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In the beginning you are eating very small portion sizes & can only sip so you have to drink every couple of minutes. I certain,y didn’t & wasn’t encouraged to eat every 30minutes but only three times a day . (You are advised not to drink 30mins before or after you eat. Maybe you confused the eat every 30mins???) And yes it sometimes can be a struggle to meet your fluid & protein goals every single day but you’ll work out ways around this. It all improves & gets easier. By around month 3 I ate three meals a day & one or two snacks one of which was a high protein yoghurt (15-22g protein) to ensure I got all my protein in. Some continue to have a protein shake which counts as fluid as well as protein. By the time you are in or close to maintenance your portion sizes will have increased to being about the recommended portion size for all food for an adult e.g. 3-4ozs of meat & you’ll be able to do more than just sip. Some say they can get back to drinking whole glasses in one go. Everyone should be drinking 2L/64ozs of fluids a day & everyone should be consuming about 1g of protein per kg of body weight (multiply your weight in pounds by 0.36). Doesn’t matter if they’ve had weight loss surgery or not so it’s not something special to us. By maintenance, If you eat three meals a day, with about 15-25g protein each, you’ll be getting about all the protein you’ll need +/-. Age, activity level, gender does affect the amount you will need of course. Of course while losing we’re given a specific protein goal to compensate the restricted diet. Check out this protein calculator for when your weight has stabilised: https://www.nal.usda.gov/human-nutrition-and-food-safety/dri-calculator Oh & I’m almost 57 & days out from my 3 year anniversary.

What is your current BMI? I got down close to my goal and stalled and then gained and it was the end of my weight loss. If you aren’t close to goal though it could just be a fluctuation. A three pound gain could be anything. Small fluctuations like that happen. For me when I eat carbs especially. It’s water weight and it goes away after a couple days without carbs. Are you still tracking what you eat? If you haven’t reached your bodies happy weight or accidentally put yourself into maintenance by increasing calories it is just a fluctuation. Time will tell.

I was not thin when I met my husband- probably slightly overweight. I had been very obese my whole life and I met him during my first weight loss success. Over the course of our marriage I regained the lost weight and then some. I ended up morbidly obese after 15 years together. Now I’m a normal weight. He has never had a problem with my weight when I was fat, chunky, normal, etc. I am very appreciative of his support over the years. If anything our relationship has gotten better as I lost weight because I am happier and I want to go out and do more things as a family. I have no interest in meeting anyone new or trying to attract the attention of men. Cheaters cheat. Marriages may end for a variety of reasons but if you want to be in a relationship (sexual or otherwise) with someone else then have the decency to end the current monogamous relationship.

I am the opposite of you, I am also looking to get a revision, except I am worried about losing weight too fast. I want to slow but steady weight loss journey so my skin will not hang too much. So maybe slow weight loss is not such a bad thing after all. But I am sure you can speed it up by doing all the things you mentioned religiously.[emoji3590][emoji120] Sent from my SM-G991U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi I have been reading through some of these to see if anyone has any of the same issues as me. This is the first time I'm writing anything. I had gastric bypass surgery on 12/2/21. I have had a lot of downs and some ups. I haven't seen anywhere if someone had the same complications as I had. They said that they scratch my liver but there was no bleeding so it was fine. But what actually happened was they punctured it in two places and my abdomen filled with bile and collapsed part of my lung so much pain. Then the bile came through one of the incisions. So gross. Had to go back in to surgery to see what happened that's when they found the punctures and put in a drainage tube also gross but made the pain less. I was down about a month and a half. Went through going through the motions of throwing up with nothing coming up for a month or so. Gas pains for about 2 months now I'm just super burpy which at times can be super embarrassing at times. I'm 5'6" started my journey at 290 and was 286 just before surgery and now I'm at 205 so I'm down 85 lb total and 81 since surgery December so I'm happy about that went from a size 19/20 pants and 3x shirt to a 10 in pants and medium shirt. So I know I'm doing good but there are days I look in the mirror and just can't see the weight loss. Does anyone else have this issue? I also can't stand chicken it makes me physically sick even the smell makes nauseated. Pork chops are also gross. And the crystal light I always liked can't stand. Also the only water I can drink without getting sick is smart water. So has anyone else had any of these things? Did anyone have their liver punctured? I know I asked a lot of questions but if anyone has any info on any or all would love to hear.

My surgeon never said this to me. I was 390 pounds, 5'6", bmi 63. had hypertension and high blood pressure. I also have PCOS which makes weight loss EXTREMELY difficult to do and maintain. And never once did my surgeon say these things. I'm glad yours was honest with you, but I think there may have been a better way to go about it. Also, I didn't have to do any blood thinners before the surgery. I have to do them now post op (2x a day for 10 days) but he has everyone do it because he knows we all heal differently and may not be able to walk as much as we should and he wants to prevent clots. I think those of us with higher weight and bmi and also with multiple comorbidities have to be extra careful, but I don't think it's anything we should be afraid of with the surgery. Think of it this way.....how much worse will you and your health be if you DON'T have the surgery? Will you be able to get back to a healthy life and weight without it? IF not, then to me personally, the benefits outweigh the risks for the surgery. That's what ultimately made the decision for me. I wanted my life back, and I knew there was zero chance of it happening without the surgery.

My bariatric center recommends three meals per day and one or two snacks if needed, and strongly suggest that we do not graze between meals and or snacks. The early days and weeks post op are the only time we have to sip constantly, due to swelling in our stomachs/pouches it just can't accept more than an ounce or two at a time. One of the reasons weight loss surgery is so liberating is because (once fully healed and eating solids) we establish a normal routine with food, the only difference is we eat less than non-wls folks. The whole idea is for life to normalize and not be a slave to food any longer. Best wishes!

Lee anne, I had the same issue. It was not done right the 1st time. I am 1 week post re-sleeve. So far it has been a hugely different experience. I was up, moving and home in less than 24 hours! The 1st time I was in the hospital 3 days vomiting blood and very nauseous. I feel great now! I understand that since my stomach was not as large this time, my weight loss may be slower or less but so far I am down 6lbs in 1 week. I'll take that!

Who would laugh? I can't imagine anyone here laughing at goal weight struggles, because most of us have either been there or will be there at some point. I asked my Dietician about goal weight and she told me that no one in their practice cares about goal weights, as in no one there expects every patient to hit "healthy bmi" she said the only purpose bmi serves is for insurance purposes (in their practice). I asked about a goal weight because during the entire process no one has given me a goal weight to reach. She told me my goal weight will be where I am happiest at. So I thought that was good advice. Each patient has different struggles with what caused their obesity, and obesity and weight loss isn't always cut and dried. so it's nice to be involved with a practive that treats us as individuals. So if you are happy with your weight, that's most imporatant. Also, as lizonaplane said, you may want to give medical weight loss some thought if you do want to try to lose more. It's geared mostly towards people that are slightly overweight. It might be the tool that you need to lose a little more weight. I know glp 1 agonists help with appetite suppression and have few side effects, and they might work with your current meds (no interatctions). And topiramate/topamax helps with carb cravings. Best wishes! 🤗

I'm not sure why you think you will need to eat every 30 minutes. Basically, the only thing I can think of sort of related to this is that you have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you drink. Right after surgery you will need to remind yourself to drink enough because you might not be thirsty and you can't drink too much at once, but you can use a timer on your phone for that, and it's only for a few weeks. You do have to drink for the rest of your life, but that's true without surgery too! I'm 8 months out and I eat 3-5 times a day and drink when I'm thirsty (just I wait 30 minutes after eating before I drink, or it hurts and can impair your weight loss).

So, this is not the same thing, since we're not married, but when I met my amigovio, I was about 220 lbs. He likes bigger women, and he liked me at that size. During our relationship I gained weight and lost weight from 180-280. Before I decided to have WLS, I asked him if he'd still like me if I lost weight, since I'd no longer be big. He said, "you'll still be cute!" It really was a relief, because even though we're not officially a couple, he's a huge part of my life, and I don't want to lose him. I just saw him again weighing 170ish (we live in different states; this has only brought us closer), and he still loves me. I asked about the lose skin and he said he saw it but it was worth it for how important the weight loss was for me. He also loves that now I'm able to keep up with him when we're walking. He also finishes my food now, instead of the other way around! (He's got a BMI of 18, so he can eat whatever he wants LOL) So, the moral of the story is that if your boo really loves you, he will love the new you, too. He will be happy you are working hard to improve your life. And anyway, most people who have wls don't end up "thin"!

As soon as I could walk in the hospital, I did. It was baby steps while using my IV stand as a cane, but I did. And the nurses were very complimentary because they usually had to prod patients to do it. And I did my blood thinner injections. If you do what you outlined -- keep losing weight, walk as soon and as much as you can, take the blood thinning injections -- you will have given yourself a great chance to avoid any complications. And as a guy who knows what it feels like to be that big... post-surgery life is pretty amazing. I've never had this level of energy. It's great to go on a 3 mile walk and not have my knees throb and ache after. I've posted this before: weight loss surgery is a bet on yourself. It's a bet that you have more willpower and discipline than your physique currently reflects and that if you were truly given a second chance, you would succeed. Like any bet, it carries risks. But are you willing to take that bet.

He's the head of surgery at my hospital, and I was actually warned ahead of time by his PA that he is very blunt and honest, but that he is a damn good surgeon. I did ask him what I could do to reduce the risk factors, and he said it was really too late. The most I could do was continue to lose as much as possible before surgery. I think at my current rate of loss, plus the all liquid diet for the week prior, I could lose a bunch before surgery. He told me the biggest concern is the blood clots. Obviously that is on me to walk a lot and do my injections--which I plan to do. I can try to speak with him again, but knowing his attitude I'm not sure he would offer me much more. He was blunt, went over the risks, and that if I took the bell curve of all the risks, me being in a high risk category would automatically shift me over to the right. He said he couldn't get more into it because he doesn't see people as "risky" as me very often. He's been doing this a long time. I trust his expertise. But hearing he's lost people is just incredibly scary.

I suspect that your surgeon was using some form of trying to scare you straight. But lets also be honest, those risk factors are the exact reasons you were approved for surgery! A successful weight loss surgery will see your BMI go down, and your sleep apnea and blood pressure would be reduced. It's a bit like telling someone, "I am about to do surgery on your heart to repair a defect, but the defect makes the surgery risky." Thanks, Dr. Sherlock. I would try to schedule a follow up visit and pin him down on the risks he foresees -- you understand that you have risk factors, but how would those risk factors play out in practice? Does he think you are going to bleed out on the table? Does he think you are going to have a stroke? Right now, your mind is imagining all of the terrible things that could happen -- make him get specific. And if he talks about something specific, like the risk of stroke, then ask him, "What can I do, both before and after the surgery, that would meaningfully reduce that risk?" If he was just trying to get you to see that the surgery isn't risk-free and won't be all rainbows and sunshine during the recovery, then feel free to realize that your doctor is an arrogant, but well-meaning, jerk, and not let him keep you from the surgery.

RE: intermittent fasting some people swear by it, some experience little to no effect. I sort of did 18/6 intermittent fasting without knowing it. Even before surgery I never/rarely had breakfast…my first meal/food intake was always after noon. Dunno why, was just always this way since around my university days (like 30 years ago!) . Eating in the morning tended to make me slow and sluggish in the first part of the day. Anyway, after surgery, i still didn’t eat in the morning, but then i also stopped any food intake after 6-7 pm…this because i had one horrible experience of regurgitating my stomach contents in my sleep, and it was horrible enough for me to make sure i went to bed on a completely EMPTY stomach. It is worth noting (maybe?) that my weight loss finally stopped (around 3-4 months into maintenance) when i started eating again past 7pm. BUT…im not sure this was solely or directly because of eating in a time-restricted window. My thinking is indirectly, because since I allowed myself more hours in the day to eat, i was able to get in more calories overall. There is only so much i can eat in 6 hours, due to stomach size restrictions. Extend this window by more, and i can inevitably eat more. Soooooo, this was my long-winded way of saying achieving calorie deficit is the tried and true way to lose weight. Period. Intermittent fasting, (at least for me, and some others i know) is a way to structure your day that helps to make it a little easier you to achieve that. Of course if one is going to eat very high calorie foods in their windows, then that would defeat the purpose. Good Luck! ❤️ P.S. sorry this was so long.

I started at 213 lbs 5’1”. I was on pre liquid for 5 days and lost 12 lbs. I had gastric bypass on 4/18 . I lost another 9 lbs first week. Since then I have been at 192 lbs. I am frustrated too about stalling weight loss after 1 week. I have read if you are diabetic it’s harder to lose weight. Is this true? I am diabetic and my sugar has been going back up steadily. My endocrinologist increased my insulin to 20 units of lantus. Am I going to lose weight? Has this happened to anyone else? I also had to go to ER couple days ago due to impacted bowel. I didn’t poo 11 days then poo then another 7 days no poo. I went to see my endocrinologist and pcp yesterday. They are puzzled why I am not losing weight either. I drink 3 bottles of water and about 70+ protein per day. Please help!!!

Good for you! I’m 69 and 1/2 way through the process hoping for July surgery. 3 mo of dietitian is required by my Medicare Ins. I am having some set backs with the gym - achy muscles n trips to the chiropractor’s office, amd no weight loss, but still moving forward with cutting out bad foods n portion control. There are quite a few videos on weight loss diets on YouTube, but the Dr will give you a pkg of instructions. Good luck, at least in my location, there’s quite a few “ over 65” surgeries. They look great !

I 100% agree with what @Queen ApisM said! You have lost a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time. You will not lose 40lbs in a month unless you are the size of the people on My 600 Pound Life, which you are NOT. Everyone's journey is different. I had lost 50 lbs before surgery, so my weight loss after surgery wasn't that fast, and at 8 months out, I'm still losing (I have lost only 4 lbs this month, but that's still better than I would have done without surgery). I felt like my surgery center abandoned me too. I just kept pushing, and they did get back to me, and I was able to meet with the nutritionist, therapist, and an obesity medicine specialist.

I think everyone above answered your questions so I will just say we had surgery the same day. I hit a stall around 2 weeks and it lasted about 2 more weeks. It is annoying but I know by (our) bodies are adjusting to everything. Just stay on track with your plan and all a sudden the weight will start dropping again. I have lost 30lbs since surgery and we had surgery on the same day. 4/5 lbs a week is great! I was given a graph which shows my projected weight loss over the first year on a monthly basis. According to it, I am ahead of schedule.

Stalls are frustrating. Unfortunately you may experience a few as you’re losing & they may last 1-3 weeks (some do last longer - if yours does check with your dietician to see if you need to tweak your eating plan) but they are just part of the journey. There are lots of variation in the plans people follow. Some are given caloric goals while some aren’t (I wasn’t). Some are given portion size recommendations. Some aren’t. Some who are given caloric goals are encouraged to eat 1200 calories from solid foods. If you are worried, check with your dietician. Even on 1200 calories you will lose weight. As @lizonaplane said the goal is not to feel discomfort or your restriction. The goal is to recognise your real hunger & eat enough to satisfy that. At three years out, I still ask myself do I need the next bite or just want it. Remember it takes time for your full signal to kick in. So when you do feel full you’ve likely eaten more than you need. Exercise accounts for 10-20% of your weight loss. Have 50lbs to lose, exercise will account for 5-10lbs. There are lots of physical, psychological & emotional benefits to undertaking regular exercise. But it’s your choice as to what & how much or often you do. I’m not an exerciser. Did very little while I was losing but I still lost all my weight plus more. I do some gentle stretches now & a few wall push-ups but I argue with myself every night about doing it. 😁

I was given a pxt too. I laughed when he gave it to me. He also gave me a pxt of my gall mid surgery when he removed that too. Your weight loss the first week or two can be erratic. You can come out of hospital weighing more from the fluid they pump into you. You can one out weighing less because you’re eating so little & may have experienced diarrhoea. Some surgeons say don’t weigh yourself for a couple of weeks because some people can fluctuate a lot - fluid retention, fluid loss, constipation, diarrhoea, struggling to eat, etc. I came out almost 4lbs heavier after my gall surgery. A couple days later spent 24hrs peeing continuously & lost about 3lbs overnight.

28 lbs in 6 weeks is more than 4 lbs a week. That's nothing to be upset about. Weight loss is fast initially, partly because you tend to lose a lot of water weight and you are do restricted initially as you recover from surgery. It will probably slow down as the months pass, but again, this isn't a race. If you get to 6 months and you haven't lost "most of the weight" it's not as if there is a magic switch that is flipped and you stop losing weight. Many people lose weight steadily for 18 months and beyond, though it slows down as you get closer to your goal weight. Excess weight is what you started at minus what you should be at, and most use the BMI as the guide for that. So, if you are 5 ft 1 inch, your healthy range is 98-132 lbs. Excess weight should be 238 (start weight at surgery) minus 132 (top of healthy range). So, your excess weight would around 106 lbs. I think the literature I read suggested the average lost in the first 6 months is around 30-40% of your excess weight, which would be 106 lb x 30% = 31.8 lbs, but I am not sure how accurate that percentage is. Again, these are rough numbers and the averages are just that - averages. Many people do better than this in 6 months. Some do worse. Some people lose "slowly" throughout and get to goal and beyond, while some people might lose fast initially and then not get to goal. Basically, no one can predict how it will go, including the surgeons.

I feel my surgeon has abandoned me. My next visit with her isn’t until 3 months post-op. My only goals we set are to drink 64oz of liquids and 60 grams of protein daily. She said MOST of my excess weight will be lost in the first 6 months, so to stay focus and take advantage of the surgery. I don’t know how much MOST of my excess weight is, so I don’t know if I’m losing at the correct rate. I don’t know if I am eating too much or too little. I’m just listening to my body. If I’m hungry, I eat. If I am full. I stop. The only food restrictions I have are raw veggies and steak. Other than that, she told me to “listen to my body and if it hurts, stop and try again at a later time” . I had surgery 3/21 so that makes me a little over 6 weeks post-op. I started at 245 and was not required to follow the 2 week diet. I was only told not to eat solids the day before surgery. Day of surgery I weighed 238. Today I weigh 210. That’s only a 28lb lost in 6 weeks. I’m 5’1” so I still have a lot to lose. I’ve been at 210 for a week now so I think I’ve hit a stall. I’m losing and I feel great; so I am happy , but I don’t want her to be disappointed at 3 months if I am not at the weight she’s expecting me to be at (whatever that might be). I don’t know if I’m doing this right. Some days I feel so great and able to move that It seems too easy. just rolling over in bed use to get me so tired. I am wondering if I should go “harder”. How much was everyone else down by 6 weeks?

Hello! Thank you all for allowing me in the group🥰 I just had a consultation and I barely qualify for the sleeve but I do! Yay! I'm 5'6 194 lbs. A few questions: I heard going out of the country is cheaper - anyone go out of the country for the surgery? Like, Mexico. I'm in Florida. How did it turn it? I was not comfortable going out of the country, but my insurance covered it, so that was even cheaper than going to Mexico. I know many people who have been happy with their results in Mexico, but I know one person who felt that she needed more care than she got, plus I know that some people go there when they are not approved in the US, and they may not be as careful about turning people down in Mexico. What's the pros and cons I should be aware of? Pros: you will most likely lose a good amount of weight. You MAY see improvement in certain health conditions. You will be able to fit in smaller clothes. You MAY be able to me more active. If you lose weight, people will be nicer to you (sick, but true!) Cons: This is major surgery, and while the chance of a bad outcome is VERY SMALL, there is still some risk. Losing weight will not make you a completely different person - most of your problems will be the same, but you won't be able to use food to cope with them anymore. You will need to take a multi-vitamin every day for the rest of your life, and if you're like me, the multi-vitamin may make you throw up. You may lose some of your hair for a few months I've heard so many horror stories ie people throwing up, not being able to ever eat "normal" again, higher risk for cancer, etc etc etc. I've been doing research but id love to hear yalls thoughts since i know you're live ppl I can actually communicate with😊 I threw up once because the food was too dry (3 weeks after surgery). About once every two weeks I throw up from my multi-vitamin. I've tried three different brands, but it sucks. The only way you could be at a higher risk for cancer I can think of is if you have really bad GERD after sleeve, develop Barrett's esophagus, and this becomes cancer. However, if you get really bad GERD after sleeve, you could have a revision to bypass. Many forms of cancer have higher rates in people who are obese, so it's likely your risk of cancer will go down if you have surgery and lose weight. I eat more "normally" now than before surgery. Before surgery my portions were WAY TOO BIG and I was eating unhealthy food too often. Now I eat a more normal sized portion and less junk food. The only things I can't really eat easily are lettuce and rice, and those are getting easier. Thanks a bunch!

Thanks! You are just about right there with me in weight loss. Can't wait to hear you are JUST Obese as well!