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Shirl

One-Year Sleeversary notes and thoughts

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Recovery Time:

Post surgery I recuperated very quickly, too quickly, I felt great and energetic. I started walking immediately, taking 5-10 minutes walks every hour I was awake the first three days, and gradually increasing until I was walking 30-45 minutes straight. I started low-impact cardiovascular exercise after my one-week post-op check-up. While walking is highly recommended immediately post-op (mainly to avoid blood clots and to assist the CO2 left over from surgery), there are different school of thought as to when to start an exercise routine post-WLS.

While following your doctor's recommendations ALWAYS listen to your body for cues. Even if you feel invisible, like I did, take it easy!!! At about 6-weeks post op, I had a huge drop in energy. Fortunately for me, I was able to take time off for self-care.

Food Stages:

I was eager to move through the food stages, experimented and introduced single item foods slowly, and sometimes needed to delay their consumption like eggs, chicken, and tuna, but I could do salmon and very lean beef and ground turkey.

I can eat just about anything with no problem nowadays, and have to be super vigilant of my nutrient deprived food choices. Another thing that I have noticed, and I have to be vigilant about is staying faithful to the PROTEIN FIRST rule! I don't know if any of the veterans have experienced this, but eating dense foods like chicken and meats still cause the feeling of fullness very fast, it has made me eat my vegetables and grains first because they are so much easier to eat. Unfortunately, that has made my carb intake a lot higher than I want and need for continued weightloss.

Weightloss

My weight loss was much slower than I had hoped and it did play with my confidence in staying true to myself in this journey early on. However, I constantly kept reminding myself of why I chose WLS path after 26 years of struggling with maintaining a healthy lifestyle and keeping my weight down.

I reached out to my Bariatric Surgeon November 2015 when my weight reached 245lbs, and I my cholesterol reached over 240, and after many years of being borderline prediabetic I had finally gone past that threshold and had been recently diagnosed with Type2 Diabetes.

I am soo happy to report that diabetes and cholesterol levels reduced drastically since about 1-month post op. Currently, I am diabetes free, and cholesterol levels have stayed down, in fact, my recent panel showed my good cholesterol has gone up in comparison. That alone has certainly motivators to stay true to my WLS path.

While the scale moved slowly, I was shrinking drastically!!! I went from a tight size 20/18 to size 12 within the first six months, and now I am wearing size 10 in most clothes!!! Whoop Whoop! For the upcoming summer, I recently bought waist 30 Levi's jean shorts, which are a bit tight, but I try them on every day to see how close I am to closing them lol!

My Strategic Plan

  1. Cut down (and moderate) consumption of simple carbs and nutrient-void foods like fried foods, processed sugar (all desserts), refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, candy, cookies, chips, crackers, pretzels, artificial sweeteners, trans fats and the like) well you get my drift.
  2. Cook or prepare MOST meals at home, and choose nutrient-dense foods closer to their natural state, and that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
  3. Get at least 45-minutes of heart pumping exercise several times a week. My goal is to stay active daily, but sometimes life gets in the way. As mentioned earlier, listen to your body and don't do anything that will keep you from exercising altogether. I am a FIRM Believer in incorporating some form of exercise in our WLS. I have benefited from doing weight resistance 3x a week (please check my DEXA scan results).
  4. Stick to a DAILY regimen of taking my multivitamins and probiotic supplements.
  5. Drink plenty of water, striving for 1 gallon a day, and keep coffee/tea to a healthy amount.
  6. Get plenty of rest, aiming for 8 hours of sleep.
  7. Take time for self-care. For me this means doing things I enjoy for me, saying no, even if it means someone may be upset by my answer. Also, means setting boundaries with family and friends.
  8. Track food, especially to track protein intake. Pre and post-op I did this religiously, but lately, it has gone to the wayside. Currently, I am trying to find the balance between tracking and *intuitive eating*.


I'm often surprised how many times I go out to eat or have gone two or three days without taking my vitamins or surviving on minimal water or just sleeping 4-5 hours a day.

Signs of dehydration or being nutrient deprived come on quickly for me. Lips get chapped, skin feels dry, hair feels limp and dry and thins out.

Overwhelming feelings can be signs of physical stress due to lack of water, nutrients or rest for me. Learning those cues have been life-saving to get me back on track, and I could not have done it without the support of my therapist, books*, and articles I read, and in many ways staying connected on this forum. Family and friends have been supportive in their way, but it isn't the same as having someone who completely understands that I must stay on a low carb plan.

Books that have been essential to my WLS journey:

  • A Course In Weightloss: 21 Spiritual Lessons by Marianne Williamson
  • Micronutrition For the Weight Loss Surgery Patient by Jacqueline Jacques, ND
  • Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
  • Protein First by Kaye Bailey (ebook)
  • Ultimate Gastric Sleeve Success by Dr. Duc Voung
  • PaleoBetic Diet by Steve Parker, MD and Sunny Parker


Hairloss

I have had the blessing of having thick and wavy hair all of my life until now. It is still full of body, but whereas it would take me hours to do my hair now takes me less than 20 minutes. I have bouts of hair loss when my protein goes down, and it is one of the reasons and motivators I want to keep tracking and logging my food intake.

I have cut down to washing my hair once or twice a week, and use high-quality products, I don't know if it helps, but it is certainly keeping my hair looking good and healthy for the most part.

Vitamins and Supplementation

I have gone back to taking chewable multivitamins, because they are broken down by saliva producing enzymes before reaching the stomach, making them easier and faster to absorb.

I also take Biotin, VitD3, Omega3+Krill Oil, Calcium Citrate on a daily basis. Extra Iron before and after my menstrual period and B-Complex supplementation once to twice a month because levels have been too high.

Recently I started taking a Selenium supplements to aid in my metabolism... not sure if it is helping... time will tell.

I also started back to taking probiotics and enzymes on a daily basis.

Constipation

I rarely experience constipation these days, but when I do, I take Triple Organic Fiber or a magnesium supplement.

Importance of Understanding Your Body Composition

Big bone people do exist. I am one of them! Until I had the DEXA Body Composition Scan I was confused as to why I had lost so many inches, hence dress/cloth sizes and not numbers on the scale. It turns out; my bone mass is much higher than the average woman my height. So at 170lbs, I look like someone who weighs much less than me and is about my same height.

Don't be fooled by BMI charts because your muscle, fat and bone mass are not accounted for. Even if you are falling within "normal BMI ranges" you could still be carrying an unhealthy fat/muscle mass ratio which can cause severe complications down the road.

As we get older, and particularly women, we lose muscle and bone mass, so it is imperative (especially those over 40 years old) to start a physical activity that incorporates weight resistance and lifting to minimize the risks of muscle and bone loss overtime.

Since my last DEXA scan (October 2016) I have lost over 11lbs of pure fat and gained over 2lbs of muscle. I am still high on the fat percentile, but I have lost over 5% of body fat since my initial DEXA Body Composition, and I have improved my muscle mass percentile. I am excited to see what my body composition will look like when I reach my goal weight!

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Thanks for reading, and wishing everyone continued success in your WLS journeys.

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Comments

  1. keoster1's Avatar
    brilliant , well done
  2. Shirl's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by keoster1
    brilliant , well done
    Thank you, Ciaran! I was looking at your profile the other day, and I am so happy that you were able to have your surgery finally!

    Best of wishes for continued healing and success!!!
  3. Christie13's Avatar
    Your scans look great!! Big strides!!! That's amazing to lose 11 lbs of fat. Big hugs!
  4. GigiUSA's Avatar
    Thank you Shirl for the fantastic post! I have printed it for reference and appreciate the detail since I am doing the process basically on my own when I get back from Mexico. The detail and book references are great. I never really knew about the bone mass differences but even at my very thinnest...my weight was still higher than most. Thanks again, great post!!
  5. elle77's Avatar
    Thank you for sharing this! Great Post!