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New Week New Win! I say continued weight loss of about 2.5 pounds a week is a win being 5 months out it's still steady and that's good. I have until April which is my surgiversary to make it to goal weight I think I shall be there way ahead of time 👊🏅🏅

First of all congratulations on your loss. Everyone says that the first place you gain weight is the last place you will lose it when it comes back off. Do you remember being around this size before and gaining in your belly? I know that I first noticed it in my belly and face. Ab exercises may help because I noticed that my ab muscles are practically non existent and I think it’s due to not sitting up tall since I’ve put on the weight. Standing and sitting up tall and holding my belly in makes a huge difference in how my body appears.

Hi everyone! I haven't been on this site in a VERY long time, but I am currently on a new weight loss journey and I thought I would report in with my experience and the hope that some of you newbies can learn from it. I had my VSG surgery on 9/1/2014, so 10 years ago this month. At the time of my surgery, I weighed ~260 pounds and I am 5'6". I have lost and gained weight a million times before that, with my highest weight ever having been 277 pounds. In the first couple of years after my surgery, I was able to get below my goal weight (165) all the way down to 154. During that time I trained for and ran in a half marathon and a full marathon, completing the full marathon in September 2016 (almost exactly two years after my surgery). I separated from my then-husband in May of 2016 and our divorce was final in December 2016. My life took a very different path after that and I did not stick to my healthy diet and exercise. I met my current husband in February of 2017 and while I love him dearly and he is THE BEST, he is a bit of a hedonist and we definitely supported each other in our hedonism. I became a connoisseur of fine craft beers and we have a large friend group who we go out with or have get-togethers with several times a week. I not only stopped running but stopped exercising altogether. Both my current husband and I put on weight in the seven years we have been together, especially during COVID, and I got all the way back up to 234 pounds! Last year, my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and, in April, we resolved to turn things around together. Since then, I have lost 30 pounds and I am on my way down to my new goal weight of 180. So, here are some things I want to report, trying to lose weight again for the first time since immediately after my surgery: The restriction still works! I cannot eat much more than about 200 grams of food in one sitting. Once I cut out snacking and stopped drinking as many calories (beer), it was easy to rely on my sleeve to restrict my daily caloric intake. My metabolism is still normal. As a 5'6 female weighing 203.2 pounds, I still burn ~2100 calories per day just by living, according to my Garmin watch and it definitely tracks with the calorie differential I am logging and the weight loss I am seeing. I still can't eat and drink at the same time. I usually have to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to drink anything after I eat a full meal. Being overly full is still an unpleasant feeling. Before my surgery, I used to love the sensation of being "stuffed." Since surgery and to this day, it is still uncomfortable for me if I overeat in one sitting. Not a pleasant sensation at all, but not painful like it was in the very beginning. I can still get dumping syndrome if I'm not careful. If eat too much sugar too fast, usually in the form of ice cream or a milkshake, I get dumping syndrome and it is VERY unpleasant, fortunately, it is very rare. Food can still get "stuck." Every once in a while, mostly when I am eating turkey or pork it seems, food can get stuck and it is completely miserable. Be sure to thoroughly chew your food!!! Especially dense meats. My advice to anyone who is post-sleeve and still losing weight or trying to maintain their weight: Snacks are the enemy! It's so easy to get in extra calories by eating smaller amounts between meals. Your sleeve won't help you at all with this. Drinking your calories is easy and dangerous. I haven't given up my precious beer entirely, but I have cut back and I am mindful of the type of beer I am drinking as some types are more caloric than others. You can just as easily drink your calories even if you don't drink alcohol. Be wary of soda, milkshakes, energy drinks, juices, and too much cream/sugar/syrups in your coffee. Keep up with the exercise. It doesn't have to be training for a marathon like I did in the beginning. Currently, my husband and I take a ~mile walk after dinner each night and we try to do one, long, 4-5 mile walk/hike on the weekend. Just that moderate amount of activity can make a big difference. Be mindful of calorically dense foods. Even though I can only eat 200 grams at a time, if it is 200 grams of junk, it can have a LOT of calories! I hope the lesson that all of you take from this post is that the sleeve is a tool and it is all about how you use it. It can work for you, even 10 years out, as long as you use it correctly.

As @ynotiniowa, said the time it takes for your head to catch up with the reality of your actual size contributes a lot to the dysmorphia for us: we can only see how we used to look because our size dominated & limited so much in our lives. It also affects friends and family who struggle to see the real you with your weight loss. For some family and friends it’s behind those ‘you’ve lost too much’ & ‘it’s time you stop losing’ comments they make. Personally, I found those skinny mini comments most upsetting (that specific phrase was most upsetting too) especially when I knew I still had weight to lose and I was no where near my goal. I knew, in most cases, it was people acknowledging my weight loss and congratulating me. I knew I should use it as motivation but I saw it more as them really saying you were huge before. It took a while after my weight stabilised for me to be comfortable and actually take pleasure in the you’re slim or small comments. Honestly, I still enjoy them today. I tell myself it’s because I worked hard to lose the weight and continue to work hard to maintain it & I’ve earnt the recognition. The reality is I’ve become a lot more vain than I was before and enjoy the attention. Lol!

Oh. @BlueParis you look wonderful and gorgeous! 😁 I know you need to lose more for your health/mobility issues but just crossing my fingers over here that I can one day be like you ( minus the boobs, cause that would take alottttttt of plastic surgery for me! 🤣) After losing and gaining weight for over 30 yrs, mine pretty much look like deflated pancakes! Sorry for the visuals 😝

Hello everyone - I need advice. The 16th anniversary of my surgery was yesterday. It's been a wild and wonderful sixteen years. I have lost 90 pounds. Many changes during these years. Mostly all good. I turned 60 years old in April. I have noticed in the past few months that I feel hungry more often, and I've seen my weight go up. It's not going up by much but just the fact that it seems to be increasing is concerning to me. All these years I've been able to literally eat ANYTHING I want with no gain at all. I don't know if my insides have changed or it's the fact that I turned 60, but I want to put a stop to whatever this is RIGHT NOW. For those of you out there to whom this has happened, what did you do? I would appreciate any and all suggestions and tips you might have... Thank you, Lisa in Scranton PA

there aren't any calories in Coke Zero, so it shouldn't make you gain weight, but carbonated beverages can irritate some people's stomachs (which is why surgeons don't allow them the first few weeks or months post op - and some surgeons "ban" them for life). I drank Diet Coke occasionally before surgery, but then didn't have any for at least three years post-op. I tried one once while I was at an airport and after a sip or two, I dumped it out. It tasted like chemicals (which basically, it is...). After all that time away from it, it tasted awful. So that was that - haven't had one since. I do drink flavored carbonated water a few times a week now. I still can't drink things that are highly carbonated because after nine years out, carbonation can still irritate my stomach. I can handle mildly carbonated drinks, though. But then again, if faced with a beverage that's too carbonated for me, I just let it sit there for a while until it flattens out enough for my stomach to tolerate it.

this was what i first thought of as well. my weird body pains showed up around 1 month post op: neck and shoulder pain, mid back pain, hip pain , elbow, ankle and heel pain. at the time i was told by my chiropractor (and google lol) that is was due to my changing centre of gravity and loss of padding (fat) when sitting or laying down which results in changes to your body's needs to hold itself up. we wls patients lose weight so quickly and our skeletal and musculature makeup are playing catchup, hence the pain. i was also told that slowing down weight loss helps (i.e., eat more). for the record, i did not try to slow down my weight loss, ha! my pain went away around 4-5 months post op if i recall (which was nearing the end of my rapid weight loss phase)

P.S. I meant I lost weight for 20 MONTHS, not lbs! Can't believe I didn't catch this!

Got cleared yesterday to go back to exercise except weights and I got right back to it. Did almost 5 miles so far today, will do the same tomorrow before I meet my friend for lunch.

I wish you a happy healthy journey on your surgery and weight loss. I saw April Laren on YouTube had the DS and was very honest about her first few weeks. She might be worth a look.

Ooh yea. I am doing fine now. Thank you for asking. I haven’t needed any more NSAIDs. I gained my weight back and I’m facing revision to a surgery where even occasional NSAIDS are not okay though so this is on my list of questions to ask about.

I'm still pre-op so I'm just guessing, but I think this is the kind of thing that disappears with time? Maybe once you get used to being your new normal weight you feel differently? My normal weight has always been 260 or so and I think I will always see myself that way. But just remember all that you have accomplished so far and you're still going!

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

Surgery is in 4 1/2 days (10/01) and the nerves are real! I know logically that I have done everything they have asked of me, but I still keep thinking I've screwed up. Starting Weight- 350 Current Weight- 325 Still a few days remaining to see what what I can lose on 5 shakes a day for the next 4 days.

I love that he updates his practice with current research and never makes weight regain a moral failure.

I can relate to being afraid of gaining weight after working so hard to lose it. We all deal with that here. But it's a fine line between being mindful about it and developing disordered eating habits. I can speak to this because it happened to me. I was dropping weight like a champ, then I hit stall after stall, and each one lasted longer than the previous one. And I would panic. And I would restrict the amount I ate, I would kick up the intensity and frequency of my work outs. I would have anger and confusion and fear anytime I either didn't lose or I gained a little (turns out, I'm one of the ones that gains 3-5 pounds during a stall and then just sits there for weeks and weeks. Then when the stall breaks, I drop like 6-7 pounds all at once). I had to actually go to a therapist that specializes in bariatric disordered eating (not easy to find, btw) to get my head on straight. And it's still a struggle sometimes. Especially since these last 11 pounds absolutely fight me tooth and nail and just don't want to come off. I said all that to say just be very careful. I never started out intending to have these issues. I thought I'd have the surgery, lose the weight, get healthy, and bada-boom bada-bing, life would be great. But it's never that cut and dry, is it? We can become obsessed with losing the weight, seeing how low we can get the scale, getting into that lower size, looking thinner, never gaining weight again, getting that bmi just a little lower.....and before you know it, you have a whole new eating disorder that's even harder to get out of and we're doing even more damage to our bodies without even meaning to. And we can justify what we're doing because HEY, we got off our meds, we're getting healthier, we're losing the weight, we're EXTENDING OUR LIVES damn it!!! And that's harder to overcome and harder to recognize and going too far than being obese is. We knew we needed help. We knew we were doing wrong. That's why we had the surgery. But now? Now it gets harder to see what we're doing because HEALTH!! WEIGHT LOSS IS GOOD!!! NO MORE MEDS IS THE GOAL!!! JUST A LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OFF CAN'T POSSIBLY BE BAD!!! So please please just be really careful with where you're at now and where you're wanting to get to. Lastly, on the days you're working out (especially the really hard weight days) increase your protein and calories. Your body thinks it's starving, so you need to reassure it that you're not. The heavier the work out, the more your body needs. You can't run a car without gas and you can't run your body without food. So give it what it needs, in the amounts it needs, and it'll do what you want it to. Make sure you also have a larger amount of fluids than you normally would on those days, too. Dehydration can really do a number on the body, as well.

Wow. I am so thrilled for you to hear or your weight loss but more importantly the resolution of your comorbidities. That’s awesome. You should update your weight in your profile. You earned it!! Are you still losing or are you in maintenance at this point?

Liquid diets or liver shrinking diets before surgery are very common. Different surgeons will want patients to follow specific diets (like all liquid) prior to their surgery usually for about two weeks though can be for longer or shorter. The aim is for you to lose a little more weight before surgery, thus making it safer, and to shrink your liver so the operating field is more visible and your tummy and digestive system easier to access. Different patients will fe given different plans to follow based on their weight, current health status, surgery, etc. Some are given weight loss goals to reach like you, others not. For example, I was put in Keto and not given a specific weight loss goal just had to lose some. I lost 4.5kg (9.9lbs) in just over two weeks. Just follow the diet plan you’ve been given & you’ll be fine.All the best.

Same, I tried every diet going over the years and they worked for a while but then I would just slowly, without realising, gain it all back again plus usually a little more. That is why I knew the surgery was the correct tool for me as no matter how much I tried I couldn't do it on my own - and I wasn't on my own even as such as my family and friends supported me so much over the years. My target at the start of this sleeve journey was not a figure on the scale but to get down to a clothes size (UK 10), to have more energy to then get fitter and to not feel ashamed and like the fattest person in the room all the time. Anything more than that has been a bonus, which I will not take for granted.

Hi, my name is Krislynn, Kris, or just K., I'm new to this forum. I found it researching more about the duodenal switch. I turned 42 in July this year, and my highest weight before my first surgery was 536. I had the gastric sleeve in June 2017. The first year was a great learning experience in learning about healthy foods, changing my mindset, and what I needed to do to get healthy. That first year, I lost 221 lbs. But, then when I went back for the 2-year check-up, the surgeon that took care of me, had left the hospital and program and they informed me they had no one for me to see. But, then Covid hit shortly after that-- then I lost my job and ended up sitting home 2 years and gained close to 200 lbs back of what I lost and that was crippling to me because all my old health problems came right back. during all this happening, my mom and I chose to move from California to Indiana to be closer to my sister, I decided I couldn't take care of my mom who has declining health because of her weight too, has been type 2 diabetic for more than 20+ years at this rate with my health starting to decline again too. So I reached out to the weight loss doctors here, I spent 6 months Feb-Aug '24 taking off 70+ lbs by following their 1200 calorie diet, getting back into a healthy mindset. It's a struggle at times, and sometimes I take two big steps forward, and then I end up taking a big step backward, it's a daily walk. once I completed the mandatory 6-month medical weigh-ins, things moved quickly, I got approved by the psychologist, and then the insurance approved me to have the Duodenal Switch or SADIS surgery quickly, within a week I heard back. My new surgeon who's great, got me scheduled quickly after I finished all the required testing, and preop classes, this Monday, the 11th at 7 AM. I am feeling nervous because even though every test they've made me do has come back normal and negative, I am 7 years older and worry that something might possibly happen. I keep reminding myself, that I've already had the sleeve, so I won't be under that long, just long enough for him to do the switch. so basically, I'm going to go to sleep and then wake up on the other side of it. Can anyone who has had this surgery, give some advice or maybe just let me what to expect after this kind of surgery? The last time I woke up the only thing I remember is the immense pressure I felt on my chest from them feeling my stomach with gas to do the surgery. And The surgeon told me unfortunately I would be dealing with that again because it's something unavoidable. So, I'm prepared for that. Love to everyone, Krislynn☺️💜

Just a thought whilst reading through others comments. I know you said that carbs are hard to increase, however I think that is the culprit. I work out 6days a week and I am closer to 80g of carbs and 30 ish g of fat most days. You don't have to eat bread but fruits, and veggies have carbs. I am not saying goes balls to the wall, but if your working out then 1800 cal is not cutting it. My BMR to maintain is close to 2500 calories, I eat about 1500 cal right now just because I cannot physically eat that much. I checked to see how many calories I need to gain weight and I would need to consume 3300 calories a day! I am not saying stuff yourself, but eating every 1/5-2hrs will be beneficial- add granola to your yogurt, protein bar right after working out, eat some peanut butter balls with oatmeal, maple syrup, caco nibs or chocolate chips, add cottage cheese to eggs with a handful of spinach. Beefing up your meals will help you feel better. Maybe you know all this but just my two cents

You would be surprised they can be quite hurtful. Even the well intended ones that say you look so good are usually followed up by commenting on how big you were before which pretty much sucks. This can be especially difficult if you put a little weight back on or in my case a lot and then you have to go around those people knowing they are for sure judging you again. And even if you don’t gain it still kinda stings to know that people who are supposed to love you were judging you before for something that was out of your control. I had one person who had known me for years tell me that they just realized what a pretty girl I am about five minutes after they asked if I had lost weight!! I don’t think people think before they talk sometimes. Bottom line is any comments about weight CAN be hurtful and it’s something that people should tread really lightly about in my opinion. Or better yet learn to see a person for who they actually are and not even notice a persons size amongst other physical things (only in a perfect world I know). Why do you say you wish you were getting these comments? Have you not lost what you expected to with the sleeve? Are you still losing? That’s what I had first and I never did get to my goal weight. I am doing a revision surgery to the SADI in early August. My dr said that the sleeve is a great surgery for a lot of people but obesity is a complex issue and it is not the best fit for everyone. Some people just need more of a metabolic change to be successful.

When you finally do drop weight, you’ll probably drop a couple or several pounds at once

Thank you very much! Congratulations to you as well for your successful journey. It's amazing to finally be free of the fat and, more importantly for me, the addiction to food and the total control/power I have over food now. It's seriously my lifelong dream at 55 so staying motivated was baked in.. Thank you again. I am sure I didn't elaborate or explain my reasons enough but actually I am concerned about slowing down the weight loss. I still eat very small portions and am worried it would be hard to sustain on just protein, without carbs. I like my body running more ketogenic than carbed up with the ups and downs of carbs. Without adding fat, and with our malabsorption aspect of the surgery, I am wondering if its possible or not so much..If I am being honest, at 240lbs, I started eating dirtier with carbs to try and stabilize at 240 until I got my knee surgeries, but then just dropped another 20+ within a month and a half or so. My steps and activity increased, small by normal people standards, but a lot for where I have been, after I got another Cortisone shot to the knees. This just illustrates my concern once I reach goal weight and I am rucking, hiking, and lifting. Those three things will be lifelong for longevity and mobility going forward. Obviously everyone is different as far genetically and such, but I have been extremely low calorie, plenty of short fasts up to three days, and have plateaued at certain points during my weight loss, and after doing a refeed with carbs and basically whatever I want to eat, I recharged my metabolism for another huge run of weight loss. The refeed was usually only a couple days to a few days but less than a week. Now with this approach remember I am lifting weights. I mean hard as I can weight lifting 4 days a week. It sucks! Low energy lifting is not fun but the recomp.. I really believe the built-in calorie burn from lean muscle mass is the most efficient way to permanently stay in shape. Male or female doesn't matter. IMHO if your metabolism is slow and you are struggling with the last few pounds, I mean the literally like 5-10 pounds from goal BF, man or woman, start lifting weights. The body recomp will floor you. And that weight or really I think just your body composition after significant weight loss without adding lean muscle mass leaves you looking(Sometimes) like a no muscle bag of skin. Flat. It's not fun but the results.. Anyways thank you for the reply and just to make clear if any of the vets care to weigh in, the WLS gave me the tool, the only tool I will ever need again to lose weight. It's so powerful for me that I need to think about slowing down my weight loss combined with, if possible, being low carb and more ketogenic as a lifestyle choice I prefer. I just don't know if low carb is sustainable without the fat calories. that specifically is what I am looking for. Does anyone prefer low carb/ketogenic after surgery and is it possible? I already realize that fats can be problematic, is anyone doing carnivore after DS Sadi. Not my preference but the only option it seems for low carb without the keto fat plan. Thanks in advance for any tips.