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4+ years out for me. i still track all my calories and weigh myself every morning. if my scale shows an upward trend for an extended period of time, i make adjustments in calorie intake for a while....though i haven't had to do these "adjustments" since i upped my personal acceptable weight limit by 5lbs over a year ago. i found that the effort to maintain a lower weight was just not worth it. yes its a small amount, but not having to worry about those extra 5 lbs and being able to maintain my current weight with little extra effort with my current eating habits and activity level is golden to me. p.s. i do dedicated exercise about 3-4 times a week p.p.s. not sure if it's worth noting that i also inadvertently practice 16:8 IF (i don't normally eat until after noon out of years habit; and i generally stop eating around 7-8 so i sleep on an empty stomach..habit created after wls to avoid nighttime regurgitation.)

At 5yrs out, I still mostly choose meals with lower calories when eating at restaurants even if I want the higher calorie meal more. Having calories displayed on menus is a game changer for me. Also I rarely have drinks with calories and when I do they are usually 60 calories or under and once per day.

I had the Loop DS, but my stomach is a VSG stomach, if that counts? And, I'll be 3 years post op next month so I don't know if I count, but... my tip is to take the weight loss phase and use it to learn how to eat in a better and more sustainable way. Make healthier choices, but allow yourself the freedom to eat the things you want in moderation (i.e not all the time). If you start to put on weight then monitor your calories (though in year 2 you WILL put on anywhere between 5-20 pounds back on average, or so I've been told by my surgeons office. I originally put 21 pounds on due to a med I was taking and once I stopped taking the med I worked on getting the weight off and was able to lose half the weight I'd gained, but I can't get under 186 pounds no matter what I do. I'm okay with it though as long as I stay in the 180's, but if my weight creeps into the 190's I start monitoring my calories closely to see if I'm eating too much. Which I usually am lol. I cut back and the weight comes back off, but stalls once again at 186 😒).

Congratulations! [emoji3060] Sent from my SM-A716U using BariatricPal mobile app

I didn't have a revision, (virgin bypass here) but I had the same concerns pre-op. I was worried about never being able to eat a piece of steak again.. or becoming lactose intolerant. I LOVE DAIRY! Long story short, none of it happened. I can eat anything I want, never dumped or maybe once but so mild I am still not even sure if that's what it was. By about 5-6 months, I was pretty much perfectly back to "normal" other than the restriction and eating WAY less than my normal pre-op self. I never had a problem getting my fluids or hitting protein goals. You got this! Don't worry. I know everyone is different but keep in mind, negative travels faster than positive! So it seems like you hear about more negative things but in reality it is just how word of mouth travels. Best of luck to you!

I made milk for cream of chicken soup with dry powdered milk to get in more.protein.

Its frustrating! especially if you are doing everything right. Stick with it, your time is coming.

Nope. One of the (admittedly few) benefits of being older is that I gave up my perfectionism years ago, and am much happier for it. You do what you can, blow off the rest, and learn to dust yourself off and climb back on the wagon when you fall.

Ok: obligatory response to the oft-asked question/concern about excess skin: Basically what @Arabesque said above and that you will know how weight loss affects u when u know. There is no real way to guarantee no excess skin other than NOT losing weight…and im sure thats not an option, right? With that said, here was my experience I started off at 235 with a BMI of 43…yep im short. (223 on surgery day). I was healthy/normal sized until about age 30, at which point i steadily gained weight until i got to morbid obesity by the time i got into my 40s. I had surgery when I was 47. I lost my weight relatively quickly, getting down to 127 in 7 months. I lost a few more lbs over the next couple months as settled into maintenance. Ive hovered around 115 (give or take 5 lbs) ever since. This morning i was 118.8 And yep, I had excess skin. But it was literally just that…skin. I had very little fat tissue underneath so I didn’t look so much rolly, than it did crepey/lumpy …it looked crumply-bedsheet-looking. I did get the skin removed when i was 14 months post op via tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift. As i had very little actual fat, the total weight removed from my body was a measly 400g. To those around me not really paying attention (which was probably almost everyone) the difference before and after PS was not very dramatic, if they noticed anything at all. It just looked like i toned up a little. I felt awesome in a bikini after plastics. But honestly, i felt awesome in that same bikini BEFORE plastics. But don’t get me wrong, i am super pleased i got it done and would do it all again 10 times out of 10. You may find you are quite happy/satisfied with your body after weight loss excess skin or not. Or you can go the plastics route. I’ve seen plastics results on here that are jaw dropping. But thats still a ways down the road for you. Your time and energies are probably better expensed on getting the weight off and changing and adapting to a new lifestyle. Good Luck! ❤️ P.S. For a visual, here is my progress pic covering the first 3 years (im 3.5 post today). You can see the skin situation with and without clothes on the top two rows. The bottom row is after PS.

Hello, I just wanted to share my story. I was on a fb group through the weight center that did my surgery on 12/5 but they didn't let me share my story. I went in for my sleeve surgery but shortly after while in recovery my BP dropped really low, I started sweating badly and my skin/eyes turned gray. They gave me a blood transfusion which brought my BP back up. I was brought in for an emergency surgery because I was bleeding out. They said leaked 3 liters of blood and had multiple large dark blood clots in my stomach. I was bleeding and oozing through the staples so they double stitched me and cauterized some of the stomach. Since the 2 surgeries I have had very high pulse, which they call Tachycardia. Also, I am anemic. I also get this uncontrolled diaphram spasm where it makes me gasp for air. The 1st week it hurt to swallow anything, even a sip of water. I started to get pain up my throat so they gave me heartburn meds which helped that matter. I went home after spending a few nights at the hospital but quickly after I was home I went back into the ER for low BP and dehydration. I am home again now, monitoring my BP. I am taking fluids ok and getting my proteins in. I still have to drink slow but I am able to. You can feel/hear every sip go down and every pill go down. I still get times where there is pressure from air stuck under the rib cage and the pain goes up to my shoulder. They just ok'd me to start cream soups, yogurt and cottage cheese 2 days ago. I get full really fast. I just wanted you to know that the 1% they warn you about can happen. It happened to me and I cry myself to sleep about the events that happened every time I close my eyes. It was very scary to go through. They said it will take about 6 weeks for my body to rebuild its own blood back up. Your body rejects some of the transfusion since it isn't your blood. Until then I get weak, dizzy and lightheaded every time I get up to walk around and my pulse goes really high and my heart beats out of my chest. I have a couple of mins to walk or shower and then I need to lay back down to catch my bearings. I am starting to get color back in my lips on occasion. The most important thing is I keep fighting to get up every day, walk a little and drink my fluids in order to get better. They tell you that you need support at home and I live alone so I was worried. They are right, you can't do this alone. After the ER trip it helped to have my parents coming in to remind me to keep drinking and to do things around the house that I couldn't. Thank you for listening. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app