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I've lost 70 lbs in 2 months. I thought that was great, but now I'm anxious about the scale. Before having the surgery, I didn't even a scale because I didn't want to know. Now, I've been told I have to monitor it. I get anxiety now every time I gain 1 or 2 lbs! Is that normal? Makes me feel like I'm not doing something correctly. [emoji53] Sent from my SM-F916U using BariatricPal mobile app

Meeting your protein goals is really a "For the rest of your life" thing, just like with vitamins. Which we would have to do even without having the surgery, it's just that now with the surgery, it will be so much harder to fit in all those great nutrients, which is why we need to have more nutrient dense foods to fuel our bodies. The amount you need to eat per day depends on what your Height and Weight is. The good news is that this doesn't have to be in Protein shake form. You can do it just with diet. If you have a dietician, it's worth chatting to them about other ways to get your daily protein in. Some people just find the shakes easier. Others are happy eating it in their daily food. Below are a bunch of foods high in protein, you can make amazing meals with these and get all your daily protein without using shakes 1) Beef Skirt Steak: 26.7 g Protein Per 100 g 2) Chicken Breast: 23.1 g Protein Per 100 g 3) Canned Tuna: 23.6 g Protein Per 100 g 4) Lean Pork Chop: 22.4 g Protein Per 100 g 5) Sockeye Salmon: 21.3 g Protein Per 100 g 6) Lentils: 25.8 g Protein Per 100 g 7) Shrimp: 20.3 g Protein Per 100 g 😎 Sardines: 20.9 g Protein Per 100 g 9) Lamb Chop: 20.4 g Protein Per 100 g 10) Cocoa: 20 g Protein Per 100 g 11) Cod: 17.9 g Protein Per 100 g 12) Cheddar Cheese: 24.9 g Protein Per 100 g 13) Pumpkin Seeds: 18.5 g Protein Per 100 g 14) Beef Jerky: 33.2 g Protein Per 100 g (Dont know if we can eat this) 15) Nutritional Yeast: 50 g Protein Per 100 g 16) Turkey Breast: 24.6 g Protein Per 100 g 17) Parmesan Cheese: 35.8 g Protein Per 100 g 18) Whey Protein: 70 g Protein Per 100 g 19) Dried Squid: 72 g Protein Per 100 g 20) Mackerel: 18.6 g Protein Per 100 g' Then there's also things like Peas, Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Sprouts, Mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, Edamame, Sweet corn, Winter Squash and Yummy Avocados. Hope this helps

I did gastric sleeve, and right after, I underwent rapid weight loss, appearing most conspicuously in my face and neck. Will I ever gain a fit look on my face and neck after such a rapid loss of weight following gastric sleeve?

I guess your referring to it helping with the hair loss while you are losing weight. This hair loss is just an acceleration of your natural hair loss cycle (hair that was going to fall out anyway) in response to the stress of surgery, reduced calories, restricted diet, weight loss, etc. It’s temporary. Your new hair is still actually growing but just at it’s usual rate. The hair loss tends to start at around months 3 or 4 & lasts about 3 months +/-. (It seems to be the same length of time for those who take all the hair growth vitamins & supplements like biotin too.) It seems to stop around the time you’re eating more & a broader range of nutrients & you’re not as stressed. It most cases, the only person who really notices the loss is you (& your hairdresser 😉). A lot of us cut our hair if it was long during this time. I did it so it wouldn’t take as long for the new growth to reach the length of my shorter existing hair. Plus shorter hair usually looks thicker, bouncier & healthier. But you can always try something like Nioxin if you want. Can’t make it worse.

First, stalls happen. They’re part of the weight loss journey. Some have more of them. Some experience ones that seemingly last forever. The thing to remember is they do break. Secondly, the further out your are the slower your rate of loss which make you think your stalling too. If it persists, chat with your dietician. Maybe a tweak to your diet or activity will help. And yes, track or monitor your food. It can be easy to eat a little more than we think or eat something we think is okay but may not be the best at this time. And I’m with @kcuster83, I often find I weigh a little more after I break a couple of days of constipation. It usually doesn’t show until the following day. I wonder if it’s because I’m retaining extra fluid at the same time??? How our individual bodies work can be fascinating (& frustrating).

Hello hello... just checking in. Not much to report except a weight gain. Now up to 270... been bouncing around that for a while. I am incredibly anemic and find it hard to keep my levels up and think that I may just have to have iron infusions for the rest of my life. I'm vegetarian and I am just wondering if my stomach has become injured after the sleeve leak and then the RNY... I don't think I can absorb iron. I've been on Saxenda for a bit, but it's not doing a lot for me, except maybe keeping my weight stable, which is good I guess! I'm thinking of going on Wegovy when it's available. Apparently it's low on stock because people love it so much. How is everyone doing? I'd love to hear how everyone is. Anyone else having issues with keeping their vitamin levels up? @Goody222 you look amazing! You must feel great! Well done!! Love to all xxx

I'm glad you're able to recognize that focusing on your weight on the first week isn't ideal. I did not weigh myself at all that first week because we're sooo swollen & healing.

WOW that wait is as long as my pre-op entire bariatric journey was! Shame smaller areas have less access to care. But I do like the fact that you're using this wait to lose more weight! that's a positive way of looking at it

I don't do carb cycling because I eat a lot of carbs (tons of fruit) BUT, I naturally do calorie cycling. I know both carb and calorie cycling are effective. Some days I just feel hungrier so I eat more those days. I track calories by the week (net calories under weekly goal) so there is a lot more leeway, freedom and flexibility, for those bottomless pit days. My longest "stall" ever was during my maintenance phase. It was 33 days. I'm still trying to find my maintenance calorie level but if I keep losing, I won't stress, I'll just let nature takes it's course since the honeymoon phase will inevitably end soon enough since I'm 15 months post-op. Link: "Research suggests the benefits of calorie cycling include greater weight loss, improved ability to stick to a diet, less hunger, and a reduction in the negative hormonal and metabolic adaptations of a normal weight loss diet." https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/calorie-cycling-101#:~:text=Research suggests the benefits of,it works best for you.

I have one but it may be the opposite to a Victory. I have a couple of very heavy armoires that I like but I can never find the correct spot for them, each time I want to move them I know how that will go, I will ask help from my husband, he will say not again, and I will start moving them myself, then he feels bad and comes and does it. This time I could not move them not even a fraction of an inch, nothing, I used to push all my weight against them and they started slidding on the floor but the trick did not work this time. It worries me, it made me feel so weak, maybe I used to have more muscle and that is gone now.

Sorry you're dealing with this. Sounds like your team has ruled out most of the physical issues. but I wanted to throw a few more things out there that might be worth considering: Have you ever been evaluated for sleep apnea? This disease can absolutely wipe you out physically if left untreated. It would be odd for it to start post-surgery, but maybe it was masked before for some reason and you've had it for a while? Obviously eating a severely restricted diet means you're not getting a lot of calories in. Now this is as designed to drive weight loss, but your body should adapt to that and use fat to fuel your cellular processes. This should mean, if everything is working properly, that you get plenty of energy from the chemical decomposition of fat. Depending on what specifically you're eating, there could be something going on diet related here that may not have that process working as designed. Your gut microbiome is often overlooked as a source of issues, primarily because it's not well understood by physicians. What I mean here is that it's possible you don't really have the proper balance of good bacteria in your gut to deal with what I assume has been a significant shift in how you eat. At the very least, adding in both prebiotics and probiotics could help shift your microbiome in the right direction. This one will sound bad, but it's possible this is psychosomatic. If you're not familiar with the concept, the mind is an extremely powerful thing and can absolutely make you feel like you're exhausted, even when there's no physical cause. This does not mean you're crazy, or faking it, or anything like that. The physical manifestations of psychosomatic illness are very real. FYI, stress is a huge driver of this process, so working on stress reduction would be a good first step. If needed, there are even doctors and therapists that specialize in treating psychosomatic diseases.

i would take the "stop losing weight " comments from others with a grain of salt. when you lose weight quickly it may be jarring to others looking on from the outside. i theorize that their idea of your bigger self is relatively fresh in their minds so a skinner newer you seems drastically different. i also theorize that if you were to drop the weight slower over time u'd likely get less comments. the same people who told me to stop losing weight when i was 160-ish lbs at 3-ish months (when i was still technically obese for effs sakes) are the same people who fawned over me when i got to 115 several months later.

Hi, I am 8.5 years post-op. I've needed IV iron infusions 2x now and am likely going to need them again now. I see a reproductive endocrinologist (trying to freeze my eggs) who put me on synthroid for hypothyroidism. I also have fibromyalgia. I never lost nearly as much as I wanted to with DS but also started grad school within 6 months of getting the surgery and then lost both my parents within 3 years of each other and starting school. So it's been a challenging 8 years! I'm now refocusing on losing weight and my health (both physical and mental health!) and making that my sole focus for the next 6 months as I was laid off. I'm working out, going to therapy, counting calories, and seeing a slew of doctors. Happy to be a sounding board and cheerleader to you as you navigate things!

Hey, thanks for saying this, it gives me hope, I am almost 95 pounds down and I am back at my work this week, people do not see me for months and I have already heared a few "stop loosing weight" I feel great even though I am not at a normal BMI or my goal weight but I can tell my face looks older my neck chest and arms could use some help, and I am still loosing weight.

I just came out of a 4 week stall. I added weight training, really paid attention to my calories and carbs (added up and wrote everything down...you would be surprised how even healthy food and drinks have calories and carbs we don't even think about) and I changed up my workout a bit. And then my stall broke and I even finally made it out of the 300's.

I had the runs also for the first week or so. It is incredible the amount that exited compared to inputs. But it did get better and if you are worried call you nutritionist or surgery team nurse. I'm sure they will be able to better help you. Never be shy with asking them for help it is what they are there for. Hope you find better days ahead. Wishing you good health and success in you weight loss journey.

Yay, glad that things are going well! I have not warmed up any of my premier drinks, I should try that! I have added it to decaf coffee as a creamer, but your idea sounds awesome. My taste buds keep changing per week it seems. This week I like sf raspberry lemonade for my cold drink and apple cinnamon tea as my hot. I've also tried a few fairlife protein shakes and I might be leaning towards liking them more than premier even though I love premier. Mostly its because its less thick and so far I haven't gotten the occasional chunk of protein in my drink. I've been in a stall now for almost 3 weeks so not fun at all. I saw my dr, dietitian and exercise specialist and they all said I have done everything right and hitting all protein and water goals so the only thing to do is to increase calories until the stall breaks. So they want me to get to 900 to 1000 a day, I was at around 750. Its so hard for my brain to wrap around that since my whole life I've been told that to lose weight you need to eat less and exercise more. I do understand the stall too and that my body is very good at protecting itself. So I'm going to listen to the experts and just be patient and I know it will pass. Just sad because I was already a slow loser and now I've lost only 4 pounds in almost a month. How is everyone else doing?

*raises hand* Same. Same. Same. a few months into weight loss, everything about food began to fascinate me. I started to love cooking, baking, researching recipes, watching cooking shows, reading restaurant reviews, smelling it, taking pictures of it, watching others eat it, everything except actually eating it myself. one of my fave things to do is read a menu in its entirety at restaurants. I’m 4 years post and I am still like this, with the exception that I can eat way more now than I could back then (for those keeping score, I remain below goal weight, so I didn’t end up imploding. So far, at least lol) I used to worry about this behaviour of mine, but have long ago learned to just go with it. I figured I was not suffering any angst about it, nor was it negatively impacting any aspect of daily life. So…yeah. BUT…If a behaviour (any behaviour!) is limiting you in any way, or preventing you from being a functional member of society, or causing you mental anguish or physical harm, then maybe that is a sign you may want to get it addressed. Good Luck!❤️ P.S. Full disclosure: I also smoke, so I probably have bigger fish to fry than my affinity for Top Chef et al.

Sorry ahead of time, this is going to be a long post! Let's talk a bit about what causes stalls/plateaus: The most common reason for any stall (including the dreaded 3-week stall), is simply that you are retaining more water. There are a few reasons this happens, from hormonal shifts, tissue repair, illness, or changes due to glycogen vs. ketone metabolism. This post would be even longer if I spent too much time here, but suffice it to say that for many people (especially early in the process), they are just retaining water and not actually failing to lose fat. As you lose more weight, your overall metabolic rate will slow down. People sometimes think fat is not metabolically active, but that's not true. Losing fat means your metabolism slows down, even if you retain the same amount of muscle mass (which most people don't). This means that as you lose weight, it takes less effort to move or even just live, so the amount of calories you burn both during exercise and just living also drops quite a bit. On the intake side as you progress after bariatric surgery, you'll be able to eat more. This isn't a bad thing and is by design, but obviously you should be able to see the problem here. Your metabolism has slowed down and now you can eat more. This can lead to you basically eating as much as you're burning. When that happens, weight loss stops. Especially if you're not tracking intake closely by weighing and measuring your food, you can easily be eating a lot more than you think. Some studies have shown people underestimate caloric consumption by several hundred calories on average. This is more than enough to cause a stall. This one may be TMI for some, but you may simply be retaining more stool. Feeling constipated? That will definitely impact your weight. This is going to be hard for some people to hear, but I can tell you one thing it's not, and that's hormones. Yes, various hormonal processes negatively impact weight loss in a myriad of ways, but they don't overcome the basic fact that if you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you'll lose weight. What these hormones can do if they're out of whack, is bad things like slowing your metabolism even more, increasing your hunger, screwing with water weight, or even fooling you into thinking you're eating less than you are. So, that's all great, but what do we actually do if we're in a stall? Well, I think it depends on when it happens and how long it lasts: If it's early (a.k.a. the 3-week stall), just keep doing what you're doing and you should be fine. I know people don't like that advice, but as I said it's just water, so don't worry about it. Later on, especially if the stall is lasting longer than 2-3 weeks. that's when I think it's important that you look closely at what you are actually burning, as well as really tracking what you are eating. If you don't know your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), you should. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is to get the balance right between intake and output to make sure you're not eating too much, so fixing this starts with knowing your RMR and accurate food logging. There's a lot of anecdotal advice thrown around about "ways to break a stall", but there seems to be little scientific evidence for any of it. It certainly won't hurt to try things like breaking up your routine in terms of diet or exercise, but just understand that this change may or may not have any impact. If it makes you feel better to be proactive, go for it. Longer term, there is one piece of solid advice that's backed up by lots of research: Even if you don't really like working out, do it anyway. Those WLS patients that make a regular habit of exercising for 45 minutes to an hour most days a week are significantly more likely to reach their goal and maintain the weight loss. (One caveat here: significantly changing your exercise routine can make you retain water and possibly even add muscle, so don't freak out if you see a stall or even a gain.) I'll take that exercise advice one step further and say you really should be doing some form of strength training. This is also backed up by lots of studies, but the great thing about strength training is that it makes your burn more calories even at rest (in other words, it increases your metabolic rate). There are lots of other benefits, but the metabolic benefit is the most germaine to the stall question. Those that do strength training are less likely to stall during weight loss and are more likely to reach and then maintain their goal weight long term.

Do you track your food intake? I would say if not, start there. If you are eating 1200 calories a day, try to cut it to 1100 a day. Not a huge amount but maybe enough to give your body a push to burn it. My Dietician says a lot that sometimes people aren't eating enough which will make you stall or gain. He will have people up their calories for a few weeks and then cut them back down to trick the metabolism. I honestly don't know if any of it works but these are things he has suggested in our support group.

Change your diet or your exercise. But not both. If you did that you wouldn’t know which thing worked 🤣 I usually eat a few more carbs or walk a little farther that week to break a weight range.

I’m at this exact weight and also at a stall

honestly, i just ate more. i was sub 800 calories when i reached goal (127 lbs at 7 months post op) i was also exercising like a fiend...but i was doing the same level if exercise during the last couple months of weight loss phase, so not sure how much of an effect this was on my appearance, all other things being equal. im 4 years post now and average about 1900-2000 cals a day, exercise levels now just a fraction of it once was, and weighed 119.4 this morning. and i look x times healthier than i did at 127 over three years ago. so go figure. 🤷🏻‍♀️ edited to add: full disclosure... i had plastics to address lose body skin at 14 months post op, so that def helped! i also am currently addicted to botox...but this addiction formed well after i had already joined the land of the living, looks wise. 😂 i mean, im 50 yrs old. my less than firm face is more likely due to to age than wls.

I am going to start Wegovy once insurance approves it. I am being monitored by a nurse practitioner through a medical weight loss program -- most of the people in the program are trying to lose weight to become eligible for bariatric surgery. But I am 8.5 years out and definitely struggling to reduce my caloric intake. I have been walking and doing vibration plate sessions multiple times a week. I have been trying to focus on eating high protein.

You are both right about research and changing habits. I have been working on both. I figure the more weight I lose before surgery the easier the surgery will be. So I think I have made peace with waiting. Its just I had it in my head that I could have it done in Feb. I just need to adjust my expectations and come back to reality. Im still losing weight and I will still have the surgery when it is supposed to happen.