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Happy 2020!🍾 I'm five years post op. Starting weight was 254 Lowest 125. I maintained pretty easy in my first two years. My honeymoon ended when I had a regain in my third year. It was an emotional freak out moment. I came back to this site for support and worked the weight off. I maintain in the 130's. I give myself a ten pound bounce range to work up and down the scale. So far so good. We will see how I do in the years to come. I identify as a weight loss patient but, life is normal and mundane this far out. People no longer comment about weight loss. Most have no Idea that I was obese. I am vigilant about my weight. I indulge and take diet/exercise breaks. When the scale moves up, I go back to bariatric weight loss diet. I looked into plastics my first and fifth year out. I backed out both times. I'm done with people judging my body at any size. I'm comfortable in my loose skin *wink* I will never be a bikini model with the damage I did being obese. *I was not a bikini model before surgery.* Before and after.

Watch some motivational YouTubes, read a new book on weight loss (Bariatric Mindset Success by Kristin Lloyd is a good place to start for making changes in the mental department, and for finding motivation). Get moving! Set some small exercise goals for just this week and get going. Make out a menu for the week, buy the food, and prep it.

I had my surgery at 57, also post menopausal, and I just take the supplements recommended by my bariatric team. Nothing extra needed because we're post menopausal. I take Bariatric Advantage multi twice a day, 500 mg calcium with D twice a day, and extra beta carotene because I'm deficient in Vitamin A. There is iron in my multi. I also take 1000 micrograms B12 every other day. Most folks take B12 daily, but my levels are high. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello everyone!!! I'm pleasantly surprised at all the love you all have shown me. I decided to give an update since im still receiving massive love. Turns out I not only received a below standards of care surgery, I had an underlying issue that I wouldn't have known about without the weight loss. It would have eventually killed me had I not been having such pain. No, not appendicitis. I had to have dilatations 4x by a wonderful dr that I have since fallen head over heels for!!! He single handedly guided me in the right direction while my mother nursed me back to life. I was in icu completely grey,devoid of color. I actually had an mri/ ultra sound done with and without contrast that revealed the main culprit of my pain. I had a 6hr major surgery on Nov8 and I return to work this Thursday, needless to say, I feel fantastic aside the long flabby breasts, i'm not doing anymore surgeries im done. I can eat everything forbidden period, my current bariatric dr is #1 in this area and has erased all of what the previous dr whom performed the surgery on me has said about what to eat and not to eat. Now it's not "you can't eat it", but more of what "you should and shouldn't eat". Im constantly hungry which i'm ok with because i'm eating super fancy healthy foods that i'm preparing from a cook book my mother bought me. Since I cook for us both she's lost 24lbs in a month and a half. Im down from 475lbs to holding at 171lbs,2wks prior i climbed up to 179, but back at 171lbs. I'm doing extremely well now. I thank all of you for your well wishes and positive light!!❤❤❤

You will love the bypass! With me, when I got full with my band the feeling as 'Yuck! I'm gonna hurl!" And half the time I did slime up some food consistently. Now that my band is out and I have a bypass (I was lucky and was able to get it done in one surgery) the feeling of fullness is the comfortable one I am used to prior to getting my band. I am also Medicare and I'm a bit nervous. The first bariatric office tried to tell me if you have had one weight loss surgery Medicare wouldn't pay for a second, even if they didn't pay for the first one! So I suffered with my band 6 months longer than I had to, and when I went to a different surgeon the new office said "That's crazy" and guaranteed Medicare would pay for the revision as long as you meet their criteria. I got the surgery 5 weeks ago, and I haven't called the hospital to see if Medicare picked up the tab yet...we'll see...

I did, in the beginning. I didn't tell my husband that I went to see a bariatric surgeon, until I needed help with scheduling procedures while I was going to be out of the country. I did not tell my daughter until just a few days before surgery (she lives with me). I told both of my sons a month after surgery.... when one was about to come home for a visit. I have not and will not tell extended family. At work, I had one friend who did surgery before me, so we talked a lot before surgery. I had 2 other friends I mentioned it to. My bosses were originally only told I needed surgery and that is it. I have since told the folks who work in my building and a few others I have worked with for a long time. I am glad I did. Most are very supportive. But I still will not tell my family (parents/siblings etc). They dont need to know and I dont need the judgement or them telling other extended family. Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you for the information as well, very appreciated for the protein information. I have plenty of bariatric vitamins, I went to a Obesity conference and was given so many freebies. I also had purchased a two month supply to get started.

Check out Amazon or Bariatric Pal.com for vitamins, shakes, protein powders etc. I am 1 wk out from my sleeve surgery and my program said I needed the following. In either the Bariatric advantage or Celebrate brand. I found bariatric pal.com to be cheaper due to promo codes or reoccurring ordering discounts. I also take D3 2000iu, 2xday, B12 vit orally and Biotin daily. Good luck

This is my first post! Hope it's okay. Today I talked to the dietitian. I'm not stalled out but I wanted to make sure I was correctly on track. She recommended 500 cals/day. I'm 6 months out and I've lost 99 pounds after RNY. Here's the kicker! The last three times I've seen the nurse practitioner, she's recommended I eat "more" calories, because my activity level is too high for this amount of calories. Also, the last time I went, she told me I hadn't lost enough weight. So I've seen the nurse practitioner three times. The first time, I was eating 500 cals/day, and complaining of exhaustion and dizziness. She gives me the ok to up to 600 cals. The second time, I was eating 600. She didn't say anything about my rate of weight loss, but again recommended adding more. She did not mention a specific number. Third time, I'm eating probably 700, she tells me I haven't lost enough and that again, I need to up more. I ask for a specific recommendation and she says that I need to let my morning weight determine my eating plan. I stopped exercising after this visit since my activity level is clearly "too high." It's been maybe 6 weeks since I saw the NP, so in an effort to get back on track after Christmas, I called today and asked for a recommended amount of calories. There's a long distance bike ride in my hometown in April that I'd like to train for. After all, part of the reason I had this surgery was to be able to do more things. The dietitian says to stay on 500 cals until I lose 75% of my excess body weight, and then I can up it to 600 MAX. What?????????????????????????????? In her defense, I didn't mention the long distance cycling or anything but I did mention I was going to the gym 3-4 times a week and riding the bike for 45 minutes. I guess maybe I didn't tell her explicitly enough that I'm actually exercising and not just slowly riding the bike? I don't know. My husband checked the bariatric road map they gave us when the program first started and apparently at six months you're supposed to just be "walking" and not really getting your heart rate up. I know bariatric recommendations are like the wild west out here and no two programs are the same. I know that I should be listening to my dietitian. But how is it possible that these two people are so far off? I was eating 800-1000 calories because I calculated my total daily energy expenditure, and 1000 should have me losing 2 pounds/week. Why aren't they on the same page??? SW: 316 CW: 217 75% excess body weight: 186 GW: ????

I think you are right. When the little one was nursing more for nutrition I had to up my carbs to keep my milk supply. But obviously that shouldn't be an excuse anymore...she gets comfort and immunity protection from it but eats regular food for her nutrition. I hadn't even thought about that - after she was born I got used to eating carbs due to the milk supply thing (whenever I'd cut them I'd dry up) and hadn't actually stopped to think that I don't need to do that anymore! Seriously, it's like I've forgotten how to be a bariatric patient! I literally had to go back and look at old blog posts to get some menu ideas, before finding myself back here. Doesn't help that one of the bariatric podcasts I found when trying to get back on the wagon had a nutritionist that pushed carbs saying that if you don't eat some you will crave them. Now, obviously, that woman hasn't had an eating problem, because my own experience says that isn't true. But hey, she told me to eat carbs, so I listened to what I wanted to hear instead of what I know has worked. So thank you for the tough love! No carby stuff so far today!

Yeah, I agree. MFP is crazy, I need to go back in and fix it. The 1822 was with it adding in exercise calories. Oh, and I'm still nursing the 2 yr old, which maybe gets me a few extra calories burned, but 1400 is too many. But, I was feeling pretty pleased as it was at least fairly healthy compared to the peppermint bark and gluten free cookies and mac and cheese I'd been eating recently, lol. Sort of baby stepping back down. I lose fairly well on 1300 if I'm exercising and nursing, I think..I probably need to go back and check. This was the automatic calorie set from MPF, but as a bariatric patient I need to reset it. I'm also looking and I got too many carbs, which maybe is what is setting me up for those cravings at night?

I did "food funerals." I had the foods once more before my surgery and it was able to make it easier for me to transition. I've also been on the search for bariatric friendly recipes so that way, post op, I might be able to have a healthier version of said delicious food, but in a healthy, not gonna make me extra sick way, hopefully. *fingers crossed*

I assume so. The bariatric office said it just happens to some bariatric patients. The surgery messes with your autonomic nervous system and your body just forgets how to properly regulate blood pressure. I developed it 4 months post-op. They don't know if it will ever resolve itself or not.

My Bariatric team recommended Miramax for regularity both prior and folliwing surgery. It's not a fast solution, but it does work very well. I still rely on it 17 months after surgery when I encounter constipation.

I have an ESG (not as a revision) and am very happy with the result. This is a copy and paste from my doctor's ESG FAQ https://bmiclinic.com.au/endoscopic-sleeve-gastroplasty-faq/ Can I have an ESG following a gastric balloon, gastric sleeve or gastric bypass? ESG following gastric balloon: Recent research has revealed that people who’ve had a gastric balloon do less well following ESG in terms of weight loss. For this reason, we do not recommend ESG to anyone who’s has previously had a gastric balloon. ESG following gastric sleeve: Endoscopic revision of a gastric sleeve is possible, however the weight loss that results is only approximately 10% of the baseline weight. There are likely more effective options which you can talk through with your Bariatric Specialist. ESG following gastric bypass: Endoscopic suturing is possible via a procedure called TORe, Transoral Outlet Revision.

I've taken a Christmas break from logging. Been doing it on and off, but applying the same rules to my M-F and eating basically the same stuff this week. But having bigger weekend blowouts with food and some alcohol. Those shenanigans will get shut down as of January 2. Last celebration is January 1. And that's when we will also launch Bariatric Accountability Club online in Facebook and our small developing website. So Jan. 2 will be down to basics of the Forever Diet! I'm happy to say that I'm still sitting at 129.4-129.8 as of Sunday! Hope I will stick the landing on Monday cuz I will have to make it official on the ticker. Here's yesterdays food but no daily totals: B1: Protein Latte x 3 (3oz PP) B2: none L: blackened turkey wedge salad with avocado (ate 1/2 of salad and 1/4 of the turkey) + approx 1/4oz brisket + 1/2oz smoked sausage + 2tbsp Better Way Jalapeno Cilantro Ranch Dressing AS: 2 glasses cabernet + 1oz pork skins + 1/2 oz aged gouda + 1/2 oz aged cheddar + 2oz baked brie + 1oz GS apple + 1/2 oz rosemary pecans Din: blackened turkey wedge salad with avocado (ate 1/2 of salad and 1/4 of the turkey) + 1/2 oz prime rib, lean only + 1/2 oz blackened mustard crusted atlantic salmon

That might be true of people on "My 600 lb Life", but for us more "normal" bariatric patients, no way.

Some pain med - I requested Tramadol over Percocet. Only needed it a couple of days and then used liquid tylenol. Some Zofran for nausea - never needed it. Omeprazole. Then of course you need your bariatric multi vitamins with iron. Also calcium citrate, vitamin D, vitamin B-12. All the vitamins are OTC - the best deal you can find for multivits is here on the BariatricPal site.

I've looked at the reviews for a lot of the popular Whole Food Plant Based books, and many of them fall short in different ways. However..... I am absolutely in LOVE with a magazine I just bought: "Forks over Knives" "63 tasty, healthy recipes." It says that it is on display until 3/6/2020. I think I bought it in a grocery store or maybe even WalMart. The color photos are great, the recipes are really good, the ingredients are not too exotic, and it has a great variety. I am making a new dish every day from this magazine. (The actual Forks over Knives Cookbook you can buy on Amazon had some negative reviews that seemed pretty valid.) But this magazine is great. I will definitely buy the next issue as well. I am gluten free and dairy free, as well, and I find that a lot of vegetarian cookbooks/recipes just don't work for me. Plus, there is the bariatric angle. This magazine is chock full of very adaptable recipes. I can substitute GF ingredients quite easily, and for low carb, you just need to avoid the pasta recipes. (I don't worry about the pasta or grains anymore, as I am in maintenance and have a hard enough time keeping my weight on right now. )There are no macros listed, as WFPB relies on the overall, healthy nutritional value of the food, rather than calculating macros. I do, however, calculate the calories and protein in each recipe I make, just to give me the confidence that I am on track bari wise. Anyway, pick up an issue. Price was $9.99 and worth every penny. You could probably also get it online. The sub title is "Winter's Best Soups" and has a picture of a bowl of soup on the cover.

Anyone have recommendations for vegetarian Bariatric cookbooks? Thanks in advance!

Thank you! First, I saw my surgeon, had my labs checked, saw a bariatric CBT psychologist and made a nutritionist appointment for Jan 7th. I’m reestablishing a support team and then going to see what changes I should make. I know my first two important steps will be logging my food and adding in regular exercise.

I am just starting this journey and am really nervous about how to find a great surgery center and surgeon. I recently went to Monmouth Medical Center Bariatric centers seminar and you had to sign up for it and there was only 2 of us that signed up and only I showed up and the nurse and a few other staff where there and they said that the doctors where still in surgery and mind you it was 7pm and there was at least 4 surgeons. My thing is I had a feeling that since there was only two people I felt like the surgeons couldn’t be bothered to come for so few people. I believe this is true because I worked for a surgeon and he thought that way. Just walking into the hospital and going to this thing took everything I had in me and then it really wasn’t even worth it. So anyway I really was looking to see if anyone out there has had surgery at MMC or where they think the best drs are in NJ. PLEASE very nervous and don’t want to die on the table because I picked a bad surgeon. Need help please! Thank you in advance!

Thanks, all! I'm pleased that I can tell psych I'm not underweight, yes, she really thinks so! And pleased that 130 isn't outrageous to the bariatric team. Just taking it slow and steady now, and following the plan. Appreciate all the feedback! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

@KennyM 17 years out. You have done fantastic. Yes, vegan can be done. Link to the vegetarian/vegan bariatric thread on this site below. It may help to read the past posts. They can answer questions from experience. Vegetarian/vegan 101: https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1101-vegetarian-or-vegan-eating/

Beans are a big part of a whole food styled vegan diet, you may also want to reach out to a bariatric nutritionist ito see what advice they can offer