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Hey All I've been having a time as stated in another post. I would have updated in the same post but couldn't find it. I haven't been able to proceed to soft foods due to vomiting. Yesterday was my 6 week check up. As far as weight loss I was informed I am on target with 35% of excess weight gone which means I have 21 pounds to go for the doctor's office my personal goal is 33lbs BUT getting the 21lbs off will be great with me. I was also informed "Yesterday" due to the radiology report and the fact I was unable to eat, the doc wanted to do the baloon dialation next morning which was today. All went well and they saw that the opening was narrow & Initially, the scope could not pass through. The balloon was used to stretch the opening to 10 mm. I am now to progress through today liquids, puree, by dinner soft foods then in a few days to move into more dense (soft) foods etc. I feel good just sleepy! The meds should be out of my system by tomorrow. Now the work continues to get into a healthy BMI. No gerd as of now and that is truly a relief!

I got my surgery date today... November 29th... Gastric Bypass... Now to start planning, getting together everything I need and trying to not stress myself out until then....

WLS solves precisely two problems... being fat and (hopefully) associated health co-morbidities. The rest is work that you have to do. That said, being fat often makes us feel like crap for so many reasons. No longer being fat frees up a lot of energy and mental space to do that work. I have found that engaging in high quality therapy pre-op and during weight loss and maintenance has been very helpful in processing all of the changes and taking full advantage of the opportunities for transformation. I can't imagine going through this process without therapy as a space to process it all.

I think most of us had to have a sleep study to check for sleep apnea - that's a pretty common screening for this surgery. I can't remember if that was a requirement of my insurance or my bariatric clinic. I had it closer to the beginning of my journey, though.

Aah the how often to weigh debate. The responses seem to swing from very rarely/never to daily. I weighed every day for the first two years or so but now weigh 3 or 4 times a week. In the past if I thought I was putting on weight I wouldn’t go near the scales. If I didn’t see the number on the scales I could believe I wasn’t putting on weight even if my pants were very tight or bought the next size. So me weighing as I do now is about what I need to do to keep myself honest. I say you know you best & weigh yourself as you need to keep yourself motivated & on track. Has my hunger returned, yes. It did so slowly. Has it increased since it fully returned, no. There are still odd days or times I’m not all that hungry at all. (Wish that happened more often 😁.) I try to eat very much to a routine & not eat outside of that. If I think I’m hungry I consider if it’s real hunger or head hunger. Such as when did I last eat? Did I eat a smaller portion at my last meal? Is it almost time for a meal? How am I feeling - bored, sad, annoyed, stressed, etc. It can be an ‘interesting’ discussion I’m having with myself. 😁 This helps most of the time. I’m sorry about your injury @huskymama especially after achieving so much. But you didn’t have to go back to shakes to lose your weight just go back to how & what you were eating before your injury though smaller portions as you can’t be as active at the moment. Meet your fluids & protein goals. Eat your protein first then vegetables & last any carbs you’re allowed if you are able. Return to lower fats, carbs & sugar. Check with your dietician for ideas & guidance. Focus on upper body exercises because of your injury. Search for some exercises for those with limited mobility online. You can do this.

Oh that BMR calculator made me laugh... It estimates around 2,000 calories at my current weight and about 1,600 at my goal weight! Both are actually higher than my norm. I average around 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day (yes, tracking EVERYTHING, even drinks and junk). I've averaged that for the last 10+ years and still managed to gain about 100 lbs. But medications and health conditions helped with that gain... Still, if I actually end up at around 1,600 a day with no exercise and no gains I'll be one happy bunny! I guess it really is a matter of perspective and what we are used to. I've always thought the 2,000 calories a day thing was a load of garbage. Caloric needs vary widely depending on body composition, activity level, health issues, etc... I'd hate to see what weight I'd be at if I was actually eating those 2,000 calories it thinks I need right now.

I'll start with a question for my maintenance buddies: Do you ever "forget" you had surgery and it becomes a new normal? I think about my sleeve/food all the time... as much as I did when I was actively losing. I'm always aware that I've had surgery, and I'm always trying to figure out when and how to eat. It's not a bad thing.. just a thing.

i would be wary of any dietician that prescribes the same maintenance caloric amounts to all their patients without taking individual size, weight and metabolic rates into account (among a multitude of other factors!) i would be especially be wary of any dietician, when asked for a reason for his/her prescription, answers with "i don't know". as with all things, listen to what you are told and advised, but also make informed decisions on how to deal with your body based on observations of its responses to stimuli (i.e., caloric intake in this case). the 2000 calorie suggestion is an AVERAGE and does not apply to all. STATISTICALLY, only a small very very small percentage of the population actually requires exactly 2000 calories. the vast majority of the population fall above and below 2000 cals. thats MATH people. with that said, i am a 5yr post op, 5'2", 51 yr old, currently 117 lb female that maintains at about 1800 cals a day...and has been doing so for about 2+ years. (i used to maintain at 2300+ cals a day, but i was exercising like a fiend those days so it made sense). everyone will have varying maintenance calorie levels...if u can figure out yours and adjust as necessary, you are golden. Good Luck! ❤️

P.S. The old rule of thumb used to be your weight times 10 is about how many calories you should eat to maintain that weight. However, that doesn't take into account your activity level, musculature, etc, so that's just a rough estimate and can vary between people. You have your goal weight set at 140, so that means (at least according to the old rule of thumb) it'll take around 1400 kcal to maintain that. But again, that doesn't take into account how active you are - and there ARE variances among people - so I wouldn't consider that a hard and fast number. You sort of have to experiment to see what your maintenance level is. It's mostly trial and error.

Those calorie amounts are still in your losing phase right? Or are you planning on staying at that amount for life? I agree that I haven't even tried seeing how filling an extra 400 calories is so it might end up being a non issue in the long run but it was just a shock mentally. I always though the goal was to become average/normal but it doesn't seem to be the actual goal and that switch surprised me.