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Hi everyone, I was sleeved 9/11/2013 and this ten years has definitely been a journey weight loss rollercoaster for me. I started at 239 and currently weight 152. I lost down to 167 and that was my lowest for years. I slowly gained again after the lost of my parents and last year weighed 212. I refocused and lost 60 pounds down to my lowest at 152. I’ve been focused and watchful of my meals and started intermittent fasting which has been a lifestyle change for me. Still the best decision I ever made

OMG, ok here's what happened. So last night, for the first time in a year and a half, I was finally in the mood for some ham (lost my liking of pork for a long time). So hubby made a hickory smoked, spiral cut ham. OMG it was AMAZING. I took a tentative bite and it was like a FLAVOR EXPLOSION in my mouth. So delicious!!! I was so excited to actually like it again that I scarfed it down. Like, I ate all 3 ounces of ham in under a minute. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT do that. Ever. Once you have your surgery (especially if it's the bypass) DO NOT EVER EVER EVER scarf your food. Even if you want to. Even if it's the greatest food in the history of all food ever. Do NOT eat it quickly. Go slow and chew it. Pretend you're a train and CHEW CHEW it. About 5 minutes after I finished eating, I was in hell. OMG. The pain, the stuck feeling, the "omg my stomach is gonna burst" feeling, the nausea, the praying to ALL the deities and making bargains and deals and swearing to never do it again...it all started. I was MISERABLE all night. And I DO mean all night. So learn from me, people. NOTHING tastes good enough to make that TERRIBLE behavior even remotely worth it. Be very mindful about what you eat, how fast you eat it, and how much of it you eat. This concludes my TED talk.

I've used this forum so far to ask questions, and obviously, people who are trying to adjust figure out if their experience is "normal" or have some issue with the process, and are going to ask questions-- some posts/threads document the challenges to this "adjustment." I thought it might be valuable to lay out the positives. I don't much care how you got to the surgery point- whether by some unhealthy attachment to eating or anything else. But for whatever reasons we underwent surgery, I'll assume that the path we were on was not healthy and beyond that, our quality of life was compromised by weight. So, I'll say-- after 3 months, X weeks, I'm far more mobile. I can walk now, without feeling out of breath. I fit into clothes I couldn't-- I look and feel "better"- yeah, it is tricky to learn how to eat, and it seems like things changed (they did), but totally worth it in my estimation. I had gotten to the point where I was eating a FODMAP diet (to reduce gastric blow-back up my esophagus) and it was more limited in food choices than what I face now, post surgery. I'm not sure I could have done this with diet and exercise. I did that in 2010, went from 250 to 180 through several hours of exercise a day plus hardcore paleo. But now I'm older, and I really needed help. The surgery and low volume diet plus movement (which I could not do at a certain point-scary) has made a quantum change in my physical being, and given me a revitalized outlook on life.

I used to get that stuck-on-the-way-down experience fairly often when I first reintroduced meat after surgery, but I have learned to chew my food really well to the point that it has become automatic and I rarely have that problem anymore. But last week, I went to a restaurant and got some really delicious snapper, and it was so good that I ate too much, too fast and regretted it. Fortunately, the feeling passed after about an hour, but it was not a pleasant hour and like your ham experience, it was a good reminder that I still have to eat slowly and chew well.

Lettuce wrap. It’s been quite while since I’ve used lettuce as “bread”, I may go back to it for a while.

Update: Gastric Bypass Date 8/16/2023 Starting weight 376 Current 334.2 Down 42 pounds Note: No pain at all, not hungry. Do I miss a large pizza and a movie yes... Would I make same choice to do surgery yes I want to be active again..

Any kind of movement helps. Walking, shopping at the store, chair exercises, any and all of it help. I think you're on the right track, and you'll definitely get there

I’m just about seven months out, and I take it on occasion, but only when needed for short periods of time. I also use liquid gel and take it with food. I’m currently recovering from kidney stones from taking my calcium supplements (that’s a whole other story) and took a few. Tylenol just didn’t do anything for me and the Oxy they prescribed loops me out and constipate me. Here’s an interesting study I found https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33353863/ It’s from 2020 but they didn’t find any correlation to issues. I’m not sure if there are more recent studies, but I tend to think, in my opinion only, that it is overhyped, and they are simply airing on the side of caution, which makes sense. Since every persons system and surgery behave differently, it would be too hard to tell who could tolerate and who couldn’t. If someone then shows up with an ulcer, and their doctor didn’t warn them, lawsuits could happen. Again, just my opinion.

Not everyone experiences a bounce back regain. And not everyone experiences a larger regain. If it does happen there’s often a reason: complacency/&or bad habits returning, a too restrictive way of eating, lifestyle changes, medical/health issues, emotional issues, settling of your weight, … I had a regain of a good two kgs (about 5lbs) rather quickly a few months into my second year so earlier than the usual 3rd year. Didn’t gain any more. Wasn’t happy but was accepting it. Couldn’t really put my finger on why. No dietary changes, no activity changes during that time. But what I did have was a gall removal at 25 months which caused an protein absorption issue. Then almost at the three year mark we realised the gall removal also stopped me absorbing my HRT & caused other issues. Went from a tablet to a patch & slowly but surely I lost a good kilo of that regain over 6 months +/-. I’ve been sitting pretty stable again for about 6 months or so. I keep an eye on the scales, monitor my portions, watch my food choice & fingers crossed I continue to remain stable.

for most people it seems to start up in year 3. It did for me. I put on about 15 lbs pretty quickly. I think part of it is old habits sneaking. back in, and part of it is metabolic readjustment. It's not inevitable, but it seems to happen to most of us