Wildflower Bohême

I'm happy today because I have lost 109 lbs from my high weight! I downloaded a coloring page from Etsy to track my weight loss, and once I hit that goal (literally on New Year's Day), I downloaded another one with my next goal. It's fun to color with crayons (and kids water colors, when I couldn't find my crayon box for a while) I keep them on my big magnetic white board. When I'm in a stall or gain a couple of pounds, I don't/can't remove any pounds, because they're already colored in. I just wait until I can color in new spaces. I recommend trying something like this, if it resonates with you!

Great job on everything so far!! I applaud you on your dedication to moving your body!! I also take my measurements once a month, on the 1st. I totally relate to everything you said, including the early stall! I had a stall at 2 weeks and it lasted a month. I cried at my 3 week appointment, as I had gained 6 pounds. I thought my surgeon would think I was non-compliant, even though I was only getting 3-400 calories a day. She hugged me and told me that it was literally impossible for me to be non-compliant at this stage! It was just my body freaking out at itself, and the goal over time was to add a lot more calories. I haven't been able to do much more than a little slow walking, even at nearly 4 months out and just short of 40lbs down from surgery weight. I think it has to do with sleep, about which I have huge issues. I feel like once I get better with that, I'll be able to add a lot more movement. I'm hoping that will help get me through future stalls, which I know are very likely to come and are super normal. Still doesn't make it easy! Also having trouble getting my 64+ of liquids. It's a daily struggle that I don't always meet. My surgeon chose to leave the hospital and physician's group 3 months after my surgery, because the powers that be were making decisions about the program that she felt compromised the program's (and her) integrity. She's moved to a more holistic private practice now, and even though they don't take my insurance, she offers a special rate for follow-ups to her former surgery patients. I'm totally going to go see her for my 6 month f/u and beyond, because the hospital has now ended their bariatric program, and I adore my surgeon and her holistic attitude. I feel really lucky.

Yes, do it!! I love kayaking. Well, I did it once almost 20 years ago. But have been dreaming about it since. Once I'm able to sit on the floor again, I will definitely be trying it too! One NSV is that I am starting to see loose, wrinkly skin on my stomach and butt. It's not pretty, but it's a symbol of my hard work! Looking forward to having a jawline someday, not there yet~ A weird thing is that I weigh less now than I did 20 years ago (in my 20s), but I'm bigger than I was then. My low-hanging apron and jawline/neck, specifically. I guess body fat to muscle ratio? Plus just ageing, I suppose. It'll be a huge NSV for me when (if) I have my panniculectomy~

Thank you for posting this! I read A Pound of Cure about a year or so before my surgery. It really spoke to me. Looking forward to listening!

I'm in Florida, USA and will be going to a Renaissance Fest in December. The theme for that weekend is "Celtic Christmas." I'm in the soft foods stage, so I can't eat what they traditionally sell at these kinds of fairs: giant turkey legs, meat pies, pub food, and general fatty/sugary things. Thankfully, their website says that those with "medical dietary needs" can bring outside food. So I'm wondering what kind of traditional UK or Irish food I could make and bring with me? They wouldn't need to be "period appropriate" (I think historical accuracy isn't always a big concern with these fairs) but I would like to get into the feel of it! By that point I'll have been cleared to have ground beef, soft dark meat chicken or turkey, fruits, and small amounts of butter or oil, in addition to the usual soft stuff, including vegetables. I was thinking colcannon made with cauliflower instead of potatoes? Something with meat would be nice too! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Wow, thanks everyone! I'll definitely look those up. I think I will try making something before the day, to see how my pouch handles it. Great suggestions!! 💖

Just ate some cottage cheese before I saw this. Will try that next time, thanks!

That's really great that you're able to tolerate things so well! When I was having trouble getting liquids in, my surgeon gave me an example: in the first week post-op, one of her patients asked 'is it normal that I can drink 80 oz a day in the first week after surgery?' and she said 'it's normal for you!' I wouldn't worry, every person is different.

Had my first pureed meal just now!! Following my surgeon's guidelines, chicken and carrots. I'm doing fine right now, it all went down fine. Hopefully in an hour or two I'll still be fine. Feeling optimistic!

Hi! Just wondering if a small amount of sugar-free peanut butter cups, if sufficiently mashed/pureed, would be ok in the puree stage. I know I can ask my bariatric dietitian, but I'm just wondering if anyone here has some insight. Pre-op, I have enjoyed both Quest brand and Reece's sugar-free. Reece's has less fat (8g per regular serving) than Quest (13g). I wouldn't have a full serving, at least not all at once. I just want to have something a little indulgent on Halloween, but I don't want to get sick.

I have that pain too. Mine is not too sharp, but if it gets that way, I would probably call my surgeon's office, because they want to know if anything is wrong. I'm guessing it's just that the stomach still needs to heal after such a huge surgery. As far as sipping, I moved on to 2 ounces in a cup when I felt I could (they gave me a sleeve of 2.5 ounce cups to take home from the hospital). I think don't worry about the how much popsicle at once. Only do what you can tolerate. This is all my non-expert opinion of course.

I'm in the same boat. I find that when the sweetness is too much for me, cream soups, Lono Life bone broth, and regular beef or chicken broth (without the added protein - my surgeon told me to reduce protein products in the beginning if I'm too full to drink enough fluids) help quite a bit.

Thanks for your insight! I realized that even having a little bit, the rest of the package would be in my house, and then I'd feel like I needed to eat more of it. So it's better to not even bother with it. My therapist and I do lots of work with this, and it's an ongoing process for sure.

Thank you!! I'll probably wait for now, but I may try it in the future

Found my surgeon's answer about sugar alcohols in my paperwork: "Avoid sugar alcohols... If something you eat has sugar alcohol, make sure it contains 7 grams or less to avoid dumping syndrome." The Reese's has 12g, so that's my answer. Oh well, probably for the best. Thanks for bringing that up.

Hm, good point about the sugar alcohols. My doctor is letting me have peanut butter in the soft foods stage, as she and my dietician let me know at my first post-op appointment last week. For me, candy has been a trigger in the past, but not as much as savory things. I feel like on that front, I'll be ok. As you said, I too definitely want to move towards whole foods, but I would like this one day to have a little something, within reason, if I can.

Everyone has been going through so much! I'm glad for all of us though. My RNY was on October 16th. I haven't posted since then since I had a really hard time the first week, but I'm doing better now, thankfully! Post-op in the hospital was fine, but after that I had a hard time getting any liquids in. Day 3 at home, I only got 6 or 7 ounces in, and kept throwing up nothing. I went to the ER, got 2 liters of IV fluids and had a CT scan which was fine. I was having serious buyer's remorse about the surgery. I was not happy. But sometimes it's just hard to see that things will change. Because they do! My surgeon (who talked to me twice on the phone for about 10 minutes each, once while she was going to dinner with her family! So thankful) had me go to a hydration infusion clinic every day last week, to get 2 liters a day. They had wicked nice nurses, one of whom had had an RNY with my same surgeon 4 years ago! She has kept her weight off and is doing really well, despite having a rough start. She was so encouraging! We talked a lot. I feel so much better now! It's not perfect, and I keep forgetting to take SMALL sips, lol. I'm on full liquids until Tuesday/Halloween, so I'm planning on making a pumpkin puree something-or-other to celebrate. There are a bunch of recipes online for Pumpkin Whip/Pumpkin Fluff, if anyone is interested and in the puree stage. There's always pumpkin soup, if full liquids are better! We shall see.

Ooh yes, those are good! Tying shoes made me think of also not getting out of breath when I bend over to put my dog's harness and leash on/off.

Thanks everybody!! It feels so good to know that other people are in the same boat and understand. I'm cheering you all on! The next day after I wrote that post, I started to feel better. I think I just needed to get it out, you know? I'm focusing on the day by day. I saw that Halloween comes directly after my graduation from puree to soft foods, so I looked up Autumn/Halloween-y bariatric recipes for both of those stages. It gave me something concrete to look forward to (apart from the scale going down lol). ☺️🍂

My one week pre-op diet starts Monday, and I'm starting to get scared. Not of the actual surgery, really. I mean, I can talk about how great the benefits of bariatric surgery will be and how mindful of my eating I will become, and I'm really thankful that I've come this far and that I am able to do it... but the reality is coming, where I'll be in it, and not just talking about it. It seems like maybe the attachment to my old ways of eating is rearing up and trying to pull me back. Like hey, you do realize that you can't stop this train a month in, right? Can't say, oh this diet is too hard, forget it, I'm gonna go eat a pizza now. I mean, that's part of why I want this surgery, because of that restriction. But it's scary, because ending diets is all I've ever known. Not to mention the dumping and hypoglycemia that seems will follow for the rest of my life. This is new territory here, and it's serious. I know I'm going to go through with it and that it'll be great, at some point. But now that it's finally here, I'm just freaking out a little 🙃

I was just thinking the same thing, about making my own NSV goals. Or whittling them down to a small list, anyway. 1. The ability to sit on the floor/ground, so that I can play with and train my dog 2. Walking more and eventually being able to jog and do 5ks 3. Kayaking 4. Swimming. My late grandfather swam competitively until he was in his 80s, so I'd love to get lessons at his swim club. 5. Wearing a bathing suit that's not a swim dress, and not feeling self-conscious about how I look 6. Shopping for non-plus size clothes 7. Reducing/eliminating meds & sleep apnea. Would love to not have to use a CPAP

I think in my case it was due to my insurance requirements. I have Medicaid, so they have very specific demands. I had to have six meetings with my surgeon's nurse practitioner and the bariatric dietitian. I ended having many many more than that, since it's been nearly 2 years since I started. And I had to get all the medical clearances and psych eval and everything. I have only met my surgeon once, but I will have another meeting with her 6 days before my surgery. I didn't have to lose any weight either, but like you, I couldn't gain any weight. But I did gain weight, plus the dietitian required me to be 3 months binge-free before approving me, so it took a lot of extra time. But looking back, I think I needed that time to really figure myself out (with the help of my counselor)! So I feel more confident going into it now.

How did your surgery go? When you feel up to it, let us know!

Ooh yours is just a day after mine! I'm scheduled on the 16th for gastric bypass for which I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am 😴 FINALLY. I first met with my surgeon in November 2021, and after a lot of ups and downs, I have finally made it! I started Ozempic in March this year and have lost 53 lbs, and a total of 68 lbs from my high weight of 276. Today is my last dose, as my surgery is in just over 2 weeks. Feels so weird to say that. Today I had my endoscopy and the doctor told me that I'm cleared. Plus, I found out the other day that my insurance gave their approval, so I'm all set to go! As far as pre-op diet, starting one month before surgery, I've been limited to 45g carbs/day. One week before surgery, I have to do a full liquid diet with a max of 35 carbs/day. Good luck everyone!!!

TLDR: I am getting closer to surgery and can't seem to stop my RECENT daily habit of binging drive-thru fast food, which I do when I get anxiety about something. I hope someone can help. Full disclosure: I am about 2 months pre-op. The only thing I have remaining before my bari office submits my file to insurance is my last nutritionist meeting. I knew the psych eval was going to be a big deal, so I decided super honest with the psychologist. He cleared me for surgery, providing I get established with a mental health counselor and resolve my binging before surgery. I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and PTSD (I also have severe obstructive sleep apnea and PCOS). I have now been seeing a counselor for a few weeks. Also, the counseling center's doctor prescribed me Prozac, which hasn't kicked in yet as I've been taking it for less than 2 weeks. My counselor has told me that her office (or the insurance?? idk) doesn't allow her to provide counseling on the symptom of binge-eating, but rather the childhood trauma behind it. I understand why that's important, but I can't wait to resolve my feelings about the trauma (could potentially take years!) to stop binge-eating and get WLS. I will continue counseling beyond my surgery date, but for now I also want to do what I have to to get the surgery! I talked to my bari office's APRN and nutritionist, and they said they have a list of eating disorder-specialist psychologists I could see, but I have Medicaid, and it's very hard to find any doctor outside of basic community health clinics who accepts Medicaid. They also said maybe the Prozac and regular counseling will help and that I won't need the specialists. I have a book that I think could help me, called the DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Solution for Emotional Eating (recommended by other WLS patients who have my same surgeon). But for some reason I can't get myself to actually read it. I have some kind of mental block about it. I am willing to hold off on my surgery until I resolve this, but I really would like it to resolve in the next month or so, considering that just a couple of months ago I was not having this fast food issue. Not to this degree, anyway. Plus, eating fast food every day is expensive, and I have gained 6 lbs, which I must lose before submitting to insurance. I have little coping strategies for when I get anxious and want to go get fast food, but I keep ignoring them. 😕 Would appreciate any help at all! I'm getting desperate.