Smanky

How have your taste buds and cravings changed post-surgery? What foods used to be your favourites that you now can barely even look at? For me it's everything sweet. My tolerance is at zero. My shakes and protein water that I have to drink daily are completely punitive and something I just have to suffer through. My partner and I went to a fave cafe for lunch today and they bake all manner of tasty treats, including black sesame baked doughnuts that we both loved. They're less sweet than regular doughnuts and the flavour was delicious. My partner grabbed one after lunch with his second coffee, and out of curiosity, I stuck my finger in the tiniest bit and brought it to my tongue. Thankfully I had my own coffee to get the taste out of my mouth. It was horrid. Savoury is my best friend. Thank god for savoury.

I have short hair - had a pixie cut at the time of surgery, grew it into a pixie shag around Christmas time. Started losing hair around month 4. I have fine hair anyway, so my hair over the last three months has noticeably thinned. I had been trying to grow it into a modern mullet shag, but uggghhh... As I told my hairdresser "It's gone to seed!". So nope, no growing it while this nonsense is going on. So last week I had it cut back into a short pixie and I'll be keeping it that way until it grows back. Even super short, it's noticeably thin. I've also stopped bleaching it for now. If you have thick hair, you might not suffer quite as noticeable thinning. I'd advise getting it trimmed, and seeing how you go. If it starts really coming out after surgery, you can get a shorter cut.

For what it's worth, all my friends are big drinkers. Social events are always boozy. I was a bit unsure how my first social gathering post-surgery would go being the only sober person and... I still had a great night! I sat on fizzy water with fresh lime all night, felt like I was having a "fancy drink" because bubbles, and I honestly didn't miss the alcohol. Friends got drunk around me, and I laughed along with them. So the dry route isn't a terrible one.

It'll happen! When you've forgotten all about it, you'll look down and suddenly notice it's much better. A quick pumice in the shower and the roadmap of cracks will start to vanish!

Love it! Your skin is glowing.

I would have LOVED to have video of mine. Very much doubt my surgeon would have let me (he'd have been amused, though), though in hindsight I wish I'd at least asked. I'm definitely the kind of curious weirdo who loves this sort of thing. 🙃

I have 2 additions to my list! It finally occurred to me today: my heels aren't cracking anymore. Sure, I'm not a dainty-sandal or slingback-kitten-heel person in any way, but even still - my feet are looking good! No more cracks so big you could go spelunking. And second: I've become a morning person and can't oversleep. I used to be a night owl, and would easily sleep ten hours if allowed, and that sleep wouldn't be quality because of my terrible breathing (undiagnosed, but I know I had sleep apnea). Now that I breathe normally, I can get by on a lot less sleep, even WITH my cat waking me up multiple times during the night. I wake up at dawn and... I like it!

I had a Mini Bypass (a quicker surgery than the typical RNY), and had my large hiatal hernia repaired at the same time. It was a surprise to both my surgeon and I, as I was never aware I had a hernia. He didn't tell me how much of my stomach was in my chest, but he called it a "large hiatal hernia" and guessed I'd had it for at least a decade. If your surgeon offers the Mini Bypass/Omega Loop, give it a look. I had pre-existing GERD, so a sleeve was too great a risk of having even worse reflux post-surgery. With the bypass, my GERD is gone.

Mine was discovered during surgery, and was a very large hernia, so I'd been living with it for a long time. It explains a lot: the reflux, the discomfort I'd feel after eating a big meal right under the ribs, etc. That said, pain in that region could also be gallstones (though that's typically a little over to your right side), or an ulcer. I've had all three.

Just do what I do to keep my humour up when stalls hit: I give each one a name, like cyclones/hurricanes get names. That way I can shout things like "Oh for god's sake Beryl are you still here?!"

Hi, official card carrying member of the SLC here! You're losing at about 1.2kg a week, which is around what my average weekly loss has been. First up, that is good weight loss! It's nothing to be discouraged about, that is a healthy, good rate. It's easy to buy into the rapid-loss dream, and I absolutely don't begrudge folks who have had their "honeymoon period" and had weight "melt off" - genuinely thrilled for you! But I think it's vital to go into WLS managing your expectations (with rate of loss, loose skin and hair loss). I went into it pretty zen, though I have had my perfectly human moments of wishing I was losing faster. BUT, I'm losing well, about 7 months out and have lost over half my excess body weight and have dropped 4 sizes. Results aren't always on the scale - it's important to remember that! I'm not just a slow loser, but I'm also a serial staller. I have lost count of how many stalls I've had - stalls and I are on a first-name basis. In the first four months I was stalling every second week, for at least a week at a time. I feel like I earned a damned trophy for my stalling expertise. But they always break (even if they go on for weeks), and that's what you need to keep in mind. Stay off the scale when it happens, focus on the good things like feeling better, clearer skin, the clothes that are starting to fall off you. And ultimately? You're not alone. Your experience isn't weird, or wrong, or abnormal. Don't compare yourself to others, manage your expectations, slow down and breathe. Enjoy all the small victories the journey brings.

Nothing weird about this one, just a regular NSV, but still a milestone for me. I got into a standard size AU/UK 16 (US 12) pair of skinny jeans today. I have not worn a size AU/UK 16 in at least two decades. Go me!

Well, I intuitively ate myself into morbid obesity, so I'm very much in the calorie counting camp. I need the structure and control. I'm gaining a sense of calories by sight the further along I am, which will be as intuitive as I get. More power to people who can intuitively eat and not relapse into the same errors and disordered eating, but I don't believe I'll ever be one of those.

It's major abdominal surgery - anywhere that isn't going to put you under a full general anesthetic is somewhere to run away from quickly.

I told my family and in-law family (all supportive), my partner (supportive after I had a meltdown, where he found out how miserable I truly was), and my closest friends (I was a little nervous about that, but they've also been super supportive). I've been very fortunate. However, I was prepared to do it with or without support, since it's my choice and only I know hard the journey to getting well has been. Plus it's hard to argue with a visibly thinner, healthier and most importantly happier me.

I relate to this SO much. I look back at my lost 30s and 40s and just wish to god I'd had this surgery back then.

Thanks for that info! I'm going grey, so if my hair doesn't bounce back, I'm not sure if this would work, but it's a good option for those who aren't losing pigment. And yeah, head tattoos hurt like crazy. Known for being one of the worst places for pain, so you toughed it out like a champ. 💪

With the exception of the occasional stranger really leaning into their fat-shaming misogyny (getting "fat sl*t!" yelled at you from a passing car is always such a treat), the only adult who ever really badgered me about my weight was my mother. And it was relentless, especially when I was younger. Other women and men though, less so, though there's always the non-verbal stuff like huffing when your seated next to them. And my personal favourite: men who completely ignore you in a conversation to focus on your thin friend. Some people are just garbage, honestly. Rude, shallow jerks who feel entitled to your space. And taking their own unhappy lives out on others.

I tried (REALLY tried) to lose my weight the analogue way through calorie counting and running. I was doing really well. I lost 25kg, and was fitter than I'd been in decades, my labs were brilliant, my GP was incredibly happy with my progress. Then the pandemic hit and I put some weight back on, and while for a while I was stable and managed to keep it in check, I still fell off the wagon. I gained all the weight back plus extra - that tired old familiar routine. I was devastated, and knew I was self-sabotaging, but couldn't get back into the calorie counting and fitness. That was my "I just cannot do this on my own" moment. I would always do well, get to a certain point, then just... let go and fall back into failure. I knew weight loss surgery was my final option, and after my best effort failed, I took out Private Health Cover, and set my WLS in motion. I 100% wish I'd done this ten years ago. Good luck with your journey!

Thank you! My lungs have never been so pleased.

I smoked from the age of 14 (I'm now 50) and finally quit about 2.5 years ago. This was after a decade of using patches which would work, but then I'd go out for drinks with friends and wind up buying a packet, that then turned into a couple of days back on the cigs before trying to quit again. And endless cycle. What finally worked for me was going to my doctor and being prescribed Champix (Varenicline). It killed the desire to smoke, and the nausea was a fantastic deterrent after the course. I would threaten myself with another course if I touched another cigarette, and the nausea memory really kept me in line. When I had my surgery, I was about 2 years cigarette free, and my surgeon is ADAMANT that I stay away even from other people smoking because of the ulcer risk. And I've had ulcers since surgery, and... yeah they're not fun. Anyway, as an ex chain-smoker who really struggled to quit, I cannot praise Champix enough. Worth a shot if you want to quit and haven't tried it.

Gonna have to add "creamy" food to my no-fly list. It started early on with coconut yoghurt, being too rich for me, and has since morphed into any form of coconut, and taken mayonnaise and anything else with a fatty, creamy consistency with it. Vegan Kewpie mayo on our favourite asian faux-chicken was a pre-op fave of both myself and my partner, but now I can't do either, and definitely not together! My partner gets to eat all that on his own. I also don't love bananas like I did. I can eat half a small one, but I don't get the same pleasure from it, and they can't be too ripe. Now I only eat the occasional bit for the potassium.

I find it's pretty inconsistent, too. Though it will depend on what I'm eating - any dense foods sit heavy in my gut and I definitely can't eat much. Some days I can eat a cup of food no problems, and other days I start burping and feeling awful if I try to eat a "normal" sized meal. Honestly, 4 months out for me and I was still barely able to eat more than half a cup, so I think you're fine. I was eating between 600 and 800 at the 4 month mark, and really struggling to eat two "meals" a day. I was drinking two serves of protein water daily, so I only had to eat 10g of protein to get over the 60g minimum. It felt pathetic, but it was the best I could do and my Dietician was happy with me so I was unnecessarily hard on myself. Weirdly, once I crossed the 5 month mark I could suddenly eat around a cup. Now I'm getting an average of between 900 to 1000 calories a day. Some days I'm hungry, other days I feel like I did at the 4/5 month mark.

Yeah, I think it's an individual thing and dependent on how you put weight on. I put weight on from my head to my toes, though at my heaviest my body began storing more around my stomach. I'm losing it in exactly the same pattern. It's coming off evenly all over, however because I ate myself into a big gut, my stomach is still the biggest part of my body. It will come off, but it will likely take longer than I'd Iike. However, at the end of the day I did this to myself, and you don't get anything for free. This is the consequence I have to accept. But the upside is I'm still much happier with myself as I am currently, than what I was pre-surgery. At least when I lie down, my stomach flattens out and I can feel hips and ribs I haven't felt in decades!

Sat down in the laundromat chair today for the first time in ages (Covid meant not loitering inside) and experienced not standing up with the chair stuck to my arse. In fact there was a good five inch space of extra room for... something five inches to sit beside me. Which means all white plastic chairs are no longer my nemesis. I'm cool with them now. We hang out.