NickelChip

Okay, first, once you have the surgery you will not physically be able to eat that fast without throwing up and/or being miserable with pain. So you'll learn real quick to slow down when the time comes. Trust me. In the meantime, here is what you do to practice and start training yourself. First, if you can, make a commitment to only eat from a real plate while sitting at an actual table for the next two weeks. No eating standing up in the kitchen with two minutes to go before you have to leave or grabbing a handful of something from the pantry as you walk past. Second, get yourself a timer. It can be a kitchen one, or one of those little sand ones that go for a minute, or just the timer on your phone. Whatever works. When you sit down to eat, take a small bite of food. This means something about the size of your thumbnail, or even half that size. Set the timer for one minute. Put your fork and knife down. Chew. Keep chewing. Chew more than you have ever chewed before in your life. Your food will be like paste. You should feel no lumps in your mouth. At this point, swallow. If there is time left on your timer, sit and wait. Only when the timer goes off do you pick up the fork for another bite. Before you take that bite, ask yourself if you feel like you need another bite. Presurgery, your answer is probably going to be yes. But post surgery, this is a point where you might start to think wait, I feel pretty satisfied. This is when you want to stop eating, because with a limited capacity, you will fill up really fast and might overshoot and feel ill. If that's all you do, you will be fine. If you want to be more mindful, ask yourself some questions as you eat. Maybe ask what you like about this food and think about that. Think about the texture and taste. Think about how your body is responding to eating. Do you feel tense? Are you relaxed? Are you feeling any emotions as you start eating, and do those emotions shift as you eat? Use some of your time between bites to write down some observations. You don't really have to do all of that, but on the other hand, you might be surprised by what you learn if you do. Also, I will say that I struggled a lot with this presurgery but the slow eating is second nature now. When I forget, I don't feel well, so I have a lot of incentive to slow down. You will too! Just do what you can to practice now so your nutritionist is happy with your progress. I will almost guarantee if you keep a notebook for the next week or two with what you ate and when, how long it took from start to finish, and some reflections on the food and how your body was feeling while you ate, you will pass with flying colors.

I think you're looking very healthy! Glad your numbers are looking good and I hope your energy will start to improve as your body adjusts to maintenance. Also, I think it's funny how different we all are in size vs weight. I'm an inch taller and 10 lbs lower than you and I am still mostly in a size 14!

Can you explain what you have to do to "pass" mindful eating? What is the nutritionist going to do to determine if you pass? This will definitely help in figuring out how to get you to the next step.

Yeah, I usually use spinach along with frozen fruit. I don't notice the spinach much and it's a nice way to get in some veg.

I would add them to a green smoothie. Seeds are very good for you! Also, love the idea of adding to oatmeal.

I am in MA and have Tufts. I was not doing a revision, but for me, it took about 6 months to go from first appointment (an orientation class) to surgery day. That was with some scheduling snafus thrown in along the way. I had already spent several years in the non-surgery program, doing nutrition and trying various meds. Curious where you are going for your surgery. I started at Mt Auburn hospital and ended up at Winchester hospital because the Mt Auburn program shut down last year (hence the scheduling snafus).

I am 8 months post op from RNY and what I can tolerate has expanded quite a bit even in just the past few months, after I made it past the 6-month mark especially. You're still healing right now and the next 12 months or so will be very different than the rest of your life that comes after. I love tacos, but instead of filling up on tortilla, I often make a taco salad and just crumble a few tortilla chips on top. Or I order fajitas and eat the meat/veg/cheese but leave the tortilla (or just eat a bite or two if I really want it, which is all I can really manage without getting too full). Ice cream, chips and queso, guac are all fine and I do eat them sometimes as a treat. Try eating guac with carrots when you're okay to have raw veg. It's delicious and very healthy in moderation. Falafel is still a bit filling and too low in protein, but I would take a bite or two. Mac and cheese and pad thai would be pretty low on my list as the noodles are just so heavy. Like, they don't even sound good any more. I do like spaghetti made with spiral zucchini, though. Maybe you could make homemade pad thai using spiral veg instead of the noodles? You could eventually try the Banza chickpea mac and cheese as it's much higher in protein, though right now, I find it's so heavy I don't like it. Over the next several months, you will be able to eat a lot more, both in types and quantity of food. My advice is focus on developing a good routine and keeping your food at 80-90% of the healthy foods like lean protein, veg, and fruit. If you do that, you can indulge in a favorite snack every few days, or maybe one meal a week that isn't so nutritious, or go for ice cream a couple times a month, and it's no big deal. You just can't do it every day. And I suggest not buying anything tempting for your house. I go for a scoop of ice cream at a local farm but I won't keep it in my freezer because I would want it every day.

I never had a lap band, but from the research I did pre-surgery, I can confidently say that you didn't fail your lap band. The lap band almost certainly failed you. It's just not a good procedure for long term success, which is why it is almost never done any more. It causes a lot of issues and really doesn't solve very many when it comes to the root causes of obesity. The gastric bypass, on the other hand, offers an excellent combination of strong metabolic changes plus low risk of side effects. It's a really good choice. I know I couldn't be happier!

It was so frustrating at the time, but here I am, 8 months post op and only 16 lbs away from a "normal" BMI. Haven't been this weight in 30 years! So no matter what bumps in the road come up between now and when you finally get your surgery, whenever that ends up being, you'll get there.

I was supposed to have my surgery Dec 28 last year. I had the option of taking a last-minute cancelation the Monday of Thanksgiving week, but when I told my mom (whose help I needed with my kids), she was totally against it. Said I would ruin everyone's holidays if I had a terrible recovery and kinda made it all about everyone else. So I gave up the date, even though it pained me to do it, because I didn't want to be selfish. A couple weeks later, my hospital discontinued their surgical program and canceled my date. I was devastated. I had to rebook with a different program, which was still affiliated with the parent organization of my hospital, but unfamiliar to me. I didn't end up getting my surgery until February. It was very stressful and I was pretty angry with myself for not choosing what I wanted instead of what other people wanted me to do. Having said that, it did all work out for the best in some ways. Apparently, the November surgery date would have been right after the doctors at my old program were told the center was closing, so maybe that would have meant the surgeon wasn't as focused going into my surgery, which could have been dangerous for me. And I would have had to do all my follow up with a different program, which would've been awkward. And I appreciate that I knocked out my deductible in February so have had full coverage of all my tests and appointments all year. I actually have a biopsy I have to get done next month (not related to bariatric surgery) and that won't have any out of pocket costs, so yay for that. On the other hand, my recovery was pretty much text book, so all my mom's worries over me ruining the holidays with a terrible recovery were baseless. I was pretty self sufficient and back to about 80% functioning by the end of the first week. And 8 months post-surgery, the holidays are rolling around again and guess what? I still can't eat more than a tiny plate of turkey breast, a few green beans, and a bite of pumpkin pie. I still won't be baking a million cookies or drinking a pint of egg nog. So, whether it happens this year or next, your family will have to figure out how to navigate around your new normal. If it were me, I would decide based on what makes financial sense (your deductible, etc.), what works for you with time off work, and would probably avoid the two weeks right before Christmas just because you will need some time to recover in peace without holidays adding to your stress. In retrospect, waiting until February wasn't such a big deal, though, so if you do have to wait, it will be okay. Just make sure you do it for yourself and not for everyone else.

My pre-surgery Vitamin A was 43. It had dropped to 27 at 4.5 months and was up to 34 at 7 months, but "normal" is 38 or above, so the doctor is having me take 10,000 IU of Vitamin A daily for two weeks (which is the same as 3,000 mcg) just to bolster my levels. I will retest before my 1 year surgery follow up. You can get Vitamin A supplements over the counter, no prescription needed.

I am 4 months post-op and after spending way too much time researching, I finally got myself an air fryer! It's the combo type that is built into a toaster oven, so I can keep it out year-round without losing more counter space to appliances. I was also gifted an Instant Pot last Christmas and I will be the first to admit I have barely used it despite hearing so many people rave about them. Now that it's summer and too hot for the regular oven and stovetop, could you help me out with your (preferably simple) favorite bariatric-friendly recipes that use the air fryer or Instant Pot? I don't have any food restrictions except the usual "low carb, low fat" post-surgery recommendations, and try to keep things as minimally processed as possible.

My first thought was that the body composition measurement wasn't accurate. You're maintaining a steady weight, so it would seem odd that just your fat would drop but your overall weight would stay the same. If all your labs look good, I would see about getting remeasured. For the other symptoms you were having, though, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at what you're eating and make sure you are getting plenty of fruit and veg, and increasing your healthy fats if you can.

Oh my goodness, I find it so hard to shop for clothing in stores right now because I can't tell by looking whether something will fit. I order a lot of clothing online, and for that I find the measurement chart helpful because those don't lie the way numbered sizes do. For going into winter, I've bought 3 pairs of jeans, some skirts, and several sweaters. I'm keeping the summer clothing until next year but not sure how much of it will fit by then. I'm less than 20 lbs away from my goal weight now, so that will maybe be one more size down? I guess we'll see! For now, I have been buying cheaper options, but I look forward to buying some nicer brands once I hit maintenance.

Hey there! I had bypass back in February. My best advice is to ignore other people's stats and focus on you. I, too, was worried about my progress, but 7 months in, I am still losing weight and just bought jeans in a size I have not worn since I was 22 years old (I am 50 now). Here is how it went for me, just so you can see one example, but we are all different. Starting weight: 251 lbs (BMI 40.5 as I am 5'6" tall) Pre-surgery loss (over 6 months): -12.2lbs (this was from nutrition changes) 2 week liquid diet: -15.4lbs Month 1: -8.2lbs Month 2: -10.8lbs Month 3: -3.8lbs Month 4: -11.0lbs Month 5: -3.4lbs Month 6: -5.2lbs Month 7: -3.6lbs So far in month 8: -2.2lbs Today's weight: 175.2lbs (BMI 28.3) My goal is to lose another 20lbs in the next 5-6 months, which would be 3-4 lbs per month. That would get me to a "normal" BMI of under 30 and would be about the same weight I was when I was 18 years old.

Choose the one that comes up around 21g protein. I know that if you weigh out a 3oz serving (weight after cooking), you're getting roughly 21g protein, whether it's chicken breast, steak, or salmon.

Just to add, meat loses about 25% weight when cooked. So 4oz of raw chicken will weigh about 3oz after cooking.

Okay, so as I see it, you have three potential issues with coffee. The first is caffeine, which is the main reason some (not all) doctors say not to drink it. It's a mild diuretic, and if you are struggling at all with hitting your fluid targets, you want to avoid anything that will make it worse. If, on the other hand, you easily can surpass 64oz water in a day, you're probably good to go. I never had issues hitting my fluid targets. The second issue is acidity. It's possible the coffee may upset your stomach (but if you are already drinking decaf without an issue, you're probably fine here too). I had to stop drinking coffee except for a few times a month well before I ever had surgery because the coffee was making me sick, so I switched to tea. And I started drinking regular tea at around 4 months because decaf was just sad. The third issue is all the stuff people love to put in coffee and forget has calories. That's just something to be mindful of, because if you mix up a large coffee with tons of real sugar, sugary syrups, and cream, you can easily consume hundreds of calories without even thinking about it. This happened to a friend who had VSG and didn't use sugar but would add a ton of cream to a very large thermal cup of coffee. He honestly thought he was just adding "a splash" of cream. Like, dude, that's 400 calories you just put in that coffee. And it's liquid, so it just goes right down without filling you up at all.

Looking great!

The only way one cracker would make any difference is if you ate it right before going into surgery. Not saying you shouldn't ask yourself why you decided not to follow the rules because that's good information to process for the future, but you don't need to worry that what you did will make a difference to your outcome. When you're in that final stretch before surgery, usually after 8pm or maybe midnight the day before you go to the hospital, that's where you need to follow directions to the letter because you need to have an empty stomach so they can operate on it.

That's really good! Your waist is getting so close to the 35" threshold, under which they say is the "healthy" measurement for women. Also, your waist to hip ratio is 0.74, which is really good, too.

@ShoppGirl I don't, actually. They've changed their offerings a few times, so I'm actually still paying for the group access under a membership level that doesn't exist anymore. I do know they offer a platinum program for $999 that includes 3 personal visits with Dr. Weiner, 3 personal visits with Zoe, plus 3 months of membership for the group meetings (and a bunch of other things like help accessing prescription meds, etc.) but not sure what the cost is to book a single appointment. Although, if you need/want all 6 appointments and planned to do 3 months of groups anyway, it works out to about $140 each with the platinum package, which isn't bad.

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far: February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21) March: -11.6 lbs April: -7.6 lbs May: -2.8 lbs June: -11.2 lbs July: -1.6 lbs August: -8.4 lbs And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now. Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.