FifiLux

Woohoo, well done.

I'll be home in Ireland this weekend so may get the chance to fit a bit more shopping in at M&S in person rather than online has I have had to do over the last year.

7 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Yea. I wish I could’ve dropped 50 on my own. I tried many times. Well, I did lose it many times. I just always gained it back 😢

The higher the BMI the faster you usually lose in the beginning after surgery, though. Everyone slows down eventually (the closer you get to a “normal” BMI). But 50 pounds was almost 20% of my body weight so that was quite a bit of difference off of my knees. Made a pretty big difference in what I am able to do physically.

I hope you will see that you are able to do a little more quite quickly after you are recovered. From there you just have to take advantage of it and work your way up until you can soon do all the things that you enjoy doing.

Same, I tried every diet going over the years and they worked for a while but then I would just slowly, without realising, gain it all back again plus usually a little more. That is why I knew the surgery was the correct tool for me as no matter how much I tried I couldn't do it on my own - and I wasn't on my own even as such as my family and friends supported me so much over the years.

My target at the start of this sleeve journey was not a figure on the scale but to get down to a clothes size (UK 10), to have more energy to then get fitter and to not feel ashamed and like the fattest person in the room all the time. Anything more than that has been a bonus, which I will not take for granted.

That sounds like a very good mindset to go into this with. It is about feeling better about yourself, improving your health and extending your time with loved ones. Unrealistic goals just work for a short time and then in most cases people go back to where they were before or even worse.

Setting realistic goals will get you a long way, slow and steady really does win the race.

I couldn't do much exercise before my op as my knees would get so sore but now they are so much better with so much of the weight off them. I walk with a spring in my step, I do pilates and I have now joined the gym - none of these things would have been possible for me in recent years.

I have lost more weight than the goal my surgeon set but over the last month it seems to have steadied now to up and down the same 1kg so I think my loss is stopping and now I am trying to focus of turning fat into muscle, knowing that that will result in another kg or two on the scale but it will be a healthier body,

16 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I wonder if it would be worth it to pay to take them in? I mean if you really like them and can’t get them in a smalller size.

I thought that but the waist would need to be taken in, the legs taken in and possibly some work done on the bum area so probably not worth it.

15 hours ago, Chatterboxdea said:

You guys are making me wish I was already at the point where I could get rid of my old wardrobe and get smaller clothes! I have lost about 25 lbs but I always lose up top before bottom, so I have noticed my shirts getting looser but that’s about it. 🤞🏼it happens soon!

It will happen soon don't worry so don't spend a lot of sizing down as I have found that I buy something and then a few weeks later it is too big already. Buy cheap if needed, belts have been great.

Yes, you need to get a few things for work at least.

I thought I had work trousers, usually wear jeans to office, but for meeting clients etc we can't do jeans. Yesterday put the M&S size 10 trousers on and they are so baggy (not in a flattering way) and barely stay up. Had to wear them yesterday and today but think they will go in recycling bag. Annoying as I have another lovely M&S pair in a 10 also but they are too big, but at least can take a belt, but all too late to return them and they are out of stock in a 6 and 8,

I had my first gym session today and the personal trainer took me through a 40 minute set and I didn't die 😂

Not sure what I will feel like tomorrow though and next session isn't until the end of next week as I will be away.

That is great news and the choice of surgery, as you explain it above, shows that really have considered what is best for you for the long term.

Hopefully it will be sooner than the 4 - 6 months but if it is even at the shorter end of being 4 months that is not that far away and you have been doing great work the last few months so I have faith that you can keep going, plus it does mean that you will likely not be on the LRD for Christmas so can relax a bit.

23 minutes ago, BlondePatriotInCDA said:

I'm confused as to what "results" you're expecting? If you've had your psychological evaluation appointment and they've not called you to tell you that they need to postpone or cancel your appointments OR schedule more psychological sessions before you can progress afterwards you basically have your results - you're still in the program and are still going through the insurance required hoops. Am I missing something, or reading your question incorrectly?

I'm fairly certain at the time of your evaluation the psychologist/ counselor would have told you that you weren't ready for the surgery or you couldn't move on to the next step! Everyone I know who couldn't go to the next steps was told they'd require a "few more therapy sessions" before they could have the surgery at the time of their original session. I wouldn't worry about your "results" but, if you are call them and ask!

I agree. I never got any results as such from my psych eval, it was a step on the way to the surgery.

You could always ring to reconfirm your appointments for later this month and as a by the by ask if the psych step is now complete, that might put your mind at ease.

That is good news, hopefully it gets signed off or at least with some points that can easily be ticked off.

That is strange to be asked about side effects. When I had my psych call it hadn't even been decided which surgery it would be so it didn't come up that I recall but as we have said each doctor has a different approach.

Until recently I bought mainly second hand (Vestiaire and Vinted) or sales in M&S and Next. It meant I wasn't paying a lot for good quality clothes that I wasn't going to wear for very long.

@MrsFitz the body scan etc is not included free, there is a €150 charge for the administration/set up and then it is €85 every two weeks hence I only signed up for a six month agreement, to see if it is worth it longer term. That said it does include about 8 or 10 personal training sessions in the six months as well as general gym access.

That main course sounds lovely, I love steak and pepper sauce though I tried it in July and it did not stay down, think the sauce I had was too creamy.

Delighted to hear you had a lovely dinner and felt (and looked) fabulous. As you say December is not that far away at all now so fingers crossed.

I was back at pilates at the weekend after a summer break (theirs, not mine) and boy could I feel it yesterday in my abs/core area but it is a good pain. On Friday I went to an intro session at the gym near me and am due back in two weeks to go through their body scan process and have them design a workout plan for me.

Thankfully on the scales today I was back down to just below my goal weight so the flights and plane food have worn off, woohoo.

I am sure it varies for everyone depending on the approach of the psychiatrist and the medical programme but from what I remember I was asked about why I believed I put the weight on, what I had done in the past for weight loss, did I suffer from depression, did I have an eating disorder, how my weight impacted my life, did I have a supporting family and friends group etc. Then I was asked about what I wanted from the operation, he made sure to explain that the op is not the treatment alone and I would have to put in the work on myself and my body, how the op was a tool to help me and I would have to make changes and choices for the rest of my life. He also then asked would I be happy with the changes to my body such as saggy skin as that is what a lot of people are left with.

We discussed my weight journey over the years, how I am an organised person so if I am given a set of rules (with a few bendy grey areas 😉) I felt I could follow the changes that would be required without much of an issue and that while I would love to not have saggy skin I knew that would be impossible but that being a healthy weight with less risk of health issues was more important.

If you already put down about being schizoaffective on your medical forms and they considered it an automatic fail I would hope that that they would have already told you.

Congrats and enjoy wearing the clothes now as they probably will be getting loose in the coming weeks/months 😀. Did you get all of what you tried on?

I still honestly don't see a thin me a lot of the time. I know that I don't have to shop in the plus size shops or sections anymore but I find it difficult to comprehend at times that number of sizes I have come down. In my jeans and trousers I have gone from a UK 22/3XL to a UK 8.

I think part of my problem though is also the inconsistency of sizing across different brands, it doesn't always help with a healthy body image. I mentioned it in another post this week about my holidays in the US last week, I found it very hard to find clothes as in some cases even size 0 and XXS was too big, all I came back with was a rain coat, t-shirt and blouse in XS, tracksuit bottoms in a small and a youths small t-shirt and tracksuit top (thankfully the shop had the same tracksuit for youths and adults 😂). Seriously disappointed as I had brought an extra suitcase with me which came back empty though on the plus side I came back with more than half of my spending money.

I still do double takes at times when I see myself in the mirror.

Today I brough another three suitcases of clothes to the recycling center. It took me three trips to walk there with the full bag each time but it also helped me get my steps in.

I don't mind, I will get there again in once I am back on my usual foods etc but just frustrating.

I don't think my cat is impressed with my new lifestyle as he sits in front of the oven expecting to be served food however I don't think I have used my oven more than twice in the year since my op, now it is air fryer or slow cooker if cooking. Guess he misses his oven cooked chicken 😂

I know he missed me (his servant) while I was in hospital for so many months with my post-op complications as he has been so affectionate and chatty since I was finally released last November. For weeks I felt he would go into panic mode if I grimaced and had a bit of pain but I presume he was just afraid I would not be home to serve him!

On 9/25/2024 at 1:36 PM, MrsFitz said:

@FifiLux isn’t it odd how the there are so many different approaches to WLS? Some have no pre-surgery diet, some have a couple of days, mines 3 weeks plus there are longer ones etc. It’s hardly surprising that some people end up totally confused with what they are supposed to be doing! Oh, how was your break? Did you take your travel scales? Did they help if so?!

I didn't bring the scales with me and I am glad I didn't as it turned out there was one in the hotel room.

I am frustrated though, the day I left for my holidays I reached my target weight (home scales) and when away I checked a couple of times on the hotel one and was still same or a bit less but got home last night and checked my scale this morning and it has me back up 1kg again and therefore above my target. I feel like it is 1kg forward, 2kg back at times. I walked so much over my holiday, D.C. is a very easy city to walk, but did find it hard to hit my Protein goals but tried to make sensible choices as much as possible, I had to ask the hotel to only serve me a half portion of pancakes for Breakfast 😉.

I am hoping my system just has to settle again after plane food etc.

I am just back from a week in D.C. and I walked soooooo much every day without any exhaustion or pain so that is a huge win for me, no way I could have done that in recent years pre-op.

I tried to stock up on clothes while in the US but found it very frustrating as could find very little I liked that fit me and the things I did like were not available in my size. I actually fit in to a size 0 pair of Karl Lagerfeld trousers but they were a bit big on the waist so I decided they weren't worth the price to then have to pay to be altered, but the sizing across the brands I tried was so inconsistent it was exhausting, I think I spent almost 3 hours in a Macys trying things on and just came away with a bra and cardigan!

2 hours ago, Spinoza said:

"Has anyone done the LRD over Christmas, just out of interest?"

Again, I'm really sorry but I don't understand what this means.

My first xmas post sleeve was 7 weeks in. I have plenty of experience to share of that's what you're going to need ❤️

Mrsfitz is waiting on her surgery date, and is on a cancellation list, so wondering about doing the liver reduction diet pre-surgery.

I didn't have any pre-surgery diet to follow so can't offer any insight @MrsFitz

Glad to hear that you are over the worst.

Don't put any pressure on yourself, just do what your body needs.

Sorry to hear about Covid and all the calls back and forth, not fun at any time but especially when feeling unwell.

Do what your body feels it needs this week with regards to rest and food, the healthy plan you have been following will hopefully help you come out of this better than you might have if you had caught Covid a few months ago.

Take care.

Looking fab , as always, and love the green on you.

20 hours ago, Bypass2Freedom said:

I think sometimes the scale really doesn't help, especially when we are losing in cm/inches as you say! It is really good you are reflecting on that still and not focussing on the scale!

I am also going to be on holiday so I am hoping the extra walking will help 🤣

The heat might help melt a bit off also 😉