Alpaca55

Such a great succinct post FC... I do follow this way of eating but having it all spelled out in this way is really something that I need to pin on the front of my fridge! Hope you’re doing well? You are clearly shrinking which is amazing ... well done! Xx

what I've noticed is that my first weight loss - in 2012 where I lost about 97lbs - was much slower and my body seemed to shrink more in line with the loss on the scales... this time, the weight loss has been faster and my body has taken longer to catch up... it's weird because I kept my clothes and some of them still look wrong now when I wear them - so my body must have adjusted in a different way ...

Always so wise FC! I've been lurking not posting... your wisdom has no bounds! You rock! xx

I never had GERD before surgery... since surgery end Oct 2018, I now have it but can easily get rid of it with mild OTC meds - Rennies (in the UK) - I need to take a few a day but in the scheme of things its a very small price to pay for the weight loss and much better quality of life. I NEVER leave home without a rack of Rennies in my bag as it can get very uncomfortable if I don't have them with me... they fix it really quickly. I'm seeing my surgeon this afternoon and will talk about it with him... I don't fancy the idea of more surgery and need to weigh up the pros and cons of taking Rennies - or prescription PPIs - or further surgery... It's a tough one, but GERD can be excruciatingly painful...

Hi Sausage and beans... I’m also from the UK - London. Had my VSG surgery on 31 October 2018. Have lost 95lbs so far and still learning how to do this. I still don’t trust myself ha ha. I see a head witch and a dietician and wish I was able to meet up with folk in the UK but I was self pay so haven’t been able to find a group to join. BUT! It’s an amazing tool if you follow the principles ... it really does work! Good luck on your journey and PLEASE keep in touch! Message me if you want to have a chat. 😊🤗

Hey ... my surgery was 31.10.18... what a journey! Well done to everyone! 🤗🎉🎈

I will be 7 months post op VSG next Friday... a lot of things have surprised me on this journey. I had the band - but had no support or advice - so it didn't really work. I learned how to eat very slowly and that some times of the day are easier to eat than others. I also learned to know where the toilets were in restaurants and got very used to vomiting. Now I have the VSG, I'm learning new skills and have a much better understanding of nutrition, macros etc. My take-aways would be: 1. Be thoughtful about your meal plan - try and make everything you put in your mouth as highly nutritious as possible, as close to being 'whole food' or organic. I'm currently eating about 800 cals a day - sometimes 650, sometimes 900. 2. Don't keep temptation in your kitchen cupboards or fridge. It's easier for me to just not buy anything that is off-plan. I'm so lucky that I live on my own. I'm a granny so I visit my family and because I still have a 'secretive eating disorder', I'm never tempted to binge when I'm at their homes. 3. I'm still struggling when I have a couple of days away. The change in my eating while I'm away has a long term effect on my weight loss - it can take about 6 days for a different choice to work it's way out of my body! That is REALLY frustrating because I'm only talking about keeping the same calorie-level and carb-level - just switching up my food choices. Good luck on your journey - because I originally had the band, I think this journey is more challenging - but you can definitely get to where you want to be! This forum is amazing and so informative! xx

When I ate a pickled onion (small cocktail one!) ... when I ate a slice of 'LivLife Low Carbs Seriously Seeded Loaf' - 68cals per slice, 3.8g carbs per slice!! 0.22g sodium per slice. And, after just being away at the weekend - the weight goes up when I don't weigh myself every day! I tracked my food - kept below 1000cals, 25g carbs... maybe I didn't drink enough water??!! Eating anything new seems to cause a weight gain it seems ... "huff".... @GreenTealael fantastic topic!

This is pretty typical... exercise is very low because I'm recovering from a catheter ablation and prolapsed disc. I will be gradually upping my step count ... April 10, 2019 FOODS Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber TOTAL: 618 15g 23g 81g 215mg 2,026mg 13g 3g Breakfast Sweetleaf - Stevia Clear - Liquid Stevia, 5 drops (.208 ml) per 8oz of liquid 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Dairy - Semi-skimmed Milk, 50 ml 24 2g 1g 2g 30mg 22mg 2g 0g Kenco Millicano - Instant Coffee, 4 g (1 mug) 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Tesco - Finest King Prawns, 50 g 40 0g 0g 9g --mg 233mg 0g 0g Cherry Tomato - Cherry Tomatoes, 1 tomatoes 3 0g 0g 0g 0mg 2mg 1g 0g Holland & Barrett - Clever Chia Seeds, 3 g 15 0g 1g 1g --mg 1mg 0g 1g Seriously Strong - Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese, 15 g 62 0g 5g 4g --mg 108mg 0g --g Organic Egg - Egg, 1 egg 70 1g 5g 6g 185mg 65mg 0g 0g Tesco - Finest King Prawns, 87.5 g 70 0g 0g 16g --mg 407mg 0g 0g Sweetleaf - Stevia Clear - Liquid Stevia, 5 drops (.208 ml) per 8oz of liquid 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Tassimo Costa Latte - Coffee, 1 Cup (325ml) 66 5g 5g 1g --mg 400mg 5g 1g Lunch Cadburys - Highlights, 11 g 38 4g 1g 2g --mg 0mg 3g 1g Sweetleaf - Stevia Clear - Liquid Stevia, 5 drops (.208 ml) per 8oz of liquid 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Organic Dandelion Root Tea - Tea, 1 bag 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Princess - Tuna Chunks In Spring Water, 84 g 83 0g 0g 20g --mg 269mg --g 0g Dinner Vegetable - * Fresh Spring Onions, 8 g 3 1g 0g 0g 0mg 1mg 0g 0g Seriously Strong - Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese, 15 g 62 0g 5g 4g --mg 108mg 0g --g Tesco - Finest King Prawns, 87.5 g 70 0g 0g 16g --mg 407mg 0g 0g organic raw apple cider vinegar - apple cider vinegar, 0.5 tablespoon 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Cherry Tomato - Cherry Tomatoes, 1 tomatoes 3 0g 0g 0g 0mg 2mg 1g 0g Wegmans - Cucumber, 0.5 cup 8 2g 0g 0g 0mg 1mg 1g 0g Vitamins Dulcolax - Laxative, 1 Tablets 0 --g --g --g 0mg --mg --g --g baricol - vitamin, 1 tablet 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Eliquis - Apixaban, 5 mg 0 --g --g --g --mg --mg --g --g baricol - vitamin, 1 tablet 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Nu U Nutrition - Biotin oral spray, 5 sprays 1 --g --g --g --mg --mg --g --g Equate - Omeprazole, 1 pill 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g baricol - vitamin, 1 tablet 0 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g Eliquis - Apixaban, 5 mg 0 --g --g --g --mg --mg --g --g EXERCISES Calories Minutes Sets Reps Weight TOTALS: 33 1 0 0 0 Cardiovascular MFP iOS calorie adjustment 33 1

I'm not complaining at all, but I'm completely confused about the behaviour of my metabolism this last week!! I've lost 3.1lbs!! And that's even when I've had half a champagne flute of champagne on Friday at an 80th birthday party and about 1.5 glasses of sauvignon blanc (maybe closer to 2 glasses) yesterday at an 80th lunch!! When I got home last night I was feeling quite tipsy, so I ate some king prawns marinated in parsley & garlic and some low fat grated cheese - splashed some ACV over it! Thank goodness I reached for the foods on my plan! Was given another piece of birthday cake to take home which I will throw away today. I didn't even hanker over the cake last night! My food choices at the lunch were great - I had 2 oysters for a starter and then a simple, but juicy thick piece of cod (maybe about 3 or 4oz) and just some lettuce leaves - I hardly ate any lettuce as I was stuffed. And... I wore a skirt!! first time of wearing a skirt for 6 years! I really wish I understood my metabolism better... thank you all for your amazing support.

And one portion is 216cals but I could only manage half a portion

Just had a very successful baking session this morning ... cooked my first egg loaf or cloud bread or oopsy bread - it seems to have lots of names and versions on google... I used 2 eggs, 2oz cream cheese, 1oz mozzarella, 2tablespoons melted butter... baked in oven for 15 mins - perfect and SO filling... I can only eat half a portion ... let’s see what impact it has on the scales tomorrow!! 🥺

So... I attended my first party yesterday - an 80th birthday party! Lots of nibbles, birthday cake, party food flowing all afternoon... surprisingly, I was so strict with myself!! I had about 1.5 glasses of Bollinger (first alcohol since October) a piece of parmesan and 2 slices of meat - one chicken and one ham. I had to sneak the birthday cake into my bag and then throw it away when I got home... I ate when I got home - 75g prawns, 30g of avocado, 40g cucumber, 1 scallion, 2 cherry tomatoes, cup of watercress a bit of garlic, chilli and some ACV... and this morning I've lost .9lbs!! Unbelievable! I was convinced that the champagne would have done some serious damage. I'm arranging to see a nutritionist again - a different one this time who I hope thinks outside the box on trying to figure out what I can do to make the journey less rigid... I was also thinking of going back to my diet when I lost weight on Atkins... I was down to 5g/10g of carbs and that was successful for me... but eating at that rate isn't really practical long term... but keeping to 20g carbs which is what I'm on at the moment means I can add bits of veg onto my plate and keep that cup of hot chocolate in the evening... although I'm noticing that I don't want it every night at the moment which is fantastic!! My head witch doesn't think I have BED anymore although I'm not convinced. She went through the BED test with me and for the moment it does look like I'm not in that place right now... she said the stats for BED after surgery were that 50% of BED folk pre-surgery didn't have it after surgery. Please god that I'm one of the 50%! I'm feeling super charged this morning! I have one more hurdle to face tomorrow as it's another birthday event - this time lunch at a local lovely restaurant... I will have half a glass of wine and hopefully something simple from the menu like grilled chicken and salad... fingers crossed I make it!

so... I upped my cals to closer to 800 (I've been 500 or less for the past week) and low and behold I lost 0.5-0.7lbs this morning... this is such a crazy mind-f**k of a roller-coaster. I can't work out what my perfect food day should look like ... I will need another 85 cals of protein for this evening just to get the protein right so I'm going to have some king prawns with ACV.... about 70 cals and 16g of protein ... yum!

Not quite beat ... but I’m on the prowl for any signs of it returning and attend a melanoma clinic every 3 months ... 😊

It's been a crazy, tough, stressful week!! Haven't hardly had time to read posts never mind actually posting ... I've been strict on plan except for last Sunday - I ate 3 French fries because they got delivered with my omelette at a hotel I was staying at... they weren't particularly tasty but the damage to the number on the scale was 3lbs which has taken me the rest of the week to lose... sheesh!! I've eliminated Stevia drops and trying to wear a straight-jacket in food terms as I'm so desperate to get to 199 that I will try and do my utmost to get there! At the moment, I haven't eliminated the 38cals chocolate drink which I have at about 6pm... I have to look forward to something otherwise my eating plan is way too miserable ... each and every day is a struggle... I check and re-check my food choices all day every day ... I'm seeing my head witch on Wednesday - mostly to try and keep me sane and anxiety-free... thankfully the prolapsed disc is getting less painful and the heart is stabilising which is great! hoping it continues... next stress now is the weather... I was diagnosed with malignant and aggressive melanoma 2 years ago - on my face would you believe! had an op and they removed 5cm circle of my cheek and then did a reverse face lift flap to fix the missing bit... I looked like 'scar-face' for ages ... my face has started to be less noticeable thank goodness... but, I'm extra high risk now for UV damage and re-occurring cancer ... so I'm looking for a decent hat with a broad rim... never been a 'hat person' but it's that and/or UV protecting umbrellas... ho-hum... life would be far too boring if I had nothing to think about!

So... I've been reading a Bariatric book and this is a quote from the book: "This means that even after bariatric surgery, your BMI is still likely to be in the overweight range and at least 25% over BMI 25. This is considered a successful outcome after bariatric surgery, although it sometimes differs from what individuals hope or expect to lose." I'm amazed that they have written such a defeating comment! I don't want to accept it and it feels wrong for the author or the bariatric surgeons to assume that we can't get to a 'normal' weight! It feels discriminatory... But perhaps I'm over sensitive... When i first had my consult with the surgeon he asked me how much i wanted to lose. Because of the shame i have about my eating i found those types of questions too difficult to answer truthfully so I just told him i wanted to lose enough to feel comfortable and happy with the way i looked. Not sure I know where I'm going with this but it does feel like there's a discriminatory mindset - even among the bariatric medical community... There are so many people on this forum and all the others who prove that statement wrong every single day. "huff"

so...I need to have more patience and trust the process. Something weird happens with my water retention and its linked to my heart arrhythmias... I had a heart episode last night and as a result have lost 1.5lbs this morning. I must talk to my cardiologist about it as he might have some thoughts... Today I am not using Stevia drops... I'm adding some spinach and a bit of asparagus as its the season... I have really missed veg so hoping these additions won't spike my insulin or water retention. I'm having these veg with some grilled chicken using my brand new Forman Grill! A new alien thought for me to process... 6 months ago, I would be eating an extra burger of 700cals if I was hungry ... and my brain hasn't caught up with how in the new bariatric world, the differences could be as minuscule as 50 to 100 extra cals. I've pretty much disregarded differences of that small amount. It was what Fluffy said yesterday - to up my cals to 750. I first thought that that difference wasn't going to make any difference as it was too small... but, obviously I'm still using my fat-brain and haven't converted it to being more normal ... Jeez... this is such a learning curve... re-educating an ancient old biddy like me is taking some time and I'm not a natural maths or science person which I'm learning is quite an important skill to have when adjusting macros or mixing things up in the food lab... Thank you all for your tolerance - I've also realised I'm a bit of a moaner xx

Fluffy ... You are so frigging wise!! Xx

Amazing!! Well done! 😊

Well ... I think I'm understanding my anxiety around the speed of my weight loss. I think its because all the literature the YouTube videos the FB pages the Instagrammies eventhr bariatric websites all refer to the weight loss window and imply that its finite and will close after a certain period of time and I'm trying to get through the portal before the opportunity closes... And then they all say not to expect more than a 65% loss... I think these facts are building my anxiety and the feelings of failure I'm about to experience once I'm at one year plus ... I need a chill pill 😊

🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈 Well done Fluffy!!! What an achievement!! You must be on Cloud 99!! I'm going to try a one day water-ish fast soon as I have a party to attend in 2 weeks and I really REALLY want to have lost a bit more before then!!! Hope your dinner goes well this evening ... xxx 🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈🎉🎈

Hi KC - my starting weight was before the pre-op diet. I lost 7lbs on the pre-op diet and my weight at surgery was 295lbs. Hi FC - my protein for yesterday was 81... I'll cut down on the cadburys chocolate drink (gulp!) - it will be tricky as it feels so important for me to have a self-indulgence (macros for the drink are: 38cals, 4g carbs, 1.3g fat & 1.8g protein). and yes, the Stevia will cut by half. I was having 30g blueberries and 2 strawberries on most days but have cut those out as blueberries are quite high in carbs... talk about living like a nun!!

I wish it all made sense to me! By eating such a low calorific diet, my logical brain makes huge assumptions that it would relate to a corresponding weight loss. I've decided to book with a nutritionist who specialises in BED and bariatrics who may help me change something in my plan to kick start the loss...but I'm so petrified of sabotaging things that I'm almost locked into thinking that no action is better than doing something that will have a negative effect!!

Hi guys I've now bought some ketone test strips and I'm definitely in ketosis... the reading is up around 8 ... but, I'm losing the plot... will this help with losing the right kind of fat? rather than eat away at the good stuff? When I did Atkins 7 years ago (successfully) I didn't really worry about ketosis as I was down to about 5% carbs so it was a given...and it suited me very well. I was blissfully ignorant as it was so easy - I just ate meat, fish, eggs, bacon, ham, heavy cream and cheese. so simple. Now, the more I read up on stuff the more I feel confused... and to be honest, I didn't think I'd need to go back to this kind of eating so soon after surgery. When I followed the nutritionist's plan in month 2 and 3 my weight loss reduced to 7lbs a month (which I know is great but at such an early stage after surgery the surgeon said I was too slow). So I removed most of the carbs and reduced from 800-900cals a day (as recommended by nutritionist) to my current calorie level of between 550-700. So for month 4 and 5 the weight loss has increased to 10lbs for month 4 and 13.2lbs for month 5. I've started to freak out again as April has been a slow start... I'm seriously thinking about a fasting day just to see what that does (I need to chose the day carefully as sometimes I'm so starving that it would be the wrong day to try). When I make one wrong change to my eating plan it can have disastrous and long term results - ie my pickle meal last month increased my weight by nearly 5lbs and took a week to come back down. And last weekend I introduced a few veg into my turkey mince and gained 1.5lbs which took a few days to get rid of. So I'm freaking out... my head witch must think I'm a complete nutter. She would prefer me to be more relaxed about it and said that one of her other clients who got sleeved 2 months ago had been eating some chocolate... Anyway... sorry to go on about this... the more YouTube I watch on insulin, hormones, autophagy, IF etc, keto... the more I'm confused ... 🤯