Mandapanda@

Seeing this side by side literally made me tear up. I was 297, unhappy with how I felt every morning, my relationship with food was terrible, drinking to excess, and just not feeling like the best mom and partner I could be. 1/24/24 I took back my life!! I decided that I am worthy of being healthy, and my family deserved to have me around and not just existing but living the best lives with them. I don't want to brag but damn it I am going to! I am so proud of this progress. I honestly cannot believe that those pictures are the same people!

Dang!!! well I blew passed my goal weight. I am now 167.8 which is not on purpose, I am trying to maintain, which I am sure my body will settle eventually.

Tired, sore and physically/mentally drained.. but happy you did it. It made me feel hopeful that finally I was going to be healthy. You can also expect to be over whelmed even if you've done your research..its a complete change in your routine; constant Water sips, small healthy Protein meal stages and preparing each meal for those stages...lots of adjustments to your new life.
You've got this!

I too think your therapist could have chosen her words more carefully. (I also want to point out that if she's a therapist rather than a nutritionist, nurse practitioner, etc, while I would hope she would have training specifically to support body image, eating disorders and other related topics, it may just not be her specialty. She might not have the right vocabulary to be as helpful as another might.)

I feel like it makes sense that post-op, the focus is definitely on Eating For Nutrition rather than enjoyment. Obviously we want things to taste good, but that especially in the beginning when taste buds and hormones are readjusting, sometimes we need to focus on eating to recover and survive and heal, or what we can manage to get down if we're having a phase of lack of appetite, etc. As we heal and as we move through different stages of our diet, we'll naturally move towards making our meals more delicious while maintaining the healthy benefits we need.

Is it possible that your therapist misinterpreted your comments about missing food? Maybe you said you miss food, but were particularly missing solid and textured foods and things with a variety of flavour and they heard it as "I miss being able to eat half a pie or an entire pizza for dinner because it comforted me emotionally". Either way, I would've liked for them to say "Hey, it's temporary, food gets better" and "have you tried putting a bit of splenda and unsweetened cocoa powder on your yogurt, or put some fresh herbs in your broth and strain them out after simmering for 30 min".

Yes, I think it is just a case that maybe the wrong word was used which is unhelpful and can cause doubt and anxiousness.
Maybe the therapist is just tying to get the point across to not let food control you going forward and not to just focus on being able to eat what you want again but do the steps to get to the right mindset so you get the best life out of the surgery.

I think we ar meant to enjoy food - just mindfully and in moderation

So I'm in the liquid phase, post op surgery and am a little over a week in and I miss food. I understand attachments to food is what got me here, but is it really wrong to miss food? I spoke with my therapist this morning and she said to be careful not to glamorize food. I'm not sure how to think about this. I told her I still want to enjoy food, or get enjoyment out of food later on. Am I wrong to feel this way? I understand it's more about fueling our bodies and of course I want the right foods to keep improving my health. But are we expected to never enjoy food again after bariatric surgery?????

thoughts??

thanks

Thank you all for your replies, ♥️

Oh my word! The gurgling stomach!! I joked with my mom that the 20% that was left for my stomach was awful chatty about getting rid of the rest of her!!!!! It isn’t as loud the second week I feel like.

OK, this is not weird, but it's the BEST NSV I could ever have and the BIGGEST reason I did my surgery. I got my labs back today and my liver enzymes are NORMAL. And not just high normal, either, but solidly in the mid-range. They were very high before! I have been in happy tears all day because of it! My liver disease was the thing that finally made me decided I needed surgery and it was SO worth it!

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So I'm in the liquid phase, post op surgery and am a little over a week in and I miss food. I understand attachments to food is what got me here, but is it really wrong to miss food? I spoke with my therapist this morning and she said to be careful not to glamorize food. I'm not sure how to think about this. I told her I still want to enjoy food, or get enjoyment out of food later on. Am I wrong to feel this way? I understand it's more about fueling our bodies and of course I want the right foods to keep improving my health. But are we expected to never enjoy food again after bariatric surgery?????

thoughts??

thanks

So I'm in the liquid phase, post op surgery and am a little over a week in and I miss food. I understand attachments to food is what got me here, but is it really wrong to miss food? I spoke with my therapist this morning and she said to be careful not to glamorize food. I'm not sure how to think about this. I told her I still want to enjoy food, or get enjoyment out of food later on. Am I wrong to feel this way? I understand it's more about fueling our bodies and of course I want the right foods to keep improving my health. But are we expected to never enjoy food again after bariatric surgery?????

thoughts??

thanks

No you are not wrong, we can enjoy food and drink eventually but realise we have to make sensible choices or we could go back to where we were pre-op.
I think the way to think about it going forward is that you will still enjoy food just smaller portions, and depending on what your diet was like pre-op, maybe healthier choices. Some of your tastes may change from like to dislike or the opposite but you can enjoy and savour the smaller bites.
Also during the liquid phase you are most certainly going to miss the thought of other food, I mean seriously who would prefer a bowl of flavoured dishwater Soup vs something like a pizza or steak dinner?
I am now a year out following my sleeve and cook the food I like but just eat in smaller portions and I go out about once a week for a lunch or dinner and enjoy the food - plus I enjoy it usually again the next day with the leftovers I bring home.

So after my post last week where I was .4 away from my goal, I am not 1.2lb UNDER my goal! So I am working on my macros to see what caloric threshold I should hit to stay around the same. Last week I was eating around 1100-1200calories and I still lost weight. Gonna stay around the 1200-1300 mark. Any input on this aspect would be great! I’m still working out 6 days a week (been an addiction lol)
Last week my sisters, mom and I had a spa day, laid by the pool with drinks after our massages and I couldn’t believe the difference in how I looked between the summers!
The drink in my hand is coconut mojito mocktail that was delicious but too sugary I had a couple sips because I didn’t want to 💩 everywhere 😂

Wow…..

Ii haven’t had my revision yet but for the sleeve I was told about 6 weeks and I could do exercise. For the revision it’s a little more complex so at the skull part group meeting we were talking about fitness and I said that I needed to do core exercises and the PA said that 6 weeks was fine for them too and the surgeon was right there and didn’t correct him so I took that for myself as it means I’m pretty much cleared at that point for most things. I think they do say to wait a bit longer for weight lifting and one girl asked about roller derby 3.5 years ago. But outside full contact stuff and weights it seems to be 6 weeks that we are healed enough to be safe from outside stuff so I would imagine all swelling and stuff would be gone by then for sure.

Generally full healing takes about 8 weeks but of course some are a little faster others take a little longer.
There will be some abdominal swelling from the surgery & being poked & prodded, your organs being shifted about & the external wound areas. Again recovery is very individual. If I remember correctly it took me about a week.
Some abdominal swelling is from the surgical gas (it’s not in your tummy but the abdominal cavity) which you will slowly breathe out over about a week or so. They also pump you full of a lot of Fluid so you may be retaining some fluid from that. It can take a few days for you to pee it all out.
Some shakes can cause bloating from the lactose or if they contain sugar alcohols (sorbitol, xylitol. Erythritol, isomalt, etc.) Some find if they sip too quickly they can swallow air & become bloated & gassy too. GasX can help with any gas.
All the best.

So, recently i’ve been having an off and on relationship with “super sadness” since the surgery. My therapist told me that she has had many clients who has gone through the same emotional changes & that it’s completely normal. I’m typically a happy go lucky person so … this (on top of my menstrual hormonal emotions😭😭) it’s been alot. But i cope with journaling, prayer, sitting by the Water, and soon the gym. How have you guys navigated or navigated this time?

It gets so much better! Don't beat yourself up over the goals -- they're just that, goals. You're not expected to reach them, especially at first. Just do your best to keep on sipping.

Oh boy am I struggling… barely can get anything in. Few sips and I feel at super capacity!!!I’m-miserable. Tell me it gets better!!!

If this experience taught me anything it was that the human body adapts - i was panicking my first week out of surgery i knew i wasn’t drinking enough broth and Water and tea included.

But my dietician just said you’ll see your body adapts as long as you keep sipping when you can - you do the best you can listen to your body.

The internal swelling is no joke - you can feel perfectly fine on the outside but imagine the healing going on inside. You’ll actually be able to feel it go down a little each day and the restriction won’t be so harsh.

I hit none of my hydration or Protein goals the first few weeks 🤣 and i felt sooo bad about it but in the end it really isn’t the end of the world as long as you try to the best of your ability

Some people are more swollen and tender the others. It’s doesn’t take much in an already small space to make a lot less room. Just keep sipping as best as you can. Not everyone hits their goals right away but try your best. Sometimes people find that it goes down easier at different temperatures. Like room temp, cold or warm (not hot). Also try different flavor enhancers. Everything, even broth or popsicles count towards your goal so try everything on that list and just keep doing whatever seems to get the most down. It should get a little easier day by day, hour by hour by hour even, as the inflammation goes down. Hang in there.

It really will get better, I promise! You got this!

Oh boy am I struggling… barely can get anything in. Few sips and I feel at super capacity!!!I’m-miserable. Tell me it gets better!!!

Hey there, I had gastric bypass but it's basically the same thing for incisions. I suggest something loose and comfy. My surgery was in the winter, so I wore elastic waistband pajama bottoms and a loose top. You may be a bit puffy from IV fluids and surgical gas so expect to feel bloated and not wanting anything tight on your abdomen. If I were choosing an outfit for summertime, I would probably go for a sundress with no waistband or light pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. I actually wore my clothing in and back home because I arrived first thing in the morning and immediately changed into the hospital gown, which I wore until I was discharged, so my arrival clothing was clean. Just brought underwear, socks, and very basic toiletries. You won't need much, but I do suggest chapstick because dry lips is a real problem. Some hand lotion, too. I brought my Kindle and never turned it on.