February 2024 Surgery Buddies?

[NickelChip 1,212]

@BlueParis Frustrating as it is, I think it takes most people about a year to reach their lowest weight. Those lucky few who drop the weight really fast are unusual. I know it's hard! But you're a healthy weight and looking great, so it's worth being proud of how much you've accomplished, especially with such a difficult travel schedule. At least your stall has broken!

As for scars, mine are similarly dark purple. This is not a surprise to me as I get very dark scars, even from spider bites. Those pajama pictures reminded me that I had to get rid of an old favorite pair of pajamas as they were much too large. I look forward to buying a cozy new pair when the cold weather rolls around!

I honestly don't know how anyone stays on track while traveling, especially on vacation. It is so hard when eating at restaurants non-stop, not to mention being surrounded by snack foods and temptations like ice cream and candy, which are much too easy to eat. I dread what my weight will be at the end of the week when I get home from my family trip. This will be the most days in a row I've missed weighing myself since surgery. But now that I've had a day of indulging in some treats, and realizing that eating junk isn't as appealing as I remember and kind of makes me feel blah, I'm hoping I'll be better about limiting myself to the healthiest options I can find.

[LisaCaryl 96]

@BlueParis, you look amazing. I wish you didn't have so much societal pressure to be crazy thin. Being a healthy weight should matter most, then feeling good. I grew up in southern California and always felt pressured to be thinner than I was. Even when I was 116 pounds, I was told, "You're getting there." Looking back, I looked sickly thin for my frame.

My scars are pretty dark, too, especially the largest one. The others are quite small and not that noticeable.

I saw my primary doctor today and she wasn't at all worried about my A1C being at 6.1. She said we'll take another look at it in 6 months. She was very happy with all my numbers and thrilled about my weight loss. She said I was "boring and making her job so easy." That was a first!

[RonHall908 130]

2 hours ago, BlueParis said:

I'm about to leave Paris again for 3 weeks and head into a crazy tunnel of meetings and flights and travel and conferences till the end of July ... I've finally dropped to under 69kg but now know that my weightloss is probably going to slow to 5-7ish pounds (2/3kg a month) so I have a long slog in front of me and If I reach my goal it won't be until December I reckon. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm trying to look at the progress I've made so far and concentrate on the fact that although my BMI is at the top of healthy it is healthy. Looking back at pictures is helping. My collar bones and hip bones are starting to make a reappearance at last and that I'm happy about.

I've decided I also probably need to seriously act on my drinking too and will count my units this next month and consider seeing a shrink if I'm averaging over 14 units a week.

By the way how are everyone's scars ... mine are still so dark - see last picture!

The progress in your pictures is awesome. My scars are lighter, two of them are small but you can still see them somewhat. With you being normal BMI, I would say it's going to take time to get to your goal. Travelling a lot will have something to do with it as well. I want to get under 200 lbs. before my knee replacement in October. I know, once I have that done. Weight loss will probably be nonexistent for a couple months.

[Noelle74 53]

You look absolutely amazing!! Congratulations on the weight loss. I don’t know how you do it with all the traveling. I think it takes some time for us to adjust to actually seeing ourselves thinner even after we have lost the weight. Even losing 45 lbs now I don’t always see myself thinner. Then I look at my English bulldog who also weighs 45 lbs and remind myself that I lost that much weight lol 😂 When I look at it that way it makes me see it differently. I am 18lbs away from my weight the surgeon wants me at but it is very slow going now. Some days I fluctuate between the same couple pounds instead of going down and making any real progress. Orientation at work already has given me a cough and stuffy nose. Too much time hibernating at home. I am anxious though to see if all the moving 8 hrs a day will get the weight dropping faster. I hope everyone continues to beat the scale and stay positive!! It looks like everyone is doing great!

[RonHall908 130]

How's everyone doing heading toward July 4th Holidays?
I'll be taking a trip driving to Missouri visiting friends and family there. I'm going to prep some meals and take Protein Shakes with me to make sure I don't fall off the wagon. I've lost a few pounds, breaking the stall I had going. I did measure my belly or what the bariatric center called my waist (measuring around my belly at the belly button), and I lost 1-1/2 inches since May. So the stall was not as significant as I thought it was.

@BlueParis With the Olympics in Paris in a few weeks, are you going to attend any of the games? I would bet getting around will be a nightmare with so many people there for the games.

[LisaCaryl 96]

Hey there! I'm glad you did see some benefits from the stall. My dietician told me that would happen. The scale will stall, but our bodies will still lose inches.

I'm doing well here. Nothing much new, really. It's so freaking hot out, and while I can handle it a bit better than I did with 50+ more pounds on me, it's still miserable. Especially the horrible humidity we get here.

My birthday was last week, and my hubby and I ordered me an Electric Bike! It won't be here for a while, but I won't really ride it until it cools off outside anyway. We are building a new home and will be moving in about a year and a half, and that's when I really want it. We will live where it's more conducive to riding. We live on a mountain right now, and I'm not sure I'll be able to ride it down the hill. I'll try!

Hope everyone else is doing well!!

[RonHall908 130]

46 minutes ago, LisaCaryl said:

Hey there! I'm glad you did see some benefits from the stall. My dietician told me that would happen. The scale will stall, but our bodies will still lose inches.

I'm doing well here. Nothing much new, really. It's so freaking hot out, and while I can handle it a bit better than I did with 50+ more pounds on me, it's still miserable. Especially the horrible humidity we get here.

My birthday was last week, and my hubby and I ordered me an Electric Bike! It won't be here for a while, but I won't really ride it until it cools off outside anyway. We are building a new home and will be moving in about a year and a half, and that's when I really want it. We will live where it's more conducive to riding. We live on a mountain right now, and I'm not sure I'll be able to ride it down the hill. I'll try!

Hope everyone else is doing well!!

Happy Belated Birthday!
I've never wanted to get on a bike and ride. However, since I've been on the stationary bike a lot. I think that's something I may get more involved with after I have knee surgery and heal up. The Heat is rough here as well.

[NickelChip 1,212]

Back from vacation last night and had a great time. We spent 2 days at the waterpark at Great Wolf Lodge, then drove to Hershey, Pennsylvania to visit the amusement park, followed by a trip through Lancaster County (where many Amish people live). I did what I could to meet Protein goals and make healthy choices at restaurants, but I also allowed myself some sweets and tried not to stress about it too much. Weighed myself this morning and was down one pound since last week. Overall feeling good and looking forward to getting back to a more normal schedule, although I have a bit of a break from work until next week.

A few random travel tips:

Always make sure you are getting your food prepared the way you want it when you order. I saw a photo of a salad with grilled chicken on the menu, but I didn't realize it could also come fried until that was what the server brought me. She didn't ask which I wanted (she was new), and I just assumed it was grilled. A simple, "That's with grilled chicken, right?" would have saved me having to try to peel away all of the fried breading.

If you must order fast food when on the road, a small cup of chili from Wendy's has 16g protein and 240 calories. I believe it's 22g carb (6g of which is fiber). They also have some nice salads.

For a long car trip, bring a gallon-size thermal jug of ice Water and keep it in the back to refill your smaller water bottle.

Individual packs of edamame, beef Jerky, and nuts made great portable Snacks to get in some extra protein, and Quest protein chips are delicious! I also found protein pretzels in a gas station convenience store and they were good, although not as high in protein as Quest (which they also sold there).

[BlueParis 117]

Hi all! Sorry I've been in a whirlwind (I'm not sure thats how you say that in english...) of work for the last few days. The political situation in France is very unstable and unsettling right now and because I work with public funding it's been more than crazy. I'm in Canada but am having to unexpectingly having to fly back to France early later today ( was meant to be in the US next week) to be able to hit the floor running if **** hits the fan with the election results Sunday. That said... I am proud of myself because I put my foot down and will not work through the weekend. I'm going to a music festival in the loire valley instead and will dance and be merry.

Happy belated birthday @LisaCaryl! I hope this next trip round the sun is a good one and that by the end of it you are where you want to be.

@NickelChip I'm happy your holidays went well and applaud you making good choices when away from home. I've got to the point where I'm loosing very slowly ( 5 pounds in 6 weeks) and so am just trying to make the best choices I can without over thinking things.

I've finally dropped to 67.5kg (148.8lbs) (BMI 23.9) and have accepted things are going to be slow from now on .... I have three weeks of hectic work left before I'm on holiday for 5 whole weeks before starting my new job in September.

Once I'm on holiday I'm going to try and up my steps and focus on eating the best I can( and drinking less alcohol) and I'll see where that gets me.

@RonHall908 Like every true Parisian I know .... I leave Paris 48 hours before the games start! I'll be away on holiday for 5 whole weeks with my partner. The longest holidays we have ever taken. The games are going to be hectic and access to a lot of areas in the city are restricted - most of the bridges are also closed ... so we're just leaving the city... like every sane person I know!

That said... in France we get 5 weeks of paid holiday a year plus 1 extra week if we work over 35 hours a week (my case) plus 11 bank holidays plus basically unlimited paid sick leave plus like an extra day when you move houses, 3 days for a wedding, 3 days for the death of a parent, 2 weeks for the death of a child, 6 months full pay maternity, up to 5 days a year full pay for sick children under 14 etc etc etc ... so we only use holiday days for holidays so every summer ( office working ) Parisians tend to leave paris en masse for most of August - we all joke that the 15th of August Paris is empty every year ... so this isn't so specific to the olympics!

I did go for a walk in Versailles not long ago and saw the prep for the horse racing ... it's going to look so so cool with the chateau as a backdrop!

[BlueParis 117]

Ive made it to my cute little music festival in the Loire valley.

And I really feel happy and at peace for the first time in a long time while being around a lot of new people - I’m not ashamed of my body or of how I move. And I also realised that I’m happy grazing little bits of food and sitting down for a meal with people and not feeling the need to stuff myself but also not feeling like I’m missing out.
I wanted to share this with you folks because the last few months have been quite (very) tough at times and you’ve been my sounding board and holding me up.
I know my journey is far from over and that the road ahead is a long and winding one, but… I have no doubts that I made the right choice for me.

How’s everyone getting on ?

[LisaCaryl 96]

@BlueParis i’m so happy to hear that you’re in a good place! That picture looks adorable and looks like a really fun time. I know you’ve had your struggles and to be in a peaceful place has got to feel absolutely wonderful!

I’ve been doing pretty good here up until the past two days. I’ve been nauseous again. Then last night at 3 AM. I was woken up by acid reflux that was the worst I have ever experienced in my life. It honestly scared me and I’m still not feeling very comfortable about it. It came up into my mouth and apparently I inhaled as I was waking up so it got into my lungs. It was the most horrible burning feeling and it lasted a good 20 minutes. I got up and went into the bathroom and just paced in pain not knowing what to do. It burned my esophagus, and I was coughing and wheezing and the taste was horrible! I believe it was acid mixed with all my nighttime pills!! Beyond gross. When I finally got back in bed, I propped my pillow up because I was continuing to cough. I was afraid to fall back asleep, but I finally did for a couple hours and then I woke up and I was still coughing this morning. Does seem to be doing better now, but I’m seriously afraid to go back to sleep. Has anybody ever had it this bad?

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer

[NickelChip 1,212]

@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.

[NickelChip 1,212]

@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.

[LisaCaryl 96]

3 hours ago, NickelChip said:

@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.

Thank you. It was horrible; I've never experienced anything like it and would prefer never to again! I pretty much had to do the sleeve because I have Ulcerative Colitis and have to take medication for it... it's an antiflamatory. I never had acid reflux so was hoping it wouldn't be an issue... surprise!

[NickelChip 1,212]

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!