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I know this is entirely a very, very subjective question to ask, but I was hoping for a general idea. For those of you who have arrived at your goal weight and/or currently in maintenance (even if it isn't your goal weight), would you be willing to share a little info about what you believe your daily calorie intake is, and how many hours a week you spend doing exercise. Please include the weight you are maintaining if you don't mind and gender and age if that isn't too personal. Are you surprised by how few calories you can eat or is it better than you expected? I'd love to hear from anyone, even peeps who spent time in maintenance and regressed. I spoke with a girl in my support group who was in her mid twenties. She was frustrated that she was maintaining 180 lbs and only able to consume 800 calories per day. She admittedly did not make time for much exercise, but she felt angry that she was stuck in maintenance on such a low calorie restriction and felt tired all the time. I wanted to believe she wasn't entirely honest with herself on calorie intake, but I didn't press her as she was already fretting. It just doesn't seem possible that even a sedentary body could function on 800 calories, but I thought I might just ask here and see how people manage themselves at goal or in their personal maintenance. Thanks for your time and attention!

It sounds like you really have a lust to pursue your goals based on the things you said about your education. That's a boon in your favor when it comes to deciding how to address your health too. Shows you have guts to see difficult things through and WLS will be a difficult thing. No one can tell you to do surgery, or don't do surgery. In the end, that is entirely YOUR personal decision, but it's completely natural to feel apprehensive and unsure. Try not to let the unfortunate stumbling blocks you had in the past influence your decision now. It wasn't a supernatural force trying to save you from a bad decision, just coincidence and happen chance. Things to consider when making your decision: How much over weight are you? How many times have you tried to get things right and failed? How long have you been over weight? How much is your physical activity hindered by it? Do you have any other weight-related health issues? The surgery doesn't just help you with losing weight from where you are now, but it will help you avoid future weight gain. The older you are, the sicker you are, the heavier you are, will make this procedure more risky. I waited until I had high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and my body was in a physically terrible place. So was my mind. I wish wish wish, I had pursued help sooner! My body will always bear the scars of the heavy, unhappy person I used to be. I'm not vain, but there is something of a disappointment in seeing excesses of skin draping from my shrinking body. Not only that, but I resigned myself to only have one child who is now eighteen. My unchecked obesity completely interfered with anymore babies and now at 43 and a son in college, I don't feel it would be responsible to risk more babies even though I would have loved to try for a girl. It is what it is. Both my mother and father are super morbidly obese. This was another factor I took into consideration. The same genetics and poor eating habits they suffer from are likely the same things I'm contending with. My job security was in jeopardy. I was having trouble doing all the things I needed to be doing in a timely manner and I was beginning to see signs this was wearing on the patience of my superiors. Likewise, obesity can interfere with job pursuit. You will NEVER know if it was your weight that put them off to select a different candidate for the job but it will be on your mind when you get rejections. I know I've painted a picture that shows more favor to having the surgery than choosing a different path to success. That's because I'm terribly biased in favor of surgery from my own personal experience, but I do believe it's not an appropriate choice for everyone. I had complication from my initial sleeve that put me back in the hospital twice since then for a total of three surgeries and hospital stays in less than a year. All seems to be right now, but it hasn't been easy. I want to punch anyone who tries to suggest I took the easy way out. Despite how hard it all was, I wouldn't take it back. If I could go back in time for a redo, I would do it all over again. Good luck making your decision. Be brave and make a plan weather you do surgery or not.

This was exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to see! You're post was perfect! You see, I think I have a myth in my own head that I need to dispel and I'm trying to make a generalization. That myth is--that normal sized people live on the 2000 calorie day diet to stay fit and healthy paired with reasonable daily activity! But I think if more people step forward to say what they really get to eat to survive at goal, I would find they are eating less than 1000 calories per day! If you tell one of your normal, "skinny" friends that you only eat 1000 calories each day, they would probably be astonished, right? As a bariatric patient, I was expecting that I would be eating 800-1000 calories each day until my goal weight, then up the intake until I maintained. My brain believes that based on my current reasonable activity, my age, my height, and a poor set of metabolic genetics, that I should expect to live the rest of my life on a 1500ish calorie diet, but maybe this is a lofty expectation! Am I fooling myself? The very reason I'm asking for this generalization is I KNOW there are many of us who need to dispel "the myth." It will be different for everyone, but NOT incredibly different. YOU LOOK AMAZING BY THE WAY. There is a little piece of me that is sad that your diet is so restricted to keep a good handle on all your progress, but I appreciate your feed back so much. I need a good dose or realism.

Ima try to say something here that will make you smile or make you happy or make you feel inspired. You don't necessarily have to become complicated about your eating. There is one truth for sure in all this. Weight gain means more calories than your activity level warrants. It's almost certain that you have a shitty metabolism and the only way to improve this is more activity and less or better food choices. This is a disgusting oversimplification of whats really going on in your body, both chemically, mentally and physically, but still, a simple truth that you hate, but know. Accept, no matter how frustrating, that you don't get to eat a 2000 calorie diet and maintain your goal weight. Rules to Follow: 1. Always eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. 2. Don't eat more than 1 level cup of food for a meal (1.5 cups if your a male) tiny plates and 1 cup bowls are great here. Its all I use anymore. 3. Eat for expected activity ahead. (example, more calories in your meal if you are going to demand more of yourself physically. Dinner should not be a calorie dense meal if you are going to veg out on the couch and wind down for the night.) I'm gonna leave it at three to make it look simple! So for now, don't worry about counting the calories, just worry about the portion size. If you find that you start losing weight quickly than consider adding in a mid morning snack and late afternoon snack that are no more than 100 calories to help stave off hunger. But first, see if you can start losing again and adjust from there. If you aren't losing weight, then you have to get more complicated with looking at and logging your calories. Hopefully you won't have to do that though! Please, love the food you eat. Become an absolute snob with your choices! I can tell you to eat 3 oz of lean protein, 2 oz of starch and 3 oz of veggies with each meal, but I feel like that kinda kills creativity. You get a cup so make it worth. This ratio is a guideline to bring balance to your meals, but don't let it stop you from making a variety of culinary art and excitement. Don't be scared to make casseroles, stir fry, soups, crazy salads with weird flavor combinations. And, you know it...but sugar is evil. I know you're absolutely dejected right now. It's sooooooo hard to admit to others and to yourself that something has gone wrong. You butchered your body to reach a goal that you didn't keep and now you feel like a turd. I want you to think of something else though. What if you didn't have the surgery? Where might you be right now? Maybe you would have done to yourself what I did. Maybe you might have been 475 lbs and super sick and then thinking about surgery. I have a flap of skin that hangs way down off my tummy area that covers my privates! Sorry for graphic imagery, but, it roles up like a cute burrito as well. Ima have to have that removed on my own dime or convince myself that its fun to think of Mexican food when I'm laying in bed at night! A lot of people get lost thinking about where they didn't get too in the positive direction after WLS, but in their self misery, they forget to consider where they didn't go in the negative direction too. This counts for something huge in my book!!!...and I do know huge very, very well. 😂 Pick yourself up, dust off your bum, and love yourself. You absolutely cannot reach a goal if you are hating yourself. Reach out for help from somebody, a nutritionist, a personal trainer, a friend, maybe a psychologist even. Keep visiting these forums and posting things as you go. Its very therapeutic. PS-My apologies if I have ruined Mexican food for anyone. Sometimes my humor gets a little morbid, but I do mean it all in good fun.

I don't know that I'm the best person to comment to you since I'm only 10 months out, but I do know from all my visits with my surgeon that you, me, us in this community, are all at risk for ulcers for LIFE. This really sounds like an issue you should bring to the attention of your surgeon if you are still under their care and if not, its worthy of a visit to your PCP. If I were in your shoes, I would keep an accurate food journal for a few weeks before a visit because that will help your surgeon/doctor know how to better diagnose/treat you. Good luck, and I hope its nothing for you to worry about.

First of all, do what your surgeon said. With that disclaimer out of the way, listen to your body next. No driving for a few days after being put under--standard safety. Second, no driving under narcotics, right? If you are feeling super great by day four, and the strongest meds you are taking is Tylenol, then take a short drive if it pleases you. I had my sleeve done last February and I wasn't really ready to take a drive for a week. Not because I was popping pain meds, but because I felt like a melted poop pile and that was enough to make me feel like NO driving was safer for everyone. I had a revision to a bypass the Friday before Thanksgiving due to complications from my sleeve. Went in on Friday, came home on Sunday and I was ready to go out driving on Monday! Listen to your surgeon first, then your body next. Melted poop=no driving 💩! HUGS! Feel better fast! Congrats!

Okay okay...so the 600 lb. life thing is really a thing! I watched it early before and after surgery, but I needed to know something important and I know it now and I don't watch that anymore or anything like it. I needed to know I could find my way back. I had to see all those poor, sick people get better so that I knew I could get better too! 1st: Before surgery I played on my computer habitually. If the internet went down, my life went down! I don't even turn my computer on for days now, nor do I use it for game playing or socializing...(sorry to all my computer friends that I never met!) 2nd: I was sooo messy before, house a mess, laundry existed only in dirty and clean baskets. Now...my house is clean, all the time, and you can find all clothing and linens neatly folded and put away. Last: My secret mantra back in the day, and I hate to even admit this, but I would say to myself that "I hate people." I'll give myself a little break here, I was so big that people either were to embarrassed to look at me or too cruel not too. Now, I love people! I randomly help people who look like they need help. I smile at everyone, look them in the eyes, strike up conversations. Holy ****, I've pulled over in my car 3 times since surgery to help people who got mashed up in the road, ready to save them anyway I can! It's alarming that I've seen that many accidents happen right??? Good thing I love people now :). New mantra to live by: "Everyone is wonderful!"

My husband and 18 year old son are big guys, but I had them beat by 170+ lbs. prior to surgery. Now I am the smallest in my family...tee hee! Feels good! But back to taste buds! I still love to eat as much as ever I did, but not AS MUCH as I used to eat. Big difference. Learning to cook smaller has been a challenge to me and learning to cook different is even more challenging, but I'm taking it on as fun for everyone. I love my family soooo much and their size is, in part, my fault because I was the one who brought the food, habits, and cooking to their plates in the first place. I'm not upset with myself about this in anyway. We all made bad choices and if anything, we let ourselves get fooled, but no more. I can make the most beautiful breads, and cookies you ever did taste, but not so much anymore for obvious reasons. My taste has changed sooo much too! I love bracing, almost harsh flavors hitting my tongue! Since I can only have at best a 3/4 cup of food, I want every bite to be simply amazing! I'm dragging my family, kicking and screaming sometimes, into my new flavor experiences. I make a wicked good salsa multiple ways now and people ask for it all the time. Its always in my fridge! I keep a beautiful spice garden right on my front porch, new hobby, and I use it daily for my cooking. Tell your wife what's on your mind and instead of flowers to soften the blow, buy her beautiful pots of thyme, rosemary, chives, basil, mint and dill! Try to help her understand that all her lovely cookies and sweeties are divine but really just food for the Gods! You're a man, a husband, who can't have all the sugars, ever again, and you want many many more years with her, healthy, successful, in love and in shape! When something doesn't taste good to my husband, I'd want him to tell me! I want the feed back so I can make it better. Give her a chance.

This is a lot of calories for anyone, and most especially for a sleeve patient, but I do love your honesty about it! Its hard to think you can fit that many calories into your gut post surgery but they do cut sleeves different sizes. Larger sleeves protect you better from strictures forming which has been a terrible problem for me. Aside from re-evaluating your diet and commitment there is another option you can consider. Your surgeon can convert you to gastric bypass. I do hope the best for you. Each of us here understands quite fully the awful food demons and I'm so sorry it has been difficult for you. Keep trying!

Before surgery, I felt like dieting was the equivalent of holding my breath. I could do it for a while, I could see super success, but eventually I had to breathe! I couldn't hold up the massive amount of will power necessary to continue on a path to a healthy life. It was like contending with an insatiable monster in my tummy who was always hungry and always in control of my thoughts and actions. I felt like I could not win no matter how hard I tried, and each attempt I made to over throw the monster left me weaker and fatter and sicker until I weighed 474 lbs and suffered from diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. It's been a little over a year and I weigh 265 now and I lose about 10 lbs a month still. I've lost the percentage that is normal, but I plan to continue losing. Sure, my dream is to make it all the way to 160, but this surgery was enormously successful already! Even if don't lose another pound. My diabetes is in remission, my hypertension is gone, my cholesterol is low, I don't take any meds, but the most amazing part is--THE MONSTER IS DEAD! When I eat, it feels like a choice I make for myself and that feeling is soo good, so incredible to me. I know if I'm careless, I could let the monster back in. That's a scary prospect that pops in my mind from time to time, but presently, the surgery helped me to overcome something I just could not do on my own. As you think about your own decision to proceed with surgery, consider not only what it can do for you right now, but what it may help you prevent for your future self. Sure, it's possible you might not get to your goal weight and/or maintain it for life, but you may never see yourself get bigger than you are now. You may prevent future health problems, and it will absolutely give you a stronger shot at success that you might not be able to achieve on your own volition. This is a big, big decision and goodness knows, I had major problems with my sleeve that resulted in terrible stent experience and ultimately a revision which I just had done, but I would do it all again knowing all that I know now. Very worth it! Consider that the the average weight loss for "most" is with little effort and happens in the first 6 months after surgery. If you are willing to risk the surgery and put in effort through diet change and exercise, you WILL reach your goals and be happy. Cheers!

I didn't know this! Actually, this kinda makes me feel better. I've lost so much of my long, lovely locks! Enough that I had to have a plumber come out and unclog the drain! So sad....but hope for the regrowth is something to look forward too. I was a little worried I'd just have this stringy, sad, lion fish hair do for good. I can't bear to sheer it off, but man oh man, a breezy day makes me look like a crazy lady.

First of all, I'd like to try and sooth your mind a little by saying that 12 days is very early to be scared about what's getting stuck and is it stricture. That doesn't mean there isn't a problem, but I promise you, your tummy is still super swollen and will continue to battle with swelling and healing for that 6 week recovery. I have had terrible trouble with stricture and anything potato makes me violently ill along with anything that is very starchy or sticky (pasta, rice, oatmeal, bread.) I have a two centimeter narrowing and the only thing that passes without grief is liquid. Starchy stuff acts like glue in your gut and since you are still so very swollen and healing, it plugs you right up and sits like a rock of OMG awful wedged in your tummy. You also are struggling to produce the proper digestive juices at the moment so even a tiny bite that you chewed for 30 min of something NOT on your diet may cause horrid upset. Try to take a breath, don't be too scared yet, keep your doctor informed as it seems like you have. If you are able to sip your protein drinks with no problem then you are doing okay for the moment. I'm sure you are bored out of your mind of your limited food choices, but don't jump the gun on eating anything crazy right now. Even things on your list of approved food can be problematic if your tummy is still swollen. Furthermore, if you do eat something and have a bad tummy ache from it, it's likely to cause added swelling for a while (days). Also, if anyone posting here had hiatal hernia repair with their sleeve, that is its own nasty recovery that can cause things to back up into your esophagus, yucky lump feeling in your throat area, "alien slime" regurgitation, pain in your chest with eating and drinking. I still get pain under my left collar bone to this day with eating. Always always use your best judgement. If your surgeon is telling you to be patient and let healing take place then try to let that happen and take some deep breaths. You know if you can't get more than 40 oz of fluid down you will be in trouble. You can go MUCH longer without food. If you are getting a few hundred calories for now that's just fine. Smile, drink some warm tea and count your oz of liquid. If you need someone to talk to, message me and we can call over the phone. Its very, very possible everything is just as it should be though. Chin up buttercup! Oh, and, as my surgeon always tells me so very sweetly, "I can fix anything!" If you do have a stricture, it can be fixed. It won't be fun lol, but you will be fixable! Try to have a beautiful day today.

You're right. My apologies. I chuckled as I wrote that and didn't mean offense to anyone. It was meant to be light-hearted, but I can see it taken in the wrong way. Sorry!

Your body is very protective of your life. It responds to quick weight-loss by slowing you down. Self preservation is the real deal and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone on these forums that won't attest to periods of slow weight loss or even the cessation of weight loss while still strictly recording calories and increasing exercise. These periods can last weeks to more than a month. You might even be able to notice that while you are doing your Zumba class or adding in more activity, you still might be having more quiet times or resting state activities in between your increased efforts. I can tell you from personal experience, even though I was doing my elliptical everyday I realized I was extra tired and going to bed an hour earlier than I ever used to. Getting good sleep is great, don't get me wrong, but your body can be really sneaky about slowing down starving to death which is what's happening in reality. Don't let your doctor rattle you about how fast you should be dropping weight. Focus instead on what you should be doing. Counting calories is a great way to teach yourself portion size and accountability. You won't have to do that forever, but its a great fall back plan if you are baffled about why you are experiencing slow or no weight loss. The world tells you that 2000 calories a day is okay and the "norm." You don't get that luxury anymore, maybe never. Your metabolism is in shambles, so is mine. You might only be burning 1600 calories a day even with exercise. Weight loss requires a caloric deficit so if you are eating 1000 calories give or take, then weight loss might only look like 1 lb gone in 6 days. That gives you a loss of 5 lbs a month. This sounds awful, but it really isn't! I'm not saying this stuff to upset you, or scare you, but rather to comfort and encourage you. You can and will succeed if you are patient with yourself and focus on the life long skill that you MUST learn from all this. It's a lovely balance of portion control, nutrition choices, activity and accountability. You got this! Cheers!

I'm sorry, but protein water is disgusting. I Just can't. Good luck lol.

Sleeping might be hard. My husband went out and bought a recliner rocker as soon as I got home from the hospital. I couldn't lay down, lay on my side, nothing. I sat up at the hospital for the three days I was there and continued to need to be sitting up for a couple weeks. This might vary from person to person and be dependent on how old or heavy you are going in. But maybe be ready with extra pillows for propping if you don't already have a recliner. As far as eating goes, water and protein drinks will probably be what you focus on the most for a good while. Warm drinks, broths, tomato soup, greek yogurt, sugar free pudding. Cold things might be hard to tolerate initially. If you feel discomfort switch to room temperature liquid. Good luck and be brave! Happy for you!

I don't know if this helps, but a true stall can last 3+ weeks. If it's just a few days or a week that you see nothing, that can be other things. Stool building up in your system. water retention do to various reasons. My monthly affects my weigh ins. If I weigh frequently, I can easily get frustrated. But if I weigh every couple of weeks I can usually see more "real" weight loss without the panic from frequent scale trips. Mr. MattZ knows what he's talking about too. You need to eat to lose weight. Your body is sooo good at surviving that if it thinks you are in a famine it will preserve you--for a time--by slowing you down. In comes lethargy, tiredness, less ooomph to get up and move. Keep up your exercise, count your calories and improve your protein intake and water. I don't really believe in counting calories, but if loss is not happening, then you have to do it. Don't forget, that bites of food count. Some people tend to discredit the destructive power of nibbling too. Check yourself on that one. Bites add up over the whole day. I would say that stress is your worst enemy though. Fear that you are failing, fear that you are eating too much, fear that you are going too slow all makes for a more terrible experience. Try to lift that yoke and practice doing what you know is right. Good healthy meals and snacks under 300 calories with a good ratio of protein/carb/fat. I like doing 3 200 calorie meals and 2 100 calorie snacks. There is some wiggle room there for a little more during meal time.

Meat is still super hard for me. My tummy only accepts ham without complaint. Beef makes me violently throw up. Chicken, no matter how I fix it, is painful and hard to digest. I get most of my protein from egg white, protein drink and ham. Lovely! Oh, for some reason costco salami is okay, 5 pieces only, dipped in mustard...mmm.....but..not so great for me so I only eat it occasionally.

I feel like my "food flap" must be broken. 6 months post op and any carbonation makes "me" the fountain. UP UP UP it comes. Quite the display.

I hope the surgery went well and all your anxiety is melting away.

Oooooohhhh!!! I love this game! What if you get to 140 lbs! What if you feel better than you ever have in your life! What if you look in the mirror and love what you see!! What if you finally try something crazy like sky diving or scuba diving or cave diving???? What if you never ever have diabetes, or hypertension or high cholesterol. Or!!! If you have some of those....What if they go away? Crazy! BIG BIG HUGS! It's super hard to curb the anxiety prior to surgery and after surgery you'll have all new anxieties! Yay! My own surgeon told me I could stop choking myself while he made his final preparations before I went to sleep. Apparently my hands were around my neck I was so scared. In reality I was so terrified I could hardly breathe! You'll probably be scared too. Everyone will tell you not to be including yourself. But hey, it is scary, right? You're taking a risk, but it's such a wonderful risk to take with such wonderful potential for a better life ahead. I say it's okay to be scared and to worry. You're going to lose some shut eye from time to time. Do everything you can to understand what worries you, try to focus on what excites you, and then be okay about being worried.

How is this even possible?! I’m lucky to get 50g a day. What are you eating and how often??? My brain was trying to grasp this as well! What are you eating that you can get this much????!!!

Oh no. This makes me so sad. Especially since you are having food aversion issues. And...you admittedly like cooking lovely things. I'd completely understand if post surgery you were struggling with wanting to eat all the time still, or eat poorly and such. But you don't want to eat at all. Well, be careful and keep trying to give yourself things to feel good about.

OH NO! I actually gave up my video game hobby to take up cooking after surgery so I could deal with the actual struggles in my life! Food, control of food, quality and quantity of food all a big big deal for me. Video games are diverting for sure, but right now, my opinion, that is just as numbing as any drug in your life and something to be cautious of. Now is not the time to be numb to anything. You're feelings are screaming out and you need to be listening with your whole mind and body.

I'm so sorry. I have some pretty terrible food aversions myself, but for a very different reason than you. But hating food is not good no matter the reason. Being frightened of food is a bad place to be in your mind. I'm not going to bore you with my own exhausting story, but instead tell you what I'm doing to help myself. I've taken an interest in looking at recipes online. I was pretty lazy prior to surgery with cooking good, meaningful, healthy, quality food. I was a bad mom, letting my family eat frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, french fries, fast food. Basically all kinds of fast, tasty garbage. When I cooked, I cooked like I was feeding an army because I wanted everyone to feel full and have seconds if they wanted. How awful I was about that. I can't change the past, but I'm changing the NOW and the FUTURE. I try to make things that are delicious yet nutritionally sound. Food can be a scary thing for me now, but I try to keep it interesting by investing time and effort into it. I get very happy when my family gives me a thumbs up and kisses for making a new recipe that they want me to make again. I'm struggling with health limitations that have decimated my interest in food. Sometimes it can be so hard to will myself to take a bite of anything because I know it will hurt. Making something to be proud of feels very therapeutic even if I only take one small bite of it. I'm very picky now about ingredients, flavors, quality. I'm not saying this is the right fix for your struggle, but maybe try to find something about food that sparks an interest. Even if you create some lovely fruit art to eat with your vanilla greek yogurt lol! Even if your brain tells you that you WILL NOT eat that food you're thinking of making, make it anyway. If you can't make yourself taste it this time at least explore if you like the smell. See if others like what you made. Feed back from friends and family feels good sometimes. As for being scared that you might not reach your goals--well, that scares me too. I'm sure a lot of people on these forums will tell you that's always lurking in their mind. It's like a monster under the bed and a really hard thing to deal with. But you HAVE to eat just like I do. You WILL slow your weight loss by refusing to do it. You will watch your hair fall out, your muscles shrivel up. Hug yourself right now. You agreed to surgery because you wanted help with control, you wanted a healthier body, you wanted to be a better person than the one you were before surgery. Don't forget it. Think about that and instead of opening up a can of tuna, gross , make yourself a chicken tenderloin with sesame and garlic. You can even strive for similar calorie goal for now, but make each calorie super delicious! Hug, you can do this.