summerseeker

I still have an itchy scalp, it drives me crazy. I am regular at the hair salon asking for a lice check. [ I know her well] I now have to buy extreemly expensive, lightweight shampoo to calm it. I put the dryness and dandruff down to a lack of greasy, oily foods in my diet. They make me dump. Never thought it could be surgery driven

Hello and welcome to the forum. Until you hear from the March posse, read the back pages of the forum. All of us have posted our journey's ups and downs in its pages.

A few of us have only told our most supportive friends and family before we had the surgery. I personally didn't need any of the negativity that comes from worried others, people who think they know about the surgery or the one person that I know who failed with a sleeve. I find that people will post things on facebook that they might not say to your face. If they did, you would get a chance to ask why they felt you may be the same as them. It is a brutal test to see if you can loose this big amount of weight pre surgery but plenty people have managed it. I had a 3 week liver shrink diet. I cursed that surgeon every day of it. AND I was paying for the privilege. I very badly wanted the surgery, my life depended on it. Thats what got me through. You will have to find the disipline from somewhere and start as soon as you can. Start moving more, walking was my go to. Started small and ended up finding the world. Find a tracker you can use every day. Set yourself a reasonable calorie limit. Log everything you eat and drink. Good or bad. I still do it, I use Fat Secret. There are lots of other free sites. Eat fresh food, home cooked. You know the calories then. Plan your food and buy it in. That way you will never be tempted to get a take out Its a test but you can get there. Keep on this site, keep talking to us.

Its a tough ask to ask people who are very overweight to eat like a sparrow. We all feared this part. I thought it was bitterly cruel doing 3 weeks of milk and vegetables. I was so over this diet I ran into the operating theatre. The only thing that kept me on the straight and narrow was the fact that if my liver was still fatty, the surgery would stop and I would wake up with out the surgery. It has happened to a few people on here and they were heart broken. We are with you and if you want to vent, somewhere in the world, is a person on here ready to listen

Thats just wonderful to hear because bariatric surgery, unfortunatley does not work for everyone. You are getting there. Be proud you were brave enough to go and get the extra help

Well I kind of did the poof and now I am skinny. Its not really what I thought it would be or now want During the Covid lock down, house arrest in the Uk, I had the surgery. I told no one and then when the country opened again, I did the big reveal. I was / am a stranger in the small town that I have lived in for 55 years. My husband has a strange mistress and a gets congratulated and a back pat while I, the ' mistress' get ignored. When he puts them correct, the shock is too much for them to believe. One man said to him ' You must be so proud now ' ffs. I am used to it but hate it at the same time. I liked the popular me. If you are gradually loosing weight then those around you at college will not realise until you get near your goal and start to look too thin to them

My diabetic husband tried Ozempic and didnt loose anything. This time around he is doing well with Mounjaro. I hope you can find the one for you

I live in a rural area. I too hate the gym but love walking. I get out at least 3 times a week, I need the alone time. I come home refreshed and ready for anything the family can chuck at me. I also work 1 day a week in a Charity Shop and oh boy this is physically hard work ! I come home battered after 9 hours there. Whole body and mind exercise This is all I did for weight loss and how I maintain

Its early days, lots of us find some foods totally repellant, for me it was foods that I loved. pre surgery. Chicken, fish and especially salmon were very off my menu. If I even thought of them I heaved. It was like being pregnant all over again. Then some kind soul on here explained that as we loose fat cells they release hormones. Early on we are flooded with these cells because we are loosing so rapidly. It does settle down as weight loss slows. At 3+ years fish isnt totally off my menu but it isnt front and centre either. Eggs revolted me before surgery, now I eat them most days.

I am fairly sure you will be eating mayo and the like very quickly. Once you start on soft foods you will find the staple of egg salad a go to.

My husband a type 2 diabetic also tried Ozempic for 6 months. He never lost a pound. This time around hes been on Mounjaro and hes flying with it. He is loosing 3lbs a week and has lost 28lbs all together. Find the right one for you and as you say these drugs are amazing. I hope he can loose another 28.

Isn't it wonderful how loosing a ton of weight can give a person so much confidence. I love that about me too. I promise the butt ache will dissipate eventually and fade away. Happy new year

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope the coming months bring nothing but joy to all our forum family.

I am so happy to here that you are doing so much better now. You really did have a tough start. You sound as if you have happiness and joy coming out of your words. So happy for you x Happy new year x

I never knew that ! wow !

I am destined to never know what my BMI / weight would be with skin removal. I could only afford one round so would worse than now. I don't think the NHS can afford to start this surgery again so I am destined to be overweight for ever !

This was a biggy for me too. BUT its also got annoying. How can I be overweight ? I look like a plank of wood. Haha skinny problems, who knew

I am sorry to say this but you will either loose hair or you won't. There is nothing you can do about it. Its a fact. Muscle is a different matter, protein does help there. I had a super fierce restriction due to swelling. I had to eat tiny meals about 8 times a day. I split my 3 meals into little pots and as a grazer this may be a way forward for you. I struggled to make my 60 gram protein quota. I survived, and eventually so did my hair. Look for protein yogurts in the supermarket. A 200 gram yogurt will have 24 grams of protein in it. They were a game changer for me.

This is where it can get tough. I hated the waste of products and money as everything was Blahh. TBH there are still a few things that I can't stomach. How much longer are you on liquids only? Contact your team, If they are in office at this time of year. Tell them your struggles and see if they have alternative, if not improvise if you can't stomach the shakes a day longer. You need the nutrients. Can you drink Full Skimmed milk ? This has a surprisingly a lot of protein. To add more protein add a spoon of yogurt, dried milk powder or I flavored it with PB2 powder and banana. There is also consomme, boullion and bone broths. They don't have as many calories as protein shakes or milk but you need to get food in you. Once you get a little further along it gets easier, I promise. Others who used shakes will give you other pointers but the Fairlife brand does seem to me one they advocate, so fingers crossed for you there.

I would be confused too. How a dietician could say that anything over 800 calories will make you gain weight is just ridiculous. Here in the UK it is guided at 2000 calories a day for an active woman and 500 calories more for a active male per day. For information - To maintain my weight I need to eat around 1600 calories a day. Anything less and I drop weight. I don't exercise, just walk and apart from one day a week where I volunteer, I am retired. I still have a fair restriction on my sleeve. So my advice to you would be go back to the dietician, check the facts, ask for a diet sheet and if they want you on 800 calories it must be so you can drop quickly. It does not sound sustainable if you are active. I could do this diet for a short time because I cook from scratch, log everything religiously and can cook and plan ahead. So this is what my 800 calories would look like - Breakfast, 2 eggs scrambled in 1 calorie spray oil [ PAM ] and 200mls of full skim milk for my coffee Lunch, 2 cups of Vegetable soup made without starchy vegetables, so no potatoes Evening meal, 1 x 6 ounce chicken breast, side salad with calorie free dressing and a 7 ounce jacket potato I hope this helps

You are doing super great. The main thing you need to do is follow your teams advice. Every single person on this site had a different regime. In the end if you have followed the advice, you win and you seem to be doing that. The early foods do get repetative but stick in there. You have a huge cut and stitch line on your tummy and just because we can't see it, people forget it. Sugar free popsickles and milk with added sugar free flavours got me through.

My goals are to fill up my bank account, Christmas is a beast. I want to visit all my nearest family. Today I booked a future trip to see my older sister and her family. Its a long train journey which I love. So thats my start. I want to hold my weight I want to get rid of more stuff I want to spend 3 solo weeks on a Greek beach with books. I did it last year and it was one of the best thing I have ever done. I want to get out of the house one more day a week

This is a tough one. I loved carbs too. Would live off noodles, rice and pasta. I was so lucky that for 2 years I couldn't fit any in my tiny stomach. It retrained me. Now I am having to watch out. My husband who is thin, loves carbs, so we have them with every meal. I love vegetables so I make sure every meal has at least two portions and I eat them before any carbs. Thats the only way I can manage my intake. I try to make my daily menu with only one portion of carbs too. I hope you can work it out. You deserve it, you have really done so well. Christmas is hard and seems to last forever.

You have this down pat. One day at a time is the best wasy forward. Any questions, just ask away and we will do our best to help you.

I tried lots of pureed foods but as I had already had issues with food smells, the look of pureed food was not for me. I managed home made thick blended soups with lentils and cheese for the protein. It was an unpleasant time for me. On here I heard about protein yogurt and puddings. Life savers. Just do the best you can because it isn't the best time of year when there is so much food around.