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Really good for those of us earlier in our weight loss journey to hear your story - thank you. Would it be possible for you to fill out your stats? I had no regrets at any stage but I guess that's just different experiences - ditto for hair loss!

Don't worry. We do not lose weight in a linear fashion. If you're sticking to your programme then you WILL lose - you cannot not lose. Everyone here has had stalls big and small, long and short - they are part and parcel of a weight loss journey. I know they are hard but they will surely shift. Enjoy your journey - it's so very worth it.

I had the gastric Sleeve surgery almost 2 years ago … was 260 and now about 160 … lowest weight 155. 1. You will have regrets within 6 months of surgery for emotional reasons like not soothing yourself with food - you will need to break up with food and see it only has a way to keep u alive and once in a while eat something really good but only have a little or u will pay dearly in nausea and pain. U will start Turing to food with more flavor because u can only eat so much so u will want to enjoy it. Naturally thin people do not look to food a friend. 2. Start weight training as soon as u are ready - I started 1.5 months after surgery. I got a personal trainer because I’ve always been afraid of the gym but I was more afraid of loose skin. Although I do have some loose skin I’m in my 40’s - I look pretty good for loosing 100 pounds. I didn’t start cardio until after I lost most of my weight because I feel like I eat more with cardio. 3. If you start loosing your hair - don’t panic. I had my entire hand filled with hair for several weeks of showering. I thought I was going to die. It started 4 months from surgery. As a fat women - I ALWAYS had awesome hair so loosing it was HARD. I paid a lot of money for different fixes but it probably wasn’t worth anything. It slowed down and after a year and a half - it’s better - not back to 100% but I’m a good 90% normal. Try to embrace it and maybe cut it off to start a new you. 4. Would I do it again? HELL YES! Is it hard, yes. You can no longer count on food as a friend. You cannot eat and drink at the same time (makes me feel sick). I miss taking advil when I had live a pain. You have to watch your alcohol intake. If you over eat - u will pay and u want to die. However, I no longer will like I embarrass my family with my size, I can ride on rides at any amusement parks, I can climb stairs without stopping, I am seen by people without the look of pity, i don’t feel uncomfortable all the time, the list could go on for hours. You start a whole new chapter of your life. Best of luck

I will look him up for sure! Thank you for sharing. Hormones & metabolic cycles have always been my Achilles heel. The growling & violently empty feeling are much better today. The postop fluid is also coming off thank goodness. I have pitting sacral edema so I know I’m still holding some. I’m 3lbs down from surgery day weight. Do you know when the loss should pick up? And how are you feeling? How is your pain?

Yes . It is harder then I thought it would be to change that habit of late night eating. So I now have resolved myself to saving about 200 calories to my late night snacking. I have also returned to making sugar free jello and having that as a snack or having a banana . I have also reduced my portions to 250- 300 g . It was eating puree just so I could eat larger portions. While also not pureeing my foods anymore. It is helping and starting to embrace and modify my old habit. Work with it and not let it become my burdin. Also this week I am now back to loosing weight again. I'm entering my 10 week post op. Pre op 2 week before 265bls Surgery day 250 lbs Current weight 225 lbs That's 40 lbs. In 21/2 months and I am happy and healthier and looking forward to continue on my journey to better health and weight loss .

I had a similar experience. Lost all the weight I had to & more, followed all the rules, kept up w the weight loss in between appointments & only had to do 2 full days of the liquid diet. Following the rules pays off!

Looking for folks to follow and build with who are o a similar surgery timeline. I’m getting the sleeve on December 5. Let me know if you’d scheduled similarly and would like to share experiences and support here. Please feel free to introduce yourself in the comments. I’ve included my own intro below. ABOUT ME: I’m Sarah, a 40yo woman from nyc. I have a senior level professional job as a consultant and work from home most days of the week. I hate failing and I think that’s why weight has been such a hindrance for me, it’s feels like a personal failure. Im pretty active and close my Apple Watch rings most days. I love to swim and do swim laps 30-60 minutes/day - 4-5/days a week. Outside of swimming I love to read, wander the hiking trails in Central Park, volunteer for campaigns and causes I care about, writing, and travel anywhere are everywhere in spite of dreaded airline seats :) My WLS decision: I’ve been overweight most of my life but for a few years after a prior 120lb weight loss associated with disordered eating about 10 years ago. Needless to say most of that weight was gained back in recovery and then some yo-yoing down 50 and up 60 every other year to follow. I imagine many of you can relate to this story. Though I’ve thought about wls surgery for sometime my blood panels and other levels were still in healthy range only my weight was an outlier. But then COVID came and especially terrified me - I was scared if I caught it I would be at risk to lose my life. I made efforts on my own to lose weight and like past attempts I shed 50lbs and was really good for 6 months but then something happens at work and I prioritize that above myself and before I know it I’ve gains it back. This last year I found myself of the gain side of the yo-yo and for the first time being afraid to sit in some chairs, after break a plastic deck chair. I noticed I was keeping myself in bc I was disgusted with myself, holding myself back from dating, from living, and carrying myself with little confidence, with little to look forward to. The tipping point: I went to my nieces dance recital and could barely squeeze into the auditorium seat. I needed to make a permanent change. Two months later I had my first consult for surgery and here I am ready Dec 5 surgery.

I started therapy about a month and a half or two months before surgery. Most of my fears were about complications, not so much about relationships. I once lost a lot of weight, about 5 or 6 years ago. So, I know that my marriage can handle me being thinner and eating differently. My goal is to be about 30 pounds smaller than I was at that point, but I'm not worried about my relationship. As far as attention from men, it's not really something I'm exposed to, very much. I don't really go anywhere where men can approach me - unless they do it at the grocery store or post office. In which case I can just say, "Thank you. I'm flattered, but I'm married." But, I'm sure I won't look like a good target, anyway - even after I lose weight. I dress very, very modestly. In my profile picture, I'm wearing a pajama shirt that is probably more skin than you'll see of me in public - that and my lower arms. I mostly wear t-shirts and ankle-length skirts when I leave the house. I also cover my hair. There are so many other ladies out there, to take a man's attention - he likely won't want to waste his time looking at me. And that's the way I like it.

ok, so first i agree with the low BP theories mentioned above. i would get woozy getting up quickly or just turning around too fast...resulting in stumbling or knocking into things. the other things i figured out that helped to explain my sudden-onset clumsiness: - i used to trip over imaginary obstacles (i.e., my own feet!) all the time. turns out my feet shrunk and my shoes became too big. so yeah, tripping. - there was a period where i would drop things from my hand for no reason. i think this was because i was weaker than normal and over-estimated my grip strength - i cant say how many times i would walk into the corners of my kitchen island during weight loss phase (ouch!). i figure my mind hadn't yet figured out spacial awareness with my smaller size im 4 years post now, my shoes fit, things stay in my hand, and the bruises on my waist and hips are thankfully gone! Good Luck!

gobble gobble! *raises hand* member of the turkey neck club here! im 4 yrs post..i've tried lots of things to minimize my turkey neck: massage, facial/jaw exercises, creams/lotions, micro-needling, IPL, botox...all of which made little to no lasting difference (at least none that i could see). i figure i have a neck lift or face lift sometime in my future, but ill get to that when i get to it. im not really keen on doing any more surgery and i can live with it for now. i mean, i am getting up in years so even if the weight loss didn't do a number on my skin, age will. i will echo the sentiments mentioned above about things shifting around a little as time goes on. my neck (in my opinion) was way worse looking immediately after weight loss phase than it does now (not to say its so great now, but at least its "better" looking...see pic below...i have these 2 vertical lines always there, which become more prominent when i laugh or grimace). i do have an appointment for a series of "morpheous 8" sessions in the upcoming months as a last ditch effort to improve the look of my neck skin, so we'll see. also, re: hair: i chopped it all off at around 3-4 months-post into a pixie cut cuz i was sick of vacuuming the CARPETS of hair accumulating on my bathroom floor. not sure if it made me look any less old though...my gauntness at the time did all that for me lol. but if my experience or the experiences of others i've read on here can attest, with time, we all stop looking like dead man/woman walking EVENTUALLY. Good luck!

Had gatsric bypass on 11-9-22. Down 25lbs total (including preop diet weight loss) Sent from my SM-G991U using BariatricPal mobile app

You did great! I am jealous of the 2 lb loss since I have never lost 2 lbs overnight. I have gained it overnight though lol. I think I might be having the same issue. I just want to shop all the time now. I do it online though so I don't even get any exercise from it. Also long posts are awesome because I love to hear how everyone is and get something to read.

things do sort of move around once you hit your goal and you look less gaunt than you did at first - but I can't remember if that affected my "turkey neck" or not. Might have a bit. At any rate, between the 200+ lb weight loss and my age (I'm in my 60s), yep, I had a turkey neck. I don't know if others noticed it or not, but I sure did. I did have mine removed as part of a facelift procedure I had at about six years post-op.

I'm 3 and a half months past surgery and I've lost almost 39 pounds, which I'm very happy with. Prior to surgery, I did have a hint of a double chin, and now that it's going away, I'm getting a bit of a "turkey neck" instead. Meaning, there's some loose skin there and a couple of vertical lines I can see in the mirror and in photographs. Also, if I shake my head, my neck wobbles back and forth. Is this something that can go away as I lose more weight, or am I stuck with this look unless I have plastic surgery? Has anyone experienced this and found some solution? Are there any less invasive procedures like lasers or peeling that actually work? Also, I'm losing hair like crazy and I had planned to cut my hair to make it look thicker and healthier. My hair is currently about 15-20 cm past my shoulders (6-8 inches) and I had planned to have it cut to shoulder length or maybe even shorter for Christmas. But now I worry that shorter hair will make my wobbly neck all the more visible. I have wavy hair, so I also worry that shorter haircuts may look like "old lady" perms. Any thoughts or experiences with good haircuts that can hide or minimize a turkey neck and still look good ?

Hi everyone my name is lizzy, just had my VSG about 6 months ago so far I’ve lost 90 pounds and I’m feeling great!!!! My only struggle is taking down these vitamins I’ve tried it multiple different time and it all seems to make me nauseous still , from pill capsules to chewables… idk what else do I force my self to take it but I just hate the nausea part. My hair did fall out so I had to cut it short which helped and now it doesn’t fall as much , since my hair was long I felt the heaviness of it and now I just feel light weight all around lol . I do have a question though… why is that I feel cold all the sudden ? It’s winter time now in Las Vegas and my body cannot stand this cold I’m always cold and achy from it …. Any ideas pls thank you!!!!

You look great, and not at all older. That haircut and color also looks good on you. I'm thinking of cutting my hair too, and maybe getting some highlights. I too worry about looking older and since I have wavy hair, I also worry that shorter hair will look like an old lady perm. But hopefully my results will be as good as yours.

My hair did not come into that much I made sure I followed the docs advice and after I lost 108 pounds I feel great

Hey, I'm new to the forum. Just wondering if anyone who had gastric sleeve surgery around June 2022 can share there experience so far.

Yes, I have this problem. To the others that replied, it's not a sensation of vertigo, it's a lot more subtle than that. I especially notice this when I'm walking and find myself occasionally walking like I'm intoxicated, where I start to veer to one side or the other. I never feel a spinning sensation or like I'm going to pass out (as I sometimes do when I stand up too quickly). It also does not happen constantly, it's more like every couple of minutes. I don't know what's causing it, but I have some theories: Gait issues: I think we sometimes dismiss how much weight loss can impact one's center of gravity and thus our normal gait. Orthostatic hypotension: As mentioned, I have been suffering from occasional issues with orthostatic hypotension lately, so it's possible that this is related in some way. It may just me a very slight lowering of my blood pressure while walking as opposed to the big drops that sometimes happen when I get up too quickly. This one is a bit of a stretch, but it's possible the loss of fat cells surrounding the tensor tympani muscles could have caused some issues with muscle laxity, leading to balance issues. Since I do already suffer from severe hearing loss and tinnitus, there maybe a greater possibility of this one for me? I am planning to talk to my cardiologist ASAP as I want to lower or eliminate my carvedilol. I already eliminated 2 other HBP meds, but I think it's time for this one to go as well.

Heaviest weight 356. Weight before surgery 313... Weight since getting surgery October 6th...drumroll please........279! Woot woot! 23 lbs toil I hit 100 lost! About 3 to 4 weeks after surgery. I didn't lose weight for about 3 to 4 weeks... I was freaking out. I felt defeated like I was doing something wrong but then I looked back and realized I was doing every single thing exactly how it was told to be done... I know we're not supposed to doctor Google but I looked it up and The three week post-operative stall is actually a thing! It happens to most people that get bariatric surgery and it can last anywhere from two weeks to 5 weeks roughly. It is simply your body and metabolism getting used to your new stomach... But I'm back on track and happier than ever with the decision that I've made. Just thought you guys deserved an update for the ones that are rooting for me! The ones that think this was the easy way out. It's okay. You're entitled to your opinion, but you're definitely wrong... It's been a lot of work and dedication. It's been pain and hunger at times, but for the most part it's been the best experience I've ever put myself through for my own self-love and care. I started routine to take care of myself such as putting makeup on every day for work and doing my hair for work. These things sound small to some people, but for somebody like me that suffers with depression that's huge. So if you're not proud of me, I sure am! To the left is April at my largest weight. I have no full body pictures because I was so ashamed of myself... To the right is me last week... Progress not perfection.. how is everybody else doing for my October? Sent from my Pixel 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats Libby! Felicidades @karakent. Lost 61.2 pounds since my surgery, feel amazing, have drop two sizes of clothes (maybe more from a size 28-30 to 26-24 comfortably, 22 snuggly). The surgeon cleared me for exercise, but haven't started yet, for me that's the difficult part. Hospital where I work has a 50% discount for employees in a Wellness Center, I will contact human resources for them to do the enrollment thing, after that comes from my paycheck I´ll force myself to go and think in the other amenities they have, like the sauna. One of the things that hurts the most is losing hair, so I dye it and cut it, been drinking a lot of s... for hair loss and applying a lot of hair products, but I know it is part of the process and that hair grows back. I can´t believe those pictures are 4 months apart, my eyes have been always big, now they are like look like big big, my face is losing "the fat", I was afraid to look older, but I like what I see in the mirror.

Lifestyle changes are a major part of any long term weight loss & maintenance plan regardless of whether you have surgery or not. To return to eating the same way as you did before is a guarantee of weight regain. How & what you eat in the long term is up to you & how to manage it so it works with your lifestyle. Many are more flexible in their food choices & eat foods which may be considered unhealthy at times. But they don’t do it everyday, watch portion sizes & they accept it will result in a some regain & maintenance at a higher weight. It’s all about balance & sustainability. It’s important to keep to the no fluids 30 mins before & after eating while you’re losing to avoid filling up on them & flushing the food through your tummy more quickly. Plus you’ll be sipping & drinking all through the day so you won’t really feel thirsty at meal times. As time passes you’ll discover the amount of time you need to leave before & after eating. It may just be 5 minutes. And you eventually won’t miss drinking while eating. Just another of the new habits you’ll adopt. Taking vitamins long term isn’t always needed with a sleeve. The only reason you may need to continue to take additional vitamins is because you are lacking in something. I haven’t taken vitamins since 8 months post surgery. My blood work showed & continues to show I’m not lacking in anything & have no need to take supplements. Except, this year we realised my vitamin D levels drop in winter so I take D only then. Nothing to do with the surgery - just me & my sun avoidance ( am very fair). I weigh 2kgs more now than I did at my lowest weight. I put on the weight at the end of last year after a necessary dietary change (don’t absorb protein well since my gall was removed) & a medication change. Don’t like it but accept it for what it is. Sometimes things are beyond your control. I’ve never been able to maintain like this after weight loss. I’d be regaining in a couple of weeks after a diet. I work at it every day. I watch what & how much I eat. Don’t exercise as such but have a series of stretches, sit ups & resistance bands exercises I do almost every day. A lot of this is discovering what you need & what works for you.

I believe that is the idea - I've never looked at it from the mathematical perspective (though I tend to be a numbers guy,) but that makes sense. Lower GI foods have a lower impact on your insulin responses than high GI foods. Then there is the related idea of Glycemic Load, where the important factor is the combined GI of an entire meal, so that high GI foods are averaged with the low GI foods to estimate the response to more real world eating. That way, pineapple on your ham has a much less impact on your system than it does by itself. There is a related concept that I have heard offered more recently that the beyond the basic food statistics, that processing of the foods, including cooking, impacts its absorbability and can/should be considered. This makes some sense in the apparent problems with packaged or processed foods, beyond just the added sugars that are often included. The problem with this seems to be objectively measuring these differences on a wide enough scale to be useful, beyond the basic "avoid packaged/processed foods" advice, or raw is better than cooked as the body needs to do more to break it down. This whole topic does illustrate the futility of simply counting carbs as a guide to health or weight loss.

Hello I had the same type of concerns pre-op. I have ALWAYS drank tons while eating meals. Easily 20 oz or more every meal, so I had this same concern. During the pre-op process I decided to start this and see how it went. At first it was hard because naturally I would reach for the drink, even sometimes I felt like I needed the liquid to swallow. (It was weird) With some practice I was drink free at meals before surgery and just had to work on not drinking 30 min before and after the meals. Now 7 months post op, it is a non issue for me. I sometimes drink a little closer to meals than 30 minutes if I am not paying attention but after meals it is always 30 minutes or more. You would be surprised how easy it was to make the transition. Start now and right after surgery you are on all liquids so it makes it easier. The vitamins were never really a concern of mine because I took GERD and high BP meds every day anyway so in my mind I was expecting to get off of those meds after surgery and with weight loss so I was just swapping those for daily vitamins. In my mind nothing changed. I was off ALL meds by 2 months post-op and now just taking vitamins. 1 a day multi vitamin with iron, and 2 calcium a day so its not too bad. Some people take a ton of vitamins though. We were instructed to start with this and it may need to be adjusted depending on blood work results. So far so good for me, I get blood work again next month. Lastly, I put off my surgery for years. Two reasons, 1 was that I have lost over 100 lbs multiple times so I kept telling myself I could do it again. But, I could never keep it off so I decided that the surgery would (hopefully) be the key to keeping it off. 2 was that I was also afraid I would fail and just gain it back again. I still worry about this a little but then I take notice to how much my eating habits have changed (without effort most off the time) and that even on my WORST days I have never consumed more than 1600 calories. My daily calorie goal is to stay at about 1000 right now. Before surgery I could pack in 5000-6000 calories a day if I wanted. Still not saying it is impossible because it does happen but I believe if you make the changes and give them time to become habit you will be ok. I am sticking with this, I am still in the loosing phase so I really don't know what will happen but I have high hopes this time and have been thinking about it regularly. Whereas before surgery I was always just focused on loosing the weight and never thinking about keeping it off. Sorry for my super long post but I hope it helps ease your mind! Best of luck to you!

The dietition at the weight loss center recommended isopure unflavored protein powder. I went and got it right away. When I went into GNC i told the girl that i was looking for unflavored protein powder and that i was in pre-op for gastric sleeve. Before I could tell her what he dietition recommended she said I will show you the one everybody seems to like and she came back with the isopure. I tried it with unsweet tea and it was great to not have the sweetness. I couldn't hardly stomach another sweet protein shake yuck! So I will experimenting with some other liquids. I am on day 8 of 14 pre-op. I cannot wait until next Monday which is surgery day!