November 2023 buddies

[Meisha 15]

On 12/29/2023 at 1:30 PM, SomeBigGuy said:

Just checking in for the first time in a couple weeks. Surgery was on Nov 20, and doing well from that, however, I caught covid just before Christmas, so haven't been able to do much this week. It's still hanging around making work difficult, but luckily I can work from home. Just hoping its gone by next week because this sucks.

Besides that, I had a stall with a 3-5lb regain for about 2 weeks before it started dropping again, but things are moving along again. That "week 3 stall" is real, so don't get discouraged by it, the weight loss will resume.

@Meisha - I can relate, I had the Christmas + covid pity party, and ate chocolate and Cookies I shouldn't have had, and I did not tolerate that well at all, lol. I guess in a way it was a good reminder to get back on track. Suddenly I wasn't as tired of Protein Shakes after getting sick from that.

Oh mylanta! I’m so sorry that you had such a rough time over the holidays! But I’m glad you’re back on track!

I finished week 4 and FINALLY at the chewing food stage!!! So far I’ve had sautéed shrimp, a half of a piece of turkey bacon, and some ground turkey! Hallelujah! I’m looking forward to having my energy back!

The cortisone shots I got in my knees have worn off, so I’m rejoicing with every pound lost that I’m inching closer to being out of pain. So far I’ve lost 30.4 since surgery. Woo-hoo!

My daughter had RNY surgery Wednesday. She’s pretty pitiful right now but it’ll be nice to be able to do this journey with her when she’s feeling better.

Here’s to a new year full of health and hope!! Blessings, my friends!

[Meisha 15]

Have you dreamed you've eaten something you know you shouldn't?

Last night I dreamed I was in a convenience store eating a Twix candy bar. I woke up in a panic. Not only because I was worried about the ramifications of eating all of that sugar, but also because I'm allergic to wheat. I seriously woke up ready to grab my epi-pen in preparation of anaphylactic shock. 😅

[ChunkCat 728]

6 hours ago, Meisha said:

Have you dreamed you've eaten something you know you shouldn't?

Last night I dreamed I was in a convenience store eating a Twix candy bar. I woke up in a panic. Not only because I was worried about the ramifications of eating all of that sugar, but also because I'm allergic to wheat. I seriously woke up ready to grab my epi-pen in preparation of anaphylactic shock. 😅

YES!! When I was on the pre-op diet and on all liquids I kept dreaming I'd walk by the counter and auto-eat a cookie, which is weird because I never have Cookies in the house. I legit woke up in a panic attack and really had to think back and realize it was a dream, not a memory! LOL It was so vivid man... It happened twice! I thought I was going crazy...

[ChunkCat 728]

Two Month Update!!! How is everyone going??

I have been losing and gaining the same 2-4 lbs for a month now. Stalls are stupid. They swear the weight comes off the fastest in the first 3 months but that has not been my experience past the first two weeks. It is frustrating. But I feel a lot more energy and my underwear keep trying to fall down even though the rest of my clothes still fit, so I figure something must be happening. I got out my tape measure to do my month two measurements (I skipped the first month because I figured it wouldn't have changed much) and great balls of fire people, I have lost 26 inches!!! In two months!!!! I've lost 28 lbs since surgery, I had no clue it would add up to that many inches lost...

I've lost 8 inches from my chest 😭 and 6 inches from my waist alone!! That means I'm losing a lot of visceral fat, which has me sooo excited. And is probably the cause of my underwear falling down. LOL Everywhere else (hips, thighs, arms) have lost 2-3 inches each! Moral of the story?? BE SURE TO TRACK MEASUREMENTS!! I have them in my Baritastic app and also on paper in case the app does something stupid with them.

In other news, I've decided I can be more active now, so I'm adding in steps at about 1,000 per week. Last year with all the injuries and illnesses I averaged about 1,000 steps a day, can you imagine?? That is so low it is scary to me. So this week I'm doing 2,000-2,500 steps a day, and will increase it by about 1.000 a week until I hit 10,000 steps consistently. Steps are excellent cardio because below 5,000 you are considered sedentary/low activity. Over 5,000 is considered medium activity, and once you hit 10,000 daily you are considered highly active! So that's my goal.

I can't do lifting or an elliptical or anything because I have a shoulder injury we are still assessing for surgery. But once that is taken care of and healed I'll add weights into my workout. I have a gym phobia but my partner is lovingly encouraging me to face that, as it will be the only way to get those steps in, we don't live in a walking friendly area. So to Celebrate my progress so far I ordered a few funny sarcastic gym tanks and sweatshirts to cheer me up for when I have to go face the gym. Sarcasm always helps. 😂

[NickelChip 1,224]

3 hours ago, ChunkCat said:

Sarcasm always helps. 😂

This could be my personal life motto.

[ChunkCat 728]

1 hour ago, NickelChip said:

This could be my personal life motto.

It's clear we are kindred spirits. 😂

[Meisha 15]

18 hours ago, ChunkCat said:

I have been losing and gaining the same 2-4 lbs for a month now. Stalls are stupid. They swear the weight comes off the fastest in the first 3 months but that has not been my experience past the first two weeks. It is frustrating.

Sarcasm always helps. 😂

I'm in the same boat! I've been yo-yoing between the same 3 pounds for a week now. Juuuuuuust enough to not feel its necessary to call the dietician. Ugh. I've lost 33.4 since surgery, 41 total if you include the 8 pounds I lost before surgery. QUESTION: When people ask, do you tell them how much you've lost since surgery or how much you've lost overall? I don't want to give anyone a false impression that I've lost 41 pounds since surgery, but do they really care that I lost 8 pounds before surgery?

I need to add more movement to my daily routine. I'm averaging about 2000 steps per day thanks to my need-replacing knees and I tried a chair aerobic workout this week. Clearly it was NOT a beginner video. I was sucking wind at 2 minutes into it - and it was only 10 minutes long! I had to stop at 4 minutes in. It was disheartening, but I won't be deterred.

@ChunkCat & @NickelChip - Y'all are my people! Sarcasm is my love language.

[SomeBigGuy 110]

I usually just say I've lost x pounds since the pre-op started and leave it at that. If someone asks about how much since my highest weight, I'll mention that one too, but I haven't gotten any more questions than that regarding the total weight itself. If they ask specifically, I'll share.

For my weight tracker on this site, I did list my highest ever weight, but I did lose about 30lb between my peak weight and the pre-op diet over a couple years, but I left the 352 as a reminder to me of where I could still be had I not taken any action.

If they come back with some snark about whether I thought the surgery was necessary, that's when I turn on the sarcasm with a non-answer. Luckily those have been few and far between so far.

[Char V 52]

Hi all,

I am glad I’m not the only one having issues.
I haven’t had steak in 16 months. A month ago I was woken by my husband as I thought his arm was a big ice juicy steak🤣

Cat you could be gaining muscle and that’s why the weight doesn’t look different on scales. But your measurements do. The surgeon also said when you go to soft diet/full diet you can have a stall. But also Fluid intake plays a part.

Some Guy you are doing a great job. Screw what others think. Sarcasm is the way to go.

meisha tell them how much you’ve lost overall. As that is when your weight loss journey started. Some people don’t know I had the partial sleeve. But I went in for hernia repair august 2022 and ended up with the Partial sleeve cause of stomach damage. So mine was a bonus and a kick start to reality.

Me……When I had my 8wk post appt we had talked about the pain I was in and not stomaching soft foods and how I might end up having gastric bypass…….
Well I ended up in hospital NYE. I couldn’t drink/eat or even swallow my own saliva without excruciating pain. Turns out I had a perforation in my oesophagus and stomach with a lot of inflammation. We had to go on a drip as I was also very dehydrated. Have intravenous meds 3 times a day as I was becoming septic too.
So I am back on fluids for this last week and the next two weeks. 🙄. So over fluids/liquids. I cried Christmas Day as everyone was eating turkey and prawns.
but the plus side is I’ve lost 10kgs since Nov 2nd.

[Btaylor91 4]

I had my sleeve surgery on Nov 20th. Monday marked the beginning of week 7 post op. Since week 3 I have not lost anything (if anything, I've gone up a couple pounds).

I am getting 60-70g Protein. Water is a bit of a struggle due to just forgetting to drink water (no issue drinking it, literally just forget). My MIL has been bugging me the last week to remember water, thankfully, so I'm getting 64oz now.

Hopefully this is just a *really* long 3 week stall. Just 4 weeks long now. Aughhhh.

[ChunkCat 728]

1 hour ago, Btaylor91 said:

I had my sleeve surgery on Nov 20th. Monday marked the beginning of week 7 post op. Since week 3 I have not lost anything (if anything, I've gone up a couple pounds).

I am getting 60-70g Protein. Water is a bit of a struggle due to just forgetting to drink Water (no issue drinking it, literally just forget). My MIL has been bugging me the last week to remember water, thankfully, so I'm getting 64oz now.

Hopefully this is just a *really* long 3 week stall. Just 4 weeks long now. Aughhhh.

Congrats on your surgery and welcome!

I had a 5 week stall with losing and gaining the same 2-4 lbs. I'm 9 weeks out now and it just broke!! I started being really obsessive with getting as much Protein as possible (I'm a DS patient and we need alllll the protein), and making sure I was getting at least 64 oz, more like 80 if I could help it. And then I added steps in, increasing by 500-1,000 steps a week. And then 2 weeks later the stall FINALLY broke! I don't know if it was a coincidence or if what I did helped, but I'm really thankful it broke. I lost 5 lbs! Hopefully it'll continue down from here, the stall weeks are stressful.

[MJbypass 5]

Hi everyone! My stall is in full swing right now at 6-7 weeks post. It is so incredibly frustrating.

[Cj975 6]

I am right there with you. 7 weeks today and have been stalled close to 2 weeks. Frustrating.

[BoilerBob 51]

Hi all. Glad to hear so many doing well even with little bumps along the way. I overindulged a little in sweets around Christmas but have otherwise been doing good in keeping to the plan. I’ve been tracking weight each week and have had a few stalls but things are in a good direction. I’m down about 70 pounds from the start of the pre-op diet and 40 from surgery. I’m about 100 pounds down from my heaviest ever weight before diabetes meds, etc. It’s been about 8-10 inches in waist size on my pants.

I’ve been trying to exercise more but we’ve had so many sicknesses in my house and I can’t really exercise much while coughing. My biggest goal is to get more consistent with my weekly exercise. I got a Bowflex to try to get more toning in at home.

[Char V 52]

Hi all.
When I was on round one journey this came From the dietician when I had my stall. The stalls are normal. A lot of you are getting active and building muscle. You’ll notice more in the measurements then the scales.

Spoke with the Dr this morning and he said I can try soft soft diet. So I got off the phone and went straight for the scrambled eggs( haven’t been able to stomach them in the last 17 months) oh they were a delight and how I missed them.