Arabesque

First time was at four weeks - marked my first solid ‘real’ food & my cousin’s 40th. Had a small white fish croquette - about two bites. I also choose seafood options like fish, prawns, scallops & calamari & only entrees (American appetisers). I find I struggle when I go out - I subconsciously tense up - and never finish the meal. Had grilled fish & salad the other day but they over cooked the snapper making it dry with sharp, scratchy edges. Had trouble eating it & gave up after a couple of bites. Very sad... & it cost me $30.

Avoid the coconut milk. High fat, high calories & lower protein & more carbs than cow’s milk. Not worth it during your weight loss stage. My niece started drinking and cooking with coconut milk because of it’s heavily promoted ‘healthy’ benefits. She put on weight and her skin broke out in terrible acne. Stopped using it & her skin cleared up & she lost weight. Personally I hate the taste of it. I had it once & found it way too rich & caused me many issues with my sensitive digestion. Lot’s of other milk alternatives if you don’t want to use cow’s milk.

I’m doing RF therapy as well. I don’t want to go down the route of face lifts, Botox or fillers - I don’t like that strained look people get but that’s my personal opinion no offence to those who go down that path. I can see some improvement with the RF but it’s a long process with follow-up maintenance after the intensive weekly program. It’s supposed to stimulate collagen but takes a couple of months for that to kick in. A friend tried skin needling which is supposed to stimulate collagen as well. She says she can’t see any difference though I think her fine lines have reduced.

Congrats on your surgery. Hydralyte is very helpful. Had to dilute it as I found it too sweet but I carried a bottle everywhere I went. Also found it easier to drink than water. This to will pass. Every week that passes you’ll feel stronger and your energy levels will increase.

Not that I’m complaining, but I haven’t had a hot flush since I had my surgery back in May. I may have had a slight twinge a couple of weeks ago but this is Queensland and the heat is on (sorry to all you freezing in the northern hemisphere) so it could just have been the 37degrees C temp. Have any of my menopausal sisters experienced this? I know I’ve lost all the eostrogen that was stored in my fat but could it also be that I’ve passed that stage of life? Or is my HRT just working extremely well now? Told my girlfriends of this change last weekend. Got called a few names as they were fanning themselves & turning the air conditioning to arctic temps. 😆

I’m now thinking this loss of menopausal symptoms may be a NSV. 😜 I experienced a couple of random hot flashes (felt like my face was burning but the rest of me was fine) while still having my periods in my late 40s too ms.sss. So yes I think you may be perimenopausal. Then I suddenly stopped having periods when I hit 50 - well one after 4 months then another break, then nothing since. Was a bit annoying not knowing when or if they would start again. I found I also started to get ‘feisty’. Then one day I told my boss off and not over anything major. I made an appointment with my GP that afternoon & she put me on HRT. (Thank goodness my boss was pretty easy going & this was such an anomaly in my behaviour he let it pass. Though it was funny the next day when I apologised and he very nervously asked if I was ok & if there was anything he could do.) Oh and feeling the cold now. Hell yeah! I can’t stand walking down the frozen & refrigerated aisles at the supermarket anymore. It’s like a physical pain. I need thermals just to buy some milk. PS - Don’t want to scare anyone but my mum is almost 80 & if she goes off her HRT, her hot flashes return & her emotions are all over the place. I hope you don’t continue like this JRT mom.

I’m presuming you recently had your surgery. My back went into spasm on day two post surgery. The doctor said I was holding a lot of tension in my body because of the pain I was experiencing when swallowing especially my medication. Even after the swelling which caused the pain reduced, I was still expecting to have pain when swallowing tablets and this stress caused my back to ache again though not as severely. I had to consciously relax when taking tablets and the back pain disappeared. You may be holding stress in your body too. If it continues, speak to your medical team to be sure all is ok. Don’t forget you are drinking more now and likely more than you did before hence the more frequent bathroom visits. I always go more often at night because I get very busy at work and don’t go as often as I should so I make up for it at night lol.

Summer was always worse because my general body temp was higher. Fingers crossed I’ve seen the end too. Also the dry skin on my arms, legs & feet is almost gone as are the little pimples on my arms. I used to exfoliate and slather on the moisturiser but still scratched my legs til I had bruises. Yippee!

Batch cooking has been my saviour for work lunches. Sunday is cooking day. I make savoury mince, meat balls, bolognese, marinated chicken strips, diced pork loin, chicken legs, sausages, etc. Once cooked I put single serves in zip lock bags or mini containers & freeze. Easy peasy to microwave at work. Add a small salad or some vegetables as you want and you’re set. Cook a couple of dishes at a time & you have instant meals for a couple of weeks. Good for when you have those long work days too when the last thing you want to do when you get home is cook. Plus because you’re cooking you’re controlling the ingredients, the fats/oils, salt, sugar, spices, etc. being added & portion sizes.

I had put off buying new bras & then started suffering upper back pain. Went to my acupuncturist & jokingly said the pain was from my badly fitting bras which were way too big (I could pleat the cups). Ding ding ding ding yes it was my bras. So off I went to get properly fitted. Dropped from 18E to 14F (think I might be almost a 14E though now). And miracle of miracles no more back pain. I went to a large upmarket department store to get fitted where they knew what they were talking about & put me in numerous brands & styles till they found one that worked best for me. Nothing worse than badly fitting uncomfortable bras. Of course it ended up being an expensive brand sigh but I bought a nude one and then a couple of weeks later they had a special deal & I got 2 more at 50% off. Woo hoo.

My surgeon didn’t say anything about alcohol consumption. I just avoided it because of the calories & lack of nutrients. I did have a drink 4 weeks out at a cousin’s 40. I nursed that gin & tonic for 3 hours - lol - & no side effects. A couple of weeks later I tried some champagne (the real stuff too) but it was disgusting - way to sweet & blah. My changed tastebuds meant I just didn’t enjoy alcohol as much. Now, 5.5 months out & 400g shy of my goal weight, I have a small glass about once every 3/4 weeks at social outings. I’ve found a gin or scotch easiest to drink at social events. I still take ages to drink it & often don’t finish the glass. Have to admit I’m a bit nervous for this weekend as I’m off on a girls’ weekend & there will be lots of bottles of bubbles consumed. I intend to sip my one glass all night long.

A lovely friend took me to the hospital and stayed until I was taken to start the pre surgical processes. My bag was taken from me at this point & was in my room after the surgery. My doctor said he would keep me in a second night because I lived alone but I stayed a third night as I suffered terrible back spasms. My friend picked me up when I was discharged. I slept most of the time in hospital after surgery (except when I was in pain from my back 😩) - couldn’t seem to concentrate to read, watch Netflix or make conversation with visitors so being alone wasn’t an issue. I made sure I had all my protein shakes, clear broths, etc. and non prescription medications all set to go before I went to hospital so I wouldn’t have to go out or get people to go shopping for me for two weeks post surgery. Good luck.

I’m sorry you are having this experience. Deciding to have WLS is not easy and you should expect your team to be supportive and encouraging. Everyone in this forum will tell you there is no one size fits all (no pun intended) in this process though I can see benefits in a general introduction to the basics of the process in a group class before your individual appointments. Yes, in Australia it is different and each doctor has their own requirements. Mine requires his patients to visit a dietician before surgery and regularly for at least 12 months post surgery. A much younger friend went to a different doctor and only had to see a dietician once. She is struggling post surgery with her food, trying to take the easy route of takeaways and frozen meals & wonders why she is in pain & vomits a lot. My doctor also recommends therapy but considers each patient’s weight gain/loss history & personal history before making the recommendation. He said I didn’t need to but provided a list of therapists I could see if i wanted pre or post surgery. My dietician isn’t very good but better than the one I went to years ago who told me I didn’t eat enough. Consequently I put on weight seeing that one - thanks a lot. This one asks what I eat (I just tell her my basic menu), what I weigh and that’s it. Five minutes & I’m gone. No information about calories, macros,... I rely on my own research ( God bless google & this forum) and a friend who had the surgery 12 months before me. Be patient, keep calm, breathe deeply when attending meetings with your team and follow the steps. Keep up your own research & this forum. Don’t let your frustration with this pre surgery process hinder your surgery. You won’t regret it. Good luck.

OMG. I thought I had glandular fever or some other illness that had induced this crazy exhaustion. For years I would only manage 5/6 hrs of sleep a night but for the last couple of weeks I’ve been sleeping 8/9/10 hrs a night. Any less & I felt like a zombie. Then the other day I dragged myself downstairs to my treadmill & honest to God I wanted to put my head down on the control panel & just go to sleep. Could barely put one foot in front of the other. Forced myself to continue for 12 mins but no more. Thought I was going to fall off the treadmill. So I dragged myself back upstairs. I have been keeping my carb intake low because I struggle just to get my protein in - last bloods showed my protein was low but everything else was good. Thanks for the reassurance that I’m not got some virus & will try to up my carb intake with a snack before exercising. Now if only there was a way to stop the hair loss 😜.

I started losing hair exactly two months post surgery and at four months it’s still falling. I too have reduced my hair washing frequency (thank goodness it doesn’t get as oily with my weight loss) because it was distressing pulling handfuls of hair from the drain. I have hair all over my house which I never had before. I take liquid silica (dietician recommended) and apply a treatment mask every second wash. I’ve had a couple of inches cut from the length but I can still put it up. I’ve been told it’s a combination of the anaesthetic and reduced protein intake. My doctor said it will grow back but not when. 😩

It’s the little things that bring joy sometimes. I’m able to zip up my knee high boots. I bought a pair of over the knee boots and wear them with my pants tucked inside them. Best of all I can wear my 4 inch heels again without the balls of my feet burning after 5 minutes. My rings fit me - so glad I didn’t get them made bigger. It’s a breeze to shave my legs in the shower - no stomach in the way. My old timber floor doesn’t creak as much. When I say I have nothing to wear it’s because my clothes are too big not too small.

I eat fairly simply. Never been a spicy food person so no loss there. The only carb I knowingly eat is rolled oats. I can eat fish, all meats, eggs & cheeses. My tastebuds still are not fond of many vegetables & fruit I used to love though. The only takeaway food i’ve tried is Chinese chicken & cashews (without the cashews). As I can only eat small amounts, I focus on protein and eat little or no vegetables or salad - three/four spoons of protein (half a sausage, a small lamb cutlet, small chicken leg) & a small cauliflower floret & i’m done. Takes me three days to eat two scrambled eggs. I eat slowly & mindfully. If i’m stressed (like worrying about what I can eat when dining out) my body shuts down & I can eat even less. (I’ve had to calm several concerned wait staff stressing everything tasted delicious & the reason i’ve barely touched my meal is just me.) I find it hard to get my fluids in each day. Alcohol is an occasional treat now - I can nurse a gin & tonic for hours. Tolerated my first glass of champagne last week. Yay! Only vomited food once. I just wish the gurgling would stop and the hair loss. Listen to your body. Find what works for you. Everyone’s experience is different. Yes, you will have to change your diet & find healthier foods to eat. But this is a new and better world. Enjoy!