NickelChip

I have to be honest about my experience so far with dietitians, and with post-bariatric advice and counseling in general. If you ask 100 dietitians what we are supposed to be doing, you will get 101 different responses. And if you ask them a second time, you will probably get even more. Too much Protein, not enough protein, carbs are the devil, carbs are fine, low fat, don't worry about fat, count calories, only count macros, work out more, don't exercise too much...
You've lost over 100 pounds. You are 12.8 pounds from your goal at only 5 months post-op, work out 6 days a week, and look and feel great. You seem really happy. I fail to see why you should change anything if you are happy with your results, unless you think the advice will benefit you. You know your body and what works for you, and unless your dietitian is a bariatric patient, she's never been through what you are doing first hand.
Take what she says with a grain of salt, except salt is bad, unless it isn't because electrolytes are good...who knows?

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far:
February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21)
March: -11.6 lbs
April: -7.6 lbs
May: -2.8 lbs
June: -11.2 lbs
July: -1.6 lbs
August: -8.4 lbs
And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now.
Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.

It is really reassuring to actually see the numbers - it fluctuates so much! I haven't worked my loss out per month, but maybe I should!
You've done absolutely amazingly! ❤️❤️

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far:
February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21)
March: -11.6 lbs
April: -7.6 lbs
May: -2.8 lbs
June: -11.2 lbs
July: -1.6 lbs
August: -8.4 lbs
And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now.
Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far:
February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21)
March: -11.6 lbs
April: -7.6 lbs
May: -2.8 lbs
June: -11.2 lbs
July: -1.6 lbs
August: -8.4 lbs
And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now.
Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far:
February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21)
March: -11.6 lbs
April: -7.6 lbs
May: -2.8 lbs
June: -11.2 lbs
July: -1.6 lbs
August: -8.4 lbs
And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now.
Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.

What a difference and you are looking great.

@ShoppGirl I don't, actually. They've changed their offerings a few times, so I'm actually still paying for the group access under a membership level that doesn't exist anymore. I do know they offer a platinum program for $999 that includes 3 personal visits with Dr. Weiner, 3 personal visits with Zoe, plus 3 months of membership for the group meetings (and a bunch of other things like help accessing prescription meds, etc.) but not sure what the cost is to book a single appointment. Although, if you need/want all 6 appointments and planned to do 3 months of groups anyway, it works out to about $140 each with the platinum package, which isn't bad.

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far:
February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21)
March: -11.6 lbs
April: -7.6 lbs
May: -2.8 lbs
June: -11.2 lbs
July: -1.6 lbs
August: -8.4 lbs
And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now.
Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.

Oh, yes. It really is so disheartening, and knowing it's normal/expected doesn't make it feel any better! To give you an idea of how my weight loss has fluctuated, here are my monthly totals so far:
February: -16.4 lbs (2 week pre-op diet plus surgery on 2/21)
March: -11.6 lbs
April: -7.6 lbs
May: -2.8 lbs
June: -11.2 lbs
July: -1.6 lbs
August: -8.4 lbs
And so far in September I'm at a whopping -0.4 lbs for the month. Let me tell you, May and July both sucked, and I honestly don't think I did anything differently in June or August to explain the variation. It just is what it is. I'd say stay off the scale, but personally, I enjoy having the daily number because I'm obsessed with having a record to look back on, so I get having to do it every morning. I'm sure you're far from done losing, even if you're at a slow point right now.
Just for fun, I'm attaching a side by side comparison that I made of myself yesterday. It's a photo of me from last summer at my highest weight alongside a pic of me from my walk yesterday. When the scale stalls, making something like this cheers me up and helps me see beyond the numbers on the scale.

@ShoppGirl I don't, actually. They've changed their offerings a few times, so I'm actually still paying for the group access under a membership level that doesn't exist anymore. I do know they offer a platinum program for $999 that includes 3 personal visits with Dr. Weiner, 3 personal visits with Zoe, plus 3 months of membership for the group meetings (and a bunch of other things like help accessing prescription meds, etc.) but not sure what the cost is to book a single appointment. Although, if you need/want all 6 appointments and planned to do 3 months of groups anyway, it works out to about $140 each with the platinum package, which isn't bad.

I attend some of their monthly support groups and you can almost always get your questions answered by Zoe or Dr. Weiner in the groups without needing a one-on-one unless you have something very specific where you would need to share a lot of personal details or test results that are beyond the scope. The calendar shows how many people are registered for a session, so you can choose one with a small attendance to better your chances. I find it worthwhile even if I only make it to a few groups per month.

I attend some of their monthly support groups and you can almost always get your questions answered by Zoe or Dr. Weiner in the groups without needing a one-on-one unless you have something very specific where you would need to share a lot of personal details or test results that are beyond the scope. The calendar shows how many people are registered for a session, so you can choose one with a small attendance to better your chances. I find it worthwhile even if I only make it to a few groups per month.

Today marks 6 months since my gastric bypass surgery! It's also almost exactly one year since I attended the orientation class at the weight loss center that was the first step in beginning the surgical program. I came home after the class and took a "before" photo. I had just weighed in at my highest weight ever. I was on blood pressure meds and my A1c put me in the prediabetic danger zone. My joints ached every morning. My 50th birthday was looming and I felt so old.
The day after that photo, I started making changes to my diet. I lost 13 lbs from August until early February. I lost an additional 13 lbs on my 2-week liquid diet. I had my surgery on February 21 and since then, I've lost another 45lbs, for a total of 71 lbs down! My blood pressure is normal, and so is my A1c. The aches and pains are gone, and I'm hitting my 10k step goal several days each week. I'm nowhere near perfect, but I'm improving steadily.
I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I was this weight. It had to have been when I was around 22 years old. Like pretty much everyone says, my only regret is not doing this sooner.

Weight loss success is roughly 80% or more about your nutrition and 20% or less about exercise. No gym required! So if you don't like the gym or can't fit it into your schedule, really hone in on the nutrition for now and add whatever body movement you CAN manage every day. Meet yourself where you are, not where you think you should be. If you only walk 1500 steps a day, set a goal for 5,000 a day and don't expect yourself to be running a marathon next month. If you're already good about walking, kick it up by putting on some ankle and wrist weights while you do a 15 minute dance video on YouTube to get your heart rate up and build some strength. Or buy a set of resistance bands and do those a few times per week. Culturally, I think we've become convinced you have to "go to the gym" to see results, and it's really not true. And if you only have the energy to focus on one thing in these early days, start with nutrition because that's where you will see the most lasting results. You're still healing right now and your body is not ready for grueling workouts at this stage.

Hi everyone! I haven't been on this site in a VERY long time, but I am currently on a new weight loss journey and I thought I would report in with my experience and the hope that some of you newbies can learn from it.
I had my VSG surgery on 9/1/2014, so 10 years ago this month. At the time of my surgery, I weighed ~260 pounds and I am 5'6". I have lost and gained weight a million times before that, with my highest weight ever having been 277 pounds.
In the first couple of years after my surgery, I was able to get below my goal weight (165) all the way down to 154. During that time I trained for and ran in a half marathon and a full marathon, completing the full marathon in September 2016 (almost exactly two years after my surgery).
I separated from my then-husband in May of 2016 and our divorce was final in December 2016. My life took a very different path after that and I did not stick to my healthy diet and exercise. I met my current husband in February of 2017 and while I love him dearly and he is THE BEST, he is a bit of a hedonist and we definitely supported each other in our hedonism. I became a connoisseur of fine craft beers and we have a large friend group who we go out with or have get-togethers with several times a week. I not only stopped running but stopped exercising altogether.
Both my current husband and I put on weight in the seven years we have been together, especially during COVID, and I got all the way back up to 234 pounds! Last year, my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and, in April, we resolved to turn things around together.
Since then, I have lost 30 pounds and I am on my way down to my new goal weight of 180. So, here are some things I want to report, trying to lose weight again for the first time since immediately after my surgery:
The restriction still works! I cannot eat much more than about 200 grams of food in one sitting. Once I cut out snacking and stopped drinking as many calories (beer), it was easy to rely on my sleeve to restrict my daily caloric intake. My metabolism is still normal. As a 5'6 female weighing 203.2 pounds, I still burn ~2100 calories per day just by living, according to my Garmin watch and it definitely tracks with the calorie differential I am logging and the weight loss I am seeing. I still can't eat and drink at the same time. I usually have to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to drink anything after I eat a full meal. Being overly full is still an unpleasant feeling. Before my surgery, I used to love the sensation of being "stuffed." Since surgery and to this day, it is still uncomfortable for me if I overeat in one sitting. Not a pleasant sensation at all, but not painful like it was in the very beginning. I can still get dumping syndrome if I'm not careful. If eat too much sugar too fast, usually in the form of ice cream or a milkshake, I get dumping syndrome and it is VERY unpleasant, fortunately, it is very rare. Food can still get "stuck." Every once in a while, mostly when I am eating turkey or pork it seems, food can get stuck and it is completely miserable. Be sure to thoroughly chew your food!!! Especially dense meats. My advice to anyone who is post-sleeve and still losing weight or trying to maintain their weight:
Snacks are the enemy! It's so easy to get in extra calories by eating smaller amounts between meals. Your sleeve won't help you at all with this. Drinking your calories is easy and dangerous. I haven't given up my precious beer entirely, but I have cut back and I am mindful of the type of beer I am drinking as some types are more caloric than others. You can just as easily drink your calories even if you don't drink alcohol. Be wary of soda, milkshakes, energy drinks, juices, and too much cream/sugar/syrups in your coffee. Keep up with the exercise. It doesn't have to be training for a marathon like I did in the beginning. Currently, my husband and I take a ~mile walk after dinner each night and we try to do one, long, 4-5 mile walk/hike on the weekend. Just that moderate amount of activity can make a big difference. Be mindful of calorically dense foods. Even though I can only eat 200 grams at a time, if it is 200 grams of junk, it can have a LOT of calories! I hope the lesson that all of you take from this post is that the sleeve is a tool and it is all about how you use it. It can work for you, even 10 years out, as long as you use it correctly.

OMG, I am so tired of chicken! It's the one thing I can usually eat without issues, which means I order a stupid garden salad with grilled chicken (dressing on the side), every single time I go to a restaurant now. But if I reheat leftover chicken, it almost always makes me ill, with the exception of ground chicken.
You know, I'm getting used to the 3oz portion size, so if I could eat a full 3oz of something like brisket, I would be satisfied. Chewing it would take like 30 minutes anyway. But when you get only one or two bites in and you can't manage another, that's disappointing. Not only do you not get to enjoy the flavor of something tasty, but you don't even hit your Protein goal for that meal, which is just adding insult to injury in my opinion.

For me, the pain wasn't bad. I needed liquid Tylenol for the first 3 days, a few times per day (tip: look for the ADULT formula because the child formula tastes horrible and is thicker, like gel). I had one incision that would give twinges for about a week, but it passed quickly. I did not experience gas pain. I found a weighted heating pad on my abdomen at night was very soothing.
I was very tired and found it difficult to focus. If possible, don't tax yourself.I walked frequently, but not far. So I was moving around but not logging a huge number of steps.
By week 3, I felt relatively normal. By the end of month 2, I was pretty much back to my old self with the bonus of quite a bit more energy, and I could navigate eating in restaurants without too much trouble (I went on a weekend trip out of town at around 8 weeks post op).

Weight loss success is roughly 80% or more about your nutrition and 20% or less about exercise. No gym required! So if you don't like the gym or can't fit it into your schedule, really hone in on the nutrition for now and add whatever body movement you CAN manage every day. Meet yourself where you are, not where you think you should be. If you only walk 1500 steps a day, set a goal for 5,000 a day and don't expect yourself to be running a marathon next month. If you're already good about walking, kick it up by putting on some ankle and wrist weights while you do a 15 minute dance video on YouTube to get your heart rate up and build some strength. Or buy a set of resistance bands and do those a few times per week. Culturally, I think we've become convinced you have to "go to the gym" to see results, and it's really not true. And if you only have the energy to focus on one thing in these early days, start with nutrition because that's where you will see the most lasting results. You're still healing right now and your body is not ready for grueling workouts at this stage.

Weight loss success is roughly 80% or more about your nutrition and 20% or less about exercise. No gym required! So if you don't like the gym or can't fit it into your schedule, really hone in on the nutrition for now and add whatever body movement you CAN manage every day. Meet yourself where you are, not where you think you should be. If you only walk 1500 steps a day, set a goal for 5,000 a day and don't expect yourself to be running a marathon next month. If you're already good about walking, kick it up by putting on some ankle and wrist weights while you do a 15 minute dance video on YouTube to get your heart rate up and build some strength. Or buy a set of resistance bands and do those a few times per week. Culturally, I think we've become convinced you have to "go to the gym" to see results, and it's really not true. And if you only have the energy to focus on one thing in these early days, start with nutrition because that's where you will see the most lasting results. You're still healing right now and your body is not ready for grueling workouts at this stage.

I’m 165!

OMG, I am so tired of chicken! It's the one thing I can usually eat without issues, which means I order a stupid garden salad with grilled chicken (dressing on the side), every single time I go to a restaurant now. But if I reheat leftover chicken, it almost always makes me ill, with the exception of ground chicken.
You know, I'm getting used to the 3oz portion size, so if I could eat a full 3oz of something like brisket, I would be satisfied. Chewing it would take like 30 minutes anyway. But when you get only one or two bites in and you can't manage another, that's disappointing. Not only do you not get to enjoy the flavor of something tasty, but you don't even hit your Protein goal for that meal, which is just adding insult to injury in my opinion.

OMG, I am so tired of chicken! It's the one thing I can usually eat without issues, which means I order a stupid garden salad with grilled chicken (dressing on the side), every single time I go to a restaurant now. But if I reheat leftover chicken, it almost always makes me ill, with the exception of ground chicken.
You know, I'm getting used to the 3oz portion size, so if I could eat a full 3oz of something like brisket, I would be satisfied. Chewing it would take like 30 minutes anyway. But when you get only one or two bites in and you can't manage another, that's disappointing. Not only do you not get to enjoy the flavor of something tasty, but you don't even hit your Protein goal for that meal, which is just adding insult to injury in my opinion.

As a kid in the 1970s and 1980s, I remember that "cereal" meant Cap'n Crunch (peanut butter flavor if you were lucky, or that one with the fruity "berries" if mom wasn't paying attention while shopping), and a sandwich was a slice of Oscar Mayer Bologna between two pieces of Wonder bread (with French's yellow mustard and a side of Fritos, of course). And I couldn't have told you what a "serving" of any of them was, aside from whatever fit in my bowl or on the plate. It was easy to make all the wrong choices and think you were doing okay. I really wish we'd been taught the difference between healthy food choices and unhealthy ones. Although it is far from perfect, the newer My Plate guidelines are at least better, and easier for kids to visualize. And yeah, the idea that a piece of fresh fruit is the same as a candy bar "because sugar" is insanity.

Fascinating article. Despite having taken several of them myself over the past few years, (including Saxenda and Wegovy), I'm very hesitant to embrace a world where weight loss drugs are the first line of defense against obesity. I say this knowing that at least some of my issue comes down to poor nutrition choices, made far too easy by an environment swimming in garbage foods and a culture that values quick convenience over everything else. When I commit to good nutrition, my weight decreases. I don't get skinny, or even "not obese" but I do lose weight. When the Snacks and junk food make their way back in the house and I have stressful weeks with work where I'm at my desk for 12 or more hours and fast food feels like my only option because I'm too tired to cook, I gain weight.
In about the past 60 years, we've gone from 13% obesity to 40%, with a 10x rise in severe obesity. This isn't just a weird thing that happened in a vacuum. There are pretty obvious reasons for this, some that could possibly be solved with significant changes to our food policies and investment in real nutrition instead of lining the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and massive food corporations. Much of our so-called food today has been designed to be addictive, by the same folks who brought us cigarettes, no less. That should give people pause the next time they're in the grocery store looking at all those shiny boxes and bags.
On the other hand, in the days when only 1% of the US population was morbidly obese...that was my family. And some of my family lived really long lives, into their 90s. Except the ones who didn't and died young. And you don't know which you'll be until it's too late. Up until my 40s, I was one of those people who had healthy bloodwork despite being 90+ lbs over my "ideal weight." I didn't worry about my weight because I was healthy. But that changed rapidly with middle age as my weight went even higher. Now I take blood pressure meds and am prediabetic. My feet and joints ache and I worry what that means as I age. I wish I had done more to keep my weight lower when I was younger and developed better habits early on. I can't believe how ignorant I was of nutrition facts when I was in my teens and 20s.
One thing I know is I can't afford $12k or more a year for the rest of my life to take these "miracle drugs." I'm not sure who really can or should. I'm grateful for surgery being an option, but it's not for everyone, and neither are the drugs. As a society, I would like to see more acceptance of humans in all sizes, and more focus on real health and nutrition instead of fads and gimmicks that make a few people really rich.