Search the Community
Showing results for 'weight gain'.
Found 17,501 results
-
Good morning! It has been a few days since my last update. I've been stalled at the same weight for the last 3-4 mornings, but I'm not worried--it'll show up eventually. As I mentioned in my reply above, I get to move to phase 3 (soft) in 2 days! Everything is going well with phase 2, and I've followed instructions. The other day, I went to visit my primary for an eval. Incisions look good. My BP was 128/80 (an 80-point improvement over immediately post-surgery), so it's being controlled by meds, though I'll keep a close eye on my BP with my home cuff so I can alert her when to cut back on my meds.
-
Smoking cigarettes and surgery
SpartanMaker replied to Kamyar's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Aside from the damage smoking does to your lungs and heart, it does a number of other harmful things to your body. Some of these are important when talking about bariatric surgery. Fast facts: Most surgeons won't operate on you if you have smoked within 4-6 weeks of the surgery. Some want you be smoke free even longer. Smoking significantly increases your recovery time because it causes your blood vessels to constrict, which reduces blood flow. It also reduces the amount of oxygen your red blood cells can transport. Well oxygenated blood is critical for healing. You will have at least a 30% increased risk of complications over a non-smoker. (Blood clot, anastomotic leak, pneumonia, etc.) Your mortality risk due to surgery is double or even triple that of a non-smoker. Smoking can cause esophageal strictures post-surgery that would need emergency care and possibly another operation. The chances are extremely high that you will develop an ulcer even years later, especially if you take up smoking again post-surgery. A complete perforation due to an ulcer is a life threatening emergency due to sepsis. Your chances of reaching your goal weight are much lower than non-smokers. Much of this is attributed to the fact that smoking reduces your ability to exercise, and numerous studies have shown people that don't exercise post-surgery are significantly more likely lose less weight, or even return to their original weight, than those that exercise regularly. If you are expecting bariatric surgery to reduce your cravings for nicotine, I wouldn't count on it. It's extremely common for smokers to restart post surgery. In fact, there's even an elevated chance that non-smokers start smoking post surgery as they replace one addiction with another. Best of luck. I hope you can kick the habit now and if possible, wait a while before having WLS. The longer you let your body heal after quitting smoking, the lower the risk and better your outcomes will be. -
September surgery buddies!!
ShoppGirl replied to Slwhurst's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Hummm. Have you checked it since? Maybe you actually do have slightly elevated pressure that just began recently. It does just sort of come on one day. If so, they will most likely tell you how to alter your diet to try to bring it down on your own or start you on a low dose of BP meds which you hopefully won’t need in a few months cause you will be eating great and losing weight which often brings it down. It’s not always weight related though. It can be genetic. My husband hates the taste of salt and is tiny and he and his whole family has high BP. How long do you have before your surgery? Can you get in to see someone (family dr or even NP at surgeons office). I think the pills start to work almost instantly because he can feel somehow when he forgets his and feels better shortly after he takes it. If you have a little time I would get a cuff at Walmart or just go frequently and use theirs for free to test and see if it is running a little higher than the past first but I’m not sure if your already doing pre op how much time you have to figure it out. The manual cuff are fairly inexpensive If you know how to read them (not sure how easy that would be to do on yourself though). The machine ones were like $20-30 If I remember correctly. The ideal way to go about it would be to make appt with family dr and get a cuff and notebook and start logging it several times a day for like a week. Your BP, what you were doing before and maybe even what you ate. Then take that with you to dr along with what your BP was that day and go from there. -
February 2022 Surgery Buddies
Honey10604 replied to MeganMyers's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I had mine Feb 7th and the same here I still have back fat and stomach has gone down but as you say a deflated ball and unfortunately my boobs are also deflated and saggy. Once I tuck it away under clothes you can’t tell but when I remove them it can be quit discouraging 😩 but I try and look at it in a positive way and just say that is a sign of all your weight loss if you had to pick one would you go back to all the weight or where you are now. I will take my loose skin and all the health benefits over all that extra weight any day.I will just say it’s part of my progress. We have to appreciate this part of the journey also because it is journey not a sprint. IT’S ABOUT PROGRESSION NOT PERFECTION. Make the best of your journey Every one who reads this post when you get down about where you are just think of where you came from not years ago but just 6-7 months ago and appreciate the progression.🥰 -
Smoking cigarettes and surgery
Tomo replied to Kamyar's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
My mother in law taste buds changed so she didn't crave smoking as much anymore. They usually want you nicotine free for the surgery. My vsg surgeon tested me for it, but my revision surgeon did not. Just like for any surgery, up to you if you want to quit after that. Lose weight, stop smoking as you know is the general consensus. -
You simply can't escape at least some scars after getting your body to that stage of excess weight, and having loose skin is one of those scars. Your body had to make that excess skin over years, and it can't just retract like a rubber band, unfortunately. Factors like age and how much weight you've lost will inform how much you have, but the best thing people can do is make peace with it, especially if, like myself, they'll never be able to afford plastic surgery to get rid of it. You can help support your skin with vitamin intake, hydration and creams, but honestly, that won't stop it from happening. I do those things to keep my skin as healthy as possible, but I'm under no illusions that it's ever going to spring back. I did this to myself, so I accept that there's a price. The upside: loose skin is easily hidden with clothes and that's waaaaay easier when you don't feel the heat as badly as you once did!
-
Congratulations and well done! I can't wait for my weight to drop below 100 kg (3 kg to go). Hopefully before my 40th birthday by end of this month 😀
-
That is awesome! I also intend to do this with my kids as soon as I reach the weight limit of the amusement park. Your daughter seems happy in there
-
I've been bringing my kids for the past few years to a place called Urban Air, it's basically an indoor amusement park, it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, a lot of the coolest things to do there have a weight limit, 250 for some and 230 for others, so I was never able to join them on those rides. Even though I passed both thresholds a few months ago I never felt comfortable going on them until tonight I decided to give it a shot. I ended up doing ALL of the stuff I couldn't go on before, including the "Sky Rider" (indoor zipline, it was awesome), Ropes Course, and Rock Climbing. Lots of fun, and another great NSV.
-
You can’t stop it or reduce it. It’s a bit of a luck of the draw as to how much lose skin you will have. Age, gender, how much weight you carried, how long you carried the excess weight, genetics, all okay a part. I often compare skin with a hair band that gets stretched out over time & use. Can’t save that hair band by unstretching it. Same with your skin. The only way to get rid of your lose skin is to remove it with surgery. Personally I decided against surgery. I don’t have a lot of loose skin & it can be hidden easily under clothes without need of shape wear & that’s under body con dresses too. So not really worth the surgery. Sure I have some tuck shop lady arms/bat wings but no one knows unless I wave my arms out & about. My arms are pretty toned just from doing a couple of basic resistant band stretches. I even got complimented on my arms today while trying on a one shouldered top so …. Did make me giggle to myself.
-
Is this it? Is my body done?
Arabesque replied to maintenanceman's topic in Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories
Losing so slowly this close to your goal isn’t uncommon. It took me weeks to lose the last kg - so close yet so far. So you may lose more weight just incredibly slowly. But there’s nothing wrong if you don’t. Don’t rely on BMI for what your weight ‘should’ be. It should only be considered as a guide. It doesn’t take into account factors like age, muscle mass, skeletal frame,general health, etc. To lose additional weight, you will have to reduce your calories & you said you struggle with hunger if you do eat less than you are now. But not onot will you have to reduce your caloric intake to lose more weight you will also need to continue to eat less to maintain at the lower weight. Yes, increasing your activity can help though exercise accounts for about 10% of the weight you have to lose. So if you want to lose about 20lbs that’s 2lbs. If this is the weight your body is happiest at, your new set point, to go lower will take constant effort to be able to maintain the lower weight. It was one of the factors behind why we struggled to lose in the past & would always quite easily regain as our set point was at that higher weight. You’ve done so well regardless of whether you lose more weight. You said you feel much better, are healthier, have more energy, are more confident. Embrace those wins, not the number on the scale. -
February 2022 Surgery Buddies
fourmonthspreop replied to MeganMyers's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Here's another progress picture. Thought I'd drop it in our Feb surgery buddy thread. As I lose more weight, my body looks more ridiculous. I think it's funny but anyone else dealing with stubborn fat and loose skin left on the mid section? I look normal with my shirt down but then i lift it up and it's a deflated beach ball hanging off my mid section. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app -
I had my surgery in Janaury 22 and I'm glad I did
omrhsn replied to omrhsn's topic in Tell Your Weight Loss Surgery Story
Thanks! I have to lose 2 more kgs to go below 100. I'm so excited to see the magical 99 KG on the scale. Good luck to you also. Keto worked for me the first round and I lost a considerable weight. Not the second time though. -
Loosing teeth after gastric bypass and the easy way out?
SHORTY_ replied to Erin18's topic in General Weight Loss Surgery Discussions
Totally agree with this, "work smarter not harder" ... unless it's weight loss surgery apparently. We all know going through this journey it's not the easy way out. It surprises people when I tell them all the life-altering changes we have to make. I do think it's SLOWLY starting to become more acceptable to society. It makes me sad that most people wait till it's their very last option (✋🏼💁♀️👈🏼 Hi, it's me I'm one of the people) because they're afraid they are going to be labeled for taking "The easy way out". It's life-changing and I don't regret it for a second, anyone that doesn't or wouldn't understand my decision is probably not someone I want around in my life anyway. -
I would take advantage of being able to email them. Just send them your weight at your pre-surgical apt. weight day of surgery weight todays weight your daily calorie( include daily protein & water average) an example of what you're eating and your daily physical activity and see if they have any feedback for you.
-
My mother said she no longer wants to talk or see me anymore.
bethow replied to Slimming Down Steve's topic in Gastric Bypass Surgery Forums
No one, I mean absolutely no one has the right to talk or not talk to you in such a disrespectful way. Why some parents chose to have children and treat them so horribly is beyond me. My birth father was mentally, emotionally and physically abusive. When my mother left him and filed for divorce and received sole custody, he kidnapped my brother and me and told us our mother had been killed in a car accident. For four years he kept us on the move trying to stay ahead of the law. It was 2 years before our mother her found us and began a battle to get us back. God in his infinite mercy not only made that possible but my mother was married to a kind, gentle loving man who made me feel loved and cherished. Six years later, one week after my graduation from high school, my birth father her showed up at our door. My stepfather who I called Daddy had instilled in me the self confidence that my birth father her had attempted to destroy. I told my birth father off, telling him that I wanted nothing to do with him and that my father her was in the bedroom. I never spoke to him again. That was 52 years ago and I haven’t missed him a second in all that time for one second. you have a wife who obviously loves you and stood by you as you started your weight loss journey. if your mother is so petty as to treat you or her other children in this manner, put her in your rear view mirror and never look back. If something is bad for you, you just have to let it go. Our parents get 18 years to be either a good or bad parent. Once you are an adult, you get to choose your own course in life. You can either pack your awful childhood away and start a fresh journey of your own or you can haul that old baggage around and let it ruin your life. The choice is yours. -
Is this it? Is my body done?
catwoman7 replied to maintenanceman's topic in Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories
one can always lose more weight by cutting calories, but you have to decide if you're willing to do that. Given that those of us who've lost a lot of weight have heavier bones and muscles than "normies" (because you needed extra infrastructure to hold that excess weight up. Granted, you lose some of it when you lose weight, but not all of it...) - plus you may have some excess skin to boot, you probably look 10 lbs less than you weigh. even if your body isn't quite done losing, I can tell you from personal experience that those last 20 lbs are a BEAR to lose. I was losing something like 2 lbs a month the last couple of months, despite a momentous effort. The closer you are to a normal BMI, the more you're eating at equilibrium (your calories in and calories out are about the same). It's a challenge to eat less than that. SO...either your body is done losing and it'll be a struggle to lose more - or your body is NOT done losing and you're just at the point where it's really tough and slow going to get those last few lbs off. -
How was the 2 week liquid diet
Sunnyer replied to ShannyG's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
My clinic didn't require us to do a liquid diet pre op. They only asked me to lose a certain amount of weight before surgery and suggested a low carb diet, but didn't require any special form of diet. I was on vacation in July and pretty much ate and drank whatever I wanted for three weeks, and still lost two kilos (4.4 pounds). After that, I only had one more kilo (2.2. pounds) to lose before surgery and that was pretty easy. I just didn't eat added sugar and tried to stick to meat and veg. -
You're doing great. 43 pounds is a lot! I know what you mean about the disappointing people. though. I'm kind of frustrated myself, because I'm not seeing any weight loss this week. I started with 102.0 kilos last Saturday, and then went down to 101.3 on Monday, up to 102 again Tuesday, down again to 101.3 yesterday and up to 101.7 today. So, I've lost 300 grams this week, or less than one pound, which is basically nothing. I'm a bit envious that you guys get to meet your doctors and nutritionists already. I had surgery on the 9th of August, and my first appointment is with a nurse on September 22nd. I can email the nurse and nutritionist in the meantime, but I don't get to see anyone. I have no idea if I'm where I'm supposed to be at in my weight loss or not.
-
Is this it? Is my body done?
Sunnyer replied to maintenanceman's topic in Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories
I wouldn't stress about the 10-20 pounds, or the "ideal" weight, personally. You are at 26 BMI, and "healthy" BMI is at 24.9, which means you're awfully close. You definitely don't need to lose 20 pounds to be at a healthy weight anyway. According to your own signature, you need 8 pounds at the most. And BMI really isn't an exact science. You mention that your diabetes and sleep apnea have resolved, so you're already reaping health benefits from your weight loss. And that's the most important part. In order to be truly healthy, more exercise is most likely what you need, and then to maintain your weight and make sure you get adequate nutrition. If you do more exercise, especially weight bearing exercise, you will add muscle which will help you maintain the weight loss and maybe eventually lose a few more pounds, however slowly. -
Is this it? Is my body done?
kcuster83 replied to maintenanceman's topic in Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories
What is the online calculator you are talking about, I am curious? I don't have any tips, other than I do know the closer you get to an ideal body weight the harder it is to loose. Just keep tracking and I am sure it will come off, it is just going to be slower. Or like you mentioned, maybe increase exercise? -
So, I'm at my 6 mo surgiversary. I have lost 60 pounds (down from 36 to 26 BMI), 72% EWL. I'm proud of my weight loss. I look a million times better, my diabetes and sleep apnea have resolved, I have lots more energy, and I have increased confidence to pursue my goals. My projected 12 mo weight per the online calculators is 173, and I'm currently at 167, so I'm certainly doing well. And... I would like to lose more weight, another 10-20 pounds, which would get me down to "healthy" BMI and closer to my ideal body weight. But... my weight loss has almost completely stalled. In the past month, I lost 2.6 pounds, and I haven't lost anything in the past 3 weeks. At this rate, losing another 10-20 pounds would be a loooooong haul. My daily calories have crept up to 1200 to 1400. If I go below 1200, I'm just too hungry. I will admit I could be more physically active. How should I think about all of this? Most friends and family are encouraging me to stop and be comfortable where I am... not to lose "too much." Should I just get comfortable with where I am and focus on maintenance? Or should I keep pushing against the odds?
-
September surgery buddies!!
Dogmom68 replied to Slwhurst's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Hi September buddies! I’ve had a crazy week after my surgery on 8/29. I’ve been struggling with gas pain and swelling; my tummy is so swollen and sore. I have huge bruising near my incision sites, too. I got really nauseated day before yesterday and started vomiting. I really felt terrible! So I ended up back at the surgery center to get IV fluids. I was really dehydrated. Im feeling sooo much better today! I have some meds for nausea now and lidocaine Patches for areas near my incisions that are very sore. Im still the same weight as my surgery day so I guess I should be thankful I didn’t gain due to all the swelling! Im living on Jello, Bone Broth, popsicles, and a LOT of water! -
September surgery buddies!!
SpartanMaker replied to Slwhurst's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I think we all have this fear. I know I do. We're all here because we've repeatedly failed at other weight loss attempts. Here's the thing: It's easy to compare WLS to a forced restrictive diet, but it's a lot more than that. Both Sleeve and Bypass actually change a lot more about your metabolic processes. Here's a quote from the ASMBS: The important takeaway is that your sleeve is not just restricting what you can eat, it's fundamentally changing the way your digestive system works. It's a very effective tool, but you still have to eat right and exercise to be successful. The way I think about it may be a bit simplistic, but I compare it to digging a hole. Can I dig a hole with my bare hands? I suppose I could, but it's going to take a long time and especially if I need it to be a big hole, It may simply be too much for me. Give me a shovel and now I have a tool specifically designed to dig holes. I will still have to put in a good bit of effort to dig that hole, but the shovel will help me be successful. WLS is the same thing. I've been trying to "dig holes" with my bare hands. Now I'm going to be given a shiny new shovel. -
September surgery buddies!!
SleeveMeToIt replied to Slwhurst's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Hi Buddies - Two weeks away and I've got a lot of head trash going on that I just need to get off my chest. ::deep breath:: Fair warning - this is kinda long, rambling and full of woe is me. Feel free to exit stage left now. I am afraid. Not of surgery, not of complications, but of failure. I've tried so many things and failed. Or succeeded, then gained the weight back and then some more. I feel so out of control of my weight, I've gained steadily for two years straight. 50+lbs. Nothing stopped it, not even my usual approaches. And I can't help but think, if starving myself didn't work in the past (I mentioned I've tried everything, including very low calorie diets) and led to regain plus some, why will this work? If I couldn't stop the gain, how will I possibly lose the 100lbs I need to lose? If I am in control of the successful outcome of the surgery based on adherence to the rules - then that makes me shake in my boots. I've been down that road before, "You will be successful if you just follow the program!" Didn't work so well obviously. I'm feeling defeated because of my past, but trying to find hope. My hope is all the success stories. I'm almost hesitant to feel TOO hopeful because of my fear of failure. I also know I'm not alone in how I feel, that many of you feel or felt the same. And if you don't feel this way, please don't let my fear become your fear! I KNOW you all will be successful!! It's my own failure that I'm all too familiar with. Sorry to be so negative. I just had to get this **** out of my head and get honest with how I'm feeling.
