Search the Community

Hey all my name is April I am 4 years out of GS 2019. I am having a lot of trouble and needing some support to maintain my weight. I lost 70 pounds before the pandemic but I need to lose these last 20 pounds please help.

4 weeks, 3 days Sorry for the delay in posting. The first week after I got home I slept a lot, night and day. Eating and drinking enough is hard when you sleep so much, so I haven't been meeting my goal of 64oz fluid and 100gm of protein, but I've been getting at least 48oz fluid and at least 60-80gm of protein. My protein oatmeal with extra protein added and my Pure Protein Bars with 19-21gm of protein is a huge chunk of that. 3 weeks in, after sleeping most of the day my body decided it was done with that, and since I'd just slept all day, it chose to stay awake at night. I've been trying to get my sleep pattern under control, but when I went to bed at 10:30 I awoke at 1:24am refreshed from my nap and last night I went to bed just after midnight and woke up at 4am and wasn't able to get back to sleep. I think this time I'll be able to stay awake all day though, so I'm hoping to sleep through the night tonight. I've still been having a hard time with my diet goals since I am trying to sleep at night. If I didn't have the luxury of working at home on my own schedule, I might not be having such a hard time sleeping because I'd be forced to a regular schedule. My husband has had his reservations, but has been supportive through all this because I promised I'd take care of myself. When I feel bad for being gone so long and now sleeping on the couch instead of snuggling with him, he tells me that I've just had surgery and I'm healing, sleep when my body tells me to sleep, and if the couch is more comfortable than sleeping reclined in bed, sleep there. At least I'm spending a few hours snuggling with him at night now. A couple days after retuning home I took my surgical tape off and discovered that I'd pulled a couple stitches. Remember those painful sneezes? I'm pretty sure that's when it happened. I have mighty, full body sneezes that sometimes makes my arm go numb and always said I'll probably die because I sneezed while driving. The wound didn't reopen. There was no bleeding or seeping, there were just larger scabs and one had a tacky feel. The scar in that area in front is going to be uglier than the nice thin scar in the back. This isn't the surgeons fault and nothing would have been different if I'd been there for a follow-up and he took the tape off. I'm waiting for the last scab to fall off before I start using the scar gel and massaging the scar. I have been concerned about the puffy area just above the scar across the front. I told myself it's probably just inflammation. They tell you not to judge the way you look because you won't see the final results for 6 months to a year, but it's hard. When you look at before and after pictures, the after pictures are long enough after for the inflammation to be gone. I went to a friend's commitment ceremony 2 days ago and another friend there had a lower body lift and BBL here in the states with one of the best surgeons (they have more money than me). She had her surgery 10 days after mine and she has that too, so I feel better. To summarize how I felt moving around week by week: Week 1 was difficult getting in and out of bed and it was painful. Week 2 I had the roll and push method down pat so it was easier to get up and down from bed and I could move around better, but when I'd first get up I'd walk more hunched over and this was when I had the really painful sneezes. It was easy to not push myself and to remember not to lift things or bend down because I could feel the pain in my stitches. I was very itchy. Week 3 I was able to move easier and could reach for things, but I could still feel it pull at the stitches, but it was more discomfort than painful so I was having to remind myself not to lift things and to not twist. This is when the itching was at its worst. Week 4 I'm getting stir crazy because I am still not supposed to drive and I promised my husband I'd take care of myself, which means following doctor's orders even if I think I'm OK to drive. Because of the mini BBL he did, I'm not supposed to drive for 4 weeks, then for 2 weeks only short distances "if I have to drive". I was moving normal, but I could still feel it pull at the stitches, but not really uncomfortable, just a pulling sensation. I still itched really bad, but it wasn't as constant. Now I don't really feel any pain except now that I'm sleeping without the pillows and my hips are on the bed, I am not sleeping on my right side because the incision is still a little tender when sleeping with weight on it there. Thankfully I can sleep on my left side and it doesn't hurt. Of course, I haven't slept more than 4 hours that way yet. I was supposed to wear the compression garment 24/7 except when showering for 4 weeks, then for 4 weeks I can sleep without it. I cheated and slept without my compression garment and drove a night early. It was really nice to snuggle with my husband without it even if it was from on top of pillows and just for a little bit because I couldn't sleep. I snuggled lying on 2 thick pillows with my hip/butt between them because of the mini BBL. After talking to my friend who had her lower body lift and BBL here, I'm rebelling a little bit. She was told she could sit on soft furniture without a pillow and sleep in bed without pillows keeping pressure off her butt. I'm still obeying my doctors orders regarding sitting because I can't find an entry on Google supporting that you can sit on soft furniture, but after talking to her I decided to sleep without the pillows under me. I have a thick Temper Pedic Memory Foam pad and REALLY want to snuggle with my hubby and sleep normally. I sleep on my side and he didn't transfer fat to my hips, that's where he took it from. As mentioned above, I can't sleep on my right because it's still tender there when sleeping on it. Of note regarding my breast lift/implants. I don't talk about them because they haven't hurt at all until recently. I get twinges now at the lower scar. I've had implants implanted, removed, and implanted again, so 3 surgeries and the scar tissue at the bottom of my breast is pretty thick and now that the incision is healed I need to start massaging it to break that scar tissue up. The first time I had implants (2006) it did hurt. I had to lean to the side to get one hand wet, then lean to the other side to get the other wet, then rinse the soap off the same way because leaning forward hurt, and it took almost a year before I didn't look like I had super pecs (they sit high when they are new). I'm assuming it didn't hurt this time and they have already settled because the skin didn't need to stretch. Maybe the signals from the incision from the lower body lift overrode anything my breasts might have wanted to tell me as well. When I hit 6 weeks and "can drive", I'm going to drive to Missouri. My Mother-In-Law has cancer of the esophagus and they need help taking care of her. I can work from home and they can't, so I volunteered. She needs help bathing and having her diaper changed, her feeding tube needs cleaned and feeding bag filled, and she and her house needs taking care of. She is on hospice, but not close enough to the end to have daily helpers, but she has a nurse stop by twice a week and a helper come twice a week for a couple hours, so I can save heavy lifting for the helper. I'm going to ask my husband to take some 4.5 week after pics so you can see what it looks like soon after the incisions heal. I'll post again at other intervals so you can see progress as the inflammation goes away and the scar heals. Other than that, I will post if I feel I have something relevant to say regarding my progress. I'll only post about my MIL as it relates to my being able to care for her due to my surgery because this isn't a cancer support forum.

I am 10 weeks out from surgery and felt a lot of pain for those first 4 weeks. Could not bend over to tie my shoes, felt like something was pulling in one area on my left side, dull aches everywhere in my abdomen. A giant, flat ice pack was my friend... the kind that you would find in a physical therapist's office. I have a couple on had for an unrelated knee issue. Here is where I got mine: https://www.optp.com/Chattanooga-ColPac Looks like there are some on Amazon, too. I was fortunate to be able to lay around for those first couple of weeks at least. Truly hope you feel better soon!

I've personally been on both Saxenda and Wegovy. With Saxenda, I lost 20 pounds and my blood sugar and cholesterol improved, but high blood pressure was unchanged. I stopped because the insurance price went from $50 a month to over $200, and my weight loss plateaued so $2400 a year to keep off 20 lbs seemed a bit steep. As soon as I stopped, the weight came back, the A1Cs went up, and the cholesterol went higher than before I started. With Wegovy, I was only ever able to get the first two months of doses before shortages made it impossible. After that, I switched insurance and lost coverage of Wegovy completely, meaning over $1k per month out of pocket if I wanted to continue. I wasn't on it long enough to see how my labs would have been. From everything I've seen, surgery is the only durable option. In my case, the copay is less than a single month of Wegovy, with the possibility of it lasting a lifetime, and the ability to add the GLP-1 drugs down the road if needed. Only you can decide what is right for you, but I think for most people who are at the point of qualifying for surgery, the drugs alone will not be enough, and if you lose access to them, you will most likely go back to square one with weight. Or in my case, square one plus 10 pounds.

Tomorrow is my big day. I have to report to the hospital at 8 for a 10 a.m. surgery. I have had a lot of surgeries, so I'm not particularly worried about going under or anything. I worry about pain management and the 6 weeks after surgery and sticking to it. I have to remind myself that this is a tool for me to use and that I need to very conscious of what I'm eating. Good luck to everyone else having surgery this week.

This whole time I have been counting net carbs. And it has worked so far, but I have just been trying to figure out how to start my weight loss back up. My nutritionist finally emailed me like 10 minutes ago. She says that I should count whole carbs because counting net carbs may slow weight loss. So, I will try it her way and see what happens. I just also worry about getting enough fiber. I have to take Benefiber as is. I just feel like now I will be really more limited in what I can eat and it makes me sad. Lol.

I have a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in 10 hours and 30 minutes! Not sure if there is anyway i am going to fall asleep now. Wish me luck.

I called again this morning and the person who answered let slip that the entire weight management center at the hospital is closing. So, I am not the only person impacted by far. He said that a manager is supposed to call everyone to explain, but still nothing has happened. Maybe tomorrow? As for what happens next, I'm not sure. The hospital was recently acquired by another big Boston hospital, which has a bariatric department of its own. I assume they are trying to integrate all of the departments across the system to eliminate redundancies, but their communication so far has been appalling. Why they wouldn't have planned for this by shutting down the pipeline of patients months ago so that all surgeries were completed before the closure is a mystery. I attended my full day immersion class in August and completed all my requirements on October 6. At that point, they were booking 10+ weeks out and there was no indication anything was changing. This isn't an independent bariatric practice where I could see there being management or money issues, but a center that is part of a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. I find it shocking to say the least. I've spent most of the day wishing whichever faceless bureaucratic suit responsible for this trips and falls into a fiery pit. Clearly emotional intelligence was not a job requirement.

I am 35 HW: 325 SW: 297 CW 189 Gastric Sleeve Surgery Date: 1/24 1. What was the best part of surgery for you? Having a ton of energy! Not feeling groggy, my knees don't hurt when I wake up, working out and staying motivated, playing with my kids after a long day and still having the energy to cook dinner and pick up the house and sex life has improved, 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? The first week kinda sucked with how much gas pains and not being able to eat barely anything and I am dealing some hair loss right now. Other than that I had a really smooth surgery. 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? I was lucky, mine has been smooth sailing 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? Its different, I get more attention which is tough for me to get used to, I love exercising, I love shopping, I love getting ready everyday for work. I am the best version of myself, my boyfriend and kids deserve it and overall I deserve it! 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? I would say there are still things I don't want to eat but probably around 90day mark I felt good to eat just about anything within reason. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? Honestly I don't have the same desire to eat what I did. I will enjoy a couple of fries if I have an open faced burger or something but its not something that was a must like it was before. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? Recovery was great besides the gas pains. No vomiting or dumping syndrome. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? I would say 2 weeks. I was walking 1-2miles after the first week. The first week I walked around the block to get the gas out. I also have a high pain tolerance so that might have helped. Like I had two c-sections and once the epidural wore off I was up walking my babies up and down the hall, the nurses had to tell me to rest but I am Type A so I am a little nutty. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? HELL YES!!! I wake up start life, workout for an hour plus walk on my lunch break 5 days a week, I work full time and am a college student. I have 3 children and my partner. I have energy for everything and I am not dog tired at the end of the day. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? Yes, I struggle sometimes with the new body, how ppl treat me, and still see the 325lb woman in the mirror but I moreso I am in a better spot. I am not as anxious, stressed and I am able to take on tasks with a clearer mind (such as school) 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? My only regret is not getting it done sooner!

It should hopefully get better soon! I was lucky and didn't have pain. But the fever I got around day 10 had me in my head for sure.

I've always joked that I came out of the womb with an addictive personality. Born to two parents with substance abuse and alcohol abuse issues, childhood trauma and other things always seemed to point me down the path of poor life choices that resulted in addict type behavior. I used off and on from the time I was 9 until I was 21 and then again from 23 to 29. I've been clean and sober now for 10 years and had no idea how heavily I relied on my ability to gulp down fizzy drinks or snack when I fell overwhelmed or overstimulated until after surgery. To make things better, I have a depressive disorder and a complete repulsion to my medication. I've tried five or six different antidepressants and the only ones that work and actually help stabilize me emotionally I'll give me serious nausea even just thinking about taking them. I guess I'm here to see if anyone else has major addict energy and what exactly you poured yourself into post-op? I feel like my life is falling apart. I am down 75 lb since the middle of September. I feel like I look exactly the same. I'm so overwhelmed with work just logging in makes me nauseous. And today my daughter told me she misses me being a fat mom because I had more energy and wasn't so sad. FYI, I am currently on a wait list for a psychiatrist to see if I need to get on any kind of meds aside from what I'm already on and on a wait list for a counselor, but my provider says it could be up to 3 months more before I get in to see anyone. I kind of don't know what to do and I'm tired of sleeping my life away. Help.

I would ask the surgeon, too. I had my plastic surgeries in my late 50s and early 60s so I was long past my reproductive years, but I was told not to gain more than 10-15 lbs after surgery because it could affect my results. So...I'm not sure what to tell you.

ok that makes sense! I meet with the surgeon on the 19th and I will ask these questions. I think there is a 10% weight loss. thats 28lbs for me. So that is going to take time LOL

It really depends on what your doctor says. I had my surgery on the 20th and right now I am still in the clear liquid stage (no shakes yet). I sip a drink every 10-15 minutes. However, this week, I can begin to add pudding and yogurt. Each doctor's recommendations are different as I have seen others start right way with some pureed foods.

If you lost a bunch of weight pre-surgery your loss post surgery may be slower for a little while. This is because the body has to recalibrate and reassure itself it isn't starving to death. It also has to replenish glycogen and rebalance your fluids and on and on. It's a lot of hard work for it!! And slow to one person is not slow to another person. I'm 6 weeks post op a DS and have lost 20 lbs. I did not lose much pre-op. I have been stalled for several weeks because that's the classic 3 week stall where the body does its thing to recalibrate to lose more weight. I'm not stressing about it, I just had a very major surgery! My body has been working hard! It takes time to recover. You feel like you are starving because you aren't getting your fluids in by mouth. Trust me, once you are getting all your fluids in it becomes a challenge to find times to eat and drink everything you need in a day. Getting fluids by IV will keep making the scale jump by 10 lbs because they fluid load you to last a few days. You are probably losing fat, it just isn't showing on the scales because of the IV fluids. Make sure you take measurements too, those often change when the scale doesn't. I wish you much luck in getting off the IVs!

Checking in. Just short of my 6 month mark (11/15/2023). Down 99 pounds (SOOO CLOSE) at 225. I have a stretch goal of 35 more pounds (190) which my wife hates. She is pretty happy where I am now and worries that I will look "anemic" if I lose that much more, but I was at 192 when we first met 20 years ago, so that has been my blue sky target (although I would be ecstatic with anything below 200 and happy under 210). Been working out 5-6 days a week, but my diet has been middling honestly. I have been eating too many carbs in the afternoon. I think they are better carbs than they used to be (Nut Thins mainly), but they are still far from ideal. I need to be eating more fruits and veggies for sure. I am also pretty much back to my normal alcohol consumption (which isn't much, 2-4 drinks a week, and consists mainly of red wine). Weight loss has slowed down considerably, but is still pretty consistent. Because I am a numbers nerd, I have been tracking a bunch of stuff since I started and here are my month by month losses 5/4/2023 6/1/2023 35.9 6/1/2023 7/1/2023 19.9 7/1/2023 8/1/2023 16.0 8/1/2023 9/1/2023 10.7 9/1/2023 10/1/2023 6.3 10/1/2023 11/1/2023 9.6 11/1/2023 11/6/2023 0.3 I have my 6mo follow up with the nutritionist next Wednesday where hopefully she will tell me that I am not losing too much muscle (something she cautioned me about on my 3mo visit). I'll post some before/after pictures sometime in the next week as well. And finally, welcome to the thread Meana, great results so far!

It takes a lot of calories to maintain that heavier weight & for the body to function at that weight (just moving with that weight alone requires a lot of energy) & so the calorie deficit has a greater impact. It requires your body to burn more fat to get the energy it needs to function so there is a greater weight loss. There is a percentage formula to help give you an idea of what weight loss you may expect (may not will) but I can’t recall what it is. Though I think they say you may expect to lose about 30% of your weight at three months. Say it says you’ll lose 10% of the weight you’re to lose in your first month. It you weigh 600lbs & are to lose 400lbs you might to lose 40lbs in the first month. Have a lower starting weight & are to lose 200lbs you might lose 20lbs. Well, that’s my understanding. 😁

Hi, I am nearing the 7 year anniversary of my VGS. I initially lost 102 pounds. Losing the weight was easy after surgery. A year later I started to feel too small. I needed to wrap my head around my new body. I felt that I was too small and gained 10 pounds. I was able to maintain this weight for years but then the Covid lockdown began, I ran into problems. Living alone, eating, & very little physical activity led to a 20 pound weight gain. Today I have gained 40 pounds and I am working towards losing the weight. Has anyone experienced the same? Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks all for your support, it's seems silly to write to you all as relative strangers, but apart from my partner I haven't disclosed my surgery to anyone so you folks are "my people" right now!. I'm slightly less cold this evening and had a blood test at lunch time ... (I'm not a doctor but I do work in the healthcare field and I'm actually at an EU medical conference here so got a collègue to write me a script for one). the results are through and, I am as I thought very anemic, so much so that I have an iron infusion booked for tomorrow ( Amen to the pan european health insurance system!!) . And @LisaCaryl you also hit the spot - I have low blood pressure too - but thats not that unusual for me - doctor I spoke to said I should try and rest up a bit and take things easy. (Sort of made me laugh because after full days of conf here I have zooms late evening with my US teams because of the time difference and also found out yesterday that I get back to Paris and then after one night have to go straight to the UK for a week for more meetings ... in my 3 months (90 days) since surgery I've had a total of 23 nights at home .... C'est la vie ) I have tomorrow and Friday to get through and then my partner is flying out for the weekend and we'll go to the islands where I hope I'll have more sun! I'll layer up the best I can and will deffo see if when I'm in the US I can get some more thermal wear just in case I'm still feeling chilly , @RonHall908 @Noelle74 I'm sure I'll find a Parisian way to rock a hunting style! Or I could just go for a classic Elisabeth II look The issue I have at the moment is work attire - I have to sort of dress "smart" and because I've lost weight so quickly in the last three months ( My three month "surgerversary" is tomorrow) I've gone from a european size 44 (US size 14 / UK 16 / Aus 18) to a european size 38 ( US size 8/UK 10/ Aus 12) I'm relying on wrap dresses and cardigans with tights that just aren't cutting it warmth wize. I have to upgrade my sheer tights to woollen ones and get some thermal t-shirts to wear under my dresses as per @Briss72 suggestion ( congrats at getting under 100kg @Briss72 and I'll for sure stock up on some handwarmers for my pockets). I have a free morning tomorrow after my infusion and will see what I can buy without spending too much money as I'm still loosing weight pretty in a pretty linear way and hope it will continue for another few months so don't want to spend much on temporary clothes! Here is my weight chart (in Kg) since surgery which I'm very happy with so far... and even with all the being cold and a bit miserable, I know this was the best choice for me and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat and regret not booking surgery earlier! The first drop from 95-91 was my presurgery diet and just after surgery my weight went up ... but it's being going down steady since - I'm just on the brink of having a normal BMI - green zone! Now that was a very long post! Once again, thanks for everyones support, and sorry for being a bit of a negative nancy from time to time!

I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for over a decade, along with Fibro and an autoimmune disease, so fatigue is a daily companion of mine. Pre-op I could generally pick one thing in a day and anything else was too much, not enough spoons!! Just walking from the car to the flat was exhausting. Before my fatigue was disability level and I slept on and off all day and all night. Post op at about week 3 I started feeling more energy off and on and it was so strange, I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I just noticed I wasn't falling asleep in the middle of the day anymore... Then I noticed I had enough energy to make a meal. Then several meals. Then I noticed we'd go run and errand and I could still pick something to do around the house afterwards. Walking to and from the car was easy. I've gradually started adding steps in, increasing by 500 each week. I'm at over 2,500 steps a day now (which is a bit more than a mile) and I'm not wiped out by it!! I can still go run errands or go to an appointment, and still no naps. Honestly, I haven't felt this much energy in my body in decades... I still pace myself some to respect my limits, but man, it is a miracle, I swear. I had NO idea that the surgery I had could impact my chronic fatigue. I'm incredibly grateful, it just feels unreal. I'm almost 10 weeks post op. I can't imagine what I'm going to feel like a year post op!! ETA: I do still get tired, but it is a good kind of tired from a productive day. And I sleep much better too, before sleep never did anything, now I actually feel refreshed a bit in the morning!

I’d question the fitbit too. You’d have to run for around four hours to burn 3000 calories & lift weights for about 8 hours. https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/how-to-burn-3000-calories-a-day/ Remember, exercise contributes to only about 10% of any weight you want to lose. Many benefits to exercising of course but don’t make it your focus for weight loss. I didn’t ‘exercise’ & I lost all my weight & more but that was because my body’s new set point was a weight lower than my goal. But I am an outlier & beat the average stats of losing about 65% of the weight you are to lose with a sleeve. I agree with @learn2cook’s suggestion to speak with your dietician & your surgeon may help too. All the best.

Thanks for the recommendation! I will look into that YouTube channel. Honestly, I feel like I took Wegovy before I had admitted to myself that I was ready to undergo surgery. It had always been in the back of my mind, but I never thought that it would be something I would do. It's hard to give up the lifelong hope of being able to lose weight on your own. I took a class on weight loss where we discussed energy homeostasis and the different survival mechanisms our bodies have to prevent us from starving, i.e., stop us from losing fat storage so we don't die. It was very eye-opening to the types of changes that must take place for sustainable, long-term weight loss. Bariatric surgery has a ~75% success rate compared to the ~10% success rate seen in conventional weight loss attempts, and it's BECAUSE of the physiological changes made in your body due to the anatomical change made to it during surgery. That, paired with practicing healthy behaviors for both physical and mental health, leads to more permanent weight loss. I've been able to maintain my post-Wegovy weight loss for months now, but achieving additional weight loss has just been impossible.

I just made 10 years in July. Time really flew by. I went up a little, but im back down. Almost to my goal of 100lbs (im super short). Finally decided to go ahead with plastics. Im 2mo out

Yep. I had surgery in 2018. Lost 172 pounds. March 2020 hit and I started regaining. I regained 60# of the weight I lost. I’m back on the road to fixing it now (16# lost from highest regain) I kept telling myself it’s not that bad. It’s only 10#. And it kept snowballing. Very discouraging, but it happens.

Yep. I had surgery in 2018. Lost 172 pounds. March 2020 hit and I started regaining. I regained 60# of the weight I lost. I’m back on the road to fixing it now (16# lost from highest regain) I kept telling myself it’s not that bad. It’s only 10#. And it kept snowballing. Very discouraging, but it happens.