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here's my personal anecdote : when i called goal, i looked skeletal and gaunt. many people told me so (which i found annoying), but more importantly, *i* thought i looked gaunt and skeletal. fast forward about 1.5 years after that, and while i actually weighed 10+ lbs LESS than when i called goal, i looked waaaay healthier...and, dare i say, HOT. lol. i was exercising regularly and my body didn't have that frail look to it, and my face gauntness filled in. granted i did also have plastics done: tummy tuck, breast lift and arm lift, but those procedures only took of 400g of weight off me, so says my doc. fast forward another couple years (im 5+ years post op now), and while i still weigh 10+ lbs LESS than goal, i STILL look healthier now than those early days of maintenance. Mind you, i do look a lot "softer" now as i only exercise a fraction of what i used to do before. I do think rapid weight loss does a number on one's looks in the short term, but i think most people will find that as time goes on, things move and settle a bit so we dont look so sickly. (and yes, i can see my bones in places, lol)

I’m planning on a cross country road trip. Pre surgery, when I did those just had my trusty cheeze-its and whatever fast food was near me when I need to stop and charge. If anyone has any tips on what I should bring to keep me full or tips on some good munchies let’s hear them! Obviously fast food is out (for the most part) this time. I won’t be leaving until mid February when I’m 3 months post op TIA

I had the sleeve and if i eat too fast or take too big of bites it feels like it is stuck in my esophagus. probably because it doesnt all fit in your stomach so it continues up your esophagus. May be an error but you stated your dr said to take 30 minutes to eat and no more. Did you mean no less? Ive never heard about taking longer than a half hour to eat your portioned out food to be bad for us. I usually dont take more than 30 min anyway, im more like 20 min to finish my meal.

I had my final pre-op appointment with my surgeon today. Nothing really to report as it was very routine. I weighed in about 3lbs down from 3 weeks ago. That was nice, but I'll admit I have not been too strict the past week about my food. I start my 2 week liquid diet in 2 weeks and that'll be plenty strict so I've stopped for fast food once and had some chocolate when I normally wouldn't. I see the nutritionist next Thursday and then it's just a countdown to Feb 21!

I highly recommend checking out A Bra That Fits calculator. I was recently pointed in this direction as I'm having bra fit issues as I'm losing weight. Band size I've always been spot on, but cups are always too small. Turns out I was wearing a bra 6 sizes too small in the cup!!! YES 6 SIZES TOO SMALL And I'm not the only woman that does that... I'm apparently a 44H right now, not a 44D/DD. Go figure. I went to the reddit for that website and the FB group, learned a lot about my breast shape, and ordered 6 bras through the "Amazon Prime Try Before You Buy" thing. 4 of them were too big and awful looking, apparently the calculator can overestimate cup size for my breast shape. I could see that the bra shapes would be horribly wrong if the cups fit correctly, it seems my breasts sit high and I have breast tissue under my arms that migrated there from wearing too small bras for 25 years...plus I have breast tissue way up high to almost my collar bones... I did eventually find one that fit amazingly! The women in the FB group advised me to go down one band size smaller and up one cup size (maintains the same cup volume) and to use an extender on it so I'll get 2 months out of my bras, as I'm currently dropping a band size a month, but my cup size isn't changing. I thought that was a great tip for making my bras last longer, since they are so damned expensive. In this properly fitting bra my shoulders don't hurt because there is no pressure on them! The band is actually carrying the weight of my breasts, like it is supposed to. And the wires are wide enough they aren't sitting on the breast tissue under my arms that I had just assumed was fat! As for other clothes, I've found the best way to stock smaller sizes is Ebay and Poshmark. I search for lots/bundles a few sizes smaller than I currently am. These are often listed by people losing weight and changing sizes, who want to clear out their closets fast instead of list item by item. I plan on selling my clothes this way too as I outgrow them! I recently got a bundle of 5 leggings in an XXL from really quality brands. Almost brand new. Since they are different brands they'll fit differently and probably last me a few sizes... I also found a tank top lot listed that way, and since I'm a leggings/tank/cardigan woman, these should last me a while. I have also picked up a few aspirational things on deep discount in a Large, so I can have some pretty things at that size for cheap, even if I don't end up staying at that size. I can't even fathom I could be that size by the end of this year! Anyway, this is how I'm saving money clothes shopping online!

Day one of my liquid diet. After re reading my pre op diet, it states that I can’t have creamy soups. 😕 I hope these two weeks go by super fast.

Hi Vanessa, I'm also 5'9 and started at 262. I had a 2 week liquid only diet, and a couple of days of that were pretty rough but I made it through without any slips. I'm 3 weeks post op now and the things I thought would be hard don't seem to bother me, watching others eat my favorite foods is not an issue. What's been harder for me is the expected emotional roller coaster, probably hormonal, and the changes that have happened so quickly. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm tired and emotional because I had a big surgery, and I'm eating very few calories. So when I walk on the treadmill and go too fast, too long, I have to rest for a day and I don't like that. I know it's temporary, I'll start feeling better soon.

Thanks so much for sharing! Im glad im not the odd all out with this lol. You are definitely right about the peeing! I feel like im not drinking enough yet i pee like a fountain everytime i go and it is very often lol. I will definitely be asking about the vitamins tomorrow i want to heal as fast as possible and not lose bone mass and hair in the meantime.

Well I signed a contact twenty years ago and I wasn't informed all that much about what I signed up for... Maybe because it was so long ago.. I do now know and understand the deal but the problem is simple.. So I had a car hit me when I was crossing the street and spent six months in a hospital followed by six months of a resting home to recover followed by a heart failure and another five months in the hospital followed by multiple hospital trips and lost all my original muscle.. I was always average strength but it's another thing to be told you might have a heart attack if you don't gain muscle. So I did everything I was told to bring me to this point. I have gained ten pounds of muscle in the last two years and I gain average of a pound a month. Only in the sorta person I need advise and someone to tell me what to do so that I don't make mistake. This might be a result of brain damage from my accident or maybe I'm just a big dumb guy I dunno.. But I did my own math if I eat 4200 calories I absorb 2200. So it does make sense I can't bulk however I'm taking enzymes and my doctor said the enzymes turn your ds off so that you can absorb everything you eat with them.. Now I'm fine tuning everything. Maybe my ds is to powerful and I'll learn that I really can't bulk and yes I look more defined in the mirror I think. But because my skin is stretchy it's hard to tell. I have gone from 175 to 178 so hopefully that's going to keep going up. My only real goal of taking the enzymes is to increase my protein which is 6.1. Before I worked out I was capable of maintaining my weight but my doctor told me I lost so much muscle that to not regain it would be dangerous to my health So regardless of anything I have no choice but to gain weight. If that means eventually eating 6000 calories so be it. But I really think the enzymes alone will solve my problems. I plan to take the enzymes for 3 months then get off then for two months then back on them in a bulk cutting kinda formula however I'll admit I don't know that this will work. I've gained weight in the past getting up to 240 in the resting home but that was eating six full meals a day with no working out and tons of high fat snacks and sense then I've gotten hypoglycemia which makes gaining weight difficult because I can't just devour sugar like I used to be able to. Man I used to love pudding cups... Anyways no I didn't know what I was getting into I was 19 and all I wanted was to lose weight but to still be able to eat as much as I wanted. Which is what I got. I never understood the risks. Never. That's why I got all these problems and it's hard to dig your self out of a ditch.. I would work out more if I thought it would help but I just lift weights 3x a week and I have a trainer and a bunch of great doctors who help.. The thing is the DS shouldn't kill me.. I should be able to figure out a way to make this work and my real issue is I'm 6"3 and a man so I require 3200 calories a day is what my trainer said. I only absorb 2200 thus I'm taking enzymes I'm focusing on absorbing protein and enough calories to feed my muscle building and I'm getting blood tests and scanning my body for progress it's a really scary time for me because I know I can lose muscle fast if I forget anything.. finding this website has helped me relearn just got crazy this surgery can be... For real you all helped me so much... But I can not except life as a weakling I'm 39 and a man and people need me so I can't just except things the way they are. If a normal person can build muscle I can to. It may take more work and more intelligence on my part but that fine I'm willing to do anything to be average if that makes sense.. in fact I was debating going to the gym today because my back hurts but you just motivated me to go . 😁 Thank you. Have a nice day. Please information is key here any advise on maybe how many calories you eat or your macros would be helpful to me because I do have a little problems working stuff out in my head and so the more information I can't the better I can deal.

It does apply to snacks as well, however for myself personally, I don't have to withhold liquid prior to eating or snacking and depending on what volume I'm eating, I don't wait the full 30 mins after. 15-20 mins suffices for light snacks. I will wait the 30 after a meal. I'm not suggesting this for anyone -consult your team and listen to your body- but like all things not every rule is going to be 100% hard and fast for a 100% of people. Same way I am with carbonation and straws. I can't always handle a full seltzer bubble, but some fizzy energy drinks do not bother me. Drinking with a straw also keeps me hydrated. I did not implement any of these until after I felt fully healed and I started slow, testing out what each felt like. That being said, yeah start drinking water from the moment you wake up to the moment you close your eyes at night. Walk around with your water so you can sip throughout the whole day.

I had GERD before surgery (which is why I went with bypass). I was a slow loser, but I never attributed that to GERD. Plus my GERD disappeared after my surgery, so it wouldn't have been a factor in my rate of weight loss regardless. How fast or slow you use usually depends on age, gender, starting weight, how muscular you are, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, how active you are, how closely you stick to your plan, and your metabolism rate (I may be leaving a couple of things out).

My bmi wa 37 but I only carried my weight in my belly. I was on 20 mg of protonix then after I was bleeding internally they bumped me up to 40 mg. I’m daily and now dr wants me on 40 mg of protonix and 40 mg if Pepcid which to me is stupid this is my bariatric surgeon. I’ve been arguing with her that none of this is working and my burping has increased back again. That’s a lot of weight loss in 6 months, I’m still at 180 and it’s been 4 months. Idk if I could drop that fast in 2 months……… I already lived through the dos and donts as a GERD patient.

I am a Gerd patient and got the sleeve Sept 5, 2023. My HW 210, SW 206, CW 180. I hit the plateau in November 2023 and havent lost any weight since. I did have GERD previously before the surgery with a hiatal hernia 2cm; but, my stomach was literally stuck in my chest since 2008. I was told by my surgeon that GERD patients have a harder time losing weight. I workout 4 days hard since 3 weeks after surgery, I still watch what i eat as a GERD patient not weight loss. I want to know if anyone is going through this stall as well. I've seen videos of people around 240lbs weighing 120 6m after surgery.To me that is crazy, I do eat carbs but its limited and I still keep my protein intake above 90g daily. I do track my meals and i'll have days ill eat 1000 cal or below and sometimes as high as 1200 cals. I do drink about 48 oz of water sometimes less or more. When will my plateau stop or is it cause i am building my muscle fast; I was never obese just in my belly that is my issue. the left pic is 1 yr before surgery and the pic on the right is 4 months after surgery

most people with bypass don't have complications- and of those who do, they are usually minor and correctable (or in the case of dumping, preventable). Major complications with bypass are pretty rare. only about 30% of bypass patients dump. I never have, and neither do most of the other bypass patients I know. For those who do dump, it can usually be prevented by not eating a bunch of sugar or fat at one sitting (which none of us should be doing *anyway*). I threw up occasionally the first few weeks after surgery when I ate too much, too fast, or something that my stomach wasn't going to tolerate, but now I throw up about as often as I did pre-surgery - that is, very rarely. And as for food intolerances, most of those are temporary, but some can become permanent. But you'll figure out what your body will and won't tolerate pretty quickly. re: only eating a couple of bites of food. That's only in the first few weeks after surgery. For the last several years, no one would be able to tell I've had bypass surgery by watching me eat. They'd just assume I'm a "light eater", like many of my women friends who've never been obese. When I go to restaurants, if I'm not that hungry, I'll order something like an appetizer, soup, or a salad. If I AM hungry, I'll order an entree, eat half of it, and box up the rest to take home. Most of my women friends do the same thing. you're probably seeing more issues with bypass for two reasons: 1) it's a much, much more common surgery than SADI. As in a LOT more people have bypass than SADI, so of course you'll see more on it. 2). after people get over the first few weeks (which can be tough with either surgery), they usually only post when they're having some issue, because they're looking for advice or support. People who've never had issues (which would include most of us) aren't likely to post that everything is hunky-dory. as far as which to choose, they're both good surgeries. Advantage of SADI is it's a stronger surgery, and you'll likely lose more weight with it. Disadvantage is regular doctors (as opposed to bariatric surgeons) know a lot more about bypass than they do about SADI, so your PCP may not be able to help you if you have issues - they may have to refer you to a bariatric specialist (which, of course, is fine - but just something to keep in mind). Also, if you have GERD, bypass is usually the better choice, since it tends to improve GERD, if not outright cures it. SADI involves a sleeved stomach, which can cause GERD in some people (or make it worse if they already had GERD before surgery). It doesn't happen to everyone, but it IS a risk... good luck with your decision!

I’m about 2 1/2 almost 3 weeks out of surgery. My doctor said to go ahead and move onto the purée stage for about a week. My concern is that I have no problem eating. I can eat 4 ounces without any hesitation I can drink an 8 ounce glass of water without any hesitation. it almost feels like I didn’t have surgery. Now if I drink too fast, or I tend to eat something, maybe a little bit more than I should’ve maybe like 5 ounces I will get sick. Or I will just feel sick. I guess that’s how I remember that I had surgery and I’m not supposed to eat so much. It just seems so weird outside of surgery so soon that I feel like mentally I could sit and eat a burger and fries. I know physically I can’t eat a burger and fries but it’s getting my mind to correlate with my body. I know there’s a lot of mental work that has to be done after surgery and I thought I got myself prepared for that before surgery. so I guess I just need to work harder on the mindset of eating 4 ounces every couple hours to keep myself from being hungry. Because I do feel hungry at times. I do however recognize when I’m just bored hungry. So I’m hoping I can start moving out of that board hungry state And into not being hungry even when I’m bored. I know this week I noticed that I didn’t lose as much as I had been losing and I think a lot of that has to do with moving onto the purée stage and actually eating food. Also, I noticed that I didn’t get all my water in. The most I’ve been able to remember to drink has been like 48 ounces instead of 64. So I have to be better focused on getting my water in .

Hi all, is it normal to be craving fast food 4 days post op? I will definitely let my surgeon know about this soon

Hi all, is it normal to be craving fast food 4 days post op? I will definitely let my surgeon know about this soon

Hi all, is it normal to be craving fast food 4 days post op? I will definitely let my surgeon know about this soon

So im getting ready for bed but thought id post this really fast. I made my boys some frozen pizza and i swear putting it in the oven zero effect. When it was done and i had to cut it up for them my whole WORLD turned upside down. I think that moment was the biggest temptation throughout this liquid diet at this point. I am seriously counting the minutes until the 18th! 6 more days please hurry up LOL

Hello all I was wondering if anyone else has had this rare complication. I got my sleeve done in Mexico Oct 2021. About a year ago, January 2023, I noticed I started to have excessive saliva. It started randomly but picked up more. Well fast forward to January 2024 I got an endoscopy and was told my sleeve is “tortuous” and I have a hernia. This means that my sleeve has a lot of turns. I don’t feel any pain but the acid reflux which was manageable completely prior with one 20mg Prilosec, some days didn’t have to take it at all, has now been more annoying. I’m getting a referral to a Bariatric surgeon here in the states even tho the gastro told me I’ll be fine and don’t need to do anything. I’ve read that a twisted sleeve happens to about less then 2% of sleeve patients. I’ve also read some great success stories of surgeons fixing the twist and hernia without revision to bypass etc. I’m hopeful and not in any pain. But I don’t want it to get worse and it’s just a little overwhelming. Thank you!

This is so exciting. I already purged my wardrobe and shopped through old smaller stuff that I never got rid of. That's what I'm wearing now but I've dropped so fast now, I think I'll go out and get a few new things for work? Maybe I'll look through thrift for now until I stop changing so quickly?

Hello all I was wondering if anyone else has had this rare complication. I got my sleeve done in Mexico Oct 2021. About a year ago, January 2023, I noticed I started to have excessive saliva. It started randomly but picked up more. Well fast forward to January 2024 I got an endoscopy and was told my sleeve is “tortuous” and I have a hernia. This means that my sleeve has a lot of turns. I don’t feel any pain but the acid reflux which was manageable completely prior with one 20mg Prilosec has now been a little more annoying. I’m getting a referral to a Bariatric surgeon here in the states even tho the gastro told me I’ll be fine and don’t need to do anything. I’ve read that a twisted sleeve happens to about less then 2% of sleeve patients. I’ve also read some great success stories of surgeons fixing the twist and hernia. I’m hopeful and not in any pain. But I don’t want it to get worse and it’s just a little overwhelming. Thank you!

Today is 8 days post op. It seems like my innards are awaking and they don't like me right now, but that's nothing new. Yesterday I made breakfast, took a half hour brisk walk on the treadmill, went grocery shopping and made my little 2 oz food containers, baked a cake and made dinner, then folded the laundry. All told, I'm feeling much more normal again, feeling antsy to get moving and I'm having more difficulty limiting myself than motivating myself. Before the surgery I was used to either a one hour lap swim with drills, or a one hour fast walk on the treadmill with hand weights. For the liquid diet I shortened both to about 40 min and slowed a bit, no hand weights. My body still wants to move but I know that I can't get too worked up right now, I need to heal more first. I have my first Post-op appt on Tuesday, hoping I can go back to swimming next week if my incisions are healed enough? 🤞

you need to temper your expectations a bit. At a starting weight of 230 lbs, you were lighter than many of us, and starting BMI is a big factor in how fast the weight comes off - at least initially. I'd lost 52 lbs by month 4 (where you are), but I also started off at almost 400 lbs. You are doing absolutely fine! and the majority of us DO have occasional stalls. It's a normal part of the weight loss process. Your body has to stop once in a while to recalibrate before heading down again. As long as you stick to your eating plan, the stalls WILL break, but they usually last 1-3 weeks (mine were sometimes longer once I got past the one-year mark...but that's true of anyone once you get close to a normal BMI). as long as the stalls and occasional fluctuations (which are also normal) aren't playing with your head, the daily weighing is fine. But it sounds like they were bothering you, which is why I suggested staying off the scale for a while. But it's fine to continue to weigh daily, of course. But remember there WILL be stalls and fluctuations, but as long as the overall trend is down, then you're doing fine.