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I found I still dislike cooking, but there is always something to learn about weight loss. Most of meaningful permanent weight loss seems to be learning a new way to think. That’s why this meeting place is important. WW never really addressed it in any depth, neither do the support groups at my center.

My main concern is the hair loss and teeth with wls as I already have fine hair and very thinning on the top related with hormones and ageing I guess and after reading so many comments and experiences with people who have lost their hair I have come to the conclusion that taking the right supplements and protein religiously everyday is the key to keeping everything healthy😐

This is a stressor for me as well. Mainly because I already have baby fine hair to begin with. I shed hair on a regular basis, genetics and age maybe lol. I guess nothing I can do so Ill just have to let it run its course I suppose. I am thinner on the top of my hair currently. If it gets too bad I am not opposed to hair extensions or toppers that clip in. Some of those are really nice looking. So for me its worth buying one if I need to rather than over stressing myself with something I may not have control over.

Is there a thread or something where everyone can share before and after pics of their weight loss? I'd love to see the progress being made and cheer everyone on while I wait for my surgery day to get here. It also might be good for all of us who might not see the difference in the mirror to get others opinions, so we can see and hear that we ARE making progress and other people can see it, even if we can't ourselves.

I'm reading a lot about 2 week liquid diet. I was approved for weight loss surgery 3 years ago and even had a surgery date scheduled and mentally was not prepared. I ended up canceling the surgery, and my doctor at the time did this 2 week liquid diet. My doctor this time around did not require that. I'm very thankful for it. I talked to him about it (a very respected surgeon here) and he just finds it's something really hard to invoke on someone who has already made a hard decision. I had a full breakfast the morning before the surgery and then broth for lunch and dinner and surgery the next day. He said if my liver covered part of my stomach (the liquid diet is to shrink your liver) that he would simply put in a 5th laparoscopic hole and insert a device that is used to keep the liver pushed up. Surprised that the liquid diet is so common prior to surgery....

The hair loss thing was really only noticeable to me. I knew that more hair was coming out when I brushed and in the shower, but no one else notice. Yes, I did cut my hair (I used to have hair that went to my waist and cut it to brush my shoulders) but the hair cut was because I hadn't cut my hair since I was 15 (I'm 34 and had just turned 34 when I cut it) and I was in desperate need of a cut. I don't have experience with pregnancy at all, but my PCP had weight loss surgery and had two more kids after the fact. With the DS though, it's still best to wait at least 18 months post op to make sure you have your vitamin levels where they're supposed to be because if you get pregnant too soon it can lead to health complications so that's why it's suggested to wait a full 18 months. Also, your taste buds change after surgery so don't get too attached to a certain protein shake because you might not like it post op. The one I bought I liked pre-op, but post-op it was far too sweet. Also, I wanted to share that my doctor never warned me that there is a 3% possibility of developing a wheat allergy or Celiac's Disease post op so I'm warning you that it is a possibility because they didn't tell me it was until I discovered that I have a wheat allergy. So while it's unlikely to happen to you, it would have been nice if I'd known... I still would have done the surgery and it was still one of the best decisions I've ever made for myself, I just wish I'd been prepared for it to be a possibility so that's why I'm sharing that with you. I wish you the best on your surgery journey and I hope that everything works out for you!

I had a tendency to stall for long periods then drop a ton quickly…. Then stall for forever and a day again… rinse and repeat. Overall it was agonizingly slow food wise now: Breakfast: a slice of toast with peanut butter or avocado. If peanut butter I will add 1/4 of a banana (sliced) lunch: P3 peanut cluster pack and a chobani yogurt. dinner: chicken/shrimp/ rarely pork or beef (pork for some reason my stomach can’t handle very easily. That was the first food that gave me foamies and it sits like a rock in my stomach 🤷🏼‍♀️) for snacks I tend to have nuts or cheese or yogurt. im boring with food. I tend to do what works and that’s it. I don’t like to think about food and honestly I am never really “hungry”. I think I’ve only been hungry once since surgery and it was one of those things where I was working on a home improvement project and lost track of time/forgot to eat and missed eating for almost the whole day. So I really don’t even classify my hunger as coming back yet since it was only the one time. I just got Invisalign so I am not really wanted to snack much either lol. My calories were in the 1000 range up until a few weeks ago and my nutritionist freaked out because she said I should be 1700. I had a meeting with a different nutritionist and she said I could push myself to 1400-1500. So that’s what I did and I started losing again. Their reasoning was that they didn’t want my metabolism and body to adjust to 1000 calories because that wasn’t sustainable long term. typically people say that you have a bounce back from your lowest weight. My family is a tad concerned I lost “too much”. I do have lots of loose skin 🤷🏼‍♀️ I don’t like it so I tend to hide behind clothes. as far as osteoarthritis… with that amount of weight loss I actually hardly feel any pain and can walk around like it’s nothing. I can’t run (high impact) or jump (also high impact) but easier exercise is fine. I’m currently taking it easy because I played basketball/handball with my students and stressed my knee out by doing all the things I shouldn’t have been doing 😅 I tend to walk A LOT. I have a big campus and I walk back and forth all day, I have a standing desk with no chair so it encourages me to walk/rotate the room. My arthritis was so advanced it looked like an X-ray from someone who is in their late 80’s and they were talking knee replacement surgery. I was in a wheelchair. They wouldn’t do the surgery Because of my weight and my age (too young). By doing the weight loss surgery I have put off that need for a knee replacement indefinitely.

Thank you catwoman7. I didn’t know you were a slow loser as well. But I do remember your posts on your weight loss and definitely so proud of you. Thank you for confirming my concerns were valid. Did you remember doing anything particularly different when the stalls broke? Or your body just decided for you? I wish you continued long term success my dear.

Does anybody know what the "expected weight loss percentage" is for immediately after surgery and how the weight loss curves. I guess I'm trying to set up my predictable timeline. For example, it's been 2 weeks since surgery. I lost 10.4 lbs. That is 5.36% My nutritionist said my expected weight loss is 50-60 lbs in 6 months based on my metabolic test and a 600 Kcal/day diet. My resting energy expenditure test reported that I am using 16556vKcal/day. I saw another physician video stating that the curve is greatest in the first 3 months. Then the next 9 months you would expect to lose the same amount as you lost in the first 3 months. Simply, I want to track my weight loss and measure against something scientifically predicted based on those who have had bariatric surgery. Do you guys know of any calculator/program like that?

OK. So here was my experience. But I do want to stress that this may or may not be the same for you or anyone else. During weight loss phase and a few months after I was in maintenance, I looked pretty haggard (and older). This was my own opinion, as well a as a select few who who had the balls enough to say to my face. There were likely others who thought the same way, but had the grace to not say so to me, lol. What i did find that in after a little bit more time into maintenance, i looked much, much less skeletor-ish, and I attribute that to as increase in carb consumption. And now, 3.5+ years out, i *think* I look younger than I actually am. Im 50 this year. Mind you I do think I look older than before I started the road to obesity, but that was like 15 years ago! I think alot of people who at first thought they looked pretty run down in the face after weight loss phase find that they start to fill out a little more as time goes on. You'll know when you know. Good Luck! ❤️

My face definitely looks older. I don’t have a lot of wrinkles or look like a deflated balloon; my face just looks kind of boney. I think the plumpness in the face (chubby cheeks) from being overweight makes one look younger, so losing a lot of weight has the opposite effect. (I feel lucky that my double chin tightened itself up as I lost weight; I wouldn’t have been surprised to end up with a big wattle, but I didn’t.) My hair also looks horrible. It’s normal to lose a lot of hair after surgery (telogen effluvium) but mine never got back to normal. But you know what? People are constantly telling me how great I look (but sometimes they first ask if I’m sick). I think it’s kind of a sad commentary on how the world views weight, but in terms of overall appearance, losing weight will outweigh (ha ha) the negative changes. I’m not aware of any supplements that will help, so your best bet is probably just normal anti-aging skin care products. And maybe Botox.

I’m a slow looser like you and sometimes panic over the stalls. I also panic a bit about not loosing the majority of weight during this golden year-year and a half that our tool gives us. Then I look at the big picture of a 130 lb loss and don’t worry so much. I’m shorter than you and lost the majority of weight before surgery. I’m averaging about 3-4 lbs a month after the 6 month mark. “Keep swimming, keep swimming “, said Dory. I also have osteoarthritis like other posters and found that weight lifting (smartly) , biking, rowing, and gentle yoga like chair or Hatha helps me stay active without pain. My garden gives me a good amount of gentle activity too. Now if I could only loose weight by activity alone, alas it never works!

I was a slow loser from the get-go. I was about where you are in the same time frame (it's been several years since my surgery, so I only have my monthly weights - not every week anymore - but at four weeks out, I was down 16 lbs). I went on to lose all of my excess weight, 235 lbs. I've since gained back 20 lbs, although it's super common to have a 10-20 lb regain after hitting bottom. I did have stalls - not too many the first year - maybe two or three. I had a lot during year 2, though, as I got closer to a normal BMI, and they lasted a long time. Every time I hit one I'd think "OK - I guess this is it", and then the weight loss would start up again. My weight loss finally stopped at 20 months out. if you stick to your program, the weight will come off, whether fast or slow.

Wowzers ! What another amazing story there are loads of surprises on this forum. Thank you so much for responding with your experiences. You’re a lot taller than me I’m about 5:7 on a good day. But our stats are definitely similar and it warms my heart to know you started out the same way. I would kill to be 169lbs. My God that is so ideal for me. Did you Start slow? And it actually kick started your weight loss by increasing your calories?? What does your diet consist mainly of? major claps for junior high weight! Haha that is a new one. I’m so excited for you and I pray to God I will be able to celebrate such wins at my surgiversary next year. Let’s keep in touch!

I also went through Kaiser and I have almost the same stats as you. i started at 330 pounds. i had surgery around 297 pounds. (I’m 6 2” for reference) i am 39 years old with severe osteoarthritis in my knees and ankles. I weighed in this morning at 169 pounds (I am on my period though and I tend to retain water so I am probably closer to 165) . I get about 1400 to 1500 calories a day in now. My one year surgiversary was on March 24th. So I am just over a year out, but my numbers looked very similar to yours. they are happy with my loss, I am now in a BMI range of 21 or so… i was at 185 for a LONG TIME then just recently started loosing again because they upped my calories. So now I am down to my lowest I have been since junior high. It’s really trippy when I look back on photos of me as a child and see that I weigh more then. Or the fact that I can wear my sons T shirts (he’s 11). I only weigh 65 more pounds than he does 😱

That is crazy! But oh so real. Thank you so much for validating me hat I was feeling. I definitely want to have a realistic, safe WL experience. It feels great to know that this is actually the norm nothing to see here lol I’m definitely going to give the scale a break and weigh in every couple weeks. Wonderful advice. I do FEEL amazing and I can tell in my clothes things are changing. And I also feel like my body is going to have frequent stalls. I guess it’s not something to try to avoid or dread just live in it as part of the journey and accept it for what it is knowing it will pass. Congratulations on your weight loss as well I do hope to lose 1/2 my excess weight by 7 months as well!

Hi, official card carrying member of the SLC here! You're losing at about 1.2kg a week, which is around what my average weekly loss has been. First up, that is good weight loss! It's nothing to be discouraged about, that is a healthy, good rate. It's easy to buy into the rapid-loss dream, and I absolutely don't begrudge folks who have had their "honeymoon period" and had weight "melt off" - genuinely thrilled for you! But I think it's vital to go into WLS managing your expectations (with rate of loss, loose skin and hair loss). I went into it pretty zen, though I have had my perfectly human moments of wishing I was losing faster. BUT, I'm losing well, about 7 months out and have lost over half my excess body weight and have dropped 4 sizes. Results aren't always on the scale - it's important to remember that! I'm not just a slow loser, but I'm also a serial staller. I have lost count of how many stalls I've had - stalls and I are on a first-name basis. In the first four months I was stalling every second week, for at least a week at a time. I feel like I earned a damned trophy for my stalling expertise. But they always break (even if they go on for weeks), and that's what you need to keep in mind. Stay off the scale when it happens, focus on the good things like feeling better, clearer skin, the clothes that are starting to fall off you. And ultimately? You're not alone. Your experience isn't weird, or wrong, or abnormal. Don't compare yourself to others, manage your expectations, slow down and breathe. Enjoy all the small victories the journey brings.

a lot of women have screwed up menstrual cycles for the first few months after surgery. Your hormones kind of go haywire with the rapid weight loss. It eventually stabilizes and you'll be back to normal. If it's been five months for you, you're likely near the end of it. EDITED to add that this craziness usually starts pretty quickly after surgery - so I"m a little surprised yours started so late.

I haven't lost any more hair or thinned hair more than it already was due to thyroid issues. I didn't have dry skin either post -WLS. I've tried everything: biotin pills, Rogaine, Nioxin . . . none if it helped.

I'm 3 1/2 weeks away from my surgery and I'm SO EXCITED!!!!! I'm not nervous at all. Is that weird? I was a little worried about the gas pain afterwards but I had my gallbladder removed in 97 and they had to inflate my stomach with gas then, too, and I didn't have any gas pain (it was mostly discomfort from the 4 lap scars). Not super excited about the large possibility of major hair shedding, but that didn't happen with any of the other surgeries I had in the past. I also have PCOS, so I'm used to my hair shedding. I have thick hair, so nobody ever notices. And I'm making sure I have plenty of moisturizer for my skin because I've been hearing the surgery can make your skin drier and itchy, and I already deal with that. I don't want it to get worse. But even with that stuff, I'm not nervous or scared. I'm excited and READY!!!!!

Thank you so much, ladies! I'm used to shedding since I have PCOS. Nobody has ever noticed because I've always had thick hair. My surgeon said the biotin is optional, so that's why I wanted to ask you all about it. I'm so glad I joined this group. I never had any increased hair loss/shedding when I had my gall bladder out or when I had all 4 wisdom teeth and 1 additional tooth removed (in a surgery center, knocked out, roots were either tangled in nerves or sideways in jaw). Again, thanks so much for your responses. I'm going to stock up on moisturizer since I tend to have drier skin and it can get really itchy.

Sleeved in 2017 then bypassed in 2019: I’ve only had very minor shedding near my temples but I could just be lucky. I also did I a lot of research and consulted my dermatologist about the issue because I really didn’t want to experience significant hair loss. I relied on the LLysine and Iron studies the most to guide my decisions on which supplements to take. Good Luck ❤️

To those of you who have had your sleeve for a while (i’m 3.5 yrs post op sleeve) how much hair have you lost i lost, i would say, about 30-40% of my hair in total. Started round 3 months postop, hit its peak around 5-6 months postop, and already started noticing little chciken hair regrowth around 7 months postop. My hair went back to pre-op state about a year after that (i.e., all the regrowth got to be the same length as the rest of the hair on my head…but i had shorter hair, like just below jawline) Was it sudden or gradual? Is it in clumps or shedding? pretty sudden…i noticed a relatively large cllump of hair in my hand after conditioning in the shower one day. But in terms of noticeably, it was falling out all over, not in patches. For a couple months after it started i had CARPETS of hair in my bathroom floor that needed vacuuming more often that usual. But no one notices (or at least didn’t say anything to my face) except me and my hairdresser. Did you find Biotinhelped? Nope. Do you have any special shampoos or hair masks or supplements you use to help slow down the Hair loss and/or speed up regrowth? Nope. ALSO, didanyone notice any drying of their skin? If so, what do/did you use to help with that? How long did it last? Is it reallybad, or just mild? i had/have dry skin normally so cant really say, but i did feel dryer than normal in the first couple months, but I attribute that to low water intake in the beginning and the fact that it was dead of winter at the time.

No I found out about them online. But I wouldn't recommend them for anyone who had a weight loss procedure because they can block absorption of nutrients. (They use activated charcoal in the hospital to block absorption in overdose patients) I only used it this one time because I had just had surgery to remove my lap band, so I was eating just fine. I took them the day after surgery.

Our surgery center said that no lotions, potions, or pills will change the amount of hair you lose. The only thing you can do is take your multivitamin and get enough protein. I have done that and I have very little hair loss at all. I do see more shedding than I noticed before surgery, but it's certainly not what anyone would be able to tell. I do know other people who have had a lot more hair loss. It's just a matter of luck/genetics/etc. You can always get a wig.