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Hi All ! I hope everyone is doing well on their journey, As usual, when i don’t know who to turn to regarding my VSG journey i turn to the forum 🤣 For a little backstory i had VSG surgery in early april of this year, so it’s been 7 months so far. I’m now down 88 pounds / 40kg And for the first time throughout these 7 months i’ve started getting comments from people about how much weight i’ve lost. Mainly from coworkers, or friends i haven’t seen in a while - « wow you’ve lost so much weight » or « you’ve melted away the pounds » or « you look completely different » … The issue is i have no idea how to react ! I never know what to say i feel awkward and weird when someone says this to me … and i’m not usually the kind of person to not react it’s just so strange to me that i can’t seem to find the words. Shouldn’t i be proud ? It’s what i wanted after all … Does or has anyone else felt the same ? How did you navigate the comments ?

I love that he updates his practice with current research and never makes weight regain a moral failure.

Thank you for this timely post - I'm 4 years out and have gained ~25 from my lowest. For months I've stuck my head in the sand and pretended it wasn't happening. Got on the scale Sunday, felt sorry for myself - blamed it on work stress, home stress, etc - Decided to log in here on Monday and this was the first post I saw. THANK YOU again for the wake up call. I restarted tracking yesterday (let's hope it sticks this time!) and rather than "just eat", purposely made better choices, got my protein in - Found that if I eat what I'm supposed to, I really do get full quickly. The tool works, you just have to let it.

Adding my info! 1. Pre op weight, BMI or measurements 249-250 lbs BMI of 44 2. Surgery type VSG in 2017 then RNY in 2019 3. Lowest post op weight, BMI or measurements and when it occurred 150lbs BMI 27 around 1 year post op 4. Maintenance weight, BMI or measurements and when it occurred 155 lbs BMI 27 around 18 months post op 5. Bounces (up or down) in weight, BMI or measurements and when they occurred I can bounce up and down 5-10 lbs depending on the season but my lowest was a 20 lb drop during an E.Coli infection 6. Methods used to maintain and what has/has not worked What works for me: Weighing daily/weekly, spot checking calories, low cal/keto substitutes, 90% disciplined eating and 10% debauchery. What does not work for me: gym membership as motivation, unsustainable diets and GLP-1 meds (as of now) 7. How your life has changed (losing vs maintaining perspective) During the losing phase I was very rigid almost never went off plan, now everything I want can be worked into my plan and I’m more relaxed. 8. Words of wisdom/cautionary tales/stories of beating the odds Cautionary tale: Don’t suffer in silence with reflux, push for answers and relief. Absolutely never compare yourself to anyone else. Don’t guilt spiral after a little weight gain, try to correct it as soon as you notice. A small gain is very likely in our population after reaching your absolute lowest weight. I remember when I first joined there was a some chatter about being absolutely perfect or you’ll gain it all back and it made me really anxious. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and other tools from your team. We are not quite the same as the never obese population so our bodies may play by different rules. Word of wisdom: Document your journey if you can. I don’t really remember what it was like to be in my obese body anymore, I only vaguely remember feeling bigger. Have other goals apart from losing weight. Once the newness of WLS wears off you may want to continue the momentum of achievement. If you want plastics (and there are no obstacles beside fear) definitely go for it. The recovery can be tough but it completed the journey for me and others I know.

10 days left. I'm starting to really worry now! Is there any way to make sure my liver has shrunk before the surgery? I've been doing the pre-op diet, and I've lost weight, but I'm starting to panic that I've done everything right except the odd slip up and it won't be enough! Is this just normal nerves? Is it possible I've lost weight, but the liver has been stubborn and not shrunk?

It happens to us all as our bodies adjust. We can be totally irrational about it, not giving ourselves the benefit of what we have achieved..... I had a 6 month check up with my surgeon on Wednesday and I was annoyed with myself as I was up (0.5kg) on previous weeks but that was just me being silly, he said my weight, 63kg, was "perfect" for me and my loss had been "incredible". I came away feeling much better BUT still want to get rid of that 0.5kg plus another 0.5/1kg

Okay I am a second timer. I had gastric sleeve 3/9/21 and I gained it back. I am considering the SADI and I am looking for information about it. I have posted on the revision forums and the duodenal switch forum without response. Is this just a really rare procedure or am I posting in the wrong place? I worry that even if this is the right surgery for me I may regret it if I can’t find the support along the way because it is less common.

Ooh and Amazon has the core power shakes in chocolate which I am 99% sure are the same as fairlife. if not, they use fairlife milk and they are really good. People say that their kids will even ask for them because they are just like chocolate milk. According to google the fairlife is lower calorie and core power is a workout recovery drink but I found it comparable to premiere protein and it worked for me for weight loss. Maybe check it out to see how it compares to fairlife.

I’m really sure you will not only get used to it, you will like it. You just experienced such a speedy and drastic drop this time that it’s hard to wrap your mind around, but if you think about it you didn’t look at your 5x and think how big it was and you were wearing clothes that were even smaller than now when you were young. If I’m guessing correct it’s just that your weight gain happened over a much longer period of time so you had a chance to get used to each size before it changed again. Same way for me. I was a size 1 when I was 25 and now that I lost 40 pounds I’m still and xxl and it fits well so I guess I really needed 3 or 4x and i was just wearing things way too tight. Pretty big difference but it happened over like 15 years so it wasn’t nearly as shocking. I can’t wait to get to XL. I actually still have some of my XL and L clothes from when I lost with the sleeve they are just crammed into bins with no organization but when I go through it will be like shopping. Although my husband is pretty fit so sorting laundry will be a pain again when I get smaller. It’s easy now because his stuff looks like toddler sized compared to mine. 🤣

I have the sleeve and my starting weight was 297 and I am 5'9. It has been super successful! I am already maintaining my weight and I haven't had any issues with GERD, or anything like that. I might be a lucky one- not sure. Just depends on what your needs and health issues are.; I chose the sleeve because I did not want my intestines re-routed, I did not want to prohibit the usage of NAISDs, the lack of absorption of nutrients and the dumping syndrome. I know there have been many many people very successful with the bypass and glad they did that, and those who had to revise the sleeve to the bypass! I would just do your research, its took me a couple of months to figure out which one I wanted.

I know it’s easier said than done, but don’t be in a rush and don’t compare yourself to others. It’s not a race or competition. Everyone has different circumstances and factors affecting rate of weight loss. For example, the more excess weight you have, the faster it comes off, so you can’t expect to lose as quickly as some who started 50 kg higher than you. i know most of us go down the path of WLS because we are fed up with being obese and we are desperate to lose the weight after a lot other attempts. Of course we want it to happen as fast as possible. But here’s something to consider. WLS makes it virtually impossible to fail at losing a significant amount of weight. That’s the “honeymoon period” for about the first year after surgery and almost everyone has amazing results. What really matters, though, is what comes after the honeymoon period. It is heartbreaking to see people go through all of this to lose 100+ pounds only to regain it. It doesn’t matter how fast you reach your goal weight if you don’t stay there. You have a whole lifetime ahead of you, decades, to enjoy your new chance at life. Trust me, in 20 years, you won’t care how many pounds you lost in the first month or two or six. Don’t worry about how fast of slow you’re losing now. Keep following the program and you will lose a lot of weight. Set your sights on the rest of your life, everything you will get to experience in your new body, and how you will keep it.

My understanding is sleeve is more prevalent as a first time surgery, but a not-insignificant number of people have revision from sleeve to bypass down the road because of GERD or insufficient weight loss. There are reasons you may choose one over the other, and you want a surgeon who is just as comfortable with either. If he is suggesting one because he's better at it (sleeve is a much easier surgery to perform) then he is not the surgeon for you! This video has some good information on both surgeries from a doctor who does both:

Hi, thanks for the reply yeah I know it's too early to be worried. TMI ahoy...Pretty sure it's the above!! 🥴 This has been a problem for sure! I had a truly awful bathroom visit this morning for an hour trying to birth something equivalent to Rosemary's baby 😬😱 only the second time I've been since surgery. Still feeling somewhat blocked up, will get something strong to help. I know I shouldn't weight daily, and shouldn't expect to see a smooth downward projection on. the daily but my (not Dx'd) ADHD compels me lol

With almost everyone I've encountered who lost a lot of weight rapidly and may have looked "too thin" for a while, it's a temporary thing, just until the body has the chance to shift fat around to different places and even everything out, which it doesn't necessarily do during the weight loss phase. Plus, it's an initial shock when you're used to seeing someone (including yourself in the mirror) look one way and now they are very different and it's jarring. I know within a year at the most after my brother had VSG and went from 300+ lbs to around 150 lbs (which was very skinny because he's 6ft tall), his appearance went from shockingly skinny to totally normal and healthy, even though his weight didn't go up during that time. Within another year after that, he'd gained several pounds and was at a weight he maintained for several years after that. It was all just part of the process.

Reporting my win for the week: Since surgery on 4/11/24 i have remained with steady weight loss about 2 to 2.5 pounds per week. I do not own a scale and went to my parents to visit this weekend and stepped on their scale im down another 13 pounds from last month. I think my walking about 5 miles daily also helps if not helping with weight management definitely helps with my mental health. I feel so good after working out! 🏋️‍♀️. Let's us all win for the future weeks ahead!

I live in a rural area. I too hate the gym but love walking. I get out at least 3 times a week, I need the alone time. I come home refreshed and ready for anything the family can chuck at me. I also work 1 day a week in a Charity Shop and oh boy this is physically hard work ! I come home battered after 9 hours there. Whole body and mind exercise This is all I did for weight loss and how I maintain

I totally get that a five pound gain messes with your head. My weight fluctuates by like 10 pounds through out each cycle with the chemo. I shoots up almost immediately on treatment day and then goes up and down until it gets mostly out of my system. Since I am still in the honeymoon period from my surgery and don’t really even want to eat apart from cravings it is sooooo hard to not just starve myself when I see the numbers go up. I know it’s not the exact same as your situation but I imagine the mental shock of the number is very similar. Hang in there. You should be able to get back to the majority of your routine soon and be back to your old self before you know it. I will probably be on here asking what worked for you this summer and fall because Im having a bilateral mastectomy with expanders in early May and then a reconstruction with implants planned after radiation. Although I’m trying to get in for a consult with that Dr to find out about that fat transfer option. Im not sure if its new or not but the surgeon I met with did not offer that option. Did your surgeon tell you to get routine MRI’s to monitor for leaks. (You said you got silicone, right?). I’m sure your surgeon went over the risks with implants in general but there is something I just learned about the other day from a lady at my craft group called Breast Implant Illness that’s worth looking into. It’s not a formal medical diagnosis but it’s a collection of issues that people commonly have after implants that often go away immediately once they are removed. There is the surgeon in Florida that she is going to that people go to from all around the world just to have their implants removed and he can do this procedure if you want them replaced where they transfer a fat from another area of your body. I am trying to get into him to see if it’s possible for me to have that instead of an implant for my reconstruction. They are very selective with who they give appointments to, though. I guess his surgeries are booked like a year out Anyways, not to scare you but there are also lots of more researched issues that a silicone leak can cause as well to include a very rare type of cancer even. I am not sure how much your surgeon went over all of that with you but to me it’s definitely worth being aware of and monitoring routinely. Your surgeon should be able to tell you how often to scan and what to watch for just to be safe. Best of luck with your recovery and I can’t wait to hear about your being all healed up and getting to finally take them girls out on the town. 😂

Thank you so much, guys. I love that this is a safe space to speak our truths about this surgery. So many people think it's a miracle cure, and it's not. We have to do the work. It really is just a tool for us to use while we do the work. You guys have been so supportive. Thank you so much. I'm going to go back to weighing once per week, meal prepping again, sticking to my diet, and start back with my work out plan. I'll work to lose 10 pounds, to get back to the weight I'm happiest at. You all are awesome!!!

I am sure it varies for everyone depending on the approach of the psychiatrist and the medical programme but from what I remember I was asked about why I believed I put the weight on, what I had done in the past for weight loss, did I suffer from depression, did I have an eating disorder, how my weight impacted my life, did I have a supporting family and friends group etc. Then I was asked about what I wanted from the operation, he made sure to explain that the op is not the treatment alone and I would have to put in the work on myself and my body, how the op was a tool to help me and I would have to make changes and choices for the rest of my life. He also then asked would I be happy with the changes to my body such as saggy skin as that is what a lot of people are left with. We discussed my weight journey over the years, how I am an organised person so if I am given a set of rules (with a few bendy grey areas 😉) I felt I could follow the changes that would be required without much of an issue and that while I would love to not have saggy skin I knew that would be impossible but that being a healthy weight with less risk of health issues was more important. If you already put down about being schizoaffective on your medical forms and they considered it an automatic fail I would hope that that they would have already told you.

I was flat, deflated and basically just skin pre op. But, in this pic, I'm about 30# more than my weight at the time of my BA. So I probably had about a B cup worth of tissue at this point in time. I like UHP because of the projection and upper pole it gives me

Hi, thanks for the reply yeah I know it's too early to be worried. TMI ahoy...Pretty sure it's the above!! 🥴 This has been a problem for sure! I had a truly awful bathroom visit this morning for an hour trying to birth something equivalent to Rosemary's baby 😬😱 only the second time I've been since surgery. Still feeling somewhat blocked up, will get something strong to help. I know I shouldn't weight daily, and shouldn't expect to see a smooth downward projection on. the daily but my (not Dx'd) ADHD compels me lol

@Spinoza I think that is one thing I was definitely thinking about - at 9 months post-op, is my body done losing? Probably not! (I hope not anyway!) BMI is definitely a crappy way of measuring people, but I think in my head to have gone from literally my BMI being off the chart 🤣to then showing 'healthy', that is a massive win! I am happy where I am at currently, I don't dislike myself which is also a win haha. Also would be nice to go to my GP for a headache or a tummy ache, or something unrelated, and for them not to be like "oh have you tried losing weight" 🤣

Hey, congrats on starting your journey! So, sleeve and bypass are both great options, but they work a bit differently. With the sleeve, they remove a part of your stomach, so it’s smaller, which means you’ll eat less and feel full faster. It’s a simpler surgery, and you don’t have to worry about rerouting your intestines or major long-term complications. But, it’s irreversible, and if you have or develop acid reflux, it might get worse. Now, bypass is a bit more intense. They make your stomach smaller and reroute part of your intestines. It’s great if you have diabetes or really bad reflux because it helps with those. Plus, people often lose weight faster. But the downside is you have to be super committed to taking your vitamins forever, or you’ll run into deficiencies. And there’s this thing called dumping syndrome if you eat too much sugar or fat, which feels awful. Honestly, it depends on your health and your goals. Like, do you have reflux or diabetes? How much weight do you want to lose? And are you okay with a more complex surgery if it gives better results? Your surgeon will guide you based on all that, so don’t stress too much now. Just go in with your questions ready. You’ve got time to figure it all out. Good luck at your consultation—it’s a big step, and you’re doing amazing by researching! i did the bypass and lost 20 kgs in 3.5 months Starting weight 109 kg and now 89 kg Also regain is harder with bypass. I suggest u keep reading and also there's more information on YouTube and tiktok

Yes, I had one for a couple of months right as I got close to my goal weight and then poof one day the scales showed I had lost a couple of kg even though I had done nothing different. Body is just coping best it can as it looses so much of its reserves of fat etc.

I was about 270 so it's about the same. I think this is some new NHS weight loss diet and I'm the test group or something.