Arabesque

Your tummy is still healing & generally just more sensitive to all sorts of things. Multi vitamins made me nauseous initially. I still can feel ‘off’ if I eat too early in the morning. It may be something you are eating (tummy can be fussy). It may be just rushing about in the morning - causing some stress in your tummy. Milk products are known for causing nausea with motion in some people too so maybe avoid your shakes or any dairy you are eating before driving. As @GreenTealael suggested ginger can help - drink ginger tea, try ginger tablets. Or ask for a script for anti nausea meds to take on your trip.

Wisdom teeth pain is terrible. Keep ringing your team. I have a sleeve and my surgeon allowed me to have a NSAID occasionally (one at a time & not continuous days) from after my second year. But I believe the no NSAIDS rule is stricter for bypass & you’re only such a short time post surgery. You could always try a shot of vodka or scotch. I mean, shockingly now, they used to give teething babies a rum soaked cloth to suck until mid the last century. What about freezing a wet cloth & applying it to your gums or freezing fruit. Try googling natural baby teething remedies for other ideas. Your wisdom teeth coming through is really the same experience.

If you’re not exercising, getting in 1500 calories may be too many & hinder your weight loss. I’m a non exerciser (just stretching, resistance bands & sit-ups). At an inch shorter & probably older (almost 58) I maintain consuming 1400-1500 calories which i have since discovered is pretty much what my basal metabolic rate recommends. This may be something to raise with your dietician as they know you & your needs better. I don’t enjoy exercising & also have low blood pressure (genetic - had it randomly before but all the time now. Amusingly being obese kept my BP at 120/80.) & oozing discs which is why I only do as little as I do. Most are on the floor & I exercise snack. Do 4 sessions lasting 5-10 minutes across the day. Would probably only burn 30 calories but my muscles are definitely more toned. My doctor put me on blood pressure meds to get it higher. It didn’t work for me but still may be something worth asking your doctor about even as a temporary fix. I relate to not being able to physically eat more too. When I reached my goal at 6 months I was only eating about 900 calories & less than a cup of food for a meal. I kept losing for another 6 months during which I slowly increased my snacks (to 4 & 5 a day ) & slowly was able to eat more. I truely felt I was eating all day long. I stopped losing when I was consuming about 1300 calories. My body has since settled, I eat fewer snacks but more regular sized portions hence the more calories. I also have pretty much maintained at about a kilogram above my initial 2 year stabilised weight. We all have different needs physically, psychologically, medically, etc. but do ask further questions of your doctor & dietician. One size doesn’t fit all.

They’re are a normal & important part of your weight loss. It’s the time your body uses to take stock of the stress you’re putting it through (weight loss, reduced calories, increased activity, etc.), where you are & what your new needs are at a lower weight & resets various hormones & your metabolism to support your lower weight, etc. Best thing to do is to stick to your plan & don’t stress your body more with more changes. The stall will break when your body is ready. Some people experience longer or more frequent stalls than others. It just depends on their body & needs.

Ahh, labneh. Haven’t had it in ages so making it myself intrigued me too. Found this recipe using Greek yoghurt (but it says you can use any but low fat) https://www.loveandlemons.com/labneh-recipe/ Might have to go & buy some cheesecloth. I guess a couple of sheets of chuxs would work too … new clean ones of course 😉.

Some people are & some aren’t given calories. I was never told calories either and only randomly checked for my own interest. I still do random checks. But I was comfortable with that. (Too many calorie counting diets over too many years turned me off I think.) Some people prefer & feel more confident about what they’re doing by having more guidelines such as calorie goals.

Stalls are an expected & important part of your weight loss. Some people just experience fir longer periods & more regularly. They occur in reaction to the stress you’re putting your body under (weight loss, reduced calorie intake, increased activity levels, etc.). During a stall your body takes stock of your new current situation & then readjust various hormones & your metabolism to meet your new needs. Stick to your plan. Don’t stress your body more (like by going back to the liquid diet). The stall will break when your body is ready.

There is no right answer to your question simply because we (our bodies) are different & have different needs. Age, gender, build, height, activity level, current weight, if you’re still losing, health conditions, etc. are different. At a year I was eating about 1300 calories when I my weight finally stabilised. (At 6 months when I reached my goal weight I was eating barely 900.) At almost 4 years I eat around 1400/1500 to maintain. But I’m female, almost 58, 5’3” tall, have a finer build & don’t really exercise. My caloric needs are not as high as someone male, &/or younger, &/or taller, &/or with a larger frame, &/or heavier than me, &/or way more active than me would need to maintain. Best person to answer your question is your dietician.

The new set point is the best gift of the surgery (well I think so). All those years fighting our old much higher set point. Trying to lose & then putting the weight back on again as our body would try to get back to its set point weight where it was happiest. Now your body is happiest at your lower set point so it is easier to maintain this weight. Can we increase our set point again? Yep. That’s how it got so high in the first place. Can you keep it pretty much where it is now? Yes. But it takes work. Watching calories & activity levels. Unfortunately what you are doing in regard to these things may not be sustainable in the long term on many levels. It’s too restrictive to maintain. It doesn’t complement your lifestyle & the things you want to do. Life can sometimes through crap at us & our circumstances change: job changes, family issues, pregnancy, health issues, hormonal changes for women, medication changes, relocating, etc. And yes sometimes simple complacency when we let some new habits slide & revert to some old ones. Also there is some resettling or stabilising. But it won’t all happen straight away in maintenance. Your remaining fat may resettle in different areas of your body (your face so you look less gaunt & your body shape - my hour glass shape returned yay but not my butt sob!). After the stressful period of your weight loss, your metabolism, hunger/satiety hormones, set point, etc. will settle which can affect your weight. And you may physically be able to eat more as your digestive system stabilises too. Interestingly, an additional 100 calories a day will result in a 10lb+/- gain over a year (so 20lbs over 2 years) which could explain the bounce back regain many experience. I’m 3years 11 months (as at yesterday) & have had minimal regain. I was 48.2kg at my lowest then settled at 48.5-49.5kg for about a year. I unexpectedly went to around 50.5-51kg mid my 2nd year. I thought oh no bounce back beginning but I stayed there without a change for about a year. Then we changed my HRT med & abracadabra I lost a kilo & seem to have stabilised for the last few months at 49.5 - 50kg without doing anything but the med change. I’m interested to see what the future will bring as I’m really still quite a newbie.

I think you’re doing okay too. As for the exhaustion & lack of energy remember you’ve just had pretty major surgery. Imagine a 12 inch deep wound on your arm or leg & all the sutures & staples holding it together. Consider how you’d treat that wound gently & give it time to fully heal before doing too much. It’s the sane with this surgery. It’s going to take time to heal & your body is going to be putting energy into your healing & recovery. Listen to your body. If you have little energy or feel tired rest & take it easy. Pushing yourself too much may slow your recovery. We all recover in our own time. Some are back at work after a week. I took four weeks & then started a part time contract. I needed all those four weeks & more but I always seem to take longer to recover & heal from everything so it was expected. Maybe give your work a call & see if you can initially come back on reduced hours until you’re stronger.

It’s not easy at first. Much like you I detested the shakes. Had one a day (diluted to improve the taste a little) & then a soup/broth too. Less than 300 calories a day & didn’t hit my protein goal once. I treated the shake & soup like any other fluid - just sipped until I was finished. My surgeon was okay with this because I was making an effort within my capabilities at that time. Try making your own yoghurt drink - blend high protein yoghurt with milk. You can make it as thin as you can tolerate & even add in some unflavoured or flavoured protein powder. This will boost your protein intake considerably. Sip it just like any other fluid too. I wish I discovered yoghurt drinks in the liquid stage but it wasn't until the purée stage.

Unfortunately, the surgery doesn’t remove the part of our brain that causes head hunger like cravings. We have to work on those ourselves. Do we get rid of them? No but we learn to better recognise them for what they are & learn strategies to better manage them so they don’t win. Many find working with a therapist helpful - your surgeon or team should be able to recommend someone yi could work with. Do you have a dietician? (If not, again contact your surgeon or team.) They will give you an eating plan (may also include portion sizes, nutritional/macros, calories, etc. but ask for what you would feel most comfortable & confident with) to follow which should support your individual situation & body’s needs. Generally we’re advised to keep our carbs low & look for complex whole & multi grain carbs. No bread, rice, pasta or similar products. Also low fat, low sugar & high protein. Eat all your protein first. Then some vegetables if you’re able. Carbs you are allowed are eaten last & only if you physically can (I never could). You may have to cook meals for yourself instead of relying on family prepared meals which may not support your weight loss. Look for low processed ‘clean’ ingredients you prepare & cook yourself. You won’t have to cook everyday as your portions are so small you’ll have leftovers you can refrigerate or freeze to eat another day. It’s also an opportunity to introduce your family to healthy meals.

Don’t ‘only’ any of your weight loss. I always say every pound you lose. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you lose because we all lose at the rate that right for us & our body. Yes, this is likely a stall. They’re a very normal & important part of your weight loss progress and you’ll likely experience more of them. It’s the time your body takes to come to terms with the changes that have occurred (weight loss, dietary changes, etc.) & when your body resets your metabolism & the hormones that manage your hunger, satiety, digestion, etc. Stick to your plan & you’ll notice the scale moving again … it just might take up to three weeks.

Sometimes life throws crap at us & we can only make the best choices we can at that time within the limits we are trapped in. Congratulations on having the right attitude to mange the situation & continue moving forward when life settles again. Hope your mum is doing better. (Why do hospitals have the most unhealthy food choices?) Like @ms.sss, I’m a bit further along at almost 4 years (3yrs 11 months exactly today). I exceeded my goal & have pretty much maintained since. For a year I fluctuated between 48.5-49.5kg. Then I gained and fluctuated between 50.5-50.9kg. We discovered my HRT wasn’t being absorbed after my gall was removed so went on a patch & I lost a lot of that small gain without changing anything I was doing. I now fluctuate between 49.5-50kg (109/110lbs). Still careful with what I eat but I made changes to how I eat that are sustainable. But not so inflexible that I won’t have the odd treat or can’t work around a situation/circumstance. Never feel I’m missing out. Still watch portions, keep track of protein & keep my fluids up. And no I don’t really exercise. Some stretches & resistance bands four times a day (exercise snacking) for a total of about 25 minutes. I do it mainly for my back & for a little toning & flexibility. Congratulations everyone on your progress so far & your successes.

Share anyway. We just enjoy pictures of food 😁😁. I never post an after pxt always before … unless I get halfway through before I remember to take a pxt. Those pancakes look delicious.

I can’t believe you went through all this. Why didn’t they have you on a blood thinner as soon as they diagnosed the clot? Any of those doctors could have prescribed it. If they were concerned to start you on the meds because of your surgery, they could have simply rung your surgeon & asked. For gracious sake. I’m glad you have finally been correctly diagnosed & are being properly treated. All the best.

Go back to eating as you did at maintenance. Thar was that caloric intake that allowed you to maintain that lower weight so you’ll lose. You were still focussed on protein, portion sizes, making better food choices (nutrient dense), fluids, etc, I don’t really exercise in the traditional sense but I do stretches & use resistance bands (& sit ups - I hate them but I do them) to help with my back & oozy discs. I do what they call exercise snacking. Several short bursts of activity through out the day. They say this is just as effective as a single longer session. I do mine over four sessions lasting for 3 to 10 mins depending on what activity I’m doing. You may find this easier than running/walking miles or hitting the gym. I also changed my every day activity. I have stairs so I make multiple trips a day - why carry things in one trip when you can do two or three. I park further away from where I’m going. Today at a shopping centre I deliberately circled the centre twice when I could have done my chores in one circle.

To add to the great advice above: It takes time for your messages that your full (or hungry) to get through. This is why we’re told to eat slowly. By the time you feel full you likely have eaten too much. You will find too that many of those old signals are different too. Try not to eat until you are full but until you’ve had enough which requires you to think about your eating & how you feel. When you have those extra bites are you eating them because you need them or because you want them? This is a time of learning. About healthier more nutritious foods. About why you eat, how & what you eat & when you eat. It’s about establishing new eating habits & so on. Focus on eating your protein first, then if you’re able vegetables & finally again if you are able any complex whole/multi grain carbs as you’re allowed. Check your portion size recommendations & calories (if given them). I often only ate my protein & then if I could eat vegetables it would be a green bean or a small cauliflower floret & nothing else. Your weight loss will be erratic: stalls, normal fluctuations, diarrhoea/constipation, hormonal fluctuations, etc. and yes some people just lose more slowly. Have a chat with your surgeon, dietician & a therapist to help you work thorough all this.

You can always ring your surgeon & ask but it may be interesting to do it & then compare before and after results.

Very understandable. Too dry. Too hard. Too coarse. Plus all that artificial flavouring. Just like a baby your tummy is learning new foods, textures & flavours & you’re learning new eating habits. Go slowly & gently. And don’t think of this stage as ‘regular’ food like you used to eat. It’s still a restricted way of eating (I don’t like the word ‘diet’ but that is what it is.) Think of it as solid food & food that’s protein heavy & nutrient dense. No foods with empty calories & little nutrition. So important to get those nutrients that your body needs to function effectively in especially with the small portions you’ll be eating. Still keep food moist & softer. You may find you struggle with chicken breast or steak because it can be too dry &/or coarse. Even though you can start to eat vegetables now, still eat your protein first, then vegetables if you are able & only after that can you look at complex whole/multi grain carbs. It won’t be unusual for you to only be able to eat the protein content of your meal. I remember only able to eat a green bean or a small cauliflower floret after I ate my protein & not every night.

Unfortunately no, you never lose your head hunger. What does happen is you learn to better identify head hunger versus real hunger & learn strategies to manage those time you experience it. So you take away some of its power over your desire to eat. Distraction can be a a helpful strategy because often head hunger doesn’t last. Go for a walk, water your plants, clean out a drawer in your wardrobe or shelf in the pantry, read, play a game, craft, check social media or this forum, ring a friend, etc. Often a warm drink can be helpful too. Oh yeah the shakes can become super sweet after surgery as we can become more sensitive to certain flavours. I’d force down a shake in the morning & then had soup. So glad never to have another one once I started purées. (Used high protein yoghurt & yoghurt drinks to boost my protein intake instead.)

Yes, frustrating, but as everyone has said stalls are common. They are also an important part of your weight loss. It’s the time your body takes to respond to the stress of your weight loss & reset itself to your lower weight & needs like certain hormones & your metabolism. I used to think of them as your body taking a breath, a timeout, shutting the door and saying I don’t want to talk to anyone just like you may at a stressful time. I recommend the videos by Dr Matthew Weiner & Dr John Pilcher. Very helpful on a wide range of topics.

You won’t stretch your tummy. It takes a prolonged length of time eating excessive volumes of food to do that (think how long you were working on stretching your tummy before surgery). What you may do at this stage is stress or strain your healing tummy & delay your recovery. Though some do continue to feel hunger after surgery it is not common as most/all of the section of your tummy that produces the hunger hormone is removed. You could be experiencing head hunger - eating for comfort after the stress of the surgery, etc., eating out of habit, craving a texture, food or flavour, etc. At the moment your body is still producing the amount of stomach acid you needed to digest larger volumes of food in your old larger tummy & in reaction to the surgery. Stomach acid can make you think your hungry (hunger pangs). A PPI will reduce the amount of acid in your tummy (via a prescription or over the counter like Pepcid or similar). Also a growling rumbling tummy is usually a sign not of hunger but of your body digesting food. The stretch you felt possibly was just a muscle spasm (your tummy is a muscle). Usually we aren’t able to eat pudding until we’re on the purée stage about two weeks post surgery & after the liquid only stage. Plans can be very different but check to ensure you can have it. When eating purées, like pudding, I was a teaspoon dipper so only putting food on the tip of the spoon. That way I stretched out the time it took it eat the portion to more like 30minutes & was much like the 5 minutes between sips advice. Also this is when I started, what is still a habit, of asking myself if I really need the next bite or just want it. Listen to your body & go slowly.

For most it is just temporary. Keep your fluids up. Add some extra salt to your diet. If you’re going out or being active take an electrolyte drink with you to sip. Get up slowly from lying down or seated & wait before moving. March on the spot or your feet up & down to get your blood back up to your head. Usually waiting or marching, etc. for 10-15 seconds is long enough to avoid it occurring. I’ve always had a predisposition to low BP (it runs in the family). Now my BP sits around 80/60 and sometimes lower all day everyday & I regularly experience further drops causing loss of vision & lightheadedness. I can feel it coming on just before my vision starts to narrow. I usually stop moving & reach for a wall, chair, table, even a person to ground myself. I sometimes bend over at my waist so my head is lower than my heart & come up slowly. It passes quickly - a few seconds. Occasionally I’ll have a drop, recover then have another one straight after. It’s not debilitating. Just know it can happen. Never fainted either. I have been put on medication but it didn’t help. They were concerned it was so low after my gall surgery they gave me a shot of adrenaline. My BP went up for like three minutes and five minutes later it was back where it was. For me it’s normal.

All that cheesy goodness @Starwarsandcupcakes. Mmmm. And that 762lb cheese - that might be just enough for a snack 😉. And those plump salty globes of yumminess. Drooling!