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I recall having some unusual pain, too - but not severe. As BabySpoons said, I think it had to do with everything re-aligning after a substantial weight loss. Fortunately, though, it was temporary.

stalling is a very normal part of weight loss. Most people lose weight in a "stair step" pattern. The best thing to do is make doubly sure you're following your plan to a "T" and stay off the scale for a few days. Maybe just weigh yourself once a week until it breaks. And as long as you're following your plan, it WILL break. Your body just has to stop and recalibrate once in awhile.

I don't know about not losing weight AT ALL with a low calorie diet, but for most of us, the pattern before weight loss surgery was that we'd lose weight but then gain it all back within a few months. It's because you're fighting biology. Your hunger hormones, your gut biome - everything is fighting against you to get back to your previous weight. Weight loss surgery resets a lot of that. That's not to say you won't gain it all back. Some people let bad habits slip back in and take over. But as long as you watch that, the loss is "maintainable".

Has anyone done a low calorie diet and not lost weight, but had success losing all the weight with VSG? I’m curious how it works if eating low calorie didn’t work out. Even though I’m getting VSG, I’m scared it won’t work since I have not lost weight with the low calorie diet.

I started having back pain after losing 50+ pounds and it lasted a couple months. In my case I started going to a chiropractor for adjustments. I was told as I lost weight, everything shifts and needs to be realigned. My body was used to carrying around over 300 pounds so it stands to reason that my back, hips etc would be out of whack. I also had shooting pains down both legs when I did my daily 2-3 mile walks. It scared me. My chiro worked on those as well. Pinched nerves from being overweight and sedentary sitting. I was waking them up with exercise. I pushed through it all and after about 3 months of adjustments and additional weight loss, my pain is gone. All of it. You mentioned having physical therapy. Not sure if that included any chiropractic help but it might be worth a try. It sure helped me and hoping the same for you.

I am so excited for you!! Yaaaayyy!! It is really crazy how changing fluids and sleep can make a difference in weight loss! I too notice it immediately on the scale when I slack. It is common knowledge, yes, but so many people brush it off as unimportant when compared to food or exercise. But man, sleep and hydration will undermine your efforts elsewhere if they aren't on point. You are doing an awesome job, pat yourself on the back for changing two habits it would have been easy to ignore!

I totally get it! I am 2 weeks post op and I am only down 2 pounds from what I weighed the day before surgery. It's hard to say if it's a stall after dropping 15lbs rapidly on the preop diet, or if it's because I had so much fluid weight coming home from two days on an IV. But it messes with your mind, either way. It's easy to panic and think this is it, it's not going to work. But the truth is, stalls will break when they're good and ready to break. All you can do is keep working on living the healthy lifestyle you want to live and give yourself a break when you fall short of it. You can't expect to be perfect every minute, but I do think if you beat yourself up about it, you reinforce the idea that you will fail, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where you're more likely to give in to temptation again next time because you're feeling demoralized from all the negative self talk. 2 dress sizes down is amazing!

If you stop eating food you will not lose weight. If you don't eat enough food you will not lose weight either... If your calories are too low you will drop into starvation mode and your body will lock down and refuse to lose weight as much as possible in order to keep you safe. Stressful events in our lives can cause this to happen too, but it is most commonly caused by not eating enough food. Your surgeon should have given you a caloric goal along with a sample menu. I think eating protein several times a day is a good sign, chicken and steak are good proteins, as is the yogurt, and most people post op end up using shakes for a while to meet their goals. There is one very big issue with shakes though---they are NOT filling. In fact they will often make you feel hungry. Looking over your menu for the day what I notice is a distinct lack of fiber. With the exception of the little bits you are getting in the fruit in one of your shakes, you have no fiber. Fiber is very important for fullness and many low carb veggies are very low in calories while being quite voluminous. You are 6 months post op, you should be cleared for all foods, that means veggies of a wide variety. Things you can try that are easier on the tummy: baby spinach (both raw and sauteed), baby bok choy (steamed or sauteed), carrots (raw, steamed, or roasted), cucumber, tomatoes (both raw or cooked), broccoli and cauliflower if they don't make you bloated (both raw and cooked in a myriad of ways), asparagus, summer squash (sauteed or roasted), zuchinni (sauteed or roasted), eggplant (baked), heart of palm noodles, spaghetti squash, and on it goes. Beans are also a good source of fiber while being high in protein too. Well cooked and rinsed beans are a great way to boost volume in your diet! You could also do split peas and lentils. A bean soup would be filling while still being low in calories. At least half your plate per meal and snack should be made up of fruits and vegetables. Personally, I'd drop the Atkins shake and add vegetables to every meal and snack. Make sure to pair them with protein: hummus with carrot sticks, peanut butter with sliced apples, boiled eggs made into an egg salad and paired with cucumbers, fresh mozzarella with basil, balsamic glaze, and sliced tomatoes, chicken with steamed asparagus, steak with roasted carrots and squash, small salads with protein toppers, yogurt topped with berries and a few spoonfuls of granola. These things will help you feel full and give you a lot of nutrients that you really need right now to feel satisfied. I'd also skip the macaroni for a whole grain or root vegetable if you are craving carbs. So try a side of buckwheat or quinoa, or roasted sweet potatoes, mashed redskin potatoes with the skins on, or roasted pumpkin or butternut squash.

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.

I am currently restricted to eat raw food, such as salad and crunchy fruit. No nuts yet. At about 3 months then I can try, but I would imagine still have to slowly add them to see how I tolerate. Which when I go to Disney I will be only about 2 and a half month. I can eat chicken and fish with no problem now. I did look at Disney app to see what they have available. Look like grill salmon is on the menu and I sure can eat some smoke turkey leg. My current stall is making my brain sending me signals to eat and making me crave for a lot of unhealthy food. I still still eating about 3oz protein 1oz veggie and 1 oz starch. But I gained 3lbs, I got to 229lbs and were so happy I’m in the 220 range which is before my pregnancy, but this morning I am now 232! I have head hunger all day long, and wants to eat so much. I broke down today and kinda cheated. I ate half a sandwich from Panera Bread… It was tuna sandwich, and some chips! I didn’t even feel sick from it and I am so scared… I am feeling so guilty and feel like such a failure.

So interesting to read these replies - we all come from such different places! I was also a binge eater. I went for the sleeve because it felt less disruptive to my anatomy - didn't mind at all losing a big chunk of stomach. I also actively did NOT want a high risk of dumping (although I know some sleevers do). My one worry was my reflux getting worse. I gambled on it not getting worse because any other time I had lost a significant amount of weight it had actually improved. I won my gamble. The sleeve is suiting me very well so far.

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!

For the past 6 months I've been dealing with severe back pain. Both upper and lower back pain. It seems to shift around depending on the month. Tylenol barely helps. I took prednisone one time and that did help but I don't think that's a long-term solution. It's already wearing off. I've tried physical therapy twice in the past year. I've had x-rays and MRIs the doctors don't see anything. I did visit with a specialist at New England Baptist spine center i Boston and he said he's had several other cases of people who had the same surgery, had lost 60 lb, knew their protein intake and were having severe back pain. He didn't have an immediate answer, but did order another MRI. I'm curious if anyone else on this forum has dealt with this. It seems counterintuitive to lose 100 lb and have back pain get worse. I do have a history of back pain. I've been a physical therapy many times. But I never expected it to get worse as I lost weight. If you have this problem and had any success dealing with it (or not) please let me know. Thank you, Jonathan

Thank you!!! It's been QUITE the journey lol But I wouldn't change a thing. I honestly never thought I would get this close to my goal weight. And while the last 30 pounds have really been fighting me, I'm DETERMINED to get where I want to be. Even if I go up 5 pounds or so (which I know is normal) once I hit my goal, I just want to get there, see myself in ONEderland, and know that I really did it. I find myself changing things up periodically to "confuse" my body, an when I do, I drop another 2 or 3 pounds. So i know it's working. It's just annoying that it goes so slow at the end LOL

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!!!!!!

Oh I forgot to answer this part. My biggest “YAY” moment was when I realized I could buy any bra I wanted (not just tactical grade special order sizes from Plus size stores). When I traveled (mainly overseas), I always packed too many because of my irrational but not improbable fear of my bras breaking (they did every few months) and not being able to find my size (44H). Now wherever I travel I can just bring one bra/bralette or maybe just pasties. This is still my favorite thing about losing the extra weight.

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

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.

I've had moments of yay each time I was able to fit into the old clothes in my closet that didn't fit anymore. This week I took out my favorite pair of jeans from high school (during my restricting phase no less) and they were perfect. I was also happy when my waist dropped below 40 and 35 inches, which are considered cutoffs for disease risk for men and women respectively, at least in the US. I didn't start taking measurements religiously (once a month) until pretty far into my weight loss, but I ordered an eShakti dress for a wedding in 2018 at about 30 pounds below my highest weight and my measurements were 61-57-70 (chest-waist-hips). The day before surgery, my waist was 46 inches and hips 57 inches. My last measurements, from about a week ago, were 38.5-32.5-39.5. I've lost 30 inches from my hips, 24 from my waist, and 22 from my chest. (Yes, my WHR actually increased, but I've also been taking low dose testosterone for about 2 years.) Things have started to plateau, but I still have a sundress that I want to be able to fit into and I imagine I'll get there.

Band replaced in 2014 so yes 10yr mark and weight gain and no restriction what so ever at this point. Have 14cc band and supposedly I'm at 6cc. He is very cautious will fills. His bed side matter is great but where I live there are not a lot of experts. May go see my original surgery one hour away as he is now in a big group with lots of experts. I have a suspicion that the tube got punctured at my last fill since it took forever to find the port with the needle. He did mention scare tissue, healing, my history of slips etc. Maybe I'm over thinking it. Thanks so much.

This is great advice. I would also ask to speak to the surgeon and clarify the information the rest of his team are giving you. You are on a very restricted diet already, your body will not drop more weight easily without time. Its wrong of them to expect this. Speak out.

Stalls are the worst but you will get used to them and congratulations on your great weight loss. This is what I learned to do on holidays. Breakfasts at hotels are an easy choice for us. Plenty of good choices to be had. Look at every restaurant menu, study it and decide what is good for you before you are seated. I imagine there will be a fridge in your hotel room, stock it with protein yogurt, protein bars and protein drinks. Deli meats, cheese and nuts and seeds are good snack options if you can tolerate them. If at any time you get hungry and there is nothing on the menu - a glass of milk or a skinny latte are really good options If the trip involves a long car journey, plan ahead and pack your meals, drinks and snacks in a cool box. Here is where others will chip in and help you for sure. Enjoy your holiday

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 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.

It’s almost like they’ve conveniently forgotten you’ve lost your pre surgical weight & are just telling you to lose more as per their set playbook. I also love how they’re telling you to lose weight but aren’t supporting & guiding you in how to do it. Where’s their pre surgical diet? Where’s the referral to a dietician?? Like @NickelChip, I would suggest the three shake a day pre surgical diet many are given. Or do two shakes & one meal of 3 or 4 ozs Protein & 1/2 cup steamed vegetables or undressed salad. All the best. So I begin my pre-op diet in just over a weeks time, but to be honest I'm just really worried it won't get rid of the weight I need. My calorie count and nutrition is already so similar to what they want me to do, and I'm still struggling. I have an appointment next week to get some pre-op tests done, presumably weight and bloods etc, and even then I'm petrified if the number is even slightly above what they need, that'll be it. Other than a straight up water and broth fast, I really am stuck on what to do! I will be on all-liquids for the pre-op diet which is fine, but it's difficult to not get hung up on the fact they've drilled into my head that I MUST hit a certain number, regardless of my loss already.