Spinoza

Best of luck to you both and welcome to your new life

I'm here to tell you all how to cheat Not that you need to know this. I had a family dinner last weekend in a fancy restaurant that only does a 7 course set tasting menu. I have panicked for weeks about this because none of my family know I've had surgery and I don't want them to (long story featuring lifelong judgementalness, LOL - I know that's not an actual word). I had hatched all sorts of plans where I hid food under other overhanging food, dropped it on the floor, and put it onto other people's plates when they weren't looking. Anyway - turns out I worried for no reason - all you have to do to cheat on your pouch is to reverse the rules you were given. So - if you drink before, during and immediately after a meal, and start with carbs and finish with protein (and leave some of that if you need to) you can virtually clear 7 small plates. Served me very well on Saturday night. I hope not to need that wisdom again for some considerable time.

Yes! Kind of reinforced that how I am now eating is something I need to work at AND keep going with - would be so easy to slip and reverse it. I suppose that's how people regain. Anyway - not meant for daily use, just feels like a superpower I can pull out from time to time when absolutely necessary to obfuscate, so I thought I should share.

Totally agree with Arabesque and Catwoman. You've lost 38lbs in 2 months. This is already astounding weight loss. You are ON THIS. Stick to your programme, don't stress about mixing things up just for the sake of it, and you will totally smash this. 800-1000 calories sounds spot on for this stage of your journey.

It's so hard to say what is a stall and what is the end of the line for weight loss, isn't it? Are you sticking to your program? If you are I suspect it might be one of those horribly long stalls and I really hope it ends soon. NOW in fact! I have a year in my head too to reach my goal but there are lads of people who keep losing at a lower rate well into the second year.

OMG soooo cool. Totally get just having to take that outfit out for a night - whatever. Hope you had a fabulous time.

OMG D&S I am so so happy for you. I know what that means and I know how hard you have worked to get here. Onwards and downwards - as long as we can.

So fab. Enjoy

Looks absolutely amazing.

What Sue says. Just go to Pinterest and YouTube. Best of luck on your journey.

I scheduled 3 weeks off, thinking that I mightn't need all of it, but was really glad I did. I think I *could* have got back to work in the second week but I wouldn't have been even nearly back up to speed by then. I could have sat at my desk but I would absolutely NOT have been as on top of my work as I like to be. Everyone is different - if you can build some flexibility into your return to work then that might be the way to go. Best of luck - it's an amazing journey

Exciting! Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

I was never told to cut out or even cut down caffeine and I didn't. It's one of the areas where there is a massive variation between programmes.

Sounds amazing - thank you! Definitely making this very soon.

I'm 7 months out and I don't really *miss* anything. I have now tried most things in moderation and can tolerate them fine, including bread and pasta and rice. Even now there are days when I do not get enough fluids in though because I can't drink for a long time after eating. I can drink right beforehand though - I just get hungry and forget. And I have drunk sparkling water and sodas (and wine) from about 6 weeks post op - I was never told to avoid those.

I cook from scratch for my family every day so I just pureed whatever they were having with extra sauce/gravy. My absolute fave from that period was a roast lamb dinner - loads of lamb, some veg, some gravy. Sooooo tasty I still remember it after the bland liquids/shakes phases.

Just checking in again. 7 months for me today. Total loss of 95lbs - 25 pre-op and 70 (5st) in the 7 months since surgery. Brain is still trying to catch up with body, LOL. BMI is 26.7 and weight 181lbs. All good, sticking to the plan pretty much the same as the last few months. Bad diet day today for some reason, culminating in white bread toast for supper (now sitting in my stomach like a ball of lead). Hoping to lose a bit more before commencing maintenance - 21lbs actually, so need to stop with the toast crap!

Brilliant news @summerseeker!!!! I'm a week ahead of you - 7 months post op today actually - but a few pounds behind. Hopefully I'll join you soon.

Yeah, I agree with everyone else, you're doing *really* well. Don't tie yourself to a particular expectation and don't get hung up on a particular rate of weight loss - it's so variable. I would say stick to the rules and the surgery will allow you to lose weight. Good luck xx

My programme only stipulated a pre-op liver-shrinking diet for 2 weeks. However, my first date for surgery got cancelled - literally the night before, so I kept on the diet (more or less) for another 6 weeks until I finally got relisted. I ended up losing 25lbs before I had my surgery and boy am I glad now that I did, because otherwise I would still have had those to lose! Best of luck with your weight loss journey and keep posting here - there is so much support and a wealth of experience.

I had my first sushi yesterday at almost exactly 7 months post op and it was absolutely lush. Small amount = biiiig happy.

Bonus! Enjoy - really encouraging to hear that that can happen.

OMG that looks and sounds absolutely lush

Absolutely what @summerseekerhas said. You can re-jig your intake and lose weight again if you go protein first at every meal and track *everything*. When you say 'body compensated' do you mean that you didn't like the weight you landed on after your surgery and found ways to eat around it? Or that that was your lowest weight and then even sticking to your programme you regained that much? And when you say 'but now I am up to...' are you saying that you regained that much whilst still being vigilant, or that you totally relaxed the rules? Sorry I'm very black and white - need more detail!!