NickelChip

I made a batch of overnight oats last night and it was pretty good. I did 1.5 cups rolled oats, 1.5 cups Fairlife skim milk, 3 scoops of Syntrax unflavored protein (30g), 3 Tbsp chia seeds, 1 Tbsp raw honey, 1 Tbsp apple pie spice, 2 navel oranges cut into small pieces, and a pinch of salt. This makes 6 servings.

Congratulations on a great appointment! I agree completely that you will want to hold off on the holiday clothes until right before. I recently tried on a dress I thought when I bought it would never possibly fit and it did, and I'm only 6 months post-op! Also, my surgeon's office is 4 lbs higher than my home scale, and 2 lbs higher than my primary care doctor's scale. I curse at it under my breath at every appointment. But 5kg seems particularly rude of it!

I think pre-tracking and meal prep are great strategies. It's like making a grocery list before going shopping. When you know what you need and have a plan for your day, you increase the likelihood that you will do what you intend to do (stay on track, buy the right foods, etc.). When you leave it up to making a quick decision in the moment, that's when things go awry.

This is definitely a question for your surgeon and dietician. I totally get what you're asking, and my hunch is that you only process what you absorb (the rest basically traveling out of the body as waste), but I think the only reliable answer is going to come from a medical professional. They should be able to tell you exactly how many grams you need daily to maintain healthy organ function, as well as what sources, because fats are not created equal and some will be easier for your body to handle (and more beneficial) than others. I'm sure there must be some research out there because it's a relatively common complication of all WLS to have gallbladder removal. So if your doctor doesn't know immediately, they should know how to find the info for you.

Do you have a sewing machine or a family member with one you could borrow? Scrubs are pretty simple in construction so I'm betting you could take them in a really easily, at least enough to not have your pants fall down. In a pinch, some safety pins at the side seams of the waistband will work, but stitching would be more comfortable. But as for everything being plus size, this seems to be the way it works. I struggled for years trying to find 2X and 3X on the clearance racks at clothing stores. They would only have XL in all the stuff I liked. Now I need XL and all they have are 2X and 3X!

I started watching the videos last summer when I first started the path toward surgery. I learned so much, and by now I've watched all the videos at least once. There's one on keeping the weight off for good that I go back to over and over to remind myself of the changes I need to make. I've watched all the podcasts, too. There's so much information and I feel like it's coming from a very trustworthy source. Last August, I read Pound of Cure. I did not start with the two-week metabolic reset diet, but I decided I would eat 16oz of non-starchy vegetables daily, cut back significantly on bread/crackers and cheese, switched my regular wheat pasta to chickpea pasta, and stopped drinking diet soda (my only regular source of artificial sweetener). I didn't count calories, cut back on portions, skip sweets, or do anything else that would have felt like a diet. I just made those relatively easy changes that I thought would address some of my biggest issues, and over about 6 months, I lost 13 lbs. There was never a time before when I lost so much weight by doing so little, so I'm definitely a believer that these changes work. If you're up for the challenge, the 2-week metabolic reset might be a great way to kick-start getting back on track. He explains it in his book, but there's a free PDF you can get from their website with all the pertinent info (scroll way down on the page to find the link): https://www.poundofcureweightloss.com/nutrition/.

Today's podcast episode was really good in addressing weight loss plateaus and making reasonable dietary changes:

I am going to recommend something I personally subscribe to, which is the online support groups through the Pound of Cure Weight Loss's nutrition program. It's $49 per month and you get unlimited online groups and classes, including groups run by Dr. Weiner, the bariatric surgeon, and Zoe, the registered dietician. They are both so nice and really helpful in answering questions and offering thoughtful advice. While he's not in your area (the practice is in Arizona), I know he's one of the few doctors out there who is happy to take patients who had surgeries elsewhere. If you're not already familiar with Dr. Weiner's book Pound of Cure, I can't suggest it enough. I bought it from Amazon last summer and it helped me start turning around my nutrition while I was waiting for surgery. Their podcast and video series on YouTube are also invaluable.

On the one hand, the farther out from surgery you get, the more you can physically eat. This is normal at a year post-op, and may have coincided with the timing of your poor food choices. But if you have been going "off track" by eating a bunch of slider foods, that will in part explain why you don't feel any restriction. The more you focus on eating lean protein and high-fiber veggies, the more full you will likely feel. Your tool never goes away, but your nutrition becomes even more important the more your body can eat. My suggestion is to skip the "pouch reset" where you go through the stages of food. There's nothing magical about eating puree and drinking shakes. You were supposed to do that because your stomach had just been slice open and stapled up. What you should do is go back to a bariatric diet. This means eating protein first, veggies second, carbs third. It means portion control, eating at planned intervals, avoiding sugar and fat. It means waiting 30 minutes after you eat before you drink (not because you can't physically drink, but because doing so can contribute to hunger), and making sure you get a minimum of 64oz of water every day (but 90 oz is probably better). Instead of revisiting the first few weeks after surgery, meet your body where it is now. Plan three high protein, healthy meals for yourself each day. For breakfast, you might try making two eggs, a serving of spinach, and some roasted sweet potato. For lunch, you could try a salad with 4 oz of chicken and some black beans, plus lots of veggies. For dinner, make yourself 4 oz of salmon, a serving of broccoli, and a serving of quinoa. Space your meals evenly throughout the day, around 5 hours apart. See if that amount of food fills you up. If it does, you're pretty much where you probably should be at this stage. If it doesn't, add more veg to your plate at meal times, and allow yourself up to two healthy snacks, such some fresh raw veggies and a ranch dip made from Greek yogurt, and maybe a bowl of fresh berries with Coolwhip and nuts for dessert. My guess is, if you focus on eating the right things and not eating simple carbs and high fat comfort foods, you will start feeling much better.

You say above that "granted, they are right." Respectfully, your friends and family are 100% wrong and don't have a clue what they're talking about. Obesity is not caused by a simple lack of willpower. If it were as simple as eating right and getting some exercise, none of us would be here right now. You didn't supply your height and weight details, but based on the list of ailments you've mentioned, I'm guessing you have a significant amount of weight to lose, like well over 100 pounds. It's very hard to lose more than a small percentage of your body weight and keep it off. About 95% of people who lose weight through calorie restriction and going to the gym regain the weight. Not because of a lack of willpower, but because there are complex systems in our bodies that work hard to keep us at a weight our bodies have decided is right for us. Unfortunately, in those of us with obesity, that desirable weight has been set much too high. Fighting against that is extremely difficult. That's not to say that surgery will fix your issues with food. It won't. You will still have to do all the work on your mental and physical health to lose the weight and keep it off. You will have to eat right. And exercise. And work on your food addiction by modifying your behavior, hopefully with the help of a professional therapist. You'll need to track your food intake for months if not for life, and there will probably be foods that you will never be able to eat again, either because they make you ill or because they trigger bad behaviors that you need to avoid. You'll have to learn a whole new way of cooking and eating. You'll have to be careful of transfer addictions. Sometimes you will feel left out when everyone else can eat things and you can't. You'll have to defend your choices to people who have no idea what they're talking about and no filter on their opinions. Surgery is frickin' difficult. But, it's effective. It changes your hormonal balance to make your body want to be at a healthier weight. If you follow the rules, you will lose weight and keep it off. Your physical health will improve. Your body will feel better. But you do have to follow the rules, and the rules are challenging. You have to be ready for it, and even when you think you're ready, it's common to make mistakes and to struggle sometimes. You'll need a support system and the confidence that you've made the right choice for the long term even when it sucks in the present moment. If you decide surgery is right for you, you will need to believe in yourself enough to look your family and friends in the eyes and invite them to either support your decision and help you, or else they can feel free to shove their negativity into the orifice of their choosing. This is your life, your body, and it's your right to decide what you need to live the best way you possibly can. No one else has to wake up with the pain you feel in your joints, hip, and back. No one else has to struggle through the day and have their options limited because of their size and health. No one else has a say in what you do to improve your situation. But I will tell you this. There are probably some people in your life who will not think this is true. They will not appreciate you stepping out of your role as the obedient one and standing up for yourself and not doing what they want you to do. They will feel threatened. They will not like it when you lose weight, and they will say mean and nasty things about how you cheated and took the easy way, because if you succeed at this, they will feel like it takes something away from them. They are the ones with the problem, not you. They may try to sabotage your efforts and make you feel bad about yourself. Again, they are the ones who are wrong. But that doesn't make it easier in the moment. So make sure you have people to talk to who support you. I wish you the best of luck. You're young and you deserve to have an awesome and long life full of good health and happiness. Don't let anyone else take away your chance at that. Finally, here is a video that I highly recommend to help with your decision:

OMG, I am so tired of chicken! It's the one thing I can usually eat without issues, which means I order a stupid garden salad with grilled chicken (dressing on the side), every single time I go to a restaurant now. But if I reheat leftover chicken, it almost always makes me ill, with the exception of ground chicken. You know, I'm getting used to the 3oz portion size, so if I could eat a full 3oz of something like brisket, I would be satisfied. Chewing it would take like 30 minutes anyway. But when you get only one or two bites in and you can't manage another, that's disappointing. Not only do you not get to enjoy the flavor of something tasty, but you don't even hit your protein goal for that meal, which is just adding insult to injury in my opinion.

It's not so much the particular foods I grieve, but I really miss not having to worry that something I eat will land wrong and make me sick. I used to have an iron stomach. Even through two pregnancies, I never had morning sickness. Now, I swallow a piece of broccoli that I only chewed 99 times instead of 100, even though broccoli was fine yesterday, and I'm in agony for an hour before it finally comes back up. But MsPretty, since you're from Texas you'll understand this one: I grieve brisket. I went to a local farm that does this amazing BBQ on the weekends and I was only able to eat 3 bites of brisket before I was full. So I took home the leftovers and I couldn't eat them because reheating the meat dried it out enough that it made me sick

100% with you on fashion! And I don't know about in the UK, but in the US, so many of our department stores hide the women's plus section on the top floor, behind the children's department, next to the toilets. It's always the part of the store with not enough heat or A/C and clothing strewn everywhere because the workers never get back to that area to clean it up. Although, I'll caution you now that whatever size you happen to be in when you go shopping as you lose weight, that will be the size they are out of. I used to struggle to find a 2X in things and could only find XL. Now I'm looking for XL and there are only 2X. Like, where were all you 2Xs a year ago?

Not adjustable, but I buy my bras direct from the Bali website after trying them on at a department store. They cost $36 at the store and only $18 online, often with free shipping if you buy two. I bought one in white and one in beige, and so far in 6 months, I've only changed bra sizes once, so that's been lucky. I went with the wire-free as those are more forgiving with size changes. I'm wearing 40DD and find it's worth the little bit extra money to get good quality, even if they won't fit in a few months. Since I only have two, they get plenty of wear!

It's almost midweek again, so I'll chime in! I'm pleased that after a 30-day stall, not only has the scale started moving down again, but I officially hit a BMI of 29.9, so I'm officially overweight instead of obese! My focus this week is on meal prepping, starting to get a system in place to help keep me on track as the busy school year approaches. I'm trying a combination of meal prepping and ingredient prepping, so the hope is to have several days of breakfasts and lunches ready to grab-and-go in the fridge, build a stash of freezer meals in single portion containers that can be microwaved when in a hurry, along with having the things I need, such as chopped veggies or marinated meat, already waiting and ready to go when it's time to cook something fresh during the week.

What an amazing difference! And not just in your face, but your shoulders and neck, too. You're making tremendous progress!

Sounds like you had a wonderful time! You'll be completely swimming in that sweatshirt before you know it.

This doesn't sound like dumping, but it does sound like something you should keep an eye on and mention to your doctor if it happens regularly.

I have to say I haven't come across a protein powder that could be sprinkled over a popsicle without clumping and being disgusting. But I did add unflavored protein powder to tomato soup in the early weeks because I got really turned off by sweet shakes early on. It gave it a similar taste and color as if you'd added a little bit of cream. I want to say I was allowed tomato soup right away (smooth, no chunks).

For comparison, because I know your other option is a revision to bypass, I am 5 months post RNY and I can already easily eat a cup and a half of some foods, such as soups, salads, or yogurt and berries. I can often eat 3-4 oz of meat, or a full can of tuna, plus veggies along with it. My brother, who is about 15 years post-sleeve, can finish a regular plate of food in a sitting (by which I mean a reasonable serving of something like chicken, veg, and starch, not what they give you in a restaurant that has 1800 calories and is enough for 3 people). SADI will probably change your metabolism in a more powerful way than bypass because that is what the research shows it does. But since you've already had a sleeve, it's possible that neither revision will have the full effect on you that it would someone who is getting a surgery for the first time. And whichever option you choose, I do think in the long term, it's less about whether you can eat a certain volume of food and more about what food you choose to eat. Basically all bariatric surgeries typically result in having more capacity the further out you get, so it's what you do with that capacity that makes the difference in success over time. I can tell you that my brother has regained about half the weight he initially lost not because of how much food he can eat but because of how much beer he drinks every day (he admits as much). And if I regain weight in the future, I already know it will not be because I am eating 6 oz of chicken and 2 cups of steamed broccoli in a sitting. It will be because I haven't managed to curb my sweets cravings (and yes, I can still eat plenty of sugar and fat without getting sick) and too often give into the convenience of processed foods and simple carbs. Those are my weaknesses, so that's what I'm trying to work on now while the effects of the surgery are still fresh. But no surgery can fix it for me, unfortunately. Basically, any revision you choose at this stage will give you a new and more powerful tool to work with. No surgery will address the underlying destructive habits that lead to weight regain.

100% this! I bought a lot of bariatric versions of things that I think helped me mentally before surgery, because feeling like I was preparing made me less anxious, but that I truly did not need. This includes portion plates and special containers, not to mention way too much protein powder and things like jello packets I've barely touched 5 months out.

It's great that your body is starting to regulate! But also... periods, boo! I started using the Mirena IUD after my youngest was born, so going on 13 years of no periods (although not everyone has that luck with it). However, the last couple months, I have had noticeable spotting that lasted several days, and also the tenderness in my breasts that I always had with my period. So definitely there's something changing for me, too, with weight loss, even though it's being masked a bit more because of the birth control. I was starting to wonder, since I'm 50 now, if maybe I was done (hard to know if you've hit menopause with Mirena) but this seems to have answered that question, anyway.

After having my surgery cancelled last month due to the abrupt closure of my hospital's bariatric practice, I have a new date at another hospital in the area and can hardly wait for the time to fly by. I'm scheduled for gastric bypass on February 21. Any other February peeps out there?

The curls are gorgeous! That's a really nice length and style to frame your face, very flattering.

I'm right at 5 months, and over the past few weeks, it has become HARD. In the beginning, I was dropping weight, had zero interest in food, and was totally motivated. But since the beginning of July, I've lost a pound. Actually, I've lost and gained and lost and gained that one pound multiple times. I've started feeling hungry sometimes again, and that's triggering all sorts of bad behaviors like getting up when I'm trying to avoid work (I work from home) and looking in the cupboard for a snack, not to mention craving sweets. It's been a constant fight. Not getting that reward of watching the scale dropping all the time kind of saps the motivation, I think. And the novelty wears off and you start to realize that you're in this for the long haul and maybe you start to rebel a little. You're not alone. You say you're afraid of being judged, but you are judging yourself every time you do things you know you shouldn't do. You said it yourself. You're disgusted by what you're doing, but there's a reason you're doing it, and figuring that out is going to be the key to stopping it and changing. I feel like there is probably a voice you hear in the back of your head telling you that you can't do this. Maybe there's literally someone saying it to you in your life, but most likely it's a voice in your head from a long time ago, one that sounds like you but probably was someone else when you first heard it. For me, it's my grandmother, and to some extent my dad. Never happy, never praising. Expecting perfection and scolding "for your own good" over every little thing. Ridiculing my weight despite being overweight themselves, but also overfeeding me because that's what they knew. Food was the enemy, but also a reward from emotionally stunted caregivers who had no other way to show affection. When you can never fully meet expectations at a young age, you learn quickly that you will always fail. That may be the role you've played in your family. Maybe it's everything, or maybe just one thing, like being overweight. And when you start to succeed, it feels frightening because it challenges everything you have been taught to believe about yourself. If you're not "the fat friend", who are you? Or maybe being "the fat daughter" kept a jealous family member happy because you weren't "competition" that way. There are so many reasons we get into these patterns. But the point is, the patterns feel normal and safe. So you make sure you don't succeed and change too much or for too long. You're used to being disappointing to yourself. You can live with that. But admitting you're capable of succeeding and changing is really scary. Allowing yourself to challenge the roles other people want you to fulfill is the hardest thing you can do. At least that's my experience. As for how to change, my first suggestion is talk to your team. That's why they're there, and they know what's going on because they've seen it before. Face it head on. Nothing they say is going to be any worse than what you are saying, and doing, to yourself. If you can get set up with a therapist, even better. Second, get every source of temptation out of the house. The alcohol. The junk food. Whatever is making you stumble, get rid of it. Do your shopping online from now on, or curbside pickup because it is way easier not to give into temptation that way. You can't binge on what you don't have. But skip the gym. It's really only about 10% of your success, anyway. Focus on water, protein, and vitamins. You don't need the false guilt of the gym to make everything worse. And third, get help from people you trust who are close to you if you can. Accountability is key. If going out to eat is an issue, tell your friends or family that you need their help not letting you go out to eat. Explain why you can't be around snacks, or why you won't be ordering alcohol, and ask for their help. If you trust even one person in your life to tell what is really going on, tell them. You need another voice cheering you on instead of just your own head bringing you down. Bottom line, something about what you are doing right now feels comfortable to you. It's a pattern that you can live with, even if you hate it. Something about what you were doing when you were following the rules was making you uncomfortable. Figure out what and why. You can't change your habits until you change that voice in your head, and until you can love yourself and cheer yourself on instead of being your own worst judge. But you have to believe you're worth it and be willing to do things that scare you in order to get past this fog and get to where you want to be.