Arabesque

I hadn’t heard of it either & it wasn’t an option with my surgeon. Is it a Sydney thing?? I wonder if stomach stretching after sleeve was either an old wives tale or to scare patients to encourage them to eat correctly (portion size, frequency, etc.) so that wouldn’t happen. I do recall Dr Nowzaradan operating again on one of his patients saying they had stretched their tummy again but they had been eating exactly the same way as they always had: huge portions, many times a day every day for a long time. So they deliberately worked to stretch it again. No surgery would have helped them. As others have said it sounds similar to lapband (gastric banding) which are not performed as often because of higher risk of complications. There are a lot of people here who have had to have a revision to sleeve or more commonly to bypass because of issues with their band. On googling I noticed that some weight loss clinics don’t identify the possible side effects of the minimiser but did discover one (Perth) clinic that did: … placing a ring around the top of the sleeve can cause obstructive symptoms much like adjustable gastric banding resulting in difficulty swallowing and food intolerance. It can cause dilatation of the top of the sleeve which we consider to be the most critical part. It may also increase the risk of reflux, volume regurgitation and possible aspiration. But if you’ve done your research, weighed the pros & cons, and you know yourself & your challenges with eating best, & your surgeon supports you, it is ultimately your decision. All the best.

It’s a mind set change about solids vs liquids. Doesn’t make it easier but … The liquids will have all the calories you need so should satisfy a lot of your real hunger needs. Though unfortunately for many of us a lot of the satisfaction of eating comes from the actual crunch & chew of solid food but suddenly that’s gone so you start to crave them & feel head hunger even more. And the cycle & hellishness begins Are you allowed any solids? Many have two or three shakes plus a solid meal of protein & vegetables/salad at night which is easier to handle. I did that diet years ago for about two months & I swear I fantasised about eating that ‘real’ meal all day long every one of those 60 days. 😁 All the best.

It could just be your natural weight fluctuation. Mine is a kilogram (2.2lbs). Hormonal fluctuations, retaining some fluid, being constipated, full bladder, full bowel, etc. all can cause the number to go up on the scale. It doesn’t mean you’re failing. You’re likely weighing yourself more often than before so you’re starting to notice these fluctuations. You won’t lose the exact same amount of weight each day or week is not consistent. It’s expected that your weight loss graph will be a wriggly line. You’ll get little ups & downs & plateaus along the way. As long as your general weight loss trend is going down you’re golden. And your stall will break. Have a chat with your dietician just in case you need to tweak your diet or activity a bit. I liked to think of a stall as my body needing to take a breath to come to terms with my weight loss & dietary changes.

My surgeon keeps his patients in overnight to monitor progress, give fluids, etc. & ensure you are drinking without issue. Because I lived alone he suggested I stay an extra night again which turned out I needed because apparently I was a terrible colour, BP was low & I had a lot of swelling & struggled to swallow. Then on the third day when I was to go home my back went into spasm so I didn’t go home until day 4. I was basically pain & swelling free by then.

Oh no! 😱 But the risk of travelling with any child I think. Spent the day driving about shopping with my sister-in-law last week & discovered very strange stains & remains on the seat of my trousers when I got home. After school & travelling snack leftovers I think. 😁 Congrats on eating almost all those vegetables too. 😉

I think @SleeverSk was wondering if your sleeping med was Stillnox (Zolpidem) which is renown for causing sleep eating (it was the one my mum was on) & was only suggesting you drop it if you can or if you can change your sleeping tablet to another formulation. This may be a challenge given your broader health issues & medication regime but certainly worth a conversation with your prescribing doctors about trying something that works differently. PS - Stillnox/Zolpidem can cause anxiety & depression in some people which may be of concern to you too if this is the sleeping med you take. All the best.

I found the shakes gross too & the so called flavourless pea protein I bought had flavour to me & it was disgusting (& I love peas). The bones broths were a bit too salty. You can strain soups like pho, ramen or wonton soup & just have the broth which is more flavoursome. Or make a chicken soup & strain that (often home made is much tastier). I ate prepared cream of chicken soup & beef & vegetable soups too - strained them & added extra water to thin them out more. Wish I had discovered yoghurt drinks earlier. They can be thinned with extra milk. Don’t be afraid to up the flavour content with additional stock or herbs or spices you can tolerate (let them steep for a while then strain). Try protein water a try too.

As @catwoman7 said dumping won’t be an issue but you may struggle swallowing the meds for a couple of days because of swelling from the surgery. Spread taking the meds out across the day if possible & only take one at a time until you don’t have any issues. I didn’t start taking my vitamins until towards the end of the first week because of swelling. Fortunately the only med I had that I had to take every day was my HRT & that is very small like the pill so was easy to swallow. All the best.

Give your team a call so you know exactly what they recommend. I wasn’t advised to take additional calcium to what was already in the multi vitamin they recommended. My bone scan showed my bones were rock hard anyway & I was consuming way more calcium than I ever did before surgery. Before surgery maybe 3or 4 serves a week. After surgery about 3 serves a day. I wasn’t given a fibre recommendation either except to add a spoon of Benefibre or other non swelling fibre supplement every day to milk, yoghurt drink, rolled oats (instant at first from purée). I also tried to add some vegetables to my diet as soon as I could. Plus I was allowed fruit around month 3 (strawberries & watermelon were my favourites then mandarins & peeled apples as I was able).

My mother experienced this with one of her sleeping tablets too. She’d find empty ice cream containers in the sink & ice cream wrappers around the house with absolutely no memory of eating them. (Funny that she always went to frozen treats.) she changed her meds & no more sleep eating. You’ll probably find your weight stabilises too because you’re not ingesting as much food. Have you considered starting with a therapist? It’s usually part of your surgery approval process but nothing days you can’t start earlier. You could ask your surgeon for a referral/recommendation to someone who specialises in bariatric surgery & disordered eating. Many find seeing a therapist very beneficial for many things including their emotional health, weight loss & their relationship with food.

The gas pain can be worse than the pain from the surgery. Walking is your best options & GasX. Have also heard that deep slow breaths can help by forcing the gas up & out. I wouldn’t try to force yourself to pass wind. After surgery this can be ‘dangerous’ because of the risk of ‘wet farts’ or diarrhoea. Yikes!! Remember the gas is actually in your abdominal cavity not your actual tummy or intestines/colon. Plus the gas they use rises in your body as it tries to escape hence the shoulder pain. It will take a few days but it will eventually dissipate.

I read it as you’ll need to take the multi vitamin & also take the calcium (because of the plus sign) but you don’t need additional B12 as it is included in these meds (the recommended multi). The bad news is if you are one of those who will lose extra hair after surgery, you can’t do anything to stop it. Worrying about it will likely only make it worse - you don’t need additional stress. Remember we naturally regularly shed hair. After the stress of the surgery & the dramatic change to our diet, our natural hair loss cycle is accelerated. So the additional hair you lose was always going to be shed. Your new growth is still occurring but just at its usual rate. The hair on your head is dead & nothing can save that. All those vitamins & supplements that promise hair growth may do is help your new hair growth. Just like fertiliser won’t stop dead leaves falling off a plant but may help with new growth. Same with your nails. Once you get to your maintenance point & you’re eating larger portions & a more balanced diet, everything settles again. Even your face, which may look more drawn for a while, settles too. Your healthier diet will bring a lot of benefits to the quality of your skin, hair & nails in time too. Vitamins can be very expensive but it may be better to start with the higher quality recommended ones to begin while your diet is most restricted. My surgeon, dietician & pharmacist all told me that the vitamins kept behind the counter at the pharmacy are always the best quality in purity & quantity of ingredients. Apparently this applies to all over the counter meds. If they keep certain meds behind the counter buy those. All the best with your surgery & recovery.

I wouldn’t worry too much. It could just be your natural fluctuation especially as it’s only a couple of pounds. Your weight can fluctuate a couple of pounds through out the day as you eat & drink. Also consider whether you pooped that day & if you’re retaining fluids due to your hormonal fluctuations. Unless you’re being weighed at exactly the same time, wearing the exact same clothing on the same scales & you’ve eaten the exact same foods & the same volume of fluids, etc. you have to expect some differences in what the scale says. Each of my doctors keep their own records of my weight & I keep mine. They’re not the same & that’s ok. My fluctuation is a kilogram (2.2lb). Because you’ll be weighing yourself more frequently you’ll get to discover your natural fluctuation. It may be more or less but it’s just part of life. And as you’re just starting out in the process & are just starting to make changes to your diet, maintaining your weight is still a win. Way better than gaining. As you progress with those changes, you’ll likely notice your weight starting to go down. You’ll be on the pre surgery diet before you know it & then your surgery & your weight will very noticeably drop.

It’s also not just a case of whether you’re allowed or not on your plan but also whether you are physically able. Some find they struggle with the gas - tightness, feel full & bloated, excessive belching, etc. Some drink them without issue. Carbonation has always been an issue for me, terrible hiccups & discomfort, & that hasn’t changed. I didn’t drink a lot but also gave them up years ago because of the sugar content & artificial sweeteners. Didn’t & don’t miss them. I will drink the occasional tonic or soda water as a mixer or glass of champagne about once a month or less. I sip slowly &/or stir regularly so the bubbles abate. I do have a glass of sparkling water every day but I deliberately let it go flat.

Some plans encourage you to eat more than 1000 calories a day especially at your 11 weeks out. So don’t beat yourself up if you’ve had some days that you have. I bet even when you did you still didn’t eat the volume of food or at the same frequency as you did before surgery. I was only advised portion sizes never calories. I started at 1/4 cup & worked up to almost a cup by goal. One of the most helpful strategies I still employ is to ask myself if I need the next bite or do I just want it. Coupled with trying to stop eating before I feel full. Eat slowly and never be afraid to put your cutlery down, push your plate away from you &/or sit back from the table. Real hunger feels different to head hunger. Head hunger will go if I distract myself or delay eating for 30minutes or so or if I focus on drinking (warm is best). Real hunger persists. With head hunger I want a specific food or flavour (sweet, salty, etc.) but it often doesn’t satisfy the desire. With real hunger I just want food & nutritionally dense food satisfies it. I feel restless with real hunger like something is wrong. Head hunger usually affects my emotions - hangry or frustrated. Are you bored, stressed, frustrated or another emotion & is this what is driving you to eat? Are you eating out of habit or a time on the clock? A rumbling tummy often doesn’t mean you are hungry but it’s just your body digesting food. I rumble & grumble all day long but I’m not hungry. Stomach acid can make you think you’re hungry. PPIs can help with that. Nutritionally dense food like proteins are usually more filling than empty calorie, high sugar, high fat or highly processed foods. Have a chat with your dietician.

Gall bladder removal is not uncommon for anybody. Gall stones can form for a couple of reasons: high cholesterol, rapid & excessive weight loss, menopause, or high bilirubin levels. So it makes sense why many bariatric patients have their’s removed at some point. Some people can have gall stones for years that only rumble a bit so they don’t know they have them. They’re discovered because of the pre surgical tests so some people have their gall removed during their weight loss surgery. My stone was discovered during a scan to see why my liver function was off about 7 months after surgery. I’d have no symptoms but last June I really knew about it - very painful!!! So my gall was removed about two years after my sleeve surgery. Mine could have formed because of the weight loss, menopause or because I have high bilirubin levels. It was an easy surgery. My surgeon used the same incisions from my sleeve surgery & I was home the next day. I did have more muscular discomfort & gas pain though. My diet is generally lowish fat so I don’t have issues with that. But I have noticed every couple of weeks that I have a bout of diarrhoea (manifests more quickly than ordinary tummy upset attacks). My sister-in-law is the same. We think it’s a build up of digestive acids because the gall isn’t there to regulate it anymore.

You can depend upon the saying the closer to goal the slower the weight loss. My last two kgs were a b*tch to lose. So close yet so far. Don’t give up or think it’s over. You’ll likely get there in your body’s own time.

Stalls are extremely common & a natural & expected part of the weight loss process. The first usually occurs around the third week (hence the name the three week stall) but it can occur before or after that mark. They can last 1-3 weeks. They have nothing to do with you possibly failing. Think of them as your body trying to play catch up & get used to all the changes. It’s the equivalent of your body closing the front door & pulling the covers over it’s head much like we feel like doing when life gets stressful for us. Oh & yes, I did say first stall. You may experience a couple as you’re losing. Don’t be too perturbed if you’re not meeting all your fluid & protein goals every single day expesically in the beginning. As long as you’re making a concentrated effort & are close you’re okay. It does get easier when you’re eating solid foods & able to eat a little more. If I have a day when I’m lower, I try to be a bit higher than I need the next day & I’m almost three years out. And the constipation may continue until you’re close to or in maintenance & eating a much broader diet & eating more. At the moment your consuming very little food so you don’t have a lot to excrete. Not going every day is to be expected. Add a fibre supplement like Benefibre that doesn’t swell in your tummy. Add some vegetables & whole or multi grains to your diet as soon as you’re able. And keep on top of the constipation to avoid compaction & discomfort (pain) when you finally go. I took a stool softener if I had three days without movement.

Remember not every loses all the weight they expected to lose. The average weight loss after 5 years is about 65% of the total weight they had to lose to put them in a healthy weight range. And a hell of a lot of people have gained weight during the emotional turmoil of the last two years so don’t be too hard on yourself. Get out your old eating plans & information & go back to the basics. But trying to change a lot of things all at once is often doomed to fail as it can feel all to much to do. Make a single change & then in a couple of weeks make another & so on. Maybe to begin you could reassess & reduce as needed your portion sizes, ensure you’re getting in your 60g of protein a day, increase your vegetable consumption, ensure you get 2L of water in a day, swap out high calorie or less nutritious meals for better alternatives, or drop a snack, etc.. You can choose whichever one you think you can manage as you progress. Can you contact your dietician again? Did you have a therapist while you were losing? They could help you refocus your goals, offer advice & suggestions & look into your eating habits, etc. Have a look at Dr Matthew Weiner’s you tube channel & his book A Pound of Cure. He has some good tips on resetting your body’s set point (BMR) & making changes to your eating. (He does encourage a more plant based diet but you can make allowances around that to your own eating preferences.) All the best.

It annoys me when a doctor puts their personal position, values, etc. above the needs & wants of their patients. You want to do something about your physical & emotional health & well being & your doctor is stopping you. You’re not requesting anything dangerous to yourself or others, addictive or illegal. A friend had the same problem with her doctor who wouldn’t prescribe HRT. My friend has a degenerative spine problem & was experiencing quite a few menopausal symptoms. She eventually told her doctor she wanted the meds, listed the benefits, possible side effects & then said either you prescribe the best one for me or I’ll go to another doctor. She got a script. Maybe you need to lay it in the line to your doctor too. As your doctor, they should know the struggles you’ve had & everything you’ve tried previously. Also have a look at Dr Matthew Weiner’s web site: https://www.poundofcureweightloss.com/. You have to join & there is a fee ☹️ though I thought I joined (I get his emails) & I didn’t pay a fee 🤷🏻‍♀️. I’ve found his you tube videos (sorry) & books informative & useful. All the best.

A broth is just liquid so no meat, vegetables or noodles. If you’re straining it you should be okay. As alternatives, have you tried bone broths? Strained wonton soup or pho?

As @lizonaplane said constipation &/or diarrhoea are common after surgery. Some is from the surgery (which has affected & stressed your digestive system. Your tummy could be producing more stomach acid then you actually need at the moment which will irritate your intestines & bowel. Some is from the liquid diet. I too had an experience of the unexpected & sudden diarrhoea attach & didn’t make it to the bathroom. Yikes!! My friend had a good week of ‘wet farts’. (Her surgeon recommended disposable knickers for that possibility - she was very grateful she bought them.) Some develop a temporary intolerance to lactose which will cause diarrhoea too. Try a plant based protein shake & lactose free milk & other dairy products. Have you tried some Imodium? It was on my post surgical meds list. But give your surgeon a call to be sure. The worry is you’re not absorbing the nutrients/protein you need if it’s being excreted so quickly.

That does seem rather low (I wasn’t given limits for fat or carbs just keep low) but you are only eating a small amount of food at the moment. And there are good fats & bad fats. I’d ask if your fat allowance refers to all ‘total fats’ or just bad fats like saturated fats, trans fats, etc. Our body does need some fats to function effectively & that does include small amounts of saturated fats. if your fats are predominately coming from animal proteins (saturated bad fat) maybe swap in some more seafood (unsaturated good fats) & some plant proteins to balance your intake a little. But to meet our daily protein goals we’re going to be consuming fats. Little things help. Avoid processed foods which often contain trans fat (the worst fat). Look to poaching, roasting/baking & other cooking methods that require no added fat. Invest in an air fryer & a non stick fry pan. Watch low fat foods as some contain additional sugars, artificial sweeteners or other substitutes so the flavour &/or texture is similar to the full fat versions (read nutritional panels carefully). If you’re not able to see your dietician for a while, can you email questions to them?

Clotting is a concern after most surgeries. I only had injections for the first 24 hours after my sleeve & again after my gall bladder removal & nothing else. How long you need injections or anti clotting meds after your surgery may depend on your surgeon’s preferences, your own general health & medical history, etc.

Staring at the options at the butchers yesterday looking for inspiration when it hit me: pork laab salad. Can’t believe I haven’t made it since before surgery when it is so healthy & easy to make. Forgot to buy a red onion. Substituted cashews for peanuts & of course no chilli for me. Forgot to take a pxt last night when the mint & coriander looked all fresh & green so this is a pxt of the leftovers I’ll be eating for a couple more days. Doesn’t look appetising now but it was damn tasty. I’ll add some extra fresh herbs (it didn’t have near enough) after I reheat it.