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i am pre op but have made major dietary changes this year. tbh 80% of my cravings for sugary and carbs have already disappeared with the changes i have made. once i made the choice to reduce my consumption to “sparingly” on fast food, sugary items and now carbs, (begrudgingly due to upcoming pre op diet) and went through an adjustment period, the cravings majorly reduced. now the specific cravings are few and far between. also, i worked on WHY I used those items as an emotional crutch to get me through some challenging times. that made a huge difference. another big change is when I feel a craving, i can tell if it’s emotional or physical. emotional can be soothed by working on the emotional issue causing the craving; physical can often be satisfied with a very small portion of the food desired. it has been a freeing experience that was worth the extremely hard work and tears to get to this point. (lost 40 lbs since the end of April.. 56 this year) Journaling has been my best tool. There are other tools like meditation, therapy, channeling energy into a hobby etc that can help too. Remember this process is truly changing your life!! The more you look at all of your life’s patterns and seek out the healthy path, the better off you will be.

😮 I'm 9 months out, and I'll admit that lately I've been struggling with snacking -- but all of my snacks are "healthy" (low or no sugar/carbs but zero nutritional value; e.g., oat bites, sesame sticks, etc.). I can't imagine drinking or having actual junk food right now! I'm having a hard enough time with this much of a slip back into old habits. Anyway, it's a super good/interesting point that just meeting someone else who's had surgery isn't a guarantee of being on the same page food-wise! (P.S. Congrats on your engagement!)

I carry MOST of my weight in my abdomen. So naturally I lost the most there, I have always had smaller legs and arms. last time I measured I was 3 months post op and had lost 16 or 17 inches in my waist alone but basically stayed the same within 1/2 inch every where else. My face has also changed a lot, you can see my jaw line now. (slightly, but it is still there) Anyway, overall definitely my stomach/waist.

Literally the only thing that I wish they would have told me is that there is a 3% chance that you can develop a wheat allergy or celiac disease with any surgery that has malabsorption. I developed a wheat allergy and it completely blindsided me. I have crappy luck so had I known I would have expected it. Still would have done the surgery, but I would have expected it (not joking about the crappy luck. I had an MVD in 2017 and there is only a 1% chance of getting meningitis and guess what? I got meningitis. Yeah, my luck is crap). Also the hilarity of me having to call the bariatric surgeon because I was having chronic constipation and their confusion because they'd never had a patient with my surgery have that issue as it's generally the opposite (diarrhea) made my day. I laughed so much when the doctor had trouble processing that (I absorb iron really, really, really well so the fact that I was taking 3 iron multi's is what caused that issue. I now take 1 iron multi and 2 non-iron multi's and my iron level is the high side of normal... yeah). Also, keep in mind that everyone loses at their own pace and try not to compare yourself to others. You'll get there. It may be slower than someone else that started at the same time, but you could actually lose more than them in the end. You could also be a chronic staller (that was me. I've never met anyone who stalled as much as me) and that is incredibly frustrating (oh, the stress and frustration!), but it happens. And yes, even if you're not a chronic staller, stalls DO happen and are 100% normal (generally can last up to 3 weeks. Though some can last longer as I had a few that lasted in the 40 day range. No joke.).

It gets easier the longer you go without them, but once you re-introduce them you have to learn moderation even when you crave them. That has been a learning experience. I'm a stress baker and so when I bake I will call my sister up and give her more than half of what I bake so that I don't eat them all because I don't trust myself not to. I've even had my mom take some of my baked goods to work to share with her co-worker to get them out of the house. I have worked on the stress baking lately and I've cut it down to once a week when before I was baking 3-4x a week and sometimes sending all but one serving to my sisters house or my moms work lol. I made peanut butter cookies last week (because my niece and nephew were coming over and they love my cookies) and am planning banana muffins this week (because my mom loves when I make banana bread or banana muffins and since they eat the majority I tend to make what they like).

Ask if you have any choice in what size your stomach will be post surgery. I am not even sure if that’s a thing they could have done differently but given a choice I would have preferred mine to be smaller. I was able to eat more than expected at every given phase post op. I just measured my food and stopped when my plate was empty and I still lost weight though so don’t let me freak you out. According to my team at over a year out now my normal meals of about one serving of most things are typical but that’s me eating till I’m satisfied. I never really feel full. I see people on here who eat a lot less and if that is something they control I would have preferred to be on the smaller side.

I don't think most Drs believe in the stalls. I'm so dreading my next weigh in. 🥴

I hit my first at 2 1/2 weeks and my 2nd at 3 months. They are normal, they suck, and they will (unfortunately) keep happening, especially the further out you get from your surgery and the closer you get to your goal weight.

i hit one at 3 weeks. Then again at 3 months which that one lasted almost the entire month. That month i only lost i think 5lb or so. you will continue to have them along your journey.

Love watching Dr Alverez's videos and he just put out a new one regarding stalls. Has good information. Passing it along