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I decided when I started this journey that I was going to take before photos and progress photos. Here is one month into my new life! I started my pre-op diet 30 days ago, surgery was September 13th. I’m 5’4” and started at 242, I’m now 218. My biggest piece of advice (especially if you struggle to see your own progress in the mirror) is TAKE THE PICTURES.

Its hard to believe it’s been 6 months since I “went under the knife”. What a 6 months it has been. From nervousness to excitement, from regret to happiness. The emotions have been all over the board. It definitely hasn’t been easy and it’s really only just began. I wanted to share a little of my journey thus far for folks that are considering the surgery, just had the surgery or anybody else that can relate or possibly get/stay motivated. Like most, the beginning was very difficult. I did a ton of research before the surgery. I thought I was prepared. But as the old adage goes, “you don’t know until you do it”. I struggled with drinking enough water/fluids, not getting enough protein, feelings of despair as I could only eat a tiny amount of food, total regret of having the surgery and wanting to call up Doc Brown to see if I could borrow the Delorean to go back in time. But around the 6 week mark, it seemed that everyday my attitude got a little better. I started to walk a little bit to clear my mind. I started just walking around the block. It’s about all I could do and I was a little paranoid of doing too much (silly in hindsight). I tried to really stay focused on sticking to the plan and just taking each day as it was and not look into the future. I started incorporating fish into my diet and nuts and I started walking around the block twice. I just kept telling myself that things will get easier. And before too long, they did. Fast forward to today and I’ve lost 164 lbs. I’ve lost 33% of my highest body weight. My BMI has gone from 58.3 to 38.9. I’m now walking 5 miles at a time, about 5 days a week. I eat mostly fish, salads, veggies and nuts. I actually eat carbs and some stuff that they probably don’t want me to but it’s limited and I’m burning so many calories exercising that I can handle some extra calories and not worry about it. I think I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve consistently lost weight every single week except in week 3 (seems like this is the week everybody tends to stall). I’ve learned to give myself a little credit instead of giving it all to the surgery. The procedure definitely deserves most all of the credit but I wouldn’t be where I’m at now had I not stuck to the plan, pushed myself to stay mentally strong and built a routine of exercise. Giving myself that little bit of credit has helped me in so many ways. I’m still about 80 lbs from my goal. I have a long way to go to get to that goal and of course even longer for a lifetime commitment to being healthy. I know whoever reads this has heard the line “if I can do it, anybody can”. I hate to use that but it’s so true. I used to lack motivation to get out of my Laz-E-Boy to even walk around the block. To put down the soda, stop eating a large pizza by myself, fries, Chinese food, burgers,wings, you name it. I found something inside me that clicked to get curious about the surgery. Then to actually go thru with it. Then to implement and execute the plan to improve my life. I wish I could say that I’m 110% confident that I’ll never gain weight again. That I’ll never binge eat again or go off the rails. I’m confident right now that I’m fully committed to a new lifestyle. I’m only 6 months in. I’m still not even that hungry. I can still only eat a little bit. At some point, those things will change. But I know that I never want to go back to what I was. I haven’t changed as a person in the last 6 months. But my attitude, goals and purpose has. For that I’m grateful. I wish all who reads this much success in your journey. Know that it will be different from mine and all others that you come across. There will be many similarities but your journey is your own just as mine is for me. If I can do it, anybody can. 👊🏼✌🏼

we get rebates from our health insurance if we do something like approved three activities a year. One choice was having a handful of telehealth appts with a dietitian (note this was not the dietitian I usually see annually at my bariatric clinic - this was just a regular dietitian who works for the insurance company). She suggested I cut 1000 calories a day from my diet to lose the weight I wanted to. I maintain my current weight on about 1700 calories a day. So cut 1000 calories from that? Is she f***ing kidding? So I cut 200-ish calories, knowing it'll take months to lose some microscopic amount of weight. But that's how it goes when you're at or close to a normal BMI. You're pretty much equilibrium as far as calories in/calories out, so there's not much to cut - and that weight loss is going to be S-L-O-W! (note that 700 kcal/day is fine during the first months post-op -- but not when you're as far out as I am..)

I do dump. I started at over 700, when I got down to 310 (my goal was 210), I started a program similar to Couch to 5K. I accomplished that and just kept going. Eventually I thought a marathon would be an interesting goal and I targeted the Valley of Fire marathon (outside Las Vegas). I ran 5 marathons in a year starting about 3 years post-op, during which I was running 70 to 90+ miles a week. I usually ran in the mornings before work, though there were periods where I did "2 a days". Right when I woke up I mixed up an ice-tea / Gatorade mix that wasn't terrible and drank it down. It woke me up and got me moving but I don't think it made much of a difference during my runs. During the runs I just did water. After runs I also did a regular yogurt for recovery. I tried the little squeeze packs and found they were ok on normal days (10-13 miles), but they would cause me to dump on longer runs, so abandoned them and anything else. Again, I didn't perceive any difference with the squeeze thing. My normal plan was 3 meals per day of 3oz protein, 1oz veggies. Because of the running I hit and shot way past a normal BMI. Eventually I was up to 5 meals per day plus a protein drink. The protein drink was instead of a 6th meal as I already felt I was eating all day. It slowed my weight loss. I hated (HATED!) eating so much, what a turn. Good luck, Tek

I took three weeks - have had a painless recovery but struggled to get water in and meet my protein goal so I was very sluggish and dizzy. I did do two half days near the end to tackle my inbox because the idea of it was stressing me out!

I picked my goal based on the lowest weight I’d ever reached before too - my bounce weight range. 60kgs & BMI of about 23. Reached that at 6 months & then lost another 11/12kgs over about another 11 months. The weight loss just continued to get slower. No stalls in that time, but the trend was still the same pretty smooth & even trend I experienced in my first 6 month weight loss. Just more up & down when I was starting to stabilise at around 50kgs I struggled to find that caloric balance to stop losing. Just trying to eat larger portions & then eat more frequently was hard but over that year I eventually got to about a recommended portion size for most foods. I was eating 4 or 5 snacks a day on top of three meals by the end. Now I eat about 3 snacks & 3 meals & I’ve been maintaining for almost a year at about 49kg (generally fluctuate between 48.5-49.5) & a BMI of just under 19. I know a lot of people have issues about BMI but I always look at it as a guide. Higher end of healthy range for large frames, lower end for smaller frames. Taking in the needs of our bodies is also important as is how muscular we are. Some people just sit happily at a BMI above the healthy range - their body seem to function better. We also carry our weight in different ways too. You can look at two people with similar height, build & weight but one can look slim & the other bony. I was always told I had a larger frame. Once the weight was gone it was obvious I don’t. When I was nearing 50kgs, my surgeon & doctor wanted me to get back to about 54kgs but they’re fine now & happy I’m healthy & maintaining. As one said: you’re actually really quite tiny aren’t you. It’s still can be a freaky I’m the size I was at about 12.

Physically I could have gone back to work after a week (desk job), but I found that the first week(s) it’s quite hard to get your water in AND figure out some kind of eating schedule, so I was very happy with the 3 weeks I took.

I had surgery on a Tuesday and took that week and the next week off. I could've gone back but I get tired easily even though I have energy. I'm glad I took two weeks. Three weeks would have been de trop.

I took three weeks off but could have gone back after two. I had a desk job.

Congratulations on your decision to choose you.