found that once I hit 2 miles my knee balloons up and I struggle to walk for 2 days. Working with my orthos on alternatives. I was swimming before it got cold here. They are waiting for my BMI to be under 40 for a full knee replacement but I'm trying to do whatever I can to postpone that type of surgery if possible. After seeing the scans of the bone spurs and arthritis in my knee, I'm not sure how long postponing it will work in the long run. I think it is in one of either Dr. Weiner's videos or the other guy that ppl watch on this forum (I know, so helpful with that description) who instead of looking at the initial rates of weight loss in the first 6 months and even overall in a year...and then they look @ the 2 year+ outcomes and for those that stick with their plans and work it...and exercise...the outcomes start to be very very similar. Am trying to remember though if they were talking about results from VSG vs. bypass or results from people who lose more slowly, etc. I was purposefully seeking more bariatric surgeon input on metabolic resistance and set points so I'm hoping I'm recalling the fact that their 'overall outcome' charts were addressing this. I don't believe that for the most part that all or at least the majority on this thread think that if we dropped our calories down to let's say...300 calories a day and did NOTHING else except achieve the estimated calorie deficit that just getting up and going about your daily tasks can burn....I've read ranges from 300 to 500 or more?? (I'm NOT talking about lying in bed day and night and not moving)....that we would NOT lose weight. We know that, yes, at some point our bodies despite any metabolic issues, health issues, medication issues, setpoints, etc. WILL continue to lose weight with a large net calorie deprivation/deficit for sure. I don't know about anyone else but when my calories drop consistently below 500, I am always very dizzy. My first 2 months were spent feeling very dizzy.