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I just passed my intermediate goal weight of 208 lbs. I'm celebrating this milestone today. My final goal weight is set at a realistic 190 lbs. The intermediate goal of 208 pounds is significant since that is my lowest weight in over 20 years. Also, with a BMI under 30, it is the weight I am no longer obese. I am classified as overweight. Results came so fast. I weighed 300 lbs. at the beginning of the year. It has only been 2 1/2 months since my revision SADI-S surgery. I cleaned out my closet since I couldn't wear any of my clothes anymore. Finding nutritious food I love to eat has made this so easy. Nearly all my meals have been prepared at home. I created a set of original recipes. Today's lunch was ground turkey meat tacos. Dinner will be stir fry cashew chicken. Two factors that motivated me to make these changes are resolved with my weight loss. My blood pressure is now always at a healthy level. Pain in my hip joint has diminished by over 90%.

It can be so frustrating when it is not dropping off as fast as either you believe it should, or compared to other people's experience. I am older (61), have crappy knees and a long time thyroid condition, so my expectations going in were tempered by those realities. I'm 6 months out and have lost about 50 pounds since the surgery, 60 including the pre-op. I found when I hit about 40 pounds down people really started to notice, and that gave me quite a little lift! (Even though I told myself and everyone else "I'm doing this for my health", it is still nice to hear, lol). I just went through a 3 week stall, I only lost 1.5 pounds in the entire month of July! However, I was getting smaller. I have never been big on tape measures, but I noticed my new clothes were getting looser! I've now lost almost 5 pounds in a week, so there you have it. Water, water, water, walking and some weight training is what I tried to do to keep sane during the stall. Everyone is going to lose at their own rate. If you are like me, the sane part of you knows that with your calorie and activity level you are going to lose weight, but it almost seems impossible! I have a friend who started weight watchers in January, and I had the surgery in February. She lost more weight than I did until March. Slowly her weight loss slowed to a stop, and mine has kept going. She has put back on over 5 pounds. I'm not judging, not at all, I have been on that yo-yo ride for years. I'm just pointing out that we all know you can lose weight without this surgery, and most of us have many times over. I am hoping that the physical restriction, coupled with the mental work I am doing now, will make me successful 2 years and 10 years and 20 years from now, and unfortunately due to whatever makes me tick that did not happen with traditional diets. Sorry for the wordy post, good luck, hang in there, and I'm rooting for you!

There are many factors that can contribute to this. Starting weight, height, age, gender just to name a few. I’m in my 30s and I ended up losing 70 pounds my first year. By week 10 I was only 27 pounds down :( I was a slow but steady loser. It really takes time to really see the progress. Just keep following your meal plan, drink your water, and cardio. The weight will fall off. For me what really helped was intermittent fasting. It’s a life changer. Look it up. It really helped me during my stalls. You will get there!!!!

Mine worked with my dad for over a year to try and save his leg before they ultimately amputated. I’m thoroughly convinced he saved my dad’s life. I actually met him at one of my dad’s post op appointments 2 years before I needed him. Fast forward to April 2019 and I need an appendectomy and he’s the surgeon I chose for that. At my post op he invited me to a bariatric seminar and he did my sleeve in December 2019. He’s also my surgeon for my RNY revision this coming Tuesday. I don’t think I could trust another surgeon with what he does.

I'm 73, had my sleeve 6 yrs ago. Would I do it again? I'm not sure but I doubt it and here's why. I'm very healthy now as I was before my surgery. My PB is normal as are all my other blood levels etc. The big problem I never had before the surgery is GERD. I'm lucky I only have to take 1 Prilosec a day, but if I don't take it I have a lot of acid and pain. I have a small hiatial hernia by the esophagus which adds to the GERD. Also Prilosec can affect the kidneys but I can't go w/o it. Also constipation is an issue I have that I never did before surgery. I have to take 2 softeners a day plus fiber to keep regular. The only food issue is I love sauerkraut but it doesn't love me anymore. In all these years I've only lost 30 lbs total starting at 200 I'm now 171. Lowest I ever got was 167. Right now I'm doing a 18/6 intermittent fasting and low carb to see if I can take off more weight and gain more energy. . It has been a fight to the finish to get 1 lb off after my weight loss stopped. In hindsight I would not have had the surgery. The decision is an individual choice and I'm happy for all who are a success and healing thoughts to all who are having problems.

Yup! It wasn't bad at all. It was mainly weird having something that far up my nose. My tip is breathe in when they are inserting it and stay calm. It's a scratching feeling but it's over fast. Afterwards my eyes watered and nose felt itchy and a mild burn. Within 5-10 minutes it was gone. You got this! Sent from my motorola one hyper using BariatricPal mobile app

So I stop when I feel “full”, OR whenever I finish my portion, which ever comes first...though 95% of the time, the “full feeling” comes first. This feeling of fullness is not the same as pre-surgery however. Instead of the the feeling of space being used up all over my my body, it is now a pressure in a small section of my chest (the more I eat, the stronger the pressure). It’s been a while, but I remember pre-surgery fullness somehow feeling more “satisfying” than this chest-pressure. Which is probably why I don’t care to stuff myself these days and just prefer to have a taste of things. I also want to note that there are times that I actually feel “stuffed” (when I had one too many bites of something or other, or if I eat too fast). But this stuffed feeling I equate to pain and the only relief is to barf, so I try my best to avoid getting to that point in the first place... Edited to add: Also, at almost 2 years out (1yr, 10mnths), I do actually feel hungry sometimes...but it doesn’t take much to make the hungry go away)

My Nutritionist encouraged 10 hour fasting and she mixed up the calories, At 600 calories a day you are going to break free of this stall and shred the weight. One thing mix up your diet a little try different foods, My go to was seeds and nuts Low calories and kept. There is no doubt the first 6 months are a b***h. But it will work and there is all the proof in the images here.

I am only supposed to do 600 cal per day. I already tried the fasting thing, but my nutritionist said not to do that.

Welcome to the mission! Been there done that! Ok trust me on this, you have to not let it get to you, you will end up in a rubber room with a jacket that buckles from the back. Everyone above nailed it, Mix up your diet alot, different foods, try some fasting, and flucuate you calories I would do 3 days at 1100 calories then drop to a day of 500 then bump to 800 - That really worked for me Your body is saying WTF and is trying to conserve its fat = You gotta trick it. Love the post above Its not the scale, You will get there we all have and it will be the best journey you have ever done

Tomorrow is my one month surgery anniversary and I cannot believe it has gone by so fast . I have to say the first two weeks where not good and I really regretted it. But I still hope I did the right thing. But yesterday I was allowed normal food. So I tried shredded lettuce and thin tomatoe slices with tuna. I was in heaven! I am so glad my stomach still likes lettuce. I think I would have been really sad if I couldn’t have lettuce anymore. Oh I also splurged this morning and had 2 inches of sprouted bread that I toasted from Wegman’s. It was spot on amazing. Hope everyone is feeling great and enjoying there anniversary!🙂

I read a few of these when I was considering surgery and I promised myself that I would do the same thing once I was post-op so that maybe I could help anyone who may need to know the details (like me), or anyone sitting on the fence at the time (like me), or just looking for signs that this was the right thing to do (me again). I discussed the sleeve surgery with my doctor over 2 years ago after countless weight losses and re-gains. That's basically been the story of my life forever. I was a chubby kid, I've never been thin. I probably starting yo-yo dieting when I was 15 and I had my 1st boyfriend. I've done all the diets. Starvation, jenny craig, weight watchers, nutri-system, herbalife, keto, low carb, optivia, ideal protein, bars and shakes, etc... the list could go on and on. I'd lose the weight (sometimes), I even got down to a size 6 when I was about 38. But eventually, overeating called my name and I'd be back to where I started plus 10. Relatable huh? It's not even that I eat poorly, to be honest. Yes I love bad and delicious food, fast food, desserts, etc... but 80% of the time, I am eating a home-cooked meal with veggies and protein (and likely a starch), I just eat too much. My appetite is monstrous. I'm 4'11 and I can eat the same size plate as my husband who works out every day. I come from the 'clean plate club' and always finish my meal. In discussing the sleeve with my doctor he agreed it was going to be the solution I was looking for. Then I told him I wanted to go to Mexico and he agreed that travel tourism can be wonderful (he sends patients to Brazil for plastics) and that he wanted to be part of the decision making process for the doctor. So I took my list of 25 candidates that Facebook told me were awesome, and I narrowed them down to 3 choices: Dr Alvarez, Dr Elias Ortiz and Dr Illan. I presented them each to my primary care physician in the states with their resumes and credentials, we got on a zoom call to discuss the 3 of them and he told me that Dr Illan was his 1st choice, hands down. He chose Dr Illan because he is a board certified master surgeon, his anesthesiologist is also board certified specifically for bariatric surgery, his hospital is private and has an ICU, his hospital has been given awards of excellence, and he only performs 3 surgeries per day. So I called, paid my $500 deposit to get my date, and promptly pooped my pants from nerves. The 10-day pre-op came quickly and was not that bad. I was too excited to be annoyed by it. I got headaches and was hungry, but all in all it wasn't terrible. Before I knew it, my flight from Florida to San Diego was the next morning - I couldn't believe it! My bestie and I arrived in San Diego the day before my surgery (arrived Friday, surgery was Saturday) and we were met at the airport by Carlos; along with one of my surgery sisters that I had already met on Facebook. Get you a surgery sister (or brother) - find out who's having surgery the same day as you and you will become friends! We hung out a lot post-op and I've made friends for life. The drive to the border was quick and easy, before I knew it we were at the hospital dropping off the other person b/c her surgery was bright and early the next day. Carlos whisked us off to Hotel Real Inn, only about 10-15 minutes from the hospital. Mexico treats covid more seriously than we do in the US; so feet wiping, temp taking and hand sanitizing is a requirement literally every single place you go. Carlos pointed out that to the right of our hotel was a open-air shopping plaza and to the left was a grocery store. So after we got settled in, we went to explore and had such a great afternoon in Tijuana! I bought a size small goal outfit for $7 at one of the little boutiques and little knick nacks to bring home to my family. I love that my friend and I had that time to settle in and do some safe exploring. I didn't feel unsafe even for a second, its a very populated area with lots of folks shopping and walking around. That night I ordered my bariatric meal (best popsicle ever!) and my friend ordered authentic mexican street tacos from Uber for like $7. The next morning, we were picked up at 9am to head over to the hospital and get ready for surgery <insert panic>. When you get there, more sanitizing and temp checking and then you head off to get your blood drawn after filling out paperwork. Next comes, chest x-ray, EKG and just a general check up from a doctor to clear you for surgery. So I'll tell you that this part is likely the part that doesn't leave me with the best feeling. The doctor that looked at my EKG seemed to glance at it for about 2 seconds. The cardiologist is probably an awesome cardiologist, but lacked that bedside manner that we see in doctors in the states too. He cleared me for surgery and I said "so my heart looks good?" and he replied "yeah its ok" and then left the room. My bestie reminded me that that not all doctors gush all over you and that he was probably just one of those. Suddenly, Dr Illan and the anesthesiologist were in my room and it was almost go time. Dr. Illan explained the procedure and had a lovely chat with us, I didn't feel rushed or like I was asking too many questions. He explained the OR and that the surgical team in the OR were all also bariatric surgeons (not general surgeons). He told me that I was important and my safety was his #1 priority. He was so wonderful. Them standing there suddenly made me very nervous and I started to cry because I was scared. Dr Illan came to the side of my bed and rested his hand on my leg to comfort me and promised it was going to be ok, told me not to cry. It seemed to upset him to see me upset! In the meantime the anesthesiologist called for some anti-anxiety meds in my IV and I was calm again. Before I knew it, I was in the OR being asked to scoot onto the table and the nurse was signaling to me that it was time to go to sleep. I think some of the nurses in the OR don't speak English, but I speak Spanish so I told her I was ready and before I knew it - I was awake and in recovery. Coming out of being under is funny, as I'm sure many of you know. You're there, but you can't quite open your eyes. I was listening for alarm beeps of monitors or conversations on Spanish that something was wrong, but I was ok. I also had no gas pain. Everyone warns you about that gas pain and I had zero. I was in the recovery room for maybe an hour? My BP was a little high so they gave me something sublingually to lower it, but I don't remember much else. Wheeled back to my room, I spent the rest of the day hearing movies played in the background by my friend and dozing in and out of sleep. I don't actually think I slept much though. I was so groggy I could hardly stand. The nurses came to check on me often, they were giving me lots of drugs in the IV (antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, etc) and a chewable gas pill. Here's something no one told me - you do not get to drink anything until the day AFTER your surgery and you've had your leak test. All you can have is an ice cube to put in your mouth and you have to spit it back out. That's it. I had a sore throat from being intubated and I badly wanted a drink of water - but I didn't get one until the next morning. I really only got up to pee once and felt woozy. I didn't do all the walking they said you're supposed to, I definitely physically couldn't have! I was groggy to the extreme. Getting up to pee was hard enough. I didn't have any gas pain though, thank god for small miracles. My hospital stay was uneventful medically. I had low pulse ox, so had some oxygen for awhile (over 24 hours) and my BP went up a little sometimes but was controlled by the meds they gave me. The 2nd day I had my leak test in the AM and was cleared to have some fluid and had the best tasting water of my life! I sipped slowly and that 1st liquid to hit my new belly felt weird. Our instinct is to chug and you definitely can't do that. I did have some internal soreness and they gave me toradol for that and I felt fine afterwards. Sunday morning I was out in the loser's bench area with my surgery sisters hanging out. That day, we had a valet named Julio. He was AMAZING. It was my bestie's birthday and he helped me order a delicious cake to be delivered from Uber and even went to find a sign for it. We gathered our new friends and Julio gathered some staff and we all surprised her by singing happy birthday and another yummy mexican meal. It was awesome! We hung out with my surgery sisters (we met a 3rd) and their companions in the hallway and all got to know each other, it was great. Monday morning came quickly and then we met Bill and Stacy. Dr Illan came back to my room to check on me and we had another lovely chat. He told me that my stomach was big! lol I knew it was. He got a picture of it for me, which of course blew my mind. He had us take a picture together and he wished me all the luck and told me he couldn't wait to hear about my success story. We left the hospital, hit up a pharmacy, and then Miguel drove us back to the Hotel Real Inn around 10am and then we had a whole other day in Tijuana! I felt perfect so we ventured out again, hit a few shops, and went to the grocery store to bring home Mexican goodies for my family. (I had to go and buy a duffel bag for all the fun stuff I got). I ordered my bariatric meal again and took a nice shower and went to bed, ready to travel back to Florida on Tuesday. Julian picked us up at 7:45 for our 12:15pm flight (you never know what can delay you at the border) and we had an awesome drive with him. Some roads were blocked, so we were delayed but still had gobs of time. Julian lived in NYC for a long time, so he's pretty American - we loved him. We laughed and joked around the entire ride and he told us about life living in Mexico. We got on a jet plane and we came home! I've been home 3 days now and I continue to feel awesome. I'm sore and my belly is bruised (where they took my huge stomach out), but I work from home - so rest is all it I need. I haven't been nauseous once or vomited. Day 5 post op and I'm down 13.6 lbs already - since pre-op. So this sounds like a dream huh? Because it was. It was like going on vacation where I also happened to have an organ removed lol. I will tell you that I would give one piece of feedback for the ultimate experience, the only thing I thought was lacking or could've been done differently. I wish I could've met Dr Illan before I got to Mexico. It's pretty standard to have a conversation with a doctor prior to surgery and you don't get that until you're there. I wish he had emailed me personally, or had a phone call or a video chat. He could've even made me a personal 1-minute video and emailed it to me - just so I knew that he knew I existed and was going to be a patient. That would've calmed me even before I got there. I realize that a lot of people consider surgery and probably don't go through with it, so it could be a waste of time - but that's the cost of doing business. I am a business owner and have consultations with people that never hire me either. It's built into my business model and daily schedule. Not meeting Dr Illan ahead of time obviously didn't stop me from choosing him, but it almost did. The other doctors I considered contacted me directly (one with a personal video and one with a whatsapp video call). If you are thinking about doing this surgery, let my testimony help you decide that it is going to be ok. That chances are, it will go amazingly, There is this new life waiting for us that maybe we don't believe is real or we don't believe we deserve. But it is real and we do deserve it! Give yourself the gift of this weightloss to take your life back. I'm so glad I did and I can't wait to see this weight melt off me and stay off me. Having my surgery with Dr Illan was the best medical experience of my life. I felt cared for, safe, attended to, and healthy the whole time I was there. The hospital is like a resort, very modern and very clean. The nurses and valets were insanely attentive. Now go leave your stomach in Mexico!

There are a million posts on this topic here. Everybody is different and your body is fighting back. I found mix a little 12 hour fast in it and mix up your calorie count one day do your 1200 next day do 900 - The key is you have to trick your body into burning again. Right now it says no way Conserve fat Conserve But great job and the lifestyle change will come and become way easier

This is gonna be TMI and nasty, since it's all about constipation. 30 days post-op and yesterday was the absolute worst day I've had. I can't recall being in as much pain and discomfort in all 43 years of my life. My post-op constipation has been ongoing. Generally there's been 3-4 days between bowel movements and every bowel movement has taken a lot of effort. Yesterday...yesterday was a whole new world of suffering. I was on day 4 since the last BM and woke up knowing I was backed up and I was going to have one at some point soon. Except 5 trips to the bathroom yielded nothing but straining and discomfort. I ended up going home early because I was so uncomfortable. Came home and downed 60ml of milk of magnesia and prayed it would work fast. It didn't. Ran to the store for Miralax (which my surgeon wanted me to avoid for the time being) and an enema kit. Drank the Miralax, despite knowing it wasn't going to actually do anything right away, but would hopefully start the process of helping going forward. Called my primary care because I was in so much pain and was pretty much told to drink MoM and start on Miralax and definitely use the enema to hopefully break things up and make it easier. Waited a couple of hours to see if I could pass anything on my own or if the MoM was helping. Nothing but liquid and blood from hemorrhoids for my trouble. Finally gave in and used an enema. Met with even higher levels of pain as I expelled the liquid, but nothing else. Spent 20 minutes on the toilet in agony and tears, on the verge of asking to be rushed to the ER. I could not physically stop straining to pass what was blocked. I was finally able to get it to pass and was horrified by what had finally left my body. I am 99% certain I was on the verge of a fecal impaction based on what finally came out. The diameter was about 1.5" and probably a total of 12" in length. I ended up having one more loose movement about 45 minutes later which may have been from the MoM or remnants of the enema...not sure. Then followed 8 hours of added agony in the aftermath where extra strength Tylenol did very little to ease the discomfort. Sitting down? Hurt. Standing up? Hurt. Lying down? Hurt. Went to bed around 10pm. Fell asleep around 1am when the pain finally started to subside. No BM this morning. Mixed Miralax in with my breakfast protein shake. Not sure if I should do more MoM today or not. Need to go to the store and get Benefiber since the Celebrate powder clearly doesn't have enough fiber in it for me. But the worst thing is that I am genuinely afraid of trying to go to bathroom now. I can't go through that again. I would gladly take the pain from the first two days post-op back if I could get rid of this constipation. I really hope that I can get past this.

Burger on the plate or lettuce wrapped. Side salad and your choice of seafood/fish. Ask what their freshest veggies are and request steamed veggies and a grilled chicken breast. I have found that if you ask for something most places other than fast food or restaurants that don’t really cook anything are very helpful.

Love this post was gone for awhile from here but good idea 1. Struggling to tie my shoes 2. As a guy not comfortable with shirt off 3. Fitting in a Airplane seat with no belt exstender 4. Not being able to fly in a helicopter 5. Getting winded fast on stairs or other activities like fishing 6. Most importantly I do not miss FOOD

I had my surgery last year when I was 59. Great results, no post-op pain whatsoever, fast recovery, etc. My one poor outcome was that the 100+ lb. weight loss aged me terribly. I look about ten years older than I did when I was fat and my skin is wrinkled like a SharPei's. That said, the WLS was still absolutely necessary and a lifesaver for me.

I had my VSG surgery @62 in November 2018. No problems, no pain, recovered fast. Now @64 nobody believes me I'm THAT old because I'm full of energy, eat healthy and go to gym regularly.

Wow, that is fast! What work do you do? In a way I feel like if I need to be up and moving anyway, then if I'm at work I'll have that motivation.

Thank you, I also have blood pressure on the low side and never fast to heal from anything, so am starting to think it might take me closer to the four weeks rather than the 1/2 I was initially thinking. Good idea about phased return, I hadn't considered that. I have so far relied on my bosses assumption of 'lady problems' too! Fortunately I have very supportive colleagues, but everyone is so busy I'm conscious of not being a burden. Hopefully all will work out.

My surgeon said he has taken patients to O.R. and found liver too large to safely operate so stopped. You certainly don't want that to happen. You should lose some weight and shrink liver during presurgery diet. Hopefully you have time to get back on track. Fast food cannot be an option for you now anr at least the next year during weight loss. Stats: 5'1", age 67, female. Highest weight: 245. BMI 41. Surgery Date: May 28, 2020. Weight at surgery: 211. VSG.

weight gain during year 3 is very common - with or without PCOS. Some people have had luck with Weight Watchers, intermittent fasting, or Keto. Some just go back to what they were doing in year 1 - not all the way back to protein shakes and purees, but the whole protein first, then non-starchy vegetables, and maybe an occasional serving of fruit or whole-grain carb. If you do the latter, start tracking (if you're not doing it anymore) to see where you're averaging calorie-wise, and then start cutting back from that. I find that easier to do if I cut 100 calories at a time rather some drastic cut. different methods work for different people - so just find one that works for you. You CAN lose regain - although it's much slower and harder than it was when you were in weight loss mode.

@ms.sss I’m torn. It’s hard seeing myself as tiny. And thinking of wearing something that might draw attention. I live in a retirement community with my mom. I’ve lived most of my life overweight, fighting my weight, living with chronic illness and disability that only gets worse. I try to see the positive in what the surgery has given me. Something I never really had before. Some parts are still loose my knees are a bit weird. I’m not in a good place lately. I’m not depressed just not sure where I am in life. Not something I can talk about on a public forum. anyway. My measurements are 32” bust 25.5” under bust (bra band) I’d need a 28 bra size - 24” waist (I ever in my life imagined having a waist that size) 33.5” hips 16.5-17” thigh My one leg is at least half an inch smaller on the left side. My entire left side is smaller due to some aspect of my medical conditions. I haven’t bought a swimsuit I don’t know when I could go in a pool. I haven’t thought about it. My body doesn’t much like chlorine. im in a trap between people wanting me to be happier with the results of the surgery and me not knowing what my reaction is supposed to be or how I am supposed to feel. I’ve never seen myself as feminine or attractive for the entirety of my life. But like I said it’s just not things you discuss on a public forum. Is it tied to my being on the autism spectrum. Maybe. My childhood. Maybe. My chronic Illness. Maybe all those things. It just is what it is. sorry. I wish I had normal answers. It does surprise me to see the results. Maybe at some point when the last bandages come off I’ll process it better. I’m not sure ... the lowest my weight ever got was 2009 124lbs and I followed a strict low carb low calorie way of eating but it didn’t stay there. A few weeks it settled at 134lbs and stayed. Fast forward and eventually got to where I was still following the way of eating but my weight skyrocketed (again) and my gallbladder went to crap and I sought out gastric bypass surgery. I never thought I’d ever reach goal let alone this goal. when opportunity came to possibly have plastic surgery I grabbed it because I knew if I didn’t, it wouldn’t happen at all ...

For me it was life changing in every sense. The surgery was quite simple, minor pain at the incision areas, but aside from that really no serious pain. Thankfully, I didn't have some of the 'gas pains' that others have. No nausea, vomiting or extreme discomfort. Not really very hungry for the first few weeks either. I'm not sure if it's common practice, but right before my surgery and at my 6-month check up I had a "Myers Cocktail" which is basically a bunch of vitamins given through IV. Really helped with recovery and energy levels during a time where you really can't get much energy from food. YMMV, but for me recovery was super fast. I was eating pureed food by day 2 and solid foods by I think the end of week 2. Don't worry too much about calories in the beginning. Regardless of what you eat, you won't be able to eat much. Refried beans were a lifesaver for me the first few days on pureed foods, and the Ricotta bake that you see mentioned so much here was also a staple. Couple pieces of advice (again, everyone's different but some of what I see on here leads me to believe that the issue is more frequent than some others): Pay attention to your water. Sounds silly, but right after surgery I had no interest in drinking anything. I had to remind myself to drink water. So I started carrying around my water everywhere. That helped. Kept me sipping throughout the day. One of my biggest issues pre-op was that I ate fast, and when I say fast I mean really really fast. I honestly believe that was a huge part of my weight gain as it led to difficulty digesting, overeating, etc. Use the time in the beginning to re-train yourself on eating slowly and chew chew chew chew chew! Even your liquids. Even your pureed food. Even your smoothies. Chew it all. Sounds weird, but helped me monumentally. Don't try to jump into exercise too early, but don't put it off too long either. We all do this to bring about changes beyond food. We all want to be more active, make healthier choices. It's easy to want to jump right in, but I would wait until you get clearance from your doc (ask) to start, because any injury can cause complications with the surgery or set you back in your recovery or both. Also, you don't want to wait too long because it's WAY TOO EASY to fall back into old habits. Ask your doc at every checkup if you're cleared to exercise and when you are, get moving. Have a plan ready to go. Start with walks and move into beginner plans if you have to and then progressively take on more as you can, but start. Don't get discouraged with stalls. They happen. For some they happen sooner than others, but I think most of us experience them. Just stick to your plan. There are some good articles on here about how to work through stalls. Stalls will hit your ego a lot harder than your overall progress, I promise. Keep with your plan, and you'll push through. Use this time to change what you eat. Just because you can't eat as much of something does not mean that it's a good thing to eat. In the very beginning (first 1-2 weeks), you just need to get something in. Once you start back on solid foods, make sure you're choosing healthy foods. That doesn't mean you have to count calories, macros or any of that. Of course you can if that's what helps you, but I would use this time to find what works best for you. Since you can't eat a lot of different foods, chances are when you start back on solids you'll likely be eating only 1-2 different foods at a time. There won't be 3-4 sides, etc. It's a good time to see how different foods make you feel. Some people do great on a high-protein, low-carb diet. That didn't do it for me. I stuck with the physician's plan for the first 30 days (high protein), but I wanted something more balanced and more sustainable (for me) long-term. I made the change to go to a whole-foods based diet, and it's what I still do today, almost 5 years post-op. I stay away from anything processed as much as I possibly can. This doesn't limit me as much as other diets and it worked really for me. Try foods and see how they make you feel. Weed out the ones that leave you feeling bad, bloated, tired, etc. Enjoy what you couldn't enjoy pre-op. When you get out there and start enjoying the things that you may not have been able to do before your surgery, it's automatic motivation to stay on plan. If you have activities or certain things you have had to sit out because of your weight, having the opportunity to do them is like being a kid again and doing these activities for the first time. Remember those experiences. They will get you through any challenges you might face. Remember that times do get challenging, but that's why you're here. There's a lot of support here. I'm sure you have family and friends to help in that arena as well, but there's something about talking with people who've experienced everything you're going through. Don't forget that we're here. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I hope this gives you some encouragement as you start your journey. Best of luck to you and please keep us in the loop with how everything is going!

I gained 20 lbs after hitting my lowest point (138). I really needed to gain the first 10 lbs of it - I'd gotten too thin. But I've been struggling to lose the last 10 because I DIDN'T need or want that part of it (have managed to lose like 3 of it -- since March! It's tough...) anyway, I still track my food intake, but I've been doing that since my surgery in 2015 (actually, even BEFORE surgery). I've made a serious effort to stay within my maintenance calorie range, which for me is 1500-1700 per day - and I'm trying to stay at the low end of that (1500). I also really increased my exercise. My primary exercise these days is biking, which I usually do for 60-90 minutes a day, five or six days a week. It's working, but it's S-L-O-W. I know if I lowered my calories even more, to like 1200, the weight would come off faster - but I'm evidently not ready or willing to do that yet or I'd already be doing it. BUT....I'm sure it would work. at this point I just count calories - and I've been doing that since I was about a year out from surgery. I can eat anything as long as it fits into my daily calorie limit. I know that doesn't work for everyone, though. I know several people who are trying to lose regain doing Keto, or Weight Watchers, or Intermittent Fasting. And many just go back to what they were doing the first year post-surgery (not all the way back to protein shakes and purees, but back to protein first, then non-starchy vegetables - and then maybe an occasional serving of fruit or whole-grain carb) it basically comes down to what works for you and what you think you'll be able to sustain long term. Losing regain is hard and it's slow, but it's do-able