darcyjae

Very happy to report that I've hit my 2019 milestone goal and dropped under 200 this weekend for the first time since my 20s. Next milestone is to get under 180 (my surgeon's goal for me) and out of the obese category! (Haven't seen that weight since my teens.) I hope the rest of you are doing well. I know the holidays can be a challenge with food, so wishing everyone lots of luck! ❤️

It’s a little expensive but I use Daily Harvest for myself, which are super quick to cook (4 min in a pan) after I’ve made my daughter something.

It took me a good hour and a half to drink a shake for a month. Even now it still takes 45 minutes, but I suppose I *could* chug more if I had to. It’s more aesthetic than a true limitation.

I’m not sure I agree with this assessment by the nutritionist. Most people got to be obese by eating many non-healthy foods. For some, “new foods” might comprise healthy food they’ve never tried. I think trying out new healthy foods is smart, to replace poor choices, and a broad variety of options probably makes weight loss more sustainable. My current staple foods include a few things I’d never had before surgery. Perhaps the nutritionist was talking about unhealthy choices?

That’s horrible, Karen. I’m so sorry! It sounds almost like food poisoning. But overall it looks like you’re still down a lot, so try not to be discouraged by the set-back. I suggest you try to see your nutritionist, and get back on track, but mostly, keep your chin up. You’ve got this.

I had about 2 tbsp of anything I wanted and a slice of turkey. Too full for dessert. Ended up losing a pound over night and two more the following weekend. Now sitting 3 pounds from my end of year goal to get below 200. I just might do this! We are headed to Universal Orlando for New Years and the prospect of going on rides without being self conscious about being over #200 is pretty exciting!!!

So, this is a weird one. Sometimes last year, after I turned 51, I moved into menopause (I thought), but post sleeve, in July, my monthly friend has returned on a regular basis, for the past three months. I was always regular and apparently still am. Anyone experienced anything similar? I don’t thing the initial cessation was weight related as I hadn’t had any real increase in some time. Just... strange.

Great work! @MeowAMR! I’m in a similar spot. Down 49 lbs since 7/30, and just 11 from the one hundreds, so very much hoping to get there by the new year. I can see a big difference in my shape and clothes. I had my Bariatric appointments the week before last and everything came back normal. I feel like I’ve been more tortoise than hare in my losing, but my PA and nutritionist were thrilled. And honestly, I am not sure I’d want to be losing any more quickly. I already feel like I’ve got some bagginess in the skin of my thighs, arms and under my chin/jaw. Hoping my collagen can keep up.

The hair dies during the trauma you undergo during surgery, so there's nothing you can really do to keep it from falling out eventually. What you CAN do is encourage new hair growth. (And yes, that will mean new hairs may push those old ones out.) I am over 50 and had been experiencing some thinning anyhow since I had my daughter at 40, so this was a big concern for me. I have been using Aveda's Invati shampoo and treatment and also rubbing a few drops of CBD oil into the front of my scalp a few times a week and taking some collagen now and then—and wow, I've got a halo of new baby hairs growing in now. Practically a fringe. I think the best that can be done is to focus on growing healthy new hair, rather than trying to keep hairs that are already effectively lost with silly things like not brushing or using special pillow cases. My two cents anyhow. 😃

What are your alternatives, though? Think of it this way... Even if you did go back to gaining a pound a year or what-have-you, you'd still probably be in a far better place for the next 25 years than you are now. But take heart—your much smaller stomach sort of prevents you from eating too much in quantity, and the effort of going through the surgery itself goes a long way to strengthening resolve to make better quality choices. 😃

This. I went sleeve and have had zero issues or intolerances. I chose it because there are fewer potential points of failure where you’re not rerouting things differently than nature intended. My surgeon said that from a surgical perspective the sleeve isn’t particularly invasive at all. I think one factor might be how much you have to lose, though, since the higher % loss for bypass might be harder to make up with the sleeve if you have a big goal. Good luck either way!

I'm there too— Surgery was 7/31 and down 34 lbs as of today (259 to 225). And I DO exercise every day, with either a 3-5 mile walk or a 45min rowing class. I was worried I was behind based on some of the rapid drops others here have reported, but my nutritionist at MGH said I'm at a normal and very good pace, so I think we're doing great. Personally I don't want to drop so quickly that my skin can't keep up, so it's probably a good thing. It's hard not to constantly compare our journeys, but it's also worth noting, when we do, that the people who seek out a forum like this are particularly motivated, and therefore not an average sample of all people with this surgery. 😃

I think the OPs question was about what you are physically unable to eat, not what you choose to eat rarely or not at all. So many of the answers have been around what can be tolerated by the stomach post-procedure. I think everyone is different regarding whether an occasional treat/bite of something will derail them or not—and what those triggers are.

Baby spinach salad with chopped leftover chicken tikka (2oz), ash goat cheese from this weekends farmers market (.75oz), 6 almonds, chopped, and 1.25oz raspberries, tossed with 1.5 tsp white peach balsamic vinegar and 1tsp Croatian olive oil. ~295 calories. Yum.

It’s SO weird how different we all are. I was away for my birthday weekend and among the things I ate successfully were swordfish, hummus, tzatziki, salad, egg frittata, filet mignon, mashed potato and—my daughter ‘s spin on “cake”—a slice of baguette with butter and jam. Everything agreed with me just fine (and I lost 2 pounds over the weekend). I think it goes to show that you just never know what will happen.

The idea that this is some easy way out of obesity is laughably ridiculous to anyone familiar with the effort it takes to undergo this process successfully. That fact alone should give you the strength to blow off that guy. Sure, surgery gives you a limitation that provides a safety net but the work is yours. Sounds to me like this is a “friend” you don’t need in your life.

There’s a great book on management called “First Break all the Rules”, which taught me an awful lot about relationships at work and at home. One of the best pieces of advice I got from that book was around not trying to score points or win every battle, (even when you’re right), but instead focusing on the end result you want and thereby winning the war. Sometimes that means doing counterintuitive things. There’s no reason for you to apologize if you’re happy enough to continue with overt hostility or break off ties entirely. But now is a great time for you to think about what it is you DO want to achieve in the end, and then take the action that is most likely to get you there. I gave you the advice that I did because it seemed like you wanted things to go back to something like the way they were, and if that’s the case, someone’s going to have to be the person to make the first move and swallow their pride. (Even if it’s just going through the motions for now to set the stage for her to come around on her own.) Anyhow, keep the end result you want in mind—whatever that may be. I’m sorry that you’re having to go through this.

My nutritionist says rice expands in your stomach after eating it and frequently causes discomfort. She advises steering clear of it.

To be honest, it IS her wedding. I'd try and let it go. Take the high road and write her a mea culpa letter saying you didn't intend to spoil her day and are sorry, and then move on. I wouldn't try to get her to take accountability because she's clearly not in that space. But you CAN take control of it all by forgiving her and rising above it. (And of course, you can be polite without "letting her back in" or making yourself vulnerable to her opinions.) She might have thought that by inviting your daughters she was honoring you, but either way it seems everyone is on the defensive, which is good for no one. The more you indulge in the drama, the more upsetting it will be to you. But if you make it a non-issue by falling on your proverbial sword you can move on and be the better person in everyone's eyes—including your own.

By contrast, I’m 7 weeks out and I’ve tolerated everything I’ve tried thus far—including the aforementioned eggs and cheese, spinach, raspberries, meat and fish. (I’ve not tried fried foods, sugar, grains or starches except sweet potato) so it’s anyone’s guess...

This surgery has the opposite effect. At least for a while. I'm about to enter week seven and the worst part of the whole experience for me is having to think SO much about eating and drinking. I'm sure it's better than not thinking about it and overeating, but the need to think about what I'm eating, measure, log and eat constantly is pretty relentless compared to before.

You may want to check again. I saw that they changed the indications for surgery yesterday, lowering the recommendations for BMI.

*drunk

Twice. In both cases it was fairly soon after I’d drink a lot of water.

Yeah, I’m only at ~16lbs as I start week 5. (7/30 VSG) I’m thinking we are probably all obsessing a bit over the scale. I’m confident it will come off steadily.