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There are some good dieticians & there are some … well… lousy ones. Is there any way you could find another dietician? Telling you to go to back to shakes is a bad suggestion like @summerseeker said. They should have gone through what you’ve been eating & make suggestions from there. The goal is to be eating real food not highly processed synthesised shakes loaded with artificial sweeteners & such. Stalls are frustrating. No way aground that but they are an important part of your weight loss when your body takes stock of your new needs & adjusts digestive hormones, etc. Best advice is to stick to your plan. Don’t make changes & stress your body more. The stall will break when your body is ready. Good advice from @summerseeker too about going back to the basics of protein first, then vegetables & then low processed complex multi/ whole grain carbs if you can eat more. Make cause you’re hitting your protein & fluid goals. Calories are a bit of a touchy issue at the moment in the medical world. Some are anti some are pro. A lot is around a calorie is a calorie regardless of what the food source is versus nutrient value. Plus, caloric needs differs so much person to person - age, gender, activity, metabolism, general health, hormones, etc. all affect how many you need. Personally I think if you are eating nutrient dense food, having an idea of calories can help you stay on track & guide you if you’re sliding.

I'm going the self pay route with Blossom Bariatrics, but was given similar timelines when I spoke with folks with Dr Shillingford and the Nicholson Clinics, but generally scheduling could be done 3 weeks out with 2 weeks of pre-op diet for a Sleeve procedure. From first call to the surgery is generally 1 month, but sounds like it could be less in some cases. RNY, DS, and revisions required considerably more time to plan for. Far fewer hoops to have to jump through going this route, though. I'm only going this route because my insurance declines anything related to bariatric surgery. My previous employer's insurance would only cover a lap band, and it required a year of meetings. If I missed one, or gained any weight between sessions, I had to start over, which is ridiculous. Also they didn't cover any counseling, which I definitely recommend signing up for! It's just as much mental as it is physical! I'd rather not have the equivalent of a car payment hanging over my head, but my health has been declining significantly the last few years and I need a change. My job isn't forgiving with PTO either, and it was all I could do to take the 3 days off for the week of Thanksgiving to get mine done next Monday. It's a small business, so FMLA isn't an option, so I have to go back to work the next Monday.

JennyBeez you wrote; " grieve the convenience of high fat/sugar/calorie foods. The ability to go anywhere with friends or family for a meal and not have to worry about 'will I be able to find something I can eat?' and cruising the menu online first." Hi, I'm blonde patriot living in CDA, and I have a problem. I'm a social eater..." This is the hardest for me. I am already sick of doing the menu scans beforehand. It quickly made me realize that 99.9% of the food at restaurants is a no go due to being fried, made with sugar or extremely high in carbs and calories! Plus, if you're like I am, I detest cooking and eating out is what my husband, friends and family do - we enjoy, excuse me I use to and they still do enjoy food and the experience. It took all the joy out of get togethers for me. Plus most food I can eat tastes bland now. Now before anyone says "but you can still enjoy being with friends and family foods just a small part of that" <rolls eyes> they don't understand - it wasn't and isn't a small part of it. When we used to go out it was to eat, we'd share our choices, talk about the differences between this and that choice here and at other restaurants etc. It was one of the main reasons we got together! We had certain restaurants for celebrating birthdays, promotions, good semester grades and holidays etc. We had certain dishes - our favorites depending on what our activities for the day were. Now, I spend the first 15 mins examining the menu picking each thing apart ..does it have fat, too many calories, carbs, protein or hidden sugars will it even taste decent? Is it 300 calories or preferably less? After that I look longingly at others choices I actually want. Then comes the dreaded lets get an after dinner drink or coffee with dessert. So I get to watch that too from the sidelines. Even my husbands and my retirement has changed, we had a list of the places in the U.S. that were known for specialties such as a lobster rolls in Maine, black beans and rice in New Orleans, Philly cheese steaks in Philly, New York pizza etc., for our first year of retirement we were going to rent an RV and travel..visit those places based on our food choices and eat their specialties, they were our destinations. Then, after the first year my husband wanted to "belly up" to the shrimp and lobster bars on cruises for "days on end." Now all this has changed and I'm now resentful at myself and society. Myself because well becoming obese and society for being judgmental and valuing youth, beauty and being thin over the value of a persons worth inside! Yes, I'm thinner and healthier and most likely will live longer (no guarantees)... but...to be honest I don't want to take a walk instead of going to a restaurant as one person said and as my dietician suggests. They're NOT the same thing, one does not equal the other! No friend who wants to go out and about with the girls to shop and eat wants to substitute a walk instead. I DO know its my "new reality" and I do what I must, I'm just not happy about it. It feels as if a part of the joy has been removed, sucked out of life along with a portion of my stomach. Yes...I do try and find other things.. .but yeah well. Everything involved food, go to the beach pack a lunch (not two separate lunches one I can eat and the rest for everyone else), go shopping, go to the theater with dinner beforehand, go to the movies, go dancing - nope no alcohol or anything with calories oh joy - water!!!. Lol no one ever said hey girls lets do a girls day...and hit the gym where we can all sweat together, grunt and watch others pop veins struggling to lift a weight bar for fun! Even my poor husband has had to change, he used to be excited to bring some new food home he found at a new restaurant or even at the grocery store he'd want to share with me...nope not anymore. He just eats it before he gets home to save me and him the having to turn it down. So yes, I mourn not only the food, but the convenience, fun and get togethers. I have even noticed my friends don't call much anymore to "do" lunches because they'd always ask "where CAN you eat now"? The choices were limited or I'd have to ask the server for considerations..making it more work than fun. 300 calories or less is extremely hard to do at restaurants and my friends didn't want to put me through it anymore. So yes, I mourn. Sorry for the long whine/rant but Jenny geez brought it all up again for me.

hiya! and congrats on the weight loss and 18 year maintenance! thats awesome to your questions: (1) can't really comment for U.S. surgeon recommendations as i'm up in Canada and had mine done up here. though sometimes when i read U.S. prices posted on here, it seems like prices up here are cheaper than the U.S., and its in Canadian dollars so thats like monopoly money for you guys. 🤷🏻‍♀️ (2) I had a breast lift in 2019 no implant nor fat transfer (a had an arm lift and tummy tuck as well...all 3 in one shot) and i actually stayed the same bra size before and after surgery...the bras just fit differently on my lifted boobs. I technically should be wearing a 28D (my torso circumference is on the small side of normal), but since 28D is like finding a unicorn in the stores, i mostly have 30Cs in my closet. so while the bra size remained the same, i fill them out better now....i used to just stuff all my boob material in the cup of a full coverage bra. Now, i can wear those demi-cup style bras without looking like im carrying two bowls of jiggly pudding on my chest ahhahahha. And i can wear those triangle bikini tops and NOT look like i'm spilling out the sides NOR do i have the separated-elongated cleavage look anymore, if that description makes sense. AND i can go commando and not wear a bra at all and still remain relatively perky. good luck! ❤️ p.s. i'm curious as to the reasons why you are not pleased with your thigh lift?

So today was day 11 and my symptoms are still that pull and tug or twist? When im drinking protein shakes or trying watered down soup juice ( cream of chicken thinned out with water then strained ). It feels like something squeezing my insides for a heartbeat then it finishes going down its uncomfortable and makes me NOT want to swallow anything besides water. A few of my incisions are healed up but puffy on the inside ( no pain or anything though ) and a few are painfully hard to ignore when im sitting up a certain way and sometimes when walking. I feel like the weight of my stomach is causing these aches because when i hold my stomach up with my hands pain is gone. Im going to see my surgeon for my 2 week follow up on the 31st so hopefully he can tell me whats wrong if anything. Also i still cannot stop spitting like it has decreased but not gone away completely it is SO annoying you have no idea. And i still get this pain at the roof of my mouth where the bone is right before your throat. Its not as painful as before but it still throbs on and off. I will update when i have news fingers crossed for me.

I'm so sorry you are feeling this way but I can empathize with the anxiety. I suffer from both anxiety & panic disorder. It was pretty well controlled until about 2 weeks before surgery & it slowly progressed. The week after my surgery my anxiety was in a full blown upheaval! I have a question for you, I was on medication for depression & anxiety before surgery & was warned that psych meds specifically can be absorbed less after gastric bypass surgery. They say a lot of these medications are absorbed in the small intestine. The psychiatrist that did my evaluation said if you don't feel quite right after surgery to NOT just write it off as not feeling good because you just had surgery. He said don't panic, just be mindful that if the feelings don't go away your medication doses may need to be adjusted. This is exactly what happened to me. My feelings & mood continued to escalate until I just didn't feel like myself at all. I reached out to my provider & she switched my medication. Thankfully, I can already tell a difference but these medications take a while to fully kick in which is so hard when, mentally, you really just want to feel like yourself again. All of that being said, after surgery it is not uncommon to feel anxious & even depressed due to all of the medications, especially pain meds & anesthesia meds. Feeling overwhelmed or even depressed after bariatric surgery is not uncommon either but I think some, maybe a lot of us, just assume we're going to be in a better head space after surgery because we'll be losing weight & finally be on the path we've been longing for for so long & thus, when we feel anxious or depressed it completely catches us off guard. Personally, I think we should be required to do a certain amount of counseling before we have this surgery with someone who specializes in bariatric counseling. Not just a few appointments to fill out questionnaires & be approved for it. This surgery is SO huge & life altering in so many ways. Just my opinion. I hope you are feeling much better real soon!❤️🙏❤️

Both methods have a failure option. You go off meds & return to your old eating habits, the weight comes back. With the surgery, you go back to how you used to eat, you regain the weight. Both require you to do the work to change your relationship with food, make better food choices, become more active, learn to recognize real hunger from head hunger & learn about what drives you to eat & develop strategies to manage those drives like your food obsession voices. Neither routes are true easy permanent solutions without doing this work. The class you attended seems like it got you started on this & on the right path. The win of the surgery for me was time. The period of time when I wasn’t hungry or interested in eating, the change to my taste buds, etc. allowed me to start doing that work. I learnt what my body needed, how to keep my boosted metabolism going & to keep my new weight set point stable. Certainly worth conversations with your doctor & a bariatric surgeon to see what they think is the best way forward for you. Also ask for a referral to a therapist who specialises in disordered eating to support you through doing the head work. Many who’ve had surgery find therapy very helpful & contributed to their success & it would likely be helpful even if you choose not to have surgery. All the best what ever you choose to do. PS - I second the Dr Matt Weiner’s Pound of Cure you tube videos. He’s also on instagram & has some great books. Dr John Pilcher also has some great you tube videos on weight loss & surgery. Another consideration is I understand the newest weight loss med is supposed to less expensive & is expected to help push down the cost of the existing ones.

For me I think I should’ve gotten a bypass in the first place but my pcp said I was so young and the sleeve was good so I just went along with it. At first I had no intention to get a revision even though I had gained almost all the weight back but I’m glad I did and I have no regrets.

I’m 12 hours out from surgery. Or at least from having to be at the hospital. Having some protein broth. It’s actually pretty good it’s chicken soup flavored protein powder that you had to hot water. My doctor ok’d it for the pre surgery diet. Luckily my program only requires 2 days of liquid diet before surgery. They used to require the two weeks but claim studies have shown 2 days is enough. Still nervous as I said in my last post because I am high risk because I have kidney failure and heart failure but everyone cleared me for surgery. They do think I will have issues with infection and leaking because I am on chronic steroids. My highest weight was 509 pounds and my weight today is 399 pounds. I am 6 feet tall and my goal weight it ideally 180 but I will be happy at 200

Okay, so you bulk up before your weigh in with food, fluid, heavy clothing or shoes, or weighing down your pockets. I would worry that you go the second time without this additional bulk & you weigh a lot less & they think wow you’ve lost a lot of weight great. But the third time your weight has slowed a lot to what would be appropriate for your real weight. Plus the more you weigh the more they may want you to lose before surgery. Be careful, besides taking off my shoes I’ve been asked to remove a heavier skirt before my weigh in so they’d get a more accurate result. (Didn’t wear it on purpose just because I liked it.) My friend was told she was a couple of kilos short of meeting the BMI requirement. I remember who saying oh well a couple of weeks until Christmas & I always put on weight then so I’ll make another appointment for January. She did & she met the requirement. You have Thanksgiving soon so it may be a moot point.

As you lose more weight, its important to track the percentage of weight loss rather than only the number on the scale itself. We all have a base weight with all of our bones and internal organs that won't change (if we're healthy) and the muscle and excess fat on top of that are the variable amounts. For example, using big/round numbers for easy math, not for actual healthy goals - If SW is 300lbs and GW is 100lbs, then the total excess weight one would need to lose is 200lbs. If that person goes from 300lbs to 200lbs (100 lbs total loss), that is 50% of excess weight lost. If the person is now at 150lb and still trying to go to 100lb (50lb excess remaining), then a 50% loss would only be 25lbs. While its not the exact same amount of effort, you can use this to frame it in your mind that roughly the amount of effort to lose that first (300 - 100) matches the effort needed for the 25lb loss from a 150lb current weight. Again, these aren't precise or necessarily healthy weight numbers I gave, I was just trying to paint the picture to help reframe things to prevent being unnecessarily negative to yourself. You are still doing great! Also, don't forget that muscle weighs more than fat (I think it is roughly 1.5x heavier than fat for a given amount). As you build more muscle from exercise, you will gain weight, but it will be healthy weight. That's why it is important to also focus on more non scale victories later in the process, since the number on the scale isn't everything as you approach the finish line!

Wow - what a fantastic set of comments. Thank you all for your support and understanding it really is quite a comfort to know there are so many other people who are fighting the same demons and feel that the way the majority of people treat the obese as if we have chosen to be like this so why don't we just make a different choice. @BlondPatriotinCDA your comment re insurance and cosmetic surgeries was interesting compared to the UK system. As you no doubt know we have the National Health Service (NHS) here which is supposed to cover all our medical needs and by and large it is a wonderful thing. Having said that WLS is one of the areas where if you need help you have to meet so many different criteria and jump through so many hurdles that it is almost impossible. I have a friend who has been trying to get WLS on the NHS for 5 years and despite being heavier than me and with a higher BMI and having the same issues with Yo-Yo dieting she still has not "Qualified" At our starting weights there is a 6 1/2 year difference in life expectancy between those who have a Gastric Sleeve and those who don't. I am lucky I could afford to "Go private" and pay for the surgery. She cannot and that will mean that the quality and length of her life will be lessened.

I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. Break ups can be very hard. I had a bad one when I was about your age & went through a period of depression & anxiety. Ended up leaving my job & moving back home. The depression coloured everything in my life. It may be doing the same for you too & causing you to regret the surgery & a change of behaviour that has bought you many benefits (weight loss, health improvements, more active, fewer restrictions, etc,). Yes, I’m considerably older than you & that means I can look at things differently than you so I don’t mind if you think I’m talking rubbish & don’t understand. 🙂 My friends are big eaters & drinkers & the first couple of times we went out after my surgery I felt a little uncomfortable & conspicuous because I sipped one alcoholic drink for hours, took a while to eat & ordered small plates. Then I realised, I wasn’t going out with them to eat & drink, I was going out with them to spend time with them. What I ate or didn’t eat & what I drank or didn’t drink was irrelevant. It was our friendship that was important. We socialise often (though likely not as often as you). At each others’ homes, bars, fine dining restaurants, etc. My surgery & food choices haven’t stopped us or slowed us down once (oh, except when they wanted to go to an high tea with unlimited champagne - I rarely eat sweet & one glass of champagne would be ample so not worth it. We did dinner instead.) Actually one of my friends decided to have surgery the year after me though she is more flexible in her food & drinking choices than me. Another one wants to have the surgery. And the fourth in our group, has slowed her eating & is making better food & alcohol choices. Not for anything I’ve said. I guess I’ve become a bit of a role model for a healthier life. LOL! Maybe have a chat with someone, like a therapist, about how you’re feeling to help you work through this.

There are things like miracle noodles, heart of palm noodles, and of course most of our "fullness" should come from veggies once we are a year out. Think high volume low carb veggies like lettuce, mixed greens, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, as well as colorful things like bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, green beans, etc... These paired with a little fat and a decent amount of protein should help you feel fuller longer. I think it is very well possible you could be experiencing true hunger. You are MUCH taller than the average woman (if you are not a woman I apologize for the assumption) and the dietary guidelines that surgeons and nutritionists hand out are usually useless if you fall outside their standard patient. If you are exercising enough to get your heart rate up for a consistent amount of time or doing weights/strength training, you could be burning a fair number of calories too. Both of these things would make me think you may have a higher caloric need, even though you are a sleeve patient, than the average sleever would. If your surgeon's nutritionist isn't interested in customizing your true caloric need given your frame, height, and activity level, you may need to have a few sessions with someone else who is trained in bariatrics and will actually help you work through this so you can stop feeling guilt when you eat more than your surgeon wants you to. Also, have you tried the Millie's sipping broths? You can get a sample pack of their flavors on Amazon for a pretty reasonable cost. They might help ease the hunger between meals until you find a dietician to talk to.

Well you are being such a trooper I’ll tell you. I hope you get it worked out real soon. Probably stuff you already know about the low carb if you’ve had a sensitivity to gluten. I just going to say that I learned that fajitas and Italian sausage witb peppers and onions which I like both (minus the rice of course) are relatively low carb. And cauli rice isn’t bad as long as it’s mixed in something witb flavor. Night before last I learned that crustless quiche is super easy to make and In the muffin tin it’s perfect little portions. Last night I made a low carb Italian bake that was Italian sausage with spinach and cheeses (the recipe called for mushrooms but I substituted onions). That one I’m not sure about the fat though. It wasn’t listed but for 6 servings it has two cups of mozz cheese, a quarter cup Parmesan and 16 oz of ricotta. I’m waiting to hear from my surgeon what my post op fat requirements will be and I need to work that out and see if it’s on plan. That recipe worked out to 373 calories but I didn’t calculate the fat before I tossed all the packages. Tonight I had leftovers of the Italian bake that is probably too fatty and I baked instead of cooking . I made low carb banana muffins that another poster shared with me and they are pretty yummy. They use almond flour and allulose to cut the carbs. They are surprisingly tasty. Basically I am not really a big cook and I did not experiment with healthy dishes last time around. I Just tried to commit to eating like you have to now (meat and veggies) but for life and I couldn’t do it. I got board and I found things that were within the allowed calories while the portions were small but once I could eat more they actually added up too fast. This time I’m just trying ti find at least A handful of things that are actually tasty to me that will work when I finally get back to regular foods. Something to look forward to while I’m in the weight loss stage. And it’s kinda weird but I’m not hating the cooking as much as I used to. It’s kinda like knowing that it’s actually something good for my body makes it a little less of a chore to me.

I saw a few relatives over the Christmas holiday that hadn't seen me since WLS in April. All were very supportive and complimentary of my 100+ weight loss. One gal who is overweight, was very interested and asked many questions, considering WLS for herself. Then she said, "I don't know... I'm not really ready to take the easy way out." 🙄 Uhhhh I didn't get mad because I knew she was just being ignorant, but I did say... "Honey... it's far from easy." No one had been rude or called me fat when I weighed 320 lbs. at my heaviest. But they didn't have to. The look of shock, to those who knew me before, said it all. Strangers all treated me like I was invisible. But now? I read someone on here say, if I wasn't good enough for them when I was overweight, I'm too good for them now. Kind of agree with that.

I had my surgery a day after you!!! I was also completely out of it for a few days. Haven’t vomited since the first day of the operation though. I weighed myself after a week and had lost 5lbs but I lost 20lb doing the LRD which was pure liquids for 3 weeks before my op!! I had a call from the surgeon today that said to not focus on weight for the first few weeks as it will constantly go up and down and then start to properly shift and stall and shift again when incorporating more textures and calories! I can have puréed food from next Tuesday. how are you incisions healing? I have a really awkward one that feels like a dent but it’s slowly getting there!!! hope your recovery goes well x

Sorry to hear you're dealing with all of this, it sounds rough. I know not all seasons of life can lend itself to it, but stress will cause the body to retain fat and prevent burning it. If there's any way to unload some of the stress, either by working out, meditation, going to a "rage room" where they let you smash stuff, anything that helps, it will help the weight loss process resume. I know its not always possible, having just come out of a season of life that felt like constant stress for 8 years with no seeming end. It was like I couldn't lose weight regardless of what I did, but I was always in a state of stress. I'm definitely not living a stress free life by any means now, but after years of therapy and practice, I guess I'm a little better at managing it now. That being said, my surgeon suggested a "reset" if weight regain happens 1 year+ after surgery. It was basically go back to the pre op diet to jump start things for a couple weeks, then slowly start adding back items from your normal diet, but keep watch to see if any of those are causing a stall or regain. Focus on hydration first, then protein, then unsaturated fat, then other fats, AND THEN carbs last. I wouldn't go as extreme as keto, but try to aim for single digit carbs per serving of something, or under 50-60g per day. Carbs are easy energy for our bodies, so it prefers to burn that first, and store any excess as fat, just as a survival mechanism. Everyone is slightly different, but some people's metabolism can be thrown off by certain imatation sugars and sugar alcohols. Even though they're 0 or low calorie, they can still trigger an insulin response like sugar or starches. You may want remove the biscuits for the time being and see if those may be the trigger for your body. Best of luck to you, and hoping things improve for you from here. Stay strong!

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!!!!!!

Hi all. New here. Had my surgery on 12/18/23: DS/BPD. Spent a single night in the hospital, with discharge ~1pm the following day. Apparently I'm having a somewhat rare complication, which is severe hiccups. By severe I mean where the diaphragm spasms and holds for 10 seconds, during which you cannot breathe. Fortunately, this hasn't happened more than once per day, and today I got a scrip for a drug called Reglan which should moderate the hiccups until whatever is irritating my diaphragm heals itself. Aside from that, the weight is dropping off rapidly. Lost 11 lbs on the 2 week pre-surgery 1K cal/day diet, and am losing since surgery an average of 2.3 lbs / day, which is mind blowing. Cheers, Bruce

I am doing great! Today actually marks the day 1 year ago that I decided to make that phone call and set an appointment to learn about weight loss surgery. I felt so sad and hopeless and out of control. Today I am joyful and hopeful and totally in control.

YAY! Congratulations!! KathyLev is right, it'll seem far away at first and then time will speed up and you'll be in the OR! The holidays will help the time go by. I wish you luck in losing the weight they want you to lose, I find it one of the dumbest requirements. We are having surgery because we can't lose the weight through conventional efforts. Why do they think having a surgery date scheduled all the sudden makes our bodies compliant?? I'm glad she didn't make you have to lose 30lbs or something...

1. What was the best part of surgery for you? The jumpstart to weight loss was obviously amazing, but I was surprised how quickly my usual body pain & aches stopped bothering me. My knee problems have basically vanished, and the lower back pain I had gotten so used to living with has gotten so much better. I can breath easier when doing things that used to have me out of breath -- going up 2 flights of stairs, for example. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? The pre-OP shakes -- I'm lactose intolerant and have trouble with stevia, and there were no shakes my care team could find for me that didn't have one-or-both things, so I spent a good 8-9 days barely keeping anything down. The surgery itself went off without a problem, and the pain wasn't as bad as I thought -- other than the car ride home! If you get WLS, bring a pillow to clutch to you afterwards!! 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? Nothing during, nor after -- but I'm only 10wks post-OP tomorrow. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? I too am on SSRIs for long-time depression & anxiety. Most days have been awesome and cheery. Even during the initial aches and pains of recovery, just knowing that things were going to start changing for the better improved my mental state. I still have bad moments / days but once I started seeing all the improvements to my life it makes it easier to push through. It certainly helps to have a good support system -- people in my life, but also honestly this forum. TBH I was in a #$%& mood all day and feeling lethargic, but logging in here I know that everyone here understands and it just makes me feel more settled. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? I am currently having a ton of problems with chicken breast. I hate 'dark meat' poultry, but tried chicken thighs recently and it's not too bad but still leaves me with a heavy feeling in my stomach -- still better than the stuck feeling in my chest that the white meat gave. I feel like no matter what I put on it or how I cook it, it's just clearly a No for now. That said, for the most part everything else has gone down well as long as I eat slowly, and make choices consistent with my care team's plan / schedule. Going from puree to soft foods was probably the hardest for me physically, because it felt so different in my stomach. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? It's early on for me, but the changes in my body's hormones seems to have stopped most of my cravings. When I'm having a rough time emotionally, I still have momentary yearnings for old 'comfort foods' but honestly just the thought of some of them will turn me off within a few minutes. (For some reason if I think about fatty oils too long, I just get nauseated). And many of my old comfort foods have just updated into healthier things I can eat. Instead of my mum's Dutch mashed potatoes, I have a smaller bowl of healthier mashed potatoes (or cauliflower, or heart of palm) with a scoop of bone broth powder to up the protein. Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, I have homemade meatballs and extra sauce -- or a ricotta bake instead of lasagna. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? I've had one instance of dumping syndrome so far, and it was 100% my own fault. I knew what the culprit was immediately (white-flour leftover tortilla and more difficult chicken breast). I won't lie, I seriously wanted to die for probably an hour, and then slept the rest of the day away. It's horrid. I'm hoping that I've learned enough to take better care / caution and avoid any more instances. Other than that, recovery has been pretty smooth. All my incisions healed up without issue, the gas pain only lasted a few weeks and then there was just a strange tightness / mild soreness on one side of my body for the first 5-6 weeks. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? I want to say 2-3 weeks. Around the time I started eating puree (week 3), my energy levels started bouncing back much more rapidly -- which let me walk more easily. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? 100% yes. NGL, sometimes I feel like skipping even though it's not suitable for someone my age, LOL. I feel like I've been more efficient at work post-OP just because of the energy improvement, and physically I notice the increased stamina every time I go on an errand or for a walk with my dog. (I tire her out now!) 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? For the better. Some of it is because the energy and the physical improvements make me feel better about myself in general, but part of it is kind of a trickle-down effect. I spend more time making good, healthy choices for myself, spend more time being mindful whether it's while I'm eating, or making a grocery list, cooking, etc. It's so much time spent on self-improvement and self-care. So I have less time to worry about what other people's secret thoughts or judgments might be and take people more at face value. I have less time to waste on people that bring toxicity to my life or can't respect my boundaries. It's like this microcosm of self-care made by investing my energy in my current journey has expanded it's hooks into the rest of my life. I feel like for the first time in my life, I am actually one of my top priorities. 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? I had moments of regret during dumping syndrome, for sure. But as soon as I recovered from that one bout, I was still happy I'd done the surgery. I think it definitely forces us to take ownership of our own health and making the best decisions we can towards that. I would recommend it to anyone who has struggled with weight loss and can honestly look at their life and see themselves living in this framework for the rest of their lives. By all accounts it seems to be incredibly important to keep it all up -- the vitamins and supplements, the healthy choices and portion sizes, etc. I would NOT recommend it for anyone looking for a magic pill. This takes work, will continue to take work.

Thank you for your post.. a breath of fresh air! I'm also 1 month post op and feeling pretty amazing. Like you no more pain in my back, my knees don't hurt and I don't walk down stairs like a toddler. I'm 28lb down and was really concerned at the start that I wasn't losing enough weight. But everyones body is different and this is my journey, so I'm trying not to compare against others and just follow the guidance of my dietitian. I got annoyed with myself yesterday cause I ate a choc biscuit 🍪. I'm still on puréed food and don't even know why I ate it but I'm not going to beat myself up about it just try not to do it again. I want this to work for so many reasons so I just need to focus on those x. Well done on your 37lbs!! Good luck for tomorrow x

Remission is a great way of looking at it. Without diligence in the form of lifestyle changes including good nutrition and proper exercise, the weight comes back. I should mention, when I was taking Saxenda and Wegovy, my insurance plus coupons covered all but between $25-50 of the monthly costs. At that price point I would consider taking it in the future if WLS wasn't enough to maintain my goal weight, but with 100 lbs to lose, meds won't get me there, whereas surgery hopefully will.