Arabesque

I’m single but I know some of my girlfriends’ husbands can be pretty protective about them. One is almost prudish. (It’s quite amusing as they’re strong, independent women who take crap from no one. But it’s also lovely.) I wonder if that’s where your husband’s comments are coming from. Is he protective of you &/or a little conservative (nothing wrong with that)? He may be seeing your confidence growing as you feel better about the way you look & feel & worry that other aspects of your personality, like how you dress, may become more ... ‘expressive’.

You have to find what works for you. That is what allows you to maintain your weight, be healthy & enjoy your life. You don’t want a diet that is so restrictive that it limits you doing the things you enjoy or affects your health. It’s as simple as that & also as hard. Lots of trial & error over time. Do your own research. Try recommendations from people on this forum. I still don’t eat rice, pasta or bread or bread alternatives like wraps. I did try a soybean pasta that others here recommended a couple of months back but even the tiny bit I had didn’t sit well & was too filling. I was surprised though at how well it cooks & it tasted similar to wheat pasta. It’s way better than vegetable pastas were years ago. I have tried cauliflower rice but I don’t like it very much. I enjoy zucchini noodles a lot. I used to eat quite a lot of bread, rice & pasta but I avoid them now cause I think they contributed to my past weight gain. I don’t really miss them. I also avoid them because if I can only eat a cup of food, I’m going to make sure it’s nutrient rich. I get my carbs from fruit, vegetables, rolled oats & some multigrain crackers. It’s working for me but it may not work for you. Good luck.

Congratulations on ticking off another step & welcome. What surgery are you having? Dumping isn’t nearly as common with sleevers but it can happen when eating certain foods - often sugar. Usually though you learn to avoid those foods pretty quickly. While taking multi vitamins is very important during the weight loss stage, there are sleepers like me who don’t take them anymore. Regular blood tests show my levels are great as I get all my required vitamins & minerals from what I eat. Good luck on getting your surgery date.

I still don’t eat rice pasta or bread. Nor do I eat alternatives like wraps. I did try a soybean pasta that others here recommended a couple of months back but it didn’t sit well & was too filling. I was surprised though at how well it cooks & tasted similar to wheat pasta - way better than vegetables pastas did years ago. I have tried cauliflower rice & use zucchini noodles a lot. I used to eat quite a lot of bread, rice & pasta so I happily avoid them now cause I think they contributed to my previous weight. It’s odd but I don’t really miss them. Once you get close to goal you start working out what foods you can or can’t eat to maintain your weight. Introduce foods which have been off the menu while you were losing & see how they go. Try different eating plans or foods you never ate before. You don’t have to exactly follow what your dietician says to eat. If you don’t want to eat a certain food, ask your dietician for suggestions for alternatives. Finding nutritionally sound foods while still meeting your goals is the key. Good luck.

Menstrual pain is the worst. So sorry you suffer from this. My surgeon told me as long as I wasn’t taking nsaids regularly it was ok to take them. I take them for my rare headaches - so 1or 2 tablets less than once a month. Panadol, etc. are useless & codeine messes with my head. I’m not suggesting you start taking nsaids but have at chat with your doctor. If they say no ask for suggestions for alternatives to help manage your pain.

Probably 20-30mins at about your stage. Still eat slowly now. Like Ms.SSS, I take 40-60+ mins to eat a meal. I’m quite used to eating cold meals now - lol! A snack or wetter meal like soup or rolled oats may only take 30 minutes. Can make eating out awkward with your fellow diners & wait staff waiting for you to finish. If I eat too quickly my restriction kicks in. Was never told to chew up my food extra well before swallowing. I always put my cutlery down between bites, sit back & sometimes push my plate away. Helps with deciding if you need, not want, that next bite.

I love that green dress on you @BayougirlMrsS & that meal looks delicious. Love fillet steak & scallops too yum! Daisy or cluster rings were popular in the Victorian era. They also used a lot of enamel so your ring may have English origins or been influenced by those designs. Love your sweater with your boots @HealthyLifeStyle & congrats on your weight loss - whoo hoo. Hope your sister has recovered fully. Looking good @GreenTealael. I think your arms look fine too. I keep my elbows close against my body too @WishMeSmaller. What the eye can’t see... 😁

Congrats on your surgery. I’m glad you’re doing well. I don’t know what it is about FB groups but from what people say they seem to have a lot of negativity, worst case scenarios & not always sensible advice. Such a shame. I’m not quite 2 years out & I had stress & diet induced reflux/gerd before my sleeve surgery but it was pretty mild. Do I have it now? Yes, but it’s different & manageable. I was experiencing burning in my throat at night. My doctor advised not me to eat protein, liquid protein excluded, 2 hours before bed. And it worked. No more burning. Are there people who’ve had revision surgery because of gerd, yes. But there are also people who haven’t. There’s no guarantee how your body will react to your surgery in the short or long term. There’s certainly no guarantee you will need a revision. Just like there’s no certainty you will develop gall stones & need your gall bladder removed, also a possible side effect. It doesn’t happen to everyone either. Honestly, I have a few issues post surgery (low blood pressure, occasional hyperglycaemia) but my three friends who’ve had the surgery too have had no issues at all. As with all things, it’s sensible to be aware of all possibilities but also not to expect they will all happen to you. Good luck in your journey. So happy I did it.

First, you need to take the pressure off yourself. Stalls happen. They’re normal. It’s not because of something you’ve done nor is it being done to you. It’s just part of the process. Stressing only makes everything worse. Secondly, you’ve achieved so much so far. Don’t give up over a natural pause in your weight loss. My last stall at about 6 months lasted almost 3 weeks & I was 1kg off my goal. So near yet so far. I just stuck to my plan like I had with other stalls. I knew it would end & it did. I lost that kg (& a few more). Also remember, as you get closer to your goal your weight loss slows. You’ve been putting your body through a lot. It needs time to come to terms with the changes just like you do. You’re providing it with different fuel sources than it’s used to. Hormones, etc. are being released into your body from the fat you’re losing increasing things like your cholesterol & oestrogen levels, etc. which can affect weight loss & gain. My liver function even went crazy for a while. You may have reached a point of equilibrium between your food intake & energy output & have put yourself in maintenance. And this may seem silly but are your scales in the same spot? I pull my scales out every day & try to put them in the same spot using tile lines as a guide. If I put it in a slightly different spot I can weigh up to a pound more or less. Have a chat with your medical team. They will have some suggestions to get you through this. Please don’t give up.

I stopped exercising after a couple of months (I was walking on my treadmill) because of my low energy & low blood pressure. The day I almost fell off due to being so tired & light headed I decided enough. It’s true. Exercise contributes very little to actual weight loss. But it does contribute to your general health. It also increases your appetite to compensate for the calories you’ve burnt. I still don’t exercise but try to be active in other ways. Dash up & down the stairs in my house. Park further away from where I’m going. Walk at a pace around shopping centres etc. Take stairs when possible. Walk to the local shops. It all helps.

You can also make your own by blending milk with your favourite yoghurt. Just blend it well & strain to get rid of any pieces of fruit.

Yep, you can count all liquids. Well that’s what I was told. If I drink & eat at the same time or drink & eat too closely together my restriction kicks in really quickly & then I can’t get my nutrients in. I found chunky soups difficult for the first 5 or so months for the same reason - liquids combined with solids filling me too quickly - so I puréed my soups or cooked them for ages & they were pretty soft & mushy. Not as much of an issue 21 months out. If you can only consume 1/2 cup of liquid or 1/2 cup of food at a time you will only be able to have 1/2 cup of food & liquid combined. You may find you can reduce the time between eating & drinking in time.

Nope, I didn’t.

Love our viewing habits & routines. I watch British Masterchef (celebrity & professional too), British Bake-off, Great British Menu & British Bake-off Professionals when I eat dinner. (Mmmm? Sounds like I’m a bit of an Anglophile.) Quite happy to watch them over & over too.

My answer would be no alcohol. Not worth the calories - 90 calories for a glass of white wine, 120 - 160 for a martini. That’s a lot of the calories you’re allowed at this stage. The pre surgery diet is the beginning of your weight loss journey & the start of removing food dependencies like sugar & refined carbs from your diet. (Yes, I know, spirits have very few carbs but the mixers often do.) Many programs say no alcohol at all because of the calories, the risk of addiction switching - food to alcohol - & that it has no nutritional value. Nutritionally dense foods should be your focus at all time. Honestly, I had a drink at about month 2 or 3. I nursed that g&t for 3+ hours. I only have a drink about once a month or even less frequently. Not worth the calories & I don’t enjoy it as much. Don’t really miss it either. But it is your choice.

Not that we need to have emergency food kits in Australia, but I always have multiple tins of beans, tomatoes, tuna & salmon in my cupboard - you know in case of a zombie apocalypse. I also have liquid stock & stock powder, powdered milk & rolled oats. You can make a lot of one pot meals with them - cassoulets, stews, soups. Throw in a couple of tins of lentils & vegetables & you’ll be set. (The beans & lentils are a good source of protein.) And not a packet of rice or pasta needed. If you do want to include a pasta try those made from soya beans, endame, etc. I still find them too heavy & filling but others don’t have issues once in maintenance.

I eat to a schedule because I found on days I’m not hungry, eating to a schedule ensures I get calories in & meet my protein goals. Generally I eat breakfast at 8:30am, snack at 11:30am, occasional snack at 1:30pm if I’m hungry, lunch at 3pm, snack at 5pm, dinner at 6:30pm, snack at 8pm. Sometimes a little earlier or a little later depending on what my day entails. That’s a lot of snacking but if I don’t my weight drops. My snacks are yoghurt, cheese, fruit, multigrain crackers or protein bar. It took almost a year in maintenance to find the right volume of food I needed to consume to stop me losing. If I start to gain, I can always drop a snack or two.

I love being able to ‘dress’ but I also love coming home to my comfy, knit/stretch pants, shorts & dresses. Went to dinner last night & took ages to find something to wear - yeah I get the irony. The going out things I wore last summer are too big & literally falling off. Losing 10 kg is truely dropping two dress sizes! I don’t know whether to celebrate or cry. Looks like I need to refine my wardrobe again sigh! Had appointment with my glaucoma specialist today so I got to ‘dress’. My doctor is simply delightful & a real gentleman. He’s about 70 & I fear every time I visit he’ll tell me he’s retiring. Today he made me a cup of tea & showed me clips from his favourite Bollywood movies in between all the eye tests. 😆 Now I’m home, having another cup of tea, in a knit dress (summer here whoo hoo), on my couch, watching a repeat My 600lb Life & reading this forum - perfect marriage. Love the toe nail polish Ms SSS - perfect colour. Hope the toe gets better soon.

It’s off the list because 1 the calories & 2 the possible addiction switching. But it is a choice thing. I had a g&t at about month 2 or 3 at a cousin’s 40th. Sat on it for 3 hours. I only have an alcoholic drink maybe once a month or two & sip the one drink slowly. I don’t really enjoy it the same way.

First get it all out of your house. If you don’t have any junk food in your cupboards, you can’t eat it. Secondly, don’t buy it or get anyone to buy it for you. Thirdly, find a good therapist to support you with your anxiety & food issues. And finally, if you want the surgery to help you, pick yourself up & start back on your program. It’s up to you to make this work but never be afraid to ask for help.

My pain was gone after about 4/5 days but I did have issues with low energy for ages coupled with low blood pressure. So honestly it was 4 or 5 months before I could do whatever I wanted. Even simply going grocery shopping could cause a drop in energy or blood pressure. I carried around a bottle of diluted hydralite to get me over those drops. I still have issues with postural hypotension & odd drops in sugar but it’s manageable. But this is just me. I always had a tendency to low blood pressure just happens more often now. And I had experienced sugar drops if I over exerted myself before (even when I was at a healthy weight). Take it slowly. Work out what you can do without issues & then slowly increase. Good luck.

Some people do have trouble with steak just like some have issues with eggs. As with all things you can only try & see how you go. If you’re not successful, don’t give up just wait a month & try again. I could eat steak from about month 3. I waited a few weeks once I was on solid food before I tried. I had no issues & it still tasted darn good. I started off with a very small serve, sliced it in to small pieces & ate slowly. I can eat about 80-100g of fillet steak now & do just about every week. Yumm.

I was always hourglass shaped. Still am but the difference between my breast, waist & hip measurement is much smaller. Have a friend who is an inverted triangle. Was size 18 top size 10/12 bottom. She had a breast reduction but was still a size 16 top - can’t change your skeleton. My ass slowly disappeared too but I compared it to Hank Hill. 😁 I’ve noticed there is a little fullness again in the butt region so I do think your remaining fat does redistribute a bit after a while. Still get terrible bony butt pain though. Had to stand at my hairdresser the other day cause the pain was so bad.

I was always a water a drinker but I do find it harder to drink now which is weird. It’s the gas in carbonated drinks that is the main concern post bariatric surgery. That and the possibility you’ll switch to the high sugar versions. But with all things on this journey, you have to find what works for you. So if you want to have some soda all you can do is try it & see if it has any adverse affects. Your choice. I gave up sodas years ago. Mainly as the gas gave me terrible hiccups. Never went down the ‘diet’ alternative route for the same reason & because they still feed your craving & desire for sweet. Now there’s info coming out that artificial sweeteners can cause weight gain - body tastes sweet but because there’s no calories to burn it holds on to whatever calories you have eaten. It gets you whichever way you turn! Actually not drinking soda does limit your choices when you go out. I used to have to shrug & say guess I’ll have to have wine - lol!! I have a large mug of green tea every day (400ml) & will pour myself a large glass (400ml) of sparkling water in the morning & let it sit so it goes flat: no gas but the minerally taste remains. I slowly sip on it through out the day in addition to still water. I used to buy a hi protein drinking yogurt which was yummy but a lot of stores don’t stock it anymore - sigh. If I have a gin & tonic, maybe once a month, I stir it frequently to release some of the gas & sip it very slowly.

You’ll likely start noticing hair loss at about 3 months post surgery & it will continue for 3-4 months but some have different experiences. For me it slowed once I hit maintenance & I was consuming more. I lost about 40% of my hair - thank goodness I had a lot to begin. Not sure if men have a different experience but I wouldn’t imagine they would. Honestly, I’d wait on the hair transplant. Your body is undergoing a lot of stress & change which is why your hair sheds at a faster rate during your weight loss. My surgeon told me my body had better things to do with what I was consuming than grow hair while I was losing. It’s something to consider. Speak with your bariatric medical team & your transplant team & see what they recommend.