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Estrogen is stored in your fat. As you lose weight, estrogen is released into your blood stream messing up your cycle. Not uncommon to have heavier/lighter periods, more or less frequent cycles, or experience more or fewer symptoms (cramping, emotions, etc.) You can also become more fertile. I was menopausal & my breakthrough hot flushes, night sweats etc. disappeared whoo hoo - they came back though unfortunately. It usually settles once you’ve lost most of your weight. If it persists chat with your doctor & ask for your hormone levels to be checked.

Any one that you can enjoy & don’t mind doing regularly. Still haven’t found the one for me & I’ve tried lots of them over the years. LOL! I do a series of stretches & some basic resistance exercises at home. Mostly to support my back but also to tone my arms & keep me limber. I’m not looking at running a marathon or dead lifting my, or anyone else’s body weight. @SpartanMaker has listed all the benefits of regularly exercising but if you’re looking at exercising predominately for weight loss there is an ugly truth: exercising only accounts for about 10% of the weight you want to lose. So only about 1 of those last 10lbs you want to lose.

Hello. New on here. My date is on 11/23. 5'1 starting weight 220 now between 212-215. I'm very nervous. I start my 2 week liquid diet on 11/9. For those doing it already any tips!

You may not want to hear this but this may not be a stall. This may be your body’s set point (the weight your body is happiest at & is easiest to maintain) and/or you’ve reached a point where your food intake is equivalent to what your body needs (burns) to function. Not everyone gets to the goal they’ve chosen. The average weight loss after three years is about 60/65% of the weight you had to lose to put you in a healthy weight range. Have a chat with your dietician & review your eating plan & activity. Though if you decrease your calories & increase your activity to lose those last 10lbs you will have to maintain that to remain at the lower weight. Only you know if that is sustainable.

My last stall lasted 5 of the longest, most frustrating weeks ever. Now I am at a lower weight, losing it is so much more difficult. I am eating more calories, about 900 to 1200 a day and having limited exercise is making my weight loss tough going. I knew this would happen sooner or later but it's still damn annoying. We cannot tell what your weight is so we would find it difficult to help you, but many say that it's really hard to get to our ideal set point. Our bodies just don't want to give up the last bits of fat. Some on here have managed to get to 'gold medal' stage but many have had to admit defeat at silver. We are all winners in my eye if we can keep our lost weight off My team think I will lose slowly for another 6 or 7 months. Then I can consider plastic surgery on my old saggy bits. TBH, I have lost more than I ever dreamt I could. So, vary your diet as much as possible and keep going until you cannot do one damn day more !

Absolutely. I was wearing a 10 wide or extra wide and often that didn't fit. Now I wear a 9 wide or extra wide. Unfortunately for me, my feet have always been wide. I actually just went to Fleet Feet to get new walking shoes and they do a scan and show you how wide your feet are in comparison to other women. Yeah. Mine are at top. [emoji849] That being said, they were also wider at my highest weight, so how they're just my "normal" wide width. Lol And I can see the bones and veins in my feet! I am a shoe junkie and had a lot of really nice, expensive shoes I had to get rid of, which made me a little sad, but I sure have enjoyed buying new ones. [emoji12] Sent from my Pixel 5a using BariatricPal mobile app

OK folks, I really need some humor right now! Let's see those funny GIF & Memes related to weight loss & weight loss surgery! I'll add a few to get us going:

Totally agree with everything you said. Loved your analogy, too. It is amazing how WLS helps with health issues. I have a diabetic friend that lost about a hundred pounds through diet but still had diabetes, gained some weight back, then had the Sleeve Surgery and within 2 months is totally off diabetic meds as well as his other meds. My experience has to do with gastric problems. For over 4 years I have had gastritis and colitis causing, vomiting daily and severe diarrhea to the point of not being able to leave my house. After many tests, 2 colonoscopies, 3 EDGs, and many, many meds it was finally discovered I had developed a hiatal hernia, ulcers and a damaged pyloric caused by having about 5 times too much stomach acid that was destroying my stomach lining and allowing the acid to seep throughout my digestive system causing severe intestine problems. I was sleeved on 9-1-22. From day 1, no more gastric problems at all! And have lost 30 pounds so far. Congratulations on making a decision that is best for you and continued success in your journey to better health. As stated, it is not a "cheat', or the easy way out. It is what is best for YOU!

I agree with @GreenTealael 100%. Your bariatric team is in the best position to help. We here on the forums really know nothing about you. To start with, your profile isn't filled out, so we don't even have basic info. Beyond the basics like starting weight, goals weight, current weight, age, gender, and height, I'd ideally need to see your food log, and would have your percentages of body fat and lean mass. Finally, I'd want to understand what you mean by "I work out 6 times a week for over 50 mins". Exercise type and intensity make a ton of difference here. Even those things might not be enough though and that's where your bariatric team can help. There is one universal truth if you're not losing weight: You are eating about the same number of calories as you're burning. Without some potential metabolic and endocrinological testing that your doctor can do, it would be hard to know if this is due to Eating more than you think Burning less that you think in exercise A slow metabolism due to the loss of lean body mass Maybe even a hormone imbalance As pointed out, the simplest place to start is making sure your are logging your food accurately. It's really easy to be off by several hundred calories and this can easily be enough to make a huge difference in how much you lose.

Lucky you. It will be harder when you have no restriction. It's essential that you use this period to learn how to eat differently and continue to hold the line. I lost half of my weight-loss prior to surgery. Because of complications, after my RNY>RNY revision surgery I had three endoscopy procedures which stretched my pouch and anastomosis. After a few weeks I had very little physical restriction. I've had to work very hard to eat differently and continue to lose weight. My post surgical loss is now equal to what I lost prior to surgery, and I struggle every day with cravings. I need to keep my calorie count in the area of 1000-1200 per day. I eat almost no sugar, flour, white potatoes, rice, or processed foods. But--it's worked and I will continue to do this for life, recording every morsel in my (Baritastic). app I know that as soon as I start to return to old eating habits I will regain what I have lost. It's hard work, but so worth it. Hang in there!

Current recommendations vary a bit, but most suggest that to lose weight and prevent re-gain, 250 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity per week are needed. Of that, at least 150 to 180 should be aerobic activities such as brisk walking, running, swimming or bicycling. Moderate by the way, is defined as attaining a heart rate of 50-70% of your max heart rate. The easiest way to estimate you maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you are 50, your max heart rate would be 170, so 50% to 70% of that would be 85 to 119 BPM. In addition to the aerobic activities, strength training should be included. The recommendation would be to perform 2-3 sessions per week for 30-60 minutes. Detailed recommendations are beyond the scope of what I can add here. For beginners, bodyweight training would be my recommendation. Doing so you'll be at a much lower risk of injury and IMO, bodyweight training should be the foundation of all other strength training. Google "bodyweight training for beginners" and you should see some recommendations. Just make sure the website is from a reputable source. there are lots of "fads" out there and some of them could be harmful. The reason strength training is so critical is that muscle is significantly more metabolically active than fat. By gaining muscle, you'll actually increase your overall metabolic rate, meaning you'll burn more calories even when you're not exercising. This means you'll be better able to lose weight or maintain weight at a higher overall number of calories than you would otherwise. In addition, strength training can help you age gracefully by reducing the risk of osteoporosis, improving mental acuity, improving balance and physical functioning, and helping manage pain. Finally, in addition to the aerobic and strength training recommendation, I also think it's a good idea to participate in functional fitness that helps improve balance, coordination, and flexibility. There are lots of options here, but yoga and tai chi are good choices if you need recommendations.

I had my Bypass back in February and have been losong weight extremely slowly if any, I've only lost about 30 pounds in 8 months. I have felt almost no restrictions, I am being disciplined and not eating anything I shouldn't, eating portioned meals although sometimes its difficult to know since I dont feel any restrictions. I work out 6 times a week for over 50 mins and drink plenry of water...what can I do? Sent from my SM-S908U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Was cleared at 6 weeks, but as some others here, I don't formally exercise. I just focus on moving more in general and have adopted a more natural, guilty-free, movement-based lifestyle for staying healthy, nothing to do with losing weight. Losing weight for me is a completely separate issue, it is an emotional, mental and keeping up a healthy diet issue.

I just wanted to give an update on my experience with ESG after having a VSG 8 years ago. I lost 120 pounds on the VSG and regained 60 pounds. The surgeons I talked to were hesitant to do a surgical revision due to potential complications. I did an ESG revision 5 weeks ago. Since then I lost 10% of my body weight, which is over half of what I had regained. I was very pleaded with the ESG procedure itself, I had it done on a Wednesday and was back to work on Monday. I had lost 4 weeks of work with the VSG. My program at the University of Michigan does a full 6 week liquid diet which I contribute to most of the success. I think the ESG success needs to be talked about more. It's lower risk with a speedy recovery.

Well I actually did a lot of research and it turns out it doesn’t matter when the dr checks your levels, if it’s over 200 you are diabetic whether you have eaten anything or not. It’s a random test and it’s listed on that CDC link you sent me spartanmaker. (And Thank you for that by the way it was very helpful). I did the test today and they said he was looking to see if it was over 140 though which would point to the possibility of pre diabetes but it wasn’t even close. It was 114 after eating worse than I have since my surgery so I’m definitely not diabetic. I also did my labs this morning which included three thyroid tests so maybe something will come of that. If not, I did ask him for a referral to an endocrinologist to make absolutely sure nothing has been missed. He said if my thyroid labs are good he would be inclined to agree with the surgeons that is my bipolar meds making me eat more but seeing an endocrinologist couldn’t hurt for my peace of mind. I have to admit when she gave me the very positive results that I am not diabetic I felt a little let down just for a second. Of course I don’t want a diabetes diagnosis but I AM very much desperate for an answer. Some answer. It’s just so darn frustrating. I just feel like such a failure that I went through with this huge invasive surgery and I am gaining it back. I think I am most annoyed with myself for not asking more questions and pursuing more tests BEFORE I did surgery. I guess what’s done is done though and I just gotta keep trying. I did lose two pounds before my big high calorie meal today. That’s something I guess. Lol

Wow thats awesome to hear. Any advice for people who recently gotten the lapband surgery.?? P.S thats awesome youve lost so much weight. Congratulations!

These comments are encouraging. I’m revising from my VSG (2015) to RNY in 8 days and I have SOMUCH anxiety about it! I’ve lost more weight this year than I did post VSG thanks to a combination of severe GERD, aerophagia from my CPAP, and Ozempic. It’s worth it if it resolves the GERD and aerophagia (maybe sleep apnea altogether but I won’t hold my breath 😜). I’m just worried I’m trading one set of problems for another. One specific thing I’m worried about is immediately post op. I still can feel viscerally the heaving/gagging in PACU once I was extubated and they were trying to wake me up. It felt like I could breathe due to those dry heaves! I’m scared of going through that again!

So I think the answer is... It depends. If you take the MFP recommended calorie counts, it should ask you if you wish to adjust your calories down for every 10 pounds you lose. If you miss changing it when it asks, you can always change it later yourself. (Though see below, as you may now be in "manual mode".) If you don't take the recommended calorie numbers and use your own numbers, then this "manual mode" won't ever ask if you you wish to change it. It says the same until you change it yourself. As far as Fitbit, if you have MFP and Fitbit linked, calories burned should be adjusted down as you lose weight. When they're linked, Fitbit should pick up your weight from MFP and will use that as part of their calculations. FYI, it bases the calories burned on heart rate, as well as height, weight, sex, and age. It might be a good idea to double check your fitbit app to make sure it's showing your latest weight. I have seen them get out of sync for some reason? Keep in mind that it's up to you if you want to add in those exercise adjustments from Fitbit to your MPF calories or not. You can change a setting to add them, or ignore them. I normally don't add them in since I think it overestimates calories burned, but the counter argument is that by adding them in, you give yourself permission to eat more on days when you really need to. For example, if you had a hard workout, or really active day.

I am revising to MGB tomorrow due primarily to weight loss. I never had issues with GERD or heartburn. I didn't take care of my sleeve and when I tried getting back to basics 5 years out it just didn't quite work, I just couldn't lose more than a couple pounds. I went to my surgeon in Mexico to see if a resleeve were the way to go but he advised against it for me. He said MGB is way less invasive and will really help me with the weight loss I'm hoping for. I am self pay so after a lot of research I am doing what seems best for me.

The mini bypass has been kicking around for a long time - it was around the periphery of bariatrics some twenty years ago when my wife and I first started looking into WLS, and it's still there today, not having achieved mainstream status (and many, if not most, US insurance companies still don't cover it.) in the meantime, the BPD/DS, VSG and now the SIPS/SADI have gone mainstream, gaining acceptance by the ASMBS and insurance industry. It would pay to understand why that is. When I last looked into these things, 2-3 years ago, ASMBS was fairly positive about the SIPS/SADI, but they didn't yet have the data to recommend it; they apparently do now. I would suggest looking through their site to see if they have any current opinion on the MGB and why it doesn't get on their recommended list. Amongst the MX surgeons, the MGB seems to mostly be sold as a cheaper alternative to the RNY rather than a technically better one. Classically, bile reflux is one of the problems with these simplified, single anastomosis procedures. There are claims that some techniques have been developed to mitigate that problem, but I don't know how much of that is real progress and how much is marketing. The MGB does seem to be more mainstream in other countries, so there may be something to the claims of improvement, and it simply lost its best opportunity to be sold to the US industry and authorities. Given that, I would be apprehensive about getting it done while living here in the states, if for no other reason than long term support - how many US doctors, bariatric or otherwise, understand it, and how to treat you in the years ahead should there be a problem. It's something like owning a French car here in the States - parts and service are a problem. My wife has a DS, which has something of that issue, despite being mainstream and approved, as it is still something of a niche procedure, with few surgeons understanding it. It, however, has the redeeming value of having demonstrably better performance - both initial loss and most particularly regain resistance; the MGB doesn't, as it's not markedly different than the RNY or VSG in performance. Have you had your GERD evaluated as to its cause? A hiatal hernia or shape issue can usually be corrected while still maintaining the sleeve, though some surgeons may not be well practiced at that and would simply revise to a bypass to correct it (the old "VSG + GERD=you need an RNY" thing rather than fixing the basic problem - it might need an revision, or it might not.) In correcting regain, these revisions seem to be only moderately successful - count on maybe twenty pounds or so - about what one would expect from the intense dieting required around surgery time, and one can expect similar results from a hiatal hernia repair. Basically, you have already learned how to eat around a small stomach, so shrinking it further with a revision doesn't yield nearly as good a result as your virgin procedure. Some do show remarkable improvement, but they seem mostly to be those who take the regain seriously and swear to "not let that happen again" and really buckle down and get with the program. One can almost consider the revision to be a placebo. If I were looking to seriously tackle a regain problem, I would lean more toward the BPD/DS as that more directly addresses the metabolic problem, though not the GERD as it retains the sleeve - that would remain an issue as to whether the sleeve itself is the cause of it and that can be corrected.

As far as the kid, there is such a fine line. You want to teach them how to eat healthy but without giving them a complex or making them feel bad about themselves. Otherwise, you could create an eating disorder on the other side of the spectrum. (Anorexia, etc) My SIL struggles with weight and when her daughter got chubby, made a big deal and was worried about her dealing with what she had dealt with through her life. But IMO opinion did it in a bad way. She's 16 now, healthy and happy but the risk was there. The other part (and forgive me if I sound rude) but not your kid not your problem. Just love your niece for who she is and when she is with you, offer up healthier options and do activities to stray away from boredom eating. If she asks you questions in regard to your weigh loss or whatever you can then just explain how you eat and explain healthier choices. Side note: I never say anything to people but sometimes it makes me sick to see how much people eat. I was one of those people so it even makes me disgusted with myself too. I don't judge (although that sounded horribly judgy) and never comment, some of these people aren't even overweight in the least so eat what you want and live your life. I guess it gives me flash backs or maybe minor PTSD. haha Everyone is allowed to eat what and how they want and they have to deal with the results, regardless of what they are.

At my initial appointment with the surgeon I was 100% sleeve ready. We discussed my health, history, medications and personal goals. During which my severe GERD obviously came up. I was on 2 prescriptions and still always had TUMS on had. It was miserable and NOT controlled by the meds. This was a big concern for him (my surgeon) as sleeve patients already have a higher risk of developing GERD or is worsening. There was NO way I could deal with it getting worse. Honestly, I don't even know how it could. I was up a night vomiting fire, so bad my voice would be hoarse for the next few days. With that and the amount of weight I am aiming to loose he highly recommended bypass. I was scared, (to me) this was much more of a surgery. More risks, the whole vitamin thing.. etc. He said it was totally my choice, he would do either surgery but that was his recommendation. He provided some additional information and told me to think about it and next time we talk I could let him know. I read, and read, and read everything. Weighing the pros and cons. I decided that the GERD part alone was enough to make me move forward with bypass. Right away I stopped 1 of my GERD meds, I had to stay on the other one as directed by the surgeon to help heal and reduce the risk of ulcers. No issues with stopping 1 and didn't need TUMS. One the surgeon allowed me to stop the second medication (2 months post-op) I did. And still ALL GOOD! I am off all medications and have had NO sign of any acid reflux related problems! NO REGRETS! I don't know how to get you into the mindset, do research. Looking forward to the relief of GERD alone would get me there.

This is hard. I also realize now how much I was eating and am sort of disgusted by it, but I really try NOT to project that on other people. First off, I don't know where I will be in another year or two or four. I hope I will continue to use my tool properly, but I may not, and then I am just being judgmental and a hypocrite. Second, to the point @ms.sss made, I didn't like when people commented on my food intake before surgery, so why should I do that to others unless they ask for advice? All those comments do is make people defensive or sad or angry, and often leads to people doubling down on what they are doing, perhaps getting depressed and eating even worse, and often being afraid (when they are ready) to ask for help. Lastly, it's not like I have been the paragon of weight virtue for 40+ years of my life, so I am not exactly well positioned to tell other people what to do just because I've had some success now. I try to be very honest about my surgery (personally I think it is important to combat the stigma around surgery and obesity) and what it has helped me with, but I try to make it about me, and what changes it made for me, without commenting or directly connecting to their actions. There are ways to support people positively without saying things outright: making lower calorie/healthier options for family gatherings, engaging them in fun active activities, etc. A bit of leading by example, without saying something directly. I know this is hard - my Greek extended family is obsessed with food! I try to steer them toward not needing to have so much for the holidays (2 desserts instead of 5, for example) or making one of the options something healthier, but you have to be careful to not make people completely tune you out. It's counterproductive.

When I had my sleeve, I was excited for it. I wasn’t overjoyed - I’d rather have never been obese in the first place 😅 - but I wanted to have it, took it very seriously, made all sorts of commitments to myself that were destined to fail (I’ll never have a cookie again - yeah, sure buddy). I was in the right mindset to succeed. I’ve regained some weight, but what’s really motivating my revision is GERD. All I can think about is that I didn’t want a bypass the first time around for some specific reasons (dumping, flatulence, nutritional deficits). I’m not excited for this. I’m not eager to make certain lifestyle changes. In short, I’m not in the right mindset. Who else went through this? How did you prepare yourself?

I had this happen at about 100 lbs lost. Went to a meeting and someone I hadn't seen in more than year (from a previous employer) was amazed and clearly wanted to ask a lot of questions. It was very reaffirming because sometimes it is hard to see the changes on a day to day basis. Most people don't mention my weight directly, but a lot of comments about how I look amazing or look really different. If I ever get close to my goal (in another 100 lbs) I'm sure the reactions will be even more pronounced.