DanceSmartly

I honestly have never counted calories since my WLS (I did count protein for the first year). Now I'm closing in on 4 years out and I can guarantee you that I'm eating much more than 800 calories per day. I would guess that I eat ~1800 calories per day, and I'm about the same height as your friend. I don't feel deprived at all, and I'm maintaining pretty well at this level.

Hey Jenniferinfl, I am nearly 4 years out from WLS, have been successfully maintaining my weight loss, and I enjoy all fruits and vegetables. Although I've also seen many references to the low-carb post-surgery diets that you're talking about and have no doubt they work for some people, I'm not one of them. I eat all the fruits and veggies I want; my bargain with the carb deities is that I don't eat white sugar or white flour. I eat a cup of fresh berries or grapes or pineapple for breakfast every day, plus one large apple or banana for my afternoon snack. I definitely struggled with both apples and bananas during the first year after WLS, and I still find both very filling. At this point, I eat pretty much just fresh and whole fruits, but you will probably find that canned and pureed fruits or smoothies are much kinder to a new sleeve (though managing simultaneous sugar intake can be challenging) . I don't remember berries being overly difficult, so those might work for you. I eat at least two servings of cooked veggies with lunch and another two servings of cooked veggies with supper. I still find potatoes, corn and broccoli extremely filling; I can eat maybe 3 baby potatoes or 1/6 of a medium-sized baked potato or 1/4 cup corn or 4 broccoli florets as part of a meal. As you've noted, most bariatric diets recommend steering clear of starchy veggies after surgery anyway; the good news is that won't be too difficult if your sleeve is anything like mine! I have no trouble eating 2 servings of other cooked veggies (including stalky ones like asparagus) as part of a meal. Raw veggies are a bit of a different story. I couldn't eat raw cauliflower or broccoli florets or raw carrot sticks at all for a LOOOOOO-NG time. Now I can manage a floret or stick or two, maybe a bit more if I really spread them out. On the other hand, raw salad vegetables (lettuce, kale, cucumber, celery, sweet peppers, tomatoes, avocados, green onions, etc) are no problem. I can eat a full plate of salad (actually, salad is the only full plate of food I can eat even at my stage). Unfortunately, salad was also difficult for me in the first 6 months post-WLS; I just gave up on raw veggies altogether for quite a while. I never drank coffee or alcohol, so am no help to you there.

I continue to take my vitamins 4 years out. Right after my surgery, a group of us bariatric patients were talking to a fifty-ish woman whose husband had just been sleeved. She told us she had had a bypass ten years ago. Then she pulled out her teeth and took off her cap to show us her severely damaged hair and said, "Folks, do as your doctor says and as I didn't do: take your #@&* vitamins!" Scared me spitless; I can still see her fitting her teeth back into her mouth. If you are skipping vitamins, you might want to make sure you get bloodwork done frequently and visit the dentist regularly to ensure everything is ok.

I've been cold for coming up four years now; it's probably the side effect of WLS I enjoy least. I have to wear layers year-round (yes, even in the summer!). On the other hand, visiting hot countries on winter vacations is a lot more fun now. I also really miss water sports; I find being immersed in cool water too uncomfortable now to enjoy swimming like I used to. I had to buy a wetsuit when I rebuilt my wardrobe about a year out from surgery!

I closed my eyes when I looked in the mirror, then climbed on the scale to remind myself why I was doing this!!! Sadly, I really don't have any good advice re: hair loss other than grit your teeth and get through it. I went on a vacation during the worst of it, which distracted me pretty well from my hair woes from almost a month (though I don't like looking at the pictures of myself from that trip very much). I read a lot about people being super careful when they washed their hair and doing it as infrequently as possible, but that was pretty much not an option for me given how oily my skin became after WLS. I confess I didn't look into wigs or anything like that; those simply weren't an option for me because of my job (I'm an engineer and have to wear a hard-hat at work when I'm in the plant). Wish I had more practical tips to share with you! Edited to add: I did take biotin following WLS as prescribed by my surgeon. It certainly didn't prevent hair loss, but there's always the possibility that my hair loss might have been worse had I not taken it. I reduced my biotin dosage at one point and noticed that my hair did in fact seem to be breaking off more; my understanding is that biotin may make the hair you do have stronger and more resistant to breakage.

Very interesting re: Aczone topical, Swanton_Bomb! Will keep that in my back pocket Afraid I can't offer much comfort re: potential hair loss after WLS; I experienced pretty severe hair loss. It started about two months after surgery, and lasted about six months. The good news is that my hair did grow back eventually (took about a year!), and now I am back to about what I had pre-WLS. I am definitely a pear shape rather than the classic PCOS apple shape, which is yet another reason I think my PCOS is caused by excess androgens rather than lack of estrogen. Freakin' hormones: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Hi mousecat88: I can't answer your question with respect to the population at large, but my personal experience was that PCOS did NOT result in slow weight loss after WLS. My nutritionist had warned me that my weight loss might be slower than normal due to being blessed (!) with both PCOS + hypothyroidism, but I ended up losing 78 lbs in 7 months following WLS. I had many more PCOS symptoms than it seems you do: ultrasound-confirmed ovarian cysts, painful cystic acne on my back, neck and jawline, mild hair growth on my neck and thinning hair on my head. I did not suffer the irregular menstrual cycles / infertility often associated with PCOS, leading me to believe my PCOS was more the result of excessive androgen production than insufficient estrogen. Also, like you, my blood glucose tests always came back normal. With respect to medication, I was on Diane-35 for 10+ years before WLS to control my cystic acne (I didn't find it helped much with the other symptoms). I went off my medication for my WLS and thought, "That's the last I will ever see of that stuff!" Not to scare you but it didn't quite work out that way. Though my weight dropped spectacularly quickly, my cystic acne flared up worse than ever within 2 months of WLS, especially on my back. The oil production from my skin following WLS was amazing: I could run my hand across my forehead after an hour of sitting at my desk and my hand would come away absolutely shiny with oil. My theory is that my stupid androgen-producing organs (ovaries or adrenal glands or both) didn't get the memo that there was less of me now and so they could reduce androgen production accordingly, thank you very much! After nearly 22 months of continuing to struggle with cystic acne post-WLS, I finally gave up and went back on Diane-35. Fortunately, the story doesn't end there. After a year back on Diane-35, I had to quit again for reasons unrelated to WLS. At my gynecologist's recommendation, I started taking 400 IU/d Vitamin E instead. This change took place almost a year ago now and to my very great surprise, my skin has stayed beautifully clear. I don't know whether to attribute this to taking Vitamin E or to my lousy ovaries / adrenal glands FINALLY getting the message that I didn't need so many androgens anymore, but either way, I am happy! All the best with your WLS journey! Dance

Thanks, J San! I learned so much from this community! Much appreciated, Oct517! I haven't looked at pre-op pics in a long time; bit startling to realize how much I have changed.

First post, though I lurked a lot in the days before my surgery! Coming up 4 years out from my gastric sleeve; best thing I ever did for myself. Here are my before and after pics!