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There is a lot going on right now, and many, many people have gained weight during the pandemic, so for you to lose even a little weight and not gain any is a victory! If you're looking for someone who has been there, I have! Check out this post I made 7 months ago at the beginning of my journey: My surgeon wanted me to lose 20 pounds before surgery and I had NO IDEA where to begin! My PCP was no help at all. Guess what? I've lost over 100 pounds since then, 70 before surgery. When I went in for my last pre-op appointment 2 weeks before surgery, the nurse questioned whether my initial weight was recorded correctly. I did two things to lose weight before surgery. The first thing is what you are already doing: logging everything I ate. So you have already made a good start. The second thing I did was intermittent fasting. This can be a little controversial, and some doctors don't like it, but it worked for me. I did a 16-hour fast every day with an 8-hour eating period. That meant I ate lunch and dinner (and I allowed myself to eat snacks in between), and then fasted until lunch the next day. It was hard at first but got easier. This helped me because in addition to cutting out breakfast, I cut out all the snacks I would have had during that time period, and when I got used to going 16 hours without eating, I ended up cutting down on snacks between lunch and dinner, even during the time I was allowed to eat. I also think it made me feel less deprived. Let's say I wanted pancakes at breakfast time. I would just tell myself I can have pancakes, but I would just have to wait until my fast was over. And splitting my calories between two meals instead of three meant I could eat bigger, more satisfying meals. If I really wanted to eat 4 slices of pizza, I could, as long as I didn't have a big lunch. Speaking of calories, MyFitnessPal gave me a calorie goal of 2190 calories per day. The first week, it was a challenge just to stay under that, but I gradually reduced it down to an average of 1500 calories per day. I would suggest you challenge yourself to reduce your calories a little bit, let's say just by 100 calories per day for a week. Try some lower-calories substitutions, like light salad dressing. Measure out slightly smaller portions. By recording everything I ate and staying within a calorie limit, I had to be strategic about what I ate. I wasn't ready to give up all the foods I loved, so I looked at what I was eating and found the healthiest things that I already liked. I used those to fill me up so I could also afford to indulge sometimes. A big thing for me was eating salad for lunch every day. I discovered I could make a generous salad with lots of grilled chicken for about 300 calories. Then I found a light salad dressing I like and that put it under 250 calories. Popcorn was one of my favorite snacks because, while not the healthiest choice, it really filled me up for not a huge number of calories (BTW, I still ate the blast-o-butter kind, but a whole mini bag is just 210 calories). A big side of green beans sauteed with 1/2 tsp of butter is less than 100 calories. I discovered Built Bars, which are these amazing protein bars that taste like candy bars -- honestly, I think some are even better than candy bars -- and they became my daily treat. Maybe I didn't HAVE to lose 70 pounds before surgery, but I think it was good to start changing my habits for a while before surgery so that surgery wouldn't be such a shock to the system. Only time will tell whether or not this will all lead to long-term success, but I am glad to be down over 100 pounds from my highest weight, just two months after surgery. You can do this!

I don’t know how accurate my at-home smart scale is (i have the Withings Body+ scale)... Last year (and for the first couple months of this year) at 113-115 lbs, my body fat percentage was in the 12-15% range. These days, i have been hovering around 116-118 lbs and body fat in the 18-22% range (which i assume because I have lost some muscle and gained fat due to my decline in exercise and increase in dessert/alcohol). I don’t notice any specific health/being effects between the two states, and neither has my PCP (i probably had my labs done 3 times in the past 12 months, all of which have been lovely). What I do notice is just aesthetic: i think I look “softer” and less fit/athletic, which I don’t particularly like, but i do like how my face and neck look less Skeletor-y. If I can figure out a way to keep my body looking toned AND my face filled out at the same time, I’d be a happy girl!

They are $23 on amazon!

I do not and I’m very happy with my results. I’m attaching two photos - one from the night before my surgery in November 2016 where you can see from the drawn lines what was being removed, and one I took just a moment ago in regular daylight. You can see from the recent photo that the surgeon went all the way down to the elbow; he also went all the way up through my armpit almost to my bra band. Hope this helps!

I know it’s so, so common, especially for Bariatric patients and alcohol. I drink a glass or two of wine a night most nights but that was normal for me before and I don’t think it’s excessive. I definitely don’t drink to get drunk and rarely even get tipsy. But I used to be only a social smoker and I am now up to a pack a week 😕 I think it’s called addiction transferance? I want to cut back.

Update for those wondering: I spoke to my doctor and turns out they needed to take a look at my gallbladder. Seems like there's something in there. They described it at a 'sludge'. I'm a bit worried at this point now??? I've never had anything wrong with my gallbladder before. Edit: I'm now hosting to various pains from my abdomine shooting through to my side and spinal cord. They're like little pinches. It's.. very strange. I didn't know things like this could happen up to a month out. I thought I was just having some trouble adjusting to eating. I'm kind of scared now.

Congratulation on your success I wish you to have much happiness. I also hope to be in this happy place soon. You should be extremely PROUD

This reads to me like someone who just took a creative writing class. Very descriptive. “A for effort.” F for that last comment “may you get what you deserve.”

I weigh myself once every morning but I only log the weight once a week (every Monday). I find, for myself, this actually helps. I see my weight fluctuate on a day-to-day basis, but overall, over the week it's still going down. I found that when I stopped being regular about weighing myself after I had my sleeve done, that that's when I started to gain weight without noticing. By the time I did notice, it was hard for me to reverse the trend.