Elizabeth N.
Herder of cats
Well YAY, you're coming right along! It is indeed freaky to have to eat MORE in order to lose, but lots of people who have lived on starvation diets report this same phenomenon.
Hi all, it's been just over three months since I had my revision to the DS. Things are going well. My EWL seems to be on track. I'm down around 55 lbs now, which is over 30% EWL. About 35%. My initial first month's weight loss is responsible for the majority of that. At the moment I usually lose about 2ish lbs/week.
I think revision surgery is a different kettle of fish. Due to my VBG, my stomach really isn't all that different of a size from what it used to be. Also the way I eat could affect the amount of food I can digest. I stretched the pouch (of the VBG) slightly, but not majorly. From my research, many VBGers disrupt their staple lines, which I didn't. So the amounts I eat are only slightly smaller than they used to be. So I think I'm mainly relying on malabsorption.
The major benefit of the change to the sleeve is the lack of vomiting. It is so lovely not worrying about getting blockages in my VBG mesh. Also, trying not to masticate my food quite as much so I get full more easily. But, having chewed my food down to a pablum-like consistency for over 25 years is a very hard habit to break.
I hit a 4 week stall just over a month after surgery which was disheartening. Stalls are common with revisions. It's a major mind f*ck though. The body (at least my body) is used to strict diets. I did hCG for over a year on and off. I think it further compromised my metabolism. I experimented. I lowered my carbs and calories, that didn't work. So I decided to be counter-intuitive and do the opposite. The scale only started moving once I upped my calories and carbs. I think you have guidelines, but experimentation is key with the DS. YMMV should be a mantra. It seems, most of the time if I stay between 60-80 carbs that seems, at the moment be my sweet spot.
I have been mostly unemployed since surgery. The oil industry is going through a down-cycle. This happens every 5-8 years. Oil prices are low, so the oil companies scale back on their programs. I did get a couple of weeks' work in February. I did an experiment and decided not to take the scale with me. Nope. Not doing that again. Freaked the hell out of me.
For me, staying off the scale isn't conducive to my mental health. I think for many people, staying off the scale is a good idea. I tried it the first month. But when I was on hCG, I got used to getting on the scale every day. As long as you realize that there are things like water retention, menstrual cycle (which has gone so screwy for me - no period for 6 weeks and then three within another 6, and now nada again - either peri-menopause or estrogen dumping), the amount of liquid you get in, the amount of sleep you have, etc which affect your weight on a daily basis.
If I get on the scale one day and there's a big loss, I take it with a grain of salt. Usually I've gained most of it back the next day, but I have a net loss. As long as you don't freak out about the fluctuations, getting on the scale daily can work.
I document my daily weight in one app (Woman Log Pro) and my weekly weight loss on another (My Weight).
Anyhow, this is turning into a missive. But I thought I would do an update.
Based on your ranges:Just got my six month labs back and have a phone conversation scheduled with Greenbaum tomorrow. My liver and kidney function don't look great, so that's worrying. I have read that elevated liver labs is not uncommon after WLS - but kidney? My calcium and PTH are within normal range but low normal, so I need to get that up. My iron is low, but I only found an iron pill (the polysaccharide complex Feramax) that I could swallow a month ago, so hopefully I can get that level up. And my D is low.
My bloodwork is attached. Look at the level ranges as I'm in Canada and we measure things differently.
Thanks @newanatomyI hope you are able to find work in a field that you enjoy and that pays you what you deserve. As for your amazing progress, wow! You may not see a huge difference but I assure you, I do. You look stunning!