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This coming Friday is my 6 month “surgiversary” and I’m 174 today (down 84 pounds from 258 pre-pre op diet so technically 6.5 months next week I guess). I totally thrilled with my loss so far. I feel good and I’m relatively happy with the way I look, but the anniversary is making me look at the numbers. Does anyone know when they calculate BMI if we should go by our young adult BMI or our current one. I mean our bones still weigh the same as our tallest height I would assume but I have shrunk at least an inch. I am just curious to know when I will reach a “normal” BMI. I went from 40.4 to 27.3. I’m getting close 🎉

@ShoppGirl I am having the same issues right now. I have been up and down the same 2 pounds for almost two weeks. It’s like the doctor jinxed me. He told me I should lose 20-25 pounds between my last appointment and the next visit in 8 weeks. Well, tomorrow makes 2 weeks since I have seen him and I have only lost 2.3 pounds. I am really struggling to get calories and rarely hit 600 for the day. I also struggle with my fluid goals. I can hit protein no problem. I still can only eat about 1/3 cup at a sitting and since I have zero hunger, it makes it hard. I feel like I am forcing myself to eat. I have committed to making the gym at least 4 days a week. Because my knees are “bone on bone” I am limited to which exercise machines are comfortable and walking is not. I think I may call the orthopedic surgeon and see about more shots for my knees. It is funny when you hear people that think this journey is easy. There is nothing easy about this.

It's been a much better week even though I've drank a little bit. I'm not proud of it and I'm actually very angry with myself. However, the upside to it was that I didn't get drunk and black out. I've realized too that I need to go to therapy, I still struggle with many things in my life. But I recognize that and I'm willing to take that head on. I have an appointment with my therapist next week to get back on track. I've also been eating much differently than I have been as of late. I'm back to mostly protein and very low carbs. I've been walking daily, even though it's only for about a mile or so it's still better than sitting around. My energy level is rising and I'm putting more thought into what I'm doing physically, mentally and nutritionally. Thanks to all of you that have given encouragement and shown concern. I appreciate it more than you may know. I've let a lot of people down as of late, most notably myself, and know that people actually care is refreshing and empowering. So thank you! Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using BariatricPal mobile app

Yes. you're all right of course. I'm just blowing this out of proportion. As the saying goes. "it's a bad day. not a bad life." I think I'm stressed about my long trip to on Sunday and seeing people for the first time in 20 years. And your definitely right. I've been eating more than I have in weeks and more than I shoud, but definitely less than this time last year.

i had my preadmission class yesterday and they spoke about what we can and can't have as well. they don't do the two-week liquid diet before they just have a green and lean diet basically healthy eating that we must do before the surgery and the liquid diet 2 weeks post op. my date is 10/29 so start the diet Monday. they gave us two shakes one we have to take 12 hours before surgury time and the other 3 hours prior to surgery . the day before surgery we can have a liht breakfast and after 12 noon all liquids .

I absolutely welcomed the pureed food phase, because by then I had been on liquids only for a month. I cook dinner every day for my family so I just took tiny portions of meat and veg (and teeeeeny tiny - like a teaspoon - portion of the carb) and blitzed that with extra liquid/gravy/whatever to make my little meals at the start. I so loved the taste of that food after so many weeks on non food. I didn't focus on protein then, only on getting in my fluids. My team hadn't stipulated any specific protein goal. I am very lucky in that I haven't experienced any digestive issues at all following my sleeve. I know that many people do develop intolerances, both temporary and permanent. Hope you enjoy your transition to proper food OP.

I know I’m over reacting and not giving myself enough grace but I have gained a pound this week and only lost 6 lbs in a month. I’m so frustrated! I really wanted the weight to fall off after surgery and I have come to terms that it will be a slow process (even though I’m eating so much less than I was). I have even been trying to walk more. I know there is nothing really to do but keep going and it will get better, it’s just so disheartening to not to see the scale going down, especially at 5.5 weeks out.

I am so glad I'm not the only one who eats sweets every day. I told myself that I was not going to restrict myself from eating sweets, knowing that I like sweets, I didn't wanna set myself up for failure so I include them just as I do protein and healthy food that I have to eat. OMG I'm going to try your peanut butter balls. 🤪😋! Simplest form for my cups would be to find your favorite chocolate (no sugar added or high coca content), add coconut oil to it for the fats. Microwave it. I work out a lot I'm not afraid of fats. Buy your cup molds, then really have fun with it put whatever you want in it. I try something new every week. Pop in freezer 30 mins. I don't give measurements cause you'll have to tweak it to your dietary thingy things. 😂, @AmberFL

I second everything said by @Bessieboop1981 I was also sleeved 8 weeks ago, and have found it hard at times to deal with the head hunger and the change to my body and lifestyle (former chef and pastry chef) Food has been a HUGE part of my life for a long time, and now it is not so much! But that doesn't stop the desire! The physical pain of overeating is very real post surgery, I can not eat much at once, and sometimes grieve that, but I do know that after trying to lose weight my whole adult life, this is the only thing that will help to control the volume I eat. That is what I was after, the handbrake to stop me overeating, but it is only a tool, the fact is you need to be ready emotionally. The physical risk factor of Gastric Sleeve is minimal, however, as said above, all surgery has risks including serious complications and even death and this has to be weighed against the potential benefit. Only you can know if it's worth it to you. I also wish you well!

Yes, I'm 60 and had my gastric sleeve surgery last week. Currently in the full liquid phase. Looking for support in my area while preparing to return to work in a couple weeks.

Checking back in as I am nearly at my new goal weight now. My husband and I joined a gym in November when the weather turned too cold for us to walk/hike outside. We have stuck to going nearly every day except when we are on vacation/traveling/sick. I was on a cruise 1/23-2/3 and I even went to the gym five times onboard! Unfortunately, I got pretty sick as soon as I got home and didn't make it to the gym that first full week back. All that said and done, between the cruise and being sick, I did gain one pound, but I am back on track now and will be going to the gym for the third day in a row this evening. I am back to just "overweight" instead of obese and nearly back to the weight I was when I met my husband 8 years ago.

Ugh, I feel you. One of the things that irks me the most about troublesome foods is having to cut my protein short -- or getting ill and losing what little I got down. I seem to have trouble with chicken even before it's been reheated -- again, other than ground. Lately beef has been giving me problems too, other than barbacoa brisket from my local burrito place. Oh, other than jerky? I found a no sugar /sweetener added beef jerky that has given me absolutely no issues and is nicely high in protein. It takes me close to an hour to eat a 30g serving but it's helpful to stash at the office for an afternoon snack. Today, I realized I grieve dim sum. I don't know if it's the socialness, the overall experience or the food itself -- or some combination of the three. I've had some steamed Korean dumplings a few weeks ago and just didn't eat much of the dumpling wrapper itself, and have been able to eat shrimp siu mai at a Japanese restaurant. But being able to go to a dim sum restaurant and eat whatever they pass by with -- without having to interrogate them about ingredients or cooking methods -- I will miss that.

Hi every one I am new here I had my surgery on October 24,2023 my date of surgery weight was 322 and I am currently 198.6 which at times I can not believe how much I have lost but at other times when I am in a stall I feel like it goes so slow even though I am grateful the way my body looks or the way I see myself in the mirror places tricks in my head I also want to know how you guys stay consistent with working out and eating healthy all the time because now at almost a year out I am scared from all the weight gain stories and I am scared because now I eat a little more than before and I just want to go back and I am so scared. My nutritionist suggested this app and so far I love reading everybody story.

I need to get back on working out; I have been slacking. I'm doing okay food wise though so that's good. I just got my bloodwork done so I'm waiting to hear back on how all my levels are since surgery. I had my first cookie and first small glass of wine this week at a baby shower; it was nice to feel more normal again, but also not go crazy.

Lots of great advice here but I will add my experience with having done this before and just having a revision that exercising and eating clean makes it so much easier. My mood and energy level are so much better this time and head hunger is pretty non existent so far (part of which is a greater metabolic change witb the more aggressive surgery I’m sure but when I don’t exercise as much or I eat processed junk I can feel the difference part of it may also be that I’m just too darn busy to think much about food). For me carbs crave carbs. I learned this after my sleeve but I wasn’t super careful with it. I’m not taking about the better carbs from fruits and veggies, but the processed type. Eating even a smaller portion is a slippery slope for me so I will avoid these as long as I can and if I do have them I know I will have to white knuckle it a few days through the cravings. I make all my food from scratch and freezing food has made it possible to not cook every night. I freeze small portions and I have a note in my phone if what’s on the freezer by date. When I wake up and look at my calendar as I’m drinking my proffee (chilled coffee and protein shake) I decide if I have time to cook and if not I pull a bag out of the freezer and put in the fridge. Then when I get home I put it on the counter or defrost in microwave if necessary time wise and make a veggie to throw it together. A really nutritious and yummy dinner done in 10-15 minutes and bonus, a lot less dishes. I started walking early out and added group classes that are offered at my community center and now i am up every morning walking first thing. I actually put on exercise clothes after my shower and sleep In them and first thing I’m already dressed and ready to go for my walk. ooh and the support groups that my team offers are great in addition to staying very active on here. I actually met a walking buddy there and we walk together down by the river once a week, the day that I don’t have group classes and we cheer each other in in addition to the once a month in person support group meeting. I also chose to tell more people this time. Some were against it but I educated them and now they are starting to come around about it. I think it will be easier fir me to say no thank you to food when everyone around me knows my goals. The first time I did this so many people would say to me you’re doing so good. You can have one slice of pizza or one brownie but the problem was this was my family and I was around them several days a week so just this one became just three or four. I actually told them that when I see pizza or brownies, I already want one bad enough on my own. I don’t need someone else tempting me. I think they got it. We’ll see. I guess if they do it this time.

Nothing much to report this week, everything is just ticking over. Weight is stable, no losses this week after the unexpected losses of the week before. Happily going to the gym 3 times a week and I do feel improvements even if I can’t see them. Been to see my GP today (she’s the one who put me forward for Bariatric surgery) I’ve had a sharp pain smack bang in the middle of my chest. First time was a couple of months ago - it woke me up and lasted about 5 minutes or so. Could only be eased by sitting forward. Then nothing else until the pain happened again yesterday afternoon. The area still felt tender when I woke up this morning so rang the docs and actually got a face to face appointment - the shock!! Anyway, GP listened to my heart and chest, asked a stack of questions and came to the conclusion that it’s some sort of ligament pain where something is slightly out of alignment. I then explained about the endoscopy 💩show I had - pinned down, thrashing around etc and she thinks it could be caused by that as the timing adds up. She did ask if I was taking ibuprofen and I said no and explained about not taking anything until my next set of bloods (17th) in order to give my liver some breathing space. Advised to take after my bloods if needed as it will help recovery. Thankfully the gym isn’t causing any pain so I was cleared to carry on with that. We did have a chat about WLS and how everything has been so far. She is so incredibly supportive, it makes such a change. She said she’s updated with everything from the hospital and is really pleased with how things are going, so that was nice! So, that’s about it. Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Onwards and Downwards 😉

I’m one week out of surgery and I’ve been consistently hitting 4000 steps a day since I left the hospital a couple of days ago I’ll take that as a win any day

I agree with @SpartanMaker eating more might sound crazy but it works! Resistance training has completely transformed my body. I started incorporating it around 4–5 months post-op, and the weight started dropping like crazy. My body looked significantly better compared to when I was just doing cardio. Around 6–7 months post-op, I added 30 minutes of running at least 5 days a week, and at that time, I was eating between 2,100–2,300 calories daily. Even with that intake, I was losing weight and had actually dropped below my goal weight. I had to take a break due to surgery, and during that time my weight fluctuated upward—which was really frustrating. Even though I cut my calories and kept my macros on point, the scale wasn’t moving the way I wanted it to. But now that I’m back to resistance training (I’m not cleared to run yet), my weight is slowly trending back down again. I say try it! If you would like some guidance I have a few circuits that I do and has worked really well! I am happy to share ❤️

I didn’t have significant issues immediately after the surgery. I know a lot of people experience, dumping, nausea, and vomiting. I had one experience of vomiting, and it was simply because I made a bad choice to drink a drink that had too much sugar in it. I really had, other than the inability to eat big portions, no issues at all. Since that was what I was going for to begin with I was pretty happy and felt very fortunate. I followed what I now know to be a pretty typical less fiber, diet as the lettuce and other things seem to not do well. But vegetables that were cooked were fine. About three years ago, I started to experience extreme, explosive diarrhea - at first I thought it was random… Maybe I was sick, or I had eaten something bad. At that point, the occurrences were about a month apart. As this started to occur more often, I started eliminating things from my diet. Last summer, it was every day. I also had cramping and it would continue until my bowel was empty. At that point out of complete necessity I changed everything I wrote down what my habits were, anything that was consistent that I was consuming. I started systematically removing. I had stopped drinking diet sodas about five years ago, and it never occurred to me that artificial sugar could play a role in this however, I did find out that as I added, sugar-free vanilla to my coffee each day, that was playing a huge role. As soon as I started drinking, just black coffee I felt some relief. I thought that maybe I found the solution. It went from every day to every other day basically. So I started cutting more things out. And then I started having more symptoms. My stomach hurt when I ate. It felt like my esophagus hurt. I started having food come back up. I had to eliminate anything with oil in it. Almost everything I enjoy eating in anyway is off the list. Which is fine, I’m 63. I don’t need to enjoy my meals, exactly. However, it makes selecting food very difficult, especially as I travel a lot. I’ve now started adding gas, more cramping, and the symptoms are better one day worse than next. as to what my team says, lol… My gastroenterology appointment is next month. I have been waiting four months for that appointment. My blood work is perfect better than it’s ever been. I’ve had an ultrasound on my abdomen. Everything is fine except for my gallbladder has some sludge in it. I am well aware that my gallbladder perhaps is part of the problem. However, my PCP thinks that I should just lose weight and my gallbladder will be OK. With that, I can’t lose weight. I’ve actually gained during this whole time. Which seems almost impossible as I spend a tremendous amount of time eliminating everything I eatalmost immediately. The other amazing part of this is I feel great other than the diarrhea/other stuff. I go to the gym, I travel every week for work, I am in different environments with different schedules and somehow I have been able to work around my situation. I have had to cut out longer flights, which has made me really sad because I’ve missed several opportunities to go places I’ve wanted to go, but the risk of not being able to being in a bathroom for a half hour is too high. my current list of what I can eat with no issue is toast, sharp cheddar cheese, cooked green beans, chicken noodle soup, and Parmesan cheese crisps. It’s not a diet that anyone really wants to live on lol. Nor is it actually possible to live on.

I think so long as you have a handle on how you may react if those scales don't budge or go up, then it is entirely up to you how and when you weigh yourself. I am in the same boat as you in terms of ADHD brain telling me I need to weigh everyday, but it is having quite a negative effect on me at present! The scales just haven't moved (apart from up 2lbs and then back down those same 2lbs) for about 1.5 weeks now. My surgeon hates scales, and has told me just to throw them out as the number is unimportant 🤣 I am actually trying to get my partner to hide them from me so I only weigh myself 1-2 times a month...lets hope that works!

I had my husband take photos of me - all four sides -- every month on my surgery date from the night before my surgery until the day I hit maintenance. It's great having that documentation of my journey. Plus when you get to the point where the weight loss slows down and you're not seeing differences from month to month, you can look back at photos taken three or four months earlier and DEFINITELY see the difference. It helped keep my motivation up!

Here is some info: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/semaglutide-weight-loss-what-you-need-know#:~:text=After 68 weeks%2C half of,nearly a third lost 20%. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-02996-7 You should know rather quickly (a month or so) if it’s working for you. Speak with your specialist about all of your concerns.

It’s takes a little while. They have to transcribe everything and make it all official so it can go to the insurance. Some doctors don’t have anyone on staff to do that and they have to send it out so to speak. Mine was over a week.

If you don't like to cook how about some (low salt) deli meat rolled with mashed avacado and anything else you want to add in there so a meat wrap with on actual wrap/bread? You could make your own simple quiche - tortilla protein wrap as a the base in baking tin, add in three eggs, a cup of cottage cheese, salt & peper- mix and then add your toppings of your choice such as spinach, green beans, peppers, tomatoes, can top with mozzarella then if you like. Oven bake until golden.

It's been crazy hot here too! I hate having to go outside. Don't you have a "walking pad?" I think you were the one who talked about it, and that made me get one. I've been walking on mine every other day or so since my knee is feeling better. I can only do 20 minutes, but that's better than nothing! It sounds like a few of us are stalling scale-wise. I've been moving down slowly and will take that! But hearing about you all, I'm expecting a stall too. On the positive side, I've been slowly going through my closet, and it's been fun! I have "new old clothes" that I didn't even realize were in there. Today I said to my husband, "Like my new pants?" He said, "Oh where did you get those" Me, "in the closet and I don't know how long I've had them or where they came from, but they fit, and I like them!" lol