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Nope. Some brief stalls but pretty consistent loss all along. Now two months past my 2 year mark I’ve dropped another 5 lbs. I’m now making a concerted effort to maintain. I’m happy, healthy, fit, and have zero ill effects from surgery. I followed the plan I was given, I now eat a slightly higher carb content diet, but still focus on protein first.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean, either, but if you mean you've stalled this week, then you're experiencing the infamous "three week stall" that probably 90% of us experience. Just so you know, this will likely just be the first of many. To get through it, just stick to your program and stay off your scale for a few days. Your weight loss WILL start up again (although probably not 30 lbs - losses really slow down after the first month). if you want to read more about the stall, do a search of this site on the three week stall. Last time I checked, there were over 17,500 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding..)

That’s fabulous! Sounds so similar to my journey so far! I started at 285, got down to 251 by surgery day (October 13th), and am now sitting at 239! I am looking forward to exercising more and accelerating the loss (after a little more healing time). I am 46. Had my surgery at USC Keck in LA.

Hello! I received gastric sleeve surgery on October 13th. It has been very re-assuring to read all of your stories and questions. Knowing that many of you are having the same pains and issues has helped calm a lot of my concerns/fears. I will admit that these first two weeks were very challenging. I had many “why on earth did I choose this?” moments. I am seriously grieving the loss of my favorite foods. Lord please help me control myself if I have to watch another gooey cheese pizza commercial! But, I decided to have gastric sleeve when my blood pressure kept creeping up to dangerously high levels (190s). I was scared I would have a heart attack any day. This surgery has renewed my hope in my future long life. Since I started working with the nutritionist at the end of July, I have lost 46 pounds. After surgery, my blood pressure has reached normal healthy numbers (110) for the first time in years! So, I am trying to remain focused on the positive reasons rather than my loss of gooey cheese pizza.

I'm sorry you're struggling with these things, but I think this is all completely normal. Some folks who have VSG do not feel hunger for a period of time, but many people do. Neither is right or wrong, its just due to each person's anatomy/surgery/surgeon, etc. Similarly, cravings are completely normal and people feel them to varying degrees at different points in their journey. At one month out, I know your options are limited, but maybe you could find some substitutes? Look for a good protein powered in a flavor you like, sugar free jello or popsicles might be a good option, or try a sugar free drink mix (crystal light, mio, etc.). As for hunger and weight loss, are you hitting your protein and fluid goals? If so, how much of your protein is coming from shakes/powders and how much is coming from food? Following your programs plan, you might want to start aiming to get as much protein as you can from your food intake and slowly decrease the supplements, as they won't fill you up and keep you full nearly as long as more dense protein sources. Additionally, increasing your protein and hitting your fluid goals can also help with weight loss. Ultimately, follow your plan and contact your surgeon/dietician if you need additional support. That's what they are they are there for! But you're on the right track and its still super early in your journey. Be patient with yourself and trust the process!

The ASMBS has recommendations for vitamins post-WLS; I can't speak to Celebrate, as I don't use those, but a good starting point is a vitamin that meets the ASMBS recommendations for your surgery type. Personally, I use ProCare and love them. It would also be helpful to get labs drawn and see if you have any specific deficiencies or areas of concern and build on that. Ensuring you're taking the right vitamins for your needs is critical and would likely go a long way in helping you feel better and possibly slowing the hair loss. Definitely reach out to your surgeon, too, if you need additional support!

You have to understand that they are giving your worst case scenarios because some people simply do not motivate themselves and stick to the program. You have the potential to lose a lot more depending on YOU. If you follow the program to the T, exercise more than you ever have, count your calories and eat the right foods, you can lose a LOT more. If they say you can lose 200 pounds and you do not follow the guidelines, then you are angry at them. There is a touch of reality here that you have to understand. The extent of the weight loss depends more on YOU and YOUR actions to use the tool they created for you and use it properly. Remember, your surgery is a tool and you have to do other things to make the tool work more efficiently for you. If you do not properly use the tool you will not get the most out of it. They are just trying to keep your expectations realistic.

Yes, I still get hungry. I never lost my hunger completely even in the beginning. It’s much more of a struggle to maintain my loss that I was expecting it to be.

Most of the stuff not in stage 3 diet tend to be things they want you to not eat for the first 6-12 months. I was told no bread, pasta, or rice at all until 1 year post op. But then I learned I had a wheat allergy that developed after surgery (3% chance. they don't warn you about it because it's unlikely to happen, but my luck sucks). So when I eat bread or pasta it has to be gluten free (though I eat chickpea pasta noodles because of the protein. I only have gluten free pasta for any slow cooker pasta recipes because chickpea noodles are for quick dishes, not for dishes that have to simmer because they end up with an odd after taste). I also eat cauliflower rice instead of regular rice because it's low carb and I just prefer it. I actually have yet to try regular rice post op (I'm 21 months post op with the Loop Duodenal Switch/SADI-S/SIPS surgery). I'm technically not really in maintenance yet, but I'm borderline. I've only lost 1 pound this month, 1 last month, 1 the month before that etc. so I feel like I'm really close to maintenance, but still losing. Just super slooooow lol. But I'm eating more at what I consider a sustainable diet to just maintain my weight loss instead of actively trying to lose more. If I do lose more then great, if I don't then that's fine too because I've reached a weight that I'm happy at. I consume around 1300-1400 calories a day and have a minimum of 80g of protein (which my surgeon told me was my minimum daily protein intake). My daily diet is very different then yours will be I'd imagine, as I have food allergies (wheat allergy, high fructose corn syrup allergy, and I'm lactose intolerant. I had the other two issues before the surgery, but the wheat was a new one. I also developed an outright allergy to NSAIDS after surgery too, which sucks because I have arthritis). Really the diet for the DS and say... Gastric Bypass is pretty much the same long term except in protein requirements and the amount of vitamins that you'll need. If your dietician/nutritionist deals with gastric bypass patients and isn't positive about long term requirements I was told by my surgeon that it's pretty much the same just DS patients females need a minimum of 80-100g of protein a day and men require 100+g minimum of protein a day while it's quite a bit less for GB patients.

My surgeon's plan was very low-carb but also low-fat. It wasn't working for me, and my weight loss slowed and then stalled. My new NUT and I put together a plan that was a little higher in carbs, and it worked—apparently my body needs carbs to prepare for working in the beet fields of the gulag or whatever. Added in about 100 calories of carbs a day (that's 25g, math people) and the weight loss resumed its 3-4 lbs. a week swoosh. Every body is different.

I lost 31kg to goal then an additional 11.5 bringing the total to 42.5kg (93.6lbs). I weighed 48.5kgs then & 49kgs now so I have been keeping pretty stable so far but I’ve years ahead of me. Many surgeons will tell you the weight loss you should expect to lose is the average loss. That is what the average loss is at about 5 years out. This figure is about 65% of the weight you were to lose to be in the healthy BMI range. So if you were to lose 100lbs to put you in the healthy BMI range the average loss at the 5 yrs mark would be about 65lbs. Of course this does not mean this is where you’ll be. Some exceed this some don’t. Years 2 & 3 post surgery are quite notorious for a 10lb+/- regain. Some because of complacency, some personal choice to better complement their lifestyle. The surgery will help you get so far. The rest is up to you. As long as what you chose to do re eating habits & activity levels are sustainable & not restrictive, you’re happy & healthy, the actual number on the scale doesn’t matter that much.

Slim Bunny it will get better! Keep the course. This is such a wonderful phase and opportunity to change the relationship with foods and portion discipline that got most of us in trouble previous to surgery. Here are some dishes I looked forward to mid-way during weight loss phase. i.e. Fresh homemade egg salad, soft fruits, bean dishes that satisfied. First it was a few bites, then ½ a cup graduating to ¾ cup to one cup. Now I am maintaining with approximately 1 ½ cups... Your tummy will gradually adjust, digest more effectively and tell you how much you need to sustain. Go with the flow in selecting healthy clean foods throughout the process AND your rewards will be spectacular!!! This I can promise... And, yes, the protein shake regime were like Redundant and Yuck - keeping bowels challenging BUT this too shall pass. You have so much to look forward, too!!!

I had the RNY in 2000. Through the years, I gained about 90 pounds and, in January 2020, had the DS revision. My question is, after almost two years, I am still losing my hair and feeling slow and sluggish. I have a hard time taking iron (because it goes right through me), so instead of taking it, I get iron infusions a few times a year. The vitamins I do take are a multivitamin, biotin, b12, Calcium citrate, and magnesium. I noticed Celebrate Vitamins has a start-up kit for a DS consisting of Multi-ADEK, Iron 60, and Calcium Citrate Soft Chews. It's not cheap, so I wanted to make sure it was exactly what I needed if I got it. Could you help figure out what the best vitamins are for me?

I did keto for a good bit of my weight loss period (with the full support of my Surgeon). His plan was low-carb anyway, so he didn't mind when I took it to keto levels.

DISCLAIMER: The following is what *I* did based on my own research and trial end error on how things affected *MY* body. I am NOT advocating to NOT listen to your team without educating yourself. With that said: Edited to add: I didn't realize this post would be so long, sorry! My program was to consume pre-defined "portions": each meal was supposed to consist of 25% protein, 25% starch and 50% non-starchy vegetables, and to work my way up to 1200 calories per day total with a min 60-70g protein. They also said to avoid added sugar. The didn't specifically mention to go low fat, but I mean if I followed the guidelines listed above, it would naturally be low-ish fat. Needless to say, I didn't do that. First, I couldn't get that amount of food in, Second, I tried it out, saw a swoosh in weight, and figured that going low-carb was very effective in weight loss for ME. I kept losing weight, so I just kept doing it. Why fix what ain't broke, right? More on this later... So for the majority of my weight loss phase I went ultra-low carb...was averaging less than 20 NET g of carbohydrates per day (i don't count fibre nor sugar alcohols), aimed to reach 60g protein per day, and let the fat fall where it may. My cals were about 300-400 in the first couple months, and by the time I reached goal, I was at about 800 (yes, I know this is on the low end compared to most, but it worked for ME). P.S. I feel the need to add that my nutritionist was made aware of what I was doing. And while she tut-tutted me about it, she didn't overly object. Also, all my labs came back satisfactorily during this period (and still does), and my surgeon was pleased. ***WARNING, MATH TIME...*** Given the total calories I was achieving, I wasn't truly doing KETO proper, as my fat consumption did not reach the levels required for my protein intake. True KETO is 70-80% fat, 10-20% protein & 5-10% carbs. Since I was doing 60g of protein, I would have needed to do ~75g of fat, which would have put me in the 1100 cal range...and I wasn't even coming close to that level. **** So really, I was probably doing more a version of Atkins Phase 1 (ultra-low carb). Now that I'm 3 years out, I am no longer so strict about my macros. I still *kinda* limit carbs, but not really. I eat bread on occasion, and sugar pretty regularly (in small amounts)...but i very rarely eat pasta or rice. I think its just habit now? Looking back, here is my take/opinion on going this route: TRUE Keto is very difficult to achieve in weight loss phase while keeping cals low. There is a relatively big drop in weight in the beginning of each period of going low carb. There is a bunch of science to explain this, you can google it. Going low carb makes a difference in how my face and body looks. While it looks good on my body, cuz you can see more muscle definition, its not so great on my face cuz I look gaunt. I've come to the conclusion that FOR ME, in terms of weight loss/maintenance ONLY, the ingestion of carbs has much, much less impact (if any) than calories consumed. It doesn't seem to matter if 1000 calories is made up 5% carbs or 50% carbs, I'll lose weight on it either way. Good Luck! ❤️

I was told to wait primarily because during the weight loss phase your liver is having to work like crazy to get rid of the toxins that your fat cells are releasing, and if you add alcohol to that could be very damaging.. and of course also the increased risk of alcoholism. Glad I wasn’t much of a drinker before (like.. 10 drinks a year maybe?) because dealing with food habits and changing those for the better is already a LOT! So much respect for all of you who are dealing with missing alcohol on top of everything else 🌸

Stalls are fun. NOT! The shocking with extra calories seems to work for me. If I hit a couple of weeks with no real loss, if I splurge on something, I drop like 5 the next week. I think it has something to do with Leptin levels, but I'm not a medical pro or a nutritionist so take that for what it's worth.

I agree 100%. I under went VSG in 2015 at the recommendation of my surgeon. I was initially looking into getting RNY but he stated since I was young and without children, it would be best to undergo the sleeve procedure. However, I'm 7 years post op, experience severe GERD, regained a good portion of my weight loss (my fault completely) and am now in the self pay bucket for revision as my current insurance under my employer outright refused any type of bariatric surgery. I'm not saying all this to scare anyone, I'm just saying DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU. I wish I would have put my foot down on the decision between VSG vs RNY but all and all, I did it and it is what it is. It works for some, but not for all. Unfortunately I fell into the "not for all" and it was definitely USER error. I can't speak on it, but I feel I would have had a better success rate with RNY vs VSG which is why I'm looking into the self pay option for the revision surgery. I would say to anyone looking into bariatric surgery to RESEARCH and ask a lot of questions at appointments/support groups. In the end like I said, do what is best for you. 😁

Always a good idea to get feedback from others. I was put on keto for the 2.5 weeks before surgery but that was all I did. Some will likely swear by it but personally I wouldn’t go back to it. Good to kick start a diet but not long term. Your surgery is the best kickstart you’ll ever find. The high fat intake on keto is the real issue for me. I’ve never enjoyed high fat foods & now I don’t have a gall bladder to help process all that fat. You may find your cholesterol temporarily increases while you are losing (it’s released from your fat). I believe it’s one of the reasons most surgeons & dieticians recommend low fat while you’re losing so you’re not adding to the risk. Losing large amounts of weight & high cholesterol levels also put you had a higher risk of developing gall stones. It’s why many of us end up having issues & have our galls removed post weight loss surgery. I’ve read keto can also screw with your blood sugar levels so if you have issues with diabetes it may not be your best option. Usually best to stick to your surgeon’s plan & dietician’s recommendations while you are losing. Slowing adding in new foods as you go. You’ll lose doing that & you will go into ketosis as well - bad breath & a smelly body awaits you 😉. You may find you end up developing your own eating plan which works for you & which incorporates aspects of many eating styles once you’re close to or in maintenance: keto, vegan, vegetarian, Atkins, intermittent fasting, etc. Whatever way you go it has to be sustainable & complement how to want to live your life. Good luck whatever you choose to do.

They are almost impossible to pass usually because of their size. Certain medications can help dissolve very small gravel but the side effects aren’t the nicest & until they are gone you will continue to experience pain. Have you had an abdominal ultrasound to see how many you have & how large they are? Best treatment is to have your gall bladder removed otherwise you will continue to experience pain. My surgeon said once you have one stone you will likely develop more. Gall stones can develop because of high cholesterol, prolonged weight loss, menopause or high bilirubin levels.

Hey there! I was wondering if I could get some feedback from individuals who have combined bariatric surgery with the ketogenic diet, and what your progress has been with it. Specifically wondering if you've seen it maximize your weight loss.

I track weight loss in baritastic & also in my own spreadsheet.

Hi Mikki leo! Congratulations on losing 90 pounds! 👏 Your weight loss is inspiring! I know you can get back on track & continue your path to reach your weightloss goals. You look terrific! Lots of luck!

I use my weight the day I called for the referral to be put through. However, my total weight loss from my heaviest is what's on my ticker, because it's more motivating that way and durn it, I did the work!

For me, I use my highest weight of all time. Any weight loss progress is progress! I didn't start the bariatric surgery process until April of 2021 when I was 318lbs. However, my highest weight was in January of 2020 when I was a little over 330lbs so that is what I consider my "starting weight". Good luck to you ❤️