Arabesque

Once you get to your goal weight I think you can explore eating most things within reason. The key is balance. I looked at my weight loss period as a time to re-examine what & how I ate & to break habits & cravings. Once I reached maintenance I added more things to my diet to work out how I could maintain my weight while still living & enjoying my life. There are foods I avoid but others I limit or reduce how much I consume. Yes, there are times when I see others eating certain foods & I think that would be really nice to have but I’ve found that ‘missing out’ feeling has decreased. Likely because the desire to keep the weight off is stronger now. The other weekend I had friends over for drinks & supper. We shared the catering & I made sure no food was left behind in my fridge. I neither wanted the temptation nor to waste food I don’t eat anymore. When I have to ‘bring a plate’ now I bring something I can eat so I don’t have to worry about what to do with leftovers. I’m 15.5 months out & still very much a toddler on this journey compared to others. I know I’m still learning & think I always will. Good luck on your journey.

Oatmeal is fine. It’s a whole grain (therefore a good carb) & has beneficial nutrients. I’d make mine up using milk to up the protein & didn’t add salt, no sugar or similar. I could only eat about 1/3 cup of the porridge for months. Can’t see an issue with adding protein powder to it. My dietician suggested adding milk powder for extra protein (I couldn’t stand protein powders) but I found it too sweet. Cereal is a different consideration. Check the salt, carb, fat & sugar content & only look for whole grain or multi grain cereals. I would avoid it till you’re further on in weight loss.

I tried to eat pretty cleanly through the weight loss stage. Low fat, low salt & avoided sugar (real & artificial) whenever possible. The only carbs I consciously ate was from fruit, vegetable & rolled oats (about 1/3 cup of milky porridge - a good whole grain). Like AZhiker, said just reaching your protein & water goals each day will fill you up. Eat your protein first, then vegetables if you can fit them in. I’d only get in a couple of green beans or about a tablespoon of steamed cabbage. There was no way I could eat carbs as well. Most important to consider is that breads, pasta, rice tend to swell in your tummy & provide little nutritional value. I still avoid bread, rice & pasta but do eat multi or whole grain crackers as a carrier for avocado, hummus, etc. now. I’ve also tried beans & chia seeds but they make me very windy - lol. This weight loss stage is a perfect opportunity to break old eating habits establish new patterns to help maintain your weight long term. Good luck.

I think it was close to 6 months when I noticed a slowing in the amount of hair in my shower & about the house. It’s growing back nicely now - a few inches. I can really feel my old thickness returning. Woo hoo!

Friends told their dietician they were pescatarians. She provided them with a meat based menu plan & then lectured them about how to cook meat. Sheesh! They never went back.

So many factors affect the rate of your weight loss as Catwoman7 said. Comparing yourself to others can mess with your head a lot. My friend’s daughter had sleeve surgery 6 weeks after me. She had exceeded my weight loss 4 weeks later. She is about 30 years younger & was considerably heavier than me to begin. It would have been very demoralising if I was competing against her. I tracked my weight loss in the My weight app. It’s just a simple way to record your weight only. I loved watching the downward trend on the graph - it was motivating & rewarding. As long as you keep to your plan & you’re losing weight you’re winning. Good luck.

All surgery carries risk but so does being obese. Unfortunately, there’ll always be some negative Nancies out there who are so happy to tell you horror stories. But you didn’t make this decision without doing the research & there are thousands of success stories on this forum. Sure some have experienced complications along the way but goodness knows what they would have faced without the surgery & not losing weight. As others have said, it’s not an easy fix. You have to make changes & take advantage of the tool. If you pay for a gym membership but never go, you’ll never get healthier. Same with wls: you have to work at it every day. It’s a lifestyle change. Best of luck with your surgery. It’s an amazing journey & the benefits are incredible.

I’ve had Chinese twice: once at about 4 months & then again in maintenance. I just picked out pieces of braised meat (chicken & beef) & vegetables but avoided the sauces as much as possible (used a fork to strain the meat & veg when serving) & no rice or noodles. I did throw up the first time I ate it but you can only try.

Super hot, Jake.

I sometimes found I’d make up a shake but couldn’t take the taste after a few sips so I’d pop it in the fridge & try it again the next day. My taste buds & tummy were really erratic to begin - tolerating something one day but not the next. I had my surgery in winter so I sometimes used hot water to make up my chocolate flavoured shake so I could pretend it was hot chocolate without the marshmallows - lol.

Herbal teas & decaffeinated green tea are also great. Dilute your shakes too. I found it made them easier to drink & further upped my fluid intake. Don’t worry if you don’t hit your fluid goal every day - as long as you’re in the ball park. You will get more in as you progress. Mind you, I was a big water drinker before surgery & I struggle every day to get close to goal 15mnths out.

I just made sure I’d have all the shakes, soups, broths, etc. I would be eating during the liquid stage. I live alone & didn’t want to bother others to do my shopping. I bought all the over the counter meds too like gasX, benefibre, stool softeners, pain meds, hydralite, etc. Also bought a mini thermos to keep soups & broth hot as it took me hours to drink them. I’d make up my shakes in zippy cups/water bottles so I could have a couple of flavours on the go in the fridge. Your taste buds do change after surgery & flavours you enjoyed before may become disgusting to you after. Small storage containers & zip lock bags once you start on soft then solid foods will become your friend. I froze meals I cooked in individual serves - actually still do - so it made it easy at meal times to just defrost & heat. Good luck with your surgery.

Unfortunately, this won’t be your first stall. I liked to think of a stall as my body playing catch up with my weight loss, reduced diet, etc.: it just needed to take a breath. My longest stall was just short of three weeks when I was a couple of kgs short of my goal - so frustrating. You’re doing the right thing by keeping on your path. The weight loss will start again. Good luck.

Having a supportive GP does help when you’re on this journey. I’m sorry yours isn’t. In Australia we have to have a referral from our GP before seeing a specialist so if your GP isn’t on your side you can’t even get to the surgeon. I’m very fortunate to have a GP who wants the best for me & has been extremely supportive. She’s been my doctor for more than 25yrs so she knows my struggles well. She weighs me at every visit, checks all my blood work results & orders extras so she can pick up any variations in between surgical team visits. She also keeps in contact with my surgical team.

I struggled to get my energy back too but I tend to take a long time to recover from everything even a cold. I also had (still have) low blood pressure issues which I believe contributed. The nausea could be from dairy or even your multi vitamins (they used to upset me a lot). Sometimes something you’ve been eating successfully will upset you out if the blue. I find if I drop it for a week or so I can eat it again without issue. Our tummies can be sensitive & contrary. I’d do the old trial & error. Add one thing you are regularly back into your diet & see how you go then add something else.

You look great in this red dress GreenTealael - set off gloriously against the green shrubbery & fence & the blues of the ocean & sky too. I think you look fab with or without abs.

You look great in this red dress GreenTealael - set off gloriously against the green shrubbery & fence & the blues of the ocean & sky too. I think you look fab with or without abs.

You look great in this red dress GreenTealael - set off gloriously against the green shrubbery & fence & the blues of the ocean & sky too. I think you look fab with or without abs.

Don’t be afraid to accelerate a stage if you’re physically (&mentally ready). It’s ok to do this just as it’s ok if you want to slow down your steps. Just don’t go crazy. It all comes down to what you (your tummy) are able to tolerate. You may be ready to move forward especially if you’re pretty active. Try another spoonful & see how you go.

Yep, watch the sugar content. Cereals are notorious for hidden sugar. (Watch artificial sweeteners too as they only feed your sugar cravings.) They are also high carb. Look for multi or whole grain cereals - better carbs. I was allowed rolled oats from early on. I make it with lactose free milk. I eat a milky, though still thickish, bowl every day - good source of protein. No sweeteners at all except a few blueberries on occasions.

Ask your surgeon to recommend what supplements are best for your needs & your surgery. There are some that are formulated especially for Bariatric patients. (I believe there are some on this site.) Some people struggle to swallow vitamins post surgery so this might be a consideration in what sort you chose - capsules, gummies, patches... Nothing will prevent the saggy skin or hair loss. Sorry. The saggy skin is what’s left after the fat is gone from your stretched out skin. If you’re younger, your natural skin elasticity may help to reduce some of the sag. But the older you are, the more weight you have to lose, how much your weight has fluctuated over the years all increase your chance of saggy skin. Some say exercise & weights but that only builds muscle to fill in under the skin. It doesn’t tighten the skin itself. (I’d have to have Chris Hemsworth’s arms to fill up my batwings.) The only way to get rid of saggy skin is to physically remove it. I was almost 54 when I had my surgery & expected I’d have saggy skin after. I actually didn’t have much once I hit my goal - my upper arms, a little looseness between my upper thighs & general softness on my tummy. Then I lost the additional 10kg & everything went south. Saggy butt, flappy arms, oozing down my thighs... I even have loose skin on my fingers! I’ve just accepted my sags as part of my journey to get where I am now. The hair loss occurs because of the shock of the surgery & restricted diet accelerates your natural hair loss cycle. Supplements will only support new hair growth. They won’t stop your existing hair from shedding. Best of luck on your journey. It’s going to be amazing.

I think it’s time for a new dietician. They should be supportive, a source of information & guidance & motivating. If they’re not you need to find a new one. I was a bit meh about mine too. (Decided I was in the wrong profession after handing over $80 for each ten minute appointment.) I was going every fortnight for 6months, then monthly. She’s never weighed me. Never measured me. Never asked me to record my food intake. She barely asks me what I eat each day. She took a very scant health & diet history at the first appointment. Guess you can’t share much in 10 mins! After the first appointment she emailed two pages of pre surgical diet guidelines & I’ve received no other information in 16+ months. Oh & at my last appointment she asked for the very first time if she could look up my blood test results. (head shake, eye roll, shrug) I did lots of research myself & studied all the material provided by my surgeon. I worked out my own post surgical diet & maintenance plan. The only reason I stuck with her was that every now & then she’d share a piece of golden advice. She was the one that said not to worry about my cholesterol levels rising because it was being excreted from my fat stores & into my blood steam as I lost weight. I did some reading & she was right. She’s low pressure & that works for me.

Ok, breathe. It’s ok. We all lose at different rates. You may be a slow loser. You said you’ve lost 10lbs in 4 weeks so that is some loss. I am concerned about how you are managing to get in 1200 calories a day at this early stage. Who recommended that as a daily goal? That seems more like a high recommended pre surgical caloric goal not post surgical. 300 - 500 calories at this early stage seems to be pretty common. 1200 calories is what a lot of us consume to maintain our weight. Are you on purées or have you started eating soft foods? Are you following your diet plan? What quantity of food are you eating? Most are told to aim to consume 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of food 3 times a day once you start eating purées, soft food & then solids. Contact your nutritionalist/dietician and your surgical team. They will give you some guidance on how to manage your journey.

Oh, Dtrain those shoes are A-mazingly fantastic. Welcome to the dark side of being addicted to shoes. Your soxs are mad good. I love dressing too even to get groceries - just makes you feel better.

Yes, very normal and you’re doing the right thing. Almost 16months out, & I still often don’t feel hungry. (Hope it lasts a lot longer.) On these days, I stick to my routine of when & what I eat (though I do eat a little less & stretch out meal times on these days). Oh, & you’ll certainly know when your restriction starts to kick in. Also, I noticed when I did start to feel hungry it was a different feeling. I didn’t know what was wrong but knew something was off. But that could be just me - lol.