Arabesque

It can be difficult to hit those goals in the first few weeks but as long as you are making an effort & slowly getting closer you’ll be fine. You’re only a couple of days out so relax. I could only consume one shake & a soup a day during the post surgical liquid stage but slowly after that I found I could eat a little more & more. Try not seeing your shake only as a meal but as a liquid you just keep sipping. I used to dilute mine (sometimes doubled the water) because it tasted so awful & then sipped it for a couple of hours. You may be able to get more in that way.

Are you on a PPI (like esomeprazole)? Stomach acid can make you think you’re hungry with hunger pangs. Stomach acid is often greater at night because of the fasting period when there isn’t any food in your tummy so the acid isn’t being used to breakdown it down. Also a growling tummy in most instances don’t indicate you are hungry (like we were always told) - it’s just our digestive system working. The hunger could actually still be head hunger. Our heads are a very powerful organ & can really mess with us. Your hunger could be caused by your emotions. The surgery & change of diet is stressful & the hormonal flush can make you emotional. For many of us we used to turn to food in stressful/emotional situations to sooth & comfort us. At the moment you can’t do that but your head is still telling you to eat. Also you can be simply wanting/craving what you can’t have. Subconsciously, you can also be questioning how such a little serving of food can actually be enough to satisfy you. All your head messing with you. I discovered my real hunger feels very different than the ‘hunger’ I used to know. I get restless, think something is wrong but aren’t sure what at first. There is always a reason I am hungry (missed a meal, delayed eating, didn’t eat enough for the day, etc.). I never crave or want to eat a specific food, flavour or texture… except I find I only want something high in protein. Distraction can be helpful. Read, go for a walk, undertake a hobby like gardening, drawing or crafting, play some games board or online, ring a friend or family member, clean out a drawer or cupboard, check social media, etc. Sometimes a warm drink can help.

I’m sorry you’ve developed theses complications. It’s so unpredictable how our bodies work & react to the changes to our digestive system post surgery. I was fine after my sleeve but jump to 25 months later & my gall was removed & suddenly I had a protein absorption issue. I also stopped absorbing my HRT meds. Malabsorption after gall surgery can occur but I was told it’s quite rare for it to be with protein. I wonder if some of the treatments women use for osteoporosis would help? Not HRT of course but prolia & evenity. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Worth asking your doctor. There must be research & treatment plans about because osteoporosis in men is increasing. PS - I use a mouth spray for my D3 K2 (I take it winter when my levels drop) though it is only a low dose (1000UI) but someone might produce a higher dose to boost your intake. The spray means your digestive system is bypassed & it is absorbed directly. Sorry just read you can’t take vitamin K.

Ask your team to recommend a dietician/nutritionalist @PennyinAL especially one with some experience with supporting wls patients. My surgeon recommended mine. And don’t be afraid to ask for as much guidance & information as you think you need to keep you on track. Also be very honest with them. They can’t offer you the best advice & information if they only know part of the story. I was only given protein & water goals & portion size recommendations from my surgeon, wasn’t even advised to track my food but I was ok with that (though I did randomly check my calories for my own information). I’m someone who does a lot of their own research so I think my dietician was confident in what I was doing & also by the questions I asked her. Dieticians/nutritionalist can sometimes fall into a one size fits all advice cycle. Ask for alternative food suggestions & other options if the plan or their advice doesn’t fit your food preferences, eating style, food sensitivities, post surgery food intolerances (when your taste buds temporarily change making certain foods disgusting), activity levels & lifestyle.

Relax. You haven’t necessarily affected your weight loss as you will still lose eating 963 calories. Though whether it is right for you at this time is another question. Have a chat with your dietician to review what you’re eating & what is an appropriate caloric goal for you & your needs.

Try sparkling water instead of soda. All the bubbles but no sugar or artificial sweeteners. The artificial sweeteners in the zero sugar drinks could be what’s upsetting you @naynay77. The sugar alcohol ones (any ending in ‘ol’) are the usual culprits.

Lol! All day every day. I found drinking through the night helps. Basically sip every time I get in or out of bed (& because I drink a lot I pee a lot so I drink even more 😁😁). Establishing routines help too. For example I sip every time I get in or out of my car. I sip at every red light. When I worked I sipped every time I started an email & again when I sent one (I had lots of emails). A friend told me recently she plays the drinking game in meetings - every time certain words are said she drinks. (She also said she initially started by drinking whenever someone said something stupid but she couldn’t keep up with the drinking 😂😂😂.) You’ll work out the routines that work best for you too.

I agree with @catwoman7 & @CarmenG. Every food is different so you can’t rely solely on a weight measure or only on a cup measure. When I reached maintenance, I began checking the recommended portion sizes of different foods and then from there I worked out what I could physically eat of that food. Also considered the calories too which also influenced how much I could eat. It’s not perfect but a good place to begin. I eat about a recommended portion size of most foods. For example I eat a little more of vegetables but only about a half a portion of rolled oats. As you likely know, it can differ day to day - some days I can eat my portion & then another I can’t. Have you checked your BMR? Again a good place to start to give you an idea of the calories your body needs based on age, heigh, weight, gender & activity levels. I’d also go back to tracking all your food for a while just to ensure you’re getting in the nutrients & calories you need. I don’t measure & weigh religiously anymore but do random checks to ensure I’m still on track & of course I check any new food I introduce. It can be easy to let things slide or over/under estimate. I was never given calorie goals by my surgeon or dietician only pretty general portion requirements. My surgeon told me to start with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée & slowly increase to about a cup by when I reached maintenance. He also drew a picture of a side plate & sectioned off two other circles: protein & vegetables (interestingly no carbs) & said that’s what a meal should look like for me in the future in maintenance. It’s funny that picture really stuck with me & I often think of it when I’m serving a meal or eating out. And using recommended portion sizes as my reference actually does mean my plate looks much like his drawing.

Lyrica, though a wonderful drug for nerve pain, does have the unfortunate side effect of increasing your appetite. My mother’s GP told her straight out she’d never lose weight while she was on Lyrica & her antidepressant & all she could do was work at maintaining the weight she was at. Might be worth a conversation with the insurance company to allow some leeway because of being prescribed Lyrica. Can’t hurt (& get it in writing if they say okay). I wonder if the strict requirements around no weight gain before surgery is more about your commitment to the surgery & wanting to lose weight. Same with any requirement for losing weight (except for the immediate pre surgical diet.) Thankfully our insurance companies in Australia aren’t so strict … yet. No approval requirements from them. Though they are certainly getting more restrictive.

Since you’ve started maybe just keep to one or two shakes a day & have a meal of portion & calorie controlled protein & vegetables/salads for the other meal/s. You’ve started to break some of your sugar & carb dependencies & it seems a waste to throw that away. A two week pre surgery diet is pretty common though some are only on a one or two diet. They can take the form of an all liquid (protein shakes) or two protein shakes & one meal of protein & vegetables or a specific diet of solid food (I was on keto). Just depends on your surgeon. Mine gives different patients different diets depending on several factors including starting weight, weight loss/gain history & medical status. All the best what ever you choose to do.

That’s always an interesting question @Nomorecookies. I always tried to eat (drink) a lot of the excess liquids first then eat the solids. Same with soup. (Actually still sort of do this but I think it is a habit now.) But I also look at it as the milk & the liquid stock in a chunky soup actually are a food too, containing protein & nutrients. I also took ages to eat cereal & soup in the first several months (may be a year 🤷🏻‍♀️) so it was a way of giving the liquids a little time to pass through my digestive system before starting on the solid components. But check with your team to see what they say.

Welcome to the wide & varied pre & post surgical plans. 🙂 I was put on a keto plan before surgery. My surgeon puts different patients on different pre surgical diets. A friend was on the all shake diet & her friend was on the two shakes & one meal version yet we had the same surgeon. I think he does it based on a number of factors: starting weight, pre existing health status, weight loss/gain history, etc. Maybe your surgeon is the same. I wouldn’t be concerned, just enjoy still having a variety of food choices available to you. All the best with your surgery. PS - Best to avoid fruit juice too as it has a high sugar content. Natural sugars but still sugar & calories. It takes several pieces of fruit to make a glass of juice but you would sit down & eat the sane number of pieces of fruit in one go. Plus it lacks a lot of the essential nutrients a whole piece of fruit does. When you can introduce fruit into your diet again go for whole fruit not juice.

Rice, pasta & noodles (& bread) were on my do not eat list. They are highly processed, nutrient poor, simple carbs. They take up room in your tummy stopping you from eating all your necessary protein & other nutrients. I still don’t eat them as they sit too heavily in my tummy, filling me more quickly but that’s me. Generally, the rule of thumb for eating while you are losing weight is to eat your protein first, then any vegetables you are able to eat & finally any complex carbs you may be allowed. Don’t be surprised if all you can eat at some meals is your protein only. There are lots of alternatives to traditional style rice, pasta, etc. Cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, vegetable pastas (low carb), etc. are options while in your losing phase. Who knows what you may be able to eat (how much & how often) when in maintenance. Best advice is to check with your team.

Nope. Do not miss being big at all. I was very happy to get rid of my large clothes. One of my motivators for the surgery was my size was limiting the clothing & designers I could buy & wear (I loved clothing & fabrics, the designs, etc.) I’d kept clothes at lower sizes so as I lost I was able to wear some of those but at times the weight loss meant I missed my window to wear them or only wore them once. I donated a lot of it. The only clothing I’ve kept, regardless of size, were special pieces - because of the memories or the clothing designer. I have kept more items that are a size too big - just in case I guess. I’ve altered clothing in the past but it never really worked. Plus you’ll drop so many sizes it’s impossible. I dropped 6 sizes. You can’t just run in a seam. The whole outfit really needs to be recut.

What about trying a fodmap diet? It cuts out lots of foods know to aggravate the digestive system & then you slowly reintroduce them to see which ones don’t work for you. Your dietician should be able to give you information on it & the eating plan. My cousin is on it for strange digestive issues. It’s not a quick process - she’s been doing it for 6 months now. I believe she went to a gastroenterologist who recommended the diet to try & identify the cause of her problem. I believe most bariatric surgeons are gastroenterologists. Mine was so maybe your surgeon is too & would be worth going back too if you haven’t (but that could just be in Australia).

It was at about two months. I had a gin & tonic which I sipped for hours - not kidding. Then it was another couple of months before I had another. I actually sort of lost my taste for it. Four years out & I still don’t drink often - usually a glass about once a month (except last weekend with girlfriends & a wedding - was a glass & a half of champagne each day for three days). A glass or two while you’re away likely won’t hurt. But do check with your team because plans differ. Remember it does slow your metabolism & the effects of the alcohol may be stronger & you may feel the effects more quickly. Track the calories & keep your non alcoholic fluids up.

Yesterday I put on a pair of trousers I hadn’t worn since last year. Pulled them up, zipped & buttoned, fitted perfectly & then it hit me. I didn’t have that fear of the pants not fitting. You know that fear. That I would have put on weight & then the expectation that what I wanted to wear wouldn’t fit. I used to feel that way just about every day (unless I was wearing elastic waists LOL!). Even with something I’d recently bought. Will my pants zip? Will the waist of my skirt be tight? Will my shirt pull across my chest? I realised I haven’t felt that fear for a couple of years now. The wonder & miracle that is maintaining a stable weight. Something I’ve never been able to do in the past.

It’s very likely your goal weight will not be your final weight - where you settle & maintain. This is controlled by your new set point, any bounce back regain, a settling weight, any lifestyle choices you may make & the weight you feel happiest & most comfortable at. I picked a goal weight that had always been my low weight in the roller coaster that was my weight loss/gain history. My surgeon said it was a reasonable goal. It put me at a BMI (love it or hate it) of about 23. Though I felt I would be happy if I just got close to that weight & a long way away from what I did weigh. Yes, I did exceed my goal but that was totally unexpected. It’s my new set point weight where my body is happiest. And I can fairly easily maintain it without limiting or restricting my life. Goal weights have the potential to mess with your head if you don’t reach it or maintain at that weight. It’s just a number on a scale often selected for emotional reasons. The bigger wins are improvements to your health & well being. Be flexible. Allow for fluctuations & influences beyond your control. Some people set a couple of goal weights. Like a good, better, best but recognising any would be an achievement which would improve their life.

Actually it’s not that common. It could just be others have not remained active on the forum or as you wondered they haven’t updated their stats. Their profile weight might be their lowest weight & not the weight at which they settled & maintain - there is a difference. The average weight loss is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthy weight range for either bypass & sleeve surgeries which is usually informed by BMI (love it or hate it) at the three year point. But with all stats there there are those who exceed that stat & those who don’t for many reasons. Some we have control over (dietary & activity choices) & many we don’t (medication, gender, age, genetics, health issues, mobility, set point, etc.) But statistically the number who reach their goal will be less & the number who exceed it even lower than those who lose the 65% average. Your goal weight is a weight you picked. It may be based upon BMI. It may be based on a weight you’d been before. Or a weight that seems okay to you. Some even adjust their goal weight as they progress. I call it my head weight or emotional weight. It often is not the weight you end up at. Some find they prefer to be at a higher weight - easier to maintain without limiting or restricting their lifestyle or they feel they look better or are more comfortable at a higher weight. There is also a bounce back regain weight many experience. You can’t really tell what your finally weight will be before your surgery. Some surgeons say they can predict approximately how much weight you may lose at specific points in your weight loss post surgery. I think it may be double the weight you’ve lost at 3 months but I’m sure some one will confirm the actual formula. Though again this is based upon stats & some exceed this & some don’t. And I don’t know if it takes into consideration bounce back regain or settling weight or is just the lowest weight you reach. Would be worth asking your surgeon about it though. The trick is not to get tied to your goal weight. It’s not your body’s new set point weight (the weight your body is happiest at). It can really mess with your head if you don’t reach it or you don’t maintain it. Even when maintaining, allow yourself some realistic fluctuation & wriggle room with your weight. Try & remember it’s just a number on a scale & there are many more important wins to celebrate like your health & well being. I am someone who exceeded my goal (based on the lowest weight I always cycled around in the past) & exceeded the stats (132% lost). Not by anything I did. It’s my body’s new set point & where it happily stabilised. My lowest weight was 48.2kg & then I settled at 48.5-49.5. I gained a couple of kilos because of a medication issue but resettled & stabilised at 49.5-50kg after sorting the issue. I find it pretty easy to maintain & not limiting or restrictive.

Purées still have to be pretty soft & runny. Think sloppy, gloopy & dollopy to help you swallow your food & make it easier for your still healing tummy to digest. Refried beans can be on puréed food list but you may have to add some stock or gravy, etc. to make them runny enough. The patty itself would be fine in the soft food stage. But do check with your team to be sure about their requirements.

It can be a real shock when you first see the hair in the shower even when you know it happens. Remember it does pass & your new hair is still growing just at it’s usual rate. A hair positive I got through all of this is my hair isn’t as oily as it used to be before surgery. The dry hair is often from the anaesthetic. It can become fuzzy or frizzy too. It usually grows out. Treat it gently in the meantime & try some treatments to keep it soft.

1200 calories a day for someone your height & activity level seems very low when you’re maintaining @ErinBrooke1982. Check out a BMR calculator for an idea of the calories you need. You’ll soon work out if that’s too few or too many calories to support your maintenance. Actually calories weren’t a consideration with my surgeon or dietician. They were more focussed on portion size & even that was more of a guideline & not rules. They did encourage me to eat more when I first stabilised but then took into consideration I’m more finely built so decided my weight was quite okay. I’m a three meals a day plus snacks person. It’s the only way I get all my calories in. My snacks are all pretty nutrient dense & offer protein & other nutrients I need. If just three meals a day is difficult for you (you can only eat what you can eat at a meal time) try reducing the meal sizes & add snacks. The snacks can be portions of your meals (leftovers) to begin or you could try 4 meals a day. You just have to find what best works for you & it may not be what your team suggests. PS - I checked a BMR calculator out of interest earlier this year & it advised I needed to consume about 1500 calories to maintain my weight, at my age, height & activity level which was about what I was consuming. I’ve been pretty stable with my weight.

Just as something to consider: Dr Matthew Weiner (his you tube videos are great) posted this about lunch meats & other ‘protein’ snacks recently. Maybe try cooking up a little chicken breast or thigh or turkey yourself & freeze small portions to defrost as snacks. You could marinate it, add your own herbs & spices for flavour. I’d sometimes buy a quarter BBQ chicken from the supermarket eat some as a meal & freeze the leftovers in small portions for snacks. I did eat pork sausages when I first got to solid foods. I got them from my butcher who makes his own & not those mass produced highly processed supermarket ones. PS - I did run & check my protein bars for the 10:1 ratio. Mine are little over, oops, but I’m 4 yrs out so not as important.

Just as something to consider: Dr Matthew Weiner (his you tube videos are great) posted this about lunch meats & other ‘protein’ snacks recently. Maybe try cooking up a little chicken breast or thigh or turkey yourself & freeze small portions to defrost as snacks. You could marinate it, add your own herbs & spices for flavour. I’d sometimes buy a quarter BBQ chicken from the supermarket eat some as a meal & freeze the leftovers in small portions for snacks. I did eat pork sausages when I first got to solid foods. I got them from my butcher who makes his own & not those mass produced highly processed supermarket ones. PS - I did run & check my protein bars for the 10:1 ratio. Mine are little over, oops, but I’m 4 yrs out so not as important.

Generally the food aversions are temporary & related to changes in your tastebuds & sense of smell post surgery often because of the anaesthetic. Apart from the general aversion to anything even remotely sweet, all the shakes were disgusting to me. The sweetness & the hideous grainy texture coating my teeth. Shudder! The weirdest one was vegetables. I love my vegetables & was so looking forward to the first time I could eat asparagus & sugar snap peas again but nope. Awful. Super pleased when they were palatable again. They were really the only things. Weirdest one was smoked salmon. Always found it that bit too rich & strong a flavour so could only eat a little. Gave it a try after surgery & it was fine. Ate it without an issue with some cream cheese wrapped around a wedge of cucumber. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But about two months later, it was back to being thanks no thanks. Oh, I made chicken cacciatore while on soft foods and of course added about half of the requisite white wine. Bad move. The wine tasted sour (it wasn’t) & flavoured the whole dish. I couldn’t eat it though my mother said it was delicious.