Elahnen

Hi Everyone, I finally got my surgery date for June 8!!! It’s really strange to me how excited I am about this! I would love to share this journey with others scheduled in June! I think it would be so helpful if we can help each other through this experience!

Your already crushing it haha! Isn’t it such a good feeling! Your so right, we can!!!!! Keep up the good work! Here’s to 2022 being our year!!

What does your “Best Me” in fitness terms look like? For me it is the feeling of feeling free. Free of the excess weight, free of the constant emotional abuse I have done to my self by telling myself I am not good enough. I am good enough and so are you! I have done a lot of hard work over the past 6 months to get myself to the place I am in now, but I want more! In 2015 I ran the Buffalo NY half marathon and it was the most freeing experience ever. I am not a runner and I do not like running, but crashing the challenge had me wanting it more then ever! Try something new and challenge yourself! I am determined to make 2022 my best year ever! Want to join me? I am setting personal fitness goals such as starting on 1/1/22 running/walking minimum 2 mile per day everyday for the entire year. Working out daily, trying new exercises, working out in new places etc. Share your goals! Share fun workout pics or even amazing backgrounds of your workout areas. You never know who your inspiring! If you need support say something and we can form a group to support and share! Will it be easy, of course not, but can it be fun and life changing, absolutely!

Ugh gotta love it lol….. It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor and let them know what your planning since you will need check ups when you get home. I would ask about after care when you go to your doctor like will they remove stitches, are they willing to monitor you after to check up on your progress. I would ask them to do a EKG (check heart) to make sure your ok for such a big surgery. I also had to have a chest X-ray to make sure my lungs were good. I had a huge list of stuff to do before but I had mine in New York State so you probably don’t have as much! It sounds like your on the right track!

Yep! My surgeon wanted me to try plant based protein powder which I never tried so I ordered a couple different flavors of Vega protein. I also ordered sample packs of ghost protein powder (chips ahoy and fruity cereal milk flavored) mixed with 8oz almond milk…. Sooo good! I ordered Bariatric fusion chewable multi vitamins and calcium which seem to work best for me. I tested a couple pills like celebrate one and they made me nauseas. You will figure out what works best for you! I found it easier to test things out before bc it can be overwhelming after and I didn’t want to try to deal with that on top of all the physical changes. Any questions at all just ask 💜

Hello! The best advice I can give being almost 7months out is don’t over think everything and don’t beat yourself up during the learning process. Get 1oz and 2oz containers with lids for food storage post op, they are a life saver! I ordered protein and vitamins before surgery and started using both before surgery to make sure I liked them and could handle them. Good luck!!! It’s so worth it!

It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it! We went out of town with friends and had several large cookouts while I was on my pre op. It was not easy, but taught me self control. I just kept super busy. When everyone was cooking I helped cook and clean up so that I would constantly be moving. I had my own “food” and ate that while others ate theirs. You can do this! Just keep thinking about the rewards that you are working towards! Good luck!

You might not be getting enough Protein and Vitamins bc of your diet. If you can maybe talk to your primary care doc about blood work to check your levels incase they are low. How can we help you? Need support, the group to help motivate you, help hold you accountable? I have noticed there are so many caring ppl in the group that are very knowledgeable and willing to help! You can do this and don’t have to do it alone! Start from square 1…why did you do this in the first place and then want it so bad that your willing to do anything to achieve those goals!

Hi, good luck on this journey! I removed feeling the same way at that point in recovery. It’s a very scary feeling! No one can really understand the process we go through and the feelings we have unless they have been through it bc it is so unique! I hated the full liquid stage bc it made me feel worse but once I transitioned to soft food that gas feeling went away, I hope its that same for you! I’m 6 months now and couldn’t be happier. Good luck!! Oh and I love emoji’s lol… we need a weight loss surgery emoji but for now ….. 🤢🤪🤞 lol!

Sounds like your surgery is working just as it should and your adapting to the new lifestyle. If I feel like I’m getting hungry in between I drink water or a protein shake, eat a piece of cheese or lunch meat bc any of that will fill me up quickly again. Good to hear your doing well!

Welcome to the other side of this crazy adventure of life! The first 3 weeks can be challenging bc of all the new things to learn, but around week three it seems like alot of us have that realization that this could work lol! Good luck!!

I struggled with giving things like that up as well. I ate sugar free jolly ranchers or other sugar free hard candy during the pre op and early post op. I’m 6months post op and if I really need something to suck on occasionally I have a sugar free cough drop. Just be carful with the sugar free candy bc some has a lot of calories per piece.

This is a great idea! 

Sounds like your in the right mindset lol! I remember feeling the same way! About an hour after waking up I was like what did you do… then it’s like ok this is done, let’s do this! Just keep thinking of all the great things your looking forward to being able to do bc you will be doing them soon! Wishing you the best and much success!

I started mine a week early and it helped so much. I think it helped mentally bc I was making the choice and not being “told”. It also allowed me to get used to the plan and changes prior to actually having to commit so it wasn’t so overwhelming. It made the transition after surgery so much easier bc I wasn’t going through carb or sugar withdrawal immediately after surgery. The risk is that starting early could make you mentally think you can stop and start over and over since  you actually don’t have to do it and once the actual pre op starts there’s no turning back if your already so over it after the early week. Totally doable and worth it in my opinion and it worked awesome for me. Commit and stick to it… it’s just temporary! 

I’m a fan of ghost protein powder mixed with almond milk. The flavors chips ahoy, Oreo and fruity cereal milk really taste like their names!!! I like premier and Vega powders to, but never get sick of the ghost. They are sold out a lot on the ghost website so I always get them from gnc.com

Might be ok with orange juice and vodka or cranberry and vodka or both lol! Get creative. I looked up ideas on Pinteret for Keto cocktails and low/no sugar cocktails..there are lots of ideas and I’m sure you could mix those in with most of them.

I’m 5 months out and recently had the same issue if just feeling drained. My blood work showed my iron being a little low so I added in a chewable Bariatric fusion iron every other day and noticed improvement. I guess after surgery we can be at risk of anemia so it made sense. Hopefully you can get it figured out ASAP!

I did have that issue at about 4 months and the doc thought for sure it was my gallbladder or a hernia but turned out to be muscle spasms from everything healing. He said it will come and go as the healing process takes a long time.

Since surgery in June 2021 I have taken 2 Bariatric fusion multi vitamin chewable and 1 Bariatric fusion calcium daily. I recently had to add in a chewable fusion iron 2x a week bc my iron is low. Glad you mentioned the biotin isn’t working bc I’m losing fair and was gonna order it next.

I was also told if I got the Celebrate I didn’t need anything else. Unfortunately the celebrate Vitamin wasn’t for me. It made me instantly nauseated and sick to my stomach and the next day my urine was bright yellow. I have had good luck with Bariatric Fusion multi chewable vitamins (2 per day) and Bariatric Calcium chew (1 per day). Hope you figure out what works best for you soon!

Look up simple recipes like ricotta bake, refried beans, chicken salad, egg salad etc..get little 2oz containers with lids and weigh all you food to 2oz… put a few in the fridge and freeze the rest (not the egg salad or chicken salad) there’s your meal prep for a while!

Surgery is always scary especially being your first one, but you will have so many medical professionals looking after your every breathe to make sure you are ok! I was more afraid of dying unexpectedly from a medical complication from being obese then I was from the surgery. You will do great and it will be over before you know it. Surgery anesthesia is the best nap ever haha! Good luck!

Sooo awesome!!

Those are great changes that you made! I did the same things about 2 months before my surgery and it really made things so much easier! By the time surgery came I was already in ketosis so after surgery it wasn’t another challenge my body had to adjust to, not to mention carb and sugar withdrawal. Great job!