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It's my 5 month anniversary from surgery. It's not been a good month. I'm trying to find a new job because I'm miserable to at my current one. I find that old habits are starting to slip in. I've gained a kilo in this month alone. I'm still heading in the right direction, and I'm kicking the old habits back out. I've not been as vigilant as I should have been. I just need to remember that I'm still better off now than I was 5 months ago and keep looking forward.

167 was my lowest weight and I was determined to keep going, then life happened. I started a new, stressful job, bought a house, moved within a month, and then my dog died in my arms all within a year. To say I'm disgusted with myself is an understatement. Being someone who considers themselves a perfectionist, this is really dragging me down. On top of all this good stuff, my body dysmorphia is unreal. I see my current self in pictures or in the mirror and I see my 300lb. self. Even though I'm in medium clothes when I used to be in 2-3X, I can't get myself to see the change. I didn't have the surgery for vanity. It was successful in helping me come off of diabetes and high blood pressure meds. But now that my life feels like it's finally getting back to a normal rhythm (besides having a 6-month old puppy), I am ready to get back on track and get back down to a reasonable weight. I can see the gain in my face, and it's killing my confidence (if I ever had any). I've talked to my gastric bypass team - I know what to do, but I'm having a hard time getting back on track. I'm trying baby steps, but I'm looking for other tricks and tips for getting there. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Best

Hi! I had the gastric sleeve on May 28th, 2025. I underwent this surgery because I take medication that made me hungry and it got me obese up to 207 lbs. I used to weigh 135 prior the medication. So I ended up deciding to not quit the medication and to undergo this surgery for weight loss.

Hi! I had the gastric sleeve on May 28th, 2025. I underwent this surgery because I take medication that made me hungry and it got me obese up to 207 lbs. I used to weigh 135 prior the medication. So I ended up deciding to not quit the medication and to undergo this surgery for weight loss.

One of them flits between it, but the other has consistently been underweight for a while now, I last saw her bragging about almost being 7 stone and being referred to an eating disorder clinic 🤔 So I know that it is a very unhealthy thing! I do remember my surgeon telling me it is somewhat normal to dip into the lower weight category a bit before your body will bounce back and settle on a healthier weight, so that is to be expected I guess! I can imagine how hard it must be to budge those last bits of weight, but I am sure you look absolutely fabulous and you have achieved beyond amazing results!

I thought I replied to this earlier from my phone but don't see it here. So if you see it somewhere else, tell me! LOL! Thank you for the info! I will keep that in mind. Probably when these four levels are done and the last one is easy for me I'll start going to the gym again, even alone. LOL! I had been going alone. Just gets boring and I stopped. But we don't talk or even work out near each other when we go together. I just like it. He does too. Ah well. It's ok for now. I have a goal of losing more weight by my follow up appointment, one year from surgery. Dec 2 and it's already scheduled. They said I should be around 166 but my own goal is 154. One lb less than I've ever been since Jr High. LOL! Excited to get there this year! So once more weight is off of me, I really want to begin sculpting my body as much as it'll let me. I KNOW weights are the key. And I'll really need to do a challenging level and push myself but maybe that will be easier when I'm not as heavy. Things are easier when I am lighter. Pretty shoes don't hurt me feet too. Lots to look forward to! LOL! And I should be happy to lift weights every other day for an hour, compared to carrying them with me 24/7 for 48 years. :::sigh::: Thankful for all the great advice and info I have read here. I hope you all are enjoying your Monday. Mine went well and I'm home now. I also have decided I am going to hit 10k steps 5 days a week. Right now I have 7829 just from work. So it will be easy to do on work days. But I am going to rest some on weekends. Well, try to! I get our groceries and meal prep then clean the whole kitchen and fridge on Sunday and clean house and run errands on Saturdays (last few I've worked at a client's home because they are on vacation and had some special projects needing done.) But most weekends I am off so if I'm not doing an open house, etc then I'm still busy with our home and life. Walking 10k steps a day did a world of good for me when I lost weight all those others times. I feel sure the extra weight won't come back this time because I had surgery. Sooo glad I did it. I have severe osteoarthritis in my low back on the right side and degenerative disc disease in my neck and low back and often sciatica down my right leg so some days I'm in pain worse than other days. (Ha ha, my friends and I joke. The older we get the more we share what's ailing us every day. LOL!) But overall I am ok! I have many friends with diabetes and I worry for them. I'm lucky I don't. I don't even have pre-diabetes and I stay grateful for that. My dad had it. When he passed at age 73 he had had both legs amputated and had had congestive heart failure for 25 years as well as diabetes. He went many years not addressing his diet at all. He wanted to do what he wanted to do. Bless his heart. We have learned what not to do, at least. My brother is a carnivore and is doing well. Labs are great. His weight stays managed. Everyone must do what works for them. We miss Dad and wish he was still here. He taught us many positive things in life too. But we are trying hard not to go through what he did at the end. My husband had pre-diabetes, but has made it much better with diet and exercise. I am super excited to get to my first main goal weight of 154. Then I'd really love to work to get into a healthy BMI to hopefully have smooth sailing into my 60s, 70s, and beyond. My bariatric doc said lower end is 115 lbs for my height and high end is 125. I feel that the less weight that's on me, the more years I have left to live and enjoy my family and friends. Certainly worth putting in the work! 💗

@AmberFL Thanks for the additional detail! I agree with @ShoppGirl that localized swelling and postoperative edema may be causing a lot of your gain. I do also totally understand the concerns, though! I recently had a procedure done on my proximal hamstring to treat a partial tear. While not nearly on the same scale as your plastic surgery, I wasn't able to workout at all for a full month and even now almost 2 months later, I'm still having to ramp back up really slowly. For example, I'm still not allowed to do any lower body strength training and my running mileage is only at about 50% of where it was before the procedure. Like you, I also saw my weight go up during this time. Even though I knew edema was the likely initial cause, it still messes with your head. This was especially true for me because my workouts are frankly a form of therapy for me. It felt like a double blow. It really sounds like you've got the diet mostly dialed in for now. I suspect one of 2 things will happen as you heal. The most likely eventuality is that your swelling and edema goes down and you find you're happy with where you're at weight wise. If so, be sure to up your calories as your workouts resume. If you find that you are a little heavier than your ideal, then no worries. Once you are working out again, the easiest solution would to only eat back about 50%-75% of your workout calories. This will be slower, but is super sustainable, compared to a drastic cut in calories that would get you leaner quickly, but is also a lot more likely to cause some rebound weight gain. I also noticed something you said in an earlier post and I wanted to commend you for it. You mentioned something about maintaining around 1700-2000 calories. This is something a lot of people don't understand, but you can successfully maintain across a range of calories. Many people think they've got to be EXACTLY at a certain number to maintain. That's just not true. The reason is that most people will subconsciously be a little more active when the calories are higher and a little less when they are lower. Please check in every few weeks and let us know how it's going? I'm sure you'll do great, be we are always here to help if needed.

Sometimes we are afraid of success. Sometimes we don’t think we deserve it. Do you have a pattern self sabotage? Hope you find someone with whom to work through these issues. They are important, apart from weight loss.

So another win is running 5k nonstop . Since my very bad ankle injury 2.5 years ago (which caused half my weight gain to obesity), even walking was a challenge. Since losing the weight I have taken up jogging again and I can run up to 5K nonstop (my endurance can take me to 10k easily however my ankle starts to throb). Another win, I might not end up needing that ankle surgery I've been delaying, Let's see.

Hi! I’m Emily, new here, so pardon me if this question has been answered more than once, or not in the right category. I swear I’ve looked all over for answers prior to asking. I have my first appt. With the surgeon Monday to begin the 6 month pre op program. I vape, well, stopped yesterday and I’m using patches and gum to wean off before end of July. I was doing well mentally until I learned that quitting almost always causes weight gain. Minimum of 5-10 pounds. I was told by a friend that I cannot gain any weight during the 6 month process but don’t have to lose a certain amount ( she went to the same surgeon I’m seeing) I am also learning how to eat better on top of all of this, and I’m so scared that when I quit nicotine all together, it’s going to inevitably cause weight gain. I don’t want to be kicked out of the program as soon as I start because of this. Would it be better to wait until I absolutely have to quit? Maybe that’s a stupid question. I just need encouraging words, anybody that has been down this path of quitting, whether you instead waited to quit a month or two before surgery, etc. I am so serious about taking my health back, and it’s hard enough to learn to cool and eat right without having to stress about this too. please help 🥺 thank you in advance! ps. Maybe this is trivial, maybe it’s not a big a deal as I’m making it, but even a fraction of a pound I gain could get me kicked out of the program.

I'm glad you don't have the 12 week milk diet. It was difficult and I slipped up occasionally, but it was helpful for losing weight and shrinking the liver. Because of the 12 week diet, I lost 12.9 kg (28lbs) in those three months. My NHS trust just flat out said "no ozempic" At the time, it was because it hadn't quite been approved for the NHS But I wouldn't have wanted that anyway as it would mean injections for the rest of my life and a lot of people have endless diarhoea on those meds. I had one session with an NHS psychologist and one group session. I don't really know about what tiers I had. I asked for a referral for the weight loss team, then I had an information session which was via zoom where each the nurse, dietician and psychologist gave some advice about the programme. Then I had an individual session with each one. Once I was approved, I had fortnightly appointments with the medical team to check how my weight loss was going with the milk diet, pre surgery vitals and then the surgery itself. I had a one month and 6 month follow up with the surgical nurse. Next month, I have a phone call with the psychologist. It sounds to me like you are getting a lot more psychological support than I did, which I think is great. It really makes a big difference.

How beneficial are Protein and Multivitamins to losing weight? I’m not doing either at the moment and I’m noticing that I’m not losing any weight

Dr Matthew Weiner is a great resource so am glad @NickelChip recommended his video. Another is Dr John Pilcher also a great source of information. It’s not really about popularity or the most performed but about which surgery is best for you. Your surgeon should really take into consideration your current health status and history, your weight loss and gain history, your current weight and how much would be beneficial for you to lose, etc. Also discuss the possibility of side effects like malabsorption, dumping, reflux, regain with the surgeries and what you might be willing or not to live with or manage. Do your research, watch these videos and others they may have and prepare questions to ask your surgeon. If you don’t think they’re as comfortable doing one surgery over another or you don’t feel comfortable with their responses, seek a second opinion or a referral to another surgeon. And remember there are other surgeries beside sleeve and bypass so look into them as well (Sadi, duodenal switch,, RNY, or a mini bypass). I would avoid a gastric balloon or gastric banding but that’s my opinion only.

Congratulations on reaching your goal (& yes being 0.2lbs off is still goal in my book). My goal weight was the lowest weight I always get to before slowly but surely bouncing back from over the years (well until the last few years when I could barely lose 5kgs let alone the weight I needed to lose to get to that goal). It was the weight I enjoyed being at and felt good at being. I just couldn’t maintain it. When I exceeded my goal weight I was actually trying to work out my maintenance but just kept losing though very slowly for another 11 months. I decided, I’ll just see where I stop while still trying to work out maintenance. Of course I know now I got to a weight that was my new set point (thank you surgery). It was the weight my body wanted to be at & had nothing to do with a weight I wanted to be at. It’s also a weight that doesn’t require me to restrict my calorie intake or exercise more than I want to or enjoy doing to maintain so yay! Instead of setting a new goal weight why not just see where your body settles. You could lose those two stone or you could lose more or less. Regardless it will be the best weight for you. You’ll naturally be slowly increasing your calorie intake and discovering the activity levels you’re comfortable with anyway & wait till you see where you end up. People can continue to lose for 18 months or more so you have time. Remember, if you force yourself to lose more than your body wants, you’ll continue to battle to maintain that lower weight.

I did the Fast Metabolism Diet (Haylie Pomroy) to reach my goal weight. I wasn’t able to eat the amount of foods it requires but eating them in the phases was enough & I dropped the last stubborn 15 pounds!

All great advice and much appreciated! Thank you all. @SpartanMaker thanks for the number crunching! I am definitely trying to cut portion size. We got rid of all the sugary stuff in the house and things like my tortillas. I've started walking (I have been completely sedentary for years- I work a very stressful, 40 hour week desk job from home.) I can't walk for 30 minutes straight. My low back and knees are trash. I carry most of my weight in my belly. I joke to my husband that I need a rolling cart to set my belly on so my back won't hurt so much. I walk as long as I can & fast enough to get my heart rate up and be breathless to the point that I cannot carry on a conversation. I'm looking for a treadmill so I can walk inside. I tend to turn my ankle & fall if I'm not super careful while walking on the gravel road. Thinking about pulling up some of those old Sweating to the Oldies videos by Richard Simmons LOL That might be a good way to do some cardio. I've failed at losing weight for so long. Today I'm feeling kind of emotional just thinking about what I'm facing. I said in an earlier post that keto & low carb didn't work for me.... fact is, they do work... as long as I stick to them. The minute I stop, I regain the weight I lost. sigh. Seems like I gain weight if I breathe in the aroma of baked goods.

First, let's differentiate between a stall (what you're going through right now), and a plateau. A stall is just a temporary fluctuation in overall weight and is not indicative of an issue. Stalls are perfectly normal and to be expected. After all, your bodyweight is made up of lots of other stuff besides fat, so fluctuations are to be expected. More than likely, you actually have continued to lose fat the entire time, it's just being masked by a concomitant rise in some other component of your overall body weight. The most likely candidates would be fluid retention, or stool weight. Most of the time for a stall, I wouldn't recommend any adjustments since it's unlikely that there is really any issue with fat loss. A plateau is like a stall, but longer. I typically wouldn't consider it a plateau until you've hit more like 6 to 8 weeks without any loss. In that instance, it would be hard to argue the fat loss was being masked by something else. There are things we can do to work through a plateau, but IMO it's too soon for you to worry about that yet.

Personally? Yes, I would have the surgery. Why? Because losing weight is only half the battle. Obesity is a disease. The vast majority of people will gain back all the weight they lose through diet and exercise alone within 5 years. Weight loss surgery changes your metabolism so that it works with you instead of against you. I knew from too many attempts to lose in the past that I would not be one of the lucky ones to lose and maintain on my own. Every time I lost weight, I gained it back, plus a few pounds. To address a few of your fears, I can say from my experience that my pain lasted about 5 days. I never took anything stronger than Tylenol once I was discharged from the hospital. My tastes have changed in that I now find certain foods are less pleasant to eat. More than a small piece of bread gives me an unpleasant heavy feeling in my belly. Very fatty foods will make my heart race a bit so I avoid them. Certain sweets like cake frosting and cheaper milk chocolates seem much too sweet and I don't want more than a bite or two. The adjustment period in terms of learning what you can eat lasts about 3 months, at least it did for me. Even after the first month, I was able to eat in restaurants. I just chose to split a meal with a companion and stuck with simply prepared items like a grilled chicken salad. I've gone on road trips, spent a few weeks away from home in hotels, and did just fine. I eat mostly healthy foods, I don't count calories, I get reasonable exercise but don't go out of my way for it. And at 50 years old and not quite 10 months out from surgery, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight, I am back to the size I was my first year of college and still slowly losing. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Hey everyone! I had my surgery on the 9th! Everything went really well, I’m still a little sore, but it gets easier every day. The biggest challenge has been the protein shakes, while they were good at first, I have begun to have a dislike for them. Tomorrow is mashed potatoes, soups, and creamy peanut butter! Looking forward to that immensely. So far I haven’t experienced any nausea or vomiting. I already feel a change in my weight I’ve lost 25 lbs between my preop and post op diet. Once I start working out the weight should fall off. Thanks to everyone who greeted me and sent their well wishes!

It sounds like a very stressesfull time and the only way we know or remember how to make ourselves feel better is food! It's just so comforting and I'm so sorry you're going through it but I can feel the strength through your words and u will fight this .. I think it's smart that u want support to maintain ur weight and make u eat better it will help ur health too so yes let ur doc speak to the bari team to support the idea if it won't harm you. Health is health weather losing the extra weight or being cancer free im rooting for you

I feel so much better! Yes, i did it for health reasons, but I won't lie and say it don't look better now. The only heath problems I realy had apart form the obesity were PCOS os NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease). I don't know if the PCOS symptoms have really improved or not since I was asymptomaticfor a long time, but I have been told my liver function has improved significantly because of the weight loss! I used to cycle everywhere when I was bigger, but I couldn't conquer the hills on the bike. (I live in North London, which is basically i smal mountain range compared to the rest of London) Now, I cycle everywhere and I can make (most) hills my b*****s. Just one left that I am training to climb on the bike. I have no reason to take that route except pride at this point. Yes there is long term damage to my knees and hips, but that wasn't all weight related, I just have flat feet and had problems with my posture that was exacerbated by my weight problems. I'm glad I did this and the health benefits are definitely the main ones.

Living with Bariatric Surgery: Managing your mind and your weight: Amazon.co.uk: Ratcliffe, Denise: 9781138217126: Books This book is amazing!

Following because I'm in the same boat. I've been doing cardio only because I hate weight lifting and that kind of thing and because I ride my bike everywhere which is fun and cardio, but i need to try and firm up the arm flab and I can't put it off any longer. I think your regime is a good starting point for me.

Woooooooweeeeeeee. Ouch. In the restarting phase now. Resuming gym time. Forgot to start off with high reps and lower weight. The results have been painful tendons and ligaments. Going back to the gym later today....will be inquiring on the location for the kiddie dumbbells. Slooowing my roll. One thing I did remember to is bring my BCAA drink mix along for the ride home.