Good morning all. 17 years ago today I was starting on a life changing journey. When I went for my surgery consult I was at my heaviest - 288lbs, currently I am now 135lbs. It took hard work and dedication to not only lose the weight but to maintain the weight loss for all these years. I eat healthy, workout and take care of myself inside and out. I get a physical annually and still take my vits/sups every day :-)

I am loving this life and so glad I made the decision to have surgery and be successful at it.

In June I hit my 13 year surgery anniversary and didnt get around to posting until now :-)

I am doing great... I have kept up with my vits/supps and still get annual bloodwork. Over the past year + I have really started to focus on my diet and exercise and took up biking. I ride 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day and mix in yoga and weights as well as moved to a vegetable heavy diet still making sure I get my protein. I am in the best shape of my life and feel amazing. I am down to 135lbs from the 145lbs I was for many years and have seen a lot of positive changes in my body since focusing diet and exercise.

I hope everybody is doing well on their journeys!

~Jennifer

I never had an issue with dry skin.

I didn't lose a lot of hair either, my hair became a little more brittle where I had some breakage but nothing people other than myself and my hairdresser would notice. Hair is the same now as it was pre-op.

What you want to look at is calories, fat, carbs, fiber, sugar then decide if a food is ok.

Food is flavored by three things - fat, salt and sugar... if you remove/lower one, another one of those will be higher to make it taste better.

You can make your own whip cream very easily and it doesn't have a lot of sugar. When it comes to ice cream I prefer the real deal... just have to eat a small amount. Personally I try and eat "real" foods and not foods that have things I cannot pronounce. You can make a lot of things easily at home that are a whole lot more healthy than store bought, including ice cream :-)

I had surgery on a Tuesday, went back to work Monday. The first week I worked short days because I was SO tired from the anesthesia... after that worked my normal schedule.

 

Read about "calorie cycling" or "carb cycling"

Just like you get bored, your body can get bored.. switching up what you eat, how you are eating and your exercise routine will help push you thru a plateau.... you may not need to add calories per se, but just changing where your calories come from can help.  If you are working out a lot, like she is, her body is needing more calories/carbs to function and that's why the boost in calories is helping her lose some weight.

At being almost 9 years out myself, my first suggestion would be to look at what you are eating.

You may possibly need to go back to food logging/weighing measuring to get a better idea of what you are eating and how much of it. Are you eating overall healthy? Fruits, veggies, protein, good carbs? Or a lot of "empty" calories which trigger hunger.

If you have recently changed your exercise routine you may need to adjust your food intake as well.

A helpful took I have used before in the past was a metabolism test to find out how many calories your body needs to lose weight, gain weight or maintain weight... the YMCA here does it, its around $125 or so... then you can couple that with a nutritionist if need be to assist you with your eating if it has gotten off track.

My suggestion is to look into "clean eating"... with a clean eating diet you do not purchase pre-packaged, prepared foods thus cutting out "junk"... once you get started and get your panty loaded up with the basics its not hard to continue on a clean eating diet. I make my own sauces, seasonings etc (i.e. taco seasoning, sloppy joe mix etc), bake my own bread, muffins, cookies etc... keep in mind you can still make "healthy" junk food so you still need to eat balanced etc. Its also a good way to start "sneaking" vegetables into foods without you really tasting them etc.

I also eat organic, you can look up lists for the top foods you should purchase organic and other foods where it doesn't matter as much, I don't buy everything organic due to cost.... I buy organic more for the impact on the planet than my own health... I don't agree with factory farming, GMOs or all the chemicals they put in/on our food these days. I try and purchase as much as I can locally, thankfully here in NC it is easy. I have a few co-workers that raise various animals and I can get eggs and meats from them, as well as a good variety of organic farmers in our area who sell direct or at the local farmers market. I also have a patio garden and grow plants using pallets (which I get from work for free) and various pots.... I buy local organic plants and organic dirt and that saves me a TON of money instead of buying at the store... I mainly grow things that I will know freeze well, or things I can trade with others who also organic garden for some of their produce.

Because I stay away from GMOs, I also stay away from the majority of Soy products. A lot of stuff, like almond milk, you can make on your own... just depends on the time/effort you want to spend.

Good luck to you!

Meats can be hard for quite some time... so I would wait before trying them again.. I believe my NUT said if something makes you sick try and wait at least 2 weeks before trying again. Also earlier out higher fat meats may work better because fat = moisture.. chicken, turkey, lean beefs can tend to be dry, even if cooked in a way which you would *think* would be moist, it just may not be moist enough.
Since you can eat yogurt if you are not eating the greek yogurt check it out as it is higher in protein...you can also use it to make dips and in place of sour cream. If you can do pintos n cheese how bout some FF refried beans... add some LF cheese, sour cream and eat away. you could mix some tomato sauce with ricotta or cottage cheese and some LF cheese (mock lasanga, or mock pizza I think some people call it)... you could add turkey pepperoni if you can handle it. Even if you are done after 3-4 bites make sure you are eating multiple times a day... you should be taking 20 minutes to eat your meal and spacing out your bites, that may help you to get in more. Keep a food journal and see if certain foods are easier for you than others and make those your main foods so you can get more food in. Also adding in protein powder to what you are eating can help to boost the caloreis and protein.

Any good lotion really... all the skin tightening creams etc are really a lot of hype (I think I tried them all lol... I will say I saw Mederma now has a stretch mark cream I may check out price depending!!). I liked good ole cocoa butter (palmers) for the body and Ive always used clinique products on my face/neck area.

Its really a matter of choice... I can eat anything I want and I am fine. Sugar? yup Pasta? yum.. bread? yes please... for me its a matter of balance... moderation. Many foods that are 'bad' fall into the sugar/carb catagory... processed foods, chips candy etc...
Some people post-op cant tolerate certain foods... thats a risk you take... some people post-op 'ban' foods because they are trigger foods and they dont want to hit a 'slippery slope'. You, not your NUT, will have to decide what will work for you. I did not want to give up foods either... at almost 4 years out there are now foods I choose to no longer eat... if one day I want to eat it I will but its most likely not going to happen. I found certain foods just really dont taste all that great as I use to think they did... I found certain foods make me feel like CRAP when I eat them... greasy, sluggish and gross... I had to decide if eating the foods were 'worth it' to me. Basically nothing is off limits.. and that has worked for me, sure I have to cut back sometimes or get myself back on track but thats life.. one with good foods in it :-) 

 

There is no study, it hasnt been proven or disproven so there is no answer.
Eitherway whatever your protein intake goals are you should spread them over the day thru your various meals/snacks... some people go and drink 1 loaded protein shake and think they are good to go.. really best to spread it all out and aim for balanced meals :-)

The thing with WLS patients is we lose weight differently than 'normal' people... we lose it 'out to in' as I say... places like the face, the lower arms, lower legs... any place you carry a significant amount of weight in seems to go last... upper arms, thighs, belly, butt. People look at your face and think you shouldnt lose more not really knowing whats going on underneath... also people are not use to seeing you so small after seeing you overweight for years and to them it looks strange... just like you have to adjust they need to adjust as well. It will also take time for your body to catch up and change how you carry your weight... areas that may look hollowed out down the road will fill in and look better, at least in my opinion. Once I hit my goal weight it was a good year after that my body was still adjusting to everything. If you are still losing weight I say keep going, your body should hit a comfy spot somewhere down the road where it will stop losing.

When I was 180lbs my dads wife said I looked anexoric... well I am now 145lbs and she says I look great... go figure.