Smanky

I was taking biotin religiously months before surgery, and post surgery met all protein and vitamin goals plus collagen support supplements. I couldn't have done more to prepare, but from 4 months, my hair has thinned and while it's slowed down now at 6 months, I joke that I have to style my hair into a comb-over. I had fine hair normally, so losing volume has really thinned it out. It sucks. It really does. I'm not quite at the "wear a hat" or scarf stage, but I'm not far off. Just got to ride it out and focus on the good. My brother says I look ten years younger, so even with crappy hair, that's a plus!

On a PC: At the top of the page where the search bar is, look over to the right hand side and find your User Name link with the drop-down arrow. Click it. In the drop-down box, click on "My Surgery". It will take you to your "Surgery Information" page. On the left hand side is a box called "Surgery Information". Click on the link that says "Progress". Fill it out!

Gotta chime in to debunk the "it's hard to get protein when vegan" nonsense too! Total rubbish. Seitan is super high in protein, and the best and tastiest I've found is in Asian supermarkets. I use a faux bbq pork or faux roast duck seitan, both of which give 19 to 20 grams of protein per 100g. 6 months out, I can easily eat at least 100g with some greens per meal. My vegan protein water is 28g of protein per serve. Even without this, I can get 60g+ of protein a day through food. Protein fortified soy milk is 10g of protein per 250ml serve. If I have that in my protein powder, it's a whopping 40g of protein in one hit. I don't like protein shakes, so I make a matcha latte with the soy milk and get that 10g in. Without even trying, I get a daily 70 to 80 grams of protein in. Easy peasy.

I pretty much existed on vegan protein water (2 serves per day for a total of 56g protein), and tofu scramble during the soft food stage. Getting protein and water in in the one hit meant I could relax a bit on the protein count in food, which I was eating in such tiny amounts it barely added much to my daily protein goal. I also used protein fortified soy milk. Since you eat dairy, you should be able to find a protein enriched version. Have that in your shakes for a boost. I used mine in sugar-free matcha lattes. Good luck! Once you've soldiered through the soft food phase, it gets so much easier with high protein seitan and burgers etc.

What everyone else said. Loose skin is a normal result of massive weight loss. You look young, so that might help lessen some of it, but some loose skin is just inevitable. I've been taking supplements from months before surgery and still take them daily, plus getting my water in and always using firming lotion after showering. This won't stop me getting loose skin. I'm hoping it *helps* a little, but I won't fool myself. But as Catwoman says, I will take this loose skin with gratitude over being 130kg.

Sign up to a gym and get a program from a professional. They'll be able to tailor your workout to what you want to achieve, safely.

I would *love* to bake, but it's just two of us at home, and so I don't get any real opportunity. I can't be making whole foccacia and shoving them at my partner to eat solo! I have zero desire to eat it (grain based carbs don't agree with me anymore), but I love love love the whole ritual of baking, especially bread. But it's totally not selfish to give baking a miss if it's tempting you or making your post-op life harder. Maybe keto baking might an interesting alternative.

This is 100% me. Carbs, particularly grain based carbs, really mess with my guts. Bloating and wind, super uncomfortable. I rarely touch them day to day, but the occasional bite while eating out really comes back to punish me afterwards. I think a lot of us find ourselves with a newfound food intolerance after WLS.

Nothing that first week is normal, you're eating virtually nothing. Even with prescribed laxatives, my BMs in the liquid phase were virtually nonexistent. Pureed stage I was lucky to pass something every third day. It's normal. Relax. xx

My surgeon had me on daily laxatives for the first two weeks post surgery to help with the constipation. Also adding soluble fiber powder to my shakes and protein water.

Soda/fizzy water with a slice of lime is my choice. Carbonated water makes me feel like I'm having a fancy drink, even though I'm not. I can tolerate the carbonation so long as I just take small sips at a time.

I was offered coffee in hospital the first night. It was a couple of weeks before I actually wanted coffee again, but a daily soy latte is my little treat. It definitely seems to be a "thing" for some surgeons, but thankfully mine has never put brakes on coffee. That it's not a universal thing would definitely make me question it if I was told "no".

I'm both a slow loser, and a serial staller. I've lost weight post-surgery at the same rate I did when I tried the old-school calorie counting. I've never had the "honeymoon period" folk on here talk about. I've lost count of how many stalls I've had, and have just this week finally broken another three week stall of zero weight loss. Like you, I follow my plan to the letter, do regular exercise, and know I eat at a large calorie deficit. So I absolutely know how you feel! But as The Greater Fool said - you cannot compare yourself to others, and you cannot let yourself be ruled by the scale. The weight IS coming off, and if it's coming off slower, that's not a bad thing! With luck my slow rate will give my skin the best chance of bouncing back. The trick is to enjoy your own journey without worrying about others, and to celebrate your own little milestones and victories. Because they're happening.

I'm six months out from bypass surgery, and I can now take normal bites. It's essential to eat slowly and chew thoroughly, however. It did take me a long time to be able to get to a "normal" way of eating. I had a good four months of only being able to eat 1/4 cup maximum twice a day, and taking the tiniest of bites. It took time, however. It's a long road that does settle into something more regular, but you have to ride out the early weeks and months.

I was at about 4 weeks before I could stand any pressure on my abdomen, but I had a hiatal hernia repair at the same time as the bypass, which upped the pain levels and pain duration. I slept on my side with a pillow protecting my stomach area, and another wedged behind me to stop me rolling onto my back in my sleep. Sleeping on my back would have been fine, but I didn't want my cat jumping on me. 8kg of cat landing on my gut would have probably sent me to the ER!

Yes! Get those shoes on and run! Finding that joy within after having buried it for so long is a wonderful thing! Don't let anything or anyone stop you.

WLS is a "hard way" of losing weight. The notion that it's "the easy way out" or a "magic wand" is pure ignorance. WLS is just a tool and it's still a life-long adjustment to a healthier way of eating, and it still includes exercise and calorie counting. Your husband (along with many others in society!) needs to understand this. If he's resistant to understanding that, then there's other stuff at play behind his anti-WLS stance. I would also question why "the hard way" is so essential? Why is that so important, versus choosing an alternative route that gets results? Why is the journey being a difficult one so essential here? Again, the surgery option is plenty difficult, but just trying to unpack the logic behind his stance. My partner was initially unhappy with my choice, until I finally broke down and really let him know how utterly miserable I was in my morbidly obese body. I had tried "the hard way" all my life and failed. He very quickly changed his stance and got on board, and has been a great support since. And he can see the change in me not just physically but mentally. I am happy again. I have my sex-drive back. I want to go out again. It's not just weight loss. Your husband needs to know that. And surely he wants that for you? If not... again, there's other stuff going on in that case. I'm sorry you're having a hard time with him over this. It's stressful enough without added emotional strain. I hope he can open his eyes and get on board for your health and happiness.

If it wasn't for protein water, I would have struggled to get my 60g daily protein in the first weeks and months post surgery. I couldn't handle the protein shakes beyond the first two weeks. The protein water I swear by has 28g of protein per serve and adds to my daily water intake, making things SO much easier.

I had a Mini Gastric Bypass/Omega Loop.

It would be dependent on your individual issues. I had bad GERD pre-surgery with a hiatal hernia. Post surgery and H-hernia repair, and I went briefly off pantoprazole after a month. While I had no sign of reflux, I instead developed an ulcer at the stoma within two weeks and was put back on pantoprazole for the next 6 months. I'm still getting the occasional pain in the region of my stomach/intestine join, so I will not be surprised if my surgeon keeps me on the drug for longer than that. Having been on Nexium for 15 years, I won't blink if I'm on Salpraz for a few more.

My surgeon advised me against a sleeve because I had existing GERD. I was initially a bit daunted by the malabsorbtion and dumping risk, but quickly came to see that a bypass was the best option. Worse GERD than I already had would have been a horrible quality of life. I got the mini bypass, or Omega Loop instead of an RNY (my surgeon prefers the Omega over the RNY), and I'm really happy with my choice. I was already a big taker of supplements anyway, so the life-time on them isn't a problem, and so far so good - no dumping. The malabsorbtion in combination with my sensitive bowels can sometimes be ... interesting, but it doesn't happen every day. In short - I'm really pleased I got the bypass and not the sleeve.

No, I was always scheduled for a bypass. I was initially advised away from getting a sleeve because of my pre-existing GERD, and I can only assume knowledge of the hernia would have added to that advice. But my hernia was unknown to me, and so a surprise for my surgeon when he got in there! He repaired it during the bypass operation and told me all about it when he visited me on the ward. Honestly, I'm not sure how I'd feel if I went in to get a sleeve and woke up with a bypass. The malabsorbtion factor, lifetime on supplements and higher dumping risk were things I had to overcome my anxiety about when my surgeon talked me away from a sleeve.

It's not something I've heard of, but my hiatal hernia was a large one that needed surgical repair, so perhaps if the hernia is small enough, it can be pushed back down during an EGD? Though I imagine without a surgical fix, the hernia would reoccur over time.

I heartily concur! It's been 22 weeks since starting my pre-op diet, and I've lost an average 1.2kg per week, which is basically what I was losing doing a regular calorie counting 1200-1500cal per day diet with exercise. I'm eating on average between 700 to 1200 calories per day (1200 is a *really* good day, but if I'm honest, I don't reach that often), always focused on protein and vitamins and water. Frequent stalling. I've just accepted that it is what it is with me and my experience. All I can do is be grateful I'm currently where I am and just keep marching on. I'm the smallest I've been in over two decades, and so I started the None To Run program again. I'm smaller than I was when I did it last time, so I though it'd be a doddle! And it was, I was having no trouble fitness-wise but I managed to completely f**k my left knee and have had to stay off it for this whole week. So trying to up my exercise to running instead of walking to help boost myself has stalled as well. It's a good thing I have a pervasive sense of humour! So yep. These hurdles and stalls are super frustrating. It stalls were a physical entity, I'd kick it in the shins. Then probably hurt a toe.

That's not odd - pretty much what I've experienced! Eating less calories isn't the answer and I imagine that will just create more problems. Your body needs those calories. Stalls are your body's time-out to deal with the trauma of the surgery and the sudden prolonged severe drop in caloric intake. If anything, upping the calories and exercise has been the best way I've found to break the stalls. I'm averaging about a kilogram of weight loss a week, which is what I was losing when I was doing calorie counting and exercise the last time I made a decent effort of losing the analogue way - before I finally accepted I needed surgical help. So I've not experienced the "weight melting off" or "honeymoon period" so many others talk about on here. And while it can get you down, I look at the long term bright side. Slower steadier weight loss is healthy, the number is still going down, and hopefully this means our skin has a better chance of springing back, and our hair loss will be minimal. Fingers crossed!