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Had sleeve 9/23/19. Closing in to 50 lbs. From HW its 85. Last year when some of my basic clothing items were on sale I bought 2. One in then current smaller size then one size smaller. I’m now wearing the smaller size. I get rid of any clothes that are truly too big & not flattering. Will wear some tops that are a little bigger but not bottoms. I’m proud of my hard work & have no problem showing it off.

I weight about 10 pounds more today than the day of my RNY (which was Tuesday). How is this possible? Is it all retained fluid from having an IV and fluids after surgery?

I posted earlier saying my first two days were rough, not gonna lie but suddenly by day 3 and forward and felt sooooo much better. I am still drinking protein shakes and water and broth and having a bit of yogurt too. Noticing the hunger that comes on is real...real as like before, however the stomach WILL say no after a certain amount of intake..That’s what it’s all about. Feeding yourself healthy things. I’m 10 Pounds down and feel better already. My sips don’t have to be tiny as I had feared, they are normal , just no chugging. No regrets !

I am a year out and maintaining now for 5 months, However, I am finding it very challenging to maintain when I step up my exercise. I am training toward my 2nd triathlon, a rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike, and a 100 mile bike race. I still have a lot of restriction and it is impossible for me to eat enough volume to keep my weight up. I saw a nutritionist yesterday and she encouraged more concentrated foods like more nuts/seeds, nut butters, and dried fruit. It is still very much an experiential process. I am committed to whole foods - nothing processed or artificial, so I cannot and will not rely on cheap, non nutrient carb fillers. I eat an extraordinary amount of carbs in the form of whole grains, starchy vegetables, fruits, and legumes. And I have to basically eat all day long to get in enough calories. This is not the way I want to eat, but it is what it is. I am eating all healthy foods - it just takes a LOT of them. I feel your pain. I guess if I wanted to gain an extra 10 or 15 pounds, I would add some protein bars during the daily food count.

@Rosey115, I had my surgery (sleeve) on 2/10. I will tell you yesterday was the worst day I had since the surgery, and my friend who is a recovery room nurse said that is not uncommon. However, if you are feeling pervasively sad, and it sounds like you are, I would hope you reach out to your surgeon's office for someone to talk to. Are you mourning food? Are you struggling with the all liquid diet (I can't imagine anyone doesn't struggle with this). Are you in a lot of physical pain? Do you not have support at home, either through family or friends? Are you having intrusive thoughts about things you used to enjoy, and are now worried you won't? I think that some or all of those thoughts are probably very, very common and normal, but if you are that down, you should get someone to talk to. This recovery is no joke, so you don't need it to be any harder. If you are having thoughts of hopelessness, or hurting yourself, PLEASE reach out. At the risk of being intrusive, but I'll take intrusive, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is: 1-800-273-8255. You've made a decision that is life affirming and there are great and wonderful things ahead. Our lives will be more than sip, sip, sip, walk, walk, sip....Hang in there.

I had my sleeve on 2/10 so I empathize with how hard this post op diet is. It sounds like you are really concerned, so maybe reach out to your surgeon's office and see if there are any signs you should be on the look out for. You will feel better and be able to put this behind you. Don't keep beating yourself up!

I am having surgery Wednesday February 19 2020. I am in the pre op diet. I was wondering if you can have Tomato Soup?

do you mean your plastic surgeon is pushing out the date? I know it's frustrating, but she's right. You need to be at a stable weight before having plastic surgery. A 10 lb gain or loss can affect your results. In fact, some plastic surgeons require you to be at a stable weight for 6-12 months...

Hey everyone I have a question. Probably TMI so I apologize in advance. I’m on day 6 of my 10 day pre-op diet. It’s not liquids only like others. I can have a certain amount of fruit, yogurt and sandwich meat per day for each meal. I can also have unlimited amounts of foods like pickles, celery, cucumbers and so on. But y’all, I have had straight diarrhea for the past several days. Did anyone else experience this? I don’t feel sick to my stomach but I have diarrhea several times a day. Just wondering if this is a normal thing.

I have actually even as a self pay patient been going through the program since June of 2019 and my doctors office thinks that all of that will count as long as it’s covered by his individual employers plan. We will see today!

I am 49, soon to be 50 2/28/20. I was sleeved on 11/22/19. I haven't had a period in over a year. On 1/21/20 I started my period. Right on time per my period app if I were still having a cycle. It lasted 18, yes you read that right 18 days. Much lighter than my normal heavy period was. I went to my gyn and they did blood work. The last time they did it was in 2017. My LHS was 47.20 mIU/mL in June 2017 and 35.10 mIU/mL in Jan 2020 My FSH was 60.30 mIU/mL in June 2017 and 32.50 mIU/mL in Jan 2020 My Estradiol was 7.6 pg/mL in June 2017 and 37.0 pg/mL in Jan 2020 Since my estrogen was over 5 times what it was 1.5 yrs ago she felt that this was due to my rapid weightloss and the release of estrogen. She said I had a huge estrogen spike and that she wanted to see if the period would stop on its on and if it didn't we would do an ultrasound to make sure there were no other issues and then start me on progesterone to stop it. Well 4 days later it stopped on 2/8/20. Now according to my period app I am due to start in 4 days. I am having some achiness last night and this morning so I'm a little concerned. Hoping that what seaforest read is true and maybe I wasn't really in true meno/post menopause. I guess I will find out. Keep me in your prayers please. I just really want to start living the second part of my life and be healthy mentally, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually and be happy. :)

I had my surgery one year before you minus one day. My starting weight was less than yours but percentage wise our loss rate is probably not far off. I looked back and in February 2019 I lost 40 pounds from my surgery weight (204). I was frustrated it wasn’t coming off faster but I dug deep and tried even harder because I refused to fail. I Lost another 30 pounds over the next 6 months and met my initial goal of 130 at one year. It’s so easy to give up when you feel like you are doing everything right but the weight is still coming off slowly. I viewed it as a make it or break it point for me. I know if I had given up I would have not stuck with the long term changes I’ve made and I probably would not have been able to even maintain that weight. The less you weigh the easier it gets to do physical activity which really helps in weight loss and confidence. Take full advantage of the next 6 months to keep your head in the game and be determined. You can do this if you want it bad enough. Don’t settle for less than your goal weight, you will regret not knowing your full potential. *I’m in maintenance now and I eat 1300 calories a day, which my Dr and nutritionist agree with. I would not have lost weight on 1200 a day.

So I went back to find this post I made YEARSSSSSSS AGO and a reply i made a couple of years later. This is when i still had my Lapband (didn't come out till March 2017). Since then I got divorced and remarried.... Band removal and Sleeve revision (aug. 28, 2019). Posted April 25, 2013 I have not always needed you.... and one time in my life.. i was a "normal" person. Size 0-3... weigh a whopping 100lbs. Back in my single day... then one day you meet a wonderful guy and you fall in love... ahhh things are great. You get married and have a beautiful son. and life is good.... but then you notice that you’re not happy as you use to be. some days are worse than others... you find the strength to get up every day and go to work and live a "normal" life. Things are good at home... but something is missing... that spark, that feeling you use to get when you and your spouse were together intimately .. and you notice that those time has gotten further and further apart. and you think, what is going on? and one day the reason is staring you right in the face... the mirror... but in that mirror is someone else... surely, it's not me... I don't look like that... that's a ugly fat girl... i'm not ugly and i for damn sure am not fat. Can't be... i told my self-years ago i would NEVER like myself look like... those people... but then you look closer... and closer and there. i know those eyes.... those are my eyes... but why do they look so sad. I have happy eyes. and i see, i see the real me. the one others have been seeing for years.... how did i not see this... how did i let myself get like this ... how did i become that girl that now had to shop at the plus-size store... when just yesterday i was a size 3... How did i become the girl the skinny girls are not looking at and saying... i'll never let myself look like HER... and i'm the HER. this feeling takes the very last shred of self-confidence and stomps it into the dirt and spits on it. and you think...i am ugly i am fat i am unworthy of love.... unworthy of feeling good. and you start to eat... more and more and everything keeps getting worse. you stop taking care of yourself, stop dressing up stop wearing make-up and fixing your hair.... stop putting forth the effort at all... You are now sitting in a deep dark cave, alone and no one or nothing can show you the light.... But one day... you open your eyes expecting to see nothing... complete darkness and there it is... a speck of light.... it's tiny, but just right there in front of you. and you squint to see it.... making sure it's really there. that speck was my friend Paula... she had lb surgery and every day we talked and every day my light grow brighter.... I went to the doctor and did all the tests... did it all and the news that i was approved... OH ... JOy. I looked in the mirror and saw a glimmer of hope. But as the days grew closer... I started to think... WHAT IF... what if i die on the table, what if i fail at this too, what if i stayed fat forever... Then i saw this site...trolled for a long while. I didn't want to sign because, well what if someone knew me... the horror... Then i saw all the successive people... the beautiful woman and handsome men that in their before pictures looked so sad... sad like me. Then i saw the after pictures. and all the happy smiling faces... people who were bigger than me... now wearing size 6 jeans (lellow)... and i thought, i can do this i can get my life back.... I will be happy again. so on November 10, 2009... i awoke... was re-born. and i did do it... i lost 80lbs... it took me longer than most, but i don't care. I have donated all the 12-14-16 & 18 and moved into my own size 6... On Feb 15, 2012.... after a long hard fight.... i won and awarded myself a tummy tuck... i deserved it. I earned it.... so to my band... thank you... for sticking with me and always keeping me on track. and too all you out there thinking about doing this.....search within yourself and be happy again... whichever way you choose..... blessings..... Posted March 31, 2015 Ak.... congrats on deciding to make a change in your life. I re-read my post and im terrible in grammar... lol.... but it made me cry a little... to think back at how sad i really was. And to admit, i have started feeling that way again.... Not that i am "fat" by normal standards, im still a size 8. But i have put back 20 and feel defeated somewhat. Scared... too. Scared of the unknown, of the what if's.... What if i can't get my ass back in gear and do what i know i can. Depressed because i have no support at home with my husband. Who just yesterday said that my LB was a "hobby"... can you believe that... A Hobby... He hates that im no longer "fat"... he said.... your not fat, you're thick.... where other men will tell me im Hot, beautiful, sexy... not him... im thick. We went through a time where sex was great... 2-3 times a week... which was a vast improvement from 1-2 a YEAR... We are now back at 1-2 a month.... if im lucky. February 14, 2020 Well, I did lose that 20 i put back and in fact did lose another 10... I soon after i decided that there was a lot more to the reason i was so unhappy. My ex was still very verbally abusive and very unsupportive. He still hated my weight loss. Still was not being intimate with me... and it got back down to 1-2 a year. Found out that he was in fact sleeping with another woman (he never admitted it). I talked with him and begged him to do counseling... he said no, that there was nothing wrong with him. So I sat down on the couch and said, if things don't change, i'm filing for divorce. Of course, he didn't believe me... but i pulled up my big girl "thongs" (hehe) and filed.... After he realized i was standing my ground, now he wanted counseling.... NOPE.. too late i was done and completly checked out. The marriage ended after 26 years. The day i said i was filing... it was like a thousand tons had been lifted. I started dating and found that men (and women) wanted me. I felt so good about myself. I even posted a profile on Match... and yes that is where i found Tim. I sware he is the last of a dying breed..... perfect gentleman, so kind and loving and giving.... has excepted me for me... He loves me thin, thick (gained 30lbs after band removal) and loves me now.... Thin again. He tells and shows me every day how much he appreciates me.... and it's such a wonderful feeling. So as of today, i'm 51 years old, still 5'2", CW 133.4, Current size 4.... Sleeve done Aug 28, 2019. So im 25 weeks PO. Got married on September 26, 2019..... I am the happiest i have ever been..... Loving me

there's pretty much no way you could gain 10 lbs in a week unless it was mostly water. You're doing what you need to do to get rid of it - cut back on sodium and drink lots of fluids.

I don't know how far out from surgery you are, but A LOT of us gain 10-20 lbs (if not more) during year 3. So I wouldn't struggle too hard to gain weight - it's likely to just happen...

@mexicanwrestler My two cents.... In Mid 2009 I started looking into getting WLS. I had tried everything to lose and i did... but could never keep it off. I did my research and found that i could get the Lapband done with only paying my co pays. ($2000). I found out what i needed to do to qualify and within a couple of months i was approved. This is when my NOW x husband started giving me the same as your BF. You don't need that, you can do it on your own, just exercise more... blah blah blah.... I finally stood my ground and said, NO, I'm doing this. I was 42, 5'2" and 232lbs. One thing i had going for me was that i had no other health issues at the time. My x tried everything to get me to not have the WLS. In my brain, if i lost the weight he would love me more and would want to have sex with me again (1-2 x a year) and be proud of me.... NOPE... If anything the WL made it worse. It made all of his insecurities surface. He hated me losing weight and hated, even more, the attention i got from it. He hated my self-confidence i gained. I started standing up for myself. The more i lost, the more control he lost over me. At this time we had been married about 19-20 years. Mind you, when we got married i was all of about 100lbs.... very tiny size 0. I realized our marriage was a very unhappy one... for me that was. He was happy, he had a wife that did everything. He was the most selfish self-centered person ever... and still is. I could write a whole page on just that... You have to ask yourself.... why do you want WLS? are you ready for everything to change? are you ready for who you will become? are you ready to move on with your life if need be? are you ready to lose bf, family, friends? are you ready...... for your whole life to change? Go into the before and after pictures... look i would say 90% of the before pics. Most every one is so sad, hiding, or had to do some real searching to even find a before pic. Because no matter what we all may think, we are/were very unhappy people. Easily controlled because of all our insecurities. My thoughts.... I'm so fat, no other man will want me, at least this one does 1-2 times a year. I didn't want to be alone. Then look at the after pictures.... i would say 99% are soooo happy and now want to be in pictures, want to participate in life and think... I look pretty good... Then the opposite sex starts to notice you and that will become intoxicating... Your confidence with sore... and you will learn that you are worth happiness, you deserve happiness. You deserve to be healthy because i can tell you your health will only get worse. And the older you get, the harder it is to lose weight. I never for one day regretted my WLS..... My husband now (just got remarried in Sept.) treats me like a queen.... I have my confidence back and he loves showing me off.... He is proud of me and i'm proud of me. I'm going to try and find a post i made here Yearssss ago about how i felt. If i can i'll repost it.

I have gone from self-pay, tried to switch to insurance then back to self-pay. For me the attempted switch to insurance was a royal pain. BCBS, or at least my specific carrier provided coverage, but the requirements were to rigid. For example, I had already done 5 months with my current primary care physician in early 2019 for the “doctor supervised” diet. I exceeded all other requirements and already completed the psychiatric evaluation. I got cold feet at the last minute and decided to attend a weight loss boot camp for 10 weeks as an attempt to avoid weight loss surgery. That was a BIG mistake, my doctor warned me I would gain the weight right back and that is exactly what happened by the end of 2019. I decided to I move forward with surgery in 2020, was going to do self-pay at first since the weight loss boot camp was also self-payed. After going through my medical records for the last 3 years I felt I had enough documentation to use my employer provided health insurance so I immediately contacted BCBS for approval. According to BCBS since I did not see my doctor during the time I was attending the weight loss boot camp (which was in another state), I would be required to restart the doctor supervised diet requirement which I was told back in Feb/2019 was three months but now, for whatever reason in 2/2020 it was increased to 6 months? 🤪 If I want BCBS to pick up the tab I must start over, that would be 7 months with the doctor since the first visit does not count, another 30 to 60 days for the approval process and 30 days with the surgeons office or more to get all pre-requisite tests completed and the surgery scheduled. VERY FRUSTRATING! I have appealed but was told it may be 30 to 60 days until I get a decision. When I ask my doctor for advise he simply looked at me and said “I wouldn’t wait…” so I am not, back to self-pay.

I agree with @MourningTheLossOfBeer . I would contact the insurance company and see what their process is for the gastric , or if they even cover it (I have BlueCross/BlueShield and while they offer gastric coverage, if the company (job) doesn't select it as an elective coverage for their plan, theres no coverage. Sadly thats how mine is. Company (job) doesn't want that added cost on all 300 employees, while only a handful of us want coverage for it. So they didn't select it as an elective. ). If they do have the coverage, then it would be if you were okay with going through the hoops course they have and prolonging the operation a few months. If for some reason they do cover it and your semi okay with waiting, get with your doctors office, let them know whats happened, and see if they can contact the Insurance company. Hopefully then they may have lesser requirements / shorter time since you may have already had some of the things done. The other things to note is deductibles and such. My friend had insurance coverage for it. Over 10 months worth of hoops, (her job required 10 months of crappppp) paying for doctors visits and all the co-pays for surgery, and all the bills she got afterwards, its cost her about $10k out of pocket over the last year. With what insurance hasn't or won't cover. While I just handed over 14$k worth of checks and have the comfort that I will not be billed for anything else. And don't have the hoops to go through. Keep us updated on how it goes ❤️

I am not sure what your dietitian recommended during your liquid diet phase. (Ours gave us a menu). Mine is 10 days, first 7 is liquids, such as protein shakes, broth, water, jello, yogurt smoothies, and they even mentioned creamed soup, just make sure its no fat/no sugar and to strain out any chunks it may have. ((But then 3 days before surgery its clear liquid only, water/broth )) Each Dietitian/doctor is different. A friend of mine is on clear liquids only, for 7 days.

Mine is also scheduled 3/10 but pre-op diet starts the 24 😖

I said the same! My “ideal” body weight is said to be 127 (by my doctors). However even in adulthood I’ve only been about 150. I was super worried initially because my BMI is around 37, but I have confidence that when combined with family history of diabetes, cardiovascular disease & my depression & anxiety (that’s gotten increasingly worse since I’ve gained so much over the past 10 years) aaand my attempts at every diet under the sun, I will be approved. Hope we make it there together!

I'm 10 1/2 months post-sleeve, and I've had what I KNOW is a lot of success--HW of 406 exactly one year ago, 368 on surgery date, and I'm 228 today. Though...I was 221 only five days ago, but dear friends in town equaled two days of fantastic wine and eating all day as we played tourists in my hometown...aaaand I found myself at 231 on Tuesday morning. And now I want to scream: How did I screw up my own great progress, after a January of doggedly trying to break a stall, finally succeeding...and now I have to re-lose these ten pounds before getting back to it?? What's making it so anxiety producing is, I know this "weight gain" is mostly water--I mean, I can clearly see that my wrists and my feet especially are swollen, but the water weight is being pretty stubborn these past two days in coming off. This might be a fight. Dang it! How did I set myself back like this!! I have two questions, then: First, any tips on how to shed off the excess water? I am hydrating throughout the day, since a friend said that it's good to keep flushing your system (or something, it sounded believable). Tomorrow, I'm cutting way way back on salt (though I have to have some sodium or else I get light-headed)...any other tips? Second, anyone else go off-diet and yet found themself get back into the groove?? I have had some off-days before--just a couple over almost an entire year, and never more than two days in a row, but this feels different. Scarier. Like I derailed myself and there's no correcting it--maybe because I felt SO CLOSE when I saw that 221 on Friday morning. Like I could actually do it--my surgeon set a goal of 180 which I always thought was ridiculously impossible but when I saw the 221, yeah, suddenly I thought I really COULD get to the 180, let alone the 200 I had dreamed of when I thought of a "goal weight" pre-surgery. And now I've just slid so far back. Any experiences that you've had successfully coming back on the tracks, I'd love to hear--or even just bald reassurance, because I'll take any encouragement you have!

Weight management has always been an issue my entire life, I have gained and lost over 100 pounds THREE times in the last 15 years, hoping the FORTH time post-surgery will be the last. Whatever diet program, book, shot or pill that has come along in the last 15 years, most likely I have already tried it and unfortunately failed. If your “considering” non-surgical alternatives to weight loss surgery feel free to ask me, most likely I have used it at least once and have accurate records of what was used and what were the results and pros / cons of each. The “pill of the month” currently is Contrave Blue which I have been on since December 2019. I have been avoiding weight loss surgery for years. My sister had full bypass surgery 20 years ago and unfortunately, she has suffered complications for many years. At the end of 2018 I had ballooned to the heaviest I have ever been, started January 1, 2019 I was a “Big Mac and Large Fry” away from 400+ pounds. My blood pressure was extremely high, and my new primary care physician was very blunt during my first visit, “lose weight or die” was the basic theme of our health conversations. Even with that much bad news and new physician pushing for weight loss surgery, I still was trying to avoid surgery. I decided to take an alternate route, take some time off from work and attend a Weight Loss Boot Camp for 10 weeks at a cost of over $15,000 self-payed of course since health insurance does not cover this type of activity. Unfortunately, life has ways to make things difficult at the worst time and I only was able to complete 6 weeks For those interested I have a blog that chronicles my weight loss efforts at the weight loss bootcamp last year, good reading for those thinking about that route. https://vin1959.blogspot.com/ For reasons I will expand on in future messages, the weight loss boot camp adventure did not get the job done and weight loss surgery has now become necessary. At this stage I am not going to play the “pre-approve documentation game” and wait for my health insurance company to say I am covered, I am simply going the SELF -PAY route and will plan for the Gastric-Sleeve procedure hopefully in April this year.

I guiltily admit I buy 90% of my clothing from high end boutiques. I have a very good one down the road from me - an institution in Brisbane for 40+yrs. I’ve been a regular for decades from when I was a size 10 to size 18 often popping in just to say hi & chat. They stock labels from Japan, Germany & Belgium as well as some Aust lines. I’m waiting for the Comme des Garcon range to go on the floor as her sizes are small. I bought a few archive (from the 1990s) Comme pieces in Melbourne but there was one dress I couldn’t even get on! The average Aust size is about a 16 (US 12) now too. Aust size 8 or XS is often the smallest size boutiques stock in Aust so needing a size 6 or XXS now is why I’m having trouble. I just hit the online sale of a Scandinavian avant-gard designer a friend loves so I’m hoping the clothes I bought will fit. Only Selfridges had the latest range of one of the Belgian designers I love but not the pieces I was seeking. Saks still had last season’s which I have.

My boyfriend of 7 years (who I live with) is not excited about the idea of me thinking of bariatric surgery. I had my first consultation appointment and my bf and I have been talking about what I learned, etc. Now as an upfront, I just turned 40 and have been struggling with my weight since my mid 20s. I am currently at my highest weight of 275 lb (5' 6.5") with a bmi of 43. I have just been prescribed blood pressure meds (my bp has consistently been 177/90 for 6 months!) AND cholesteral meds. I have yoyo dieted for years. YES, I could exercise more (or at all) but I do eat pretty healthy. My bf is a great support in my life and I love him very much. He does NOT want me to get this surgery and suggested that neither of us have FULLY "committed" to a diet and exercise plan since we have been together (he only "needs" to loose 10 lbs to hit his goal weight)....therefore, he thinks we should work out together 3 times a week for 6 months to a year along with a severe calorie counting regimin (which we have done) and overall healthy diet (which we do mostly on, sometimes off) before I even consider this surgery. I am DEVASTATED. I told him "my body my choice" and although I know he will support me if I decide on the surgery....I can't help but feel like he is putting off my health and hapiness by another year. I dont think these changes will move the scale that much, certainly not ENOUGH....and he thinks I don't have the behaviors in place now to maintain the diet needed post op to make this work. HELP. I need advice. I am not convinced surgery is right but I am 80-90% sure it is and may be the only option to saving my life.