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Thank you so much @NickelChip @Arabesque and @MandoGetsSleeved for your responses. I guess you all summed it up in one way or another. I stopped tracking as much, I went back to eating habits I had before the surgery and I was feeling sorry for myself instead of taking ownership. I needed this - I can’t thank you enough. I will give myself grace and start small with incorporating back habits that helped me lose the weight in the first place. I am really grateful for this community. My family and friends do not know I had surgery so it has been a little lonely. I am looking forward to getting back on track

I have been creeping around here for months and finally decided to create an account and share. First though, I have to give great credit to my wife and family. My wife has been so supportive and flexible through the whole process. She has always been by my side, but during this process she read and learned about the changes, as much or more than I did. She has gone above and beyond with her support and care for me, all while still running a busy household. My kids are a constant reminder of why I did this -- so that I would be around for a long time. I wanted to be able to participate in life with my family. I also have to thank my surgical team and the care they provide. It has been great and truly lifesaving. I weighed 514-lbs on 9/12/22. I was a big boy to say the least. Shockingly, I was not in horrible medical condition. I did not take any medicine. Did not have diabetes or high blood pressure. I did have swelling in my legs, constantly sore/bad knees, and was very quick to be out of breath. I lived a very sedimentary live and limited my physical activity. I wanted to be able to be more active and be around with my family for a long time. I finally got up the nerve to discuss with my wife and she immediately got on board. I went through the program without an issue. Checked all boxes and completed all steps. Surgery was on 2/28/23 and it went well. I was up and moving that night, because that was one of the biggest hurdles to clear in order to leave. I was able to sip and keep liquid down. Discharged after one night! Incisions were sore, as expected. Gas was the worst, and not the good kind of gas that can clear the room when expelled (yeah, I am a guy), but the awful painful surgical gas, which took almost a week to fully go away. I was basically fully cleared by the doctor and back to work (in a nonphysical job) one week after surgery. My process was textbook, none of the complications that many have experienced, and I am lucky for it! This process has not been easy but has not been impossible. I have followed my plan, with the support at home, and it is working. I feel physically so much better. I am so much more mobile and active. I have never been happier. I have made changes to my daily life to support the process. My diet has changed but not radically. I eat a lot less and that is the biggest driver of my weight loss. I walk and am active in live, but I do not have a detailed exercise plan. I am still learning exactly what works for me, but most importantly I want others to know there are many routes to get to the same place. I try to get the big stuff right and not sweat the tiniest of details. My blood work at my six-month checkup was solid. Protein was on the low end in the range, but still acceptable. I was encouraged to keep on keeping on (shout out to Joe Dirt). They were comfortable enough to set my next follow up appointment out to one year. I was scared and nervous. I have had good days and bad days (constipation is AWFUL)! Most importantly, I wanted to share my story and I hope it can help others in some way. I never wanted to be skinny. I could care less what my BMI is. I wanted to feel better. I wanted to be able to participate in life with my family. And I am! I am no expert and I still have a long way to go, but I am happy and glad I had this surgery. As I have seen here, over and over again, we are all different, so what works for me may not for others, but I still wanted to share, and I hope it might be of some benefit to someone else. The non-scale wins are just the best! When I started this process, I was so huge that home scales couldn't hold me, so I would go months without weighing, but I knew good things were happening because of all the non-scale wins. Cherish those! This is a long (probably too long) post, so I will wrap. I recently weighed on my home scale (yeah, that's right, it now holds me) and I was at 288-lbs. If anyone has questions or wants more details about my journey, please let me know. I would be happy to share more.

What a wonderful attitude & approach to all you’ve been through. I’ve had a couple of small things picked up since my surgery & weight loss ( nothing like yours - though we are fibroid twins 😉) & am grateful for the medical follow ups I’ve had, the testing I’d never had before which revealed things & even how more aware I am of my body & not just put things down to being fat & therefore unimportant & my fault. Now to kicking those last 33lbs to the kerb.

I think this is what we all fear OP. This community is so positive. If you can give us some more information about your surgery, starting weight, total loss, etc. then people will better be able to help. Please can you tell us how and why you think you regained? That might help others from going down the same path. Without knowing more I would advise reverting to your post op diet plan - protein first, veg second, carbs third. Alcohol only when you know it's not adding to your issues. I wish you all the best. I think you have knowledge to share that will help those of us earlier in our journeys and I KNOW that people here will want to give more specific help once we know more.

As far as getting ready: I've got a binder my doctor gave to me. It has basically all the information that I should need going forward. I do look at it periodically to refresh my memory about what is expected of me. For the dietary changes and stages, I write everything I need to stop/start on a calendar. For example: I need to stop drinking coffee and need to taper off to avoid headaches. I am also weaning myself off carbonated water and need reminders. I'm struggling with a few things such as taking small bites, so I like to put reminders in my calendar so i have to see them every day. I'm also changing my vitamins over to different brands and also needed reminders for that as well. (I'm forgetful!) I've made a list of the things I need to buy such as different kinds of protein powder, unjury protein, chewable vitamins, calcium chews, small utensils, small plates, a drink blender, etc. I've made a list of things to pack for the hospital (thanks to several threads here on this website, I have a list going). As I purchase them, I mark them off. Along those lines, I have fairly good ideas of the types of things I will be eating in each dietary stage so that I can plan ahead for grocery shopping when I get to that point. I purchased several books off amazon that were used, and very inexpensive. Things like bariatric cookbooks and bariatric mindset success books. I do try to read a little bit each day and then journal about what I read. I drive a lot for work so I have plenty of time to listen to podcasts. There are several that I enjoy that I feel are science-based, supportive and informative. I've learned many things from these podcasts about bariatrics. They're free and it's easy to just put one on a few times a week. Besides bariatricpal, I am trying to avoid other websites that deal with bariatrics at this point. It felt overwhelming and felt like I kept going down a rabbit hole of horror stories and it was not helping with my anxiety. There is one person on youtube that I enjoy watching because she's many years out and is very inspiring. Now that I have a date for surgery, this all feels very real and scary. I am trying to not give into the fear too much and remember why I am here at this decision. I need to take charge of my health. I have ONE precious life. I want to live the rest of my life in the best health that I can. I've tried desperately since I was about 20 (in my late 40's now) to lose the weight and keep it off. I've had high blood pressure for 15 years and no matter what I do, It continues to be an issue for me. I've been warned that I am pre-diabetic and likely someday soon that will catch up to me and I'll officially be diabetic. I cannot do this on my own and maintain it. It's that simple. This is my second chance and I will not turn back. This is honestly a story about saving my own life by asking for help. I hope this helps.

I had my gastric sleeve in March of 2012 with a starting weight of roughly 283 lbs at consultation / start of my journey. The lowest weight I was able to get to was about 185-188 lbs which was in early to mid 2015. Later that year, I developed a wrist injury and eventually needed surgery in 2016, and began around late 2015 to early 2016 putting on weight. From October 2016 to now I've essentially regained all of my weight back. I am contemplating revisional surgery at this time, and looking around for surgeons. I have a consultation with one surgeon set for Nov. 27th with Dr. Alibhai in Irving, Tx. (If anyone has any experience they can share, please do.) My other choice of surgeon would be Dr. Matin who did my mother's Gastric Bypass around 2007. I'm wanting to revise to the DS....but, now I am reading and learning about the SADI DS and I now don't really know which one of these I would like to do. My mom is trying to talk me more into doing the gastric bypass rather than the DS. I understand she's worried, she knew someone who recently passed away who was having complications with her DS....I don't know the specifics, but that is the gist of her reasons for not wanting me to go with the DS. At the same time, I'm 10-11 years out from my Sleeve surgery, so I've also had some thoughts about if I could possibly get a re-sleeve along with the DS. (At this rate, I think I've decided I want the DS, just not certain if I want the traditional DS or the SADI version. If anyone has any experience with Dr Mustafa Alibhai and / or experience with Re-Sleeve + DS / SADI revision, could you please share? I would really like to get back to the 180s at the very least. I felt soo much better at that weight, even though I was still a good 50-70 lbs over weight (I'm 5'3). Thank you!

Hi Allen! Did the Doctors say why they would suggest one over the other and/or is there a reason you are leaning towards one over the other? I came on here bc my husband is researching the SADI as his BMI is at around 40- Im actually a month out from having the RNY an I’m super happy with it so far - my BMI was right above 35 and I’m down about 20lbs so far in that first month. I don’t think it’s like the SADI in the sense that I would be able to eat whatever I want without consequence of putting on weight. If I can help compare and contrast with the other lovely people on here let me know! Good luck with whichever way you decide to go!!

VGS 10/16 and I’ve lost about 32lbs since the surgery. I’ve definitely hit that weird zone with no weight loss that everyone has been posting about. I’ve been bouncing around +\- 3lbs for the last four weeks. It’s hard to not be discouraged and cheat on the diet (I’m an emotional eater). So I’m looking at other wins- smaller clothes, walking the dog, going up stairs, better movement in general. I have to keep telling myself- It doesn’t have to all be based on the number on the scale.

I agree with @NickelChip, this seems quite off. I've seen 800 calorie plans for bypass patients in the active weight loss phase, but most people are in the 1200 calorie range for maintenance... And your portion size will naturally increase a bit over time as you are able to eat more as your pouch heals. It won't be as much as a "matured sleeve" can eat, but it won't be a few tablespoons either. At the bariatric clinic I go to I attended nutrition class with sleeve patients and bypass patients, even though I'm a DS patient. We were all told to keep each meal to 10 grams of fat or less (general aim at 1 year out is 60 grams of total fat as per the ASMBS guidelines for a year out), and 10 grams of carbs or less, for less than 50 total grams of carbs a day, as they want us in ketosis during the active fat loss phase (this amount will double to about 100 grams of total carbs in maintenance). And protein varies for each group but bypass was to aim for 80 grams of protein a day, since they malabsorb some compared to the sleeve patients. NONE of us were given a calorie goal, only macro goals. We were ALL told to aim for 5-6 small meals a day for consistent energy, aiming for 4-5 meals if we go to bed early or get up late. So we were encouraged to eat about every 3 hours, allowing 2-3 hours between our last meal and bed. And told a fair amount of our carbs should come from high fiber, low carb vegetables and low sugar fruits, with a fiber supplement (SunFiber is amazing and non-bloating) and Miralax as needed to maintain regularity.

Here are a few tips: Be Honest: Communicate openly about your challenges and efforts. Honesty is essential for building trust with your healthcare team. Explain Your Efforts: Describe the strategies you've been using to lose weight and any difficulties you've encountered. This might include changes to your diet, exercise routine, or other lifestyle adjustments. Express Your Commitment: Emphasize your commitment to the weight loss journey and your understanding of its importance in preparing for surgery. Ask for Guidance: Seek advice from your surgeon on how to address the weight loss goals moving forward. They may provide additional support, resources, or recommendations. Remember that surgeons are there to help guide you through the process and ensure the best possible outcomes for your health. While meeting pre-surgery goals is essential, the overall goal is to support your well-being. If you're experiencing significant anxiety, consider discussing this with your surgeon or a member of the healthcare team. They may be able to provide additional guidance, reassurance, or resources to help manage stress and anxiety.

So far it has been ok I guess. The surgery was “text book” according to the Dr. I had no pain after and I started back to the gym for treadmill and low weight machines on week 3. I followed the plan. The last two weeks since I started soft foods has been hard. I’m 5 weeks out today. I am down 28 pounds since surgery. HW - 412 SW - 362 CW - 334 I have hit a stall. No loss in a week. I have had a couple of “slips” but nothing I can’t come back from. I unfortunately am not as restricted as I thought I would be. I was able to eat a whole filet of fish sandwich with no problem. Why I ate it is because I am still an emotional eater unfortunately. The good thing is I could only eat the one and now the huge chunk of food I use to. hopefully as the weather gets better I can be out more but I need to work on my “out of the house” food plans. I got my little cooler I just have to work on the best stuff to put in it. I can’t wait to go back to fishing !! here is my picture about one year a part. A total of 75 pounds difference

tomorrow morning, i am getting my excess tummy skin removed and my boobs reduced and lifted. i had rny gastric bypass in september 2022 and lost more than 200 pounds, highest weight 410, and my weight has been stable at 190. i saved up enough money to get plastic surgery in tijuana, mexico, and my work, school, and holidays lined up to get it done! im getting 360 lower body lift, tummy tuck with fleur de lys, and breast reduction and lift. i also want to get an arm lift and inner thigh lift sometime in the future. im nervous for my surgery tomorrow morning, but i’m confident in my decision to have plastic surgery now, and trust my surgeon and medical team. ive done everything i can think of to best prepare for surgery and make sure it’s as successful as possible: i have SO MANY medical supplies; i’ve been taking SO MANY vitamins and iron to make sure my hemoglobin levels are high enough; i’ve had iv infusions of iron, vitamin c, and ozonized (definitely not the correct term) 120 ccs of my blood and pumped it back in; i’ve done too much research; and i’ve saved up thousands of dollars and dragged myself all the way to mexico and tomorrow’s the day! ill update as i drag myself through yet another surgery and recovery! 😅 i also will take any recommendations for healing, post-op recovery, pain management, and expectations. ~kukui

I had heard about the honeymoon period at the start of it all. Didnt really think much about it at the time. But this has smacked me hard.The honey moon period is well and truly over. Reality is kicking back in. I had the RNY back in May 22. Since then I have lost 60 kg or 132 pounds. I had Covid for Christmas. I have managed depression and anxiety for decades now. In the last month my anxiety and depression have flared up something chronic and I am stuffing food into me as if I had never had the bypass. I am loathe to weigh myself and I can feel my body change again. Food addiction is real and I am terrified that I am going to regain all the weight I had lost. I dont want to be trapped in my own body again. I want my muscles to be strong. I dont want the panic attacks to dominate me again. Right now I feel distended and hopeless. Has anybody else tackled this point. I dont want to be overtaken by a Tsunami of food and shame and guilt. Who eats food off the floor? Who eats food out of a bin? I want the control back. Is it too late now that the honeymoon is over. Has anybody else tackled this time and won? Anybody? Anywhere?

Well, today I go for my first post-op appointment. Thinking I may be on a liquid diet just a little bit longer. I met my fluid and protein goals on Monday, but then yesterday I did not because I was so sick I was in bed for literally the majority of the day. We'll see what happens. I think I may have gotten overheated because we went out yesterday morning so that I could get a haircut after my husband's doctor's appointment, and while he was in his appointment I did walking laps around the parking lot. And we have a heat wave striking again. But we'll see what happens. I'll try to post an update after I get home from that. Oh, I did remove the CGM sensor that had blisters forming around it. Well, they also formed under it. And... it wasn't pleasant. I essentially have a large hole in my arm now from where it took quite a bit of skin with it. I have also had an uptick in pain the last few days. I had taken myself off my pain meds completely, but I've had to take one a day since Sunday. I'll be discussing that with the doctor today too. Has anyone else experienced that? Also, real talk - Cottage cheese has always disgusted me because of how it looks. So someone please tell me what it tastes like, since I'm probably going to have to learn to like it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl I am allowed to use milks (lactose intolerant so non-dairy milks). I've just been adding water to the one shake because it's super thick. Like, imagine drinking a milkshake through a tiny straw. That kind of thick. I'm less worried about protein on that one because it's 32g per bottle. I just have to be able to drink it for it to matter lol. I am sooooooo sorry about your a/c. I can't stand heat and I would probably be living in a hotel if ours went out right now. But I do know what you mean. I can't do much of anything right now still. I've been pushing myself to at least do dishes when I can, but even that is a bit much for me sometimes. But we're gonna get over this hump and then we're going to get our houses back in order! I do hope your a/c is fixed quickly and cheaply. Update - Glad to see your a/c just randomly decided to start working again. Any chance that the outside unit had frozen? Splenda is a Godsend, honestly. I've had to be on it for years already with my diabetes. I was told I could use any artificial sweetner as long as I didn't go overboard with it. So that is good to know for when I start the puree stage! I'm curious to see how much my taste buds have changed since surgery. I know a couple of people who can't stand even the smell of eggs now. I really hope that's not me. I love me some eggs. I was also told post-surgery, fish is going to be a go-to meal once I can get there. Like at least once a week, kind of thing. As someone who used to work for an allergist - the prick test is just for contact items, like fur and dust. If you are concerned about food allergies, that would be a multitude of appointments for each one you ares scared of. Because they have you actually eat the food while you are there in the office, and then you have to sit there and wait to see if you have a reaction. "It's just me and my hubby and if it bothers him then he is perfectly capable of doing it himself." This, 100000000%. lol. Hubby has asked me what I'm cooking for lunch/dinner, and I just stare at him for a long few seconds before it clicks what he just asked me to do. Then he's like, "Oh, nevermind." I do need to be better about limiting my bending and such. I'm obeying the weight guidelines, but I'm also of the opinion that if I can do something, I should do something. My husband has a stressful job (911 dispatcher) with crazy hours. And he has taken over a lot of the things that I was doing pre-surgery. So I feel like I have to do what I can to help him out too. I've been on Pinterest a lot lately, saving recipes for me to try later on. I am going to probably have a fight with my husband on certain things - like ground turkey for tacos, I already know he isn't going to be on board with. But that might be a thing where I make my food ahead of time and am like, "Okay, this is what I'm having on this night. If you don't like it, you're on your own to figure out food." But that skinny scampi sounds like it might be delicious! You'll have to let us know! I hope the eye appointment wasn't too terrible for you. Kudos to you on making plans for a healthy rest of your life. I need to really sit down and start figuring that out myself. My fear is that I work 3 jobs. While I'm off for 2 months for 2 of them, I worry that any kind of set schedule I make for myself now will get thrown out the window when those get added back. Right now, I'm trying to walk in the mornings before the heat gets too bad. And I have a cycle machine that fits under my desk, so I use that throughout the day. Once they let me, I definitely need to figure out how to get some weight training in. I'm still pulling sticky stuff off of me after multiple showers. It's not just you. This stuff just doesn't want to go away, which was good for surgery. But now it needs to go. LOL I definitely do not like the sleeping the majority of my day and night away because it's preventing me from having a schedule. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Onemealplan You said you can only eat 2oz of food every 3 hours. Are you meeting your protein goals with that? My nutritionist said that even at the puree and soft food stage, I'm expected to supplement my protein goals with protein shakes still. I'm still in the liquid stage, but it takes me an hour to finish an 11oz protein shake. I have yet to feel 'full' but I do know when I've pushed too far because I start to feel kind of sick. The lack of feeling full terrifies me, honestly. Which, I know it's just my anxiety but at the same time I'm like, "What if I have already screwed my stomach up because I didn't feel full????" Hopefully I get some reassurance today at the post-op. But I do get that mental hunger thing. It's been particularly bad lately because I just want SOMETHING that isn't liquids. Hopefully as I progress, I can start kicking that to the curb. I have a vacation coming up in October that I'm trying to prepare myself for. I should hopefully be on soft foods by then. As for the servers, one of the audiobooks I listened to in order to prepare for surgery suggested heading that off immediately. Just telling them up front you recently had a surgery so you will not be able to eat while you are recovering. One of my husband's coworkers who had the RYGB just orders water when he goes out with his husband. Sometimes he'll sip on it, sometimes he just leaves it sitting there. All depends on when he last had a protein shake. They offered you a surgery video? I haven't heard that. I would be interested in watching it if that's an option for me, but it may not be. How big of bites are you taking at this point? I'm just curious so I can start mentally planning for that vacation in a couple of months. (Man, am I so ready for a vacation, even with the dietary changes.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt I've also had extreme fatigue. If I was dishes, I'm having to rest for an hour. I'm not doing anything more than that right now because I just physically can't handle it. But yeah, there are lots of long naps during my daytime, which is also affecting my abilitiy to get fluids and protein in. Glad to hear that you've gotten better! I know yesterday was a bad day for me out of nowhere. I'm blaming heat, but I don't actually know what the problem was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @RRenaeL23 and @Pepper_No_Salt - Good luck at your next appointments! I hope you do get moved up to pureed foods! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses Interesting! I was told they would not move me on to the pureed foods until I was regularly hitting 60g of protein daily. They said nothing about whether or not I was active. I'll be curious to see what is said when I go to my post-op today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Meme Campbell I hope your surgery went fantastically and you are recovering well! I know that liquid stage sucks, but it's for a good reason. Just keep reminding yourself of that.

Yeah exactly what I was thinking! I think binge eating and snacking is one of my biggest downfalls, so I want to tackle that head-on. I am 3 days down without eating crisps and masses of chocolate and sweets! I'll definitely let it stabalise - I imagine although I am 27, I will definitely have loose skin. I have always been a bigger girl. Been at my heaviest weight for a year or two now I think, but I have always had a belly so that's gonna be the area for me! I will say though, with all the moisturising I have been doing, especially on my tummy, it has made me not hate it as much, but just to kind of accept it as part of me. I usually don't look at myself in the mirror, I won't even touch my tummy, so to have to be gentle and care for it in a way has been a bit cathartic. So, if anything, that is helping haha. That is amazing you have been so fortunate with your loose skin, I am so happy for you!

Hey 👋 new here. I have my gastric bypass surgery booked for December,13th,2023. I currently reside in Ontario. I am 34 years old and a mom of two. Current weight was 381lbs. Not sure what now as I have been avoiding my scale. Heaviest I've ever been, but I've always been a bigger girl who struggles with her weight. I am very anxious about surgery, and I stupidly have been reading horror stories about this surgery. I have health anxiety which does not help lol. I actually went as far as typing goodbye letters to my children and husband just incase... I cried like a baby while thinking of what all to say incase the worst did happen. How does one put all that on paper?! But that is my brain worrying about what if? Does anyone else share this surgery date with me? Do you have reservations due to possible complications or death? I feel I need someone who is going through what I am to talk to. Thanks so much.

Hi there! Been on my surgery journey for a few years now and I'm finally coming up on my RYGB surgery date in a couple weeks. It might just be nerves but over the last couple of months I've started to rethink whether I'm making the wrong decision with the going with the bypass. I spoke to my surgeon about a week ago & expressed I might want to switch to SADI. She said it's ultimately my choice, but she feels like RYGB is a better fit for me personally as I have a history of GERD (currently mild) and that she's concerned I might lose too much weight with SADI - I need to lose 100lbs. I've been reading & watching a lot of posts from people that have had each procedure & I'm really concerned with the idea of throwing up & having to eat a couple of bites per meal the rest of my life. The thing is, I rarely see anyone post complications with SADI. They seem to eat small meals but not as small as restrictive as RYGB patients & while they experience diarrhea - I don't see posts about vomiting. I mean, does everyone experience vomiting & dumping syndrome with RYGB? Does anyone know people that have had poor experiences with SADI? Ultimately, am I making the wrong decision by not going with SADI?

I agree with the others. Your rate of loss is fine. I also agree with the concerns about your eating during this losing period. It seems more like how you may chose to eat when you are in maintenance. When we choose how much & how often we have foods like pizza, chips, sweetened drinks, etc. When we decide what foods we’ll to add back into our new way of eating or ones we’ll avoid. When we look at alternative ingredients, or different cooking methods. I also worry about you changing your way of eating so often, going from one extreme to another. (Not including Ramadan in this.) Are you sure you’re meeting your fluid & protein goals? Are you sure you’re getting in a range of nutrients from nutrient dense foods? This is so important when we are only able to eat smaller portions. We all say & are told to stick to our plans for a reason. You mentioned you had a difficult relationship with food/bad eating habits & these current behaviours do seem a continuation of this. Do you still see your dietician? Your therapist? If not, at the very least I’d seek a reference from your surgeon/team to a therapist who specialises in disordered eating. Many find therapy very helpful in changing these behaviours & their relationship with food & identifying strategies to mange them. All the best. PS - Don’t believe the calorie burn on your Apple Watch. It’s known to be inaccurate & tends to inflate the stats. It only uses your height, weight & age & not your individual metabolic rate, your optimal heart rate, the amount of energy you are putting into the activity, etc. Use it as a guide/approximation only.

Yeah, I got a pack of these freezer safe glass 4 oz baby food jars on Amazon and they've been really helpful with portioning!! At first I could only eat about half of one, so about 1/4 cup total. A bit less if it was solid protein in meat form other than fish (beef, chicken, and pork sit heavier). That was it for about two months. In this third month my portion size suddenly increased to about 1/2 cup in total now! As far as meat and veggies are concerned at least. I have always been able to eat a little more of soft things like yogurt and pudding... But my PA told me that increase at 3 months is perfectly normal, and I could expect it to increase in stages throughout the first year or two, to not panic over it, hunger is natural and mine never went away from surgery, so I've really had to cultivate a healthy relationship with it. Because those stomach nerves are still healing, I watched my portion size carefully and really paid attention to discovering new fullness cues. For me those are a runny nose, hiccups, burping, and aggressive sneezing fits! Plus this building pressure or weight in the center of my stomach. These are all normal signals for bariatric patients, but we all get our own unique combination so be on the lookout for discovering yours! I think 2-3 shakes a day paired with things like yogurt and soft cereals seems really normal. It is great you are progressing so well! The problem with forums and support groups is we get used to seeing people post with problems and then we expect to have a slew of problems ourselves! And sometimes we do. But often times we don't... The majority of bariatric patients have no complications, progress their diets easily, and worry about eating too much and if their surgeon even did their surgery. 🤣 Your metabolism has been reset, it will handle calories a bit differently now. Just stay on the conservative end with simple carbs, as they can slow weight loss sometimes. Focus on that hydration and protein, and later on when cleared for all foods, on adding complex carbs like veggies, beans, and some fruit. Protein will help with the hunger, as does healthy fat and the fiber once it is safe for you to digest. My dietician told us to think more about macros than calories. So, to make sure things had less than 10 grams of sugar per serving, more than 20 grams of protein per shake, less than 10 grams of fat per serving, and keeping our total carbohydrates for the day under 50 grams in the early months...and that was their advice for all surgeries, with varying protein goals for each different one. Baritastic app has been really helpful with the tracking!

Y'all I DID IT!!! 1 YEAR AND 8 MONTHS POST OP AND I HIT MY GOAL!! 🤩 Now, I know my little "signature" doesn't reflect that, but my REAL goal which my surgeon and myself agreed on was 225 lbs and I AM THERE!! I am also very satisfied here, especially if the skin was gone. My "new/documented" goal is 210 lbs just so I can officially say I lost OVER 50% of my starting body weight! I am so excited!! NOW TIME FOR SKY DIVING!!!! As my personal reward, as soon as it gets warmer I JUMP!!!! SOOOO much has changed, I don't even know where to start! DO IT, DON'T WAIT- DO IT NOW! ZERO REGRETS!

Your comment about slapping stupid people made me laugh! My answer is this: If I went around slapping stupid people making stupid comments I'd be slapping people 24/7! Although, all the swinging my arms back and letting go would be good exercise and probably therapeutic Just a fair warning, I'm a major smart A** so my response is my personality... Good or bad. Just do as I do; ask to see their medical license. Explain your doctor, who has the experience, knowledge and an actual medical degree in their medical opinion feels its a necessary medical procedure, then tell them you appreciate their bedside manner, "medical expertise" and judgement! I also like to add that insurance companies don't like to pay for "the easy way out" and unnecessary procedures, they don't go around approving surgery unless its necessary! If that doesn't stop them ask them why they think its "the easy way out"? Then shoot down their preconceived stupid concepts with facts and how its the furthest from easy to lose weight. Last option, ignore them and do what you need to do for you! After all, you can lose weight and get healthy, they'll always be stupid! Lastly, it always amazes me that people question or make comments about a medically approved procedure. Do they question a vasectomy ... or a cesarean birth, how about rhinoplasty for a deviated septum to stop nasal issues...how about a root canal..after all they could take the easy way out for these procedures...

I was told to just walk for the first four weeks. At the four week mark, they said I could do anything but weights. I was allowed to use weights (strength train) at eight weeks out. I followed those guidelines.

Congratulations on making positive decisions for your health. I had/have GERD. I got bypass and hiatal hernia surgery to correct it. I still need PPI but less of them, and only feel the burn or the flip of the esophagus once in a while like with eating nuts (high fat) or coffee. So, I avoid my triggers or have only very small portions. I was a slow looser, even lost half of total weight loss before surgery. I believe it was due to menopause creating such a dry environment in my throat. The research on gut health and menopause is still so new that I can only mention it without solid peer reviewed evidence. The research is still ongoing. I only know my experience with menopause caused worsening asthma, eye infections, sudden tooth decay, arthritis and GERD. The underlying commonality was a lack of mucus production ie. menopause. Maybe it’s Sjorgrens but it slammed into me at 45 and DHEA helps, and I never developed full diabetes, nor Lupus, nor non-Hodgekins Lymphoma which are hallmarks of Sjorgrens. I applaud your scientific curiosity. Keep letting us know what happens!