Arabesque

At three days out I was barely having a sip of clear broth twice a day. Was not hungry & not interested in eating. By the end of the first week I was drinking more. I’d make up a protein shake & then sip it for hours. I didn’t consider time until I was onto solid food after 6weeks. Now I just make sure I eat slowly over 20-30 mins so I get the message I’m full or satisfied. Goid luck.

How frightening for you (& your seamstress). I’ve never fainted but have had cold sweats, nausea, general weakness & had to sit down because of my low BP. The last time was about 3months ago. Was just standing chatting at a shop I frequent when I suddenly became very weak. They got me some water & I sat down for about 20mins in the shop before I felt strong enough to drive the 5mins home. I do have vision loss multiple times a day when I stand up & my BP drops. Not fun. I used to take a bottle of diluted hydralite (full strength was too sweet) with me to sip wherever I went which I found helpful. Interested to see what your GP says & if the BP meds were the cause.

Happy birthday @Dtrain84. You always bring it. Super sharp! Do you find that sometimes putting on a dress or skirt just makes you feel prettier @GreenTealael? So lovely.

How amazing are those balloons. Never seen any as wonderful before. What a talented gentleman.

Had the same issue with my cholesterol levels rising more at every blood test. Doctors all very concerned but my dietician said relax it’s just the weight loss & it will settle when you get to your goal weight. She was right. My last blood test showed my cholesterol was back to my usual levels with no change to my diet. She explained that as you lose weight all the hormones etc. stored in your fat are released into your blood stream.

There’s nowhere to hide when you wear Lycra, Jake, but you look great.

Thanks @over65. I’ve had concerns about artificial sweeteners for years but my biggest issue is that they continue to feed our desire for sugar & sweet foods & drinks. Reduce it from your diet & you’ll realise how excessively & unnecessarily sweet a lot of foods & drinks actually are.

And this is only the beginning. So many more achievements, benefits & blessings ahead for you too. Congratulations.

I did two weeks on keto. Had one friend on shakes & another on a combination for three weeks. Seems it depends on your surgeon & your starting weight. Post surgery I was fluids for two weeks, purées for two weeks followed by soft foods for another two before beginning solid foods. Take it slowly. Your tummy will tell you what you can or can’t tolerate but I wouldn’t push it through the stages quickly. Took me a good three weeks to feel up to working but I always take a long time to get over things (healing, viruses, etc. - I have Gilbert’s & my BP was low). No lifting for two weeks & then less than 5kg for another two. Then no more than 10kg for the next two. Remember you’re healing from major stomach surgery. Always had a large glass of wine every night & enjoyed a good scotch or G&T. Now hardly ever drink. Lost the taste for it & don’t miss it. Certainly don’t need it to socialise with friends. Plus it was taking an hour to drink a glass. Would avoid mixing with juices - high calories & sugar. Also beware of addiction swapping. It’s a concern for post weight loss surgery patients to turn their addiction for food to something else. Carbonated drinks are very filling. Better to be getting in your protein & good nutrients than filling your small tummy with soft drinks. (Plus I personally have an issue with artificial sweeteners - they still feed your sugar craving.) If the tool is to help you & you intend to be successful long term you will have to change your relationship with food: how you eat, what you eat, when you eat. It takes work and your life will change but for the better.

Could be your gallbladder but most definitely go to your doctor as soon as possible.

So inspiring @Sharon1214. Congratulations on what you have achieved.

The skirt is by Mara Hoffman an American label @Lynda486. Bought just before lockdown & it was it’s first wearing. We’ve been slowly opening back up here in Aust @Cheeseburgh so when I have a specific reason to go out I take the opportunity to dress up & get out of the baggy track pants. 😁 May have to reconsider this wrap open sided coat I bought. I think I look like Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan ... just in black. This is not the coat you want. 😂

Mine fell out for a good 6 months. It slowed for a couple of weeks at about 4 months & I was celebrating but then it was as bad as before. I had a heap of hair but lost 50%. Growing back now.

Hit the shops to find a 50th birthday gift for my youngest brother. So hard. Can’t find a navy belt or boots for love or money at the moment so grey will suffice with very old black boots. Plus a little pop of berry lipstick to brighten my day.

Why do you think you’re underweight? A bmi of between 18 & 25 is considered healthy. My dietician told me she would be concerned with my bmi if I had deep hollows under my collar bones and around my shoulders because these were signs of being undernourished & underweight. In saying that, we all have different builds and weights at which we feel comfortable and you have to feel comfortable at your weight. I hope you get somewhere with your medical team soon. They should be there to calm your fears & answer your questions not increase your concerns & frustrations.

Looking good @Dtrain84. I love Aquazzura shoes @Sophie7713. I have a nice little collection of them. My shoe boutique only got in the black suede. Your neutral leather ones would work well in my wardrobe too. Found this pxt of me wearing mine back when our weather was warmer.

The headache could also be from the change of diet. You’re going through a withdrawal from the foods your body used to crave or you regularly ate & your body had became used to. Could be from stopping sugar, carbs, alcohol or caffeine.

@catwoman7 is correct. We all lose at different rates, the rate is dependent on many factors, and the more you have to lose the more you’ll lose each week. But the closer you are to your goal weight, the rate per week will slow. At 6 months from my surgery date I had lost 25.8kg (about 57lbs) and had lost about 6kgs in the weeks prior to surgery. That put me at my goal so I had slowed considerably during about the last 2months even though my diet hadn’t changed. Then lost another 10kgs during the following 5 months. Best advice is don’t compare your rate with anyone else, keep to your program, be prepared for stalls that can last weeks and you’ll do fine. Good luck.

They fill your abdomen with gas during surgery to inflate the area so they can see what they are doing. The gas has to then find its own way out of your body & causes side effects like the shoulder pain. The cream soups could be too rich for you. I was told to stick to clear liquids to begin like broths & stock-based soups with the protein shakes for the first couple of weeks. Remember you just had surgery on your stomach it needs to be treated gently for a while. The creamy soups could also be stirring up a lactose sensitivity. You’ll soon be experiencing the opposite effect of having wls - constipation.

Hey fellow Aussie. i agree with @catwoman7. We do tend to look scrawny & gaunt as we get to or near our goal weight. I found when I added some good multi grains to my diet my gauntness softened & I looked better especially in the face. I struggled to find my maintenance sweet spot too & unintentionally lost 9kg more than my goal over 2-3 months. I slowly added nutritious snacks, increased my meal sizes little by little & kept weighing myself everyday until I found I’d stabilised with about a 500g fluctuation. For example I used to eat about 50g of steak now I eat about 80g. I took 3 or 4 days to eat serve of rolled oats now only two. You will find your balance too. Don’t worry if it takes a little while. While some have said I’m too thin I am a healthy bmi & I certainly don’t have bones sticking out anywhere. (Personally I think the ‘your too thin’ voices struggle to see me as slim & not obese. Their perception of me hasn’t caught up yet.) But I’m happy to be at this weight. See how you feel in a few months time once you’ve stabilised. You may choose to stay the same or put in a couple of kgs. It’s all about how you feel in your skin. Your next step may be to add some muscle definition but again that’s your choice. I just want to know where your lose skin is? If this is a male thing, like being able to lose weight faster, I’ll be mighty pissed off. Life can be unfair. 😁

OMG @Sophie7713 we have the same shoes. I wore them heaps this last summer. And I loooove that dress. Gorgeous. I went to my beauty therapist for a pedi & facial this week too. So relaxing to be pampered & to catch up with my therapist who is very lovely. Dynasty had a lot to answer for in the 80s. I remember having spare shoulder pads I could add to a jacket or dress to make the shoulders even bigger.

Way too much liquid to make a sauce as the meat is almost covered with the liquid in the pot. We cook onion & carrot in a small amount of water & then use some of the water with milk to make a white sauce. We put the onion & carrot back in the sauce & serve it over the hot meat, with pickles on the side. We usually let the leftovers sit in the liquid in the fridge until the next day for extra flavour to be absorbed. It’s still a soft, easy to pull apart meat. It can become very crumbly if overcooked though. It’s a family favourite.

Way too much liquid to make a sauce as the meat is almost covered with the liquid in the pot. We cook onion & carrot in a small amount of water & then use some of the water with milk to make a white sauce. We put the onion & carrot back in the sauce & serve it over the hot meat, with pickles on the side. We usually let the leftovers sit in the liquid in the fridge until the next day for extra flavour to be absorbed. It’s still a soft, easy to pull apart meat. It can become very crumbly if overcooked though. It’s a family favourite.

Coffee is a diuretic. So it will make you flush fluid out of your body more quickly. Some say it flushes more out of you then you took in by drinking it. Keep to water. It’s the best thing to keep you hydrated. I should have also mentioned keeping up your fluids to help with your low bp. Sounds like you had a cold sweat from low blood sugars. Did your legs go like jelly? No energy? I kept diluted hydralite with me for months after surgery (& that was thru winter). One in the car, one in my bag when I went out & one by my bed. Gave me a burst to keep me going.

Take it slowly. You need time to heal & time to get used to the idiosyncrasies of your smaller tummy. Foods & drinks that work for others may not work for you. There’s a lot of learning ahead of you but you will work it out & in your time. You’ll be fine. BTW I still gurgle all the time. You should have heard me last night. It was almost moaning. Good Lord! If I heard those noises in my kitchen I’d be calling the plumber quick smart (or an exorcist 🤣).