kaydo

It started about a month ago (at 2 months post-op). My multivitamin has 30 mg of zinc, but I'll take extra if it helps! (I also started taking fish oil this week too.)

I'm 3 months post-op (sleeve) and losing hair like crazy. I have very thick hair to begin with, so I wasn't that worried at first but handfuls are coming out when I wash my hair, or run my hands through it, and it's starting to freak me out. I eat at least 80 grams of protein per day, take my bariatric multivitamins (with folic acid), extra iron supplements, and I've been taking Biotin for about a month now, but it doesn't seem to be slowing. I know from everything I've read that it will stop eventually but I'm still nervous about how much hair I'll lose between now and then. Has anyone had this problem and, if so, how long did it last? Did you try any of the hair growth shampoos like Nioxin (and did they work)?

Oh lord, if I keep losing at this rate, I'll be bald by the time I get to 16 months. My Nioxin is arriving tomorrow; hopefully it'll help.

I gurgle constantly after meals. The worst is when someone schedules a 1pm meeting and I have to sit in the conference room, after lunch, with my colleagues, and gurgle my way through a meeting. Awful!

My other favorite work lunch is a mediterranean plate: a little tabbouleh, tzatziki, cucumber, a couple of small turkey meatballs, and a Joseph's small pita. Mmmmmm.

Super helpful suggestions, @mylighthouse! (Also, well done on 152 pounds lost - YOW!)

My go-to lunch lately has been one Joseph's Reduced Carb Flax & Oatbran Whole Wheat pita (60 calories, 6 grams protein) with a tiny bit of mayo, mustard, 1 oz of deli turkey or ham, a half slice of provolone, and half a gala apple. It's about 200 calories, 15 grams of protein, takes me 30 minutes to eat, and is super filling. I also like doing chicken sausage and leftover veggies for lunches & dinners. I got completely sick of soup pre & post-op, so I never eat that any more, but I still love turkey chili (there's a great Instant Pot recipe on TheKitchn.com - I double the ground turkey to make it higher in protein and more hearty). https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-instant-pot-turkey-chili-250983

I'm 3.5 weeks post-op and had my first "social eating" experience last night, which was dinner at someone's house with 3 other couples. Thankfully it's our closest friends and I told them about the surgery, but it was weird to put a teeny tiny amount of food on my plate (bless her, the host made pulled chicken and roasted vegetables so I was able to eat everything everyone else was, minus dessert). At the table, there were definitely jokey "whoa, that's a lotta food you got there" comments, which didn't really bother me, but did make me realize that eating like this around people who DON'T know about the surgery is going to be a challenge, and I will actually have to do it on a trip for work net week (where I'll be at a conference, eating around 100 other people). For those who are further along, what are your tips for social eating? Do you ask for small/different meals, or do you ever put a normal amount of food on your plate and just pick at it (which I'm thinking would be wasteful, but less conspicuous than only taking what you can actually eat)? Do you tell strangers about your surgery? (I can't imagine I'd do that.) Would love to hear people's first-hand strategies for navigating this (especially if you're still on the soft food stage, like me). Thanks.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ I had used SparkPeople for years but I like this one better. (It has a built-in scanner, like the Weight Watchers app does, which is super helpful.)

@BostonWLKC, I just noticed your username - are you in the Boston area? I am, and it's interesting that our surgery dates, starting weight, etc., are very similar! And after all that worrying about my 1000 calories being too much, today is weigh-in day and I'm down 2.8 lbs for the week.

This makes me feel better about my 1000 calories + occasional carbs diet. But it also just makes sense to me overall. I have to listen to my body and eat what it needs. There's no way I'd feel good on 600 calories/day at this point (especially because I finally have energy again and I'm doing 30-40 minutes of cardio/day too). I view how I'm eating now as how I'm going to eat for the rest of my life.

Oh my goodness, that's awful, I'm sorry! I hope you get relief soon.

I'm almost 8 weeks out. Down 44 lbs, with another 30 to go. I do try to limit carbs but I also feel like I need to live my life and having a few tortilla chips with my 1/2 cup of turkey chili is okay. My parenting motto has always been that if you deny kids every indulgence out of hand (junk food, video games, etc), they'll just want it more, so I guess I'm taking the same approach to my post-op eating - I let myself have a few carbs/treats in moderation, so I don't lose my mind (or binge at some point).

Found this - it does have to do with gas, but also with filling your stomach with air (instead of valuable protein): https://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/why-not-to-drink-from-a-straw-after-gastric-bypass-surgery.html

Wow, I'm eating more than everyone else (usually around 1000 calories) but I'm still losing 1-2 lbs a week, so I guess it's okay? Also, I don't feel like my hunger hormone entirely went away. Hunger feels DIFFERENT now, but I definitely know when my body needs food, and I never forget to eat. :-/ I posted this in the December Sleevers thread but I'll share it here, too. A typical day for me: (I don't usually finish my whole turkey sandwich at lunch, but when I made just half a sandwich, it didn't feel like quite enough.)

I hear you - I was so sick of shakes, jello, etc., post-op, that I couldn't wait to get to purees and solids. Take it slow, though! At only 6 days, you should probably focus a little more on purees, than solids. I found mashed potatoes and savory soups (like roasted red pepper, pureed french onion, etc.) helpful in those early days as well. Also, maybe your surgeon advises differently but I'm not supposed to use straws, ever. (I think it has something to do with putting air into your stomach?)

These are the cheddar cheese snacks by Cabot that I love, if anyone is interested. 50 calories, 6 grams of protein, and they actually taste like sharp cheddar cheese (instead of those horrible string cheese which I find dry and waxy). https://www.cabotcheese.coop/sharp-light-cheddar-cheese#tab=snacking

I definitely focus on "protein first" at meals and try to make my snacks high in protein as well (a slice of turkey rolled with a slice of provolone is one of my favorites, and Cabot makes a 50 calorie sharp cheddar snacking cheese that I LOVE). My typical day is below. (I'd love to see other people post what they eat in a day??) I've also stopped drinking Premier Protein shakes almost entirely. I had been using them for breakfast, but now I'm making my own smoothies again, with protein powder. One problem I had was I would nurse a protein shake all morning, which my nutritionist said was not good because it kept me from drinking water, and from eating real food. My own smoothies help me get more real food (fruits, veggies) too, which I like much better (and I make sure to finish my 8 oz smoothie in about 20 minutes so I can move on to water). Water is hard but I find I do better if I spend the money to just buy bottled Vitamin Water Zero. The cost adds up but they taste so much better than plain water or even putting Stur or Crystal Lite in water that I'm more likely to drink them, which makes it worth the cost. (My grocery store, Wegmans, has some of their own brand that are great, and a little cheaper than Vitamin Water.)

Sleeved 12/28, down 43.5 lbs total. Things slowed down around weeks 5-6 (I wasn't exercising, and I also went on vacation) but I've started exercising more and the scale is dropping again now. Yay.

Being COLD all the time is my biggest side effect, but it feels like a very fair trade to me. (I'm down nearly 44 lbs since my 12/28 surgery.) I actually had some complications with the surgery itself (very painful splenic infarction and a collapsed lung) but I'm fully recovered now. I had well-controlled reflux before my sleeve but, knock on wood, it hasn't given me any trouble at all. I take Omeprozole morning and night and I've been fine. I found the vitamins annoying at first (especially the big chalky tablets) but, with my surgeon's permission, I switched to a gummy multivitamin, jelly iron supplement, and calcium citrate chews, all of which I find MUCH easier to take.

Hi Subaru - Glad to hear you're feeling well! I'm experiencing much the same - figuring out what foods work for me and which don't and working on eating slowly (I get a tightness in my chest when I eat too much or too fast). I'm down 41 lbs, which feels incredible, and I've just started working out which I'm hoping will keep the momentum going (my weight loss has definitely slowed the past few weeks but I'm still averaging about 1.5 - 2 lbs/week, which I'm thrilled with). I'm with my family in the White Mountains of NH this week and "vacation eating" is something I'm struggling with as well (especially when my husband and son are skiing, I'm at the condo, and I have to resist my natural urge to snack all day). I only tried skiing once in my life (in high school, on a date) and it was a disaster but I'm thinking this time next year, I'll be in better shape and might give it another try.

What a sweet-looking dog!

I will occasionally zap my food in the microwave halfway through, if it's getting cold and it's something that tastes awful cold (scrambled eggs, etc).

I get my Premier Protein shakes on Amazon. (I'm amazed you got all the way through surgery without having them. They were a staple of my pre-op diet.) Banana is my favorite...

I had planned to be out 10 days (most of which my office was closed for the Christmas break, thankfully, because I work at a university) but I had some complications and definitely wasn't ready to go back after 10 days. I ended up taking 2+ weeks, and on week 3 I worked mostly from home, to ease back into it. I would say give yourself at least 7-10 days but plan for the possibility that it could take longer to feel ready for work.