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I started strength training back in October for 2 months before I entered the program. Personal issues and how I chose to handle them stopped my progress. I restarted weight lifting and swimming in March. I focused more on weights (6 days a week) and swam 2-3 days a week about 3 hours total. I eventually dropped swimming, since I swim at a public facility and the kids are out of school, and for some reason overtake the indoor area instead of staying outside where the slides and water features are. I have been lifting 6 days a week, at least an hour a day, I have greatly improved my strength, and I have been told I look slimmer, but I do not see it in my clothes or on the scale. I am still waiting on my surgery date, my Insurance told me it will likely be in September, so I am trying to get as much off as I can beforehand, It has been great to become stronger but disheartening to see the scale barely move. On Friday I decided I would focus on cardio only for 2 weeks to see how that goes. After surgery I was thinking I could get back into weights, I prefer doing that to the treadmill, stationary bike, recumbent bike, and elliptical. I plan to swim again once the kids are back in school. I appreciate your comment as I have been having a hard time with not seeing the scale move. It upsets me a little that none of the medical professionals I have seen have suggested focusing more on cardio, just to get more weight off for now.

Hey surgery twin! I am on the pre op diet too and it's been difficult. Just over a week left, we are almost there! 🙂

was going to have salt and vinegar chips for breakfast/lunch but then i spilled them all over the couch when i sat down! before i had cats, i would've just scooped em up back into the bowl to eat, but now im a little weary of any cat hair or residual cat poo/pee on said couch so i tossed them 😂 went back to the kitchen and got me some breakfast pistachios instead. 240 calories for 2/3 cup. ate it all (just the pistachios, not the cat chips lol)

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.

It was about a year for me to be back to normal, but only about 3 months until I was no longer worried about wound healing or infections. BTW I am female but my procedure is very Similar with what you are having done.

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'm 51 yo male, considering a full extended tummy tuck (loose skin from WLS) and chest lift w/ nipple grafting (gynecomastia). At what point (weeks/months) am I likely to be fully recovered, feel "good as new" / "back to normal"?

You should just be taking a sip every few minutes of all your liquids. No gulping mouthfuls or downing glassfuls so you won’t feel full. Liquids go through your digestive system more quickly too. Plus many nerves were cut during your surgery so messages about hunger, satiety, fullness, etc. don’t get through in the same way or at all. This is why it’s very important to stick to the portion sizes & the eating & drinking guidelines (sipping, eating slowly, etc.) you were given most especially in the first weeks while you are healing. (I still sip & eat slowly 4 years out.) Actually not eating or drinking until you are full is an important learning. It takes time for the message to get through that you are full so by the time you realise you are full you are more than full & have eaten or drunk way too much. Listening to your signals & signs as to when you have had enough & don’t need more (need not want) does take time and they may be different from what you know them as. If you had a leak you’d know about it. Symptoms include: fast heart rate fever chills stomach pain chest pain shortness of breath of breathing difficulties nausea & vomiting If you have some or all of these symptoms contact your surgeon & go to your nearest medical centre. All the best.

I am one week postop from doing the Endo scopic sleeve gastric and I’m doing my liquid diet but I don’t seem to get full with water. Should I be worried that my stitches on my stomach might of got loose or will it change once i get to eating solid protein

Believe it or not, sometimes too much water will wash out all of your electrolytes that you're not able to replace with food (because it's limited). A couple of weeks ago I was doing 80-96 oz of water a day, and I started cramping in my feet and legs at night. I switched one of my water bottles out for a zero-sugar Propel water bottle, and the cramps stopped that same night. I chose Propel over Gatorade or Powerade because it has less sodium, and I have to watch my BP.

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.

before surgery, I mostly did water aerobics and "rode" the stationary bikes at my gym. Two hundred pounds later, I still do those, but i also bike a lot, too, now - in fact, I bike four or five days a week except in the winter. I also do Zumba occasionally. exercise isn't going to have much effect on your loose skin. You may get some more muscle definition if you do some strength training, but if you've got a lot of loose skin, it's not going to look A LOT better, even with that.

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.

i've been busy this morning/afternoon! woke up and decided to clean out the fridge/freezers. there was a bunch of stuff that needed to be used before they went bad so i went to work! a giant pot of meat sauce (used up the 3 month old frozen beef & pork, some ripe tomatoes, drying out carrots, the last of my onions and garlic, and a whole bunch of basil from the "garden" that we really need to use up before summer is over and the plant dies. pickled beets (went to farmers market two days ago and bought a bushel of beets for no real reason!) candied beets maraschino cherries (costco cherries...gonna make a cherry pie tomorrow) chinese green onion and ginger sauce (again, i blame the farmers market...bought a bunch of these steriod-like-overgrown green onions and a sack of organic ginger) didn't actually eat any of this, but i did do alot of tasting. i don't even know where to start to log that in MFP, so im just gonna skip it. actually, speaking of eating, i haven't eaten anything yet (aside from the tastings..ha!) ...will probably have some of the meat sauce with toast when its done simmering.

Hi everyone I hope you all had successful surgeries in the month of July. So I ended up spending 4.5 weeks in hospital and was only allowed home on Thursday. 3.5 weeks was due to severe pancreatis and then the last week I had a blood infection from the central line in my arm. Over the course of time there I had 5 central line fitted as they had to keep changing arm. I'm finding it very difficult as the pancreatis has me exhausted where doing the smallest thing, like brushing my teeth, leaves me clamy and feeling like I could pass out. Even this message was really tiring to do. I can't eat or drink a lot, no appetite and feel nauseous a lot of the time. I'm not sure if this is Sleeve or pancreas related. Today I was retching for a while after a few sips of a protein shake. I've no interest in thinking of what to eat or preparing anything. So far I've lost 12kg /26lb but not sure that's good quality considering I'm eating so little. I have a check up in the hospital next week so hopefully may get so me answers.

I haven’t had surgery but my bariatric dietician recommended “The Complete Bariatric Cookbook and Meal Plan” and I’ve found it very informative. Some ideas they suggest in week 3 include soft scrambled eggs, refried beans, high protein milk, low fat yogurt and then point to some recipes I’d think you want to puree like chicken and tuna salad, split pea soup, Turkey meatloaf, etc.

Thank you all for confirming that this isn't just me being petty or unwilling to be flexible. I'm going to go to church today and pray and reflect over things and hope to find peace either in backing out or moving forward. I did start my liquid diet yesterday, and also have had to come off my anti inflammatory medications (have arthritis in my spine from a spinal fusion surgery in 2007) so feel like I need to make a decision quickly here. I did "meet" the new surgeon. In mid July they set up a tele health visit, but even that didn't go as planned as they couldn't get the zoom link to work so it ended up just being a phone call. I had my primary care doctor look into his background, and while he's new to Montana (told he was out of the office last week making the move from California), he was program director of a bariatric program in California. His name is Deron Ludwig. I just wish they would have given me the heads up over the past 6 months that Dr. Pickhardt (who I sought out specifically as I know 3 people who have surgery with him) would be leaving the program after July. This couldn't have been that last minute, as he's not leaving medicine, but just no longer doing bariatric surgery, only trauma surgery going forward. I will say though that at least over the phone I found Dr. Ludwig more personable and felt like we had a better discussion than I'd previously had with Dr. Pickhardt. Thanks for listening and hopefully I'll find some peace soon very soon here in deciding if I should move forward with surgery or not. Cannot believe it's 9 days away and I don't know whether I'm going through with it or not!

Check it now if you’re grazing you have to pull back. You will look up and 3 pounds is 30 pounds and you will have to start over. I just restarted and lost and it was hardest thing to do. My advice is to go back to basics and incorporate intermittent fasting. It had been game changer for me. Train yourself to only eat when hungry and let’s be clear we aren’t not hungry just eating because we can.

I had this. Turns out, after my sleeve, I developed polyps all through my entire stomach. The GERD (which I had never had pre sleeve) became so bad it turned into gastritis and esophagitis. I had to take 80mg of Nexium daily and Pepcid for breakthrough GERD (and sometimes that didn't even help). The pain and burning were excruciating. Sent me to the ER more than once. 4 endoscopies and 1 revision to bypass later, and I'm doing great. Stay on top of this. Cut out anything tomato based, avoid any kind of fruit juice, spices (even the ones that aren't hot). Hummus helped a lot, keto bread also helped, and drinking protein shakes literally saved me on days when I couldn't keep anything down at all. The bariatric diet went out the window until this was under control. I had to stop working out because it would set things off. In the ER the first time, I had a barium swallow to confirm there were no leaks. Then I was referred to a GI specialist, who did an endoscopy and found I had A TON of polyps in various sizes. Once they were all removed, I had my revision to bypass and have had to stay on Nexium. But it was lowered to 40mg for 5 weeks, then 20mg for weeks 6-8, then I'll go off them completely. Definitely stay on top of this. It won't resolve on it's own, and if left untreated, it will absolutely get worse.

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

That is awesome. You look great. I am about 8 weeks out. Seeing your pics gives me hope!

Had to share my before and after 3 years later I’m still changing and it makes me happy to see the change I no longer have sleep apnea and I don’t snore at all now.. I’m silent when I sleep lost 90 kgs (198 pounds).. I’m greatful for everything even my hair color changed during these 3 years it feels like I’m a completely new person(note that I had this hair color when I was younger.. then it got darker when I became obese.. and now it’s lighter again)! before and after pics inserted.