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When you lose a lot of your excess body weight, you'll have a lot of new found energy for hiking. Don't think of WLS as cheating. I think some people's bodies work against them and the WLS evens the playing field. Almost all my relatives are extremely overweight. There's a combination of bad genes and bad nutrition in my upbringing working against me. My advice is to forget all those bad habits and less nutritious food you used to eat. Establish a new plan. Avoid sugary drinks, fried food, and processed foods. Create new favorite foods. You'll find 6 weeks on a liquid diet will allow you to forget all your old cravings and really reset your likes. As you add in nutritious food, your brain will crave these new foods. It is really easier to prepare all your meals at home. Avoid fast food restaurants. Bring a sack lunch to work everyday so you control what you eat and stick to your plan.

Yes! I'm tentatively scheduled for January 22, 2021. I'm 5'5" with a starting weight of 240-243 lbs (fluctuates) at 36 y/o. I'm excited and nervous but mostly excited! Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Well I never had GERD, and really thats the primary reason for a revision. I may develop it later on, but only 30% of sleevers have this issue.My sleeve was done right, so it definitely isnt an inferior surgery. Actually, the weight loss between GB and GS is very very similar at 5 years post op. Because it is so similar and the rate of complications with a sleeve is lower than with a bypass, this is why my doc recommended it. Weight regain is not a side effect of the surgery (either one...regains happen with bypass just as often), but rather choices made by the patient. I am still losing. I'm confident in myself and my choices. I will check back in July 😊

I've been working with a bariatric clinic since mid 2020 and completed my 6 month supervised diet with them, however, I've decided to move to a more robust and supportive program somewhere else. I have my first visit with the new place on 1/28 and am hopeful that everything will transfer over and they will simply need to resubmit the authorization to my insurance. (I had already received my authorization letter for the initial clinic) The person I spoke with at the new program made the comment that it would "help a lot if I could lose some weight and weigh less than my last appointment with the old program". This is not a requirement of my insurance, so, I'm thinking this is more a requirement they have set. Anyone have any pointers on how to lose several pounds over the next 10 days? I have an immensely hard time losing weight. I have been able to maintain the weight I had at my last appointment, but, my scale has not consistently gone down. I'm lucky to lose and keep off a pound a month and my scale has crazy fluctuations from day to day. I already do the following: - carbs at or under 100g a day - 128-152ozs of water a day - only eat 3 meals a day with no snacking Appreciate any advice or guidance.

Today is 1 month and 1 day since I had my VGS surgery. And I can’t tell you all how happy I am to have had this surgery. It has made all the difference in the world to my life. I have 10x the amount of energy I used to have, almost like I have a bounce in my step again. My SW: 260 My CW: 217 GW: 175-180 It just seems like it’s really working. What I wanted to share with some people that seem to be struggling with the weight loss is that I have made my diet mostly keto. I understand carbs are just as important during the recovery time, but being more keto has helped the weight come off faster. Faster than even when I was not eating much after the surgery. I am really surprised by how fast it is dropping now... I think I’ll be at my goal weight before I even know it. Because of all this new found energy, I have been able to do so much more. I want everyone to be this happy 😃

I had hunger and cravings early on with my bypass, but the restriction and religiously following the protein first mantra prevented me from indulging. The physical hunger is unpleasant now with a shaky, nauseous, generally yucky feeling. Head hunger is real and annoying. I mostly choose to not listen to the head hunger. 🤷‍♀️ If you follow the protein first rule, it is almost impossible not to be in ketosis at first. As soon as I had room I added in some carbs though (mostly fruit), as I did not want to stay in ketosis. I can’t stand the body odor when I am in ketosis 😂 I exercise a lot and lost 100% of my excess body weight in just over 6 months. I am in what I will label as the vanity phase, as I work towards my chosen goal of 150 pounds. Ultimately, I actually want to get to 135-ish so I have a little cushion for bounce back. I chose bypass due to a 15 year history of GERD. My surgeon generally pushes for sleeve, but agreed with my desire for bypass due to GERD. I think either surgery would have been effective, but I did not want to have a revision if my GERD got worse. I hope some of that helps. 😊

- if both surgeries are just as easy to fail as they are to succeed, why do the research charts show this difference? Research is based on averages. The numbers you are quoting do not apply to everyone in exactly the same way....it is an aggregate of those who reach goal AND those who don’t. 1 person loses 100 lbs. Another loses 40 lbs. Average weight loss of this “control group” is 70lbs...which is no where near what each person actually lost. @catwoman7 probably explained this better than me In her earlier post, lol Second, if you need to rely on averages for your peace of mind, it may be worth your while then to look into the makeup of the studied. Age, gender, starting weight, lifestyle habits, medical conditions, genetics, etc. Daunting, yes, but more informative and contextual. But really, wanna beat the average? Stick to plan more consistently than the “average” person (barring any medical conditions of course). Also, I wanted to ask, did you get to choose the size boujie you wanted for your sleeve or know what size Dr used for you?? Doc just did his thing with no input from me. I have no idea how what size he used! Also, did you cravings and hunger completely return after 6 months or it does but slightly? My hunger levels and occurrences has not returned to pre-op levels. I can’t remember when I first felt hungry though (it was months in)...but I do remember it was a rare occurrence. Even now at 2+ years out, i still have days of just not wanting/forgetting to eat. When i do get hungry, it isn’t the ravenous kind of hunger though. And it doesn’t take much to satisfy it. Lastly, can you just do complete Keto during the first year after surgery so you stay under 20 net carbs and in ketosis? Or our body doesn't need to be in fat burning mode because of the surgery? I didnt do full-on Keto during weight-loss phase because there was no way I could get in the percentage of fat required...but I did do ultra-low carb (20 net carbs max) during that time. But number of grams of carbs consumed is no where near as important as total calories consumed for weight loss. Though going low carb does tend to make me look lean. For my body this is good, cuz i can see more muscle definition, but for my face, not so good, as I look Skelator-ish. Since I have been consuming a higher number of net carbs (anywhere in the 100-175 range) my face looks much nicer, but the bod looks “soft” P.S. sorry this was so long

The amount of food people can eat post surgery does vary a little as do their post surgery plans. Does yours specify a recommended portion size? Does it allow bread? Does it recommend a caloric goal as well as protein & water goals? If it doesn’t speak with your support team. It may be helpful. I didn’t have a caloric goal just recommended portion sizes. At 3 months I was eating about a third of a cup of food for a meal & most was protein. I was eating three times a day & 2 snacks (yoghurt & a small piece of fruit). My plan was no bread. The only carb I was allowed was rolled oats (a serve took 4 days to eat at 3 months) & the carbs in fruit & vegetables. The plan was no bread because of how it fills your tummy & offers little nutritional value. I still don’t eat bread at 20 months out. My question would be are you really feeling hungry? If you had a sleeve, most of the area that produces your hunger hormone has been removed. Are you ‘hungry’ out of habit? Is a craving driving the ‘hunger’? Working out the difference between head hunger & real hunger isn’t easy. It’s working out if you need to eat or just want to eat. Are you eating slowly? It takes time for the message you are full to get from your tummy to your head. By the time it does you are likely more than full. There’s a lot of learning on this journey & working out what’s right for us. You’ll work out what’s best for you. Good luck.

Hi there - I am scheduled on January 28th ... I moved it from November 18th just last week, as panicked how I would cope through the holiday season away from home as well. So get home from holiday, 2 weeks fluids then all go! Excited... New Year, new me yay! Cant wait to get healthy. I am 58 and booked in for this 5 years ago, then chickened out, so no going back this time 🙂

2 weeks+ update: Still very swollen from the TT, but I'm being super patient because I'm super satisfied with the breast lift outcome. From everything I'm reading and looking at on the internet, after 3-4 months your true results will show because most of the swelling should subside. My faja is far too tight most days to put on so I'm mostly using other compression garments and the binder. I wore the faja out the other day and its fine for standing etc but nothing else. I want it off ASAP. But I think its because my swelling levels fluctuate. Weight is also fluctuating up and down depending on swelling, yesterday I was 155lbs and today 151lbs I've been off all pain meds for quite a while but last night I was so sore and itchy that I needed a Tylenol PM. I believe the itching is the regeneration of... fascia? nerves? whatever. Its hella annoying 😞 I have an area where I prematurely broke my stitches on the side and I can tell I'm going to need to work hard to have that scar disappear but I already started using silicone scar tape and will care for it diligently. Anyone have tips send them my way! I now have strong sensation on both nipples, hooray! I'm thoroughly enjoying the shape and size of the new breast ❤ Blurry pics attached 😂