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Well that one meal was nothing. You don’t have to wait untill Thursday to get reassurance on that one. Remember, I have done this and failed and I promise you it took ALOT more poor choices to gain it back. A big part of my issue was mental though. I believe I mentioned that before. Have you been able to find someone to talk to that can just be a sounding board through all of this. It may help.

There was this older lady in my craft group, and I told them that I had surgery because I figured it was more people to make me feel accountable. This is a revision surgery for me and the last time I didn’t tell people like that and it didn’t work out so well so I’m trying a different approach. Anyways, she is about 80 years old and she said to me she just wanted to tell me how happy she is for me because since my surgery, I have really blossomed. She said that I i have a healthy glow about me and I’ve really come out of my shell in terms of confidence and it shows. I think that was probably the nicest compliment I’ve ever had in terms of my weight loss. I just appreciated that it wasn’t about superficial things. Maybe there’s hope for all these superficial people that when they get a little older, they will view things in terms of stuff that actually matters.

It's been years but I just usually say thank you if it's positive. At times, I get negative comments like I look like a cancer patient so I better gain weight or I should gain a little weight because "you look older". The latter are always from family. My reply to the latter is "I'd really be healthy than have high blood pressure..." Like others, I don't give too much information if asked how I lost the weight, unless they can benefit from it.

Hi guys, my name is Anna and I'm really glad I found this site. I received approval from my insurance earlier this week, there's just one x-ray needed and then I will be scheduled. My mom had the same procedure over 2 years ago, but she's more of a cautionary tale of what not to do. I have friends who have had it done as well. The hardest part of this process for me has been giving up cigarettes, and trying to lose weight on my own. I started my umpteenth weight loss journey November of 2022, and finally went back to see my moms doctor in January of this year, after chickening out a couple times before. No matter what I've done I have no been able to get below 300 since 2016. My highest weight was 374. The smallest I've been is 230 in my 20s after losing 70 lbs and keeping it off 2 years. Right now I'm chilling at around 340, have been for almost 2 years. I love the gym, I love swimming, I love being active. But I have a lot of chronic pain from back and neck issues, as well as arthritis and between that and depression, it can be hard to get out of bed some days. Last time this year I had just finished a 16 week fitness challenge at a local CrossFit center, where I learned to do a real push up, deadlifts and other strength and endurance building exercises. It was great, and I got down to 315. Then the program ended and about 25 lbs reappeared out of thin air (psych, I know lol). I am hoping that this tool is the missing puzzle piece I've needed. I know how to track, how to measure, how to diet basically. And I know how to exercise. What I've struggled with more than anything is portion and hunger. It's hard to stay in a deficit when your stomach feels like it's gonna eat itself if you don't put enough food in it- That being said I do know I want to focus on protein and fiber for fullness, and I'm working on eating smaller and more frequent throughout the day which is helping some. I guess I'm as ready as I will ever be. Am I the only one who has struggled with being a bit depressed about it all? Like I am mourning the loss of so much, including my stomach and the ability to indulge in a meal. I understand I still can, but it's not gonna be the same having a jr popcorn at the movies, when i had a good portion of a large gone before credits were over- ya know? Like people who don't struggle with their weight take a lot for granted. My whole life I've been big, and it has always felt like a punishment I didn't do anything to bring about. And society punishes you for being overweight/obese/plus size. Part of me feels like cutting out a part of my organs is another punishment I must endure because I am fat. I hope this makes sense, and these are just fleeting thoughts and feelings, mind you. I have a wonderful counselor I see weekly, and we have talked about this, among other things. But I wanted to bring it up here because I am wondering if anyone has struggled with this line of thinking? And if so what are some good things about the process to focus on? I know the outcome of the weight being gone and my appetite under control, and I want those things very much. But it's the actual surgery and the discomfort I know is coming after that trips me up. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and I wish you all well ❤️

I'm actually technically able to get plastics right now if I want them, and BELIEVE ME I do, but I only just got my weight stable and not going down down down, so I want to give it a few months and see how it goes through the winter months and then revisit around March or April. I'd love to at least have my boobs, neck, arms, and tummy done by my birthday next year. That's really what I'm the most self conscious about. I'll eventually get the rest done, but spanx pretty much takes care of any loose and wobbly skin on my butt and thighs. I don't do dresses or shorts, I wear capris or pants/jeans, so that's perfectly fine. But it's better to let your weight be stable for a while before you go have surgery. Too much fluctuation one way or the other could mess up what the surgery does and then you'll have wasted the money, time off work, and healing effort and time.

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!

Is there any stick with the carrot? As in - if you regain weight whilst waiting for the surgery is there any chance they'll say - well, you couldn't stick the the diet pre-op so you mightn't post op? Not that I think they would, there just seem to be so many ridiculous hurdles to jump though beforehand sometimes. I wouldn't like you to get caught by any of them!

I don't care about being the fattest person in the room I've been over 200 pounds since I was a teenager I'm used to it. What bothers me is I need a cane everywhere I go and I can't do literally anything anymore. I can't walk in a store I have to stay in the car, I have to have help with bathing, I can't take showers I have to take baths because I'm too fat even for a shower chair. It's just getting out of hand. I'll be glad when I instantly lose like 10% of my body weight. Can't wait for October 30th so they can set a date already and tell me how the psych eval went in detail. Just saying "I have nothing to worry about" isn't enough for me lol.

Same, I tried every diet going over the years and they worked for a while but then I would just slowly, without realising, gain it all back again plus usually a little more. That is why I knew the surgery was the correct tool for me as no matter how much I tried I couldn't do it on my own - and I wasn't on my own even as such as my family and friends supported me so much over the years. My target at the start of this sleeve journey was not a figure on the scale but to get down to a clothes size (UK 10), to have more energy to then get fitter and to not feel ashamed and like the fattest person in the room all the time. Anything more than that has been a bonus, which I will not take for granted.

Many years ago (after a Jenny Craig diet) I had a few things taken in but they never fit right after. If you’re dropping down anything more than a bare single size, they really need to take the whole item apart and recut everything which is not always easy or inexpensive to do. Unless it’s something with just straight side seams, a simple waist band & is sleeveless, it’s not an easy fix. PS. I should have saved my money back then because of course I regained the weight I’d lost then & had to buy new clothes again. So glad to be off that rollercoaster now.

Yea. I wish I could’ve dropped 50 on my own. I tried many times. Well, I did lose it many times. I just always gained it back 😢 The higher the BMI the faster you usually lose in the beginning after surgery, though. Everyone slows down eventually (the closer you get to a “normal” BMI). But 50 pounds was almost 20% of my body weight so that was quite a bit of difference off of my knees. Made a pretty big difference in what I am able to do physically. I hope you will see that you are able to do a little more quite quickly after you are recovered. From there you just have to take advantage of it and work your way up until you can soon do all the things that you enjoy doing.

Ooh I'm so thrilled for you. The single anastomosis (one connection instead of two) also makes your surgery considerably safer since there is only one place for a leak instead of two. That is the reason the SADI is safer than the Duodenal Switch and since the weight loss is considered comparable they are doing it more often. My guess is that’s the same thing with the mini gastric bypass. Keep on doing what you’re doing. You are doing so great.

I can't afford plastic surgery so have had to make do without. My skin laxity has definitely improved in the almost 3 years since my surgery. I was also certain in the first blush of weight loss in the first year that never would I ever regain even a single ounce, but I did regain quite a lot despite my resolution not to. Haha that's all I have to say! My arms are still the most visible saggy skin I have and they look way better 3 years on. I would rather times a million have this 'problem' than my previous morbid obesity. No brainer. Stomach and bum and legs nobody gets to see and have saggy skin - but also seem better as time progresses. Breasts were the least unforgiving luckily, appearance wise. I know we're all different and we want different things as we progress. Hoping you all get to where you want to be soon. 💚

Well you started at 250 pounds and lost 50. If you started at 440 like I am I'm sure you would have weighed 300 pounds by now. I really hope within a year I could lose the weight. I don't want to be 400 pounds for forever. Honestly if I started at 250 pounds I probably could do it on my own. I lost 50 pounds when I weighed 350 before I met my wife. Wasn't super difficult for me I just stopped eating like a pig lol. I was eating a lot I actually weighed 290 when I moved out of my parents house and I gained 60 pounds in 4 months from all of the food that I was eating after I moved out so I was like "I'm going to lose weight". Now I'm 100 pounds heavier than that and I can't do virtually anything or I wouldn't get the surgery at all. But if my wife weighed 250 pounds I can see how she couldn't do anything either because she weighed 150 at her heaviest and lost 10 pounds when she got her job. Her job made her get a lot of exercise. If she weighed 100 pounds more than that she probably couldn't do much either.

Hi Karla, I'm 9 days post op. I had all the same worries. But the whole point of the pre-op diet is to lose weight quickly. As long as you stick to it, it's almost impossible that you won't lose anything. I know about cravings. Before surgery, I would have killed for a big mac. I was on a prolonged weight loss and lover shrink diet so it was 12 WEEKS (yes 12 weeks) of liquids. Once the first week passed, I got kind of used to it. Post Op, I just want anything solid becaue I'm so sick of soups. It does get better. You're on the right track and you can do this. We believe in you!

Yeah. I'm big boned anyway so I'm supposed to be a little overweight. I'd rather set a realistic goal and succeed than try to get down to the weight I'm "supposed" to be and fail and get discouraged. Besides a weight loss of nearly 150 pounds is still a pretty significant weight loss it's losing an entire person worth of body weight.

That sounds like a very good mindset to go into this with. It is about feeling better about yourself, improving your health and extending your time with loved ones. Unrealistic goals just work for a short time and then in most cases people go back to where they were before or even worse. Setting realistic goals will get you a long way, slow and steady really does win the race. I couldn't do much exercise before my op as my knees would get so sore but now they are so much better with so much of the weight off them. I walk with a spring in my step, I do pilates and I have now joined the gym - none of these things would have been possible for me in recent years. I have lost more weight than the goal my surgeon set but over the last month it seems to have steadied now to up and down the same 1kg so I think my loss is stopping and now I am trying to focus of turning fat into muscle, knowing that that will result in another kg or two on the scale but it will be a healthier body,

I am literally having a panic attack now.. I feel guilty because I was hungry and decided to eat! That's it! I had rice and a minced chicken curry. It was a good portion but I feel so so guilty because it was my 2nd dinner.. i simply cannot continue living like this.. the guilty and panic of overeating or regaining and i didn't even lose the weight to be begin with. I pass infront of the mirror and I just feel fatter!

Yeah I heard that immediately after the surgery you lose a lot of weight. I'm hoping they do a lot to help me keep that weight off. My goals are realistic and manageable so that I don't fail I could try to get to under 200 pounds and live for 10 years longer but it's like I want to set a realistic and achievable goal so 300 pounds is good. Then when I hit that and keep that off maybe I can go down to 250 and keep it there. I haven't been 250 pounds in a very, very long time. I had to have been in my late teens early 20s the last time i was 250 pounds. So either weight would be very good. My doctor said if I got down to 300 pounds a lot of my health issues should go away but I'll still need to be on anti coagulants no matter what my weight. So I can't ever stop taking those unfortunately but a lot of my other health issues should drastically improve or go away. I haven't exercised much in 20 years either. To prove myself worthy of getting the surgery I've exercised a lot more lately than I have in a long, long time but I still don't exercise a lot because it's very difficult to do so. I hope that will drastically change with my surgery.

I can bend, stoop and squat to tie my shoes while fully supporting my weight without having to bend forward (if that makes sense?). Before WLS, I suffered a very bad foot injury that caused a lot of my weight gain, one of the things I couldn't do is squat and tie my kids shoes or mine, had to either sit down and do it or bend my body forward with my backside for the whole world to see (not very demure nor mindful LOL). My Achilles can now support my weight squatting down and my knee caps don't feel like they're going to pop out of their places. I can also sit kneeling down and not feel immense pain and tightness. My knees feel much lighter and my injured foot feels much better too.

Yea. She can prep some things for you. At first you will be on all liquids and once you get to puree you will be eating tiny portions. By the time you get to regular food you will have dropped a significant amount of weight and may be surprised at how much better you feel. I have a tremendous amount of energy now. I haven’t exercised in 20 years but now I’m walking daily, doing yoga twice a week and just tried a cardio/strength class today that I think I’m going to keep doing as well. I started at a lower BMI than you so you may not be doing rigorous exercise right away but you will be able to do more than you can now for sure and each day you will be able to do a little more and more. You can always supplement with protein shakes anytime too. Sometimes if I’m on the run I will have a shake for lunch even though I’m back to regular foods and I have one mixed with coffee every morning (that’s pretty good by the way if you like iced coffee I make mine with decaf). Perhaps you and your wife can cook together once you’re physically able and while you’re learning. I did that with my husband for a while before he got too busy with work and it was actually kinda fun. Anyways, I’m really excited for you on this journey. This surgery is life changing. It takes a great deal of work and commitment but it’s well worth it.

I actually don't know how to cook my wife takes care of that to be completely honest. I told her if I ever lost sny weight that I'd be interested in learning so that I could make some things to eat while she is at work. Right now I am so heavy and out of shape that I cannot do pretty much anything by myself anymore and I need her help with everything. But if I lost 150 pounds I might give cooking a try and see what I can make. I definitely do not want instant food anymore so she is probably going to have to prepare me something to eat while she is at work for the first few months. I can make my own protein shakes but that's probably going to be it.

First time posting here! Surgery date is 10/22. I'm currently doing my 2 week liquid diet and struggling. I miss eating good tasting food. I'm not a sweets person and these sweet protein shakes are tough to drink. And I can only handle so much broth. Highest Weight: 395 Starting Weight: 261 Goal Weight: 180 I'm terrified I will be the person that doesn't lose any weight. I haven't told too many people about having surgery for this reason. I know my love for food is what got me to this point in the first place, but what I would give to have a plate of delicious nachos right now!

There is another thread about this called reactive hypoglycemia which apparently is not all that uncommon post weight loss surgery. Actually may be why my teams standard is to have us eat every three hours. I’ve never gone longer than that so I wouldn’t know if I had it. Maybe I should try it while I’m at home instead of it happening when I’m out having fun on vacation or something. Definitely try eating more often a little something. It’s also possible that it’s diabetes related so personally, I would go ahead and schedule an appointment with my family doctor and then just cancel it if eating more often helps. That’s just me because my doctor is kind of hard to get into.

Check out Dr Matthew Weiner Pound of Cure website, you tube channel & podcasts. Practical and informative advice. Five years out & I still listen to his podcasts. A recent podcast he did with his in-house nutritionalist touches on weight loss eating plans as well as maintenance. I believe you can join their nutritional workshops and clinics for a small fee if you’re interested too. I know someone on this forum has and found it helpful (can’t recall who at the moment). https://poundofcureweightloss.com/bariatric-secrets-what-really-influences-weight-loss-after-surgery/?utm_source=ZohoCampaigns&utm_campaign=What+Really+Influences+Weight+Loss+After+Surgery&utm_medium=email