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I take Claritin. That's interesting about Zyrtec, I used to take it and during that period of time I gained weight (many years ago, before my surgery), so now I wonder if that's why

My weight and other related illnesses made me so disabled, that hoovering a room was my exercise for the day. Vegetables were chopped sitting down. My life was indoors. After I lost about 70lbs and summer came to my part of the world, I started walking. It was so hard to gain enough stamina to walk into our small market town but I eventually did it. I am not allowed to drive anymore due to bad vision so I walk everywhere and anywhere. I volunteer in a charity store and go on day long shopping trips with friends. I still find it amazing that I can do so many things again. I knew I would get loose skin. My age was always against me. After menopause all the elasticity in my skin disappeared. My problem now is that I have masses of loose skin. I look great with clothes on but look shocking butt naked. I really want to go back to the pool which I loved pre covid but hate the idea of showing this new body now. I am sure the skin holds me back more than the 150lbs ever did ! If I had the money to have all the skin surgeries then I would but as I can only afford arms I wonder if its worth bothering.

Prior to surgery, I was walking, but not consistently. I will walk one week, then stop for two, then start again etc. Once I decided to do the surgery, I do not recall trying to follow any exercise program. I did not start walking until about 6 weeks post op, 2x a week. I was cleared by that time for strength training but still had some minor tingling in the big incision so was advised to do core exercises as I could handle them. I had all intentions to start a strength training program I had purchased end of January but did not start until March and have been following consistently. This consist of strength training with weights and resistance bands, 5x a week and depending on the week range from 30min to 45 min. Loose skin depends on too many factors to determine. I was told by my doctor that anyone who is loosing over 100lbs will have loose skin, the severity will vary by those factors. I personally thought I will have more loose skin, but being 20lbs or so from goal, I feel like I only have in my arms and breast, the other areas are not that much and I feel like by building muscle they will look a little better. Note that if you do decide to start adding strength training to your exercise routine, the number on scale will be different as you are gaining muscle and loosing inches. Some people have a hard time with that. I personally have shifted my focus to body composition instead of the number on the scale since I'm 8 months post op and reached my original goal weight.

Hey July buddies! Well I’m exactly one month passed my July 6th Gastric Sleeve. Hope everyone is doing well! I’m reporting 25 lbs down this morning very happy for the first month! No Stalls, yet. Only eating around 1000 calories a day, but burning more than 3600 every day. Lots of walking, can’t wait till the doctor says I can lift heavy weights again, my checkup is next week.

In answer to your question ........ I was a couch potato before my RNY back in last May last year. Walking past three houses was exhausting. So I rarely walked. So I began walking. Each week/month I went a little further and further. i can now walk 5 k easily. Walking is a great way to start to get fit. Then I started to do a small amount of strength exercises. It only been the last month that I have done cardio. I walk, use a recumbent bike and use limited weights. For me the whole thing is just about getting fitter. I do feel fitter and happier in my body. At my size I am going to have loose skin. How much you exercise will be determined by what you want to achieve and how much you are prepared to do. Losing weight is one thing but in order to keep the weight off exercise will need to be part of your life long journey. I hope it all goes well for you.

Hi! I'm so happy your year has been such a success! And how exciting for your daughter! It's awesome that she could see how your journey has gone, especially in that first month or two post-op. My surgery was on September 7, 2022, and I am kicking my butt trying to get to below 200 pounds by my one year RNY anniversary - I've got 10 pounds to go! I have lost 200 pounds since my highest weight in November 2021, and 145 pounds since surgery 11 months ago. Highest Weight: 410 | Surgery Weight: 355 | Current Weight: 210 | Goal Weight: 185 Physical Health: I am weight lifting 5 days per week, and my cardio is spin cycling or swimming 4-5 days per week. I'm currently a size 12, medium/large, down from size 28, 5x - I haven't been a size 12 since 6th grade! I am still not used to walking into a store and easily finding clothes that fit me. For decades, I have only been able to shop at plus-size clothing stores like Lane Bryant, and my options are so vast now! Also my hair is growing back and getting healthier again. My last blood test showed I was low on folate, so I'm taking that which has the benefit of helping with constipation, too. Recent realizations: collar bones and ribcage are things that I have turns out?? Mental Health: I don't track my food anymore because I started noticing some unhealthy food restriction patterns starting when I was closely tracking it. I have also asked for help from my support people. Just yesterday I asked my mom to remind me that, no matter what I said, today is going to be a rest day and she helped hold me to that today. She also offered to hold onto my scale for a bit which I took her up on so I can keep my weight loss progression mentally healthy. That said, I have been off my depression and anxiety medication for about five months now and I'm finding that my mental health has been thriving lately. Excess Skin: Because I've lived at 300-400 pounds for 20+ years, I have a ton of extra skin and I have started looking into excess skin surgery options for my belly, arms, and breasts. I am saving money wherever I can to try and save up for skin removal surgery. I will never be able to afford surgery in the US, but I've been researching options abroad like in Mexico, Colombia, and Thailand. Right now I use compression garments to hold my tummy skin in place while I exercise or basically just exist because chafing is a real problem. I have really bad skin to begin with and I don't need to add in chafing and skin infections just for fun. I hope you guys are doing great as we all come up on our one year anniversaries! Let's keep supporting each other and sharing in our various successes and struggles!

I lost 42kg so just a little less than you asked for. I don’t enjoy exercising. Never have. Still don’t. Over the years before surgery I tried lots of things: walking, yoga (one I enjoyed most), aerobics, swimming, cycling, etc. They never helped me lose weight or maintain my weight so I really wasn’t all that surprised when I discovered exercise only contribute to about 10% of any weight you want to lose. Of course there are many other benefits to exercising but don’t rely on it to help with your weight loss. Did I exercise during my weight loss? Nope. I just upped my everyday activities: parked further away from where I was going, walked up & down escalators & travelators, made multiple trips up & down my stairs (why carry groceries up in one trip when you can do it in two or three), etc. I still don’t exercise as such. I exercise snack at home by doing 5-10 minute sessions about 4 times a day of stretching & using resistance bands. I have loose skin (not a lot but enough) but my arms look more toned from using the bands - I just don’t wave my arms about. Too many factors influence how much loose skin you’ll have. Age, genetics, how much weight you lose, how long you were at your higher weight, your weight loss & gain history, etc. You can’t stop it. Your skin has already been stretched. You may get a little snap back if you’re younger & still producing elastin. Think of your lose skin as a well used & over stretched hair band/elastic. Can’t fix that. As to exercising helping with it, your muscles lie under your skin & your skin drapes over the top. You’ll need a lot of muscle to fill your skin out. My thighs would have to be three or more inches larger to fill out my loose skin there but I don’t want large thighs again. Nor do I want a large butt again to fill out the loose skin there. Surgery is your only option if your lose skin bothers you, limits your movements or gets infections, rashes, etc.

I have been cleared for most exercises but walking outside is so enjoyable to me, I'm sticking with that for now. I started on a treadmill straight out from the hospital for 5 minutes working up to fifteen over a couple weeks. Then took it outside. I walked a mile for a couple months. Now I walk 2. I don't push myself timewise or speed wise. I average a 2–3-pound weight loss a week so I'm satisfied with that. I get up and walk early before it gets too hot. Usually in the 70's. If weather is bad, I stay in and ride my recumbent bike while watching My 600 Pound Life. Never watched that show until after surgery. And never was a morning person till now. Odd. Nausea will usually happen from pushing yourself too hard too soon. Ease into it. Stay hydrated and don't get overheated. Just move. GL

I was able to start walking right away and got cleared for weight training at week 4. I’ve been swimming and doing a lot of Walk At Home with Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube because it has been 105+ degrees here and my electrolytes will tank if I’m out in it for too long. I alternate leg and arm day for my weight training. I’m still a little too heavy for HIIT training, but I can’t wait for that. I’m also going to try some sessions at Hotworx.

Lap banded about eleven years now. If I had to make this decision over I would still choose it. It’s life changing and that means it’s not all about loosing weight. You actually have to think about what you are eating and why you are eating. I’m amazed that the most difficult thing I found along the way , is how often I wanted to eat but realizing I was not even hungry. I really had a learning curve with my obsessive thoughts about food. Once this mental battle was over, living with the band has been mostly easy. In retrospect, I would have a Suport system in place, know that food will not be a social activity, but, once you reach your target weight- amazing. It’s important you can have access to a doctor who will continue to make adjustments when needed, because it’s not just once and done. I love being active, shopping for clothes is so simple since I can take measurements and the size always fits. Dinner parties are difficult for me because unless you tell everyone, people will inevitably comment on how little you eat, including servers. While I consider this a permanent band, I’m also aware it can be removed unlike other gastric surgery. So, do I think you are crazy? No. It’s your decision, no one else’s. Best of luck and be well!

I was only allowed to walk for the first four weeks. After that, I was cleared to do everything but weights (I had to wait until I was eight weeks out for that). I mostly did water aerobics and used the stationary bikes at my gym.

You might want to ask your dietitian to let you know which stage diet you're on. If you're on the soft foods diet then you can have soft scrambled eggs, tuna or chicken salad without pickles relish or onions. Just tuna or chicken mixed with a little mayo salt and pepper. Do you like cottage cheese? That's also a good one. Yogurt is too! I'm 1 year post op. I also love eating ricotta cheese, I make my own goat cheese too that's awesome and doesn't hurt my stomach. I still have issues with digesting meats unless it's really really small bits. I still do the chew til it's liquid lol but that doesn't work so well for meats. I started buying the 60 gram protein shake powders to help me get all my protein in for the day as well as using MCT oil in my coffee to help keep me in ketosis. I know you're at a point where you want to eat something solid because you've been on a liquid diet now over a month between pre-op and post op, but you can do this. Try some soft scrambled eggs or cottage cheese. And remember not to drink anything 30 minutes before or after you eat... And don't drink anything with your meals because it pushes the food down into your intestines and you don't feel full so you will continue to eat. The surgery is a great tool for helping lose weight, but we have to do the hard part of self control, and perseverance to let the tool work for us. Sadly my sister also had surgery but she didn't stick to her dietary restrictions and didn't lose as much. She had hers a couple years before me and turns out she's still in plus size clothing. I'm now down to wearing a size 2 to 4 jeans. You can do this. Remember why you're doing it. To be healthy

@ChunkCat after my post op appointment my Bariatric doctor told me to only take my Ozempic if I stop losing weight.

Hi just now seeing this. I went pack to basics and intermittent fasting. The two Protein Shakes and one meal is what you have to do to get weight moving. Also you can never eat regular again to maintain the weight loss. That’s what I found works for me. I keep my calories around 1000 or less per day and I’m fine. If I splurge one day I only eat a little of the bad item. Also no leftovers of not good food choice items

Hiya. I had my survey on March 10th. I started at 259 and now I'm 189. I'm stalling with a while i don't ever have a steady loss, it seems to go on batches! Half stone here and a half stone there but i used to put it up the same way! I too have loads of energy but don't work out much. I should but i don't. People really notice my weight loss but i think looking at ourselves in the mirror for years being heavy is hard to shift from the mind. All my clothes are gone for smaller sizes. We should be clapping ourselves on the back for achieving a new person so hang on there you'll start moving again its probably the bodys way of adjusting for the next loss. Well done you and keep going

I had sleeve & am just over 4 years out. my weight has been pretty much stable aside from a small gain of a good 2kgs after a medication absorption issue (& lost about half of it when the meds were adjusted). I never was required to measure & track my food intake. I only did it & still do randomly out of my own interest. While portion size is important equally important is calories & you can’t judge or make decisions about one in isolation of the other. The importance of nutritional value goes without saying of course. Generally I say I eat about a recommended portion of most foods & tend to eat predominately low processed food with the exception of some things. As an example I eat about 3-4ozs of protein with a good cup or so of vegetables for dinner. I have a half serve of rolled oats made with milk & blueberries for breakfast. Lunch may be 4 steamed prawn gyoza, a tub of yoghurt, 12 mid sized prawns, 1.5 egg omelette with vegetables, etc. I snack about 4 times a day (to get in additional protein, nutrients & calories). It’s usually some multigrain crackers with labneh or liverwurst if I haven’t made labneh, macadamia nuts, protein bar, string cheese, peanut paste, fruit, beef jerky. I don’t eat dessert, cakes or biscuits (except on very rare occasions), rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, chips, popcorn or other traditional ‘snack’ foods & don’t drink soda. Nor do I eat fast food & very rarely have takeaway (maybe 5 times since my surgery & not through my choice). Don’t really miss them either. Also I still take 30 - 45 minutes to eat a meal. If I eat more quickly, how much I can eat is reduced & I can end up with the foamies. I still aim to eat 60-70g of protein & to get my fluids in every day. I eat about 1500 calories to maintain my weight. I’m 5’3”, have a finer build, am 58 & aren’t really active. If I was taller, weighed more, was more active &/or younger I’d need more calories. Anyway that’s what I do & found works for me. It may not work for you. There is no right or wrong way to eat only what is right for you & allows you to maintain your weight & health, is sustainable & doesn’t limit or restrict the life you want to live. PS - Earlier this year I checked a BMR calculator out of curiosity. Interestingly, it suggested I’d need to consume about 1500 calories to maintain my weight which confirmed I was on the right path.

I had gastric bypass. The following has been repeated here enough to be... well... repeated enough here. But since no one researches old posts, here I am... My plan is 3-4 oz protein, 1oz veggies (or other) 3 times per day... Or as much as I can manage before I become full. I never counted calories or much that isn't described in the first sentence of this paragraph. This was my plan Day 1 through current (20+ years post op.) Currently, I'd say I reach 3-4 oz protein 1oz veggies for perhaps 50-60% of meals. The rest are meals where I can't come near my meal goal, I just stop when I max out for the meal. Perhaps 1% of the time, when the meal is exceptionally good and hits all that is good of an exceptional meal, that I might (very much might, because is is uncomfortable) push the envelope. The fact that I don't challenge my limits is why I believe my restriction is in the same place as it was about 3 months post-op. I can't eat much more per meal than I have since I have been 3 months post-op because I have rarely ever pushed the limit. My belief is the more one pushes the limits the larger those limits become. I simply do not push the limits, so I believe they remain narrow. Whether the limits actually exist as I said are perhaps a matter of belief doesn't really matter. My belief has kept me near my goal weight. So what I eat now is not a whole lot different than during the post-op period when I was learning how to eat again. I don't push my limits.

I had RNY but it's probably similar. I don't go by ounces anymore - I just know that it takes about 1600 calories to maintain my current body weight, so I try to stay around there (or under if I want to lose a few pounds). And the above person is right - the number of oz depends on the food. I can easily eat 8 oz of yogurt. But a piece of meat? No way. Maybe 2 or 3 oz. btw - no one would be able to tell now that I've had weight loss surgery. They'd just assume I'm a "light eater", just like lots of my female friends are who've never had a weight problem. I'll go to a restaurant and order a salad or an appetizer. Or I'll get an entree and eat half of it (and box up the rest to take home).

First post ever here and really struggling... My surgery date is 8/15 and I'm starting to have second thoughts. Not so much about having weight loss surgery, but about whether I am in good hands with my current provider. Long story short NOTHING with this bariatric surgeon's group has ever gone to plan. I did the steps to book my initial consult (educational videos, referral from my primary care provider etc.) and scheduled for January on MLK day. I booked this a couple months in advance so that I could take a friend with me to my consult who had MLK day off work (I live in small town MT so there are no local bariatric surgeons to me). I had requested the day off work as it's a 6 hour round trip to the office. The Thursday before my Monday appointment they called to inform me they were closed for the MLK holiday and had just realized this. So I waited another month and had my consult in February. I knew my insurance required me to complete 6 months nutrition visits, so goal was surgery this summer and I was moving forward with this. My pre op was scheduled for 6/28, and they told me when I scheduled my pre op that surgery would then be within 30 days (in the month of July). I was very excited and looking forward to surgery. I had been clear with them in early June that I was not avail for August surgery and they confirmed with my pre op being on 6/28 surgery would be within 30 days of the pre op. A week prior to my pre op they called to tell me their surgery/clinic days were changing and they had to move me to 6/29, again this is not me taking an hour off work but a full day to drive 6 hours to this office. I was frustrated by this, but was able to change my work schedule. At the appointment I was given a 7/18 surgery date, all the paper work listing my surgery date and dates for the phases of my pre op diet and I signed the consent. and I was so thrilled! Then the surgeon comes back in and when I mentioned surgery on 7/18 his reply was "well that's not going to happen" and I was super confused. I guess he normally does 2 cases per surgery date, but the 1st case on 7/18 was a super complex patient and so he refused to do 2 cases that day. This was not communicated to his staff and I left in tears. They told me as I was leaving the appointment that I could have surgery in August, as there were no more July surgery dates available, but they then dropped the bomb on me that the surgeon is no longer doing bariatric surgery after July (which had never once been mentioned to me at all), so my surgery in August would be with the new surgeon moving to Montana from California! This would also mean spending my birthday in the hospital as my birthday is 8/16. I wanted surgery so badly I even was willing to put up with this change in surgery months, a new surgeon I'd never even met and spending my own birthday in the hospital, but when I had asked a month ago through the MyChart patient portal (thus have it in writing) I was told I was 2nd case on 8/15 with an 8:30 arrival. I clarified that I lived 3 hours away and needed to know if it would possible end up being an early arrival so I could make appropriate plans to travel on Monday 8/14. I was told I was all set for an 8:30 arrival so I planned to leave home at 5:30 on surgery morning as I sleep better in my own bed and didn't want to pay for an extra night in a hotel. Now 2 days ago they told me because of my prior diaphragm surgery I need to be 1st case! I don't have a ride/plans for a 6am arrival and am panicking! This has me questioning majorly whether I am in good hands with this team... will my care post op be any better? If this is how I'm being treated pre op what I can I expect going forward? Am I being petty or does all this seem like a HUGE red flag?

September Buddies - 2022 This past year has been great. I am pleased with my weight loss, even though I have been at a stall for quite a while. Need to kick-start this again to get that last 15 pounds gone! My daughter has begun the journey, too. Her sleeve surgery is scheduled for Oct 11, 2023. I hope y'all are doing well! Best wishes and thanks to all for the support we have shared and will continue to do so.

It will do both. From my first surgery I lost 150lbs. I was happy with the weight I had lost. Still had a lot more to go but the heartburn was such a hinderance. Nothing like walking in the treadmill and eating tums at the same time just to get through :). I am feeling so blessed to have found a surgeon that specialized in revisions and took me seriously. 5 days post op and no reflux!

The surgery may be science, but the art of eating, post-surgery, isn't one size fits all as I have learned. I had the bypass and a hiatal hernia repair on June 6 and have been expanding my permissible diet within the general guidelines. I find that the hardest thing is the the line between full and over-doing it, particularly with new post surgery foods. I had one instance of "foamies" that caused me great discomfort- I wish I could have puked and gotten it over with; instead, I suffered gastric distress for hours, and eventually fell asleep sitting on the living room couch. You should talk to your nutritionist - sometimes, it seems, it is the food itself; sometimes, perhaps eating too much, too quickly. I'm finding the line between full and overfull to the point of distress to be a pretty fine one and easy to cross. The "frothing/foamies" gave me religion in the sense that I'm more careful about what I put into my gullet, how much and how quickly. This is a significant operation that changes a lot of your physiology- the volume and nature of the food you can accept and the degree to which you can explore new food options (within the guardrails) that don't make you sick. My take, also as a new post op patient, is that you have to take it slowly, be deliberate and work with the surgeons' staff and nutrionist to help you on your way. Nobody said it would be easy, but the rewards start to come pretty quickly. For me, just a little more than a couple months out, I have far more mobility, I'm not focused on the scale but more on my physical capabilities. I go see the surgeon for a follow up next week. My blood work looks pretty good, it has improved already. One other thing: I can still enjoy the sensation of eating good food, but that's subordinate to my main mission to remedy the problems that necessitated the surgery--not just weight loss, but Barrett's. The bypass pretty much eliminated GERD, which was huge. The weight loss is coming a long nicely and I'm deferring to the surgeon's team for advice.

Congratulations on your weight loss & maintenance. To lose more, go back to the basics of what you were eating & doing when you first stabilised. Your old protein & fluids goals, watch portion size, keep your carbs, fats & sugars low & track your food. You’ll then need to reduce your calorie intake to lose weight. (Remember, exercise only accounts for about 10% of your weight loss so upping your activity to help your weight loss will only help with the loss of about 2 lbs in your case.) Given that you’ve been stable all this time, the weight you’re at may be your body’s set point - the weight it is happiest at & functions best at. It’s easer to maintain this weight & much harder to lose more & then maintain a lower weight simply because your body doesn’t want to be at a lower weight. To maintain weight lower than your set point will require you to always work at it & to eat fewer calories than you do now to maintain. Will this be sustainable & manageable? Will a lower weight & reduced calorie intake limit or restrict your lifestyle? Just something to consider.

Hey all my name is April I am 4 years out of GS 2019. I am having a lot of trouble and needing some support to maintain my weight. I lost 70 pounds before the pandemic but I need to lose these last 20 pounds please help.

How have you felt within these last few months in your weight loss? Like do you feel more energetic? More enthusiastic? You’re doing great! My doctor says you will introduce food a little at a time as If you were like a child eating new things for the first time!