NickelChip

I have to admit, I'm also unaware of revisions that can be done with bypass. I was under the impression your options are fairly limited after bypass, though I'm no expert. Reflux after bypass can certainly happen, but it's highly unusual, as is stretching out your pouch to an abnormally large size (aside from the regular increase in capacity that is normal). I would think a visit to your primary care doctor would be your first step, or an appointment with your surgeon's office if that's possible (I know it's been a long time, so maybe that isn't possible). You're going to want to determine if something has gone wrong that can be fixed surgically, or if it's something that medication or lifestyle changes could better address.

Congratulations!

I do have a walking pad! Unfortunately, it's been so hot in my house, I haven't wanted to use it. I only have window units for a/c and the heat and humidity have been in the mid-90s, so it's very hard to keep things cool. But I'm going to go to the mall to go walking tonight, and tomorrow it's supposed to be in the low 60s in the morning.

I would also join a Discord group if there was one! I'm still struggling with consistency since returning from vacation. I had to dive back into work and household stuff immediately and my brain power doesn't seem to stretch as far as food prep and maintaining a schedule. I've been stuck between 186 and 187 for a few weeks now. And since my region has been under a heat advisory since last week, I haven't been getting my walks in at all. I keep waiting for something new to report, but I still feel stuck. I will be taking 5-month photos in a few days, though. I missed my 4-month while on vacation, so I'm extra curious to compare this time to my before photos.

Looking great, and I hope you enjoyed the beach! Last summer, I took my kids to an indoor water park at just around my highest ever weight. I had to buy a new suit because nothing I had fit anymore, and looking back at the pictures, oh my goodness. I even looked uncomfortable. We went again a few weeks ago, and I was 4 months post-op. Let's just say that thankfully, the suit from last year went straight to the giveaway bag, and I had to order a new one because even my "skinny" suit from a few years before was a bit roomy. I ordered two new ones and ended up with one that is perfect and one that was a bit tight, but I'm hoping it will fit me well in a few more months. Such a great feeling, and going on the water slides was so much more fun this time than 60 lbs ago, for sure.

If you're basing your bypass opinions on 20 years ago, it's come a long way! I chose bypass and have been very happy with the choice. Having said that, I am an avid listener of Dr. Weiner's Pound of Cure podcast and videos, and I found these videos so valuable when making my choice. Ultimately, I went with bypass for the more durable weight loss and avoiding GERD. But there are good reasons to make either choice, and these kind of walk you through some of that.

At 2 months, I could hit 700-900 fairly easily most days. Here is an example of what I was having. Ignore the goals as this app syncs with FitBit and insists on updating all your goals based on your exercise. Those are not the ones I set!

I keep a mental tally of protein each day but I haven't been writing it down. However, I have an appointment with my dietician on the 23rd so I think I will write everything down for at least a week before so I can bring it in with me to discuss. I always wear my Fitbit, so I have data for exercise and sleep, but obviously having the nutrition info is important. And it would help with accountability and resisting temptation, too. I haven't tried the cottage cheese flatbread but I've seen the videos and am intrigued!

Ugh. Getting back on track after vacation is harder than I thought it would be. I have no desire to cook and I'm craving snacks and sweets like crazy because I know they're in the house. I had done a thorough job of getting all the snacks and candy out of the cupboards leading up to surgery, but with the kids home all day for the summer, I've bought some things for them, and we also brought home stuff from our trip. Resisting the temptation when it's just in the next room while I'm working is HARD, especially because having a snack was often the way I would deal with avoiding a project for work that I didn't want to do (I work from home). Add on top of that the beginning of hunger returning and an increase in how much I can comfortably eat in one sitting and it's a battle. Plus the weather has been miserably hot so if I don't get out to walk first thing in the morning, it's not happening. Needless to say, my weight has bounced up a pound this week. So frustrated!

In my case, I was referred by my primary care doctor to the weight management center that is affiliated with the hospital and everything else was done through them. But I know it can be different depending where you are. In my case, my surgeon, dietician, and behavioral therapist were all in one office and I went to the hospital to have my labs drawn and my barium swallow and EKG. I did not have to do a sleep test or endoscopy based on whatever criteria they use for that. My insurance required a certain number of visits with the dietician and surgeon, but I'm not sure now what the requirement was because I had been going to the center for a long time on medically supervised weight loss before switching to surgical, so I had long since met those requirements.

So glad it went well! And an apology, too? Wow!

Do you like dresses? I adore dresses for warm weather. I suggest getting some loose, flowing types and a few light cardigans or those scarf-life draping kimono/shawl thingies for if you go inside somewhere that is cooler or want to cover your arms. I would probably take measurements to match up to your size on online size charts and try ordering or shopping in mid-August. You might get some things on end-of-season clearance. Actually, one of my favorite tricks is to find one dress I like and buy it in 3 or 4 neutral colors, and then top it with different accessories that I can use at any dress size. Three different kimonos will make a single dress look like you have three.

My go-to marinara brand is Bove's, which is made in Vermont and only contains plum tomatoes, olive oil, fresh onions, fresh garlic, salt, and fresh spices. It's delicious, but is pricey and can be harder to find if you aren't in New England. But the one I will get if I'm not able to find Bove's (or if I'm feeling like a cheaper option) is Ragu Kettle Cooked tomato basil, which you can get at Walmart and Target for under $3 a jar. It's about as close to homemade as you will find from a bigger brand and the ingredients look like things you keep in the kitchen. The turkey meatballs are fresh but precooked from Shady Brook Farms and can be found in a lot of grocery stores. The ingredient list is kind of terrible, though. They are tasty and heat up in 2 minutes, but once I actually looked at all the crap in them (I tossed them in the cart without checking), I will probably opt for a frozen version in the future if I don't want to make homemade. Speaking of frozen, they make frozen zucchini spirals, and I think you can get butternut squash and beet spirals, too. When made with fresh (not frozen) ingredients, I just toss it all in a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Dinner done!

As others have said, I felt absolutely no hunger after surgery. I got a little tired of the same flavors every day and kind of missed chewing, but I wasn't hungry. I even had to go back on liquids for a few more weeks because of some vomiting issues and it was fine. For resting, the first couple days home I rested a lot. I would bring a big tumbler of water and a premade protein shake into the living room and just sit and watch TV and nap when I needed. That passed quickly and the pain was mostly gone within a few days. You will be amazed how quickly you are feeling back to normal. You've got this!

Tonight I decided I'm making myself zucchini "spaghetti" with marinara (I buy a brand with no added sugar) and precooked turkey meatballs from the grocery store. It only takes a few minutes and everything is pre-made so the prep and cooking time is minimal. A little sprinkle of parmesan on top and it'll be good to go!

If you don't want to stay off the scale for a week, which I'll admit I can't do either, just remind yourself each day that the number does not define you and that it isn't the end of your weight loss journey. Plateaus and small upward movements are common and normal throughout the process. It's temporary. You're still eating too little for it not to be. You're only 6 months in, so you have at least another 6 months ahead of you to lose those last few pounds. It will probably get harder, but it will happen! And you've done an amazing job in such a short period of time.

It's easy to forget that "weight" and "fat" are not the same thing. You can burn fat and go up in weight, and it's normal for daily weight to fluctuate by several pounds. You've been really lucky so far that the scale has gone down consistently, but you're getting to the 6-month mark and that's when the surgery's fat burning effect starts to slow (not stop, but slow). In the past, you were burning enough fat quickly so that even if you went up in weight from water or the food in your digestive track, you wouldn't see it on the scale. Now, though, you might only lose a small amount of fat in a week, so you could see the scale become a little more erratic. It's totally normal and you aren't gaining fat. It's also very common to hit a stall around 6 months post op as your body recalibrates. You'll probably see slower weight loss once it breaks, but you'll still see the scale go down for many more months. And if I just base it on my own experience, you will experience this type of thing the closer you get to a number that feels important to you because the universe is like that. The moment I dropped below 200 lbs, which was such a psychological milestone for me, my weight bounced back up and it took another 10 days to get back into the 190s again. My third month post-op, I stalled and only lost a total of 3.8 pounds. The following month was my best month so far for weight loss. So don't read too much into a little wobble on the scale if your habits have been reasonable. If it takes 3500 extra calories to gain one pound, unless you can identify some really bad choices that would have led to a 14,000 calorie surplus this past week, it's not anything you're doing. Just keep following your plan and ignore the scale.

Thank you for posting this! This is very timely for me because I've just gotten back from vacation and am struggling. The kids are off school and underfoot. The house is a mess with things to be washed and put away from vacation. My routine is off and I'm not getting enough sleep. The fridge was empty when I got home and I lacked the energy to meal plan, so I now have a fridge of random food I picked up and hope I can turn into meals. We came home with way too many snack foods and sweets and now that they're in the house, the temptation is at an all-time high and my motivation to follow the rules and do what I know I need to do is feeling very low.

I use a straw and have had no problems. My program said not to use one because it might cause me to swallow too much air and result in discomfort. This has not been my experience, and frankly, I found it a little silly because if anything, drinking with a straw causes me to swallow much less air than drinking from a bottle or cup because I tend to gulp from an open container. I think most people know which way of drinking works best for themselves, and it's very individual. If you swallow more air with a straw, avoid it. If you don't, you will likely be able to use one post surgery without any issues.

@LisaCaryl Oh no, that acid reflux experience sounds terrible. When I was deciding between surgeries, the reflux issue was one of the things that swayed me toward gastric bypass. It's such a terrible feeling. I hope you can get it under control quickly.

@BlueParis The music festival looks like a wonderful time! And I'm so glad to hear you're in a good place with how you feel about yourself. It makes such a difference, doesn't it? For me, it was a year ago today that I went to my appointment with my weight management doctor and was advised to consider having surgery. I had just finished a 2-week roadtrip, driving around 7,000km from Boston to Denver and back for a writing conference, with some great stops along the way. And by "just finished" I mean I had pulled into my driveway at about 10am that morning, having been delayed at the Canadian border (because the maps app on the iPhone didn't know the little border crossing it was sending me to closed at 4pm and I had to drive a couple more hours to find an open crossing!) and having to stay an extra night in Vermont because it was getting too late to make it home safely. After two weeks of restaurant meals and junk food snacks, I weighed in at my highest ever. A year later, I've lost 65 lb and am just 1.4 lbs away from no longer being classified as obese. I still have a ways to go, but it feels good to have gotten this far. Recently, I've had more trouble with vomiting, so I'm sticking with liquids for 24 hours to see if I can let my stomach rest. It seems I never know what will set me off. I have an appointment with my nutritionist coming up soon and will talk to her about it. I'm also struggling post-vacation with some sugar and carb cravings, along with having zero desire to do any cooking now that summer weather has arrived.

A small amount of cooked vegetables, chewed thoroughly and eaten once by accident will not cause a leak. Some programs even allow cooked vegetables in the soft foods stage.

Yes, I have an Instapot and am just starting to give it some use. I've made delicious bean soups, and I have a recipe for chicken I'm wanting to try. I just try to follow recipes that are specifically for Instapot and they always come out perfectly. The meat really is tender, and soups are so good.

My favorite no-cook meals are salads. I like to start with a salad of baby spinach, matchstick carrots, fresh edamame, chickpeas, beets, feta or goat cheese, a sprinkling of sliced almonds, and top with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. It pairs well with chopped chicken breast (buy rotisserie to avoid having to cook it), smoked salmon, or thawed pre-cooked shrimp. Regarding the honey in your recipe, I would start by cutting the amount in half and see if you like the flavor of the glaze like that. Depending how you feel about artificial sweeteners, you might also try one of the no-sugar keto "honey" substitutes that are out there.

I know exactly what you mean by the stretchy clothing. I think the past couple years before my surgery, I was able to fool myself by only buying the stretchiest clothing. I stopped wearing jeans and bought lots of leggings, loose tunics, and flowing kimono-style wraps to wear over. They always fit, even if I went up 10 lbs. It was such a nice day when my jeans fit again, but it also drove it home to me how I had been kidding myself about not changing size in all that time.