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Do you track your daily steps? If not maybe you want to wear a sports watch that gives you an idea of what your daily step count is? Walking over 8000 steps a day generally results in expedited weight loss for people in a calorie deficit.

I'm 21 years post-op. A sandwich that I could easily eat pre-op is 4 meals now. The thing is, my concept of 'standard' has changed completely. For this thing to work long term it had to*. In the years pre-op I could do any crash diet that came along with 100% compliance for months. I can do anything for a short time knowing the short time would end eventually. That's not change, that's will power, which most of us have in abundance. WLS is forever*. The early "honeymoon" period shouldn't be about losing weight as fast as you can*. It should be about changing "normal" and getting weight loss as a positive reinforcement for compliance*. Compliance + positive reinforcement + time = new normal*. My plan was to eat the way I would after I lost all the weight. Basically, I started my "maintenance" plan the day after surgery. I eat now pretty much as I have since about 3 months post-op, though now I complete more meals than I did at 3 months. There is no "after." This is my normal, the way I eat without thinking. WLS is forever is my opinion. Plenty of folks have done the draconian post-op diet and lost all their weight and even maintained it for years. Many track every morsel they eat forever. For me, that's no way to live. This is not how my surgeon wanted me to live. Good luck, Tek * Personal opinion.

this is actually a good point that i want to add on to. during weight loss phase, so long as your LABS are good and you FEEL good, i have the opinion that there is really no need to force yourself to eat if you just aren't feeling it. but ONLY of your labs are good! DISCLAIMER: i am NOT a medical professional and am only expressing what worked for me. feel free to take or discard anything i say! FOR BACKGROUND PURPOSES: i lost 110 lbs in 7 months to reach goal weight. i am now 6 years post op and have maintained BELOW goal weight this entire time. AND my labs have been "satisfactory" at every check up (the last one being Oct 2023...i have one coming up in a couple weeks and im going to assume it will also be uneventful cuz i feel great)

So sorry you're going through this! This does NOT seem normal to me at all. Yes, most of us have things early on that just don't seem to sit right in our guts. For example, I could not eat eggs in any form for the longest time. I also can relate to the mental side of things. I was probably about 3 months post surgery and had a work function where they catered lunch. I knew better, but wanted to "fit in", so I decided to just eat whatever was provided. It was sandwiches so I decided to just eat the deli turkey out of the sandwich. It made me horribly nauseated to the point I had to leave work. After that, it took me almost 2 years before I tried any sort of deli meat at all. I knew it probably wouldn't actually make me sick, but the fear that it would kept me from trying it. Anyway, my point is a few changes and food aversions is quite normal. EVERYTHING making you sick is not normal. Regarding fluid intake, lots of people have a little bit of a challenge drinking at first, but it's supposed to get easier and easier as you go. That does not sound like you're experience, though? At 5 weeks in, if you're still only getting 40-48 oz that's pretty low. You mentioned that you're working with your surgeon. I'm curious what they are telling you? Have you really told them everything you explained above? I have found a lot of people (forgive me for stereotyping a bit), especially younger people are not good at advocating for themselves. Unless you really make your doctor fully understand what's going on, they may not realize just how big of an issue this is. I would also recommend talking to your dietitian and your therapist about all this if you have not already started working with those other professionals. The dietitian should have more experience dealing with these sorts of dietary issues and may be able to help you find foods that can help. I would also agree with your assessment that at least some of your issues are mental, thus talking to your therapist would be a really good idea because they may be able to teach you some ways to overcome those issues. With all that our of the way, I wanted to maybe suggest a few things for you to try to help you eat and hydrate: Your water intake seems to be on the low side as I mentioned. I would think you really should be getting closer to 64 oz a day right now. (If your program told you a different amount, go with what they told you.) Be aware that dehydration can actually cause nausea, so could be making your issues worse. IMO, you really need to double-down on drinking, even if that means you have to change your meal schedule. Also, at 5 weeks you should be able to drink several ounces at a time, thus it really should not take hours to get in another 15-20 ounces. If it does, this is yet another thing to talk to your doctor about. You could also consider adding in an electrolyte drink to help with the dehydration, but please only do that with your doctor's blessing. Consider taking a broad spectrum probiotic. I know that then becomes one more pill to take, but I do think at least some of your digestive issues are due to an out of whack gut microbiota. If you can get your gut healthy again, it should really help. You mentioned you are not exercising. At 5 weeks, you really should not be doing any strenuous exercise anyway, but you do need to be walking. I don't know your current weight or how much you're capable of doing, but if all you can do is just 5 minutes to walk to the end of the block and back, that's what you should be doing. If you can do more than 5 minutes, great, do what you can do. I would strongly encourage you to do this outside if at all possible. There are lots of benefits mentally from that exposure to nature, so please don't just walk around the house or on a treadmill. I know this feels like just one more thing to do, but how about you take some water with you and drink some while you're walking? Believe it or not, walking can reduce stress and even improve gut health. In short, don't consider this a nice to have or somehow related to weight loss. Think of it as part of your treatment plan to get past this nausea and on the path to feeling better. Food-wise, you mentioned you're okay with yogurt, but getting burned out on it. You might try flavoring it? In other words, if you're just eating plain greek yogurt to avoid the fake sugars and other ingredients, you probably can add extracts to make whatever flavor you want. I love coconut for example, but vanilla, almond, etc. would also work well. Just check the labels carefully and make sure it doesn't have weird ingredients and that it's using natural flavorings. Fairlife Milk. This is lactose free and taste just like regular milk (at least to me). It also has a lot more protein in it than regular milk, so will be a way to boost your protein intake. Best of luck. I do hope you find solutions to your issues.

Personally? Yes, I would have the surgery. Why? Because losing weight is only half the battle. Obesity is a disease. The vast majority of people will gain back all the weight they lose through diet and exercise alone within 5 years. Weight loss surgery changes your metabolism so that it works with you instead of against you. I knew from too many attempts to lose in the past that I would not be one of the lucky ones to lose and maintain on my own. Every time I lost weight, I gained it back, plus a few pounds. To address a few of your fears, I can say from my experience that my pain lasted about 5 days. I never took anything stronger than Tylenol once I was discharged from the hospital. My tastes have changed in that I now find certain foods are less pleasant to eat. More than a small piece of bread gives me an unpleasant heavy feeling in my belly. Very fatty foods will make my heart race a bit so I avoid them. Certain sweets like cake frosting and cheaper milk chocolates seem much too sweet and I don't want more than a bite or two. The adjustment period in terms of learning what you can eat lasts about 3 months, at least it did for me. Even after the first month, I was able to eat in restaurants. I just chose to split a meal with a companion and stuck with simply prepared items like a grilled chicken salad. I've gone on road trips, spent a few weeks away from home in hotels, and did just fine. I eat mostly healthy foods, I don't count calories, I get reasonable exercise but don't go out of my way for it. And at 50 years old and not quite 10 months out from surgery, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight, I am back to the size I was my first year of college and still slowly losing. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Is that restriction normal or does it depend on size of the sleeve? My doctor is going with a 40. I start my liver shrinking diet tomorrow. I loss almost 12 lbs last time.

Today's podcast episode was really good in addressing weight loss plateaus and making reasonable dietary changes:

Yes, it is okay!! It was kind of embarrassing for me to but I believe it was 26% of sleeves that need to be revised between GERD and inadequate loss or regain. We are not alone. My surgeon said that the sleeve is a really great surgery for many people but obesity is complex and some people just need a greater metabolic change that the SADI should give you. It’s a very exciting journey. I’m excited for you to get started. There is another thread titled “Sadi is so lonely” that I started when I was considering the SADI and couldn’t find many answers to my questions. You can see if you skim over it how lost I was back then but you will likely get the attention of many people who also had the SADI surgery if you post any specific questions you have on there.

the two they usually measure for are ALT and AST. But not all clinics test for those, so not everyone knows their values (actually, my bariatric clinic doesn't test for them, either - I'd gone to my primary care provider for some reason or another (it's been eight or nine years, so I don't remember why) and she did some panel that included liver values. She freaked about it, but my bariatric clinic knew what was going on - and again, they were back down to normal once I was about a year out).. They go up because rapid weight loss is really hard on the liver.

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 had sleeve revision to SADI (just the bypass portion) and I am really happy with my decision. My surgery was August 7th so I am about 2.5 months out and including my preop loss I have lost 55 pounds. I am over halfway to my goal. I have been eating 100% on plan though and exercising a pretty great amount (2.5-3 hours a day). The revision surgery gave me the metabolic Hca Hes tk actually do Al of that though. I never exercised or prepared fresh homemade food with my sleeve. Didn’t have the motivation. It made a pretty huge difference for me. Did your Dr do a endoscopy, barium swallow and gastric emptying study? Mine did those tree before deciding I was a candidate for SADI or Bypass. If the sleeve didn’t work for you long term then I would probably lean away from a ReSleeve. Just thinking why repeat history. Try something different but that’s just me. The research does say that the loss is more durable witb the SADI revision than the Bypass. Not certain about the ReSleeve but my guess is that too since the Virgin Sleeve doesn’t have the best statistics for durability. Also, resleeve is kinda risky. My Dr said he wouldn’t touch the sleeve with the SADI not because of my BMI but just because he doesn’t think it gives that much more benefit to justify the risks so that’s something to look into as well. Ooh and if you do have coverage for the GLP-1 and you can tolerate them, they do work. They don’t have to be long term for everyone either. If you take the time on then ti make real lifestyle changes you may be able to go off of them and maintain. Ibvuously If you just eat a few French fries for your meal you will lose, but will obviously eat more when you don’t have the meds but if you genuinely change your habits then people do maintain the loss. I have a friend that is almost to goal and she has been asking me for advice of what foods to choose to be sure to get her protein in. Kinda odd because she is smaller than me but I have heard a couple success stories with them. My friend has to force herself to eat. It’s a chore. If you do go that route, talk to your doctor about staying on the lowest dose that works for you. That’s the thing that many bariatric doctors usually recommend and it makes sense to try to avoid the side effects. . And some people go onto a maintenance dose after they reach their goal if they need it. Also, see about a three month supply when you do get to the dose that works because for my friend it’s cheaper that way. I strongly considered them but I didn’t have adequate coverage. I even considered postponing to see if things would change but my family Dr advised against waiting since these things can take a long time. There are pros and cons of each option but do your research. This is a good start but make anothet appointment with you surgeon if you have more questions. I did several before I decided. You probably only have this one more shot at this. Not a lot of surgeons will do a second revision ooh and that is one thing to consider if you do go with SADI, it’s newer so ask your surgeon if you had a complication god forbid what you would do. Mine actually brought it up that he would send me to another hospital to someone with more experience with the surgery. I mean obviously he would stabilize me but if I needed a revision because of malnourishment or something he would send me elsewhere. I kinda respected the fact that he would admit what his limits were and appreciated it but maybe you feel differently about that. Or maybe your surgeon is fine with revising if necessary but I would for sure ask.

Just checking you had your surgery in May so you’re 8 months out? Mmmm 800 may be a little low for you given your height and gender though that is a conversation to be had with your dietician with consideration of your needs and activity. I’m a lot shorter than you, female, likely older & wasn’t very active when losing and I was eating about 900 at 6 months and at my goal & I kept losing. Even now I maintain at my weight eating about 1600 calories. Though if you’re not hungry do you need more calories at this time?? I do disagree with your dietician saying if you increase your intake you will gain as you will continue to lose weight eating more calories if you’re still in a deficit (i.e. eating fewer calories than your body needs to function). It may slow down your rate of loss though. Yes, this time of year can be difficult with so much food and so many treats. It really does come down to making the best choices you can when you have little or no control of the food available. Consider portion size. Can you swap out anything? Try to balance your intake across all your meals during the day. Keep focus on your protein first then vegetables. Avoid carbs and limit what sweet treats you may indulge in. And if you’re not hungry you don’t have to eat because everyone else is. If you’re contributing a dish, make something you can eat without compromising your plan. Remember this is not everyday but just this time of the year so don’t beat yourself up if you do go off plan though try to get back to your regular eating style/plan as soon as possible. I’m 5.6 yrs out and I still follow these guidelines in these types of situations. After four Christmas gatherings with full on meals over a couple of days, food to prepare & leftovers to eat, I am glad to be back in my own home, with my own food choices and my own eating routines. I weighed myself this morning and I only put on 300g (0.6lb) over Christmas & being away a week so the guidelines do help to keep things under control. PS What are the shots you mentioned?

Not sure who needs to know, but both me and my sister are well, no complications so far (to be honest I don't even remember that I have gone through that sometimes) I feel completely fine but it's just that I can eat a lot still and haven't lost much weight 15kg(33lbs) in last 7 months (my sister's the same) and not much inch loss as well Is this common, did anyone feel the same????

Insurance in Australia doesn’t cover pharmaceuticals in there same way as the US. Prescription meds here are either on the PBS (pharmaceutical benefits scheme which are meds subsidised by the government to keep the costs low - about $31) or not. If you have private health insurance they may cover some of the costs of non PBS drugs but I think it depends on your insurance company and your cover. My insurance would pay the difference in the cost of a prescribed non PBS med and if it was a PBS drug. So if non PBS drug cost me $35, I’d get $4 back. Think ozempic is on the PBS but there have been lots of shortages & there are restrictions on who can be prescribed it (diabetics only I believe). Not sure about the other semaglutides. Wegovy only recently became available here for weight loss - it’s not on the PBS currently.

Oh it does. What a beautiful analogy @GreenTealael. The lunch is always very well done but it is such a mix of emotions as it deals with the loss of children. There’s a memorial slide show which is heartbreaking & a video with parents, grandparents & siblings talking about their loss. It is balanced with great MCs, entertainment & live auctions (men get so competitive 😁) and raffles drawn. Wha does your t shirt say! A walk up. You would have hit your steps in. Lol! Is this your baby leaving home?

Welcome too. Not as short as you either (5’3”) but after I lost my weight I discovered I actually had a small frame so in a way I look tinier than I am. My biggest challenge has been feeling overwhelmed in certain styles of clothing. (Bet you thought I was going to say it was something about my weight loss experience.) When I was larger I had this big body that carried/filled a lot of clothing styles. Not any more. I look like I’m drowning or am a lifetime girl wearing my mummy’s clothes. And certain proportions can be way off now too. Like tops are too long & make me look weird & unbalanced. (Trousers have always been too long.) Being shorter than average with a smaller frame didn’t affect my weight loss at all. My experiences were the same as most others here. Just need fewer calories than many of my taller friends to maintain my lower weight. I remember once my surgeon’s colleague, who did my follow ups, weighed me and started to say I had lost too much weight. She paused and looked me up & down & said you really are quite tiny aren’t you. My weight wasn’t an issue after that. (Except every now & again they’ll say I should try to put on a couple of kilos but that’s because of my age, 59, and not anything else.) Keep us updated on your progress. Don’t hesitate to ask questions here either. Everyone is happy to help, share what they’ve learnt and offer support. Though having the surgery can be a bit scary, it also is the beginning of very exciting and rewarding future. All the best.

You must be so incredibly frustrated! Which type of surgery did you get, the sleeve or the bypass? I'm at about 7 weeks post op from getting the sleeve + intestinal revision and my calorie consumption ranges from 500-700/day, with my carb intake less than 35/day and a protein goal of 60/day with fluids of at least 48oz/day. I agree with others - it seems like a good idea, regardless of any advice you get from this forum, to revisit your surgeon. That said, I do believe you hit the nail on the head for one with the alcohol, and secondly I'd ask how many of your calories are coming from carbs. It's ok to include carbs in your diet, but really, this early, unless you are very physically active there isn't cause for many of them. At this stage it's typical to eat no more than 1/2cup - 1 cup of total food per meal, three times a day (or spaced out into 4 meals if needed). That's including your protein, which as someone else said should be the first thing you eat. Another thing about alcohol - it tends to cause dehydration - so you'd need to be consuming even MORE water throughout the day to compensate for that, just like caffeine. If you aren't hitting your hydration goal (PLUS, because of alcohol) then your body will struggle to convert your stored fat into energy, which is what causes most of the weight loss. An example of what my diet looks like at this stage is a single serve yogurt for breakfast (I have been getting the Aikos zero sugar or 2Good ones) - Remember no drinking 30 minutes before or after, and your meal should last at least 20-30 minutes. For lunch I might have a 'tuna melt' - which I make out of 1/3 can of tuna in water, a zero net carb small tortilla, and maybe 1/8 cup of shredded cheese or a low fat string cheese (I cook it folded over like a quesadilla) with maybe 1/8 cup of low fat cottage cheese, then for dinner a serving of one of the many bariatric recipes - there's a ricotta bake (lasagna with no noodles, basically), unstuffed cabbage rolls (Kind of like egg roll filling), or maybe chicken or tuna salad made with low fat mayo and a dab of relish with some cucumber slices/2-4 saltine crackers. I use the free Baritastic App to track my food and fluid intake. Using a tracking app increases weight loss significantly from what I've been told because you can see and understand what exactly you're putting in your body. The good news is that as far as I know, it isn't too late to backpedal and reset yourself! I'm NOT a doctor but my understanding is that if you get off track after weight loss surgery, especially this soon, one way to 'reset' is to go back on a liquid diet for a week or two, with zero-sugar jello, zero sugar pudding, and protein shakes (less than 5g of sugar each) to hit your goals. After that, work your way back up to puree foods for a week, then soft foods for a week. I strongly recommend eyeballing the nutrition information on any shake you think of buying, too, because there are some that are loaded with sugar and have as many as 22g of carbs EACH. After weight loss surgery it's also strongly discouraged to have fried food at all for the first 6 months, and after that maybe once per month. The same goes for sweets and baked goods. I hope this helps, and again - I feel like you should really follow up with your surgeon and a nutritionist! Best wishes!

When a colleague or friend tells me I am looking well, which is happening more often now, I am learning simply to say "thank you" and not do a longer answer like I used to with such things as "thanks, I had a shower today" or "thanks I brushed my hair" as before if anyone said it I didn't believe them - how could they think I looked well if I didn't think or feel it? Now I know I am looking well (albeit tired) so I am learning to get comfortable with people noticing. I wouldn't consider that I had a resting b*tch face but before I would just have a 'not interested, ignore me' resting face, now I try to remember to smile and find it is happening naturally. So when sitting on the bus or at my desk etc I have a little smile and I think that then rubs off on those around me.

Well, it wasn’t exactly an AI generated recommendation. It was an AI generated summary of all the articles that applied to the question I asked Google. So basically One of the articles them gave that recommendation is below and you can read the full article of course and determine whether it’s a reputable source and applies to you. I agree with not going by a cookie cutter approach regardless of where it came from. Especially the Internet, but it logically does make sense to me so it would definitely be worth talking to your doctor about and asking for a specific plan for you. I know for me, my body is fighting cancer and processing chemo right now which both increase metabolism. Currently I’m logging like 1000-1500 cal more a day and still losing (albeit a little slower to appease my doctors). It changes your metabolism when your body is fighting something and it does burn more calories during times like this. How many that would be something your surgeon may be able to help you with a refer you to someone who can. I am very fortunate that I am at a big fancy breast center and they have an oncology dietitian that is helping me throughout all of my different treatments that I have in store for me over the next year to keep me on track for both that and my bariatric journey. i think the most important part would be to just be mindful of the fact that healing does require adequate nutrition and not to be at too much of a calorie deficit because yes, we will heal like we did from our bariatric surgery but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the ideal circumstance or that we we’re healing as fast as we could have. I know you are itching to get out and back to your activity asap as I would be and good nutrition is very important for faster healing. I’m not saying that means you need to eat as much as you were eating when you were working out like crazy, but if it was me, I would focus primarily on fueling my body to get better faster, without gaining of course, and really focus on the weight loss once I was back on track (it won’t be that long). I mean if you can lose a bit great but if your body is screaming out for nutritious food it’s probable that there is a reason. The nutritionist that I am working with would not give me a specific calorie amount instead she told me to still try to avoid cookies and chips, but to eat when my body was craving nutritious food and she checks in with me every week to see how I am doing and make tweaks Does your surgeon have a nurse practitioner that you could talk to if you give them a call? Or was your dietician from pre surgery very helpful (mine was worthless 😂). Maybe you would get a more in-depth response from them than your surgeon who’s always super busy.

Hummm. I’m really hoping they do will go away for us both. I would’ve thought with weight loss they would be less obvious too but mine is still pretty noticeable. Ooh well, I guess in the whole scheme of things it’s not the end of the world if it’s just cosmetic. I’m really sorry to hear that you got the foamies. Fingers crossed I’ve never had that. I hope you can avoid it from now on. Sounds like it’s not fun at all.

Two Big Wins today. First I reached 50 pounds loss today but more importantly I reached a goal in my flex-ability. When I started Yoga I could barely reach past my knees if I’m being honest. The teacher suggested that I get some yoga blocks which are shaped like big wide bricks but made of foam. Well after a few tries of breathing deeper I was able to reach it just barely to touch my fingertips when it was up tall ways. I went from that to being able to do my flat hand on there to this morning where I can finally touch it with it turned down on its side the shorter way. Just with my fingertips and only after a few tries so I am a long ways from the floor still but considering it’s only been like a month I am pretty ecstatic to have improved that much. Now I need to add in something to work on my arm strength. Some of the poses take a lot more strength than I have to support my body weight.

Yesterday, I had my final appointment before my surgery date. I finally started having doubts about the whole thing and I'm relieved. Having doubts probably doesn't sound like a good thing, but it finally gave me chance to unload everything that was on my mind to the doctor. I was able to tell him that maybe I wanted the bypass instead. I've been on other forums and people seem to be really against the sleeve because long term weight loss is less than with other surgeries. But he reassured me that due to my age, no comorbidities and the fact that I'm on target with my weight loss, he still thinks this is a good surgery for me and my goals. They last time I spoke to him, he told me I wasn't sticking to the diet, and then he told me "most people lose only 3-4kg pre-surgery anyway" So why was he worrying me when I ONLY lost 5kg? But I guess he was in a better mood because he was back from holiday? 😂 Next appointment is a phone appointment where I just tell him my weight. And then the surgery weigh in and bloods before the surgery. I'm so ready for this now.

One thing I've learned through experience is that it's hard to predict what will happen next. My weight loss slowed significantly in July but then I dropped a lot in August and September, but slowed again in October and even more in November. A lot of it not really because of any major changes in my behavior, either. There's a lot going on that you can't really see throughout this whole process. I notice, for example, that my body shape changes when my weight is steady. I do try to be honest with myself. Sometimes, I know for certain I have been doing everything correctly and am not losing. That's fine. Sometimes, I lose weight and I know I did so despite making some poor choices. I try to be aware of that because it will not be as easy as time goes on (it already isn't for me!). I know that if I have things in the house, I will be tempted by them, but I rarely would leave the house to go buy something I didn't already have just because it sounded good. If I buy cookies, I may end up eating four of them instead of the two I said I would eat. If I don't buy them, I will eat zero. So, after the holidays, not buying or making the stuff is my main strategy. For me, it's all about figuring out how I want to live. I want to be healthy, but I don't want to be miserable. I'm working on being more intentional with what I eat and how I exercise. My goal now that my appetite and capacity have kind of settled into a fairly predictable pattern, is to strengthen my routines around food prepping and setting regular meal times. If I can stick to that most of the time, have a solid list of things I make on a regular basis and keep in the house ready to go in an instant, and things I do NOT keep anywhere near me, I won't feel like I need to worry about the occasional indulgences. Because skipping all holiday snacks or treats, or never ordering a dessert or a special cocktail, isn't a way I want to live! But I also don't want to lose track and let myself indulge all year because I forgot to set limits.

Seriously, this honestly sounds like my house - 2 deliveries today, 1 tomorrow, 2 Thursday. Not all weight loss related though, trying to get stuff bought now for the dreaded “C” word in December 😬 Just look at it as you’re not buying as much food so it should all balance out eventually…sort of…maybe 😉

Congrats on how well you have been doing!! I had the gastric sleeve and would love to share my story The good: I had my surgery on January 24, 2024, and I am now almost one year post-op. I reached my goal weight about seven months after the surgery and have been maintaining it within a +/- 3-pound range. Once I started weightlifting, I noticed a significant transformation in my body, which has kept me motivated because I am starting to love what I see in the mirror. I have gone from a size 2/3X top to an XS/S top, and from size 18 pants to size 4. I never imagined my body could look and feel this good. My health has vastly improved, and I have so much energy. I am happier, and that positivity radiates from me. The bad/challenges: I still experience episodes of binge eating, although it is not as severe as it was before. However, when I'm not being mindful, I tend to grab chips and eat too many, or take mini candies and other snacks that I shouldn't have. I am aware of my actions, but for some reason, I don't seem to care in the moment. It has happened maybe two to three times, and each time, I feel really angry with myself. I recognize that this is something I need to work on, and I'm conscious of it. I understand that this will be a lifelong challenge for me, but I am actively working on it and taking it one day at a time. I tend to be hard on myself because I am so afraid of going back to my old habits. This is a second chance at life and I want to make the most of this! Everyone has their own journey. We will all face challenges and struggles, but for the most part, this is an amazing tool! Make the most of it in the first 12 to 18 months. Take advantage of the rapid weight loss, work out, and engage in activities that intimidated you when you weighed more. Take risks, because I promise you will be so happy that you did!