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I am so sorry your dealing with this. Mine is 8 months out and I am only down to 315 after being 358 day of surgery. My weight is still up an down even with new diet and taking magnesium citrate.

PROGRESS UPDATE I had my gastric sleeve surgery on December 18th, 2023. I was nervous going into the procedure as I had never had any surgical procedures before, but it went relatively smooth. I was in a lot of pain while in recovery, to the point where the team had to push oxy and fentanyl simultaneously to help with the pain. Once the team was able to help me manage the pain I was in pretty good shape. It has certainly been an adjustment but it wasn't as daunting as I was expecting it to be. Its been about 2.5 months since the surgery and I've lost almost 60 pounds; I weighed in on at the hospital at 366 and yesterday weighed in at 308. My highest weight was 475lbs so all-in-all I've lost 167lbs utilizing diet, exercise and the sleeve. I found it fairly easy to comply with the post-op diet and have moved on to solid foods. I'm not hungry often but I make sure to eat at mealtimes to continue meeting my goals. I consume, on average, between 80g and 100g of protein a day and consume less than 900 calories a day. I don't consume very many carbs as a) they tend to contain more sugars and b) they tend to make me not feel very good. I do still have a bit of a sweet tooth but that has been easy to manage with the occasional chocolate chip. I've also completely kicked sugar and have switched to monk fruit sweetener with erythritol. I also dabble with keto recipes, mainly deserts as I find that some "entree" recipes contain way too much fat for my liking. My family, friends, and coworkers notice the weight loss more than I do. I'll see it a little bit here and there but not to the extent that others do. I still see myself as that 475lb guy that struggles with his weight and his health. I know that it isn't true, but that is still how I view myself. My clothes are fitting me much looser and I think I see some weight loss in my face and neck. I still have a lot of excess fat and tissue around my midsection and especially the "love handle" region. I definitely suffer from body dysmorphia as I only ever see the overweight me. My overall goal weight is 250lbs, which is only 58 pounds away which sounds crazy. That said, I would throw a party if I reach 225lbs as that is my "best case scenario" goal. I genuinely believe I will achieve both goals but there's always that part of me that doubts it. This has been the best decision I've ever made for my health and I wish I had made this choice earlier.

Thank you for sharing @n3turner3 your experiences & perspectives on the weight loss & maintenance adventure - excellent advice. How wonderful too you have such a supportive spouse & family who have been by your side through out - it can make such a difference Congratulations on your weight loss & achievements. All the best with the ‘unlimited possibilities’ in your future.

Hi all, After my prior post regarding the complaint I had - I finally have my surgery date for the 28th of this month, after almost 5 years since my first GP consultation about the sleeve (yippee!). With that being said however, they gave me 4 weeks notice because they now want me to lose another 3.5kg pre-surgery. For context, I was 135kg at my highest, they wanted me to stay below 130kg, and I'm now 124kg. They didn't give me a reason why, I have always had ok blood test results, I'm not pre-diabetic or anything either. The last consultation I had in-person with my surgeon also said 130kg would be fine, so again, don't really understand the change. Believe me when I say, my diet is STRICT. I'm on 1000 calories a day, high protein, super low carb (less than 40g per day easily), lots of water (at least 2 litres minimum), and an average of 10-15k steps per day, with at least one hike per week. I've been doing this for the last couple of weeks, but I am really really struggling to get this last few kg's off beforehand. No sugar - no fruit, nothing. I really think my PCOS is not helping the situation, but I'm really worried in the event I'm not at the 121kg they want. I have been that weight recently, I was down to 119kg this time last year with the help of Saxenda, which I then had to stop taking in June because every pharmacy I could order from were sold out. I haven't been on it since, so the fact I have maintained this weight loss honestly I'm just pleased with at this point. If anyone has any ideas as to how I could lose this last 6lbs or so, I would be greatly appreciative. I've lost 0.5kg so far over the past 4-5 days, but I'm so stressed I'll get to the hospital and they'll turn me away. Thank you! x

I’d ask simply him why. Why he’s removing it & why he wants to do two separate surgeries. Lap bands have dramatically decreased in popularity over the last years & not many surgeons do them any more. Failure, side effects, effectiveness, etc. seem to be the reasons. Some studies say the life span of a lap band is only 7-10 years so you’re at your band’s end of life now. Not all surgeons do the removal & revision in one surgery. Maybe your surgeon is basing his decision on your current health status. Maybe he wants to give you a recovery period between the two surgeries to ensure you’re fully healed. May be he wants to give you time without a weight loss tool to see how you respond in regards to self monitoring your food intake, etc. Just throwing some ideas out there.

I'm going to say this as gently as I can: stop feeling guilty. You are not on a diet. You are living a new post surgery life. A life that sometimes has room for half a tuna sandwich. And even some chips. They didn't make you sick, so that's great news. You got lots of good protein. You enjoyed them. You've lost 43 pounds. Stalls happen. Weight fluctuates. Follow the guidelines as best you can and embrace a life where you can make sensible choices (like half a tuna sandwich, I mean, it wasn't a triple cheeseburger and extra large fries) and not have to feel scared about it. I would bet the head hunger and the guilt are all connected somewhere deep in your psyche. (They usually are for me, anyway). Maybe spend some time reflecting on why you are craving what you are, and why at that exact moment, and what might make you feel the urge to self-sabotage by making choices you believe you will regret. Those would be good questions to get to the bottom of. But when you do make a choice you don't like, just chalk it up to experience and try to do better with the next choice. It'll be okay! Remember, this is a life journey, not a crash diet.

Did you guys have improved back pain after you had surgery. That's one of the main reasons that I wanted to lose the weight cause my back pain is excruciating

okay kinda what I thought. Yesterday my total carbs were 48g but next was only 23g. Im losing weight but dang it makes me nervous to see that high carb count lol!

I went with Bypass because the sleeve wasn't an option back when I had surgery. The lab-band was an option and all the sales points for sleeve now were the selling points for lap-band then. The problems with lap-band weren't well known at that time. If the sleeve was available I'm pretty sure I would have still chosen Bypass. Other than being extremely over weight, my core health was pretty solid, but I could see that about to change. I was a binge eater and wanted a surgery that would restrict meal volume which I believe both Bypass and Sleeve would have achieved. I also wanted the additional bit of malabsorption that comes with the bypass. Then comes the possibility of dumping which at the time I had surgery was about a 50/50 chance. I hoped I would get dumping and as it turned out, I dump on both sugars and fats. It took an amazingly few bouts of dumping to keep my eating in alignment with not dumping. So with restricted volume and very limited amounts of sugar and fats, how could I not succeed? Good luck, Tek

totally normal. Also, your weight loss so far is totally normal. I think a lot of people have unrealistic expectations because of shows like "My 600 lb Life" - but you need to remember that those people start out MUCH heavier than the average WLS patient. Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month. Of course, you'll always find people who lose more or less than that, but most of us seem to fall somewhere in that range. So you're fine. And also, yes, most of us also experience our first stall sometime during the first month or so of surgery. So again, normal.

Weight regain happens. You’re not the only one you had or will experience it. We get over confident or complacent & poor choices slip in. We go back to old behaviours of using food (or alcohol) to comfort us or sooth us in times of stress or emotional upsets. It’s why what you need to do is reset your head not your tummy. Remember how we always said doing the head work is a very important aspect of our weight loss & maintenance. A pouch reset won’t reduce the size of your tummy (not that your’s would be stretched) nor do anything to get to the root of your eating & change your behaviours. Stretching your tummy is pretty difficult. It would take a concentrated to eat excessive portions multiple times a day for a prolonged length of time to do it. You’ve made the first two steps already by acknowledging & recognising the what & why behind your regain & by starting to track your food again. Best advice then is to go back to how you were eating (food choices, portion sizes, eating behaviours, meeting protein & fluid goals) when you were nearing your stabilised weight. Would you consider going back to your dietician to help you get back on track? Did you see a therapist when you had your surgery? Maybe get in contact again for the regain & also the drinking. We have to be careful with addiction transfer after surgery. It can be a slippery slope. All the best. You got this.

I went with the bypass because it had the better chance of resolving my issues with hypertension, cholesterol, and blood sugar, and much better chance of not developing GERD. I also know the 10-year weight loss/regain numbers are a bit better for bypass. And, just a minor consideration, but I felt better not having part of my body removed. I know, I had my intestines rerouted and all that, but my stomach is still in there and somehow that made me have more peace of mind. 2 weeks out today and my recovery has been fantastic. My doctor moved me along to basically a regular solid food diet at my appointment, with just some restrictions regarding excluding beef/pork/lamb and raw veg for a few more weeks. I've had no issues, only minor pain the first few days, and I feel fantastic. I can walk for an hour or more at a time with no problem. My recovery has been much easier than my brother's when he had the sleeve several years back, though not sure if that has anything to do with the surgery type.

Hello to all my surgery buddies, I've read some really amazing posts on here and just want to say thank you to all of you that show support to each other. It can be a very scary time, specially for those of us who are alone in our process to recovery. I had my gastric sleeve surgery on February 8th, I am 17 days post op as of this post. I still struggle a bit to consume even liquids. I burp a lot, and feel bloated all the time. I also have a constant feeling like everything slowly creeps up in my esophagus and just sits there. My pain levels are actually quite low, and my surgery incisions are healing quite well. I'm just worried about my stomach, my doctor wanted me to start introducing some solids slowly, but I told him no way I can barely tolerate liquids. So he has me on liquids for another week. I hope I am not one of the unfortunate few where the surgery will have long lasting complications and although I will lose the weight, my quality of life will be lowered because of all this discomfort. Thanks for reading, I wish everyone here a speedy recovery.

Oh yes, way off the mark. You’re not in maintenance yet. You’re in a weight loss stage if I read your post correctly. You have every right to ask for the details, guidelines recommendations around your food intake & options, macros, calories, & whatever else you need to make you feel comfortable & confident about what you are doing. They are supposed to be there to help you & provide you with the depth of information you need to be successful regardless of current thinking or their own beliefs. It’s then up to you how you use that information - a guide or rule. Plus you have to work out what you (your body) needs to function best & most effectively. While some plans recommend getting your calories up, it seems to begin after you are on more solid food so 2+ months. From puree I was advised to eat 1/4 - 1/3 cup of food, slowly increasing to about a cup at 6 months. I was a bare cup & maybe 900 calories at my goal at 6 months. Ate about 1200 at my lowest weight (48.2kg at 18 months) & maintain 48.5/49kg consuming about 1600 calories. My portions only became about what is considered a recommended portion size around the 2 year + mark (3-4ozs protein & 3/4 cup vegetables). Oh & I didn’t have another shake after the liquid stage either. But that’s me & what worked/s for me. You could be totally different. To me a snack is generally a couple of bites. My snacks can be a level teaspoon of peanut paste, 1/2 a protein bar, 8 grapes, 1/2 a small apple, a stick of string cheese, about 6 macadamias to give you an idea. I used to eat a tub of 20g protein yoghurt over an hour as a snack too. As @catwoman7 said we all have different caloric & nutritional needs. Age, gender, general health, weight, height, metabolism, activity levels, etc. all factor in. And yes, if you want to lose more you will have to eat less than you are eating now & you’d have to eat less to maintain the lower weight than you would to maintain a higher weight.

2 lbs a week is considered "rapid weight loss". I know it doesn't seem like it, especially when comparing to others progress, but it is true... By 3 months you want to have lost 25% of your excess weight to be "average" and right on target, though even if you aren't at 25% lost there is still hope, because some people lose very slowly the first 3 months, then pick up the pace. If your surgery weight was somewhere around 286 and your goal is 150, your excess weight is 136 lbs. 25% of this would be 34 lbs. You have lost 43 lbs. So you have actually lost 32% of your excess weight! That is excellent!! You are ahead of schedule... Percentages IMO are much better to use than actual lbs lost because it is the percentages that really show you where you are! And on a funny note, I was exactly where you are at 3 months--43 lbs lost, 137 lbs excess weight, so 32% towards my goal weight! LOL Your team should be thrilled! Sorry your boobs are going south too... A good bra does help, I am losing fast in the band size for some reason, I have to buy a new bra every month! LOL

No you have not stretched your pouch with just one 5 oz meal. Fact In a few weeks your restriction will kick in. Your internal stitches and staples will have healed and you will begin to feel so full. Its easier then to know your signals. Now you need to look for sneezing or a runny nose as full signals. Thats why you are given the weights to stick to. You could tear your stitch line its so new. It is often said on here, Just because you can does not mean you should

Yes, I absolutely did this. I was (and still am to some extent) a binge eater and I literally made a spreadsheet of all my favorite binge foods to "check off" before surgery, spreading them out over a couple of binges. The thing that really amazed me is that most of them... weren't very enjoyable. I had lost about half of my excess weight before surgery and although I was having occasional binges throughout, they were generally the same few foods. So trying the old favorites, some of which were hard to get, I thought that they would taste amazing. But, frankly, junk food is usually disappointing. I also traveled to the city where I lived for a long time to go to some of my favorite restaurants and have some of my favorite non-binge meals. Again, sort of disappointing. The city was still amazing and I really enjoyed the non-food portions of the trip, but the food part was just sort of meh. I'm glad I did it. I was very worried about being one of those people who can't eat anything after surgery and literally never being able to eat any of my favorite foods again. The thing I was most worried about was salads. I had a big restaurant salad nearly every day up until my pre-op diet. That was the only thing that wasn't disappointing. I'm very, very glad that I can eat salad again!

I'm a little confused. According to your sidebar you've lost almost 100 lbs in 3 months?? How much were you expecting to lose? I'm guessing your surgery weight was different than your starting weight. To put this in a bit of perspective, I had surgery almost a month before you (Nov. 1st), my highest weight was 320 but my surgery weight was 307 and I'm currently at 251!! And my weight loss is considered quite a good pace and certainly within the realms of an excellent result thus far. That change in clothing size is way more important than a number on the scale! Feelings with these surgeries are tough because for some reason our brains expect years of weight to take a few weeks to come off. LOL Everyone thinks they need to lose faster, even the fastest losers among us. Everyone thinks they should be further along, even if they are quite far. We have really high expectations of ourselves and our bodies, probably in part from years of everyone else having unrealistic expectations of us and our bodies. This surgery is an opportunity to give ourselves a bit more kindness and compassion, and maybe recalibrate our expectations. Healing takes time. Even with surgery, weight loss takes time. And the entire process is SOOOO frustrating! I get it, I experience frustration on a regular basis. Today I was lamenting the fact that suddenly my boobs have flattened like pancakes. 😢😂

Hi there!! Thanks for sharing your experience! I will let you know that mounjaro does make my reflux worse!! because it slows down my digestion. It also causes constipation in some people. But if you don’t have these issues it’s good! I have not had it yet but I’m going to get vsg. However I do wish I could get the SADI but my insurance won’t cover that one. I have heard people do so well with the weight loss and reversing diabetes. It’s just expensive without insurance. But would if I had the financial freedom! Bypass is also very successful too! Check out some podcasts like “the skinny truth” or check out Dr. Roller’s instagram. I listen to “Core Bariatrics” and “The Bariatric Grind”! They’re good listens in the car and super informative. Of course following your trusted surgeon’s recs are #1!

I want to thank everyone for the kind words and provide an update. I had my one-year post op doctor appointment yesterday. It went well and they were happy with the results. I still need to get blood work done, which I will do tomorrow. The blood work is probably the most important part of the visit, so I am hopeful that everything is right with it. I have had the 'normal' hurdles over the last 16-months that everyone has to deal with, and I am very thankful for little to no complications. I feel for those that have had more challenging journals, since I have been so lucky. Again, I want to stress that I am not special or unique. I hope someone out there might read this and it helps them in some way. It is hard work to lose weight no matter how you do it. It requires mentally reprograming how you have lived your entire life and making physical choices to match, but it can be done. Tons of success stories in this group are proof. Stay positive and go day by day with it. Stay off the scale and celebrate the non-scale victories. My wife and two kids have been so supportive: everything from education to food prep to walking with me to listening and talking about the process. Not an easy process, but because of their support it has been much easier. I am so grateful for the changes they made to support me. I will probably never be able to express that to them at the level it deserves it. I have never been happier. My wife attended the appointment with me yesterday and the update went as follows. I started in 9/2022 at 514-lbs. I had my surgery in 2/2023 at 488-lbs. My weight yesterday was 254-lbs. Its official I am truly half the man I was compared to the start of this program. Weight loss is different for all, especially someone that started as big as me, but it was great seeing those results. My 'ideal weight" connected to my 'normal' BMI would require me to loss another 80-lbs. I told my doctor from the beginning that I never cared about being skinny or normal and that has not changed. I wanted to improve my quality of life by being less huge. I wanted to be able to participate in activities with my family. I am happy to say I have achieved that goal! I am not done yet! This is not a diet -- it is a lifetime change! I do not care if I ever become 'normal,' but slowly losing and not gaining is the only plan. The future holds unlimited possibilities for me and my family. Future goals for me are to increase my exercise plan by adding strength training as priority number one. My second goal is to continue to try new 'healthy' foods that I may or may not like but expanding my options for more variety and balance helps me stay on plan. I will finish by saying if anyone has questions or thoughts, especially those big boys out there, feel free to ask and I will provide more detail about my experience. I am no expert, and we all have different programs, so I can only share my experience, if that can be of help to anyone. Good luck to all with your own personal journeys.

@Spinoza is correct. It is easy to do because you can’t tell you’ve had enough yet. Besides the staples & sutures holding your tummy & digestive system together, a lot of nerves were cut. So signals we used to rely on aren’t working or aren’t working properly yet so those messages just aren’t getting through. It takes a good 8 weeks to be fully healed. So it may not be until you’re into your third month before you start to feel signals again. Oh, and your signals may be different to what they were. And, no you won’t have stretched your tummy or impacted your weight loss by doing this this one time. And you would know if you had damaged your tummy. Just tread carefully & slowly & follow your plan to protect your healing tummy & support your recovery.

Sure, I was really distressed about the amount of food I ate two days ago I think it will be a decent example. 1 icelandic skyr coldbrew yogurt 1 cup coffee + sugar free cream 1 capri sun 4 oz of steak cooked in 1tbsp olive oil & minced garlic 1 chocolate premier protein shake 1 strawberry atkins protein shake (it's half the protein of the premier ones) 1 scoop vanilla isopure protein blended with 1/4 banana, 1 strawberry, 4 blueberries, 8 oz darigold fit protein milk 3 oz chicken, 1/4 cup macaroni this kind of is similar to a daily menu. the steak happens maybe once every 3 days, chicken is an every day staple. coffee is a one or two time a week option. yogurt is typically every day, but sometimes is subsituted with oats overnight bottles that are mixed with the protein milk. -edit- I'm stuck in this cycle of feeling hungry, then feeling guilty after I eat because I realize i ate food and I haven't been losing enough weight, then i don't want to eat again for a long time because I want to lose the weight, then i feel starving, then i eat, then i feel guilty, etc etc. It's a really shitty loop I'm stuck in.

YA'LL.... I am officially in a size XL (also known as a 1x). It's one thing to be pretty sure (when you don't actually have that size but the one above it is too big, so you assume) and it's another to put it on and it fits PERFECTLY. Tops AND bottoms. And the size 6 rings are starting to get a little loose. I have 18 pounds to go to hit my goal weight (I weigh 213 right now), and I wonder if I'll be in a 5 1/2 by then!!! The last 30 pounds have been a REAL fight to get off, but seeing the changes in my body and clothes has been amazing and fun. I feel so much better, I can do so many more things, I look so much better, and on a fun note, I went to a higher end thrift store to get some clothes and I was SOOOO overwhelmed by the choices in my new size!!! I started off as a size 28/30 (5x) and would literally just take whatever I could find in my size. Now, there's so many styles and designs and colors and brands lol It's been almost 30 years since I've been this size. I had literally no idea how fun it could be to go clothing shopping!!! And can I just say, my latest blood work shows my A1c is 5.5, fasting blood sugar is 98 and non fasting is 109, and all the rest of my numbers are literally perfect!!! This past weekend, my son and I went on a 8 mile hike, and other than being tired at the end, I didn't have any issues!!! This surgery is literally the best thing I've ever done for myself and my family. Even with all the complications, the revision, the hernia surgery and THOSE complications....I would do it all again to get where I am now. 18 more pounds to go and I'M THERE, ya'll!!!!! OMGGGG!!!!!!

I did. Perimenopause & then menopause saw me gain 30kgs (15kg above my usual high weight of my fluctuation range). Tired to lose it for about 4 years but couldn't. No co morbidities. Was almost 54 & on HRT when I had my surgery. Reached goal at 6 months (a 23 BMI & my usual low weight of my range) & then lost another 11kgs over the next 11/12 months. So I lost about 135% of the weight I was hoping to lose. Haven’t weighed this since I was about 12 years old. And I have pretty much maintained my weight at almost 5 years post surgery. My rate of weight loss seemed pretty average. Didn’t exercise (don’t like it). Was a low calorie eater in comparison to many others. My hunger didn’t return for about 12 months. All my menopause symptoms disappeared while losing (still had some breakthrough symptoms though on HRT). Thank you that oestrogen hormonal flush that occurs while losing. They came back after I lost most of my weight though. Sigh! Almost 59 now, still menopausal, still on HRT. No real issues with the surgery or after. My tendency to have low blood pressure drops occasionally before occurs every day now. Had my gall bladder out at the two years mark which left me with a protein malabsorption issue. Blood work otherwise always good. Haven’t taken vitamins since 8 months out (except Vit D in winter). Have reflux but had it before surgery too just mild then. Tummy can be a little sensitive but it was before surgery too. I have episodes of the foamies but I think my oesophagus is more sensitive too. So really just some quirks that are special to me. LOL!

either one should do that. For some reason, DS seems to improve (or cure) GERD even though it has a sleeved stomach. And bypass has always been known to improve or cure GERD. You may be able to lose more weight with the DS because it bypasses much more of the small intestine, but then on the flip side, complication rate is higher than it is with bypass (but then again, complications with either surgery aren't very common). another thing that comes to mind is that most PCPs are familiar with bypass, but not so much the DS. So if you have issues, you may have to see a specialist. beyond that, either would be a good option. Check to see if your surgeon recommends one over the other.