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Not everyone experiences a bounce back regain. And not everyone experiences a larger regain. If it does happen there’s often a reason: complacency/&or bad habits returning, a too restrictive way of eating, lifestyle changes, medical/health issues, emotional issues, settling of your weight, … I had a regain of a good two kgs (about 5lbs) rather quickly a few months into my second year so earlier than the usual 3rd year. Didn’t gain any more. Wasn’t happy but was accepting it. Couldn’t really put my finger on why. No dietary changes, no activity changes during that time. But what I did have was a gall removal at 25 months which caused an protein absorption issue. Then almost at the three year mark we realised the gall removal also stopped me absorbing my HRT & caused other issues. Went from a tablet to a patch & slowly but surely I lost a good kilo of that regain over 6 months +/-. I’ve been sitting pretty stable again for about 6 months or so. I keep an eye on the scales, monitor my portions, watch my food choice & fingers crossed I continue to remain stable.

So I had my surgeon appt he gave me a weight loss goal of 15lbs, which is very doable. I feel like my surgeon was annoyed with me, he had his MA called me 4x and even at my work to reschedule for earlier but the nutritionist told me he would need me to lift up my shirt and see my body- that’s not something I’m comfortable with at my workplace! So I told them I needed to keep my appt for later in the day. Then he arrived 25min early on our zoom meeting which I answered when I was 5min away from home and told him we can start if he was in a rush or I can log back on. He said to log back on- I get back on and I had my 18m old who was screaming because well he’s a baby! Idk he basically told me I need to lose 15lbs and I was a good candidate once I lose 15lbs call them for the next step. I asked about doing my surgery after my vacay and getting FMLA/STD to which he said totally fine whenever I wanted to schedule it. I feel uneasy? Any words of encouragement that I’m doing the right thing?

well i actually wasn't trying, really. i recently quit smoking (going on 2 months now, yay me!) and i was worried that i would gain weight trying to quit, so i've been extra vigilant about what i eat and i ended up losing those lbs. i guess i was surprised that 3 lbs were even noticeable, even more so that people seem still feel like they have a say in my weight. le sigh.

I have a friend who got roux-en-y in our mid-20s. She lost a lot of weight, I have known her since childhood and she had always been heavy, gaining rapidly in high school. After high school, she had 1 child. She then married someone, got weight-loss surgery, got breast implants and a panniculectomy then proceeded to have a set of twins and two more kids. She managed to lose all of her pregnancy weight, by not gaining excess weight while pregnant and she did not re-stretch her skin. I think you should go for it. In my opinion, you should live in the present. Life has no guarantees, and you want to be comfortable and happy now. You may or may not have children in the future, but don't let the hope of something, hinder your happiness now. The best way to keep a handle on how much your skin might stretch during pregnancy is to monitor yourself, and not gain more than recommended. A couple of scenarios- 1. You meet someone, are not comfortable in your skin and let it hold you back. 2. You meet someone, have children, and are so busy with family life that getting the skin removal surgery is put off for several more years. 3. You have the surgery, you meet someone, have kids and your stomach does not stretch. 4. You have the surgery, meet someone, have kids, your stomach stretches just a little bit you decide it's no big deal or you just have another surgery.

Though you may be an unhealthy weight, you still have to fuel your body with protein and vitamins for that size or you will lose muscle mass. Losing muscle mass is enough of an issue post surgery when you are super restricted so you don't want to induce it before the surgery does. Does that make sense? I have found some dieticians to be very erratic when t comes to what they advise you from meeting to meeting. I have no clue why. I'd ask her for a print out of what macros she advises you to be at and follow the percentages, aiming for over 100 grams of protein. This should keep you at a healthy balance give or take a few grams of protein. The sad truth is that many obese people are nutritionally deficient because we've restricted ourselves down to 1200 calories or lower which shuts down our metabolism. But we do it because we gain with anything more! Our bodies are rather broken metabolically. Don't stress yourself out. If you are losing at a steady rate and feel good with consistent energy and aren't starving between meals you have probably found a decent balance. As for the scale I have the same issue from place to place. It is so irritating. In the end go with the scale you will be weighed on for the insurance company (which is probably the surgeon's scale). Then weigh yourself in one consistent spot at home and calibrate your scale to match. This should get you in the right neighborhood...

I'm sorry you regained, that is so frustrating! 80 lbs in 3 months is a lot, I'd talk to your doctor about checking your thyroid and your fasting glucose level... Most of us gained weight during Covid due to less physical activity, comfort eating, and more time and accessibility to snacks. Snacking is notorious for gaining weight back after surgery. The hard thing is we don't feel like we've changed anything big in our eating habits but unless you are tracking literally everything you put in your mouth you really won't notice how much extra you are eating. Changing drinks from water to other things is a big culprit too and easier when we are at home next to the fridge. And tasting things/snacking while cooking. There is no shame in regain IMO, life happens in unpredictable ways. Covid was a huge hit for most of us and caused a lot of changes in living habits just to get through! I haven't had surgery yet but I gained about 50 lbs in the years around Covid, I'm immune compromised so was on strict lockdown for forever. Converting to a DS can help with more weight loss and maintaining weight loss better, it has the highest statistics for total excess weight loss and weight maintenance. However since it is a conversion for you (not a virgin surgery) the weight loss will be slower than it was with the initial sleeve surgery. You will still lose weight with it if you are diligent, you can still get the weight off if you got it off before, but in order to do that you need to figure out what is causing you to gain weight so you can correct it and help the surgery work. Revisions can be game changers for some, but they aren't miracle workers, they still require hard work and effectively using your tool.

This is interesting. It seems to me that maintenance for me right now has more to do with metabolic adjustment than straight CICO. I notice that no matter what/how I eat, my weight remains stable. That's not to say that I'm indulging in garbage food, eating large quantities, etc... but my weight doesn't seem to depend strictly on what I'm eating. It seems that my body has arrived at a set point that it's trying to maintain. My weight pre-op was also rock solid stable. No matter what I ate, I hovered around 235 for most of my adult life. I'm curious if the same dynamic will apply to this new weight.

I’m new here. I’m hoping to have my surgery this November 2023. I’m waiting for insurance approval. I’m trying to lose some weight before the pre op approval. Any suggestions on how to cut down on carbs? I’m doing good on upping my protein but my carbs are still higher than I like

I'm on Rexulti for depression along with a few other things. It is an atypical antipsychotic. I haven't had surgery yet so I can't say how it affects weight loss but my psych feels it is pretty weight neutral so shouldn't be a problem. She said most of her patients lose the weight on their meds, it just takes a bit sometimes. I'm guessing some meds can slow the process if you know they are contributing to your weight already, it just depends on the individual, as with most things.

I would ask the surgeon, too. I had my plastic surgeries in my late 50s and early 60s so I was long past my reproductive years, but I was told not to gain more than 10-15 lbs after surgery because it could affect my results. So...I'm not sure what to tell you.

Bypass is pretty amazing for GERD sufferers. There are a fair number of those that have had revisions from sleeve to bypass on this site. That said, my surgeon says there is a way to make a sleeve that is less likely to cause GERD if they already know you have issues with it. Something about the top being a bit wider? I'm most likely going with the DS which causes much more malabsorption than the bypass. The way I see it though, I'd rather trade my meds and chronic illnesses for daily vitamins and stable weight maintenance. It is important to remember that each person has a surgery that is right for them. I have gone over the medication malabsorption issue with my psych several times. But she says that in the end it comes down to the individual. Sometimes even sleevers need med adjustments after surgery. And sometimes bypass and DS people do fine with no adjustments. It all depends on the person and their individual system. Things can be adjusted, there are always options. I'm lucky that my ADHD meds are a disintegrating tablet because its most often given to children. And I have always chewed my benzos so they kick in faster (I only take them in emergencies). My biggest worry is my anti-depressant but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. DSers tend to absorb tablet vitamins well so I'm hoping the tablet anti-depressant will do equally well!

Today is my 1 year anniversary and I am happy and sad at the same time. I got so very close to goal but I have spent the last month in a stall so I really don't have that awesome feeling that I hoped to have at the 1 year mark. I know this stall will pass too and I'm happy with how far I've come. I made it to normal bmi which I didn't think I would ever see again. I still want to lose at least 10 more lbs so that I'm safely in the normal range but 10 lbs seems doable after the last year. I still have trouble accepting that I've changed but little things make me so happy, like crossing my legs and feeling bones that were hidden. I'm happy my hair has stopped falling out and is starting to slowly grow back. Slower than before but I'll take slow as long as it grows lol. I started a journal at the beginning and set goals for myself and guessed at sizes my arms, thighs, waist etc should be. I had no idea what I should set those to so I looked them up in google for averages for women my height and I actually hit or beat all those measurements except my waist I set to 30 inches and I got to 33. I have a ton of extra skin there though and hope to have that removed so I still might hit that goal I took pictures along the way and wore the exact same outfit and its amazing so see how far I've come. I'll see if I can figure out how to add it here. Its not a great picture of me but it for sure shows the weight loss . I hope everyone else is doing well and I hope to see more updates from others. Take care!

I really get this. Its your body and if you need a lower buffer weight then its your business. If your hubby did not know you had intentionally dieted, Would he have said anything ? I can tell you now that my husband would not know. We have been away in Spain for 2 weeks so my husband saw a bit more of me than usual. I was laying in bed without covers and clothes, it was so hot. My hip bones and ribs were prominent. My skin hangs off me, its not pretty. He said I think its time you gave up trying to loose weight now, you are skin and bone. My local doctor wants me to loose at least 40lbs more to get in a healthy range. I am happy where I am, I look good in my clothes. Who is right ? Me ! So congrats on your loss and bugger everyone else

Hey there veterans! I'm 18 months post-op, in maintenance for 9 months. My weight has remained rock solid stable with maybe a 1 lbs. regain. I'm very pleasantly surprised... and... I don't want to be lulled into complacency. For those of you who have had significant regain, when did your regain start? What do you think led to the regain? Thank you for your insight.

Congratulations and good luck on your surgery!!! As long as the scale is going down, it doesn't matter how quickly we lose the weight!

i very much agree with you, congrats on no longer being diabetic. That is the greatest news! I would have done the surgery many years earlier if i would have taken my primary care doctor more seriously when he first suggested it!!! Some times i have to refrain from giving others my input if they are overweight. It is just such an amazing tool, i wish everyone with a weight problem would consider having the surgery cuz i know what it has done for me and so many of us on here.

Start taking body measurements if you haven't already. Every month i take my monthly picture, and then take my body measurements. Sometimes even though the scale may not move as fast as we like, you will notice a difference in inches lost. I agree with others on here, don't obsess over the scale. I have to remind myself of this also. I still weigh myself daily but dont record my weight if it is the same. As everyone always says, stick with the program and amazing things will happen for you!!!

so i recently lost 3 lbs. not the downside-of-a-normal-daily-weight-fluctuation-loss, or a oh-i-just-had-a-mega-poop kinda loss, but an ACTUAL 3 lbs loss that has stayed off based on a 2 week moving weight average. now everyone and my mother has said something or other in the past couple weeks in the tune of "omigod are you losing weight?!?" or "you're not on a diet AGAIN are you?!!". didn't give it much thought until this AM when i asked my Mr this morning if he thinks i look thinner these days and he nodded (i can always count in him on a low-key, no-big-deal kinda response). so i guess it is noticeable? anyway the point of this is that when i was much heavier, no one would even notice (nor comment) on any appearance change in me if/when i lost up to 20-25 lbs (including Mr.). but now, at 3 measly lbs loss, somehow the world is ending to the busybody-nation. sometimes i feel like i have to defend being thinner as much as i had to defend being heavier. not really an NSV, more of an annoyance (the comments)...and also just another thing that thought u were done with, but not really. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think you were one of the lucky ones. Ive also taken all my protein, vitamins, ate what i was supposed to etc and my hair is still falling out. Doesnt matter how we eat, it is just a natural thing that happens after losing so much weight so quickly. Happens to many but not all of us. It was also one of the best decisions ive made even though my hair is falling out. Ive lost 65lbs in 5 months and loving every minute of it! I feel (and look) so much better! Hair grows back. I feel better than i have in many years!

I just turned 60 and am scheduled for VSG on October 2nd. My BMI is 40, so I'm expecting a slower rate of weight loss. Maybe I'll be surprised and will lose weight faster than I expect.

As everyone has said, stalls are very common. They actually are Dan important part of your weight loss. It’s when your body takes stock of your constant needs & readjusts things like your hormones ( hunger, satiety, etc.), metabolic rate, etc. The stall will end when your body is ready. You can’t force it, let it take the time it needs. Still frustrating though. Fluctuations are also perfectly normal. We all fluctuate. You’ll eventually work out your usual fluctuation swing. Mine is about 2 lbs. Some are greater, some are less. Fluid retention, constipation, diarrhoea, hormones, etc. all contribute. I mean you don’t eat & drink exactly the same foods & fluids in the exact same quantities every day either. Nor do you the exact same activities to burn calories. Congrats on your weight loss so far. Yay!

My surgeon's assistant and I had a long talk about it and she was like, unfortunately it's not uncommon for some people to take longer to be able to eat certain foods and some may never be able to. And truthfully, I'm actually kinda grateful that I can't just go and eat whatever I want so there is less risk of me falling into the trap of bad eating habits again further down the road. I'm losing weight consistently, and my last bloodwork was fantastic, so, so long as I'm mindful of the nutrients I'm getting- I'm ok with not being able to eat other foods. But the nausea does suck when I -try- to eat something. At least it doesn't hurt when something DOES have to come up. (just the lead up to it)

I would want to look closely at this, verifying the bile reflux and determining if there is any acid reflux component to this before getting into long term treatment options as the treatment can differ widely depending upon that diagnosis. If it is bile, then I wouldn't expect Pepcid or other anti acid meds to do much as the are treating acid and not bile, a base. I'm not sure what meds they do use but likely different ones. Bile is used to neutralize the acid coming out of the stomach along with the digested food into the intestines. Is your surgeon in the loop on these findings (I assume so, but check if you haven't heard from them yet,) as that may change his prescriptions. If it is strictly a bile problem, then a bypass will probably correct it, but not guaranteed as it moves the stomach/pouch outlet downstream into the natural path of bile secretions; the key, according to one surgeon I discussed this with, is the length of the roux limb, as that is the one that connects the pouch with the mainstream intestine and how far any bile would have to travel to reflux into the stomach. This doc noted that at 80cm or greater (IIRC) he didn't run into any bile reflux problems. The basic RNY procedure has been around for some 140 years for gastric cancer and gastroparesis (it is usually termed just a partial gastrectomy, or likely some other fancy latin names as well,) and it that use, bile reflux is a not uncommon complication. My non-MD take on it is that in those cases, they tend to keep the limbs short to minimize malabsorption and weight loss (last thing a cancer patient usually needs is more weight loss!) So, the longer limb makes sense here. Discuss this and make sure that your surgeon is up on this aspect of it. The other option if it is basically a bile problem is the DS, duodenal switch, which is pretty much a guaranteed cure for any bile problems owing to the very long path between the bile ducts and the stomach, but relatively few bariatric surgeons offer it owing to its greater complexity. Note this only applies to the "traditional" or Hess DS and not the newer SIPS/SADI/"loop" or simplified DS, which like its mini-bypass cousin has bile reflux as one of its common complications. The DS will not help any acid reflux problem as it uses the existing sleeve (though may resleeve it if it was malformed causing GERD rather than just overproduction of acid,) while adding the intestinal rerouting for malabsorption. The DS is a better choice over the RNY revision if slow or inadequate weightloss is an issue, too, as it is a stronger metabolic tool. Good luck on this - bile is surely a much less common problem with the sleeve than acid reflux, so the industry isn't quite as settled on solutions for it.

@SleeveToBypass2023 workout routing is 4-5 Times a week. 1:30hours cardio one day and 1:20 hours cardio for 3 days (40mins jogging 20mins hill walk 20mins elliptical) 5th day is more strength training and it’s up to 10 variations with 20mins cardio strength training mostly arms back core and I do a variation of 6-8 different upper body and core 4-5 sets of each variation 10-15 reps minimum weight is 15kg. had always been doing weight training when I got the all clear a month after surgery until 3months ago when I started elliptical on,y calories I drink is my protein water. Which isn’t up to 500ml per day. Along with 2.5-3liters of water 1 liter is usually covered during workout I noticed I don’t eat up to 21oz of food through the day mostly protein

I have noticed the same thing. I’m about 6 months out from my sleeve op and can eat about half of what I previously could (which to be fair was a lot!) My weight loss has stalled and I know it’s because of the type and amount of food I eat. I saw my doctor recently and they recommended getting back to basics and focusing on protein and water intake to get back on track. They didn’t seem concerned about the pouch stretching. Good luck with your continued weight loss!