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Hi and thank you so much for the above! I didn't know that about the watches, thank you for this insight. I think I do need to up my protein - I find it difficult to get a lot of it from food as I don't find myself that hungry that often. With regards to sleep, this may be my fault I fear. I tend to get between 4-6 hours a night every day, and I take probiotics maybe once a week in pill format? I need to book an appointment for bloodwork as I haven't had any done since the surgery. Thank you so much for all these suggestions!

Hi! I had my surgery on the 16th of October Australian time, so the 17th for a lot of the rest of the world! I'm a week out today. I'm adapting well, to the shift in liquid diet for someone who forgets to eat all the time! I still have a lot of pain that feels like GERD/reflux pain, but it's not unmanageable. I see the GP (not my usual, she's on holiday, but I'll be so jazzed to see her and show her my scars!) on Wednesday to get my incisions checked out, but they feel totally fine. I have been a little bummed that I got the illusion from social media that recovery would be a breeze. 😂 How is everyone else doing? Recovery-wise or in anticipation? I can't wait to get to know you all!

I was an equal opportunity savoury & sweet eater. I eliminated most sugar in the weeks after surgery when anything with sugar, artificial sweeteners or sugar alternatives tasted extra crazy sweet & was off putting. I haven’t really let it back into my eating. I get my sweet from blueberries every day & the occasional additional serve of fruit. It can be hard to eliminate it & the alternatives completely. It is added to just about everything in firm or another. I know I have about 5g of added sugar (multigrain crackers I eat) a day & some artificial sweetener (yogurt, protein bar & peanut paste) but that’s it. And none of these things taste sweet. I will have dessert at Christmas but that all I have of traditional sweet food. (I did have a small piece of wedding cake earlier this year.) There is some sugar in the rare G&T I have. None of these things make me crave sweet again. I remember during Covid, when the grocery shelves were bare, I could only buy a box of honey instant rolled oats - it was awful, super sweet & I couldn’t eat it. Personally, I’d rather eat something with real sugar than artificial sweetener - that stuff is so bad for you. Good luck.

I took it 3 weeks after my surgery as I came down with covid just a few weeks after my surgery. I took the pills as prescribed... so at their full size and at the normal dosage. It was fine. They also gave me tessalon pearls to help with the coughing as the coughing was really doing a number on my internal stitches.

I'm 68 years old and it was nice to hear from an older member. All of your points ring true and overall you seem to be doing great. Congrats on becoming "normal" size." I'm STILL pre-op. I was one week from surgery and came up with A-Fib which the cardiologist and I are working on. I'm hoping to be able to have the surgery by the end of this year. I think there will both phyisical and mental challenges, we'll see.

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post, all of your thoughts, comments and encouragement is great appreciated. I lost 2lbs this week so I am hoping it continues. I am eating healthy foods and continuing with the exercise. My diet has changed radically from pre-surgery, it is quite shocking the difference (not just in terms of calories and portion sizes, but also the quality of food I eat). I am keeping myself motivated towards my goal of IVF. Thank you all again xx

I quit slowly, just using things up at home and not buying more. Then once that was done, a few weeks later I started introducing a few artificially sweetened things. Unlike a lot of people, Im not anti-fake sugar. But I need a break from sweets for the fake stuff to taste good. I still use moderation even with fake sugars, but I like flavor packets in my water sometimes, a flavored syrup in my coffee as a treat, or a flavored yogurt or pudding. I don't crave fake sweeteners though so I just use them selectively. I don't find they create a craving for real sugar, in fact, they help me walk by sugary things because I know I have my own safe version at home. But keep in mind I never binged sugary foods so it could be different for someone who did have that issue. Sweet things are not a trigger food for me.

First congratulations on your life changes and healthy goal achievements! I very much enjoy working out and being active too. Just don’t trust whole heartedly what sport devices say word for word. They are really tracking trends and general steps. They tend to overstate actual calories burned. They also don’t account for older-than-50 bodies that burn calories far more efficiently. Several things could be at play so you will still have to do your detective work. Try talking with your dietitian or nutritionist. You may need more protein. You might be triggering your body into starvation mode too, and need to slightly increase your food intake. Make sure you aren’t coming down with a cold that increases inflammation like Covid. Are you getting 7 hours of sleep per night regularly? Is your bloodwork good? Taking probiotics? I stalled at the same time and found my bloodwork was off. But, I also talked with my surgeon who “walks his talk.” He suggested switching up my workouts. I used to live for the weightlifting high, but only lift 2 days a week now. I do more outdoor activities like rowing, biking, and hiking. Walking with poles burns far more calories. I’ve rediscovered walking with all my daily water in a backpack ups my morning walk too. Two years out I’m still finding my balance of food to exercise and still loosing weight. You’ll find it too.

First congratulations on your life changes and healthy goal achievements! I very much enjoy working out and being active too. Just don’t trust whole heartedly what sport devices say word for word. They are really tracking trends and general steps. They tend to overstate actual calories burned. They also don’t account for older-than-50 bodies that burn calories far more efficiently. Several things could be at play so you will still have to do your detective work. Try talking with your dietitian or nutritionist. You may need more protein. You might be triggering your body into starvation mode too, and need to slightly increase your food intake. Make sure you aren’t coming down with a cold that increases inflammation like Covid. Are you getting 7 hours of sleep per night regularly? Is your bloodwork good? Taking probiotics? I stalled at the same time and found my bloodwork was off. But, I also talked with my surgeon who “walks his talk.” He suggested switching up my workouts. I used to live for the weightlifting high, but only lift 2 days a week now. I do more outdoor activities like rowing, biking, and hiking. Walking with poles burns far more calories. I’ve rediscovered walking with all my daily water in a backpack ups my morning walk too. Two years out I’m still finding my balance of food to exercise and still loosing weight. You’ll find it too.

I think either way is fine, but my suggestion is just don't substitute artificial sweeteners to do it. Take it at whatever pace you need to be able to handle it and adjust your tastes for the long term. If that means cutting back on the sugar in your coffee over many months, that's fine. Better to go from two spoons down to one and then to half a spoon of sugar slowly than to start using an artificial sweetener and never kick that habit. For me, I made the decision to eliminate several things from my diet before taking a few weeks to either eat up or throw away the things I didn't want to have in my house anymore. The key has been not allowing it back in once it was gone. I am also pre-op. I started the process in July with a surgery date in late December. I happened to find the book Pound of Cure by Dr. Matthew Weiner and it's absolutely been the best nutrition book I've ever purchased (and I've purchased many). Full disclosure, I did not do the 2 week reset portion of the program, but I did start out by increasing my veg and eliminating the stuff that was easiest for me to do right away. After that, there have been certain stages that I took faster and certain ones I've done slower. But overall, in my opinion, it's an excellent guide for what your healthy diet "should" be most of the time. Higher on veg and plant protein, lower on animal products, mostly free from the vast majority of processed carbs, sugars, and artificial crap. If you're looking for guidance, his books and videos are super informative and rooted in science, not fads.

I was sleeved in March, and as of last week, I have officially lost 81. I started at 309, I'm currently 228, and I've noticed my progress has slowed down a lot. I'm anxious that I won't keep losing weight, because I'm only halfway to where I want to be. It sucks because I know I should be celebrating all of my hard work, but I'm scared I'll be stuck where I'm at and that my progress is over. I'm still tracking my calories, and I'm averaging about 1200-1300 a day. I walk at least 30 minutes a day, strength train 2 times a week, and I try to stay active on the weekend (5 mile hike & 1.5 hours kayaking yesterday). I struggled for so long to lose weight, and I'm scared I'll go back to struggling now.

there may be no info on it because it could be that no one has researched it. However, I've never had an issue with prescriptions. I know we're not supposed to take extended release versions of pills, and I know some people have to switch or increase their dosage of some meds (e.g. antidepressants), but I've never run into any of this with any of the prescriptions I've had. I've just taken them using the general instructions.. Also, you're far enough out that you shouldn't have to crush pills. I haven't crushed pills in years - I've been able to take everything whole ever since about my third week post-op.

Hey all, I have a bit of a dilemma. According to the FitBit watch I wear everyday, I burn on average around 3000 calories a day. I eat no more than 1,300 calories however, and drink my 2 litres of water but I'm unable to lose any more weight? I've been at this plateau for about 3 months now (which is annoying because I'm a stone away from my goal weight), either staying at exactly the same weight or adding 2/3 pounds a week and it's so frustrating. I can't find any info on why this may be the case, so I thought I would ask you guys to see if you could shed any light? If I'm burning more than I'm eating, surely I could be losing weight instead of gaining? I know muscle weighs more than fat and that it could just be me gaining the muscle I've been trying to build from strength training, but it's incredibly disheartening. The only time I seem to lose weight now is if I go on a 3-5 day liquid diet, but I shouldn't have to rely on doing that every week to lose weight, surely? More info below for context: - 8 months post op - A stone away from my goal weight - I consume as much protein as I physically can a day (between 40-70g a day) vitamins and water - I work out 4 to 5 days a week, mostly strength training with a bit of cardio - I'll probably have carbs 2/3 times a week. Sweet potatoes mostly. Perhaps a sandwich if I'm out.

A lot of things played into it, but honestly, it was when the doctor asked me if I would be interested in it. For background, I'm turning 50 next year, so yes, that milestone is in my head as part of it. My younger brother had VSG 15 years ago, and ever since then, I wished I could do it because he had such a great outcome. But at the time my BMI was 34, so I didn't qualify, even with high blood pressure. As my weight increased, my doctor referred me to the hospital's weight loss center. They started me on a non-surgical program, and it worked a bit for a while. And then it didn't, and I gained everything back plus some. I even tried Wegovy for a while, but I could never get it long enough to see if it would work because of the shortages, plus the discounts dried up and the out of pocket was crazy. But this past summer, my weight peaked at the highest it had ever been, tied with the day I left the hospital after delivering my second child. My BMI had reached 40. My body ached, my feet ached. I was bloated all the time. Nothing fit. My heart kept doing a worrying fluttery thing. I had to increase my blood pressure medication. With the pandemic, I had stopped going to the weight management center. My doctor told me to go back. This time, they asked if I would be interested in considering surgery, and I jumped at the chance. It was like the second the question was asked, I knew it was time. If they'd asked earlier, I probably would've done it then. But for such a long time I didn't qualify, and then I probably did but everyone seemed to think I should still keep trying on my own. When I found out my out of pocket costs would only be around $3k, I nearly fainted. I assumed it would be so expensive. My brother was self-pay and it was 10k. Instead, it's the same as two months of Wegovy! Now I'm just counting the weeks until my Dec 27th surgery date.

I usually eat whatever I feel like. Today I had coffee with half cup of 1% milk and collagen powder (breakfast). For lunch, I had a 120g slice of bacon, egg, onion quiche (homemade). For snacks, my go-tos are crispy grapes and strawberries. I eat all types of fruit, and often changes depending how I feel. Like yesterday, I had some of a fresh cacao fruit. Other days, I love frozen durian. Not sure what I'll have for dinner, thinking of two black bean tacos (I like the black bean fiesta) but I may make some oxtail soup with veggies. It's good for prepping several little bowls for later meals. Before maintenance, during stalls, I would cut back my calorie intake on my weekly average till it breaks. To help, I use a lot of konjac noodles because they are basically calorie and carbohydrate free. In maintenance, if I gain a couple pounds, I do the same to get to my accepted weight range. I have no secrets, it's boring, I watch my calories. I have to unfortunately. My exercise is to live an active lifestyle by constantly moving wherever I am, but I don't ever do a formal exercise plan because I can't exercise my way out when I eat too much lol (As the saying goes) and it makes me more hungry anyway. I move for health, not to lose weight.

I am 10 weeks out from surgery and felt a lot of pain for those first 4 weeks. Could not bend over to tie my shoes, felt like something was pulling in one area on my left side, dull aches everywhere in my abdomen. A giant, flat ice pack was my friend... the kind that you would find in a physical therapist's office. I have a couple on had for an unrelated knee issue. Here is where I got mine: https://www.optp.com/Chattanooga-ColPac Looks like there are some on Amazon, too. I was fortunate to be able to lay around for those first couple of weeks at least. Truly hope you feel better soon!

You make some really good points about needing to be a little selfish. I think of all the people in my life who need things a certain way, and how I go out of my way to accommodate. Oh, you go to bed really early, or you must eat dinner at 3pm, or you only like Italian food, or can't meet up at that time because you need to workout? Okay, I can be flexible! I'm turning 50 this coming year and it's only in the past few years I feel like I've started to learn to advocate for my own needs. And it's definitely a learning curve. It's so hard to remember that just because you could be flexible doesn't mean you always have to be. As for relatives and food, my strongest childhood memory is probably my very obese grandma, who seemingly passed down 100% of her genes to me (thanks, Grandma!), saying within the span of two breaths: "You know, you're going to be overweight like me and you have to be so careful with what you eat...want more Polish sausage?" I mean, bless her heart, she lived to 92 and was sharp and reasonably active until the last year or two, so if she passed that gene along to me, I'll take it. But you can't tell a person one minute that they have to eat healthy and the next minute present them with an entire family-size Tupperware filled with grapes as a snack because "grapes are healthy." Which I would eat all of even if I didn't want them so as not to hurt her feelings. Meanwhile, my mom was rail thin and always going on some sort of "eat grapefruit for a week and melt the fat off" women's magazine fad diet my whole childhood. Yikes. Family can do a number on you. And you're right, all that stuff will still be there to deal with emotionally even after the surgery...

Can we pretend this is an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and it's my turn to stand up front and bare my soul?...especially since I never had the balls to set foot in a live meeting during my 35 years of having a BMI score higher than my IQ. There's donuts in the back...JOKE😁 It's been almost a year since my sleeve surgery and I couldn't be happier with the physical results. I was 60 years old, 5'4" and weighed close to 210 when I finally made an appointment with a bariatric surgeon. I'm now 61 and 134 pounds...I'm still 5'4" though. The past few days I've been in deep thought mode and was just hoping to use this forum to vent and hopefully get some feedback, positive or negative. Dining out: It's going to happen. It was probably part of your life pre-surgery, so it's naive of you to think it won't be a part of your life post-surgery. So maybe it's just me and my family (obese mother) and significant other (F, normal weight), but the minute the menu appears, I get a barrage of "Oh..they have plenty of appetizers and small portions you can order. Be careful, etc. Did you see the vegetable plate?" OK, so I know my significant other and my mom love me and are probably just concerned about my health and eating habits post-op, and if I'm being overly sensitive, just tell me and I'll shut up, but when they say things like that, it's not helping! If anything, something deep in my primordial starving "fat" brain wants to order the biggest thing on the menu and attempt to eat it. When it happened yesterday at lunch, I calmly and nicely asked both of them if they could refrain from offering me ordering advice, as I assured them, thinking about the ordering process and the actual eating of said meal in a healthy manner was the number one priority on my mind pretty much 24/7. They didn't seem to take it too well. Which leads me to my next thought... I might be stereotyping, but I'm willing to bet that a lot of us here were never/are not selfish people. I'm sure there are pages of psychological data written about the personality traits of the chronically obese and the myriad reasons we ended up as we did. My point is, after bariatric surgery, you might have to become a little selfish. You may need to put yourself first, sometimes to the detriment of others. Obviously, it helps if you can do this in a nice manner, but with certain people and situations in your life post-surgery, you might just have to be a selfish a*****e. If your new lifestyle (diet, whatever you want to call it), exercise regimen, food habits, etc don't quite mesh with those around you, too bad. This is your last chance at success and you need to make YOU the priority. I walk a lot now...and it takes a lot of time. Some of that is time I used to spend with other people...now it's not always like that. Some have mentioned it. I don't care. I always invite them to walk with me but I'm not going to not walk because they want to do something else or don't feel like walking. When I think about some of the healthiest people I have known in my life, they were/are quite selfish when it comes to exercise. One of my friends has been to the gym every morning from 5:30-7:30 for 35 years. He never misses. It's not an option. That's amazing to me because despite the genetics of obesity, there's no question that having some type of exercise regimen helps at some level. Did I ever have that level of commitment? Only to stopping at Whataburger several times a week. So as much as I read pre-surgery and even with the psychological profiling the doctor did, I never read much or heard anyone talk about some of the changes I needed to make mentally to make this work. It seems like most of the pre-surgery discussion is about how to eat before and after the surgery and most of the psychological discussion is about not letting one addiction (food) be supplanted by another (drugs, alcohol, etc). The crux of this dissertation, if you're still reading, is that there couldn't be more truth to the phrase bantered around here...."They operated on your stomach, not your brain". Prepare yourself for some mental challenges that being thinner does not make any easier. I must look a lot better because everyone tells me so...but I don't always feel better. Some of the same issues I've dealt with all my life, totally unrelated to weight, are still around. It's not that I expected them to disappear, but I think at some level, deep down, many of us think/thought, "Oh, if only I weren't so fat, I wouldn't have to deal with this problem [insert the problem/issue of your choosing]". Maybe I was just being naive or stupid, or both, but even being "thin" comes with plenty of challenges. I know these are "first world" problems and I'm not trying to sound like a complaining, spoiled brat. I just wanted to let off some steam here in the hopes that I'm not alone. Thanks for listening.

I'm surprised you are 2 years post op and just now experiencing dumping syndrome. Kudos to you for avoiding rich, fatty or sugary food until now. (If that's the case.) Oddly I have only experienced it if I eat refined sugar. I made the mistake of eating birthday cake a couple weeks ago and found out very quickly that I cannot. Fortunately, I didn't have the rapid heartbeat, sweating or nausea but I spent the entire evening and half the night running to the bathroom. My body wasn't having it and went through me like water. I guess now I know to avoid it, since that was my first try. I have absolutely no problem with artificial sweeteners though. Is this a typo and meant to say, I can't eat anything? If so, that's a problem that needs to be checked out by your doctor. If you meant you are cleared to eat anything that only goes to show even if you can, you shouldn't. GL

You have a great reason to get to your goal. Have the IVF team said you need to be at 175lbs ? Huge congratulations on your progress so far. You need to have a little patience now. The easy part has ended and the work begins for you. I started at a similar weight to you almost 2 years ago. I have just upped my cals from 1200 to 1500 a day. I am still loosing but at a micro pace. I had a 3.5 month stall, a stone ago. I keep thinking I am done and then chunk ! the scales go down again. If I am truly honest with myself, I love the continued weight losses but my family and friends are saying whoa stop.

First off, congratulations on the weight you’ve lost so far! You should be proud. I am about seven months past surgery and I’ve hit my goal. As others have said, weight loss is very slow. I’ve only drifted down a pound or two in the last 2 to 3 weeks. It’s important to realize that you are still losing weight, so you are still working towards your goal. Some things you can do is take a look at how clean are your calories? Are you eating good, healthy food? Eating right keeps your body in-tune in all areas…keeps all the systems working harmoniously. Makes you feel good and keeps your MIND on track. Another thing you can do is look at your exercise. Keeping muscle is important as it burns the fat and cardio will help you in your daily calorie reduction. It doesn’t take much to energize your body to help burn even more calories. And above all else remember, slow loss is still a loss!!

Yeah, I was not told to count carbs either. Just was told to avoid pasta, bread & rice, like we usually all are, & to keep carbs lowish. I still keep my carbs lowish & still don’t eat bread, pasta or rice. I look to multi or whole grains & mostly those that are low processed (which will give you extra fibre) like traditional oats. Remember your vegetables & fruit have fibre which will compensate for having fewer carbs because you have to count whole carbs. Our bodies have different needs which is why someone may lose weight following one way of eating & someone else can’t. Low carb may work for you or may not in the long term. Now you are getting closer to your goal you can start to work out what your body needs in regards to nutrients to function effectively. What you discover can be quite interesting. I discovered I feel better with lowish carbs & very low sugar. I also feel better if I eat breakfast a little later (around 9am) after years of not eating breakfast or feeling blah if I did. Oh, yeah, you can’t break a stall. It’s a natural & important part of your weight loss. The stall will break when your body is ready & has adjusted (digestive hormones, metabolism, etc.) to meet your new needs. You’ve been putting it through a lot. Best thing is not to make changes which will stress your body more.

I didn't stop losing until I was 20 months out. But after the first year it was S-L-O-W going - like 1-2 lbs a month some months. 800-1000 calories sounds fine. I don't think I'd cut any more than that unless you're under medical supervision, like we are the first few weeks after surgery.

I've never counted carbs - whole or net. My program stressed eating balanced meals (not low-carb, like many of them do), and also, I'm not very carb-sensitive (I know a lot of people ARE). two weeks isn't that long for a stall. They usually last 1-3 weeks, and sometimes they can go ever longer as you get closer to goal. (the last few months I kept thinking, "well, this must be it...", but then I'd drop a couple of pounds). You can't really break a stall - it's part of losing weight. Your body has to stop and recalibrate every once in a while. The best thing to do is make 100% sure you're sticking to your program, and only weigh yourself once a week or so until it breaks. you may be far from over. I kept losing weight until month 20. But those last few pounds were a bear to get off...