BurgundyBoy

No magic answers here for sleep ... modest alcohol intake; got a new mattress recently that I sleep much better on; I do take clonzepam sometimes especially when I am travelling and sleep is elusive; and the thing that seems to help my friends the most sleep through the night as a group ... is a substance recently decriminalized in Massachusetts!

Hey Trish sorry you have been under the weather with all this, and have now gained some weight back. ... and lack of sleep is so very draining. You still on track for the surgery on your other knee? Best to be in the best shape...

We each lose weight at our own rate. Your rate is what it is. Your stats are minus 30 pounds. You are a success. You must not fall into the trap of comparing your rate to some other random person. Success is success. How quickly you lose weight after surgery does NOT determine your long term success. The fact you are on a support website is good though as social support - in person, via the web, whatever - IS predictive of success. Maybe you would like to accelerate your success. People tend to look to modest changes in exercise; perhaps changing your balance of proteins, fats, and carbs; or (with really low caloric intake) upping your calories by a few hundred calories a day. An interesting tactic is to measure your arms, thighs, waist, hips, bust, chest, neck.... it's really common to see a change in your SIZE with an unchanging weight. A fall in one of those measures keeps your spirits up when the scale is not changing. Try measuring yourself every, oh, week or so with those.

There are studies showing that people with kidney disease need to be careful with protein intake, but shy of that there is not much evidence of such a problem. One example I have read about is something called (by some) rabbit disease. The traditional diet of the Inuit peoples of the far North was very enhanced in protein and fat, and only about 15-20% carbohydrate ... and you may know that they famously had excellent cardiovascular health on a protein and fat rich traditional diet. They also got all their vitamin C, vitamin A and so forth from the flesh of the animals and fish they ate. Rates of things like diabetes in people eating a traditional Inuit diet was about half that of people eating a Western diet. (But of course they also exercised a lot, being an hunter-gatherer can take a lot of work). I've read that in this kind of diet, the calories from fat were 2-3 times the number of calories obtained from protein (animal and fish meat, primarily). One difference between the famous (or infamous) Atkins diet and the Inuit diet is that there was a lot more of the 'healthy' fish oils in the Inuit diet - the ones called omega-3s. "Rabbit disease" occurred in people who ate only protein that was deficient in fat. Rabbits are notoriously low in fat and very lean. In many traditional hunter-gatherer societies / cultures people would not eat meat that did not have fat since it could lead to protein toxicity - wasting, nausea, vomiting, liver problems. I think the body gets overwhelmed with the amount of nitrogen waste on a pure protein diet.

@Aussie Bear is absolutely right. You can be taking in enough protein to allow recovery from your surgery, but not enough to support that AND hair growth. Nails and hair are substantially all protein. There are gazillions of studies showing that the more protein you eat, the less hair loss. Would not confuse the two issues. Suggest you consider upping your protein to 90 grams or more a day. Also get your hemoglobin / blood count checked out, since you are feeling tired, as well as make sure you are taking your vitamins. Some hair loss is related to (otherwise obscure) vitamins and micronutrients. If it is any comfort, your circumstances are common. What kind of surgery did you have? And congratulations on 48 lbs weight loss. Don't be discouraged. Just alter your Plan as needed to meet your needs and desires.

Well, perhaps in defense of the warnings, they may be focusing on the core need we all have to be mindful and to take to mind the message that the surgery is only part of what is required ... the circumstances for these persons who are so very heavy, and have such a difficult time not regaining weight, deserve our empathy (if not our sympathy as well). The emotional drivers, and social environments we live within, are so very powerful! There are lots of scientific studies showing that the people we associate with are important to our success or failure after surgery. To use a literary analogy, if you read a Balzac novel you are often reading a morality tale, a story with an ending that is foretold by the good or bad decisions that people make along the way. In this case I do not think it is a moral tale we are exposed to, but rather a story where the helpful environment and support may not be present. If you siblings, spouse, and parents and friends are quite obese, then you are surrounded by people who are less likely to be helpful when you are trying to decide between a good or bad decision. I totally agree with you that these circumstances of such an high weight are uncommon.... but sometimes the extremes inform us as to the risks we run.

Two thoughts: TV shows love the dramatic, so a show about a family's inability to keep weight off is just sensationalism. Bah. Just think how boring a show would be of a family or persons who lose weight, keep the majority of it off, and live happily ever after. But that would be by far the more common result for people after weight loss surgery. And, in the long run, this is a 90% head game. The surgery only changes your intestines (and some of your hormonal and metabolic machinery) but you have to make good choices on a daily basis. In my case I know that I have to get some at least moderate amount of exercise during the week too. ___________________ I just came back from a long trip to East Africa and I almost dread the flight meals... all carbo stuff. (I forgot to pre-order meals for diabetics, which are usually protein and veg and light on the carbs). I packed protein bars and when meal times came around, ate them instead of the garbage they serve. I chose my hotel on the basis of its having lots of high protein foods at breakfast and a good gym. No, I wasn't perfect for the last couple of weeks, but we should never let the good be the enemy of the perfect.

@Kio Hope you are better soon!

@AliPat Sounds to me like you are doing the kind of mid-course corrections we should all be doing. Love the idea of "weight loss affirmations." Your photos are an inspiration1 In January I spent a couple of weeks In India and had no gym available to me - so would get up early, before the air pollution got bad, and walked for an hour or an hour and 10 minutes in a very leafy, forested, even gardened area - watched the world wake up, all the early morning things people do. When I got back to the US I went back to my gym and the first thing I did was pull a shoulder muscle rowing ... so back to walking it was. It's a good exercise and all it takes is a pair of shoes (well, I guess some clothes too).

@Aussie Bear @Cindy Lou Who and everyone else.... Well, this is a topic that I think about, but don't obsess about. Yes I have funny jiggly skin bits in my upper thighs, and if I position myself like 4-legged animal on my arms and legs, I have droopy bits around my lower abdomen and pelvis. Plus I have those wrinkles on the lower part of my buttocks where they join the backs of my upper legs. Unless I'm at the beach or in a pool though none of that is very apparent. And, to be frank, I don't care anymore. I did have a little boy ask me why my belly button is not perfectly neat, but is instead inside a long horizontal fold of (remnant) extra skin. I just told him I had lost some weight and that was what happens. He nodded solemnly and then went on with more important things than talking to me. Overall I've lost so much weight that THAT is the dominant thing that people see. I just met with an old friend of 10+ years who hasn't seen me in 3 years - boy was she shocked! And she didn't talk about those little jiggly bits. She said I looked decades younger and she asked about my health. A year ago I was still using a cane because of my hip pain / osteoarthritis - > that's gone too. That is what people REALLY notice. But yes there are things I see... If my weight goes up 5 pounds, it appears to go right to my much reduced but still there facial jowls; to my neck (e.g. my neck size may go up a quarter inch); and that funny spot right where your biceps muscle attaches to your lower arm - so when you bend your arm, there is a tiny ring of blubber there. It does not have much emotional weight though, I seem to view it as just a set of sensitive signs that I need to adhere more rigourously to my Path and get to the Gym.

Hi Loretta, looks like you are already 40 lbs down. congratulations. Can you comment on the comorbidities and how they are doing? Best wishes and thank you for posting!

Hi Kim Hope all well...

Atta Trish. Hope pain better with the cold water thing for your knee. Hope to see you frolicking about in Boston this summer.

@Kim M Hang in there. Good best friend with IBS. I hope you are on the anti-inflammation stuff like Asacoll (sp?) Yes agree Medicare looks good. This is a WLS support site but I could rave, absolutely rant, about how stupid and inefficient and costly our current health care system is. As, one supposes, could many of us who have to travel to another country from the US to get surgery because of some stupid barrier or hoop. Think of @NerdyToothpick who essentially cured her diabetes, which had already led to retinal damage and required many drugs, but whose weight was not quite high enough for her surgery to qualify for coverage. How many of us have struggled to cover costs while clearly extending our lifespans and reducing our costs to society by having this surgery? Am hoping you are ok and please do post as you are able. Empathy and best wishes, BB

Some of the acid reducers take a day or two to work. Things like pepto-bismol or other antacids which are physically alkaline will immediately help by neutralizing the acid. They can give instant relief. Hope that helps!