blizair09

I'm not leaving my job (I've been with the company for 12 years and am a director now), but I can comment on this. My team is wonderful (those above and below me), but since I have lost all of this weight, I have been treated very differently by other teams, departments, and divisions within my very large company. Case in point -- I made a presentation at a sales meeting last fall. It was awesome, but I am always awesome. I had people at all levels (even SVPs and even people who had seen me present a million times) going completely crazy. And it was all over my new appearance. That is really sad. If this had been going on within my team, it would be another story. I completely get what you are saying and wish you luck in finding something new.

Google three week stall. This will be the first of many stalls throughout your journey. My entire post-op weight loss journey was a series of stalls. (In fact the time period of stalls were more than the time period of loss in number of days...)

Honestly, I'd stay off of the scale for the first month post-op. Your body is trying to deal with the trauma of the surgery, and nothing about your weight is probably accurate during this timeframe. I started my six month pre-op diet program at 397 pounds. I weighed 298 pounds on the day of surgery. I met my goal of 180 pounds one year and four days post-op, and I have been maintaining at 173 pounds for months now. I tell you this to illustrate that if you do what you are supposed to do, you will lose weight. Hang in there. Good luck!

Great start! (And, by the way, thank you for putting your starting weight in your post lest some 250 pound person begin lamenting because they didn't lose 44 pounds in 6 weeks.) Keep up the good work. I started about 30 pounds above you, and I weigh 173 now (at 6'0"). It is a long journey, but so worth it. Best wishes!

Honestly, I don't think it ever went away. For me, I had to make food fuel, and I spent six months before the surgery doing that. Even at 16 months post-op, I'll see something (like this toffee cake dessert my colleagues were having the other night) and think about how good it would be, but I won't have it. I only eat certain things (mostly meat, cheese, eggs, and green vegetables) and that's that. That was the only way for me to deal with it. It's been a very effective approach for me.

I always go for a full-bodied red. (Usually an American cabernet...)

Google three week stall. Everyone goes through it. Remember that this journey is a marathon and not a sprint. You have to make lifelong changes to be successful long term. Hang in there.

To me, my starting weight is when I started my six month pre-op diet program.

Agreed. I'm the same way. I sware some sociology PhD student could do a dissertation on BP and its posters...

I could probably do fine with small amounts of those foods at this point (16 months post-op), but I choose not to eat them. I only eat meat, eggs, cheese, and green vegetables for the most part.

I travel extensively for work and have for years. I found that (in the early days especially), I just had to plan for what I would need. I depended on protein shakes a lot during that time. I bought the Premier shakes and put them in my checked bag (3 double bagged in gallon size ziploc bags). I would bring those out periodically during the day no matter what I was doing. I also got doggy bags with whatever food I ordered at meals and used the leftovers strategically. Colleagues and customers were all very supportive because they were mesmerized by my journey and transformation. You just have to stay on what you need to do to meet your protein and water goals. Now I will also say that I took off work for 6 weeks post-op, and didn't begin traveling again for over 8 weeks. I had worked through the food stages and very solidly got into the post-op routines I needed to be successful before I had to jump back into the road warrior life.

I use MoM when I have constipation issues and have all along. In the early days post-op, I could only do 1 tablespoon without having the issues you are having. Even at 16 months post-op, I still can only do 2-3 tablespoons. It will pass. It sucks, but next time, try a smaller dosage. Hang in there!

I weighed 298 on the day of surgery, and I lost 22 pounds in the first month post-op. Without knowing more information about you, it's hard to say exactly how you've done, but I would imagine that you are right on target. You're not going to lose all of your excess weight in a matter of a few months. This journey is much more a marathon than it is a sprint. You have to make lifelong changes and stick to them. Good luck!

I've lost 225 pounds, and I have that on my tummy, arms, and inner thighs. And no one has ever said a thing about it. (Though I am considering having some plastics work done this fall, but we'll see about it.) I agree that we are our own worst critic...

Google three week stall. Everything about this journey is a marathon and not a sprint. And, in my experience, post-op weight loss was more of a step function that a linear function. Keep to your plan, make good decisions, and do what you are supposed to do and the weight will come off.

NOT. AT. ALL. My new life is beyond fabulous and I will never go back.

At 6 months post-op, I was around 1200-1300 calories per day. At one year post-op, I was around 1600-1750 per day. Currently (16 months post-op), I am between 1900-2000 calories per day, and this is where I will stay.

Please do not do this. It is a bad, bad thing...

I began my journey with my six month insurance-required pre-op diet program on March 21, 2016. I weighed 397 pounds. I lost 99 pounds during that six months, weighing 298 on the day of surgery (September 28, 2016). I reached my goal of 180 pounds on October 2, 2017 (1 year and 4 days post-op), and I have been maintaining at 173 for the last several months. I eat about 1900-2000 calories per day, but I keep my carbs below 25. This has been a key to my success and is a very sustainable way of eating for me.

I took off for six weeks total. I have short disability insurance that pays at 100%, and they approved me for that amount of time. You will get a million different answers to this question. My advice is to take as much time as you personal, financial, and professional situations will allow. Physically, you'll probably heal pretty quickly, but there is a lot of mental and emotional work that has to be done, and if you can devote yourself to that full time for a while, you will have a better chance of longterm success.

Aww. Thank you. I appreciate that. Until the last couple of weeks, I took a break from BP. It really is designed more for pre-op folks and recent post-ops, so there isn't much for me here anymore. (That, plus most of the people I talked with are long gone by now.) I'm glad to be back, though. I don't respond to a lot of posts these days, but I do sometimes when I feel that I can contribute (or that people might listen...). I had to really work to get my calories in the 1900-2000 range. And I eat every 2 hours all day long to get there. I was in the 1600-1750 range for a long time, but I wouldn't stop losing weight. My doctor doesn't want me to go below 170, so I knew I had to get the calories closer to 2000. (I think a person my size needs about 2100 to maintain, so I really should try to get it up a little more, but I've stayed at 173 for a while now, so I think I'm good at the moment.) Some people eat carbs and are fine, but my body is just really sensitive to them. And getting my mindset around food to where it is took a lot of work. Trust me, a few months with carbs would put that in jeopardy (just like booze with an alcoholic), and that is why I am how I am. And I have seen so many people have one surgery or the other and then gain most or all of their weight back (including my mom, dad and brother). I just don't want to be one of those people.

I was ready to live life. I wasted my 30s being morbidly obese. It was affecting my physical and mental health, and causing me to retreat from the people in life that I love the most. Having the surgery, and (more importantly) changing my relationship with food was the very best thing I have ever done for myself. I am happier right now than I have ever been in my adult life!

I'm 16 months post-op, met goal of 180 at 1 year and 4 days post-op (October 2, 2017) and have been at 173 for several months now. I am incredibly particular about what I eat and drink, and, in my opinion, that has been the key to my success. I've worked my way up to around 1900-2000 calories per day, but I never go over 2000. I keep my carbs below 25 grams per day. I follow a keto way of eating. This is sustainable for me, and it's how I am going to live. I haven't had any sugar, bread, starch, etc. in almost 2 years. It's no thing now. Food is fuel to me, and nothing else. It's quite freeing, and provides for a much better quality of life for me. I'm treating carbs like an alcoholic treats booze. I feel like they are a slippery slope for me, so I eradicated them from my life, and I have no plan or desire to bring them back. Being this size, being healthy, and having a happy life is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT TO ME than any food or drink. I'm technically not a vet in the eyes of BP for another couple of months, but I have been doing this for a long time, been successful, and been on and off of these boards for 2 years. I've seen a lot, and lived a lot, and accepted a very long time ago that this journey is for the rest of my life. I'll be damned if I gain anything back after I permanently changed my body and put it through all of that trauma...

I don't eat it as much anymore, but 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1 tablespoon of sugar free strawberry preserves stirred in was a staple in my daily food plan for almost a year post-op. This has 13 grams of protein and only 6 carbs. It gives you something a little bit sweet and still fits into most any healthy way of eating...

I have followed a keto way of eating for almost 2 years now (pre-op diet program an 16 months post-op). I lost all of my excess weight, am below goal, and have been maintaining for months. Additionally, my labs are perfect and I have no health consequences from eating this way. I have the complete support of all of my medical professionals.