Spinoza

You've done amazingly well - especially given the awful time you had post op. I hope it's all better from here forward and that you lose lots more before you settle at your new set weight. 😀 I cried and cried the day I got into the overweight category of BMI - albeit totally arbitrary. Felt such an achievement. We need to celebrate all our wins, big and small.

You already look amazing. You've done so well. I hope this surgery gets you to where you really want to be.

Oh we will always be kind here. We are mostly much older than you but who doesn't love a young thing mixing it up and asking the right questions!?!? Sounds like you have your parents to guide you but your journey will be completely different (because everyone's is). I know that you'll be hoping to hear from really young people and I'm really hoping to hear from them too because that's a voice that has been missing here before. I suspect your skin will be much more forgiving than the older folks but that stretch marks might limit that a little bit. It means less to me than other people who I know have had surgery to tidy things up. They can share their experiences as you go along. Anyway - welcome. It's lovely to hear from you and I wish you all the best on your journey. 🤩

Ah - sorry - forgot what I actually started out to say. Arabesque is right (as she usually is). If you can go back to your original programme do. Protein first, veg second, carbs third or not at all. No sugar, it's ridiculously addictive and produces insulin spikes that make you crave it more. Perhaps consider a keto week to get you started and minimise cravings - so protein and green leafy veg only?

You really can still change your life. The surgery is still working, you just need to get back on track. It is really really hard though. The hardest thing you will do and continue to do. But is IS doable because you have a secret weapon (SLEEVE!!!!) We live in a world where millions and millions of dollars are pumped into making us eat far more than we need, of food that doesn't even nourish us or keep us healthy but makes profit for big food companies. It's so difficult to find a way through that. I would say it's impossible to do it alone when every supermarket and shop has ultra processed food showcased at every turn (that tastes so good because all the millions of dollars are aimed towards that and that alone). Please post here lots and let us know how you're progressing. We are all human, we all make mistakes, big and small, but we're all here for you.

Lots of good advice here. I do love this forum - between us we have hundreds of years of lived experience of WLS. So little judgement and so much sharing of wisdom. 😍

I use the 'together we have lost' panel to the right of the posts on every thread. Wouldn't have a clue how to work it otherwise! I love your jacket story too - relatable for most of us!!!!

No this isn't my experience. If I stuck to a low calorie diet (VLCD) I invariably lost weight. I've done that numerous times since my teens. What I could not do was keep that weight off. I regained it all plus more, every time. WLS seems to have changed that for me (so far - 2+ years post op). Can you give us a little more info? What diet were you sticking to, when and for how long?? I think it would be very unusual not to lose ANYTHING ever on a low calorie diet? Far more common to lose a bit, stall, lose a bit more...etc etc

Well first - have a fantastic time! I've also done theme parks before and after surgery and the difference is absolutely night and day. You'll have a ball. So yes - days in the parks are long and the food choices in there are all really unhealthy. I'm gonna say something different to Amber above and that's that you might want to be using your immediate post-op period to retrain your brain to tell it that processed foods aren't good, lack nutrients, aren't worth the space in your stomach, and are what got you here in the first place. But I know we're all different - that is the joy of this forum for me! Salads with grilled chicken or fish might be your friends for this trip if you can tolerate them. If not, as summerseeker says, a small cold pack with cheese and deli meat. A few nuts and seeds go a long way - again if you can eat them this early.

I didn't do this at really. I was a chocaholic so I just ate my usual (industrial) quantities of that. I rarely eat it now but I'm sorry to say that when I do I still adore it. I wish I'd lost my taste for it but I never have. What I do have though is a steely determination not to be obese again - it's working so far.

So interesting to read these replies - we all come from such different places! I was also a binge eater. I went for the sleeve because it felt less disruptive to my anatomy - didn't mind at all losing a big chunk of stomach. I also actively did NOT want a high risk of dumping (although I know some sleevers do). My one worry was my reflux getting worse. I gambled on it not getting worse because any other time I had lost a significant amount of weight it had actually improved. I won my gamble. The sleeve is suiting me very well so far.

You have done amazingly, through all of the setbacks you never gave up. So happy to hear you so happy with your new life 😍 I am absolutely gunning for you to take a well-deserved trip to onderland!

OK. I would email the person saying you need to lose this set amount well in advance. Set out your loss to date. Explain what the surgeon told you and how you formed a reasonable expectation that anything under 130kg and you would be good to go. Explain that you have been restricting your diet in the expectation of a surgery date and that your loss since referral is actually 11kg, far in excess of the required 3.5kg. I hope that you CAN lose something ahead of your date but I think stacking up the evidence about the conflicting advice you've been given might give you grounds to complain if you're turned down. Don't wait till the day of surgery to say all of this. Call them out right now on what they're asking.

Oh really interesting and useful - thank you for the link!

Oh noooo KathyLev that's so annoying!

I have never measured myself on any diet. Am totally focused on weight loss and have absolutely no idea of any body measurements, LOL. I know that others do the opposite. @GreenTealael your post is super interesting including the before and after bodies. Thank you for sharing!!!

I don't understand *all* of your post but I do get the thrust I think. I told 3 people about my surgery - my immediate family. I won't tell anyone else ever I think. You need to decide who has the right to the full facts and then decide what to tell others no matter how invested or interested or just gosh darn nosey they decide to be. Everyone else I told I was sticking to a strict low calorie diet. Which is absolutely true (I couldn't have told lies). Could you just adapt this or something like it as a response to all the enquiries OP? Completely factually accurate but just not sharing your private stuff?

Haha I am SUCH a fan of all inclusive food that we've only had one holiday since my surgery that allowed me to indulge. I can always find something to pick at, and usually multiple things to fill up on. NOT GOOD!!! Hope you are having a lovely time wherever you are.

Oh it's the length of that dress that I love most. Any shorter and it would have had less of an impact. Love it on you. I'm tall and particularly sensitive to length but yeessss!

It really is. I am absolutely certain that I would never *ever* have lost the weight I did if I hadn't been here from day 1. 20lbs loss in a month is amazing. Compare that to ANY diet you did in your life before surgery - unbelievable. Yes there will be stalls and regains, but if you stick to your programme then the general trend will be downwards. I hope you will be happy with where you land 🤩

Really interesting post thank you Sue! I haven't thought about this logically. I have no idea what suits and doesn't suit my new body. I'm still just super excited that I can buy stuff because I like it rather than just because they have it in my size. Will now have a big think about the next step and looking fabulous 🤩

This is so easy to do immediately post op because your stomach (or pouch, depending on what surgery you had) can't tell you when it's had enough yet. If you can stick to your programme moving forward then you won't go wrong. You won't have done any harm at all hopefully. Agree with the posts above. I hope everything goes really well for you moving forward. WLS is a total game changer for most of us.

And another

Sorry duplicate

Please don't wait to get signals a week after surgery. There's little or no feedback from our stomachs because all the nerves have been cut. Takes weeks or months to heal and tell you anything, and even then, as the others have said, the feeling of fullness can be really delayed. I am 28 months post sleeve and I have just learned to eyeball what volume and mix of foods my stomach can manage, and usually stop a bit before that for safety's sake. If I go beyond that I get a runny nose and sneeze (Vagus nerve stimulation). By then it's too late though. You'll learn how to manage as you go along. Just stick to small volumes at the start. At your stage you shouldn't be too hungry so you're just eating for fuel - treasure this time, it passes all too quickly. 😍 Stick strictly to the volumes you have been given. Weirdly I wasn't given any by my team so I asked for advice here and then stuck to THAT and it was very helpful.