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Hi Singles, I'm still on my weight loss journey. I would like to lose another 15 pounds. I wasn't sure when I started this journey what the end weight would be. Just lnew I had to get healthy, get off my b/p meds, stay away from diabtetes, etc. I feel more confident after losing 55 pounds, but I still can't imagine going on a dating site and putting myself out there. I've been on dating sites before, here and there, theres positive things that happen, weird things (scammers) and it takes a lot of energy. Of course, like most people I would rather meet someone "organically." Is there anyone out there that has any advice or words of wisdom that is experiencing dating in the mid 60s?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but at 3 years out I still struggle sometimes with my image of self - I often "feel" like the biggest person in a room even though I know I'm not. It seems to be exacerbated when I don't do the self-care things like regular exercise or eating well. When I'm in routine with exercise and healthy meals my mind set seems to settle and I just think less about my weight than I ever have. Having said that, I just started a new job and it is a mind trip that they will never know the obese me I was for most of my life. Lori

After a year of consults and weight management visits my insurance has finally approved my gastric sleeve surgery!!!!. I'm super excited and my surgery is February 16th. Who else has a February surgery date? Sent from my Pixel 6 using BariatricPal mobile app

As @catwoman7 says, people who have a revision on this site seem to have lost weight. You have done well so far and are probably in a stall. Ride it out. Stay off the scales as much as possible. Your weight is on the lower scale so it will be slow going from here but you should get lower. People who have a virgin surgery can get to a lower weight but not all. It must be heaven to get rid of the GERD

Hi Stacy I had a question. Once you are at the weight you need be or whatever. Does the insurance cover any skin removal?

I am at 30 days as of today and things have gone surprisingly well. I have only had pain once (pretty sure from eating too quickly) and other than issues moving my bowels things have gone swimmingly. I take a stool softener every other day and I’m going about once every 3 days. I have hit my first stall as I haven’t lost weight in about a week. Any suggestions there? Today is my first day where I can go to solid foods, any suggestions for my first dinner? How are the 1 month folks doing?

Other issues are whether or not you have plastics and remove excess skin or not, and your age and fitness level before, during and after weight loss. There are so many different aspects of who we are as humans, and one height and weight chart for all men and women may not be the most effective way to figure this out. We need to look also at our ethnic make up, our heritage, where we came from, how our bodies are different from each others.... Work with your doctor on where you are and where you would like to be in terms of your weight, and general health. Get regular blood levels drawn, making sure you know where your iron, vitamin levels are, and to make sure your internal organs are doing their jobs ! It isn't all about what size we wear or how much we have lost and weight. It is about being healthy and maintaining and improving our lifestyle.

Congrats! Sounds like you are doing amazing! I think you are right that losing weight all over makes it harder to see, at least to ourselves. Hope our hair decides to stop falling out soon lol. Thank you for the update, its nice to read and hear about how others are doing. Wow, 100 pounds in just 4 months is outstanding!! You are so close to your goal too! I do know that weight loss slows down which is why I said that I hope that I can have that happen. I guess its better to be prepared if it doesn't but I like having hope lol. Thank you for the wonderful update, I'm so happy that you are doing so well!

25 lbs in six weeks is actually really good. I didn't lose that much until the end of month 2, and mine was a virgin surgery. as far as losing more, some people do lose quite a bit of weight with a revision, but it's more difficult and a lot slower than it was the first time around. Someone (maybe on here? I can't remember) once explained that it's likely due to fact that you went from a large stomach to a small stomach during surgery #1 - and now you're just going from small to small, so the loss will be a lot slower going. It kind of made sense.

My surgeon told me that straws are something that come later and to think of myself like a newborn baby learning how to do everything again. I think this really helped me put things into perspective. I'm only 4 days post op but I'm having good time in my opinion. Vitamins - I was reccomended an all-in-one I'm going to be having Centrum (?) I'd have to go grab my paperwork but I just took my antibiotic pill and it's made me not want to stand for a moment haha. I think every surgeon is different, I was in hospital for 4 days total. I had many tests and checks and honestly, I didn't even have bandages on any incision except for my drain. They are already looking to be healing nicely. As for soups... Where I am I was told that my blood pressure will get too low as I had an 88% reduction with my sleeve. They reccomended that I added a spoon of salt to my broths/soups. Then gain I am only having 200ml of broth each day. For me I can shower as I feel, I had a really big surgery a month before my sleeve so the recovery has been an absolute walk in the park. I showed with my back to the water, wash myself with a mild unscented soap, pat dry with a clean towel and i have moisturized a little with vaseline (not a lot, barely visible on the tip of my finger). Only one incision is dressed (where my drain was as it has no stitches) and I still clean this one daily with Iodine & redress it. Although I feel the drain varies from country/surgeon. For my surgery as I was going to be in hospital for 4 days I packed a lot I guess haha: Slippers - You have to get up and walk CONSTANTLY, bring yourself some comfy slippers. Really large tshirts, 4 of them. - I bought the biggest I could find, a nightie would work too but at one point I did not want to wear pants because my compression socks would fall in my sleep and I'd have to take them off and fix it... Bending down in the first day or so is really painful. I took my softest and blanket - Hospital blankets just aren't nice for me, I wanted to be super comfy. Laptop - I work from home, spent some time working because I got really bored. Portable phone charger & long phone charger wire. - Depending on your room, it might be hard to reach the outlet, it's better to be prepared. LIP BALM!!!!!!!!!! - You will be so dry Unscented Moisturizer, unscented soap, and a comfort smelling body mist. - Moisturizer because you'll just feel so dry, cream your hands, your face anywhere! - Unscented soap, I don't know about anyone else but for me everything just smelt like I wanted to throw up, the unscented soap was so that there was really nothing bad in the air haha. - The body mist is really light I just would spray one spray on the otherside of my room and let it just sit, hospital smell yuck and if you have a longer stay like I did then it can help to make it feel more comfortable. A pillow - Journey home it's a godsend for the tight seatbelt and also hospital pillows are just not the same haha. Large Sweatpants & Large Hoody - As in bigger than I would ever wear haha, it's the ultimate comfort when you're leaving, you really want nothing at all restricting or just laying on your stomach. Hopefully I gave you a little insight haha, but it's good that you have questions I just kinda went with the flow and over prepared myself.

Hello Tina. Can you give us some stats to go on. What weight did you begin at, what weight did you get to with your sleeve, height etc. A 25pound loss seems really good in 6 weeks but we need to know more about you

I had the gastric sleeve 4 yrs ago. I developed real bad Gerd. My surgeon said to do the revision to the gastric bypass. I’m 6 weeks post op and down only 25 pounds and my surgeon says I probably won’t loose much more because it’s a revision. I’m devastated why didn’t they tell me before I did the revision. Has anyone lost significant weight after a revision?

There are a lot of variables to consider. IMO, BMI is flawed....the formula is based on an average body composition. It does not take in consideration frame size, bone mass, muscle mass, large breasted vs small breasted (boobs are heavy!), body shape (ectomorph, mesomorph & endomorph). If you were overweight in your youth and/or the majority of your life, your bones had to accommodate more weight so therefore are most likely larger and heavier than someone who has been slim most of their lives. Thirty years ago, the general rule for women was a baseline of 100 pounds for a 5 foot woman and 5 pounds for each additional inch. That is an average, but for me at 5'5", I am chubby at 125, where as; my daughter at 2 inches shorter, looks amazing at 135. Before the weight gain in 2012, my natural shape was hourglass (metomorph) with broad shoulders, heavy chested, small waist and slim legs on a small/medium frame. My daughter is rectangular (ectomorph) with broad shoulders, heavy chested, thick waisted, narrow hipped and thicker legs on a medium/large frame. My best weight is 112 to 117 but my daughter, even though she is 2 inches shorter, looks best at 132 to 138. Weight is a personal matter. You have to find where you are comfortable and a weight that can be easily maintained. Listen to your body and listen to your doctor but don't let others get into your head.

Weight loss stalls are not exclusive to WLS. As with any diet, the initial weight loss is only about 50% fat, the rest being water weight. The more dehydrated you became with the initial weight loss, the longer the stall will last. As you maintain your initial weight loss during the stall, you are actually losing fat pounds as you regain the depleted hydration levels needed for the body to function properly.

Yes, crazy good to wear those smaller sizes! I've been losing so fast that I've actually dropped through some clothes I bought after surgery. I still struggle to see it myself sometimes, but going from a tight 44 to a lose 38 waist in pants makes it pretty obvious. I've had a few major stalls as well, but am officially down over 100 pounds now. I'm obviously really happy about that, but also a bit shocked at how fast it's come off. @Hope4NewMe don't count on maintaining a 10 pound loss per month. For the math geeks, most of the time weight loss follows a pattern called exponential decay. It looks something like this: The important takeaway is that the closer you get to goal, the slower the loss.

Just maintaining has become it’s own reward for me. After years of seeing the scale go back up every single time I lost weight, actually keeping a fairly stable weight makes me feel great & keeps me motivated. While it’s really nice to have people comment on your weight loss & how great you look now, it’s true they don’t happen as often as the years pass. It”s why the little things that happen & remind me of what I can do now which I wouldn’t or couldn’t before are more important to me. (Though I can’t say someone telling me I’m slim, need a smaller size or similar doesn’t make me glow with happiness I am a vain human.) Most recently, jumping on a trampoline with my young nieces & nephew at Christmas was a reminder of what I’ve achieved & why I did it. It might be things like realising or reminding yourself you’re more confident in how you hold yourself, dress, makeup or hair styles or in how you interact with others. It could be a physical achievement like how far you can run or cycle. Or life changes you’ve made - gone back to school, changed careers, dating, etc. These are the sort of things that remind me that the surgery & subsequent changes i’ve made have been so worth it. Personally I don’t want to forget where I was because it helps me appreciate where I am now more. And yes, I continue to be careful about what & how much I eat & weigh myself several times a week. It keeps me on track & honest. The main battle may be over but I need to remain vigilant of possible stealth attacks from my own head: old habits, complacency, etc.

I think there are a few questions you need to answer first: Why are you struggling to lose that last 100 pounds? What are you expecting medication to do for you that you can't do on your own? Can you afford it? Most of the newer GLP1 agonist weight loss medications (e.g. Ozempic, Saxsenda, Rybelsus and others), are not covered by insurance. If you are self pay, they may cost $1,200 to $1,500 a month or more. Keep in mind (as some have pointed out above), most people that lose weight with these meds gain the weight back when they stop. If price is not a consideration for you, can you even find the medication? Some of these medications are in critically short supply right now.

Wow that's very interesting! Did your weight loss slow down significantly? I think it's great that your surgeon is concerned about your last 100lbs. I've seen amazing things on these newer weight loss medications. Keep us updated!

My surgeon is pushing it too! I don’t know if it’s a result of new research, or research they want to publish, or they want their stats on weight loss to look better. I’m still loosing very slowly and am happy with that (18 months out). So, I’m researching the side affects, and searching my odds. The minute you go off the meds the weight comes back. What’s your end game? It might be the right medication for you. Do you have a stable income and insurance that would support the medication for the rest of your life? Are you diabetic or COPD or something that loosing more weight would help you control? There’s a lot to consider. It’s a personal health decision each person would need to make for themselves.

Hi Expert Member ☺️, You know you mentioned thick saliva, I have had that happen when trying food, maybe that is thing. I will now have to research that! I do miss carbs too. I have been low carbing forever but every now and then I crave a potatoe chip LOL. Great job on the weight loss to date. I am trying not obsess on my weight but ITS HARD! I debating joining a gym but my husband says no. What's a girl to do lol he says we have it all here. Well keep in touch hope to hear from you soon! 😀

Sleeved 9-1-22. Hope4NewMe, you are doing great. I have lost 40+ pounds. I am at 158 today. Had several stalls but I guess that is to be expected. My hair is shedding right now, too. My bloodwork levels are good. It does feel good to put on smaller sizes, doesn't it? I gain weight all over and am losing it the same way. Which is good, I guess but it makes it hard to actually SEE changes. Hmmm, smaller but the same shape. You said, "you're brain still thinks I am the same size". Maybe my brain is doing the same thing! I, too, am so glad I had this surgery. Have fun on your cruise!

Before surgery, my surgeon put me on Ozempic, to treat my diabetes and jump start my weight loss. It worked great!

I wasn’t expecting it to keep me from over eating as in, I could eat whatever and still lose the weight. I feel my restriction when I eat a little more, no restriction prior to. My directives were very vague, the sheet I was given reads “You should be able to tolerate a fourth, to a half of an egg.” So When I was able to eat a whole egg, I was just a bit worried that it wasn’t normal. But thank you for your feedback.

Don't know how many of us are still left reading these forums but I miss you all! Just hit my 4 month mark and I'm down a little over 50 pounds, yay! Before surgery I was just hoping that I could hit that goal before my cruise and I did! I have another month before I sail so maybe I'll hit 60 pounds down and that will be the best. Weight loss has slowed down but I did expect that. I'm hoping to keep losing at about 10 pounds per month now which is what I did this month and I also lost 7 inches. My hair is definitely thinning so I cut my almost waist long hair to shoulder length and I actually love it. Scary to see the loss at my temples but I know its temporary so I'm trying not to stress too much. I had my blood tested and all of my levels are good but they do want me to take a little more iron because they want me to be above average. I finally tried on a smaller pair of pants and was surprised to see that I could fit into a 14 and its not even tight. I haven't been this size in over 10 years. My brain still thinks I'm the same size to its nice to be able to put on clothing and see proof of loss. I had to buy ring adjusters because my wedding ring was getting scary loose so now its tight and safe again. I can't believe how much has changed in just 4 months and I'm so happy I had the surgery. I hope you all are well and come back and visit sometime lol