xLosty

Thanks [emoji5] Yes, I work out 6-8 times a week, but don’t worry, that is seriously overkill. I just want to try and get my body as tight as possible (to try and prevent loose skin) and I want to get to GW as quick as possible (plus I actually LOVE working out [emoji28]). I think a month will be enough to recover physically. For me, the only problem was that I needed a lot sleep, because my energy was low. So, you’re probably going to need some naps or a good night’s sleep to get through the day, but that’s about it [emoji1377][emoji882]

I’m doing great! I was doubting a lot whether to have the surgery or not, but couldn’t be more happy right now [emoji1] It’s an adjustment for sure, but definitely for the better! My stats are HW 110,1 kg // 242,2 lbs CW 81,0 kg // 178,2 lbs GW 65,0 kg // 143,0 lbs (Height 168cm // 5’6”) Xx

Hey there, best of luck! I got sleeved 5 months ago, but don’t hesitate to send me a message if you have any questions or just would like to chat in general. I’d love to help you any way that I can and give you a little support! [emoji5] x

I didn’t have to wear a binder either, nor was anything ever mentioned of it. I only had to change the little band-aids on the incisions. My surgery was 5 months ago, never had any issues and the scars are barely visible. X

Follow your instant gut feeling, which one of them do you keep going back too? Which one speaks to you the most? Which one do you feel most comfortable with? For me personally, I’m happy I went for the sleeve and the doctors supported me in that decision because they said the bypass would have been too drastic at my age. Plus, I was more a volume eater rather than a sweet tooth or a junk food eater. To this day, I’m extremely happy with the sleeve, because I can still eat/drink everything, just in moderation. [emoji4] With the sleeve, if you decide it’s not enough, you can always still go for a revision. Best of luck. Xxx Edit: I’m 23 and had the sleeve 5 months ago.

Hey! I had tese drops in blood sugar ALL THE TIME duringthe beginning. It’s because your body still needs to get used on running on so little calories. Your body still desperately needs the energy you’re no longer able to physically get in. Therefore, it is now adjusting to the new “normal”. I’m currently 5 months out and by now I only get these drops in blood sugar whenever I push myself too far during exercising or when I’m not eating enough. When you’re dehydrated you’ll notice that it becomes more and more difficult to swallow, so if that’s the issue, make sure to carry around a bottle of water and sip all day long. Remember, you no longer have the capacity to immediatly down a bottle of water when necessary. It’s important to take care of yourself and prevent issues like this. Hope this helps! X

Good luck! You got this! X

Hey there! I’m 23 and upcoming Monday will be exactly 5 months since I got sleeved. My entire life I’ve been overweight/struggling with my weight. I was just tired of it so I thought I’d inform myself on WLS. Therefore, I went to my doctor to get his opinion on it and his recommendations. He completely supported my decision and even motivated me to go further with this. However, it wasn’t an easy decision for me. Isn’t it a bit drastic removing so much of my stomach? Shouldn’t I try again on my own one more time? Will I still be able to have a “normal” life? Go out and have drinks? etc etc Well, I’ve been 5 months out and haven’t regretted it a single day. I’ve got more energy, have already lost over 60 lbs and I’m starting to get my life back. I can eat and drink everything, just in moderation ofcourse. I still forget from time to time how little food it actually takes for me in order to feel full, while before it seemed like I had a bottomless stomach, it’s crazy! However, as you’ve probably already read a couple of times, it’s an operation on your stomach, not your head (unfortunately). So I’m also working together with a psychologist to get my issues with food under control and improve myself. A lot of people say they wish they had done this surgery sooner after they’ve finally had it. Well, I’m happy I didn’t do it sooner, because I wouldn’t have been in the right mindset. I probably would have treated this surgery as another one of my attempts that would probably fail anyway. When I went into this surgery, I knew this was my last resort because I literally had already tried everything. Therefore, I took this very seriously, grabbed this opportunity with both hands. And to answer your last question. I’d do it over in a heartbeat [emoji1373]. I wish you the best of luck and if you have any more questions or if you want to talk, I’d be happy to help! X

Hey there! First of all, congratulations on getting the surgery! Now, from what I can read, it looks like you're weighing yourself every day. The best advice I can give you is to NOT do this. Choose one day of the week (e.g. Monday) and from that point on, you only weigh yourself on Monday morning. It's not good for you to be focussed on the numbers, because it is only normal your weight will fluctuate from day to day (water, swelling etc.). Therefore, it is important for yourself and to have a good indicator of whether or not you're doing well, to only weigh yourself once a week. Trust me, you'll drive yourself crazy getting on that scale every day. If you've gained after a whole week, ask yourself what you ate or what it could have been that made you gain (e.g. if you've eaten fat/sugar or if you're holding water because you're about to get your period etc.). If you've lost after a whole week, good! Keep on going like this! If you're stalling, don't worry, you're body is going through a big change, it needs time to adjust to the new you from time to time! I hope this helps! You will get there Xxx

Hey I'm also 23, but I'm from Belgium. I got sleeved 26 June 2017 and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or talk if you need some support! X

Hi! I'm 23 years old and from Belgium. I don't exactly live anywhere near you, but I'd love to help you out if you have any questions or need some support. I was sleeved 26 June 2017. X

Hey there! I already had my surgery 26 June, but I'm just here to wish you the best of luck! You got this Xx

Hi everyone! I am a 22 year old girl from Belgium and I got sleeved on Monday 26 June. If there's anyone around my age who also has just recently been sleeved or is going to get sleeved soon, let me know! I would love to have someone to share experiences with. It also seems like a great idea to support each other! Xxx Losty

How are you feeling by now? The first 2 months I had this all the time! By now I only have it when I push myself too far during exercise Xxxx

Sorry for he late response! Hi! How has everyone been doing? How is the weight loss going? How is everyone feeling? I'm so curious! Xxxx

Hey everyone This morning I received a phone call from the hospital telling me they approved me for a sleeve gastrectomy. I felt kind of relieved and some kind of peace when they told me. However, not only my nerves are starting to increase, but also my doubt wether I'm making the right decision. I told the person on the phone that I was very happy but rather it was also possible to arrange another appointment with the surgeon, psychologist and dietician, because I am quite stressed, I want to make sure I'm making the right decision and I want to be as much prepared as possible. She told me to try and trust them because they wouldn't have approved me if they thought there was another way for me to get to a healthy weight and maintain that weight. And also that they thought the quality of my life would improve. Still, she understood and put me through with the psychologist. I arranged a new appointment with her and they are going to try their best to arrange an appointment with the surgeon for me as he has a really busy schedule. But I got patience, so I don't mind waiting. Somewhere inside of me, I still fear that maybe the cause of my overweight is more psychological than physical, but I hope that my appointment with psychologist can help me get some more answers and insights. Next up, the echo of my abdomen and the gastroscopy, which I'm both going to have tomorrow. Xxxx

Yes, that is exactly the same thing I need/want, just one last meet-up with both the surgeon and psychologist to reassure myself. I wish you the best of luck with your surgery tomorrow! Xx

Thank you very much! I'll keep you posted x

Yes, every doctor probably has their own procedure. I am very curious to how the next steps are going to go. I always do it it like that too! I'm one of those people that carries around a 32 or 64 oz bottle of water everywhere with me and then fill it in the afternoon It's good to hear you at least can drink a proper amount of fluids. By reading a lot of other people's posts, it scares me more to reading how much difficulty they have drinking water, than having difficulties with eating. So, it makes me feel a bit more at peace, hearing form you that your limitations are mainly when eating and not when drinking as you're even only 8 weeks out of surgery. Xx

Belgium x

I am not sure whether I'm going to have to do a two week liquid diet before surgery. I think the results of the echo and gastroscopy of tomorrow will determine if I need to do a liquid diet or not... It's incredible how strong you are to actually face your problems and be able to work on them! I hope I'll manage to do that too, because I really want to change my lifestyle and not constantly let (bad) food control my life and to find ways around the sleeve. That's definitely not my intention, but I don't know if I'm still going to be that strong when I'm actually facing these problems, that's something future me is going to have to deal with. I can imagine the first week being one of the toughest, especially with complications... I always drink a lot with my meals too, so it's going to be quite the adjustment having to do that separately. Can you properly drink a bottle of water? Or do you get your water intake by slowly sipping throughout the entire day? And about how much water can you drink now, 8 weeks post-op, during the day? Do you feel like each day your intake is still improving?

I wish you both the best of luck on your journey ! <3

Thank you so much <3 Yes, I am very much aware that the mental struggle is going to be much harder than the physical struggle. I mean, bodies heal, they always do, but unfortunately there's not a "quick fix" for your mind. It's like quitting an addiction cold turkey. That's why I told my doctor like 'please, give me as much information and support as possible before the surgery so I can prepare myself mentally as much as possible and at least find some kind of peace'. I'm happy she agreed to let me make a new appointment, all though she also warned me to try and let it go as much as possible too and rely on them as she knows I'm really perfectionistic and a little bit of a control freak, which makes her fear I'm just going to make it more difficult for myself than it actually should be... I am happy to hear you're feeling great and the operation has helped you! How did things go for you in the beginning? It's hard to imagine not being able to even just drink water (I currently drink 2-4 L of water a day). XxX

Hi everyone (: Firstly, I'll start by introducing myself a little bit... I'm a 22-yo girl from Belgium and in August 2016, I went for my first appointment to get more information about bariatric surgery. Now, what led me to making this appointment? Well, ever since I can remember I've been struggling with my weight. I started going to a dietician from the age of 10, had a personal trainer for a few months at the age of 12, between the age of 14 and 16 I did Weight Watchers, a Soup diet and also the Dukan-diet that I did for about 6 months. After graduating High School, I went to a life coach and did some kind of special diet, combined with exercising every day. With this diet I lost about 12 kg (26 lbs). I felt really healthy and more confident at this point, I thought I had finally managed to change my lifestyle and habits. However, as all of my past diets, I only very slowly lost the weight and hit a stall. I tried to break the stall by increasing my exercising, but my weight wouldn’t move and my coach would only get annoyed with me telling me I didn’t exercise. As a result, I would get very frustrated and stressed out as I didn’t know what else to do and I started to get quite demotivated, because every week I went, I knew what was waiting for me. So, I made the very, very bad decision of saying ‘F this’ and every week after my consultation I started binging and then for the remaining 6 days I would just followed my plan to the letter and exercise. After a little while, I got fed up and just stopped going in general. Needless to say, that just like all of my previous attempts, I gained every single gram back plus more (of course). After all of this I just gave up on diets in general. I only had one goal and that was to get an internship in London, get out of my comfort zone, change my environment for a few months and be on my own. Last year in March, I reached this goal. I moved to London on 19 March 2016, words cannot describe how happy I was of being away from everything for a few months. I could finally try to get some structure in my life and be away from a little something I like to call “Village Mentality’. The period I was living in London, I opened up more and I just became more comfortable and happy with myself. I actually started to like and accept myself for who I was. I didn’t feel like I constantly had to live up to a certain standard (appearance wise) anymore. My social anxiety, that had been getting quite sever because of the way I look, was finally diminishing. I was feeling genuinely happy and when my friends came to visit me they saw me blossom too. I don’t know how much, but after these three months I lost a quite a bit of weight without even trying to… I guess a reason for this is because I walked literally everywhere. Then, sadly, 12 June came along and I knew this had to end sometime and I would have to move back home. I tried my ultimate best to hold on to this feeling of being happy with myself and leaving the house more, but I slowly felt it slipping away. I kept trying to get a hold of it, but as I am writing here, you probably know how this ended… So, I took matters into my own hands and went to my doctor for advice. I told him about all my insecurities and my weight and he referred me to a bariatric surgeon. Three weeks ago, I had all of my pre-op intakes (psychologist, dietician, physiotherapist, endocrinologist and physician). I am to this day still waiting for a phone call of the multidisciplinary team with their advice/approval for me. The only things they told me that day is that they were very pleased with my bloodwork (no Vitamin deficiencies, no diabetes and no high blood pressure, only thing they did see, was that my thyroid tends to process things a bit slow) and that the psychologist wanted to work with me on my self-image and my cognitive perception about myself (I’ve always been bullied about my weight/appearance even when I wasn’t obese yet and I guess this caused me to have a morphed perception). Prior to these intakes I already underwent a sleep study which indicated that I have obstructive sleep apnoea. It is starting to dawn upon me of what I’m doing and I am starting to doubt whether I am making the right decision. I feel like I am letting myself down by not being able to do this on my own. So much is going on in my head at the moment as it will affect the rest of my life: Am I making the right decision? Will the outcome be positive or negative? Shouldn’t I try to change my lifestyle one more time before going to this last resort? Shouldn’t I just work on myself and love myself for who I am? What if I go through with this and I fail? Or what if I go through with this and I will still feel the same way I’m feeling now (just without my “protection suit”)? This might sound weird, but somewhere I am also very scared of becoming very vulnerable without my “protection suit”, without being able to hide myself behind my weight… But, I also feel like I am stuck in my own body and I could do and achieve so much more if I could just get out of this… Or then again, is this just wishful thinking? Conclusion, I am completely lost. I apologise for writing so much, but I guess it might be good to have written all of my thoughts down for once. Did someone else go through this? Am I making the right decision? Every single piece of advice or input will be very much appreciated! <3 Xo Losty

Wow that's great! It's amazing how much weight you've already lost! Xx