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At about 4am when I was doing one of my morning runs, a police car pulled up and stopped about 30 yards away, then turned on his lights and over his megaphone started sharing how proud he was of my losing weight so well, that he'd been watching me these months, and was personally invested in my success... At 4am. Over the megaphone. This went on for about a minute when the police academy on the street was starting their morning run, and over the megaphone he told them to congratulate me and shake my hand, so about 25 cadets ran over and did just that. At 4am. Over the megaphone. Thanks officers. Tek

I think the majority of the people on here are fairly new - it's just us oldsters are pretty vocal (!)

I never chose a goal weight. At 1/4 ton overweight I would have killed to get within 100 pounds of an overweight BMI. Anything better was too far beyond reason in my mind. As it turns out I shot past a normal BMI before I managed to get back up. I had 16 pounds removed during my abdominoplasty. Good luck, Tek

You don't choose goal weight. Goal weight chooses you.

Would be Ok with me, I would of just told them I switched to Lite beer. 😁

If you have followed your plan well you have not failed. Heck, if you are lifeing as well as it seems then you are tremendously successful since lifeing is the name of the game. Oddly I think folks focus too much on a number on a scale. The important thing is following your plan, getting healthier, and feeling better. These are the true measures of success. High expectations and comparing ourselves to others is self-defeating. Even if we believe our expectations are reasonable we will sooner or later not meet them. There is always someone that loses more faster. Then we feel like failures when in reality we have no control over how much or quickly we lose weight. Good luck, Tek

My goal of 140 lbs. was set for a normal BMI classification for someone 5'3". I began maintenance at 140 but continued to lose while trying to find the magic calorie maintenance number. As long as I don't enter the medically underweight (or overweight) category, then I will just keep doing what I am doing.

I picked 75kg, because I vaguely remembered that being my weight back in 1998 when I was at my thinnest and wearing a size US 8/ AUS 12. I set that as my goal, as I felt confident at that weight. My surgeon's goal for me was 80kg, but I was just fixated on being the 1998 size again. I've well surpassed his, and even slipped under mine. Beyond this I'd like to get to 73kg for that bit of wiggle room, but I don't want to lose too much more as I'm already quite skinny looking.

Hair loss is probably the number one distressing appearance-related side effect of rapid weight loss (honourable mentions to loose skin, of course). Most, if not all, of us suffer from it. Some suffer more than others. Like the others above, I want to offer re-assurance that its mostly temporary. Little chicken hairs will start to sprout up and then in a year or two those chicken hairs will be down to your shoulders. Im my case (and some others I have read), it actually came back thicker...but i think this is also due to the fact that my overall health is better than it was before. BUT, in the meantime, here are few couple tips to get you through this annoying stage (choose what you feel comfortable with...or none at all ) 1) cut your hair shorter (i did a pixie cut at 3 months). the carpets of hair accumulating on the floor and catching in the shower drain will appear less. shorter hair theoretically will weigh less, so it will be less likely to pull down flat against your scalp and show larger swatches of said scalp. and when the chicken hairs start coming in they are less noticeable and blend in better with the rest of your shorter hair and not look so thin on the ends. 2) keep your hair clean. greasy hair will flatten and mat against your scalp which will show more of it (BUT don't shampoo too much...and that's for everyone, not just those losing their hair!) 3) I think I see what looks like a braid in your hair in one of the pics above? if you can, maybe save the braids for later as the style will pull on the hair you have and possibly come out at an even faster rate. 4) there are these hair fibre "powders" that you can buy that temporarily camouflages the scalp. its basically hair coloured powder that you sprinkle on your hair to give the appearance of fullness until you wash it out later. Best results on darker hair with enough existing hair for the fibres to adhere too. 5) and for the truly brave, there is SMP (scalp micro pigmentation)..its a process whereby a tech tattoos hundreds (thousands?) of tiny little dots on your scalp to mimic hair follicles and create the illusion of fuller hair. I had this done last year because I have had the same side part in my hair since I was like 8 years old, and as the years have gone by its was noticeably thinner in that section. Full disclosure: it effing hurts. but I'm happy with the results, lol. 6) and lastly, at least for me, vitamins, creams, lotions did nothing to stop or slow down the hair loss. i know lots of folks have sworn by some or all of these methods, so ymmv. Good Luck, and hang it there! ❤️ P.s. sorry this was so long.

I suspect this is one of the reasons many doctors (like mine), recommend a lower carb diet, at least initially after WLS. I personally have a love/hate relationship with low carb dieting. I lost a great deal of weight doing low carb ~20 years ago, but ended up gaining it all back and then some, because I found it unsustainable long-term. As a result, I'm intending to take more of a "smart-carb" approach this time. The reality is, not all carbs are the same. My plan is to limit my intake of simple carbs, especially processed foods as much as possible, while adding in complex carbs via whole foods as tolerated.