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Hello! My name is Merayna and I am 20 years old. I had the gastric sleeve surgery done in Mexico at Obesity Control Center in Tijuana. I hit my highest weight a month before I had surgery done which was 238 lbs. I made it to 226 lbs for surgery and almost 4 months post-op I have gotten down to 186 lbs. I never knew how big of a difference 50 pounds could make on not only my face and my body but my confidence as well. Thankfully, I haven't experienced any bad side effects from surgery other than the expected hair loss that has recently started. (*knock on wood*) I can say that before surgery I did struggle with Type 2 Diabetes, High Triglycerides, Hypothyroidism, and PCOS. After surgery, my diabetes has gotten a lot better and my doctor is pretty confident that I won't have to take my metformin for much longer but we will see. Something that I seem to struggle with some days is "reverse" body dysmorphia. When I look at myself in the mirror or in new pictures I still see the exact same girl I was before I started losing weight. In my eyes, my body has always looked the way it does now even when I was 50 lbs heavier. Then I compare the old photos and the new ones and it shocks me because I saw myself as way thinner than how I actually looked at the time. This surgery has truly changed my life. I wake up with more energy, I love taking photos now and dressing up, I eat better and take care of myself better, and I honestly feel like a brand new person. I am halfway to my goal of 140 lbs and I can't wait to be the healthier version of myself that I have always wanted to become.

That is how I feel and what I said to the surgeon when he was warning about the scars on the arms if I go ahead with the arm lift he proposed. I pointed out that as they are now, and have been since I remember, I would never dare to wear something that did not go to my elbow at least and if the scars turned out that bad well then so be it but at least the shape in sleeves would be better but that I would hope he would do such a good job that I would not have a roaring red scar for the rest of my life and that I would be happy to show a bit of a scar than all the loose skin I have now. Boob job is approx 10k which I don't have but it something I might start to save up for, after I have paid off the 2.8k for the arm lift. Legs he won't touch due to lymphedema so seems I will be forever stuck wearing ankle length clothing. In the meantime I have bought some new bras that give a nice shape and waiting for an order of daisy oil which has been recommended to me to help the skin elasticity so will see.

It's my 5 month anniversary from surgery. It's not been a good month. I'm trying to find a new job because I'm miserable to at my current one. I find that old habits are starting to slip in. I've gained a kilo in this month alone. I'm still heading in the right direction, and I'm kicking the old habits back out. I've not been as vigilant as I should have been. I just need to remember that I'm still better off now than I was 5 months ago and keep looking forward.

Thank you! Yes, it's been a rough month but I'm definitely doing much better than 6 months ago! I still feel better physically than I did before the weight loss. I've always been overweight too. I still feel really happy that I'm a size 16 (UK) when I haven't been since I was 16 years old! Just got to keep looking at my progress overall!

I overslept by an hour missing my morning but I feel like a million bucks! I have been back to consistently working out 6 days a week, 3 days lower body weight lifting until I get the go to upper body. 15 more weeks till Summer! I wanna be in a bikini 😝

Lol I agree and I'll look into it! I hate that I've come this far only to still be too embarrassed to wear short sleeves or shorts!

I would say mention it to your team to be safe. However if you have had a bad diarrhea episode, you may be dehydrated and the extra exertion will have made it worse. Get some get some dehydrating powders or drinks or just up your liquid intake. I know its not easy early on but do the best you can. If you are taking tablets for high blood pressure then this could also be a reason. Lots of us have to stop taking the tablets very early out because of dizziness.

@BlondePatriotInCDA I wish surgeries of all types were more affordable even bariatric surgery some people can't afford those surgeries or insurance will not approve it. It's such a life changing surgery that more people need. As far as plastics, yes it needs to be way more affordable. Hey, you might wanna look into foreign travel! Colombia 🇨🇴 top plastics doctors do great work! Everyone deserves to get their nips and tucks.

Forgot to add that the constipation was probably worse than any surgical pain. If your surgical team hasn't already communicated a plan to you for dealing with the constipation, talk to them ASAP. It's not nearly as bad if you stay ahead of it, but God forbid you wait until it's really bad!

Maybe check out Dr. Matthew Weiner’s pound of cure weight loss book. He goes over a handful of things that you can change and you can pick which one you want to start with. For me, the fruits and veggies was a good one because I actually like fruits and veggies. Replacing a lot of the process carbs with healthy carbs for me is the most important component to weight loss not just to cut calories in the short run but to stop cravings in the long run. For me processed carbs, make me crave sugar. One cookie and I want pasta I want cake. I want it all and I crave it for a week. Natural carbs do not do that to me and they can help reduce the cravings a little while I get through the week or so to detox from them. Once I am off of the processed carbs so long as I get my protein, I stay feeling full so it’s much easier to sustain a healthy diet. Keto never worked for me either and I have learned post surgery that is most likely because of not being able to eat hardly any carbs at or it was all the processed junk I was eating instead of natural food. They alter things by adding more fiber to cut the carbs and all of that and that may be reducing your calories to help you lose weight, but for me it wasn’t the same for my body as a veggie with fiber. It’s not sustainable because my body was still craving the carbs. I would lose weight in the beginning, but the cravings were horrible and eventually I would give in to them and then I just wanted even more. Anyways, you may not be able to replace every unhealthy carb with healthy carbs on your own before surgery, but if you can reduce some of them by trying out different recipes to find fruits and veggies that you like, it may cut enough to lose your 10% and be a good start to finding healthy carbs that you enjoy