ShoppGirl

I hope you are home from hospital and recovering well. Keep posting here if you have questions. This site is a great source of support and people willing to share their experience

I totally get that a five pound gain messes with your head. My weight fluctuates by like 10 pounds through out each cycle with the chemo. I shoots up almost immediately on treatment day and then goes up and down until it gets mostly out of my system. Since I am still in the honeymoon period from my surgery and don’t really even want to eat apart from cravings it is sooooo hard to not just starve myself when I see the numbers go up. I know it’s not the exact same as your situation but I imagine the mental shock of the number is very similar. Hang in there. You should be able to get back to the majority of your routine soon and be back to your old self before you know it. I will probably be on here asking what worked for you this summer and fall because Im having a bilateral mastectomy with expanders in early May and then a reconstruction with implants planned after radiation. Although I’m trying to get in for a consult with that Dr to find out about that fat transfer option. Im not sure if its new or not but the surgeon I met with did not offer that option. Did your surgeon tell you to get routine MRI’s to monitor for leaks. (You said you got silicone, right?). I’m sure your surgeon went over the risks with implants in general but there is something I just learned about the other day from a lady at my craft group called Breast Implant Illness that’s worth looking into. It’s not a formal medical diagnosis but it’s a collection of issues that people commonly have after implants that often go away immediately once they are removed. There is the surgeon in Florida that she is going to that people go to from all around the world just to have their implants removed and he can do this procedure if you want them replaced where they transfer a fat from another area of your body. I am trying to get into him to see if it’s possible for me to have that instead of an implant for my reconstruction. They are very selective with who they give appointments to, though. I guess his surgeries are booked like a year out Anyways, not to scare you but there are also lots of more researched issues that a silicone leak can cause as well to include a very rare type of cancer even. I am not sure how much your surgeon went over all of that with you but to me it’s definitely worth being aware of and monitoring routinely. Your surgeon should be able to tell you how often to scan and what to watch for just to be safe. Best of luck with your recovery and I can’t wait to hear about your being all healed up and getting to finally take them girls out on the town. 😂

You know, @AmberFL, part of your gain could just be inflammation from your surgery. Has your weight gone down any?? I would say that the implants are probably only like a pound or two themselves, but mostly I bet it’s inflammation. Not sure why I didn’t think of that before.

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or say congrats but I guess I’ll do both. Sounds like you’re doing great. Keep it up.

I’m certainly not trying to be argumentative either. The reason that I went out of my way to state that it was from AI to begin with is so that the OP would be aware of that fact and take it as they may. Then I added that I was able to see the original articles and they could too if they did the research themselves and I suggested that they ask their doctor if it applies to them specifically. Also if you’re speaking specifically about the part that was talking about their rule of thumb for number of calories per pound, that was not from AI at all. That was from hss.edu and I referenced that above so that one can find and read the article for themselves and determine if it is applicable. It was all intended as food for thought and something to look into. Not medical advice as I am not a doctor Personally, if I have a question I gather data from a lot of sources to include chats and AI summaries as well as medical journal articles or friends and then I ask a professional to decipher the medical jargon, tell me what out of the chat and less reputable sites or word of mouth is true and what applies to my specific situation. In my opinion though, what it boils down to is that our metabolism while recovering from surgery or something else is going to be different than the same person when they were feeling fine just trying to lose weight and we should at least be aware of that and ask the right people the right questions if we care about weight, muscle loss, recovery time etc. I can only ever speak accurately about my personal opinion or experience and that experience is that the oncology dietitians’ advice worked for me and it was basically if you’re craving a cookie then no, don’t have it but if you’re craving fruit or vegetables or something otherwise nutritious then your body probably needs them and you should listen to that when your recovering from something. Basically don’t just be counting calories and starving yourself during recovery, nourish your healing body. Of course my situation is different so that’s why you should always consult with your doctor.

Well, it wasn’t exactly an AI generated recommendation. It was an AI generated summary of all the articles that applied to the question I asked Google. So basically One of the articles them gave that recommendation is below and you can read the full article of course and determine whether it’s a reputable source and applies to you. I agree with not going by a cookie cutter approach regardless of where it came from. Especially the Internet, but it logically does make sense to me so it would definitely be worth talking to your doctor about and asking for a specific plan for you. I know for me, my body is fighting cancer and processing chemo right now which both increase metabolism. Currently I’m logging like 1000-1500 cal more a day and still losing (albeit a little slower to appease my doctors). It changes your metabolism when your body is fighting something and it does burn more calories during times like this. How many that would be something your surgeon may be able to help you with a refer you to someone who can. I am very fortunate that I am at a big fancy breast center and they have an oncology dietitian that is helping me throughout all of my different treatments that I have in store for me over the next year to keep me on track for both that and my bariatric journey. i think the most important part would be to just be mindful of the fact that healing does require adequate nutrition and not to be at too much of a calorie deficit because yes, we will heal like we did from our bariatric surgery but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the ideal circumstance or that we we’re healing as fast as we could have. I know you are itching to get out and back to your activity asap as I would be and good nutrition is very important for faster healing. I’m not saying that means you need to eat as much as you were eating when you were working out like crazy, but if it was me, I would focus primarily on fueling my body to get better faster, without gaining of course, and really focus on the weight loss once I was back on track (it won’t be that long). I mean if you can lose a bit great but if your body is screaming out for nutritious food it’s probable that there is a reason. The nutritionist that I am working with would not give me a specific calorie amount instead she told me to still try to avoid cookies and chips, but to eat when my body was craving nutritious food and she checks in with me every week to see how I am doing and make tweaks Does your surgeon have a nurse practitioner that you could talk to if you give them a call? Or was your dietician from pre surgery very helpful (mine was worthless 😂). Maybe you would get a more in-depth response from them than your surgeon who’s always super busy.

What I did and tried to type was to weigh myself every day, but I only logged it in my book once a week. That way, the small fluctuations were less of a big deal when I seen what happened at the end of the week. It would probably be better to even do every other week or every month to log. Or log it every day but just highlight it once a week or once a month something like that so that you can see that really your trend is down

It’s likely it has to do with your surgery but I agree with others that it’s still worth having things checked out. Two things can be happening at the same time and we don’t want to miss something just because we had surgery. We did this to get healthier not the opposite.

Wow. What a difference a year can make. And what an amazing birthday gift you have given yourself this year!! Happy Birthday 🎁 💪 🎉 👙 🎁

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

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