learn2cook

B e a u t I f u l

Fabulous, which one are you getting?

Welcome and congratulations on choosing your health and yourself as important. As well as pictures, measure yourself with a tape measure, all over. I checked thigh and knee and upper arm girth. I even had my son take photos of my butt with me bending over lol. Really, really, there will be days and months of stalls later on and those before measurements to compare your results will help keep your momentum in choosing self care. You may find yourself in this journey so much stronger in setting healthy boundaries for yourself instead of constantly sacrificing yourself non-stop. Your expectations for your family members will grow and you may be strongly encouraging them to be more independent. You won’t be eating for entertainment nor will you be slaving for kids and spouse and parents. Get a hobby for yourself. Do something for you that you find passion about. Make a bucket list and start fulfilling it.

OMG I greatly dislike cooking but this sounds so good I’m going to make this! I do better with weight loss and maintenance with some regular structure too. I do change up cooked veggies for winter and salads for summer. I’m glad I filled up on seafood this Spring because it’s suddenly gotten costly in the US heading into summer. Best of luck with PT, it’s kept me away from knee surgery for 10 years now, good stuff if you keep it up!

I love both. My Fitbit says I burn more energy outside, and I feel more refreshed emotionally when in nature. So I guess I lean towards outside but I changed my living room into a gym so I would have no excuses. Lol it worked! (It keeps me from yelling at my family when my job is stressful too.)

Team meat! I do like to have my pea protein shake with coffee in the morning though. It doesn’t interfere with morning exercise.

Not sleeve but RNY here and I can say you can stretch it out a bit. I can definitely eat grazing style all day and definitely gain weight back (as I found out over Christmas tho year). It’s a Conscious choice to eat healthy regular planned meals to keep the weight off. When I want to slide back to binging to handle life and feelings, I use my skills from eating disorders therapy. The feelings of wanting to binge are still there, but I’ve worked really hard to substitute healthier rituals to deal with anxiety and depression and just feeling unlucky. I strongly suggest OA or an eating disorders therapist. The size of your stomach doesn’t really matter. If you want to eat the whole bag of cookies or chips you can do it. Or, you could choose not to and have sex, crochet, go for a walk, talk to a friend, journal, bird/star watch instead. It’s all a choice. The fact that you are investigating choosing surgery is a choice for yourself to live a healthier life. Why surgery at all then? It’s true it’s a metabolic “tool” that helps your body with the healthier choices you make. It’s like an e-bike, you still have to steer and pedal.

Did you wish a hernia on yourself? You didn’t “fail” it’s just another opportunity to learn. I’ve been told that people who get hernias tend to get more of them. I had bypass and my doc offered ozempic for me, so apparently it’s ok. (I didn’t do it, yet.) would you be willing to try a surgical revision due to your GERD?

I believe one hungry person was @lizonaplane . They worked with their team and I believe metforman was one of the solutions. After the second year my doctor suggested Wegovy, but I would like to see more studies. Two people I work with got stomach paralysis from it… Liz do you have any ideas?

You are doing great! PCOS or menopause or something did slow things down for me, but the surgery does work. 2+ years out and I’m still tinkering with how carbs and preservatives trigger inflammation in me. I still track when inflammation strikes and you will find your ebbs and flows too. I don’t know if you tried WW or any other plan? I remember the normal loss of 1/2lb a week. Just keep thinking of how this loss compares. WLS does work. Body measurements helped me through the many stalls, speaking of which, you’re probably heading into or out of your “3 week stall.” It’s temporary, you will get to where you hope to go. Here’s to good health!

I’m not a doctor but a teacher who works with neurodivergent people. Many of the children walk on their toes and have “swayback.” It’s treatable with PT but NOT harmful so most places don’t treat it. It would take years, and would only help the appearance of the stomach. It doesn’t change the fat distribution, just helps lengthen the torso and help the walking gate, alleviates cramps in the legs too. I can’t diagnose you, it’s just a hunch about the swayback. There’s a PBS documentary called “The Faun” related to the intense body work involved. And, of course swayback can happen independently from any neurological issues! (I just find find neurological differences more interesting than us muggles lol.)

I don’t have ESG. I’m in Boston and only some places offer it because insurance doesn’t cover it. The average cost is 11k. The average weight loss after a year is 10-20% (Johns Hopkins quote). You might want to do more hard core research before shelling out that kind of money for low results especially after your recent problems with the balloon. P.S. there’s different forums on here based on specific procedures if that helps.

For some reason “Janet Witness” was so funny! Thanks for making me laugh. I’ve had luck with them too lol.

All the above posters have shared many useful activities I have enjoyed that work. My latest has been to get a rowing machine from Amazon. There’s many kinds and price points. I picked a magnetic one so I’m quiet. I started dancing around with more upper body movements in my house during lockdowns. My son called it “flopping around “ but it worked and was a good starting point. I just did one or two songs every hour, short bursts.

Congratulations!

As an asthmatic I feel for you. I had the same problem after surgery and it might be a reaction to anesthesia. I went to my ER after calling my asthma doctor. I was awake all night (as I would have been at home). I was exposed to freezing indoor temperatures (because it reduces virus spreading). There were a battery of tests that were very painful to determine if I didn’t have a lung embolism. Then they gave me a shot in the arm of steroids to help my lungs breathe. My original surgeon had gone out of the US and wasn’t a specialist in asthma anyway. Everyone was afraid it was an blood clot or embolism. No one wanted to give steroids because it hinders healing. If you’re a regular asthmatic, you may want to keep your all nighters with the nebulizer until Monday when the good doctors are back in office. Or, if you know you are in the weeds bad, just to to the ER. If you’re not asthmatic, go to the ER, because breathing is serious! Let us know how this turns out, prayers.

Like the posts on here I go back and forth on this. I have imbibed. I do dump so hard liquor and wine hit me harder with sugar so then I feel it within 10 minutes then crash. The extra calories to counter the crash kill the buzz. Like 3 sips and I’m done. But beer is friendlier. I do enjoy nursing a good microbrew with a handful of almond or one ounce of cheese. It works for me for camping and baseball games and fun outings. I try to keep it for a once a month thing and have only one or two beers. I have been dallying with pot edibles too. (Can’t smoke due to asthma) One or 1/2 a gummy or taffy keeps a mellow vibe for 4 hours and I save them for special occasions and arthritis and pain relief. There’s less calories and dumping and a longer chill time. P.S. UP was my favorite place camping last summer!!!

Congratulations!

I looked at my journal from my 6th month time. My weight loss slowed significantly. I kept loosing but I was lucky if it was 4 lbs every other month. Stalls and plateaus were more common than actual WL. I just kept to my original plan and weight kept coming off even past the 2year mark. Instead of my scale obsession, I started measuring inches/centimeters and thrifting highly structured clothing made out of thick denim and leather to see my progress. A stiff pair of jeans with no stretch can show true WL because they get too big. I find they keep me honest with myself in maintenance too ; j

I’ve only ever seen an old video on YouTube. Besides being on here, I’m part of a post-surgical WL group through my dietitian, nobody has had that issue, or knows someone who had that problem.

Yes, I had back pain due to reasons the above posters said. I went to yoga for a year to help with the transition. I needed to tuck my but under my spine more and drop my shoulders down and back. I noticed the swing of my arms and legs changed. All of it was building new muscles and increasing range of motion. The floppy skin was even moving to a different tempo than the rest of me and I had to learn how to accommodate that! Side note; when I had Covid they x-rayed my lungs to check for pneumonia. They then told me I have significant arthritis in my spine. The pain there reduced significantly with stretching and strengthening exercises.

If you find food getting stuck at the 4 month mark then reach out to your doctor. There could be something wrong going on. Before that point keep taking small bites, chewing thoroughly, and using sauces to help the slide. If you had GERD before surgery it takes time to heal. If you have GERD afterwards talk with your doctor sooner, like today.

Congratulations!

I have heard of this as a new way to do bypass. Sorry, I don’t have any experience with it. I’m curious so I will follow this.

Like others above, check with your team. I was to aim for 20 macros of protein for each of three meals. I couldn’t do it but that was the goal. I ended up 20 for breakfast, 10 lunch, 10 around 3pm, 10 around 5ish, and 10 in the evening one hour before bed. In my efforts to curb nighttime snacking habits, I started then (and still maintain now) 50% or more of my daily food should be consumed by lunchtime. It makes me go to sleep earlier and wake up refreshed, and mostly banished the nighttime munchies. Obviously this won’t work for everyone. I was never a morning person, nor a breakfast eater before surgery. You’re doing great, keep up the good work!