Arabesque

It will be ok. Some days will be harder than others but these will become fewer over time. And you’ll learn how your new tummy reacts to what you eat or drink. Your tummy can be pretty contrary the first couple of months but it will settle - it’s going though a lot with the surgery & changes to your diet. And so are you. Your bloat may still be from surgery. Try a little lemon juice in your water to help flush your system. Also the surgery & weight loss screws with your hormone levels so the bloat could be from early & amped up pmt. Don’t forget your protein drinks, broths etc. all count to your fluid intake goal. Just go slowly. Sip. Try a herbal or green tea for something different. You’ll get through this.

The supplements won’t stop the hair loss because it’s your natural hair loss cycle accelerated because of the surgery & reduced diet. The hair on your head is already dead & there isn’t anything that can save that. New hair is growing but at its normal rate. It all comes back just give it time. I think the thing about gummies are the calories & sugar. Check the sugar content (it’s how they make them gummies) & calories of those you take. I checked some out out of curiosity & to take the recommended dose was 90 calories a day just for one vitamin. I haven’t taken any multivitamins since January last year. Still have labs every three months & my levels have been very good every time.

Hilarious. Just realised I hadn’t deleted the pxt of me actually at 12 wearing the other ballet costume for that year’s concert. Hence why no explanation of the pxt. It was going to look like this: 1977: 2021 Hey Dtrain. So glad to see your post. Was thinking we hadn’t see you for a while. Still looking super cool. Wow. You are smokin’ in that dress Kristie.

I’m sorry you’re in pain but chips, a sandwich or sweets are not going to stop the pain. In fact it likely will cause you more pain, other side effects & may be complications. Remember you just had major abdominal surgery. It’s why we slowly work our way through a liquid, then purée, then soft food diets for weeks before we start on solid foods again. It does seem odd you weren’t prescribed pain meds on leaving hospital. You could still be experiencing gas pain which they used to inflate your abdomen during surgery. The best way to get rid of that is to walk. Even short walks about your house will help. Always contact your medical team if you are in pain or experience anything that is not normal or usual. Ask them for a food plan & a list of foods you can eat as you work through the healing stage if they didn’t provide you with one pre surgery. Also, do you have a nutritionalist/dietician? If you don’t, ask your team for a referral to one who has experience with supporting bariatric patients. You’re embarking on a journey that, if you work at it, will change how you eat & what you eat & lead to a slimmer & healthier you. Good luck on your journey.

I only had a problem for the first couple of days due to swelling but then I was fine. But we all have different experiences around our ability to swallow tablets post surgery. I did have a little break between taking them so only took 1 or 2 & then another 1or 2 say 30 minutes later. Sometimes it’s just the larger ‘dry’ tablets that cause problems but smooth coated capsules are fine. I suggest you have a back up plan just in case you struggle with taking them. Good luck.

I love your mum still wears 4 inch heels at 77. Way to go girl.

It is harder to tell if you’re full before you’re on solid food. Aim not for full but you’ve had enough as when you feel full you’ve actually eaten more than you need. It takes time for the message you’ve had enough to get through. For me going from enough to full can be a single teaspoon still now at almost 2 years & then I really know I’m full - groan. I was told about 1/4 cup too & then work up to 1/3 when on solid food. And to take about 20mins to eat that 1/4 cup. I still sometimes have a 3-5minute break between spoonfuls. Oh and I couldn’t eat a whole egg for more than a year. Congrats on your surgery.

Thank you for sharing your story. You’re so right about us having our own experiences & what works for you might not work for me or someone else. Oh My God. Menopause! Don’t get me started. That’s when some 30ish kg piled on for me. But it lead me to my surgery & I’m now like I was just as puberty hit which is pretty shocking in some ways. Damn hormones! I take ibuprofen too with my surgeon’s ok. He said as long as you’re taking them randomly & not every day for blocks of time it’s fine. I know what you mean by some foods not tasting quite the same any more which is fine with me except when it’s a good nutritious food. Last night I had some corn succotash with some king fish & had some flemmy type saliva (got a bit choky with it too) - I’m wondering now if it was the corn??? I think you’re looking pretty darn good. Congratulations on what you’ve achieved.

Congrats on starting the journey. Everyone is happy to answer questions & share their experiences here so ask away. I haven’t had a c section either but my pain was very little. I think I took one over the counter pain med on day 4 (I wasn’t released to day 3 as my back went into spasm & that was way more painful) & then nothing else. I could even sleep in my side which some can’t. Most complain about the gas pain more from where they inflate your abdomen to operate but I didn’t even have that. I was pretty lucky. I too was advised a slower journey back to carrying heavy items. Started at nothing over 10kg which was was reduced over about 6 weeks so that’s similar to post c section. I live alone & didn’t have any trouble doing what I needed about the house. I started taking vitamins after surgery but stopped after I hit goal. I don’t have any deficiencies & get all I need from what I eat. Talk to your surgeon about taking the pill. As friend was told to go to implants. I think it depends on what you’re taking, where it is absorbed & type of surgery. I’m menopausal but could continue taking my HRT without issue. Wish I knew about how my taste buds would change as a lot of things tasted darn hideous at first. It took a bit of trial & error & tossed food to work out what I could eat but really it’s a pretty minor thing.

You say not liking pizza is heresay. I say not liking broccoli, cauliflower, etc. is Lol! I can’t do without a regular fix of these vegetables. 😁 I was a love it or leave it pizza person but I did enjoy a pizza blanco with potatoes, rosemary, garlic & Gorgonzola from my local Italian. Yum. But I’ve not eaten pizza since my surgery. The base would fill me up way to quickly & I wouldn’t get anything else in. Plus it would fall in my ‘not worth the calories’ category. But I understand your love of pizza & would say try the cauliflower rice base or a low carb, high protein tortilla or wrap as a base. And check with your medical team as to when they suggest you could try a slice & what toppings you could try.

I actually went to a real restaurant last night & got to dress up a bit fancy. Bought this in Melbourne last January & haven’t had an opportunity to wear it. It’s literally a rectangular piece of fabric with a single side seam & two arm hole slits cut out about 3/4 up the length. I’ve had my mum with me all week so I’ve taken her visiting & out & about. Wore this skirt to visit her brother on Monday. It has these interesting externally inserted godets.

Didn’t use one & neither did my friends who had the surgery. I couldn’t stand anything around my waist & used to roll/fold my waist bands down to my hip line. I didn’t have any issues sleeping on my side either. We’re all different. If you feel you need the support you could try one but at 7 days post surgery you’d only probably use it for another week or so.

Congratulations. We love a NSV here. So share all you want. NSVs always made me want to do a celebratory dance. So fabulous.

Contact your doctor ASAP. It could be a clot. Worst case senario but better to be sure. I hope it’s something simple like muscle strain.

The 6-8 cups of water a day actually is a recommendation for everyone not just Bariatric patients. We’re pushed to drink water to get us off calorie laden carbonated drinks (there’s research about now that say artificial sweeteners cause weight gain as your body’s response to tasting sweet but not being able to gain the energy benefits so it holds on to any calories you eat.) Because it’s difficult to measure how much fluid we get from water rich fruit & vegetables (& I real on those to meet my goals now too) check the colour of your pee. Look for light straw coloured urine. The darker it is the more concentrated the toxins that are being excreted.

I still go pretty slowly at 21 months post surgery. Can do one or two mouthfuls now but swallow with a breaks between. It’s painful if I swallow too quickly or have more than the one or two mouthfuls at a time.

It’s just your natural hair loss cycle accelerated because of your reduced food intake & the shock to your body from the change of diet, weight loss & surgery. You may also notice a change of texture from the anaesthetic too. As my surgeon said your body has better things to do with the nutrients you‘re consuming at the moment than growing hair. Your hair is already growing back but at its normal rate so not as quickly as you’re losing it. Stressing about it is probably making it worse. It will stop just give it time. Mine stopped at about 6 months when I started maintenance & was eating a little more. A lot of us cut our hair so the loss wasn’t as noticeable & the regrowth doesn’t have as much to grow to get to the same length as your hair.

Congrats on your surgery. Whoo hoo! Only eating a couple of spoonfuls (about 1/4 cup) is very normal at this stage. Are you eating slowly (taking 10 - 20 minutes)? I used to eat from a teaspoon or a small toddler sized fork & almost just dipped them in my food - never a full spoonful. The pain sounds like your restriction. It’s a signal you’ve had enough. Mine also kicks in when I eat too quickly. But as with all things that seem odd or cause you pain speak to your medical team. There’s a lot of swelling after surgery at the top of your tummy but it shouldn’t still be causing you issues this far out. I struggled to swallow anything for a few days after surgery. Carried a sick bag for days cause I was constantly spitting up salvia. Not pleasant. You could also be holding some tension in your body because you’re sub consciously fearing you’ll have pain/discomfort when you swallowing as you did after surgery. The tension then causes the pain like a self fulfilling prophecy. Just a thought but again talk to your medical team. Generally, your tummy is pretty sensitive & cantankerous in the beginning & you may find a lot of foods don’t sit well. Food you can eat one day makes you ill the next. It does take a bit of trial & error to work out what food keeps your tummy happy in the beginning. This does all settle & you’ll find you’ll be able to eat most things in time. Personally, I still find potatoes too heavy to eat - they sit like a lump in my tummy. Multi vitamins would make me nauseous every morning. Vomited a couple of times too. I split the dose - one in the morning, one at night & always after food. Good luck.

Well I’ve been telling people I weigh about the same as I did when I was 12 & here’s the proof. (And probably only an inch or two taller 😆.) The only thing in my wardrobe from 1977 - my ballet costume. I was pretty much an average sized child then. My weight started going up after that when puberty hit. Excuse my drawn in knickers - added for a little decorum. 😁

I’m watching the documentary Diet Fiction on Prime at the moment. I’m about 1/3 of the way though it & I’ve been agreeing with a lot of what they’ve said. They’ve criticised the weight loss industry too which has done nothing to counteract the obesity problem but make money. So far it seems to be a bit focussed on plant based diets & anti meat. They’ve sort of ignored portion sizes which I think is a huge issue as many obese people (as we know) eat portions that are two, three & four sizes what they should. Said if you eat a balanced diet you shouldn’t need vitamins or supplements unless you have a medical need. Said popular diets like keto, paleo, etc. are short term only & could have side effects like keto affecting insulin levels. Spoke about how diet alone won’t help you lose & keep off large amounts of weight. Interested to see where they go next.

My diet is pretty simple too. I’ve always had issues with spicy, rich or fatty foods so that narrows a lot of my food choices. I love my vegetables so asparagus, green beans, cabbage, broccolini, cauliflower, sugar snap peas (lots of green veg, no potato) were added back to my diet as soon as I was able to tolerate them. I love them plain. Microwaved with a splash of water & a teaspoon of butter till they still had bite then add salt & pepper. Mind you to begin I could only eat a small cauliflower floret or a couple of green beans. I added fruit pretty early on too. Watermelon, berries, red paw paw, grapes, rockmelon, apple, mandarin, lychees, cherries, mango. One small serve as an afternoon snack. I usually have two serves a day now. I cut out as much sugar, sugar substitutes & artificial sweeteners as I could out of my diet. Fruit is what I go to for something sweet. Watch dried fruit though. One prune is a plum. Two dried apricots is an apricot. It’s easy to eat 3 or 4 prunes but would you eat 3 or 4 plums at one time. For crunch & salt try rolling a chunk of cucumber in crushed sea salt. Easy & extremely low calorie. Even the odd teaspoon of peanut paste works. Try some hummus with some raw green beans, carrot, celery, etc. Guacamole with vegetable crudités works too. Make your own guacamole & hummus so you can control the ingredients.

Questions are always good. Coffee was no for my surgeon for several months but green or herbal teas were fine from straight after surgery. Wasn’t an issue for me as I only drink green tea anyway. I hardly drink alcohol at all anymore & I used to drink a large glass or two every night. Now I only have a glass about once a month at most. I had a gin & tonic at about 2 months post surgery. Took literally hours to drink it. I’ve lost a lot of my taste for it & it’s also not worth the calories now. And yes alcohol can be an issue with addiction transfer. Stalling happens to us all. It can be frustrating when suddenly you notice the scale isn’t moving at all. The first occurs at around week 3+/- & can persist for 1-3 weeks. Ride it out. Stick to your plan. It will pass & your weight will start to drop again. I looked at it as my body taking a breath from all the changes - surgery, reduced calorie intake, change of diet, weight loss, etc. It’s likely you’ll experience a couple of stalls on your weight loss journey. If dining out while on your vacation, you’ll find you’ll only be able to eat appetiser size meals - mains are just too big. Some places may be happy for you to share meals with your family. Soups are also a good option when eating out. Oh, and pack a coat for your holiday. You become really sensitive to cold as you lose weight... even in high summer you’ll be freezing. Good luck with your surgery.

Congrats on your surgery. I struggled with water too after being a good water drinker pre surgery. I was a gulper, easily downing a large glass in one go so to only being able to sip was a challenge. I found it easier to sip on hot tea - soothing too. Some people set an alarm to remind themselves to sip regularly. Try scrambled eggs instead of a boiled egg. Make them using more milk than you would normally so they’re sloppier. I ate a lot of scrambled eggs during my weight loss.

At not quite 12 months, it may be a little early out to worry that you’ll become underweight unless your weight is continuing to drop at the rate it did during your weight loss stage. It does take some time to work out the right balance of calories in & energy out to stabilise. What does your primary care doctor say? Did you have a goal weight & if so when did you reach it? I did struggle to maintain. Some of us do continue to lose. I lost a further 11kgs over 12 months. It was a challenge to slow my loss. I was losing at 3kgs a month when I reached goal. It took a couple of months to slow it to about 1kg a month, then 500g. I was constantly increasing my calories. My surgical team & doctor were concerned about the continued loss & I was regularly told to put on weight from when I was about 54kg. I was already eating all day long - 3 meals & 5 snacks! The only way I could eat more was to take longer (an hour +) to eat a larger portioned meal. My weight seems to have stabilised now. I’ve been wavering between 48 & 49kg for about 2 months now & I’ve reduced my snacks. At my January appointment, my surgical team was happy I was stable & there was no talk of having to put on weight. Whoo hoo! Oh, yeah. We all seem to go through that looking gruesome stage but it does improve. You have to give your body time to adjust & your remaining fat to reposition itself. I agree with @ms.sss’s suggestion of adding enriched drinks like Ensure & Sustagen. You can sip on them all day if you enjoy them. Personally I never enjoyed protein powders or supplements (disgusting & grainy). My dietician suggested adding powdered milk to enrich my milk. I found it too sweet but I do add a heaped dessertspoon to a cup of milk when I make chia pudding. Maybe find a nutritionalist/dietician to advise on how you can add to your diet to increase your calories in a healthy way.

Nothing beats a woman for creative problem solving Ms.SSS. I don’t have the problem of weighty bedding at night holding me back from getting up to pee. Sometime I’m just way too tired to get up. Or I know I just went an hour before & refuse to accept I need to go again. Speaking of bed - isn’t it just about your bed time now? (It’s almost 3pm your tomorrow here.) Snuggle up. Sweet dreams & don’t let the bed bugs bite.