Spinoza

OP we all second guess and over-analyse immediately after our surgery. If you stick to your plan you WILL lose weight. Significant amounts of weight. You cannot not do that. However - you will NOT lose weight in a linear fashion. There will be many weeks (or even the occasional month) where you will lose virtually nothing despite knocking your socks off. What matters is that in the long term (18 months or so) if you do what you are asked to to use your sleeve to the max then you will lose LOADS! Welcome to your journey - it's quite the ride for lots of us!

You have done so amazingly well. Hair loss is (sadly) an inevitable part of losing massive amounts of weight. Your body just stops growing it for that time because it's not absolutely necessary. I promise it will grow back afterwards. I'm sorry there is no evidence at all that any particular supplements make a blind bit of difference. People take them and their hair grows back (and then they evangelise). But - other people don't take them and their hair also grows back. Me included. I wish you all the best - you're doing fabulously!

Yes I am running 18 months after my sleeve. Many years ago I did much longer distances - lots of half marathon type runs. Then I got properly fat and couldn't run any more but missed it hugely. Since I have got down to a normal BMI I am running again, but much shorter distances, and only with the aim of maintaining weight loss and general fitness - I have nothing to prove to anyone these days distance wise. I can run 3 or 4 miles easily and I do that (or less) a couple of times a week. I could push it and extend that but I have no inclination to. If I can keep this up as part of my maintenance regime I will be a VERY happy bunny.

@Starwarsandcupcakes I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. What an awful thing. I hope she makes a full recovery and that you're OK too. I love this part of the forum, love seeing everyone else's food and you're such a big contributor. Be kind to yourself.

No I only had a final goal weight and to be honest that was purely aspirational - I had no idea whether or when I would reach it! It was a weight I had reached previously by diet and exercise and felt good at. Hunger returned when I had lost approx 100lbs - probably a quarter of that on my long pre-op diet and three quarters in the 9 or 10 months post op. I went on to lose about another 40lbs. But honestly it is so different for different people. That's just how it went for me. Very best of luck to both of you.

You're absolutely right - it seems to be very different for different people. I had a gradual return of hunger at around 9 or 10 months. Probably over the course of a couple of weeks. If I ate my protein first I still felt full with around the same size of meal, I just wanted to eat again sooner afterwards. Then on top of that as the months progressed I could eat greater volumes - that continued AND I was hungry too. I learned here that head hunger is often craving a specific food or taste or texture, but real hunger can be addressed by eating most anything. So I started to have fruit and veg for snacks and that seems to have worked for me. My 3 main meals are protein first always. I could have just added another meal, but I had been concerned all along that I wasn't getting anything like the recommended fruit and veg intake. My weight loss had slowed when my hunger returned and I stopped losing more or less completely around 15 months post op. I'm 18 months out now and so far maintaining. Everything crossed.

No - only time I feel sleepy is after eating a big meal - are you taking it on a full stomach perhaps??

Absolutely this. Nothing sticking out the back of even skinny jeans. Bring it on!

One ounce of nuts shouldn't stop you losing OP don't worry. We do this to ourselves during stalls - look back at everything to see what's to blame. The fact is stalls just happen and then just stop again. It can be hard to get our brains to accept that though! Hoping yours finishes really soon.

I broke a chair in a bar by sitting on it. Simple as that. The bar owner reassured me that he'd got new chairs given to him by a brewery and they were rubbish because 2 others had collapsed that week but I decided then and there that I needed to get in control of my weight, having been on a diet for about 30 years by then. Never looked back.

Fab thread. People lose weight and bra sizes in really different ways, don't they? I have gone from a 40 band to a 32/34. Cup size H to DD/E. I bought 1 or 2 new bras every time the current ones became ridiculously loose. Not even sure at 18 months that I'm in my final size so I cannot buy expensive bras even now. Once I settle I will.

Can you give us a little more info OP? On your type of surgery, stage, progress so far, etc? Stats on your BMI? In any case - stalls are absolutely part of everyone's weight loss journey. Try not to get downhearted - they always always break if you stick to your plan. If it's bothering you just don't weigh yourself for a few weeks. Best of luck! S

Oh I feel you OP. I am almost 18 months post sleeve and had 3 periods of really noticeable hair loss along the way. I have always had thick hair that I have worn well below shoulder length. At around 3 months I lost loads and cut it to shoulder length. Twice more I have shed *A LOT* and done the same or higher cut again. Now sitting at a below ear bob, LOL. However - this far out I now have about 3 inches of really really thick regrowth (fuzz) that I think will meet my current bob in a few months. Nothing you put onto your hair will make any difference - honestly. Being well nourished from within and meeting all of your goals might. However for me it was just reaching the end of my weight loss and the concurrent major stress on my body that seemed to allow my hair to finally regrow properly. You're doing amazingly I'm sure. I wish you the very best of luck.

It really IS painfully slow at our stage. So glad you're still heading downwards FMO. Everything crossed for an upper 240s weigh in for you with your surgeon x

OK - breathe. Weight loss isn't linear. Everyone - *EVERYONE* hits stalls regularly. They are part of the journey. It seems to me from what you've said OP that you have lost 18lbs in 11 weeks since your surgery. Which is already amazing. Why are you calling that rubbish? 6 weeks post MY op I had lost 15lbs. But that turned out to be a tiny proportion of what I went on to lose in the next 18 months. I also had almost 10 stone to lose. If you can focus on your long term goal it will be no time until you're there, or almost there. I wish you all the luck in the world. If you stick to the rules you've been given then you have every chance to achieve your goal weight. 😍

Day 2 is the worst. OK well maybe day 3. After that you'll be heading into ketosis and honestly it'll be a million times easier. It really really IS worth these horrendous few days to get out the other end, into surgery ,and then into your new life. Please post plenty here, we have all been through it and yes it's AWFUL!! Do no on any account stray from the plan. Shout and wail all you like xx Cannot wait to hear about your losses after your surgery 😍

And just another general catch-up post from me. 17 months post op, I have lost another 2lbs this month after a loooong stall when I thought I was done losing. Now 140lbs. If I lose 2 more I will have exactly halved my starting weight. What a thought!! Still eating around 1500 calories a day on average [1300-1400 on weekdays, 1800-1900 on weekends (alcohol!!)] 😁 All is good with me basically. I have started to run a leeeetle bit after many years of not being able to. It's my favourite kind of exercise - just am older than when I did it before and gonna be sensible if it doesn't work out for me (and my older hips!) Any other November 2021 people still around and, if so, can we hear how you're doing now?

Not a far cry at all - that's within touching distance. Best of luck, glad you've found the supplements that work for you xx

Huge congrats OP. I have loved reading your posts. So fab to see this degree of loss to date and absolutely yes you may still lose more for sure! I've just checked and I lost another 15lbs after my surgery 1 year anniversary. Still losing a teeny tiny amount almost 18 months out - like a quarter pound a week or less, LOL! Keep the faith. You have done amazingly well x

3-4 pounds a week is an amazing loss by any yardstick. Thank you for sharing your story OP - your honesty will help loads of others. I think you'll be absolutely fine at this rate of loss and I wish you all the luck in the world.

Oh yes - looks fab!

Oh no way would I have been fit for rollercoasters 6 weeks post surgery. But we are all different and recover differently! How do you feel now? Does it feel doable based on your current progress OP?

I wish wish wish I had had my sleeve when I was your age OP. I spent my entire adult life either dieting or eating what I wanted and feeling guilty. I can't think you will ever regret it if you do your research and go into the op fully prepared. Best of luck x

Totally the same experience as Catwoman7. I am approaching 18 months post sleeve and still losing a very tiny amount - way less than half a pound a week. Took me more than 5 months to lose half my excess weight. But we are all different. I wish you all the best with your loss. Stick to the plan and you'll get there xxx

Oh I have loads. Face and neck most noticeable. Stomach and thighs and butt really wrinkly but almost nobody sees those! I am SO not into my appearance so I don't give a hoot. I know others find it hard to see and sort it with surgery. It is really sortable with surgery if you want/need to do that so honestly I wouldn't give it a second thought. What matters (to me anyway) is my completely new and different life. Best of luck OP 😍