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It varies by person - how active you are, how much you have to lose, and most importantly, how your body reacts. I started out with super low carbs (20-30 or so a day) and gradually brought it up until around 9 months out when I was getting somewhere between 40-60 a day. More carbs had no impact on my loss so I was comfortable eating them and giving myself some "flex" in my diet. I've never really watched my fat but due to the high Protein diet (I shoot for 90+ grams a day) I eat about 45% protein, 30% carbs and 25% fat. I try to make those fats as "good" as possible and I do limit my red meat and fried foods to help that. I am only able to keep the ratio I do because I still drink at least one Protein shake daily. I was a "slow" loser - it took me 17 months to lose 107 pounds. I now maintain between 133-137 on any given day, with very little effort. If you're looking for ways to mix things up, you can post what you're typically consuming and we'll give suggestions. You could be eating too little, or too much. Your body could need more carbs (mine did!) or less carbs. You might just be a slower loser no matter what you do, too. Nothing I did to mix up my diet to make things move more quickly had any real impact on my weight loss pattern. Sometimes we just get lucky. If nothing you do helps, don't get too discouraged. Slow loss is still loss and there aren't prizes for getting to goal more quickly. Do the right things and you can reach goal, even if it's more slowly than you'd like. ~Cheri

Popcorn for sure! I expected to have an easy time with things like ice cream, yogurt or cream Soups but popcorn, chips and cookie surprised me. Anything you can chew up into tiny, crunchy bits seems to go down much more easily than the chicken breast you should be eating. ~Cheri

There's a pregnancy specific forum here, but not too many people posting about pregnancy. I know Tiffykins had a successful pregnancy and didn't gain too much and is currently expecting again. I've seen several people post that they're expecting but very few come back and do a follow up to say what they're gaining. ~Cheri

I don't have one on my ankle but I do have my neck, upper back and arms tattooed. Despite losing more than 100 pounds none of them have shifted or changed significantly. Unless it's in a place likely to sag or bag, you'll be fine. I'd be a sad girl if I had a breast tattoo or one on my stomach, that's for sure. ~Cheri

No, I don't think so. I had no pre-op and a pretty easy recovery. I was off pain pills as soon as I got back home from Mexico. I think a lot of it is simply personal - it's up to your pain tolerance. I do think people that have had major surgery before tend to bounce back more easily, just because they know what to expect. ~Cheri

Yes, people refer to "dumping" all the time but I think they're using the wrong term in most cases. For the first several weeks it's liquids in, liquids out as Oregondaisy said. After that, if you're eating the right foods you shouldn't have a problem. I developed lactose intolerance and the digestive issues that accompany that, but once I started avoiding foods that caused an issue I was fine. If you aren't used to artificial sweeteners and drink/eat a lot of them post op you might experience a problem, so take it easy on them until you're sure how they affect you. If you suddenly eat a ton of fat or sugar in your diet, you might experience an issue. Not because your body is rejecting a food but because it's simply not used to those things. The biggest time this happens seems to be when transitioning to "regular" food again. Someone will go out and eat ice cream or fried chicken and have a rough time because they've been on Protein shakes and cottage cheese for a month! Your body simply isn't used to the same foods as before surgery and the same thing could happen if you hopped off a diet into junk food without a sleeve. I don't think you have anything to really worry about. Staying positive and calm is the best thing you can do with this type of problem. ~Cheri

Hugs for dealing with that. And I'm probably totally out of line but that's what happens when we talk about personal things in an open forum - sometimes someone volunteers things you don't want to hear or don't agree with. So before I start, please forgive me if I give offense. I personally feel that our weight problems (in almost every case) start with our heads and emotions, not our stomachs. There's a reason we abuse food like a drug, that we overeat, that we hide from things with it and continue to do it even when we start to hate our external appearance and know food is to blame. I would evaluate your relationship with your mother and see if there are any triggers there that have caused you to feel badly about yourself or that have contributed to whatever you've got going on that helped you gain weight in the first place. If you can pinpoint it you can confront her and talk it out, or at least be aware of it so it doesn't set you into an emotional tizzy. I never considered that I had a lot of problems with my mother because we were finally on good terms before surgery, but I did have some poor habits I learned from her to deal with post op. And I didn't realize that she was perhaps unintentionally lashing out at me because as a woman that is very overweight herself, she was jealous that I was leaving her behind and finally losing the weight. This conflicted with her happiness that I was doing what she wasn't able to do and left me with a mom that was sometimes very supportive and sometimes very hurtful. Once I could talk to her about it, we were able to move forward, and we're trying to find a way to fund her surgery now. Don't just get mad and brush it off, think about it and what it says. I have no doubt your mother loves you. But if this is an opportunity to learn more about who you are and why, and change it, and possibly help her to see things your way, why pass it up? Congrats to you for coming here to vent instead of doing something to set your progress back. ~Cheri

You would have to eat to the point of sickness and discomfort REPEATEDLY to stretch the stomach even the small amount it has to stretch. That said, a sleeve doesn't need to stretch if the person chooses to graze all day, eat slider foods and not adhere to a healthier diet. For the most part unhealthy foods go down easily so you can eat more of them. ~Cheri

I was really split prior to surgery but yeah, a lot of it WAS vanity. I was tired of being the biggest girl in the group, I was tired of not being able to zip even wide calf boots over my chunky legs and I was tired of feeling self conscious about my appearance no matter how nice the clothes I was wearing. I did tell myself going in that I'd be happy as a 10/12 and I really think I would have been if that's all my body would lose. But I AM a size six now and I love being a small and sometimes extra small. I love knowing that after plastic surgery I'm going to be a size four. Nobody is ever going to look at me and consider me fat again. The social thing is very real. I know that I act differently and have more confidence and that impacts how I'm treated to an extent, but there is no denying that people treat me very differently these days. Go for it! I don't know that I'll ever get down to a size two - my body just doesn't want to be that small, I think. But being a small and a size 4/6 is fantastic. I never expected to get here. Now if only I didn't have so much loose skin, it'd be perfect! ~Cheri

I'd start taking it as early as possible. I was told that the one really important thing that you need in your system BEFORE conception is folic acid. A great way to get that is a prenatal Vitamin. I take the Bellybar chewable prenatal Vitamins and I love them. They don't make me queasy even though they're just as unpleasant to chew as any other vitamin. I love that they have folic acid and Iron in them so I don't need an extra supplement. ~Cheri

Good luck! Every now and again there's one hiding that they don't see, so here's hoping you have a good chance this month. ~Cheri

Yep, you'll need your glasses. I left contacts and home and wore glasses the entire time. ~Cheri

YES! Try this and see if it helps. You may not have such an issue that you're feeling reflux but that hunger feeling could definitely be acid. Try the over the counter generic omeprazole and take one daily for a week and see how you feel. I just had a recurrence of that hungry all day feeling around two years out and had to pop back on my PPI for a few weeks and I feel much better. ~Cheri

Yep, I used a "freckle" plastic retainer during surgery and had no problems. ~Cheri

I just want to chime in on food and entertaining. In the beginning this would be tough. But somewhere around six months out this is no big deal. I bake, I cook, I entertain large and small groups on a weekly basis and I would NEVER give it up. It's fun and fulfilling for me. I've adapted a lot to suit my surgery but not as much as you might think. I eat less than my guests but so what? It is definitely something you will be able to do once you're healed. The time without food is hard but the more inventive you are in the kitchen the easier it can be for you. I didn't want to eat at all but having something nice and spicy instead of bland old chicken broth was really nice. I didn't want to eat but by the end of my liquids phase I was ready to chew anything, so yes, it's a tough spell while you heal. But once it's done, it's done. You never go back to that kind of dietary restriction again. I've learned to make my food count. I choose better ingredients and lots of flavor over quantity now and I enjoy food more than I ever did before. I might only eat a bite or two of each thing I prepare, but this is my new normal and I feel no deprivation whatsoever. This CAN be you. I never thought my life would change as much as it has, but once you start losing the weight and shedding the emotional baggage your life will improve tremendously. ~Cheri

Waiting for my period to show before I move onto the next step. Doesn't it figure that when I actually WANT to start I'm a little late? Is anyone else actively trying to conceive right now? Coops, you rock. Thank you for the reassurance. The couple-a pounds fell off already but I'm sure they'll be back once I start the estrogen next week. ~Cheri

Keep going. The weight will come off if you continue to do the right things. Unfortunately, we don't get to control the rate of loss! I was definitely frustrated at different points along my journey to goal but the reality is that you won't care how long it took once you get there. So keep doing the right things and don't worry as much about the calendar or how quickly the scale moves. ~Cheri

I never gave up spices! Reintroduce them now and see how they treat you. I never would have made it through that extended liquids phase without spicy chicken broth or hot and sour soup! ~Cheri

It's a challenge. You'll learn the balance between eating quickly enough for your time limit and eating slowly enough for your sleeve. It's a learning experience for a lot of us. The most important thing is to rest between bites, if only for 30 seconds. You should not be scooping up your next bite while still chewing one. The reason for this is so that you have a second to gauge your fullness. A lot of time the difference is made with just one small bite and certain foods are real offenders for this: eggs, bread, tortillas and Pasta all do it to me. Talk to the people around you while eating or flip through a magazine (so long as you won't eat mindlessly if you read while eating!) and take a short break between bites. You're going to eat such a small portion for a while that it's not likely you'd need more than 15-20 minutes to eat, anyway! ~Cheri

You should be fine. I had my passports made before surgery and currently live overseas and use them frequently. I have not yet encountered a problem despite the fact that I have three chins in the passport photo and could now pass for my younger sister! They're trained to look for identifiers in the face, not only your weight. If it comes up, simply explain and it should be no problem. Once you reach goal and have time, get new documents made. The only thing I've updated so far is my drivers license because I had lost enough that I was having trouble when the supermarket clerk checked my ID so I could buy beer or wine. ~Cheri

Yeah, ditto again on Lissa. I really wanted 125 pounds as my goal. It simply isn't going to happen. We really do hit a point where that's all there is. And yeah, my waist is 27" and my hips are 37" so we're pretty similar, though you must be taller than my 5'1" and some change. It took six months to shed the last twenty to get me to goal in the first place. So evaluate your diet and if that's not a problem, you might shed a few more pounds by just hanging in there. Oh, and loose skin does account for a lot. I was told anywhere from 12-18 pounds were on my body when I had a plastics consult, so keep that in mind if plastics are in your future. I'll be right at my ideal goal once I have them done, so I try not to get discouraged in the meantime. ~Cheri

Do a search here for "leak" and see what you find. It's been discussed at length. Liquids in = liquids out. So I would try to mix your shake with Water or warm tea and see if it causes the same reaction. A lot of shakes are already lactose free. I did develop lactose intolerance post op and it wasn't just diarrhea, it was extreme discomfort and gas, along with all day nausea if I ate any dairy. Yes, stay with liquids and warm liquids are best. You aren't going to get anywhere near your nutritional goals for a little while so don't push your sleeve when you can't eat. Rest and try to heal. If your pain is interfering with your daily function you need to talk to your doctor. This is not normal. You should feel uncomfortable but outright pain at this point should not be happening. ~Cheri

I started at 242 with goal at 135 pounds. It took me 17 months to get to goal. Rate of loss is absolutely an individual thing and you will not have any idea about what to expect until you're in it. I thought I'd be at goal in nine months but I was a slow and fairly steady loser (I had a pattern my body followed, anyway) with two nine week stalls along the way. I refused to do Atkins for life and consume 500 calories a day and 40 grams of carbs or less. I had surgery to break the diet mindset, not continue it. So I ate a more balanced diet and surprisingly, I found it didn't impact my weight loss either way. I did not exercise and still hate to do it, though I'm working on my arms. I do move around way more than before surgery, though, and I aim for 12,000 steps a day even though I don't do an organized workout routine. Skin is also completely individual. I had bad skin from the get-go - a growth spurt at eleven put stretch marks all over my body and my twin pregnancy in 2007 stretched me out like crazy. So even with a smaller amount of weight to lose, the loose skin is more than a nuisance. I have to wear shapewear all the time. So you really can't know how the skin thing will work out for you. Some people say that strength training helps prevent some of the sagging. I think we tend to lose a bit slower the closer we are to goal in any case, but again, rate of loss is up to your body. There are only a few things we can do to help things along and they may or may not work, anyway! ~Cheri

I had problems with forgetfulness, staying focused and fatigue that started around one year post op but starting on B12 shots and taking a new Iron supplement has me feeling better than I have since I had my twins four and a half years ago. I can remember things, stay on task, stay focused, spell again, etc. I'm not sure about long term effects, though, as I'm only 23 months out. ~Cheri

Everyone is different, so do not count on no hunger post op - make your choice to be sleeved well informed. You should search these forums for threads about this issue as it's discussed quite frequently. For most people, YES it goes away. For some it does not, and if you will not be happy with a tool that simply limits your intake with restriction this is not the surgery for you. I didn't only lose my hunger, I lost all desire to eat and started to hate food for a while post op. I didn't have my first "oh wow, that's good" meal until nearly a year out. What that allowed me to do is work on my food issues (the mental ones) while food was easily avoided. Once my appetite returned (to some extent..it's nothing like it used to be) I was able to approach my relationship with food from a much better place. In my experience, a number of people that post about hunger post op are usually struggling with acid and need a PPI OR are dealing with head hunger and the emotional issues surrounding food. But make no mistake, there are people that never lose the hunger, so again, I urge you to research this more thoroughly and make an informed decision before surgery. ~Cheri