ShoppGirl

If you can do it, it probably will save you a lot of mental stress. It’s hard even though your brain knows that it’s not possible that you’re gaining but yet it’s still somehow messes with you. Well it does me at least.

So glad to hear your checkup went well and everyone’s plans a little different depending on their surgery their age, their activity levels, their medical conditions so you’re probably gonna get a lot of answers. My team doesn’t give a calorie goal either but once I showed her my Fitness app which logs my level of activity as well as my food blog she told me I needed to increase my carbohydrates and protein, which has been really scary and hard to do especially because I went three days without losing and then actually gained a pound after I increased it but I’m trusting the nurse practitioner that she knows what she’s doing and hoping it will work out. I haven’t had my three week stall yet so maybe that’s what’s going on. I mean, I’m eating probably a third of what I did before surgery and I’m exercising 10 times more so there’s just no way that I would be gaining. Oh, I should add that. I weighed myself this morning and. I lost that pound plus another one so I really lost 1 pound in the three days well in four days I guess. I do remember from my sleeve, but it does slow down quite a bit at a certain point. I just don’t remember when and how much. I am also trying to focus on the fact that I feel healthier and have more energy and I’m in a better mood than I have been in years.

I’m pretty sure dry skin can also be from l not enough protein I’m using my phone so I’m not sure which surgery you had but if it’s bypass and increasing, your fluids, doesn’t work consider whether you just need more protein than the average bypass or if your activity is high, talk to your team, but they told me I needed to increase my protein because of my level of activity. Also, if your activity is really high, you may actually need to increase your carbohydrates. I would definitely talk to your team about your activity and your food intake. I know that increasing carbs sounds scary and counterproductive, but I’ve been on here for about four years now and a lot of people found that when they exercise level was high their body thought it was starving and was hanging onto everything until they increased their calories and then it started dropping so I would definitely ask if that could be an issue. Daughter it’s just the three weeks stop which isn’t exactly at three weeks, but it does happen to pretty much everyone.

This is awesome. 😎

Maybe you don’t burn more just sitting there or if your heart rate was the same inside and out but I’m just saying that mine is higher doing what seems to be the same exercise (walking at 2.5mph on flat ground) outside vs inside so that burns more calories. Not sure why but supposedly the Apple Watch heart rate thing is like 99% accurate for lower intensity exercise and I have Ike two weeks of data that show it’s higher when I’m outside. I guess it’s possible I’m missing something but it sure seems like it is the case for me 🤷🏼‍♀️

I believe the original poster has already had their surgery, but for anyone else who is reading this as someone else who has had a sleeve and needed a revision, if you do not have a strong medical reason for choosing one surgery over the other, and you’re choosing between the sleeve and the bypass I would’ve gone with the bypass to avoid meeting to take a PPI. my only reason for going with the sleeve and giving it a try, knowing that I may have to revise was because I’m on mental health meds, and we were concerned about the absorption. The sleeve was obviously a better option for that. However, I believe it’s like 26%, I read somewhere, of sleeves that need to be revised for Gerd or inadequate weight loss/ regain. The risks with the bypass are slightly higher, but in my opinion, not enough to have to end up revising because the revision surgery in itself is riskier than either procedure plus it’s a second surgery so twice the chances to experience the risks. If your doctor offers the SADI as a virgin surgery that complicates things a bit because the risk are lower for Gerd than the sleeve and the weight loss is higher and more durable than both research has found so far but it’s a little newer, and comes with its own set of sure and long-term risks that may not have been figured out quite yet. It does have a higher no absorption, so the risk of malnutrition is slightly higher than the sleeve and bypass but lower than the DS. Long story short, there really isn’t a perfect option, only a perfect option for you.. The biggest thing to keep in mind with all the surgeries is that any risk of complication is drastically lower than the risks of staying obese.

If you’ve read all the posts, I’m sure that you’ve seen that most people drop when they finally do drop a chunk of weight like more than 1 pound I think one time I lost 4 pounds after a stall with my sleeve. 🤞

I just recently learned that the heat makes you lose more weight I noticed now that I’m wearing my fitness Watch that my heart rate when I’m walking the exact distance outside is higher than indoors and it’s calculating me burning more calories. I never really thought of it but it is harder I guess.

Is it a low dose PPI? If so it may be okay to stay on long term. I would ask your surgeon. I have been on a 20mg Omeprazole since after my sleeve and when I had a revision for weight gain I went witb the SADI knowing that I most likely will need to stay on the Omeprazole for life. My surgeon said it would be fine for me. I’m sure if he thought that there was any concern that he would’ve steered me towards the bypass. He left it up to me. He keeps his patients on them for a time post surgery anyways so I haven’t tried without it yet. They also may want you to try Famotodine if you are concerned about the PPI’s (it’s Pepcid). I tried the prescription version which was 20mg before my revision but it didn’t work. I just switched back to the Omeprazole without even asking if there was a stronger one since I knew I was gonna have to switch soon for my surgery anyways Maybe it will work for you??

My surgery was Aug 7th. How are you doing?

Okay so look at the macros and see if this fits your plan. It may be a little high in carbs for some if you’re not very active but this recipe is probably my favorite out of my two weeks if soft foods so I thought I would share. It’s called south of the border chicken chili from the McCormick website. I added onions and garlic because I like them in everything but this is super simple and high protein. You may want to leave out the corn and do more beans or tomatoes if your tummy is still fussy but I haven’t had any issues with anything and I’m allowed to start incorporating more foods so I’m having it with the corn and so far so good 🤞 My pot made a little over 7 one cup servings which Baritastic calculated at 25g of protein (12.5 if you can only do a half cup) and 26g carbs (but part of that was the onions). I needed more protein for the day so I opted for the shredded cheese on top. Anyways, it’s chicken, bell pepper, white and black beans, canned tomato and corn with a seasoning pack from McCormick. I can’t finish the whole cup so I’m gonna have it again for a snack but I really love it. I hope it freezes well. https://www.mccormick.com/recipes/main-dishes/south-of-the-border-chicken-chili

Update. Called my NP and she looked at it and it’s fine. She said it may actually push out a little before it gets better so not to freak out over that. I think she is getting to understand my anxiety. 😂

How are you doing now? Have you started back to some form of movement. I know that when I had the sleeve I tried to do the treadmill and that did not stick no matter how many times I tried. To me, that was like torture. This time with my revision I am walking around the neighborhood instead. Talking with a friend on the phone who is also walking or listening to music and seeing the various houses and people is just a great deal more enjoyable for me than the treadmill even with the television on I still felt like a hamster I am still early out and I definitely wouldn’t call it a habit yet but I can tell you for sure that I do not dread it each day like I did the other and I’m really hoping that I can keep it up I know for sure that the endorphins are great for my mood and my energy I go until I fall into the bed and sleep like a baby. In fact that’s why I’m up right now, because I did so much yesterday I feel asleep at 9pm 😂 I agree somewhat about the fact that if you must choose one place to put your effort then the nutrition is definitely the most important in terms of weight loss BUT, having done this before and been less successful, I can tell you that last time I did not exercise and it felt like less of a huge life change for me as it does this time Again, I am only 5 weeks out so it’s possible that this is temporary, though I hope not because I feel fantastic with all of my choices my point is that adding in exercise, for me, makes it feel like more of a lifestyle change and after I come home all sweaty from my walk I don’t want to put any junk into my body. I am even starting to buy things that are grass fed and organic when they are available and trying to cut back on salt as well as rethinking my artificial Sweeteners (although that’s going to be the toughest for me to give up) because my body feels so good and healthy and I want to feel this way for a long long time. As others have said it doesn’t have to be a specific exercise. Just move your body more. Maybe dance lessons, or Pickleball, something like that. My library had a Belly Dance teacher at one point about a year ago and now that I’m losing a bit I am going to look into whether she is still there because that sounds kinda fun. I also did some research on the weighted hula hoop and it is cardio for most people as well as a bit of strength training so I may try that. It brings back memories of competitions with them as a kid so it could be fun. Something that my PA said at one of my pre surgery support group meetings keeps ringing in my mind that helps motivate me too he said that just 90 minutes of exercise a week in zone two heart rate (which I achieve with a brisk walk) decreases your risk of “all cause mortality” by 15%!! You can even break it into 15 minutes a day- 6 days a week (although it’s really 25 with your warm up and cool down added) but weight loss aside, a 15% decrease, thats pretty incredible. I was afraid of some of the complications from surgery that may or may not kill me and that was once like a 2% risk. So my goal is 30 minutes of exercise a day (I rounded up) and anything beyond that is just a bonus. That has seemed to work for me so far 🤞

Not sure if anyone else is trying their hand at freezing prepared foods but I decided to use the notepad in my phone to start a running log of what I freeze so that I don’t have to dig around just to see what’s available. I pulled out my Turkey taco meat last night and made a ricotta bake with it tonight. With the marinara you couldn’t tell that it was taco flavored. It was actually really good and so simple. I just shredded the mozzarella and the Romano and threw it all into a small rectangle Pyrex and popped it in the microwave. My hubby really liked it too which was surprising because he doesn’t like lasagna. I was going to add some leftover veggies to it as well but I didn’t want to need more ricotta which would increase the calories. It had plenty of protein already 37g. I forgot the marinara at first though. If I had put the marinara over the meat and then added the veggies I think it would’ve been fine. I have made it before but I never measured the ingredients like I’m doing now.

Does anyone else feel like a hard bump under some of their incisions?

I had the sleeve and I started gaining just months after I reached goal. I was too embarrassed to reach out for help and ended up gaining it all back and had no choice but a revision. Good on you for reaching out here. My biggest piece of advice is to reach out to your team and get an appointment. Start logging your food again if you haven’t been and give them an honest picture of what you are eating so they can help you make tweaks. Also if you have a fitness watch, pull it out of the drawer and get a real picture of you current activity level. I thought for sure that my team was going to be so harsh on me and make me feel awful but they couldn’t have possibly been more understanding and all they wanted to do was help. For me the only real option was revision but for you some tweaks in your food and exercise may help, could be hormones so they may want to check that, weight loss medications in tablets or the newer option if the GLP-1 injections may even be an option. The other suggestion of support group meetings is a really good one too. I am doing so much better this time around because I am reaching out for support anywhere I can get it. This time I told more people so I have more people cheering me on and I have the in person support as well as on here and I am going to see the NP more of they than they usually require. I know that I need all the help that I can get. lol.

Our Amazon is some next day and mostly two days for me anyways so yeah that is a good idea but also you have 30 days and it’s pretty easy to return for Amazon if you wait until right before your surgery to order whatever you add to your cart if you don’t use it, you’ll still be your return. You’re feeling well enough to send it back. I actually did my shopping for whatever I needed for each phase and then I had my husband to go pick up thankfully so while I was on liquids, I was creating my cart for my purées and that’s when I ordered my food processor and he and I did a Walmart order and he went and picked up all the food which I ordered way too much, just be cautious because you can only eat a tiny amount. I wasted a lot of food. But by that time I was able to pick it up I did it when he was home so he could get the items that rolled to the back of the trunk or that were heavy

When you finally do drop weight, you’ll probably drop a couple or several pounds at once

There is a thing called the three weeks stall, but if you do a search on here, you will see everybody basically has it and it can be like the second we grow the fourth week it’s not exactly 3 weeks like clockwork, but it is just your body kind of recalibrating I’m 99% sure that’s what’s happening

I have been using this Moderna scar gel for the past week and you can use it on old and new stars and I’m actually noticing a bit of a difference already. Just thought I’d share. Obviously run it by your team to make sure you’re ready for it and they agree, but my nurse practitioner is the one who recommended it.

One suggestion in terms of your bra is to buy a bra with the correct cup size, but one that actually fits you on the biggest hook. That way you can use the other two or three hooks depending on how many are on it as you lose weight still because usually when they fit you, they aim for that middle hook so that you can gain or lose 10 pounds and it’ll still fit, but you know you’re not gonna be gaining anytime soon. Another option that I thought about doing myself because I had the sleeve and I know that I don’t lose much in my cup size. It’s just the band size is to buy one that fits in the cup, but it’s actually a size smaller in the band and use a bra extender, so it’ll last longer

Do you know what they charge for the individual sessions? I assume it’s on top of the 49 per month right?

I’m a little nervous to see what mine are gonna look like when I’m done because they’re already flabby and I’m just getting started

Definitely check it out. I just looked and it’s $49 a month for unlimited support. They have 25 plus different support groups every week and they also have individual ones but it’s not clear if they are included (you should be able to get most of your questions answers in a group one if not). I am actually thinking about doing it once I looked at the calendar which is jam packed with differnt groups and topics. They have some one demand stuff too. When you look you don’t have to do that quiz thing. Scroll down and you will see the info about the nutrition program and see where it says click to see the calendar.

Look into Dr Weiners Program. I think it’s pound of cure.com. His book “pound of cure” is pretty good too but he is a bariatric surgeon who has a podcast and his team offers nutritionist appointments online and he is always coming up with more stuff to help the bariatric community. He was the first one I heard mention GLP-1 long before it became widely known. He had lots of videos on YouTube about pre and post surgery as well. It may be cheaper or more in depth. Not certian but I know he is extremely knowledgeable and his nutritionist is on the podcasts with him and she really seems to know her stuff too. correction it’s poundofcureweightloss.com Also, if you don’t already you may want to start using a tracking app. That way you can share the info about your macros for a period of time. I really like Baritastic. You can get reports sent to you email if your macros and your food which you can forward to your nutritionist so they can see exactly what your eating