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I had my surgery about five years ago and maintained a loss of about 50 pounds after that, far short of my goal. I'm also diabetic, so was put on Ozempic for that about six or seven months ago and have experienced the appetite suppressant effects of that, very useful. So I started losing quite slowly with that, and then, on the advice of the psychologist my diabetes doctor recommended, I signed up for Noom about a month ago. I was very skeptical but I am kind of a convert now, as I've lost another ten pounds or so with it. It's on my phone and while there are psychologically-based lessons and support groups to post to, what I find most useful are the daily weigh-ins and food tracking (on some phones it will also track your steps, but my knees are shot and walking is not my thing--I swim for exercise, just not enough). You enter what you eat and the program keeps track of the (estimated) calories; I have a 1200-calorie daily limit. The program is very supportive and recognizes that this isn't a straight-line process. We do better some days than others. But I'll admit that I think twice about eating something caloric when I'm at or near (or over!) my daily limit. I'll add that a side effect of the Ozempic I'm on is that on the day I take it and the day after (it's a once-a-week shot), I've learned to be very, very careful about what I eat. The side effects if I have something carby are not pleasant, let me just say without further details!

Once skin has been stretched there’s really nothing you can do about it (think of a well used stretched out hair band) except to surgically remove it. The younger you are, the shorter the length of time you’ve been obese& if you’ve been blessed with good genes you will have less sagging skin. I chose not to go down the surgery path to remove my bat wings (or tuck shop lady arms as we call them here in Australia - tuck shops are school canteens). I still wear sleeveless clothing. I avoid strapless, narrow straps or cut away shoulders as they tend to show off the loose skin more. I just don’t go waving my arms about in the air so others can’t really see anything. It must work as I was told a few months ago that I had beautiful arms. 😂😂😂

The pre-op diet is difficult not only due to fewer calories, but because you are going through withdrawal from carbs. Every time you stray from the food plan, you with struggle more because withdrawal starts all over again. Consider the possibility that you are a sugar/food addict. Trigger foods are often sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, processed foods. If you abstain from these things the food plan gets easier every day. If you doubt it, look at my pre-surgery losses in the chart below. I confess that I have strayed and the setbacks were painful, but I now know that this is what I must do for life. Any of these books may be helpful.

That's exactly what I dealt with. Eventually my doctor put me back on metformin. I don't have diabetes, but it can help with weight loss by making you not hungry. I was so upset that I was hungry after surgery, but the psychologist at my surgery center says about 20% of her patients don't lose their hunger. Good luck!

OMG on your weight loss... AMAZING! Highly_Undermedicated, no one can force you to undergo a procedure - however, they can use those terms to get you to understand the risks of being underweight. As Arabesque suggested, continue conversation with your team and also acknowledge that "I just can't eat all that" is suggestive of an opportunity to look at what you are eating and compliment or replace the volume of what you are eating with something that would compliment both your body AND the doctors. Best Wishes, Will

it's very common to have a 10-20 lb regain in year 3 without much effort. I was convinced it would never happen to me - BUT...it did. That said, since you're dealing with too much muscle loss, then yes -it'd be good to stop the weight loss since you need to maintain your health. I started gradually adding calories when I got down into the 130s (too low for me) ("gradually adding" since it would have been too hard to suddenly add 500 or so calories a day to my diet - it took a few weeks to get up there).

I am, but it not just weight loss i referred to its the psychological side of things which i feel is more important. Because if you are struggling mentally you in turn struggle physically too.

I’m on preop liquid never was on insulin just metformin and my sugars are really high. My surgeon is having me see my endocrinologist on Monday. So if you have an endocrinologist I’d see him/her. My surgeon said meds are adjusted. God willing we will all be no longer diabetic after the weight loss. Fingers crossed

So I was sleeved almost 7 years ago. I've had horrible GERD pretty much ever since. There has also been some weight regain. If my insurance covers the revision surgery, will I have to do the months of supervised weight loss, or would I skip that since it's medically necessary? I'm looking to research all options....I hate having to take pills for the reflux. I know it's a question for my dr or insurance company, just wanted to see everyone else's experience. Scared to do another surgery!!

Sounds super disheartening! I have only lost 30lbs so far too, but that isn't cause to give up. I had my A1C done last week, and in just 30lbs of loss I'm no longer diabetic, not even pre-diabetic. Any loss is good loss. If you are feeling angry and frustrated, acknowledge it, then ask what you need to do to get things moving in a positive direction again. More water? Different macros? Physical activity? Everyone's journey is different, so don't compare yours to anyone else's and think you've failed. You've only failed once you quit trying. I hope it gets better, goodmanje!

I was a model child the first two weeks after surgery. I had no appetite and anything I put in my mouth was strictly out of medical necessity but I was dogged and made sure to meet my protein and water requirements every day. Lost 12 lbs. The second two weeks, I’m not sure if I was “hungry” but I found I could enjoy food again and things became more tempting. With the Doctor’s approval, and I asked many specifics of her, such as flax, vinegar, and protein bars with nuts, she reassured me “I couldn’t hurt my stomach”, I moved forward and, while eating 75% on target, I also incorporated small amounts of things from my old life – a bite of bread roll, a 1” square of brownie, half a flour tortilla, a piece of corn dog. All while keeping my calories between 700-900 a day. Nothing seemed to bother my stomach and my capacity, while certainly limited, was more than I expected. At my four week appt, the nutritionist was a bit horrified and pretty much wrote me up as non-compliant. Said that most people were eating about 500 calories a day at that point. After sulking (and stalling) for another week, I started adding a protein shake back for breakfast, upped my water by 16 ounces and focusing more on the basics: using a scale, focusing on protein and vegetables, walking. I learned taking the tiny bites was not to help my stomach, but my head: it sucks when your meal is over in 3 or 4 bites. I claimed I could not walk because I have grade 4 arthritis in my knee and I’m really busy, but if I get up early, I can get a mile in before I go to work. And I added ankle weights to up the effectiveness. As of now, the scale is moving again after the stall from hell but I’ve also, grudgingly, learned the rules are there for a reason. I’m not here to be austere, at age 59, my only reason for loss is health, and I don’t feel the drive to be thin/attractive, so I still have my little treat: a 70 calorie square of baking chocolate. My calories these days still fall closer to 750 but I’ve lived a life of self-indulgence and self-discipline is hard to come by now.

you're only a few days out of surgery - I'd give it some time. Sleep apnea usually improves (if not disappears) after significant weight loss.

In general, if the surgery is to treat a complication, then it is not considered a weight loss procedure, but a procedure to treat that complication, so the basic WLS rules don't apply (including the "one WLS per lifetime" rule that some insurance imposes.) It's mostly a matter of how it is coded in the billing department, but the surgeon and his staff should be able to handle this. If not, find a different surgeon who can. Good luck,

The stats tend to say the average weight loss after about 5 years is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put yourself in the healthy BMI range. Some lose more. Some lose less. Some keep it off. Some don’t & happily settle at a higher weight. This can be from choice, genetics, lifestyle, complacency, health, etc. For example it’s not uncommon for people to experience a 10-20lb bounce back regain around year 3. I think some surgeons give the average expected weight loss to keep expectations realistic. Mine didn’t but he asked me what weight I’d like to reach. I said 60kg because that was the lowest weight I’d reached the many, many times I’d lost weight in the past & it gave me a bmi of about 23. He said it was a realistic goal. I exceeded it (135% of the weight I had to lose). My lowest weight was 48.2. For about 14 months I’ve been about 49kg but I waver between 48.5 & 49.5. But I’m close to that 3yr mark & you never know what the future will bring so I try to be realistic about that. The average is probably a good goal but no one says you can’t exceed it & set new goals if you want & if you can can without undue restrictions & limitations on your life. Even though we’re guilty of regularly checking that scale & we know all our stats, ultimately, it’s not about the number on that scale. It’s about you being happy & healthy & enjoying your life.

I'm sorry you're struggling. Hitting a plateau or weight loss stall is so frustrating. It's a time when we are very vulnerable and likely to give up on ourselves, go back to unhealthy habits and resist support or advice. It feels like nobody understands what we're going through, or how we feel, and that old self-loathing starts to rear it's ugly and counterproductive head. Please don't give up on yourself. You made a decision to move forward with surgery because you wanted something very badly, don't let it go. Now that it's done, give yourself some grace and try to get back into the headspace where you can take advantage of the benefits. You've made changes, but are not getting the desired results. So, you need to make some tweaks to nudge your body back into the weight loss track. In order to make those tweaks, you're going to need to buckle down for a short time and track your eating. There's really no other way to go about figuring out what has you stalled without taking a very close look at that. It's a major pain int he a$$ and it takes discipline, but it's not forever. Commit to doing it 100% for just one week, that's long enough to reveal where the pitfalls are and find a solution. It's entirely possible that you are not eating enough. My longest stall was broken when I made a very moderate increase to my protein and fat. It was literally a difference of about 4 ounces of food a day that flipped my weight loss from stop to go. Tracking can be approached in different ways: you can either use an app to track things as you eat, write things down each time you eat then log everything into an app or website at the end of each day, or make a menu, log it at that time and stick to that religiously. I cycle through these methods depending on the other things going on in my life at any point. The last scenario is easiest to manage if you put aside time to do your meal prep for the week, so the food is ready for you to just reheat (if necessary) and eat. I can never stick to a planned menu unless I have the food ready to grab n go. I've tried a few apps, my favorite is MyFitnessPal. After tracking for 7 days, take a good critical look at your macros - calories, protein, fat, carbs, fiber and sodium (my personal demon) - and see if anything jumps out at you as higher or lower than you were assuming. Share your diet and macros here and you will find advice on making adjustments that will have you back on track in short order. You could find that a small change can net big results. However you decide to move forward, I wish you the best and hope you enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends.

Me and my doc count from the start of my 2 wk pre-op liquid diet. I was 235 two wks before surgery. Am 3+ years out today and weighed 117.5 this morning. At 5’2”, normal BMI for me would be ~135bs. So math says I am at 118% excess weight lost as of today. But as @catwoman7 indicated above, probably best to disregard the oft-stated 60% excess weight loss prediction. Its just an average and real life individual results vary GREATLY. Good Luck! ❤️

My program calculates percentage of weight loss from the weight recorded on my first visit with the program. Personally, I calculate and list on here my weight as recorded at a doctor visit when I started a new diabetes medication and started serious weight-loss efforts on my own several months before joining the surgery preparation program.

Can anyone comment on whether the percentage of excess weight expected to be lost with gastric sleeve is actually post-surgery vs all the pre-surgery weight loss from expected on your own weight loss and the pre-op diet? I'm expecting the ~60% excess weight loss predicted to be additional Post-surgery weight loss on top of what I've lost so far since gastric sleeve reports as a surgical intervention. The "60% excess weight loss" shouldn't count what I've lost on my own with a restrictive diet and exercise? If not, having the surgery to lose just 50# or less seems maybe not a great choice? Thoughts? Or, can anyone share their own stats showing the 60% average loss counting only post-surgical weight loss?

Hello, I just joined this group today as I know that I will be having my surgery at any point after my psychological evaluation which is Dec 6th. My insurance is state Medicaid, so I had to do the 6 months process and I finished my last nutrition visit last month. I was told to lose up to 5% of my weight, and to be honest, it's been super hard to do that. My weight keeps fluctuating and I'm afraid that I won't be able to lose the weight in time. Has anybody experienced this, but were able to lose weight with their pre op diet and was able to get the surgery? I'm hoping that the pre op diet will be my savior to getting me down to the weight they want me to be before surgery. I've heard of stories where people couldn't get their surgery date because they weren't at the weight they needed to be in order to get the surgery. Help!

I'm seriously thinking of upping my protein again too. Especially since the surgeon recommended it for my hair loss anyway when we spoke last week. Wonder if it will jump start things for me too like it did for you? My activity is what it's always been. Just walking. Months ago I started weights again but haven't stuck to it like I have just walking. So just walking is what I do and have been for months. At least 5 days a week. Gonna have to make a conscious effort on upping that protein. Thanks!

So i feel like I have good news, and not so great. I'm a hair under 90 lbs since starting this process, meaning the pre-op diet, and I'm down 73 lbs since surgery on 5/12/21, all of which still stuns me. I am grateful beyond measure and trying to adjust to my jiggly, flappy body. When ordering clothes online, I wind up ordering 3 of the same item, all in different sizes. I'm proud of the journey, and not so proud of some of the food choices I've been making, ie. skipping meals, lack of exercise and am sitting with the realization that the eating habits that got me to 277 lbs are still right.... there! Er, here! So, here come the holidays, a trip to Hawaii after Christmas and life. I need a pep talk about how my body, my LIFE is important enough to eat healthy, whole, live foods and some serious encouragement throughout the winter (hibernation season in my neck of the woods). I also have an adult daughter who is overweight and has been gaining. We also work together..... it has been challenging. LOVE hearing all your stories.

I think that's remarkable weight loss! A month-long stall is probably super discouraging. Are you exercising more, less or not at all? Too much salt in your diet? Thyroid meds (should you take them) off? Hang tough, sistah. Nearly 90 lbs less than March is incredible!!

Are you in touch with your original surgeon? I started there, and my surgeon refused to help me. After that, I started reading about the revision options. I did a lot of reading and decided I wanted the DS, but the doctor I went to only does the SADI. Weight loss is slower than my original surgery, but that's expected. Check your insurance plan and see if there is any language regarding revisions. If your not in touch with your surgeon, I say look at the bariatric institute UTAH. My surgeon was Dr. Medlin.

13 weeks out, and I’ve lost 23lbs. I kept going up and down 3lbs, and then I would stall, which was very frustrating. I stopped looking at the scale for the week. I ate holiday food… not too much, but I ate enough that I was sure I’d have gained another 2-3 lbs. I got on the scale and lost 7lbs since last Monday. It’s not a massive difference from my previous post…. Only 2lbs, but.. long as the scale is moving, I’m not going to complain. For those of you wondering about the poop and the smell… it does smell weird.. and it can get really bad if you eat bad food or something you don’t digest well. I don’t have gas issues, and I only poop twice in the morning if I’m eating a normal diet. If I eat take-out, I will poop 5-6 times In a day. One thing I know for sure, as far as weight loss if I work out, I'm sure I could lose an lb a day. Next week I will try for 5x a week along with following weight watchers.

Ah, its nice to see ppl checking back on this thread. Its been over a year and I ve had my ups and downs like everyone. Had started a new job and the stress caused me to eat badly for 3 weeks. But I went back to my food plan after. Every time I messed up I always went back to the plan. I wish I could do more for my diet and exercise , develop good life long eating habits.... I havent reached my goal weight yet and weight loss is real slow now. Hopefully by the start of 2022 I'll have implemented some changes to kick start the weight loss again. Take care everyone.