The biggest achievement of the third month after the gastric bypass surgery is probably that my stomach finally works regularly and almost pain-free. Honestly, long-time readers know that bathroom time has been… a journey. A saga. A trilogy. But now it’s finally sorted!
At the end of the second month, I met with a nutritionist, and we went through my menu and all the issues I’d been having. She recommended drinking a glass of kefir every day for about a week, plus taking probiotics at the same time. I ended up taking the probiotics for two months total. She recommended these PlantaBif ones, and in my opinion, they did their job well.
She also suggested adding sauerkraut and pickles to my meals. We also discussed that I should eat more nuts (cashews, almonds, pecans, chia seeds, etc.). I’m trying to add them to my food more often, but I’ve never exactly been a nut enthusiast. The only ones I’ve genuinely liked were those blue-cheese–flavoured nuts, and not gonna lie, those won’t exactly help with my goals due to the high calories.
I also asked how many calories I should be eating per day, and she said around 1000–1200 kcal should be good for me. So I’ve been trying to stick to that. Eating is going well overall, and I’m slowly eating more of the foods I used to eat before the weight loss surgery. Not that I’m inhaling chocolate and candy every day, more that I don’t feel like I have any forbidden foods hanging over my head anymore. Nothing has caused problems so far, but I’ve also been following the clinic’s guidelines pretty pedantically.
Here’s an example of a random day’s menu:
Meal I: sandwich (whole-grain bread, chicken ham, cucumber, lettuce, and a little cream cheese)
Meal II: curd pudding (not sure what’s the good word for that one in English tbh)
Meal III: pulled-pork “burger” – mostly just the meat, two bites of the bun, and a little pickle
Meal IV: pulled-pork “burger” (yes, again)
Meal V: some pulled pork and 3 banana pancakes
Total: 1081 calories, of which 65 grams were protein.
I’ve also started moving more intentionally. I don’t know if you could call it serious training, but a couple of times a week, I put on YouTube and do some cardio. My goal right now is simply to build a habit and move on purpose, not to participate in the coming Olympics. A couple of times a week, I convince myself to put on YouTube and flail along to some cardio video. It’s not pretty, but hey, it counts. I’ve been doing different home workout videos from Leslie Sansone’s channel. I like that they have both shorter workouts (around 20 minutes) and longer ones (~45 minutes), and most importantly, I can do them at home, which is super comfortable.
One of my biggest fears has also come true: my hair is falling out. I knew it was very likely to happen. It’s the body’s natural reaction to the gastric bypass surgery and all the changes that follow. But still… rude. When I brush my hair or especially when I wash it, a good handful comes out. I’m thinking about adding biotin, but I’m not convinced it’ll do much, since the root cause is elsewhere. I just really hope it won’t get so bad that I end up with bald patches, but I guess I need to be mentally prepared for anything…
The weight-loss pace has slowed down even more, which was expected. During the third month after the weight loss surgery, I lost almost exactly four kilograms. Of course, I had hoped for more. I mean, who wouldn’t? But I remind myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint. In three months, I’ve lost about 21 kilograms, which is actually pretty amazing. I just need to remind myself of that sometimes.
Also, interestingly, during the third month after the gastric bypass surgery, I had my first little weight gain (about 1 kg), but that was likely related to my period. It gave me a tiny scare, but again: small weight fluctuations are totally normal.
Here’s a before-and-after comparison photo for the curious ones:
How have things been going for you so far? Do you feel like you already have more energy? Is there a food that you just can’t tolerate? Share your thoughts in the comments, I’d love to hear!
