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I was given the following reasons to refrain from alcohol: (1) empty calories (2) can contribute to worsening GERD (3) metabolization of the alcohol may have undesired effects with your new digestive system (4) risk of transfer addiction. I was not told never to have it again, but to use caution before proceeding. I rarely had alcohol during weight loss phase, I would guess probably less than 10 times the entire time, and these times wouldn't even be an entire regular "serving". It was always dry red wine or gin/vodka with soda (less calories and less carbs). I once had a couple sips of a flavoured soju like 2 months post op and ended up on the bathroom floor for over an hour. Not pretty. I can get tipsy/drunk reeeaaalllly quickly (and on much, much, much less than pre-op). But I also sober up astonishingly quickly as well. 1 drink and I'm def affected. 2 drinks and I'm drunk. But about an hour later I'm totally back to normal again. I'm almost 2 years post op now and I drink fairly regularly (particularly since COVID started!), though I still stick to red wines and spirits with no sugary mixers for the most part (with the exception of Kahlua, an important ingredient in espresso martinis) P.S. I am NOT advocating drinking to all, especially if your team advises against it. Everyone is different and should aim to know their limitations and stay within them. Some may have more trouble with this, which is probably why lots say to just stay away. It can become a slippery slope.... Edited to add: I just realized the title of this thread was for bypass. Oopsies, I'm a sleeve, and I think it may be a bit different, between the two: alcohol will bypass a portion (or all?) of the small intestine in by-passers and go directly to the the large intestine, which results in different alcohol metabolization rates...

Another T.O. resident chiming in!! ...But I'm almost 2 yrs post op (1 year, 10 months, to be exact). Congrats to you all getting through your surgeries ❤️ 🇨🇦

Totally normal. I “gained” 10 pounds post op, mostly from fluids and swelling. It was all gone within 10 days.

I'm 14 months post op. I reached my goal in March. It's been a journey of ups and downs, but not one that I regret. Well, actually, my only regret is not doing it sooner!! I have the support of my family and partner. My biggest struggle now is body image. After 47 years of being considered obese, it's not easy to think and see yourself differently. There are days that I can actually see myself as the new woman I am. Most days, I do not. When I see my reflection, I see the new me. However, as the scale shifts upward, even just a few pounds, 8 feel like I haven't lost an ounce and am the obese person I always was. I know deep down that isn't true. The funny thing about it, when I was loosing and hit that weight, I felt sexy and invigorated. Now, as I said, I feel and look fat. And I'm talking a gain of 10 lb or less. I FEEL & LOOK FAT to myself. We were on vacation last week and I needed a swimsuit. Not really living anywhere near stores to shop for a new one, I decided to get one at the beach. My fiance picked it out for me. I wanted a high waisted suit, he said if I was going to do that, I may as well get a 1 piece suit. I relented and he picked it out for me. Boy oh boy did I ever feel uncomfortable, but I wore it with all that virgin skin exposed!!! RNY 6/17/19 HW: 275 (2011 after my mom passed away) SW: 220 GW: 130 CW: 136 5'3" Sent from my LM-V600 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you everyone so, so much. You have all made me feel so much better. Honestly, your kind words brought tears to my eyes and now I'm smiling again. 😁 We only have 19 employees & that's including our finance manager and janitor. There isn't even a HR department to go too! My director is a very kind soul but she hates confrontation. I'd have to go to our library board & that would cause a HUGE stink so I'm just going to power through the next 2 1/2 weeks and enjoy the month I don't have to see their faces! They will certainly see a different co-worker when I return. I will do as y'all suggested & not let their attitudes effect me in the slightest. Thank you for the heads up about relationships changing too. I have read about that & I've talked that over with my husband. We are going to do our best to recognize issues before they turn in to full-fledged problems. Knowing y'all are here to support me means more than I can say.

I think dating looks alot different nowadays *wow I sound old... reminds me of my parents telling me how theh walked 10 miles to school in blizzard,up hills both ways when 5 cent candies were only a penny..... But really.... covid has thrown a wrench jn the whole "get out there and meet people" process. On top of that,I think wls throws in another wrench not many people will get what the process is like, or the lifestyle changes that go with it. ... i should add a meme to bring me back down to the proper age range. . Sent from my SM-G970W using BariatricPal mobile app

Lord have mercy.... ever since my surgery my new name is skinny BITSHHHH at work.... at time it was funny...now im starting to feel uncomfortable these same coworkers we have been working together for 19 ...20yrs ...and when i buy cute dresses and show them my pic the respond i get bak is so BLAH.... im thankful for this journey and the big change i have made physically and mentally but jeeeshhh the hate is very awkward at time cuz i am still the same person only thing i look way different....... all my so called friends or people i just talk to are soooo different now i see it but pay no mind ... [emoji2358] In need of new friends I could text away This is my Before and After [emoji3059][emoji173][emoji119] bless be our lord almighty to see this change [emoji173][emoji173][emoji173][emoji173] Sent from my SM-N970U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi 10 days post op and they do give you pain medicine at the hospital I was at but in between getting the pain meds I would get super nauseous too especially since you don’t eat anything . The incision pain made it hard to walk as well. I think everyone is different but my first week was brutal. The pain meds I got sent home with upset my stomach so bad I was up all night with stomach pains. I hope it’s way easier for you , some go through it all just great and hardly pain.

I was never sipping every 5 minutes like that, and I had no problem getting my water in. (I'm a naturally thirsty person, so I've never had trouble with drinking enough water.) For about two months after surgery, I definitely had to take much smaller swallows than normal. But I could still down a cup of water in 5-10 minutes pretty soon after surgery. I think at two weeks out, you'll be just fine with water breaks every hour or two.

So I’m scheduled to have my VSG on 8/27. Because I have a fatty liver, I started my pre-op liquid diet on 8/10. For the most part I have followed the diet pretty strict (mine is the true liquid diet) except I substitute an Oikos triple zero for a shake but am still getting 80 grams of protein and staying between 60-85 grams of protein a day and 650-800 calories. When I first looked into bariatric surgery back in January of 2020, my weight was 252 and I’m 5’ 8 1/2. Prior to the diet my weight was 236 (my insurance requires 6 months of nutritional visits and I did lose some weight). Now I’ve dieted off an on for over 15 years and can usually lose 20-30 lbs but it has never stayed off and I revert back to the 250 range which puts me at a BMI above 37. I have fatty liver & sleep apnea and when I made the decision to pursue bariatric surgery it was for my health. Here is my conundrum, in 11 days I have lost 10 pounds which to me is amazing so I’m now at 226lbs and a BMI around 34. Why am I now second guessing having surgery??? I know deep down the reason why I’m doing so well and sticking to the diet is because I’m terrified of having a fatty liver during surgery because of the complications (soft livers tear easily). Have any of you experienced this?

I love reading these threads so thanks to all of you for sharing. I go for my first consult next week. I’ve been sitting at goal for months now even though I am only 10 months post op. I suspect this is my happy weight even though I wanted to stretch it to 5 lbs less. My limbs are very slim and butt, etc. just have this belly situation. I think a tummy tuck will do the trick. I’m 56 so I’m not trying for a bikini body. I just want to tuck a shirt in again before I die. Lol I also don’t want to get too thin because tbh, wrinkles really POP when one loses weight after a certain age. Have you ever noticed how much better elderly people look when they are chubby versus skinny? I always say that chubby is good at only two points in your life... as a baby and as an old person.

Wings (Honey Hot/BBQ) @Cheeseburgh I remember a couple of months ago you mentioned that you only eat a few at a time and I forgot to reply I also only eat between 2-5 wings at a time (depending on how hungry I am). I noticed if I have an order of 10 wings it's usually 2-3 meals worth. I get extremely bored eating them by wing 3 😅

Hi all! First post here – I'm just about a month out from my VSG (July 22), and things have been going pretty well. I had surgery on a Wednesday, was itching to leave first thing Thursday, worked a mostly-full day (desk job) on Friday, and haven't taken any pain meds since that Saturday. The last of my lingering incision pain has faded this week, though it can still be mildly uncomfortable when sleeping on my side or stretching. I've been getting a two-mile walk in first thing each morning, and I probably get a couple more miles in on weekend days, but pandemic life pretty much has me limited to that during the week. I'm thinking about getting an under-desk treadmill to keep things going, but there seems to be a toilet-paper-in-March-style shortage of them right now. Food has been going reasonably well. I'm on soft foods, though I pretty much stick to protein shakes during the day so I can basically just hole myself in our attic for the work day. Dinners have been good – we were a Blue Apron family before the surgery, and now I can start to have small portions of my wife's BA meal for dinner. I definitely feel it when I exceed my portion size, and avoid sitting when that happens (I kinda just pace around for 5-10 minutes before it subsides), but I'm getting better at judging those things. Like seemingly everyone else, I'm having a bit of a weight loss stall – I was pretty quick to drop 20, and now have been meandering very slowly, but still approximately downward. My normal clothes are now all very clearly too big (even on zoom), so I'm digging back through the old wardrobe, which is nice. I'm down to the last hole on my belt (has six holes, usually wear it at the second hole), so that'll be my first real wardrobe crisis. Long way to go, and I'm glad I did it during this crazy time. I'm a private person, so I'm glad there are few people who would notice and ask about it, so by the time everything gets back to normal (months and months from now), I'll be at a point where I'll know how to eat and drink and socialize normally – or, at least, I hope so!

I've always wanted to take a surfing lesson in Hawaii. I've now been twice, 10 years ago when I was 6 months pregnant (and too fat anyway), and in 2018 at my high weight at 393. I plan to go again someday and I WILL take my surfing lesson. I'll most likely fail miserably at it, but it's still something I want to try! Sent from my moto g(6) using BariatricPal mobile app

I had surgery in May of 2017. My highest weight was 327lbs I made it down to 211 and then was pregnant with my first 10 months post op. I'm around 230 but I'm also pregnant again. I'm hoping to really kick it in gear after this baby

We are similar. I had surgery 7-18-20. Weight 264, 2 days later released from hospital and weighed 275. It’s been a month and I’ve only lost 10 lbs from surgery weight. No cheAting very strict but not too much exercise due to rough surgery . I’m older at 55 so perhaps that’s reason.

I hour away from going to the hospital. Nervous, feel like I need to use the bathroom but nothing comes out. Wish I could leave now and get it over.

once you get close to a normal BMI (which you are), it's really hard to lose weight. It could be your body is happy where it is, so it's going to be a fight to get more off. Not that it can't be done, but... And getting down to a 27 BMI is pretty amazing. The average loss for bariatric patients is about 70% of excess weight, and only 10-15% make it down to a normal BMI. So your accomplishment at this point is actually pretty amazing... also, I should add that at 20 months out, most of us have stopped losing. That's not to say it's impossible to lose more, but 18-ish months out is kind of where most of us naturally stop. My weight loss stopped at 20 months out, too.

Hi Everyone It has been 3 years since I last posted. During that time I had 3 more Plastic Surgeries despite the fact that I never got to my goal weight. The Dr felt that with all the excess skin from having lost 280 pounds it was best to get it off and see if maybe I would be able to walk again. So in May of 2018, I had an extended Brachioplasty. Within 1 hour of waking up, I was sent home and within less than an hour of being home, I was rushed back to the hospital as I had blood pouring out of my left upper arm. The Surgeon's assistant was called when I got to the hospital at about 9 pm. He came right away and said I had a baseball size hematoma and c would have to go back into surgery. No room was available until 4 a.m. so I remained in the ER until an Operating Room was available. I remained in the hospital for 3 days and almost have to have a blood transfusion. I was released but was told I immediately had to go to the PS office. As I was being loaded into the van my arm started bleeding again. The Dr greeting me at the door and I was immediately taken into a room. I remember him saying I looked like death warmed over. He called insurance and they approved for a nurse to come every other day to clean and rewrap my left arm. It took me 10 weeks to recover from that surgery. I must say I am glad I had the surgery but even though he took off 7 inches of skin from each arm he could have taken off more. I have Micheline Tire Baby Syndrome and the excess skin removal did not take all the rings away. I still have one roll on each arm and some excess skin as my arms are 14 inches instead of 21. To this day I still cannot wear sleeveless shirts and added sleeves to my bathing suits. Insurance will probably never approve another surgery on my arms. After this surgery and complications, I had two more. In early Dec of 2018, I had my panniculectomy and a second hernia was repaired. I had no complications with this surgery and was thrilled to get 10 pounds of skin off my tummy and not have the huge overhang any more. Wearing the binder was not fun as it kept riding either up or down my butt. By the end of January, I was able to buy my first compression garment and was back to work 2 weeks later. Despite the 10 pounds being gone I still was not able to walk without a cane or a walker. All this excess skin being removed is not helping my 6 herniated discs, yet there is one more surgery and this I am told this one may be the one that allows me to walk. In late May of 2019, I had a belt lipectomy. The first week was very painful but by week 3 I was doing great. Two days I had terrible pain on the V spot on my back all the way around to my left groin incision. I was in terrible pain, my skin was hot and I had become so swollen I could not sleep on my left side and I had developed a blister. The Dr had been called the weekend I had terrible pain and felt so sick but I was not able to see him until Wednesday. He Popped the blister and over 5 Emesis Basin of fluid came out. He sent it for testing and 2 days later I was told I had to go to an Infectious Disease Doctor. The Doctor had no appointments on Friday and by Sunday 2 more blisters developed and I was so scared I went to the ER. It was determined I had MRSA and was in the hospital in an isolated room for 5 days. I had to have a MIdline put in as my veins were collapsing. OMGod that procedure hurt like you cannot believe, I was told I had rolling veins and it took them over 40 minutes to get that midline in. To make matters worse I still had a lot of excess skin in the area they wanted to put the midline. I could not move my arm for at least 2 hours after that procedure. For the next 8 weeks, I had 2 hours of IV Vancomycin 2 times a day. Finally Mid August I was well enough to return to work. This surgery did not help my ability to walk any better. I started going to a pain management clinic and he tried all kinds of procedures I can not even remember what they all were. By January 2020 the pain management Doctor thought that radiofrequency ablation might work. So in late February, he stuck me 4 times on each side of my back with the heat probe that cuts the nerve. I knew within weeks I had not worked and then Covid19 hit us all and I was in South East Florida a very bad hot spot. Even today as I wrote this we are still under phrase one. With my body the way it is I am afraid to go anywhere. My last day of work in the office was March 12th. I have been out of the house 3 times since that day. Thank God I can do remote Zoom lessons with my blind clients otherwise I would be homeless. So where do I go from here? I do not think the pain management Doctor who I went to for over 6 months is someone I would want to return to. In Jan I will be 65 years old and even though I have been on a Medicare advantage plan since 2008 I could change insurance companies and get all new Doctors. The only problem is I have no idea what kind of a Doctor to go to or whether or not these Florida Doctors would do anything for me. I am still obese despite having lost 250 pounds and have another 80 pounds to lose. I am over 4 years post-op for my sleeve surgery and barely manage to lose 5 to 8 pounds a month if I am 100% on plan. I was hoping to be walking by my 65th birthday but it does not look like it will happen. I wish I could say losing all this weight was the cure to my being able to walk but it was not. I am so totally disappointed that it did not happen. But I suppose when you have 6 herniated discs losing weight is not going to help them. Yes, I am thinner but am still in a great deal of pain and cannot do anything without a walker or a scooter. Some Golden Years I will be having. Am so tired of being like this. Jan 2021 will be 27 years since I was so badly injured at the Quiet Waters Park Kiss Country Chili and Band Competition. I wish I had never gone it was the ruination of my life.

That’s no lie lol I’m the same way, I have a scale in the kitchen and in the bathroom! I’m on the scale 10 times a day lol I’m 5 weeks post op I’m losing so slow ugh

Ok so my surgery is sched for Sept 4th, and I just found out No one is allowed to come with me because of the new covid-19 restrictions, that makes me kinda sad had anyone eles had surgery yet, and had to go in alone ?

Really complicated answer but in short, it depends. I used to keep a digital folder of scholarly journals on this but lost them Here's a few, dive in! https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/90/1/106/4596769 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/3/322/htm

Well I am at 7 months out from my surgery now. I think I am on track as I just passed 80 pounds lost mark. Hair is starting to thin 🥺 so guess I am going to be one of the stats of people who lost hair. I was hoping it wasn't going to be me, but what else can I do. My birthday is coming up and I am excited but also it's weird 2020 so not having a big party like normal. All partying will be virtual via zoom. One thing that has also happened is the shorts I bought 2 months ago at beginning of June are very baggy now and can almost just fall down by themselves- so I've had a super productive summer. Dang that's just crazy. Thrift stores around here aren't open and I wish they were so I could just shop for some properly fitting clothes in the interim sizes. I've been doing Yoga for the past 13 days every day, it's a 10 minute morning yoga challenge I found on Youtube and I really feel like I'm getting stronger by adding it to my workout routine. I feel like I am also stretching and becoming way more limber than before. What's new with everyone? How are things going in your journey? Got any new exercise routines you're doing, any new activities?

I had the gastric sleeve July 15 2019. I only lost 52 lbs and have gain 20lbs back. I had IBS real bad. After the surgery that issue is gone.The sleeve surgery did not work for me. My appetite has increased. Question wonder if I need a revision for bypass. Just wanting your thoughts.

Modified sugar free crust less fiber infused cheesecake Rookie mistake thinking I could hand wisk this to a smooth texture...WRONG, taste delicious but not pretty garnished with sugar free whip cream & macerated strawberries nightmare world ahead: Does everyone know about the larvae in strawberries and the proper way to prep them? I just did it and it's true 😟 https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/strawberries-bugs-salt-water#:~:text=Soaking berries for 10 minutes,in these creepy-crawly videos.&text=Admittedly%2C finding tiny worms in,if the bugs are harmless.