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I'm really struggling with this. I haven't lost weight in weeks and I think it is because I always feel hungry. But its like a stomach growl and I think its growling out of hunger. Very frustrated with it.

1. Insurance paid for my abdominoplasty. Since my weight loss caused back issues, rashes under the pannus, among other things, the surgery was classified as "reconstructive" rather than "cosmetic." Insurance paid for it all; 2. I can't speak to your situation, but for me there is nothing I could have done to deal with the extra skin. Lipo removes fat, but we generally also have extra skin. A lot of extra skin; 3. This was the most painful experience of my life. I was warned that it would be extraordinarily painful but it was completely under sold; 4. I couldn't imagine going through what I went through outside of a hospital, even without the unexpected events that required a second emergency life saving surgery.

I guess we're all different (and it depends a lot on the "culture" of the people we encounter), but definitely the worst amount of shade I received was from a woman who lives a very "adventurous" lifestyle who I imagine has never struggled with her weight whatsoever, who is one of those thin people who looks at anyone with a few extra pounds as a moral failure. She treated me like I'd told her I'd gotten a completely-cosmetic procedure, and with all the judgement that implies. I feel like people who have been thin most of their lives but have experienced "success" at losing 10-15 pounds at some point don't understand how different it is to need to lose 100, 200 pounds and how that is a much bigger, difficult task.

I started my pre op diet last Thursday. My schedule date is 5/11 for the sleeve. I have lost a total of 34 pounds this year. I changed some of my habits when I knew I was going to work towards this surgery. I’m 5’4. I weight 280. Now I’m 256. I must say it’s not as bad as I thought. Keep going guys. We can do this.

I've had multiple surgeries. Some in the states, one in Mexico. My in the states Tummy tuck was first. I was not that pleased. I lost my curve and looked like spongebob square pants. This was done in a surgical center. I was kicked out and sent home pretty quickly after surgery. Not the best experience. This was in 2015 My second surgery was covered by insurance. A breast reduction that was also performed in the states. I am surpised how small he made my breasts, but I've always hated them and wanted small breasts so I was happy. I did end up with dog ears and some keloid spots. I didn't have them addressed, but I'm told it's pretty simple to address both issues, so I may in the near future. This was done in a hospital. It was a more pleasant experience. I did go home the same day. This was in 2016 During COVID I gained 50 lbs and had bariatric surgery. Lost 60 lbs The third plastic surgery was a brazilliam butt lift. I had this surgery in January. I explained that I wanted lipo to try to give me my curve back and a natural looking butt. This was done in Mexico. I am absolutely amazed at this procedure. He lipo'd my back and flanks and extended tummy tuck? Basically gave me back my hourglass figure. He inserted the fat at my hips and butt. I stayed in the hospital for a week. I had round the clock nurses care. I didn't need it. I would have preferred being at home but I don't like staying in hotels/hospitals. I want to sleep in my bed. I found that they do specialize in weightloss patients and have a long waiting list. But cancellations occur and you can move up your date rather easily if you are flexible.

SHORT ANSWER: (in my opinion) omg yes, totally worth it. its a serious game changer. 1. Does that price sound outrageous? Again it’s a good size job and I’m sure it’s more bc of that?? I've read similar pricing like that on here at times so not totally outrageous...but I am from Canada and it seems prices up here are comparatively lower. I also had my TT supplement with provincial insurance so that helped reduce the cost.  2. Is there anything else I can do to reduce this tummy I know the big procedure is the only way to really do it but do these fat loss clinics (must be Lipo? ) clinics work? If the rest of you is already "small", then probably not. its not possible to "spot-lose" weight without surgery. Lipo adresses fat, it will do nothing for excess skin. 3. How painful was this? Um...really painful. but im a bit of a low-tolerance pain-baby, so.   4. Would you do this in office? I had a choice to get it done in my surgeon's office or in the hospital. But since insurance was covering part of it, the premium to have in hospital was also covered, so it was a no-brainer: hospital. BUT, if i did have to pay, i would probably have done in hospital regardless just for peace of mind. i remember being low-key scared of not waking up after surgery and the idea that there were all these doctors and equipment to revive me made me feel a little better (dramatic, yes, but still!!). plus i could stay overnight with 24hr care.

When weight loss stopped I didn't change anything to "enter maintenance". It just happened and I continue to do what I do. *shrug*

I reached goal and decided to stop. I was eating about 800 cals at the time. i admit it was a little challenging to up my calories...a combination issue with my own stomach restriction and the unanticipated mental block of having to actually eat more. it took me another 3 or so months (and another 10+ lbs lost) to figure out how many calories i needed to consume to keep my weight steady. it was well over 2000 cals at that time (i exercised alot!) I ate alot of low volume/higher cal foods to get around my restriction. Fast forward another year or so when my exercise/activity drastically reduced and then had to figure out again what my maintenance calories were. Settled into 1800-2000 and that is where i am at now (am 4.5+ yrs out). I still track my food intake and weigh myself every morning (which i credit to helping me figure stuff out when a "tweaking" is required.)

had surgery 4.5+ years ago. i told a total of 5 people: Mr., the Kid, Mom, Sis & BFF...all of whom i knew would not say anything to anybody if i asked them not to. BFF was the only one who brought up the "cheat" word, but i was prepared for it, and just took it in stride. People around me would constantly ask about my evident weight loss (un-solicited advice about speed of loss, amount i ate, how much weight loss was "enough", how i sick i looked, etc)...and i too became a master-subject-changer (earlier OP has it right, people LOVE to talk about themselves, so subject-changing is relatively easy, for the most part). If its any consolation, as the months and years go by, you and your weight loss become old news and it is rarely, or ever, brought up again. ...Now...im going to bring up something that is sorta against the grain here: while i don't think WLS is "cheating" by any means (i mean, weight loss is not an exam for effs sakes! there are no rules or laws about how it should be done 🙄), i do actually sympathize with the idea that it was the easy way...or at least one of the "easi-ER" ways. In all my attempts at weight loss, no other method (at least for ME) was as "easy" to adhere to than WLS. Getting the sleeve helped me lose more weight in less time than any other time in my life. I had to put up waaaay more effort to control food intake in all my previous diets than i ever did with WLS. with WLS, it definitely was comparatively "easy". And the icing on the cake is that i have (so far) kept it off. I would only manage to keep the weight off before for like maybe 6 or so months. This time around, the weight has stayed off for 4 YEARS (again, so far - i am not so delusional that i will look like this forever...but i'll try lol) So in short (sorry it took so long for me to get here): 1. People suck. Ignore them, OR just feed their narcissism. 2. Suckiness is temporary. Ride it out until its behind you. 3. WLS makes losing weight easier. 4. You look fab!

My surgery is June 1st and I start my pre-op diet in 2 weeks. I am a lot less nervous now - just cant wait as my eating is out of control (I'm told by my surgical team this is normal at this stage). I had a gastric band for 16 years which was very successful. I had it removed last year and the weight has been climbing at great speed. I'm hoping my bypass will be just as successful - I am counting down the days guys. I cant wait to recommence doing the things I could physically do a year ago. Obesity is so cruel - I'm going to do all that I can to make this bypass work for me; I'm going to give it my all ❤️

Water retention is absolutely a thing; I actually had the exact same thing happen with pickles! I woke up the next day and had gained 3 pounds because the day before I had decided that the 35-calorie each halved dill pickles would make a great guilt free snack and ate a few of them the day before. So much salt! Take it easy for a day or two, drink some extra fluids and if that's what it was, it'll go away in a few days once you get things flushed back out.

Thanks. It happened to me in the past (foot and face swelling etc) but I was not paying attention to my weight then. That was before the WLS. I've been going through what I ate over the past few days and it include salty food, processed / canned food, chicken soup from a restaurant that I know uses bullion cubes in their soups to make it more flavorful (hello MSG!). So I think it was just a bad food combo that resulted in the water retention. I hope this goes away soon.

I truly hope that it is just water retention from the pickles and you body will be able to reset. Have you noticed that your body retains water because of the hot weather? Or maybe you are just more aware now that you are a lower weight? Just a thought. Good luck with everything.

I had a similar gain of around 1.5kg recently, and it was due to an injured knee (played basket ball on a knee that's still not 100% after breaking it late last year 🙃). The knee swelled up noticeably, and after a fortnight of compression and rest, the swelling finally went away and took the 1.5kg gain with it. I'm back to slowly losing again.

I agree. I think it was the salty pickles too. Awful feeling though when you see those higher numbers on the scale & wonder what you’ve been doing wrong. Over time you’ll discover things that make your weight fluctuate a little more than usual. I’m up a little at the moment because I’ve been eating my chicken & barley soup - an extra serve of carbs & the extra fluid does it every time for me but it will be gone in few days. Try adding lemon juice to your water or drink some tea - both will make you pee more & help flush out the excess fluids.

I've known of several WLS people on the east coast who went to Dr. Capella in New Jersey (that is, if you're willing to travel - some people are, some aren't). All he does is body contouring for massive weight loss patients, and his prices are supposedly pretty reasonable for the New York area. I don't know what they're running now, though. https://www.capellaplasticsurgery.net/post-weight-loss-surgery/ (I actually traveled for mine - to Chicago - about two hours away - but I know people who've flown places to work with a nationally-known plastic surgeon (and Dr. Capella is one)). Also on the east coast who's nationally known is Dr. Joseph Michaels in the DC area (I think he's affiliated with Johns Hopkins University). But again, that'd mean traveling, of course, I've known several WLS patients who've gone to him https://www.josephmichaelsmd.com/ a lot of these really well-known surgeons will do consults over the phone (you'd have to send them pictures so they know what they'd be dealing with) - not sure about these two, but I'm guessing they do). Also, most plastic surgeons will charge you for a consult - maybe $100 or so - but they take that off your surgery if you go with them. I had three in Chicago and one from a surgeon in Mexico - the Chicago ones all charged for the consult, but I felt is was money well spent.

it was the pickles. Yes - sodium makes some people retain water like crazy. Plus there is no way you'd gain 3.7 kg of real weight in three days. To do that, you would have to eat 28,000 more calories than your body needs in those three days. So yea, no. It's just water.

I'm nowhere near goal weight but as a professional yo yo dieter for many many years, it sounds to me like classic water weight retention. Swollen feet is a sure sign and the fact you have been eating increased amount of sodium. It's frustrating but temporary. ^^Good advice^^ and reduce your sodium intake. Good luck reaching your goal.

Hi. I noticed that my weight has started going up like crazy over the past four days. I was 76.5 kg on 26 April 2023 and I weighed 80.2 Kg this morning (30 April 2023). I usually weigh myself after going to the toilet in the morning, around the same time, before eating or drinking anything and wearing only my "birthday suit". Gaining 3.7 kg over 3 days is definitely unusual and alarming. This afternoon I also noticed that my feet were swollen and felt a bit numb. Then I remembered that I've been eating a lot of pickles that my wife made for me. I read somewhere that there is a strong connection between increased dietary salt intake and weight gain due to water retention but the studies were all inconclusive. The recommendations were to just drink a lot of water, exercise and wait it out. Anyone experienced a similar situation and how long did it take to get back on track? It is frustrating that I'm experiencing this while I'm only 6 kg from my goal weight.

1) if that "tummy" surgery is a whole lower body lift, then that's a good deal. If it's just a tummy tuck, then that's probably about average these days, especially for a city like Boston. I'm not sure about breast lift, but it's also probably about average since it's Boston (back when I was doing research about six years ago, I read somewhere (maybe here on BP?) to expect $8K-$10K per procedure, with a lower body lift counting as two procedures, since they do both front and back). That estimate did ring true for me, but again, that was six years ago. Plus you're usually going to pay more in urban areas and/or with surgeons who've had a lot of experience and good reputations. So anyway, no, those prices don't seem outrageous. 2) I would go for the surgery if you want to get rid of it. I don't know how effective these alternative methods are - maybe minimally. Results from surgery are dramatic and permanent (as long as you don't gain the weight back!) 3) my lower body lift was pretty painful. After the first few days, though, it was more discomfort than pain, but the discomfort lasted for quite awhile. I don't remember the breast lift being very painful. I think the body lift pain was because they tighten the muscles and do liposuction - those are things that tend to cause pain, from what I've read. But like with the above poster, the pain was worth it - I have a normal-looking body now, and I'm really happy with it. I'd do the surgery again for sure. 4) that comes down to personal preference. I wanted mine done in a hospital, and I wanted to spend the first night there in case anything happened. The surgeon I went with ONLY does his surgeries in a hospital, and he does make you spend the first night there just in case. The other two consults I had (for body lifts) will do theirs in hospitals if requested, but by default they do them in surgery centers where you go home that night. Their quotes (at least for the lower body lift - which was the only surgery for which I did more than one consult) were cheaper - one was cheaper by $2000, the other by $6000. The first guy has a national reputation, though, so his $2000 price difference was likely due to fact there that it would have been in a day surgical center, not a hospital (and no overnight). The second guy didn't have nearly as much experience, which would have accounted for the much lower price. (I had a facelift a few years later by a different surgeon - I didn't do a hospital surgery for that one since it's a much easier surgery - I was comfortable doing that one at a surgery center)

I lost my weight in 2020. Since then I’ve been struggling with my tummy mostly (I lost 120 and other areas could use a nip tuck). I have a pretty big belly it prevents me from tucking in and wearing a lot of things I would like to wear. I’m 56 years old and petrified of surgeries but especially this one. I know it will be very painful. And also the quote I got at the surgeons office was 15k for tummy and 15k for breast lift. I’m in Boston and this was in office not in hospital. In hospital was an extra 11k. My questions are 1. Does that price sound outrageous? Again it’s a good size job and I’m sure it’s more bc of that?? 2. Is there anything else I can do to reduce this tummy I know the big procedure is the only way to really do it but do these fat loss clinics (must be lipo?) clinics work? 3. How painful was this? 4. Would you do this in office? Thanks so much for your feedback!

My weight loss progressively slowed down each month post-op. Over time, I needed more calories to be satiated. Finally, at 9 months post-op, the weight loss stopped right at my Ideal Body Weight. I'm currently 14 mo post-op, and I'm still experimenting with how much and what to eat to maintain. I currently eat about 1800-2000 calories a day. I don't follow a specific diet now, but I try to stay focused on protein, eating clean, limited (and healthy) snacking. My biggest challenge is grazing. My restriction makes it hard to eat actual meals, so I find myself eating "pieces" of food throughout the day... some cheese here, an apple there, a piece of ham, some greek yogurt, a protein bar, etc. It's working ok for now, but it's something I'm monitoring. Initially, I was tracking everything I ate, but I don't do that now. I keep a running tab in my head, and I'm trying to get to the point that I can regulate intuitively. I weigh myself every morning. I've regained about a pound from my lowest weight.

Yes, but you are still using your dominant arm so still working the muscles there. Your dominant arm would have had more muscle & less fat than your less dominant arm too. Did your arms measure the same when you first started losing? As @Possum220 said our bodies aren’t symmetrical. The places we are most aware of tend to be our feet or breasts as we’re always measuring them. We rarely if ever measure our thighs, arms, etc. As @hills&valleys said we carry our weight in different places and we lose it in different places at different times. Density of fat deposits can also affect how much you lose in those areas & over what time. Interestingly I always had a distinct waist regardless of what I weighed yet when I lost all my weight I also lost my waist. No more hourglass shape. I was straight up & down. But over time, my remaining fat resettled & I have a waist again (& also hips). I guess what I’m saying is don’t fret yet. You’re early out with your weight loss.

My weight just slowed. I reached my goal & thought yay but I kept losing. So I slowly increased my calories as I was able hoping to slow it down. Some of the increased calories came as I was physically able to eat more - eventually more like a regular portion size. I also added snacks. I was still seeing my dietician so I worked through suggestions with her. I added two more serves of carbs (whole/multi grains), another serve of fruit, nuts, hummus, peanut paste, chia pudding, protein bar, etc. My dietician also suggested adding milk powder to my milk to enrich it (for my rolled oats & chia pudding but I found it too sweet). When I reached goal I was eating about 900 calories. When I finally stopped losing (about 11 months later & a further 11 odd kilos down) I was up to 1300. Now I eat about 1500 to maintain at about a kilo or so heavier weight. And yes I still snack a few times a day.

I think I need to provide more context. I don’t have medical clearance yet to exercise (not until my appointment next week hopefully) so my muscle is the first things being burned from what I was told. And since I use my dominant arm more, shouldn’t I be losing more muscle there first instead of my non-dominant arm? There’s a five inch difference between the arms. I’m already self conscious about my arms as a big woman (SW: 286, CW: 262), I feel like unevenness is going to be a new thing to be self conscious about as my non dominant arm gets smaller while my dominant arm stays the same. Total inches lost in my dominant arm have been 0.25 inches. My non dominant arm lost 5 inches. I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this with their arms before. I don’t have lymphedema so it’s kinda freaking me out. Also my stomach has always gained first and it’s one of the first things going down. All my measurements are going down and decreasing significantly…except that dominant arm. I’ll probably talk to the doc and find a way to delete this thread. It was a stupid question to begin with. Sorry y’all!