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My mom hadn't seen me in months. We were meeting at my daughter's dance recital. I dropped my wife off at the door, and parked the car. She was standing there talking to my mom who said asked her where I was as I was coming down the hallway. After telling my mom several times that I was headed their way, she had to literally point me out. My mom actually got misty eyed when she figured out it was me. And my mother is NOT an emotional woman. Other than that it is usually a delayed recognition. I might meet an old colleague for coffee or for lunch. When I see them, they do not recognize me. Then when I start talking you see this flicker of recognition in their eyes as they realize it's you. Then they usually just stare for a minute or two. It's shocking to them. But I've lost 180+ lbs. that's a lot to take in if you haven't seen me in awhile. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

So funny you say that. Every tiny bite of bread type products I've tasted since surgery all taste like uncooked dough. This is a wonderful thing as bread was a huge downfall for me. In the 8.5 months since surgery I've only had a few very tiny bites and they have all tasted gross. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Our dinners have not changed radically. We always pretty much served lean Proteins, veggies and a carb for dinner. I just no longer eat the carb and have smaller portions. As far as activities, that's a bit more of a challenge. My daughter has embraced it and loves going to the gym, going on more walks, etc. my wife struggles more as her primary "date" activity she suggests is a nice dinner out which I do not prefer. I indulge her of course, and can always find something on the menu that's appropriate, but would just prefer to prepare myself own food. My hope is that one day she embraces more activities as "dates". Any suggestions?? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I was told by my surgeon that Centrum is a good option. He just said I need to take two a day instead of one. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My doctor's plan is similar. Someone above mention Pound of Cure by Dr Weiner. That's actually my doctor and he advocates a veggie first approach. He does want you to get 60g of Protein initially after surgery, but never has you count calories. He uses Protein shakes, but wants you off them as soon as possible as he is opposed to processed food. Once you are a ways out from surgery he doesn't even bother having you count protein. His theory is that if you are eating a "normal" amount of food, and eating the right foods, you will get more than enough protein. The main difference from your plan is he is anti grain. Not anti carb, he is an advocate of fruit. He is fine with meat, but prefers you have a small (2-4 oz) of meat then loads of veggies. And he likes you to have at least one non-animal protein meal a day. Personally, I love the program. It takes a little forethought and preparation, but the foods are delicious and it works!! I lost almost 50 lbs pre-op following his program. I am now 8.5 months post-op, and am down a total of 184 lbs (SW 333, SW 286, CW 149). Anyway, follow your docs plan. I have gotten used to my plan being very different than most on here (the biggest differences are most people on here eat lots of processed food, lots of dairy, and often have much higher protein targets)

My surgeon requires a pre-op diet; however, I had lost close to 50 lbs in the 6 weeks prior to surgery so he waived the requirement for me saying I had lost enough and it wasn't necessary. I didn't have to do a 6 months supervised diet as my BMI was over 50 so it was waived. My surgeon just asked me to start following the diet he recommends immediately so I can begin to adjust to that lifestyle prior to the surgery. That's what I followed to lose the 50lbs Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Out of curiosity, when you guys cite these quantities, what exactly is it you're eating? For instance, I'm 8.5 months out and I can eat 2 cups of something like Split Pea Soup, but there is NO WAY I could eat that much chicken. In fact, I am lucky to get down 2 oz of chicken. I can also eat like 10 oz of vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc) as a snack. Same with fruit. I'm just curious as I see this come up a lot here and am just wondering what types of food you're referring to when you say X Cups or X Ounces. It's probably worth disclaiming at this point that my plan seems to be very different from others. I am not (nor have been since day one) given quantities I'm allowed to eat (with some exceptions like keep oil/butter to 1 tbsp a day or less, etc). I am just given types of food to eat. In fact, I am encouraged to eat at least a pound of vegetables a day, preferably two pounds.

@wittyusername No problem! One other thing worth noting, is that you can actually witness this happening. That's why so many people tell you to take measurements, or focus on how your clothes are fitting while in a stall. Often when I am losing the slowest, I drop clothes sizes the fastest. I have also noticed this tends to be when the Body Fat % on my scale drops the most. Anecdotal, but worth noting.

I've looked into this quite a bit because it's always been mystifying to me. More out of curiosity than anything else as I only had one stall, for about 2 weeks, shortly after surgery (the famed 3 week stall). The bottom line is that there are a lot of reasons, and no one knows exactly. The most often cited reason is glycogen. The short version of this is that your body is very efficient, and it will get energy where it can do so the easiest. Short term, the easiest way is by burning sugar stored in you body in the form of glycogen. Glycogen binds with Water at a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio. So, let's say your body burns a pound of glycogen for energy, it will also release the water, so you could drop 3-4 pounds in a day. Once your body gets low on the easy energy source, it realizes you can't live without these energy stores, so it start burning fat and restoring your glycogen (and the water). So, while you may lose 4 pounds of fat, the scale will not budge as you are re-storing the glycogen and water. But there are a lot of other factors - did you change your diet recently? Are you drinking enough fluids (ironically your body holds on to fluids if you aren't consuming enough)?Hhas your salt intake changed (again, water retention)? are you constipated? Do you have your period (well, you and I are male, so we can probably rule this out!), etc, etc.?? All of these things are factors, and it could be any combination of them, or something else all together (medication?). Regardless, it still seems unbelievable at times. I know when I had my stall I was only consuming maybe 400-500 calories a day, which should have created at least a 2,000 calories deficit based on my body weight. I should have been at a 14,000 calories a week deficit, so not losing for 2 weeks just seemed mathematically impossible! I wasn't overly stressed during my stall, but I hate when I don't understand things, as I'm a very logical and data driven person. Remember though, this works in reverse as well. I lost 50 pounds in 6 weeks pre-op. And I was probably eating 1200 calories a day. Averaging 8.33 pounds a week also doesn't make sense mathematically. However, no one ever seems to question that math, right :-) !!

Very few people outside my family know about my surgery. However, one of the few that does was making a comment about how much weight I've lost and how she needs to take off a few pounds but no matter what she tries she can't get any weight off. I told her about the plan I had been following before surgery and how effective it was, etc. And she says (as if she wasn't listening at all) "well, you had medical help! It's different for me". Then I reminded her that I lost 50lbs in 6 weeks PRIOR to surgery, so there must be some merit to the plan I was following. So, I hear you. People like to attribute everything to the surgery and nothing to the individual. Honestly, I think part of that's a coping mechanism. If you've had surgery, then you didn't do anything to lose weight, therefore they don't have to feel bad about you losing weight and them not. Meh. This is why I didn't tell anyone. This is my health, my journey, my results. And I couldn't be happier. And they are right about one thing. I couldn't have done it without the surgery. Lord knows I tried.

Did I mention that the other day I rolled over in bed and my shirt got all bunched up under me, so I had to tug it straight? Except I wasn't wearing a shirt. That was my skin. Yeah, my skin bunches up under me when I roll over in bed at night. I definitely didn't see that coming!

I agree that it seems absolutely ridiculous when people post that they're considering not having surgery due to excess skin. Really, it's just stupid. You would rather stay obese and risk death (and as someone mentioned earlier, being obese itself is generally considered ugly in our society). It most often feels like these people are looking for an excuse to continue with their unhealthy ways. HOWEVER, I will say that I'm absolutely shocked at the amount of excess skin I have, and it bothers me so much more than I thought it would. I figured I would have some excess skin on my stomach because that's where I carried most of my weight, but I couldn't have been more wrong! I mean, I do have a ton of excess skin on my stomach, but I also have it on my upper arms, thighs, sides and I totally have a shar pei butt. It sucks, and really detracts from my ability to see myself as "thin". It's hard to feel thin when you can literally grab handfuls on most parts of your body. Would I do it all over again? OF COURSE! And I am SO much more healthy, which was my goal. I feel better, I have more energy, and my co-morbidities are gone. The skin is a small price to pay. It's just a much bigger price than I was prepared for.

As of this morning, I weigh 162.2 and have a BMI of 24.6! This puts me at a normal BMI for the first time since I was 14 years old! Feels great! I've gone from 4XL shirts to M or L (depending on brand) I've gone from 48 inch pants to 32 inch pants I started at 333 on February 9th, 2016 I was 287 when I had my surgery on March 21st, 2016 I am 162 today, October 28th, 2016 I'm off all high blood pressure medication I'm off my PPI I only take multi Vitamins I have so much more energy My chronic pain from osteoarthritis in my knees is reduced (hip not so much, so I'm getting it replaced in January) While it has been a ton of work (as you all know), I can not imagine this process having gone better or being more successful! Now I just need to worry about maintaining which I fear will be the biggest challenge of all.

Way to go! If I remember correctly, we had our surgeries only a day or two a part so I have always enjoyed following your progress, not to mention you are a constant bastion of sanity in this place

I went back and checked and from 2 weeks pre-op to 4 months 4 days post-op (the period you specified) I lost 95 pounds. But as @@Djmohr said, everyone loses at different rates, and it will eventually slow down/stop. I blew right past my original goal of 185 and just kept on losing. I am currently down to 156lbs, and I have really bottomed out. I didn't change my eating habits much, and just focus on hitting my Protein and Fluid goals and only eating healthy food. My body apparently just decided enough was enough and put the brakes on. Follow the program and trust your body - you will do great.

A couple of things I can offer from my own experience: 1) I could actually eat more a few weeks after surgery than I could a month or two out. When I was still actively healing, I really had no "full" sensation (nor did I have a hunger sensation), so I just focused on eating what I was supposed to and trusted it would all work out - it did. 2) Now that I am a little over 8 months post-op, I get the sensations of both being hungry and full. When it comes to quantity it totally depends on WHAT I'm eating. If I eat meat, I can eat very little. I can get in MAYBE 2-3oz of chicken or shrimp at most, and even that can be a struggle. However, I could eat a ton of Soup if I chose to. I generally limit myself to 1 cup (8oz), but am pretty sure I could put down 2 cups (16 oz). So I imagine I could eat an almost endless amount of purees (my plan did not have a puree stage).

Good question. I am 8 months out and down 177 lbs. I currently weigh 156. About a month ago my body basically just decided to stop losing. I'm maybe down 1 or 2 lbs over the last month. It wasn't a conscious decision really. I just focus on getting good nutrition by eating all high quality foods. My body seems to be taking care of the rest. It's worked out well so far as I am fairly thin now (I'm 5'8") and don't desire to lose significantly more weight. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Generally, it does get better. Of course, if you have a stricture, you could need to get it dilated. I experienced a slight stricture, and chose (with surgeons recommendation) not to have it dilated. I am 9 months post-surgery as of today and for the most part do not have that feeling anymore, but it took many months to go away. It also may just be certain food. I struggled with both Tilapia as well as eggs. I still don't eat either. Eggs make me nauseated. I can eat them IN things, but not by themselves. As far as fish goes, I generally stick to sashimi as I've had several bad experiences with cooked fish (Tilapia and Salmon), so I just stay away. One other thing I've mentioned in previous posts - I have learned that if I get a stuck feeling when starting to eat, I stop for awhile and let it work it's way through. I might take a 10-20 minutes break the second I feel like food could be getting stuck. If I do this, I can actually feel it get "unstuck", then I can proceed with eating with no issues.

(putting nurse educator hat on) just wanted to clarify this. Ketosis or ketogenesis (sometimes called keto) is the state when you are eating low carbs (generally below 50g/day) and your body starts using protein and fat as fuel instead of carbs (sugar). You do not have to eat high fat to be in ketosis. This condition is not dangerous to most people, and in fact there is a large number in the medical community who think this is the best state to stay in, unless you have a medical condition that makes it a problem. You can "burn fat" without being in ketosis, many of us do. I get very ill in ketosis, and generally am eating between 80 and 100g of carbs a day. I'm losing weight and the SECA scan shows that most of it is fat tissue. Ketoacidosis or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the condition diabetics move into when their sugars get too high, and it is life threatening. DKA happens mostly in Type 1 diabetics. Generally speaking, people without diabetes cannot get to DKA just by eating low carb. You will show ketones in your urine for both ketosis and ketoacidosis. The levels indicate how far along you are toward ketoacidosis. Here's some more information http://www.healthline.com/health/ketosis-vs-ketoacidosis#Diagnosis7 It's confusing because all of these words sound the same, but it's important to understand the distinction, especially if you want to be on a ketogenic diet. So...you don't think maintaining ketosis is necessary for major weight loss? I do not like the way ketosis feels. Doesn't make me sick I just don't like it. Good info you posted. Sent from my iPhone It's not necessary, no. I have not followed a ketogenic diet and have lost 177lbs over the last 9.5 months (333lbs to 156lbs) Not saying you should or shouldn't, just saying it was definitely not necessary for me. I should mention I avoid ALL refined carbs. I eat no bread, Pasta, rice or sugar. All my carbs come from fruits, vegetables, Beans and legumes.

I find this to be the number one challenge I face day-to-day with this surgery. I've gone from 333 to 156, and I am freezing all the time! As it is getting cold here in Michigan it's getting worse and I am learning to adapt. I bought a nice heating blanket for my bed. I have a space heater under my desk at work. I have found these Heat Holder socks that are awesome. I bought a new, thick down winter jacket I have bought heavy (some lined) flannels. I bought new, thick slipper I wear thermal underwear/shirts when I am going to be outside for an extended amount of time and the temperature is going to be below about 55. As you can see, I'm not messing around! I got to a point where I was sick of being miserable all the time, so I just started doing whatever I could to be comfortable!!

I know we all have different diet plans, but mine calls for no added sugar. I think when I checked Amy's, it had sugar added. Does the one you're eating had added sugar? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using the BariatricPal App Amy's tomato does have sugar, but I think it's about the only version on that soup that does. Overall, those Soups are incredibly healthy - if you read the ingredient list it is all "real food" - there are no added chemicals, etc. Nothing in there that isn't actual food. And even the cans are BPA free. I try to stay away from as much processed food as possible, but these things are my goto when I need something in a pinch.

If the cartilage is gone, you will still need a replacement; however, you may find that you can put it off a lot longer. That's the case for me. I'm down about 175lbs and while my knees are still shot, and I have limited mobility in them, the pain is GREATLY reduced. I no longer have any plans to get them replaced in the near future. Funny thing is, it didn't help my hip at all. So that sucker is getting replaced in January. Looking forward to a lower risk of complications and a faster recovery thanks to the loss of all that excess weight!

I've actually found compliance over the first 7.5 months post-op to be quite easy. I don't really understand the thought process for people who are non-compliant right out of the gate. I'm not judging, I really just lack an ability to understand where they are in their life/thought process that allows them to do that. That being said, I worry a ton about maintenance. Being non-compliant there i can TOTALLY get my head around. I think everyone of us who had this surgery had dieted over and over and over. We probably all had some level success, but we pretty much all failed at maintenance - that's why we are here. So, to me, it's the old demons. I always failed in the past, why will this be any different? I am almost almost 30 lbs below my original goal weight and if I'm honest with myself, part of why is that I am so worried about transitioning into maintenance (and partly because I can, so hey, why not). As a last thought, I also wonder if you ever get to a point that you feel "safe". If you maintain for 5 years, will you start to believe you will not regain? 7 years? 10 years?

I was 333 and am now 156, so it's not necessarily unrealistic!

I'm 7.5 months out and still just can't do eggs. They make me nauseated. No idea why. The only other food that does that are nuts. Strangely I can eat them (eggs and nuts) in things, just not by themselves. Strangest thing about this experience to me, is how incredibly different is is for everyone. Must be tough being the surgeon when you really can't tell anyone how it will go for them with any level of confidence, even if you've performed thousands of surgeries.