ShoppGirl

Okay so I was curious to know exactly how much more our bodies burn while we are healing so I asked Google and this is copied from AI response. Basically if we need more calories to maintain as your healing you really may be good by just cutting back a tad on the extra Carbs since your carbs were much higher due to a very high level of activity, which you’re not sustaining but honestly if I was you I would Just wait until your through this to worry about losing you could take even longer to get back on track if you try to lose now “Yes, your body burns more calories during the healing process after surgery. This is because your body's metabolism increases to help heal the incisions, fight pain, and prevent infection. Explanation Hyper-metabolic state After surgery, your body enters a hyper-metabolic state, which means your metabolism increases. This causes your body to break down muscle protein, fat tissue, and neurotransmitters to provide energy for healing. Calorie needs During the healing process, you should consume more calories than normal. A general rule of thumb is to consume 15–20 calories per pound of body weight. Protein needs In addition to calories, you also need more protein during the healing process. Protein is a key building block of the body and is necessary for tissue growth and repair. Hydration Drinking plenty of fluids, mostly water, helps deliver nutrients to the wound site. What to eat Eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods Eat nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, lean fish and chicken, grains, beans, and nuts Take a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement if you don't get enough nutrients” This is from HSS.com “How many calories should I be consuming since I will be inactive? Now is NOT the time for weight loss! When people are immobilized, they worry about gaining weight. However, you should NOT decrease your calorie intake because you will be inactive. In fact, your calorie needs are now greater than usual because your body requires energy from nutritious foods to fuel the healing process. You will need to consume about 15-20 calories per pound (using your current body weight). If your overall energy and protein needs are not met, body tissues such as muscles and ligaments will begin to break down. This will compromise healing and may prolong your recovery period”

You have been tracking your macros and measuring activity far longer than me but from my little bit of experience and what the nurse practitioner told me I would basically just cut out your extra carbs while you are being less active to maintain and then decrease your calories a bit to lose but I wouldn’t cut too too much. Your body is healing so just don’t be in too much of a hurry and be at a significant calorie deficit. We had no choice with the bariatric surgery because we had to protect our healing, intestines and stomachs with the tiny portions during recovery but it is not ideal to recover from a surgery at a such a calorie deficit. Our bodies actually need extra calories and protein for wound healing so you may actually find that your body is burning more calories than you would be if you were just being a couch potato for no reason. Just something to consider or do a little research on. The reason I say just decrease the extra carbs is because before my activity, I was eating a certain way, and then the nurse practitioner learned how active I was being from my activity logs and she told me I just needed to increase my carbs to sustain that level of activity and decrease it if I slowed down and it has worked like a charm. So basically just reversing that is what I would do if I were in your situation. You could also reach out to your dietitian or nutritionist who gave you your original macro guidelines if that is the plan that has been working for you and ask him or her what they would change given your much lower activity for the time being.

You may want to just keep them around and have them at night if there’s a day that you realize that you aren’t going to meet your protein goal. I also take them in a cooler. If I know I’m going to be having some kind of a crazy day where I may end up tempted to eat something less than ideal for lunch or whatever I’ll have that instead. And if I don’t use it, I just put it back in the fridge for the next time. They are quite tasty though, and I for a long time was having one for breakfast with coffee as an iced coffee for quite some time actually. Most doctors will agree that if you can get your protein from real food that’s preferred over something artificial, but it’s most important that you get your protein and if you need it, you need it I mean, that’s what my doctor said anyway

Well, we are all different so take this with a grain of salt, but I was the same BMI prior to my preop diet as you are now so relatively close and I just looked back at my weight log and Iwas losing about 6 pounds per week on average in the beginning, but I also had the SADI which is quite a bit more aggressive than the sleeve or even the bypass so my loss statistically should’ve been more rapid than yours with a sleeve. Frankly, I think that you are doing very well with losing a pound a day and I wouldn’t be too shocked if it does slow down a bit. It definitely will not be a perfect line where you lose the exact same amount every day though. There may be times when you even gain a pound or three and hold it for a few days and then one day you will just drop those 3+ another pound. But if you only log your weight once a week, even if you must get on the scale every day, if you only look at the once a week or even once a month, your trend will be far more consistent. Some people only get on the scale once a week or once a month. I know I couldn’t do that but it really would be better for your mental health if you could hide your scale and just do what you’re supposed to do and trust the process.

You just reminded me. I was allowed a couple free foods on my preop. The sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles and broth and lettuce, pickles and something else I didn’t like. The popsicles helped a lot. I got the tropical flavor ones. The pineapple was so good I have them in my freezer today and still Have them as a snack. I log All of my food even my calcium chews but I still don’t count them or dill pickle spears as free foods and do not log them. It sounds kind of crazy, but mentally it allows me to not feel like I’m starving because I can always have a pickle or a popsicle, no matter what else I had that day. For me more than half of this is a mental battle and I have to learn little ways to trick my brain into not wanting to overindulge. Just keep in mind with the popsicles that some doctors do not want you to have red or purple a couple days out from your surgery. Just double check your literature for something like that. I actually ate the red and orange ones first and save the pineapple ones for the couple days before surgery and that was my favorite two days because I love the pineapple. 😂

Most likely it’s because your body is detoxing from carbs and it’s screaming for more. Once your body is rid of them the cravings will subside and it’s actually a great deal easier. For me it’s usually almost a week before the cravings are completely gone but they get a little less with every day. For future reference too if you are like me the natural carbs like fruit and veggies don’t cause me issues or even a very small portion or brown pasta or rice, but processed carbs I have to be VERY careful with. One cookie and my body wants more. Two cookies and I’m craving carbs for a week. You can do this and it will get easier each day and even easier post surgery when your appetite is gone. If I’m busy now, I even forget to eat lunch on occasion if I’m out and i have to stay up late to have a second dinner to get all my protein and vitamins in. Soooo many people say that that preop is the hardest part of the whole process mentally. Just keep your eye on the prize. You can do this. ❤️

Oh yea. Well I never did like to shower on the cold winter days because my wet hair makes me cold afterwards but they are usually only a handful of really cold days abs then we have a warm day after. This year I don’t have as much insulation or hair for this freakishly cold winter. The hair thing works out for after the shower but your head does get cold even inside at like 69 without hair it’s weird. I used to always be hot and 69 felt good but not this year. I lost 85 pounds and all my hair and of course it’s would be our coldest winter in 20 years. Triple whammy. 😂. I guess at least in the summer I won’t be so hot 🤷‍♀️ i am definitely gonna talk to my hubby about converting our guest room into an exercise room. We haven’t had anyone over in years and I really would like to get a normal sized treadmill the one I have works for space but not for my clumbsy nature. I could get some shallow shelves and keep all the weights and yoga mats and all that in there too.

I did find one trick that I actually was doing before, but for some reason I stopped is to take my shower after my morning exercise if I’m just staying home and I’m not gonna get sweaty or at night if I need another one and put on my exercise clothes to sleep in. That way when I wake up in the morning, I don’t have to shower and I don’t have to change clothes which is my biggest obstacle when I’m cold. So far I haven’t done my 9 AM class with this method during this cold spell, but I am hoping that it will work on Friday. 🤞

Most of the comfort foods that I prefer are not exactly on plan. Chili or chicken chili are nice for the cold weather though and they’re on my plan. I also like quiche. I found one at Walmart by the deli that is made with egg whites so it’s less calories. Of course it’s still a little high in fat because it’s got full milk cheese but considering it’s a prepared food that’s fairly inexpensive It’s reasonable macros. I definitely have to be sure to have like just a protein shake for breakfast and then something really reasonable for dinner like chicken breast or fish with veggies. Anyways, if you consider it what I do is just slice it up while it’s cold and then heat one slice in the oven at a time so it’s nice and crispy and good. I’ve not tried freezing yet cause I’m not sure if it’s safe to freeze eggs like that. I know you can’t freeze raw eggs but I don’t know about eggs that are in something. Seems like the texture would not be the same. Anyways, I hope everyone. Find a way to stay relatively warm and not let this cold weather mess us up too bad.

Oh wow. I would never leave the house in the summer. I’m in Florida and it’s hot enough here but I don’t think I’ve ever seen 100. I actually do walk inside my house a lot of the time with temp extremes but just back and forth from one end of the house to the other. Kinda boring, but I usually call my mom or listen to music. She fell and broke her ankle and is pretty much in a wheelchair other than her physical therapy so she’s bored and don’t mind the entertainment 😂 We really don’t turn on the heat. We have an electric fireplace that takes the chill off but my husband is in the put some clothes on camp and honestly, it really is OK because if we turn on the heat, we usually don’t get it right because it doesn’t get cold here that often so most times we end up having to turn the air on because we make it too hot. Well I’ve always been fine with this plan but I think with less insulation and the colder winter we are having it’s just a lot worse. I mean it’s usually no less than like 67 or 68 inside but in the morning that feels so cold to me. I do need to consider getting a treadmill though I’ve not thought of getting a used one, but you just reminded me that there is a place near me that sells used I bet they might have one. I have one of those under dusk ones, but it’s just very narrow and if you try to wear like a pair of walking sneakers, it’s real easy to step off the side and I’m scared. I’m gonna trip and fall one of these times. I need one that’s like normal width you know

OK, so post surgery I have a scar under my belly button that was hard, but the nurse practitioner said it was just because my surgery was a revision and they use that same spot twice. Well now the scar part feels loose, but if I put my finger inside my belly button, I can still feel something hard underneath there. My husband had me feel his and it’s hard too but different. He says that’s just how my belly button feels without all the blubber on top of it, but I don’t know. I don’t remember ever feeling that when I was thin. Has anyone had an umbilical hernia? Is that something that could be caused by the surgery? Am I describing anything close to that? 😂 I plan to ask the surgeon eventually. Actually, I’m doing the bowel prep for a colonoscopy right now and endoscopy for something unrelated but I thought I would ask her tomorrow if she has any idea. I’m just curious what others have to say about their experience. It doesn’t hurt or anything and if it’s a hernia, I am assuming it’s very small but I just really don’t recall anything hard of being there. Maybe it’s just because it’s been a while since I could really feel it. 🤷‍♀️

Okay it’s REALLY cold out there compared to anything I’m used to (I guess that’s true for most of us right now) and I’m really struggling to keep up my morning exercise. I’m supposed to be on my way to Yoga right now and I’m in the bed. They do have another yoga class at 5pm but it’s at a different location and it’s a further drive from me so idk if I will actually go to that one either. I love the cold weather in general but it’s not good for this journey. Makes me want to just stay in bed and eat. I have been doing my walk later in the day at least but I really enjoy my Yoga once I get there. I already wish I had just got my butt up and went.

That’s a huge win in my eyes When I first started waking it was the raining season and I kept having to change the time I went and even just walked in the rain one day. I know in the past I would have stayed home and convinced myself it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t help it and eventually broke my habit before it even really began. I’m glad you didn’t let the snow stand in your way either. It will just make you appreciate thee scenery of your next outdoor walk even more I bet.

Yuck. Power outages are the pits. Your soup looks Delicious though. Glad you seem to be healing well and took the opportunity to make something else to try.

I get what you mean about the New Year’s resolution bunch. I had a couple of people ask me if I want to walk with them since they know that I have been walking and I’m getting healthier. It was funny because one of them tried to make it sound like she was doing me a favor because I have slowed down a bit with my chemo but I still exercise almost every single day. Just nit 6 miles plus a group class like I was doing. Anyways I let that idea fizzle out because I didn’t want to rearrange my schedule or be on a schedule for a few weeks until they start making excuses to not go time after time. I’m sorry but if you calling me in November saying you want to start on the first of January you most likely are not serious about making a change. When we make up our minds to change our lives, most of us want to start NOW!!

Having recently had biopsies in my breasts and they tried to use bandages to create compression I am very aware of just how much our boobs juggle when we walk so I totally get why this could create an issue in your situation. You do not want to have to pay for a revision surgery so just do what your told. If your like I was with my implants, you will want to take them girls out for a stroll just as soon and as often as you can once your cleared to do so safely so I am not worried that your going to fall back into old habits. Give yourself a little leniency for the short time it takes to get back to your routine. I’m certain that your new look will be all the motivation you need to get back out the door and right back on track.

Maybe check out Dr. Matthew Weiner’s pound of cure weight loss book. He goes over a handful of things that you can change and you can pick which one you want to start with. For me, the fruits and veggies was a good one because I actually like fruits and veggies. Replacing a lot of the process carbs with healthy carbs for me is the most important component to weight loss not just to cut calories in the short run but to stop cravings in the long run. For me processed carbs, make me crave sugar. One cookie and I want pasta I want cake. I want it all and I crave it for a week. Natural carbs do not do that to me and they can help reduce the cravings a little while I get through the week or so to detox from them. Once I am off of the processed carbs so long as I get my protein, I stay feeling full so it’s much easier to sustain a healthy diet. Keto never worked for me either and I have learned post surgery that is most likely because of not being able to eat hardly any carbs at or it was all the processed junk I was eating instead of natural food. They alter things by adding more fiber to cut the carbs and all of that and that may be reducing your calories to help you lose weight, but for me it wasn’t the same for my body as a veggie with fiber. It’s not sustainable because my body was still craving the carbs. I would lose weight in the beginning, but the cravings were horrible and eventually I would give in to them and then I just wanted even more. Anyways, you may not be able to replace every unhealthy carb with healthy carbs on your own before surgery, but if you can reduce some of them by trying out different recipes to find fruits and veggies that you like, it may cut enough to lose your 10% and be a good start to finding healthy carbs that you enjoy

I have seen the waistband clips too, and they look like they would work, but also not sure how you feel about Temu but I saw something on there that is elastic with buttons all along it and if you’re wearing jeans, you cut through the inside layer and then you put this elastic through and you hand so the one side down with just a couple stitches to tack it down and then you fold the elastic over and there’s a button to cinch it. I wish I could remember what it was called, but I saw it and I thought that was pretty cool because it’s kind of like children’s clothes come with something that already in the Waist. I know my friend will shop in the children’s section because she’s real petite and she likes that Waist.

Hopefully it gets better with time but they do make ginger candies that could help with nausea. Also maybe try protein shakes and see if you can stomach them better since they don’t need to be digested as much as they can be sipped slowly over time. Maybe just pop them back in the cooler ir pour over ice.

Several good possibilities above but also consider this. It is copied from Google AI because I couldn’t think of the words to describe it. “ “Glycogen storage: When you drastically reduce carbs, your body depletes glycogen stores, which are stored with water. When you reintroduce even a small amount of carbs, your body quickly replenishes glycogen, leading to temporary weight gain due to water retention” I know this happens to me. I eat low-ish good quality carbs and then when I have like one cookie it seems like I gained 3-4 pounds and I panic but it always goes back down.

I was on tricare for a short time years ago but didn’t have it for my bariatric surgeries. But after dealing with the revision process with any insurance I I learned that them covering it for GERD would be far more likely than just for weight regain. GERD it would be repairing a complication or side effect of surgery instead of just doing another bariatric surgery. They consider that more of a medical necessity If that makes any sense.

Also, from my understanding the SADI and SIPS are the same procedure. Just different names and the S after SADI is for sleeve as in when it’s done as a virgin surgery and they do the sleeve at the same time. People seem to use the names interchangeably so it was very confusing to me in my research but hopefully I got it right and hopefully that helps you when you are doing your due diligence. ❤️

That’s awesome. I have been very pleased with my revision to SADI. My surgeon didn’t mention the intestine length thing but he did have me do the barium swallow, an endoscopy and a gastric emptying study before saying that the SADI would be an option as well as the bypass and it was up to me which I wanted to do. There are pros and cons to the SADI revision. statistically (which by definition means there are outliers that are more or less) but the majority of people lose faster and the loss is more durable which got my attention but the possibility of bathroom issues is significant (fortunately I didn’t have this at all until I recently started chemo but I don’t think it has anything to do with the surgery). One con though of SADI is that many doctors have never heard of it. From my family Dr, to the urgent care, ER physicians, gyno, radiologies, breast surgeon, etc. Even the gastro dr who will be doing an endoscopy and colonoscopy on me Monday has never heard of the SADI but my bariatric doctor said he will explain my anatomy to her and it will be fine. I always tell them it’s a modified version of the Duodenal Switch with one anastomosis instead of two and if they still look confused I tell them it’s not exactly but kinda like a bypass and a sleeve combined. But obviously I need the person putting a camera in there to understand better than that. I think you will be very pleased with your results from either one but another thing to consider is if you have a complication or need revision to the SADI how many doctors are able to operate on you. My surgeon told me that if I had a complication he would stabilize me but he would send me to a nearby hospital if I needed any type of revision. I appreciated that he was willing to admit his limits and I was okay with that but I guess it is a risk you may want to ask about. Your surgeon may very well have done lots of these but mine had not. Also, not a lot of doctors will do a revision to the SADI just because of regain. You would be more likely to find someone to revise a bypass. Not that we are hoping to need a third surgery but obesity is complex and a lifelong struggle so it’s something to think about. I wish you the best of luck. And hope to hear about your surgery date soon.

I had a revision to SADI on 8/7/2024. Lost 70 pounds but then I started chemo for breast cancer that I was diagnosed with a day shy of my 3 month surgiversary. I was told not to lose quite as fast by the oncologist and the oncology dietician so I have since only lost ten more in 2.5 months. Anyways, my double mastectomy is tentatively scheduled for 5/8/2024. During that surgery they remove all the breast tissue and put in Empty bladders they call expanders and then they slowly fill them each week with saline in the office to stretch the skin making room for the implant. The cosmetic dr says that I could take my time and try out all the sizes and go up and down and then do the reconstruction surgery to put in the saline implant when I’m sure of the size I want and I loved that idea because I want to go smaller but I know it’s going to take a while for my brain to get used to it. The problem is that I have to begin radiation 6 weeks post surgery and the process does something to your skin that makes it very hard to stretch so the radiation Dr says I need to decide on a size before I start radiation treatments. Well I don't think it would be a good idea to postpone radiation just to decide on a breast size so I kinda need to know what my goal is right away so he fills it fast enough for me to get there within 6 weeks. At the same time it will hurt worse the faster we go. I am currently a 36 G. I was thinking maybe a 36 C or D would be small enough that they don’t get in the way with exercise and hurt my back and neck but not look too small after seeing myself larger for so many years. Also if I drop more weight and get to say a 34 I would be a D or DD but what if I lose more weight I mean I want to keep going if I can and then I’m a 32 DDD. I was a 32 C when I was younger and I think when I got my implants I went to a small DD but I sorta doubt i will get that small again, honestly. how much weight did you guys lose between band sizes. I was thinking that if I get to 158 I would be thrilled and that’s only 20 more pounds so I know that I won’t get to a 32 at that size. Do you think it’s possible I will get back to the 120’s. I know the last two months threw my pattern off a bit but I was losing steady at 3-4 pounds a week before all of this. Is there anyone with similar stats that can tell me about their experience with SADI or maybe a virgin bypass. My loss trend was similar to that according to the NP at 3 months out. I really wish I could do this after I get to my low weight and stabilize. All I want is to be able to buy bras in a normal store and not have to pay a fortune for lunch lady bras anymore or have my back breaking and poor posture from a too large chest. But at the same time I don’t want to look too small. I figure that I would find the smallest size that I could get used to so when I lose more weight it will probably be perfect but I won’t have time to get used to it like the surgeon and I hoped. 😢 So I get that cup size is a matter of preference but can anyone with similar stats tell me how much they ultimately lost if they were losing 3-4 pounds at 3 months or how much weight they lost between band sizes or 36-34 and 34-32. Or anything else that may help me. I’m so scared I’m gonna decide on a size and my body is going to change but since it’s all implant after this surgery my boobs won’t change with me with loss or gain and I will be way too big or small for my frame.

Great idea to speak with your bariatric doctor but discuss the Wegovy with them as well. I have not discussed Wegovy with the bariatric surgeon post surgery but I mentioned it to the PA as a possibility if I am to gain during my cancer treatment over this year if that would be an option and he say it may. I mean he could have assumed that I just meant any GLP-1 and assumed either would do but he didn’t say that Wegovy was not okay for me and I had sleeve prior to my revision to SADI and my surgeon leaves the sleeve as is and does the bypass portion to make up the modified duodenal switch surgery (SADI). Also, post sleeve but pre SADI, I discussed GLP-1 as an option for regain and he said it was a serious contender in terms of what he thought would work for me but the insurance coverage was the issue. I went with the revision and it’s been night and day In terms of the surgery being a better fit for me so I’m not trying to deter you, but maybe the redo was all I needed because I wasn’t mentally ready with the sleeve. I guess I honestly can’t say 100% for certain. Either way, don’t give up. The bariatric doctors won’t give up on you either, together you will find what works for you. Consider what your coverage is and what the cost will be long term though and whether your team will keep prescribing it as a maintenance thing or what happens when you get to goal too because there are pros and cons with both. I mean Wegovy is not surgery and that’s a pro anytime you can avoid surgery but the cost, long term side effects of the shot and regain stats are all things that I would be asking about.