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I just posted this on a thread about whether we regret having surgery, and realized that it really belongs more in this forum. Apologies for the double-post. ------------------------------------------- I am less than 5.5 months post-surgery, and have lost over 100 pounds. I crossed that threshold just yesterday, and that means I'm just three pounds from the mythical place I never thought I'd see again: ONEderland. In the 5.5 months since surgery... ... I've discovered running. I completed couch-to-5k (thank you, "C25K Free" app!!) and then two 5k races, and have more scheduled every weekend for the next 6 weeks. Before surgery, I couldn't run half a block to catch a bus if my life depended on it. I definitely would've been the first one down in the zombie apocalypse. ... I've discovered bicycling. I rode 25 miles in a benefit event, including up a freeway ramp and across a big high bridge near Lake Michigan. And I did it without stopping. Before surgery, I hadn't been on a bike for 20+ years. ... I've discovered gardening. There was a large area of my property that used to be a garden and I always wanted to reclaim it. But the weeds were waist-high and the one time I tried to clear them out I could only manage a 2-foot square and that was even while sitting on a bucket. Now I'm growing 46 different crops and I have fresh strawberries every morning. ... I've vacationed like a fiend. I planned a big bucket-list vacation for my mom to Peru for 4 months post-surgery, and I conquered Machu Picchu like I was born to do it (see my icon). When I was in China a year ago, I could barley explore any of the Great Wall and mostly sat on a bench while watching others break out. ... I've kicked medical issues to the curb. I've beat diabetes (last A1C was 5.0 with no meds and no monitoring), high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. My knees don't hurt. My back doesn't hurt. I don't get headaches anymore. The past 5.5 months have felt miraculous and magical and transformative on every level. I catch myself getting excited about sneaking carrot sticks into the movie theater for a special treat during the show, and I hardly recognize myself. So, no... no regrets.

Hey, I was there at the support group meeting. We need to come up with a signal to recognize each other at these!

I had just the opposite problem! I was trying to insert thumbnails, and ended up with HYOOOOGE images. We just can't get what we want, can we? Love your update! You look fantastic!

I am 6 months & 2 days post-surgery, and life is beautiful. Front, back, and side photos are in my gallery folder: http://www.bariatricpal.com/gallery/image/85333-6-month-progress-picture-side/

At my 3-week appointment, the nurse asked me "How have your emotions been?", and I was all "Why, what have you heard!?" My husband was in the corner of the room, so he just smirked. He knew I'd been an emotional basket case for the week or two prior, crying at literally anything. If you Google estrogen and fat, you'll see why she asked this question. As one of the the sources explains it (which is basically the same thing she told me): "Estrogen likes to store itself in fat tissues so there is a problem for some people when the fat breaks down (through nutrition, exercise or other methods) it releases the estrogen back into the system. " So until the estrogen makes its way out of your system, it's running around your body wreaking havoc and causing all sorts of chaos like untimely PMS-like symptoms and frequent periods. It does get better.

It was several months after surgery before I tried any fruits, and I have tolerated them well. But just because it's a banana and not a Twinkie doesn't mean it won't make you sick or won't make you dump, so tread lightly here. I don't have a goal for grams-of-sugar-per-day, but I do have a limit of 10g per serving of anything. And that's a regular serving, not a bariatric serving, because it's mostly about the proportion of sugar-to-other-macros that I care about. So bananas are mostly out (except for occasional post-run recovery) and strawberries and other berries are in. There are simple and complex sugars and different kinds of sugar (e.g., lactose, fructose, glucose, maltose, sucrose, galactose), and so there's a continuum of badness that has lactose on one end and Twinkies on the other. My nutrition said that lactose was so far on the side of goodness that I shouldn't worry about limiting it, which seems to be common advice. But basically everything else is still a potential danger spot for your RNY-shortened digestive tract, so please be careful with the fruits and sweeteners until you know how they affect you.

My understanding is that Extended-Release formulas are a thing of the past post-surgery, permanently, for the same reasons cited above. RNY digestive tracts are too short for the ER formulas to break down, and they end up passing in and out before doing their little medication-goodness.

I realized one day last week that I was running on the treadmill at the gym while watching "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives", and the cognitive dissonance nearly made me fall off. I switched to HGTV instead. House porn is way better than food porn anyway.

My surgeon went straight to purees as well. I had scrambled eggs for Breakfast in the hospital the day after surgery, and subsisted on pureed chicken taco meat and refried Beans for most of the first week. Every surgeon is different. Just follow the plan you were given.

The one I used, "C25K Free" by Zen Labs, also let you skip days.

I did bypass at a center of excellence. My surgeon was the founder of the center and has been in the business for decades. His program's guidelines are unique, from what I've read here. No shakes, no liquid pre-op phase, straight to purees/soft foods. I had scrambled eggs in the hospital the morning after surgery and was working out at the gym after a week. My recovery was a breeze with no complications. Now I am 6 months out and have lost 105 pounds. Every surgeon is different and so is every patient. I think this is particularly true of the surgeons who have been at it for a long time and have learned what works best with their particular surgical / cutting style and habits. Follow your program and no one else's.

I had the same thing happen in the weeks after surgery. I tolerate them just fine now, when I'm in a pinch and can't get to a meal.

Here's a new one. I went to see my parents at the end of April for the first time since surgery in January, when I was about 70-75 pounds down. My mother took one look at me and immediately burst into tears. She hugged and clung on for a while until she could get control of herself. Mom's always been very petite, and I had no idea how troubled she was by my size until that moment. I'm glad she kept it to herself, but it was also gratifying to see such a strong reaction. They just came to visit last weekend and were both amazed again at how different I look from April to now (about 105 pounds down in total). When they left, Mom took away 29 grocery bags filled with clothes in size 20-24 for her next garage sale. That's practically an NSV all on its own. Overall, there's nothing like family to give you honest feedback (for better or for worse) on how you're doing. At this point, I'll take it!

If anything, I'm eating more spicy foods - and more spicier - than before. I'm eating so little that it makes a big difference if every bite packs a punch. Good luck!

I'm about 6 months post-surgery. I have eaten Pasta or bread a couple of times, and they just don't taste as good as they used to and don't sit well anyhow. I don't miss bread at all, and I used to be a fiend for any kind. Pasta I sometimes miss, but the experience isn't the same so it's not hard to avoid. I just tried lettuce and spinach other raw veggies in the past couple of weeks, and tolerated them fine. I've been fine with celery since about 3-4 months post-op, but I've only ever eaten it sliced into tiny chunks. I also tried cooked asparagus this week and that was fine too. I was surprised that strawberries are as low in sugar as they are (and that oranges, grapes, and bananas are so high!), so those have been a welcome substitute for other fruits. (Incidentally, this is a great visual: http://www.sugarstacks.com/fruits.htm)

I got clearance for gum at my 3-month appointment. The NP said the reason it was forbidden is because it's REALLY REALLY BAD if you swallow it, and if I could be trusted to never ever do so I could have gum. So I did.

I just added both of you (invite will say it's from Amy B.). There's also an official fitbit thread over in the Fitness & Exercise forum if you want to find other new friends: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/191404-official-fitbit-thread/

I was extremely worried about hair loss prior to surgery. I started taking Biotin as soon as I could get the NP to support it, and sprouted lots of new hair almost right away. As others have said, biotin won't keep your hair from falling out, but it will inspire new growth. My thinking at the time was that if I started taking it early enough, the new hairs would be long enough to make the inevitable loss less noticeable, and I was willing to try anything. At this point, I'm about 6 months post-op and the hair loss never really happened. I feel like it may have increased in the past week or two, but it's still just a few more strands than normal and not the handfuls / clumps that I feared. For me, it's been a complete non-issue. From what my nutritionist said before surgery, some people lose hair and some people don't, and there's no way to know which you'll be and nothing you can do to stop it once it starts other than just wait for 6-months or so when it'll stop on its own and your hair will start filling back in again.

How I respond to the craving depends upon the cause and the specifics of what I crave. If I am dying to hit the drive-thru on the way home from work, I know that I'm just hungry and I try to pivot to thinking up foods I can make for dinner quickly once I get home. If I'm craving sweets, I'll try to find a suitable bariatric-friendly alternative or have a tiny little taste of whatever it is I want. I agree with @@Rebecca Jo Ragon. Sometimes, you just need to grab a steak fry, dip it in ketchup, and enjoy it. In the 6(ish) months since my surgery, I can count on one hand the times I've indulged in sweets or other things that were off-book, and I don't have a problem with that rate of deviance. And on that front I also think @@aelovelady is right: build any cravings into your meals, as the biggest risk factor to sabotaging your own weight loss is grazing. Especially if you work in your craving at the end of your meal, there's only so much damage you can do from going off your plan.

In my first couple of weeks after surgery, I literally had dreams that consisted of sitting down and eating a cheeseburger or a slice of pizza. I always had to laugh when I woke up from one of those. No digging through metaphors for me, I just missed my favorite foods! The dreams stopped within a few weeks. At this point, I still have occasional cravings for things outside my plans. On very rare instances I have given in to the cravings, and none of the foods have ever tasted as good as I remembered or as I built them up to be. As a result, the cravings are diminishing in both frequency and intensity. It's a process.

I'll cross the 6-month threshold in 10 days, and my surgeon's office is similarly unwilling to suggest the number of calories to shoot for. Like you, I have no trouble exceeding Protein and Water goals, and am starting to wonder about calories even though they say not to worry about it. I've had my goals on myfitnesspal set to 800 calories/day from the beginning and was averaging that for a long time. But I've started increasing my intake over the past month or so as I've been running more. I think 1100 is probably a better goal at this stage, but I get so nervous when I go about 1000. I remember learning that the 2-week pre-surgery diet was limited to 1300 calories/day and thinking that I'd never be able to make such a drastic cut. Now I find it difficult to accept eating so many even on an exceptional day. It's amazing how your perspective can change in 6 months.

I've lost more than 1/3 of my body weight and I had surgery less than 6 months ago. I have more than 50 pounds left to go and have no doubt at all that I will get there. My surgeon said something similar to me at the outset, and I think he was just trying to manage my expectations that WLS isn't a "miracle cure" but a lot of hard work and that success is up to us individually. His long-term tracking data say that their RNY patients lose an average of 60-65% of their excess weight and maintain that same level for at least 3 years. This is at a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. Well, I've lost exactly 65% of my excess weight as-of this morning and I have no intention of slowing down. Averages are just averages, and I intend to exceed expectations.