Biddy zz 🏳️🌈

Hah! And I lost 3 pounds last week. Maybe we should just all move to Niue and dive and walk and read until we reach goal weight!!

Hey there - I am an RNY diver - got home yesterday from a week in Niue diving. Never diving again cos of being both fat and unfit? - THAT was my motivation for surgery and this dive week really showed it was a great decision. I had such a blast! 1.5kg less on my weightbelt, smaller BCD, smaller wetsuit - what a kick. And did you find your air consumption was better? I usually run out well before my regular buddy, but not this week! Where do you dive?

17lbs in 2 weeks!! That is FAB - bet you never did that on any diet before! Hiccups after eating - my doc says it is a symptom of eating too fast, or a little much. Try slowing down, and if that doesn’t work try stopping before you feel full - measuring volume in a cup was the only way for me for the first couple of months! Well done, you...

I got back from holiday yesterday - and also lost three pounds! My overindulgences were cashew nuts, alas nothing more sinful! But I craved for freshly caught fish and crab, and I ate it. My portions were small (I was diving and my dive buddy was amazed) but I chose totally fab tasty food. Crab salad - omg, so much better than my previous holiday ritual of gorging on potato chips until I felt sick. Why did I ever do that? Good on you @EndlessGoals#2018. I would love to see your stats when you are ready - I am also three months post op, and pretty happy with it all...

I am SO glad to hear you are out the other side, @maygoddess- very exciting. We have fairly similar stats weight wise - and I reckon you might be amazed at how effective and easy the surgical option is. Now I know I had RNY not sleeve, but my doctor said “don’t believe the nonsense about not losing as much as first time around. The RNY and sleeve are such better surgeries, you will lose more than with the band”. 3.5 months in, and I am currently just 4lbs above my lowest band weight - and I lost 3 lbs last week, so I KNOW I am going below band weight! And for me it has been pretty much effortless - I just want different stuff, don’t get hungry, get bored by eating before I finish my plate! @VI_VSG2018you had your band about the same time as me - did your port leak or your band? The middle of the back of the port came away in mine, and I am part of some world wide medical malpractice class action suit against the company that made them apparently (not that I expect ever to hear about it again). I wonder if it was the same failure? Every one of those ports put in in New Zealand has failed now. Honestly, my post-band (and nearly post-band) friends, for me the gastric surgery has just been SO much easier than the band. No regurgitation, no reflux. My food tastes have shifted, I am loving salads and exploring ways to get yummy protein.

Ha! Funny! I managed to think “she said ‘eek’ like it crept up and surprised her?” And “HOW did she down a bag full into a tiny tummy?” And “WHY tell us even the brand names just to make us crave them too?” all in the split second until I opened your post!!!

Omg That was a FANTASTIC week. The Internet was down in Niue - so no work at all! Probably the longest time without any work intrusions since I got to be boss! No txts, emails, news - I was antsy at first but then loved it. Niue is unspoiled paradise. A coral island with volcanic uplift, it has just one sandy beach - the rest of the sea edge is sharp corally Cliffs. Rich forest, 2000 inhabitants - rugged but serene. And the diving! Well, being lighter pays off - less lead weights on the weight belt (1.5kg less) and wearing ‘M’ gear not xl (or men’s gear which doesn’t fit so well). And I am fitter - so in and out of the boat was easy, as was the dive itself. I slipped righ back in as if I had not paused in my diving time because of gaining too much weight. But that is the dull stuff. The diving is about fish life, the stunning painted crabs, the pretty hard coral with blues and purples, the bright purple clams, the endless volcanic caves and canyons, the venomous sea snakes (gulp) and the rich blue of the clear, clear water. Bliss...

I remember seeing recipes before my surgery, feeling delighted to know that heavenly food was not being taken from my life! It is very rewarding that what I Now experience as heavenly has changed so much... Google fluffychix recipes and you will find a couple of her blog sites. She is a regular here, and has stacks of GREAT low carb meals - I have tried a few. She is gifted!

I mostly work, and when not at work or doing work emails or txts, I hang out with my significant other, who I love. I have just bought a ne Motorcycle - a Triumph Bonneville, as being lighter and fitter makes me stronger for long road trips, which my other bike, a Royal Enfield 500cc single, is too small for. And, most importantly for my sanity, being not obese again means a resumption of Scuba diving, which is an utter joyful passion that I get to indulge in just a few times a year - and legitimatises my reading “scuba porn” magazines about diving and fish and dive gear all the rest of the year!

Oh yes, yes, yes - irritatingly, annoyingly, exasperatingly, frustratingly normal! Prep yourself for stalls regularly on this journey. At 3 weeks. At 3 months. I lose pretty consistently 100g a day now - 3/4lbs a week. But some days when I think I have eaten perfectly normally I will put on a pound! It goes fast, but water retention, hormones, muscle building all have an impact. One trick I have learned - often when I am in a stall, is when I will drop a pants size, or a bra size. So make sure you get in the habit of checking that or doing regular same-spot measurements with a tape measure and you will stay smiling!

You post pictures of beautiful meals. That helps so much with being content with eating. Look at this - pan seared raw tuna carpaccio, 6 thin slices with cucumber, spring onion, fine chilli slices, wasabi paste and panko sauce... with miso soup (couldn’t fit it in) and 1/4 glass of salted lychee sofa, from a restaurant on Niue. Great protein, even better eye appeal...

I agree - post op, I have never had those cravings like pre-op! Stick the course, my friend - this journey is seriously good! Stay in touch - the folks here have seriously been critical to maintaining my dubious sanity!!!

Hiya @Mattymatt I am 3.5 months post op, and my tastes have really changed - and stayed changed so far! I used to really detest salad - what a waste of eating time. Now, though - lettuce salad is actually a sweet joy! I thought I would crave sweets - but that hasn’t really happened. I thought I would crave my old eating, more. I don’t miss my old junk food, but am loving halloumi, fresh fish, and other protein treats. Embrace those changes in taste - makes losing weight and sticking to plan SO much easier!

All at once - I thought he might not because of the infection, but big-dose antibiotics hammered it pre surgery. I would have been bummed out if I had to wait between!!

I know you asked about sleeve - I just revised from band to RNY and have had great, quick return to band weight. I loved my band, but my port broke so leaked, got replaced, got repeated infections, then when all fixed just never ever hit the sweet spot. New port was on mesh which made its own mayhem. Now I have bypass, I can’t really understand why I didn’t do it years ago - such a better surgery for me!

I hated it! Could tolerate it in the bariatric Pal soups but nothing else. But - oh my, the pea protein was way worse!! So, I decided to experiment until I hit upon a success. And finally I found it. Recipe (my daily breakfast - possibly forever) 1 shot of coffee - I use Nespresso machine pod, but any - even teaspoon of 8nstant in hot water. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning add 50ml milk, 6 ice cubes and 30g vanilla protein powder (I prefer one that isn’t too sweet). Blend in NutriBullet or similar. Makes 8oz of iced coffee slushy - with no whey taste!

Oh @Creekimp13 that is welcome information! And I regard you as healthily sceptical (not prone to flights of “rubbing iguana earwax on your tonguecures blackheads” kinda hysteria). With my hysterectomy scar, I wanted to test the bio oil thing. So I rubbed it on 1/2 my scar. Toss of coin which half. It seriously made that half fade very quickly. To this day, my scar still has a light/dark half!! This New scar gets the full bio oil coverage! And now my wattle will too - when I get back from the islands... will let you know.

And I tried the mixed pack of soup - fantastic, my favourite way to get protein. Just mix with not-boiling-water, so you don’t curdle the protein.

I have a bit of a vomiting phobia so I stayed on the anti-nausea meds a bit longer than I needed I suspect - to be safe! Everything is more bearable when you don’t feel like chucking!! The rest gets better pretty fast. Two weeks out, I was feeling pretty good, going for walks outside, trying flavours of protein soup (WAY better than the shakes!) You’ll get there...

Great reading these varying replies - my recommendationfrom hospital team to me - weigh daily, keep a log (myfitnesspal app or website is great). There is great research showing daily weighing and recording (forever) are highly predictive of losing and maintaining weight loss. MANY people here talk about a three week stall, and other points like a three month stall. Just stick to your plan, you will come through it. My experience, both this surgery and my gastric band years ago - the stall weeks are when I see a size drop - like my body moves fat around, steals it off my butt and lays it down to protect my liver, or something. So keep measuring - you might just find your pants loosening up, or you drop a bra cup size, while the scales stay stubborn! Great weight loss rate so far for you, by the way!!!

I use my weight when I started RNY pre-op dieting 6 weeks or so before surgery. I figure all that (really, not mich for me pre-surgery) is part of this gastric op process. But I don’t go right back to ‘highest weight ever’ or ‘highest weight before my band surgery 10 years ago’. I love having a ‘ticker’ in my signature. Makes me joyful! And even though I just moved my goal weight lower (after all, I might as well AIM to be bmi in the healthy ‘not overweight’ range, right??!

Hi @MN_Meg770 Tonight I ate sugar-free rhubarb ‘loaf’. With yoghurt and passion fruit pulp. And I ate too fast and maybe a bit muc. - instead of giving myself a small portion, I decided to eat until full then hand over the remainder. So I ate a little more than I would have dished up. Probably ate 1/2 cup. Now I am flat on my back with hot flushes, a light tummy pain and vague nausea but I know I won’t throw up. This is dumping - ate too fast, yoghurt and fruit have sugar. I have had one bad session where I thought I would throw up (very miserable) and this is my third ‘you have been an idiot but not criminal’ where vomiting isn’t on the horizon. All self inflicted fails - once a month - that is one meal in 60 (breakfast doesn’t count as I have a coffee-protein shake every day) where I have screwed up. Pretty good - used to be 50/60 where I screwed up, I reckon!!) And all the fails make me correct myself. No fruit juice, no icing/frosting, no 17g-sugar-protein-bars and now, portion control at serving time not eating time. 14 weeks in - no vomiting.

My surgeon was clear - no soda. But lightly carbonated water is acceptable if you hate ‘flat’ water and light carbonation means you will drink your 6-8 glasses a day. That is me - light carbonation, maybe with 1/10th light cranberry juice, and I sip it all day long. I was a coke addict (the liquid kind, note) in my youth. 2 litres/8 glasses a day. Then I switched to diet, then Coke Zero. I think now that really helped keep my taste for sweet food Living and strong! Post surgery - not a single craving...

Aaah @Creekimp13, I want Alex to pin your post so that it is one of the first every newbie reads in perpetuity. Unlike @FluffyChix I don’t pull much out of my arse - largely because these days it pretty much bursts out of its own accord. But you are right. Having had gastric band failure and commenting on those threads sometimes I see it - people saying “is a band a good idea for me?” They get some “NO - mine was terrible, don’t get ever one, you’ll regret it” through to cautious “well, these days they are less popular with surgeons but some people get long lasting results” through to “mine is GREAT don’t listen to them, they have no willpower”. That must be confusing as hell, when you are seeking advice! Unless we all remember we a people, seeking a community of others we have something in common with, giving hopelessly biased opinions based on our own body or brain responses. If we all remembered that about other people here, we might see less of the indignant “she was mean to me!” responses, too!!

I am a white gal from New Zealand who has tended to accumulate my survivalist “famine stores” on my bum and thighs. Good news - the ‘shelf’ that formed when I tensed my bum is gone gone gone. My thighs are shrinking and it is obvious. Now my calves? Well maybe but even if I got down to 50lbs I reckon 25 of it would be cankle!! So yep, you can move that posterior!