ShoppGirl

It is so good to hear an update from you. I am so frustrated for you that you had to go through a stall because of conflicting information but at least you’re on track now. I am on a pretty similar plan my breakfast every morning is a proffee which is a caramel shake with iced coffee on top. Then I eat every three hours so luncheon dinner with two high protein snacks. this actually works well for me to remember all of my vitamins too because I have to take vitamins at five different times a day. that’s so exciting to hear about the clothes fitting and you were so lucky but you have someone to borrow. I think for me my most exciting moment was clearing out some of the things that are way too big for me now. I was actually thinking of asking my team if we could do a clothing exchange at the support group meeting. for the wheats, if you don’t have any look on marketplace consider discount stores as well. I checked several thrift stores for mine, and apparently they sell them separately because I found them in several stores but only one. I ended up finding some at a discount store for 599 for the set. Alternatively, check your library, city, and county websites for classes that use weights. Mine has all the weights there for you to use. And the group classes are really fun, Inexpensive and there’s no commitment. At mine it’s a really cool environment too. It’s nothing like a gym. The women are just average women that are there to get healthy. Nothing competitive whatsoever everyone choose each other on to beat their own personal best or just totally mines their own business. They even gave me my first class free to see if I liked it. I’m sure I mentioned that I started with yoga. I never in 1 million years would’ve considered myself someone who would survive one yoga class never mind love it. Of course I’m horrible and can’t do half of but it’s still a workout and I am getting more flexible and my balance is getting a bit better because of it anyways, congratulations on your loss and finding your groove. Keep doing what you’re doing and keep us posted.

After my sleeve I did go to this day but I was about five months further out. I brought deli meat and cheese, fresh fruit and veggie trays so I would have something to eat. I had a cookie and brought home a couple but I don’t know if I should be tempting myself this easily out. You’ve got more willpower than me. You could always do them jats where you put all the dry ingredients in and it has the recipe instead if you think you will be tempted.

Did you get any answers? I hope everything is okay.

No thanks would be ideal hut if your family and friends are like mine and just won’t let up sometimes a little white lie Iis in order. What i did with my sleeve at Thanksgiving and Christmas was just to take the food, eat my tiny portion say it was delicious and tell them I will be hungry in another hour and I plan to finish it at home. (I tossed whatever my hubby wouldn’t eat but it spared them feeling as if I didn’t enjoy it). There was WAY too much food so it would’ve ended up getting tossed anyways. Even after leftover week. If you haven’t told anyone about your surgery you can just say that it’s delicious but your stomach just feels a bit off and again take a plate with you to eat later and give it to someone who can have it. If it will tempt you though, just say no thanks and be persistent. I was actually thinking about a holiday dilemna too. I am always invited to an annual cookie day. Everyone brings their supplies for a recipe and makes like 2 dozen cookies and the host makes tons of sugar cookies the night before for the kids to decorate while the cookies are baking. It’s a while day of eating junk, drinking and smelling cookies. I don’t think I can do it this year, I’m too early out. I think I’m just gonna be honest since they do know about my surgery. Tell her I will pop by and say hello but I am not gonna stay.

Good idea. I think it’s pretty standard to require all the labs at three months but my surgeon did require me to go to my PCP a couple weeks after my surgery also. I think it was more of a cookie cutter thing for people that were on medication’s and things that may need them adjusted, but it was in the paperwork so I just did it. it couldn’t hurt. I bet they could answer most questions. Perhaps email your teams office and ask them exactly what labs they suggest.

Today’s win for me is finally starting to feel like I have found a bit of a balance with my life. For the past two months everything has been on hold and life has been 100% about my recovery, nutrition and fitness but I finally able to juggle my crocheting and make time for my hubby to hang out and do things. I was really not making time for crochet very often so I joined a second group so at least I am working on it twice a week but I have been working on it more than that this week. I did decide no handmade Christmas gifts this year though. I make chemo caps for the local cancer center and they are more important than my family getting new towel toppers if I have to pick one.

That actually pretty impressive that they seem to include more in their package than most places in the states. The two dietitians were pretty worthless I tried too but in all fairness I did get a new surgery. I just schedule more often with the NP and run my food log and fitness app by her just to verify that I’m still on track. She can also check my incisions and talk about any vitamin issues so that is working for me.

Also, if it’s raining, you can find a place to walk inside. Like a shopping mall, I actually walked back-and-forth in my house With my headphones on. Most times I listen to music, but if I’m on a phone call like with my cell phone provider that I intend to be on for hours with tech-support I just walk while I’m on the phone with them lol. I’ve basically cleared the path from one end of my house to the other and I literally just go back-and-forth. My husband says I’m insane, but it works. I started this after my surgery because I was embarrassed to walk around the neighborhood but I overcame that and walked around outside until I got a huge booster and didn’t want to put my sneakers on and I started walking inside again and I have to admit the air conditioning is nice. I’m not sure what traffic is like in the area that you walk, but if it is in concern, my husband got me these bone conduction headphones that go around your ear and somehow vibrate on the Bones to allow you to hear it while you can still hear noise around you such as traffic.

Ask him about the statistics of long-term success with the sleeve. The sleeve is great for many people don’t get me wrong, but I believe it was 26% of sleeves that need to be revised. If I’m not mistaken, this included because of Gerd as well, but also inadequate weight loss to begin with or weight regain, which was more common with sleeve than with the other surgeries. When I talk to my surgeon about revision, I wanted assurances that I wasn’t just wasting my time going to lose all of my weight. Only to turn around and gain it back and he said the sleeve does not have the same metabolic changes that the SADI or Bypass offer. While the. Sleeve is enough of a change for many people it’s just not enough for some. In my case when I lost my weight, I was basically on a diet with the sleeve which was a little bit easier because I wasn’t hungry, but once the hunger came back, so did the weight for me so this may be different for you because you did keep it off for a while, but I would ask what the statistics are in terms of people who gain it back down the road with sleeve is that more common than with the other surgeries? I guess one kind of pro for doing the sleeve would be that if you did regain the option for a revision would probably be a lot easier. Not trying to say that you want to think of that before you even start but it is a possibility for all of us I guess. It’s a lot of questions and a lot of information when you start weighing more than two options especially but just be thorough and ask all your questions you will know which option is best for you once you feel educated about them all. Best of Luck.

Plus it will give you options. Sometimes it’s good to switch it up just because of boredom but it also uses different muscles and all of that. Not to mention little things like a blister or a strained muscle or whatever may slow you down if you only have one option, but sometimes another option will do. That’s what I have found anyways. Congratulations on your loss and feeling the energy to get back to your activity.

I had sleeve revision to SADI (just the bypass portion) and I am really happy with my decision. My surgery was August 7th so I am about 2.5 months out and including my preop loss I have lost 55 pounds. I am over halfway to my goal. I have been eating 100% on plan though and exercising a pretty great amount (2.5-3 hours a day). The revision surgery gave me the metabolic Hca Hes tk actually do Al of that though. I never exercised or prepared fresh homemade food with my sleeve. Didn’t have the motivation. It made a pretty huge difference for me. Did your Dr do a endoscopy, barium swallow and gastric emptying study? Mine did those tree before deciding I was a candidate for SADI or Bypass. If the sleeve didn’t work for you long term then I would probably lean away from a ReSleeve. Just thinking why repeat history. Try something different but that’s just me. The research does say that the loss is more durable witb the SADI revision than the Bypass. Not certain about the ReSleeve but my guess is that too since the Virgin Sleeve doesn’t have the best statistics for durability. Also, resleeve is kinda risky. My Dr said he wouldn’t touch the sleeve with the SADI not because of my BMI but just because he doesn’t think it gives that much more benefit to justify the risks so that’s something to look into as well. Ooh and if you do have coverage for the GLP-1 and you can tolerate them, they do work. They don’t have to be long term for everyone either. If you take the time on then ti make real lifestyle changes you may be able to go off of them and maintain. Ibvuously If you just eat a few French fries for your meal you will lose, but will obviously eat more when you don’t have the meds but if you genuinely change your habits then people do maintain the loss. I have a friend that is almost to goal and she has been asking me for advice of what foods to choose to be sure to get her protein in. Kinda odd because she is smaller than me but I have heard a couple success stories with them. My friend has to force herself to eat. It’s a chore. If you do go that route, talk to your doctor about staying on the lowest dose that works for you. That’s the thing that many bariatric doctors usually recommend and it makes sense to try to avoid the side effects. . And some people go onto a maintenance dose after they reach their goal if they need it. Also, see about a three month supply when you do get to the dose that works because for my friend it’s cheaper that way. I strongly considered them but I didn’t have adequate coverage. I even considered postponing to see if things would change but my family Dr advised against waiting since these things can take a long time. There are pros and cons of each option but do your research. This is a good start but make anothet appointment with you surgeon if you have more questions. I did several before I decided. You probably only have this one more shot at this. Not a lot of surgeons will do a second revision ooh and that is one thing to consider if you do go with SADI, it’s newer so ask your surgeon if you had a complication god forbid what you would do. Mine actually brought it up that he would send me to another hospital to someone with more experience with the surgery. I mean obviously he would stabilize me but if I needed a revision because of malnourishment or something he would send me elsewhere. I kinda respected the fact that he would admit what his limits were and appreciated it but maybe you feel differently about that. Or maybe your surgeon is fine with revising if necessary but I would for sure ask.

Hey. We have a similar stats. I’m almost a month ahead of you date wise but our height and starting weight are very close.

Just keep in mind that with food that you can’t just consume the foods high in vitamin A and absorb it all. You need to research how much fat you need with it (healthy fat of course) but it will need to be a balanced meal to absorb it all.

I don’t see the mermaid graphic. Is it because I’m lazy and use the phone? That’s why I forget people’s surgeries too cause I can’t see it unless I got to profiles each time. I really need to just get on the computer. I do know that you have to do that to update some stuff. Probably where that graphic is.

Yea well I’m not going to say that exercise is as fun as your favorite pasttime to start. It took motivation on my part to get started. Even at a smaller BMI than you I started by just going to the end of my street and worked my way up, But seeing the progress of being able to do it without being out of breath or my knees hurting as bad as I went further and further motivated me to do even more. Exercise is never going to be fun for most people. Although at this point I am doing different group classes and I like the ladies that I get to do it with so it’s about as fun as it can be. The surgery will help with losing weight and that makes it a bit easier to get around. You may also find you have a bit more energy. You will start with just getting around the house better, but if you try to do a bit more as your body can do it safely, you will see that it’s up to you at a certain point. . Everyone starts in a different place, if you are pretty much couch bound, talk to your doctor about a physical therapist to help you get started. I actually asked if they could have one help me just to do some of these exercises safely so I didn’t hurt my knees or my neck, but they said they are not trainers. They will help if your doctor thinks you really need it, though. If you just need motivation, Hopefully whoever you have as your support system will cheer you on if that’s all you need. I know that my husband sees how hard I am trying with my food choices and even the exercise that I do at home so he is doing everything he can to help with it if I have a late class for aerobics and he makes dinner or he got me some headphones so that I could listen to music while I’m walking. My friend helped me to get started by talking to me on the phone and she was walking at her house while I was walking around mine. Also, if you have local support group, i have been going to that and it really helps. But I don’t want to overwhelm you thinking about doing exercise that sounds unattainable right now. I was only trying to let you know that his surgery is life-changing and give you something to look forward to. You don’t have to think about all of that right now just focus on small goals Just being able to get around the house better will be a really good start. Some people choose not to ever really exercise. And of course that’s your choice too. Losing weight will still make you healthier, even without exercise.

Well because it’s more common with SADI, they make special vitamins that are higher in those 4 vitamins for people who had those surgeries. It sounds like if you are only low in the one they will probably just address that one specifically but of course I’m not sure. Maybe search foods high in vitamin A and try to incorporate them while you contact your team.

It is funny how we just need to hear things from someone else sometimes (things that we already know). $78 USD is steep Counseling sessions here are pricey too without insurance. With insurance they can vary drastically in price. A friend told me that she gets like 12 sessions a year with a counselor for free as part of her benefits which is pretty great. I’m not sure if that’s through her insurance or something separate her employer just pays for, but most people pay a copay for Mental Health. They also have self help type workbooks that you can do that may help. Someone on here recommended a couple for food addiction a while ago. I wish I could remember what they were. I wonder if you do a thread asking for suggestions for self help ideas if anyone has any ideas. If not, maybe ask your team for suggestions. That or just go for the first appointment and see if they can give you suggestions or just give you lots or homework so you can do sessions less often. Or maybe you could even do some online support groups. That Dr Matthew Weiner has nutritional support on his website pound of cure weight loss .com i think it is. He may have other support groups meetings. Maybe tell your team you would be interested in in person support group meetings or see if they know any other patients that may want to be introduced so you can support one another. Can’t hurt to ask.

I had the SADI and ADEK are all fat soluble vitamins that people with the SADI and DS tend to malabsorb more than other surgeries. You need to eat these vitamins with fat for them to be absorbed best to get them from food. I am actually surprised you are just getting your vitamin panel at 7 months out. I would definitely not wait to get this issue addressed if it’s very low because there are a lot of scary things a deficiency can cause including blindness. Not to be an alarmist but I would call your team right away about this issue and see what you need to do. I’m not sure if they have infusions available but that would certainly be something I would ask about.

I have been having issues with my phone that I have literally spent like 20 hours on the phone (mostly on hold waiting for a representative) over the last 3 weeks trying to straighten it out and now they did a ticket and someone is supposed to call me in 5-7 days but he basically implied they did all they can do. I have tried anything and everything I can think of. Gone into the store, then another location, new phone, new carrier and back to the old carrier with the old phone. Nothing is working. BUT, even though I am stressed out to the max I have stayed on plan in terms of diet and kept up with my activity. In the past this entire last three weeks I would have given myself a number of cheat days because “i needed it with all that was going on” but Nope. This time I am not turning to food. In fact I am walking more and doing more YOGA to try and calm myself down which surprisingly helps more than food. Huge win for me!’

It’s not particularly common but it does happen. I actually “eat” every three hours. Something small And I have seen others on here who eat every two hours but they are much further out from surgery than you and me. Also, this is something small and it’s all protein high protein food so if you log all of the calories and macros you can eat more often but still stay on plan. Maybe run this by your team. My nutritionist that I talked to you before my surgery did not think it was a good idea but the nurse practitioner said it was actually fine so long as I wasn’t eating more portion wise than I was supposed to while everything healed. I think the problem with it would be in the future as portions grow a bit if you’re eating five meals a day then you are eating five bits more instead of three bits that adds up faster. as long as you know that you’re able to control the portions and the quality of the food that you’re consuming your team may be on board. In the meantime, check in with yourself to make sure that it’s not what we call head hunger. Are you tired, lonely angry or bored or anything like that when you’re feeling hungry? If so, then talk to your team about that and maybe try journaling to get your feelings out or an alternative behavior such as working on a puzzle or craft or something like that. If that’s not it, there was a lady on here years ago that struggled with hunger that never went away, and she tried everything to get to the bottom of it. In terms of it being head hunger, and it didn’t seem to be she finally said that one thing that helped was warm liquid such as soup, broth, or tea or warm coffee. Another thing is there is not a whole lot of protein in one egg. I know your pouch is small and you can’t consume a lot food wise at this point, so maybe you need to supplement that protein with a little bit of a protein shake in between. I actually have what I call proffee for breakfast for that very reason. I am able to consume an entire protein shake over time with added chilled coffee and that keeps me full until lunch. Of course, don’t go against your teams plan without discussing these ideas with them, but hopefully something here helps. You have to remember that they give you a cookie cutter plan when you start out. But you are very individual and it’s possible that what they gave you just doesn’t work for you so make an appointment to talk to them sooner or email through your patient portal and tell them what’s going on. My suggestion would be to log what you’re eating and your activity and show them so they can have a better idea of what’s going on. I used a Fitness watch that is connected to an app on my phone for my activity and the Baritastic food app, which is free on the phone, but there are others as well. Also, pay attention to your mood or feelings because a lot of of us are emotional eaters. I know that I turned into food a lot of times out of just boredom. But also stress and anxiety. Basically, I realize this by sitting there with my hungry feelings for a few minutes and thinking about what had happened that day and whether it was particularly stressful or how I was feeling about it. If you really take inventory and it doesn’t coincide with emotions, though it is possible for the hunger to come back sooner, it has happened again just very uncommon. It will be easier to explain to your team if you have done a feelings inventory and tried a journal or really thought about if you were, I can’t remember there’s an acronym, but I think it’s stressed, lonely bored or tired. Something like that. After reading the comment above, it reminded me when I was early out. I did not eat food, solid food that often I had shakes in between. Also, yes, it is possible that it’s stomach acid too so ask about a PPI if you aren’t on that already. And please don’t just adjust anything without talking to your team because I don’t even know what surgery you had and everybody’s situation is different but you could run those ideas by them.

Well that one meal was nothing. You don’t have to wait untill Thursday to get reassurance on that one. Remember, I have done this and failed and I promise you it took ALOT more poor choices to gain it back. A big part of my issue was mental though. I believe I mentioned that before. Have you been able to find someone to talk to that can just be a sounding board through all of this. It may help.

There was this older lady in my craft group, and I told them that I had surgery because I figured it was more people to make me feel accountable. This is a revision surgery for me and the last time I didn’t tell people like that and it didn’t work out so well so I’m trying a different approach. Anyways, she is about 80 years old and she said to me she just wanted to tell me how happy she is for me because since my surgery, I have really blossomed. She said that I i have a healthy glow about me and I’ve really come out of my shell in terms of confidence and it shows. I think that was probably the nicest compliment I’ve ever had in terms of my weight loss. I just appreciated that it wasn’t about superficial things. Maybe there’s hope for all these superficial people that when they get a little older, they will view things in terms of stuff that actually matters.

Found a healthy recipe for Spring Rolls that are good. They are not super high in protein (around 5g each) but I just make certain to have a really high protein breakfast and lunch on days I’m going to have them. Anyways it’s from a bariatric site so I guess they think we don’t need the peanut sauce. I searched so many sites for a recipe for the sauce and somehow I didn’t even save the link but it’s so easy I can remember. It’s just equal parts soy sauce and peanut butter. I used the nut butter that is literally just fresh ground peanuts from the grocery and it is so good. If you don’t like salty you may want to use reduced sodium soy sauce but I actually like it and a little goes further with the saltier taste. I just mix up one tbsp of SS and one tbsp PB and that’s enough for two servings which is four spring rolls. Of course you can always just double or triple that if you like more. Here is the spring roll recipe if anyone is interested. https://www.bariatricfusion.com/blogs/recipes/bariatric-recipes-chicken-and-veggie-spring-rolls I mix up a batch of the veggies in a bowl and cut the chicken and measure. Then I portion enough of each for two rolls into each little baggy and I wait to roll them before I intend to eat (adding the avocado at the end) They were okay the next day but they stuck to the container so they fell apart trying to pick them up and then the second day the wraps were hard. Some days I just eat the filling with the peanut sauce. Honestly it’s almost as good without the rice paper. Today is the second time I have made them and I didn’t use any fancy cutting tools this time. I just cut them small with a knife and it was just fine. That site has some other good recipes for us as well. Enjoy 😊

I am the same way with things, but honestly if they say don’t worry, try really hard not to. Our brains sometimes just make things into something that they are not. How many times have you worried for days over something that turned out to be not a big deal at all. I know I have done that my fair share of times. The 30th will be here soon enough.

I decided I want to try my hand at marinara sauce so that I can control the ingredients. I like the Raos sauce from a jar which list, basil, garlic, and onion. Their roasted garlic or the sautéed onion ones I love. I have found quite a few recipes that are so significantly different that I don’t know where to begin. The one I was leaning towards is from a low carb site just because it is literally tomatoes and spices. It’s even a no cook recipe. but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to have a whole lot for a flavor either. the other one I found has you simmer with an onion in the tomatoes for a couple of hours, but then throw the onion away. I think I would prefer to use that onion somehow but I don’t know if I should just sauté it ahead and then add it or chop it up before I put it in there and it will cook while it’s simmering or what. Does anyone have a Healthy-ish marinara recipe that is relatively easy for someone fairly new to cooking from scratch?