Spinoza

Thanks for the catchup summerseeker! Sounds like you've hit your stride after a bit of a rocky period - here's to big losses for everyone over the next few months.

Hi Crinkles, I'm in Ireland and 3 months post sleeve. The information on this site has been a godsend for me - there are lots of very knowledgeable folks about who are generous with their time and knowledge so whatever question you ask someone will have the answer. I hope the time to your surgery flies in. The first couple of weeks post op is hard but once you get past that you'll never look back!

I was just going to suggest the very same thing! I've taken a photo every month in the same clothes and will keep doing it until I stop losing. Even this early it's easy to see the changes.

I was never asked to stop caffeine and I would have had a major problem doing that! Caffeine withdrawal headache is the worst.

Would you be willing to share your stats Esi? What was your starting weight and how much have you lost? I have no idea whether there's any definite line between the weight loss phase and maintenance phase OTHER than one ends and the other starts when you stop losing weight. Sounds like you see it looking backwards after a couple of months and sounds like you might be there. I am sure that if you change things about a bit you COULD lose more weight, but as you say, if this is your new set weight then you'd just have picked a battle you could never win - one most of us have been fighting all our lives. On the other hand this could be a final very gradual loss where you really do only lose like a pound a month or less, and again you may only recognise that looking backwards in another six months! Anyway, you have done brilliantly to get within 10-15lbs of a BMI of 25. Lots of folks would be super pleased with that. I think you sound as if you have a totally sensible approach to it.

You look fab - what an inspiration!

Gigi I am almost exactly 3 months post op and I have lost 33lbs. I'm sure you know that SO many things affect the rate at which we lose weight - starting weight, age, hormones, fitness level, exercise level - not just calorie intake. I already see my loss slowing down but I am in this for the long haul. People who hit a long stall will try to increase protein, increase calories, try a different exercise regime - maybe upper body only for you - or even resistance bands to try to build a bit of muscle? In any case you shouldn't be bummed - you've lost a significant amount of weight, you're already way healthier, and if you stick to your programme you're likely to lose even more.

🎵 Look at my sig!! I am so happy to be half way to my goal weight. 12 weeks since my op tomorrow and in that time I've lost 33lbs. I know it's likely to slow down, and I've had one stall of almost 3 weeks already but I am so amazed by how well this surgery has gone for me. I used to read about you all losing or having lost stones and stones and never really thought it would be me. Part of me still doesn't believe it! I was always hoping I would reach my goal by a year post op and I really think I can do it now. Huge thanks to all of you who have shared your knowledge and experience and helped me this far. I'll stop now - it's beginning to feel like a bad Oscars acceptance speech. 🤣

Pre-op I had reflux for years but it resolved any time I lost a significant amount of weight. I used to take Ranitidine as required, and more recently Omeprazole. I definitely considered bypass rather than sleeve, and my surgeon talked me through the pros and cons of both, but in the end I gambled on weight loss curing it again, and it has. If he had nudged me towards bypass I would have done that though. My regime is 3 months of PPI after surgery so I'll be stopping it in another week or so. I know or at least strongly suspect I'll be fine without it.

It really really isn't rwgtwins. You'll see a loss soon - you have to if you're sticking to your program. Stalls are so frustrating. Mine, immediately post op, was just under 3 weeks but it felt like 3 centuries. Bet you anything you'll be back here next week with 3 or 4lbs off to report.

I am really sorry to hear you so full of regret. It's very common after any life-changing event, and perhaps it's worse with bariatric surgery because we chose it and made happen (and some of us even paid for it). You're grieving for your old best friend - food. Probably unhealthy food at that. I certainly did and I think lots of us hit a point post-op where we think 'what have I done??' Everyone here is giving good advice - especially about seeking professional help from a therapist. I will just say be kind to yourself, give yourself time to recover properly, and then reassess your feelings. Once you start losing significant amounts of weight you may feel way better. I really hope you do. 🙂

Love love love hearing about folks so long post op who have kept the weight off. Inspirational!

Have you had bariatric surgery? If so when, and what type? Can you fill in the stats in your profile - that can help other people see what stage you are at. Good luck with your weight loss journey anyway - however far along you are. 🤩

I lost 11lbs in January. Hopefully we can keep up this rate for a few months, wouldn't that be amazing?!

All going well here thank you! Today I am OUT of Onederland and I just wanted to let you all know. Scale showed 99kg for the first time in a very long time. It feels really good. 🏆 I have lost 31lbs in 11.5 weeks since my op. Pretty much 2lbs a week since my long stall ended. I only have one issue and it's been the same since day 1 - getting enough fluids in. I rehydrate really well in the morning, but as soon as I start to eat I get pretty hungry and then an hour later want to eat again. If I eat when I feel hungry then I have virtually no time for drinking in between - I have to think about fluid intake every single day. Small price to pay and I'm sure it'll come with time. I am so happy to have had this surgery.

It was all I could do to get enough fluids in 3 days post op to stop getting dehydrated, so sounds like you're healing really well! My surgeon has never given me any limit to calories (nobody has ever mentioned a calorie goal to me for any stage actually!) The first few wees can be really hard - I think you're doing brilliantly.

I used to bake a fair bit but I haven't at all since my surgery - the temptation would just be too great. My partner doesn't eat a lot of carbs and my children are teens so they can get what they want elsewhere. I do buy some cookies and stuff. COULD NOT bake stuff myself and not eat it - yet, but I'm sure I'll get back to it eventually.

You should also read the before and after photos thread if you want some MEGA inspiration. 💓

Started pre-op diet at 276lbs. Surgery was cancelled for another 2 months but I kept calorie counting that whole time so in total I lost 25lbs pre-op in the end. Surgery weight 251 Date of sleeve 17 November 2021 Current weight 220 So that's 31lbs off in 11.5 weeks since surgery. 8lbs in the week of surgery then a long post-op stall that lasted over 3 weeks. I have really found a groove with my eating and am losing a steady 2lbs a week at the minute. I do drink some alcohol every weekend which I know is completely empty calories, but it's something I have chosen to do and factor in. If I stall again or once my rate of loss slows I'll probably stop it again! Hope that helps. I loved reading other people's stats pre-op and I still do really. 😍 Keep asking questions - it's a big decision, a lifelong commitment to being different, and there is such a lot of experience in this group you're absolutely right to use it.

Thank you so much for the update - I love hearing how people fix things because I have no doubt I'll have to do that in the future! So glad you're making better choices (not meant in any way judgementally - I mean you're using your tool better!) and seeing the benefit already. Sorry to hear about your pooch - they can be a big drain on all resources, can't they? You have done amazingly and now you're doing amazingly again. I bet you smash your target by June. I am aiming to reach my (self-set) goal by November, which will be my one year anniversary. Almost halfway there already.

I did my own research before I went to the surgeon and was pretty sure I wanted a sleeve, but he did talk me through the pros and cons of bypass too. I do have reflux, but it always settled in the past when I lost weight, so I took a gamble on that happening this time too (and it has!) I liked the fact that I could lose a significant amount of weight whilst keeping my anatomy much the same. TBH I also kind of liked the safety net (that I never intend to use, but who does!) of a conversion to bypass if the sleeve didn't do what I was hoping it would. Almost 3 months on I am really happy with my decision to go with the sleeve. But if my surgeon had recommended bypass I believe I am likely to have gone with that and probably been equally happy!!!

I can't see it any more! Has it been removed for some reason??

Oh you said it much more eloquently than I (and at the same time!!) LOL.

Sounds like your psychologist may have dealt with a lot of disappointed patients in the past. I have never had an ideal weight suggested to, or discussed with me by surgeon, nutritionist, or psychologist. I've been told repeatedly that the average loss at 5 years after sleeve gastrectomy is 70% or thereabouts of excess weight. Big ballpark. I want to be much lighter than that so I have set my goal for a weight I have been at various points in my life and felt suited me. If I don't reach that, or anything near it, I might be be a bit miffed, but I'll still have lost loads of weight and be way healthier than when I started out, and that's what really matters to me. My body has a new set weight as of surgery day, and my job is to find that and make my peace with it, or consign myself again to a life of fighting my own body to lose weight it wants to hold on to!

You can do this. You've identified the problem and you already know how to fix it because you did it and lost an amazing 90lbs!!! You're like a professional athlete who has taken a few months off. You've still got it (because you went to the trouble of having surgery so it's always there for you). Track every mouthful, protein first, veg second, chew like the blazes, eat slowly. No liquids for at least half an hour. You know it works. You own that diet.