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surgery date 02/21/12 340 lbs fridays weight 172 lbs total lost 168 lbs

Awesome job. Great weight loss thus far!

High weight-289 Surgery weight-262 Current weight-168.6 Surgery date-4/26/12

Yes I See! And exactly as long as it comes off! Im gonna try not to get my hopes up that my weight will come off quick 2/11/13

The chances of having gall bladder issues after WLS are quite high. Obese women are at higher risk to begin with as estrogen appears to influence the development of stones and obesity is thought to cause reduced bile salts in bile, leading to the formation of stones. Add rapid weight loss (when cholesterol is concentrated in the bile due to weight loss) and the risk increases again. Older people tend to have more gallbladder problems, as well, simply because there is more time for stones to develop, and a diet low in Fiber and high in fat also can lead to stones. About 1/3 of WLS patients will end up having gallbladder surgery. If you're experiencing pain in your abdomal area or it you notice yellowish tint to your eyes that could be a sign of gall bladder issues. Having said all that I did end up having my gall bladder removed after I had my WLS it happened to me the day of my release appt with the surgeon post op. I was having trouble staying hydrated and I was very weak and had a yellowish tint in my eyes so when I went to see my surgeon for follow up they ended sending me to the ER for fluids, X Rays and observation. To make a long story short I was admitted and ended up staying eight (8) days in the hospital. I had two (2) GI that were unsuccessful in removing the stones (which turned out to be more sand like then stones which made removing harder) so they decided to remove my gall bladder all together. In my opinion it should be removed during WLS. Just my opinion..

Hello, been a roller coaster of a ride this week re: gastric sleeve journey. Good news: my husband has come around, and said he will fully support my decision to have the sleeve. So relieved! Bad news: After I've accepted the changes, mentally, and invested a lot of time w/lab work, Upper GI, psych eval, and meeting w/the dietician....there may be a snag with insurance! So, apparently, Aetna has a requirement that you have had a BMI of 40 for at least 2 years. Currently, I have a BMI of 40. However, my BMI for the last couple years has been between 33-35, well, actually as I'm thinking about it...probably 37-38. I asked the gal at the Dr's office who schedules the surgery if we could go back to 2002. She said we could try, but most likely, Aetna will want the weights from more recent times. Awaiting Dr's records from OB/gyn after having a baby in 2010---but I think it will fall just shy--like I'd have a BMI of 39. Now, am I backwards in this logic? Wouldn't showing a BMI of 40 from 2002 give more credibility to the fact I've been struggling with weight this long, have been able to lose it, but I gain it back, which is why I need something this drastic??? So, my question is...have any of you with Aetna had luck submitting BMI/weights from 10-11 years ago? Or, anyone with Aetna have luck submitting a current BMI of 40 but in last couple years, records showed a BMI of 38 or 39 (no comorbid conditions---just asthma and immune deficiency which I don't think they consider)? Thanks!

Omg.. I cannot tell you how many times my husband told me this!!! He is thinner and was telling me that I need to eat better and exercise. I told him it would be much easier for me once I have lost some initial weight. I have to admit that he is on board more or less now that he has seen my level if commitment these past two weeks on the preop liquid diet. I have lost 12 lbs so far.. Surgery is tomorrow. If you have a good relationship he will eventually get on board just keep explaining that this is NOT easy.. It's life changing. You are doing this for you.. And you need his support! I am sure he is worried that something will happen. Assure him that you want to be healthy and happy. Keep us posted!

I was the same way, took 18 months before I could consistently get my daily Protein. My NUT instructed me to eat ONLY protein foods and take my Vitamins. NO salad, veggies, fruits and of course no bread, potatoes, Pasta, rice, flour, sugar or starchy veggies, but those things will rarely be included in my diet anyway. Eat very slowly, chew very well and stop at the FIRST sign of full. If that doesn't help with the pain, you may want to contact the surgeon. CONGRATS on the great weight loss, though!

As my surgeon says... if you eat right and exercise YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT... your husband is wise and sounds very supportive :-) Keep telling yourself you own that scale and you will take it back. Not moving is also better than moving in the wrong direction coming from the same person that is letting the scale get her down over a 2 pound weight gain and I know it can't be right given what I am eating.

I have had that too. Don't let it get you down. 2 pounds is no big deal. You will lose that. I am almost wondering if your body is going through a starvation thing....where it thinks you are trying to starve yourself so it is storing everything instead of using it. I am not a doctor, but that is the only explanation that I have when you are eating as little as you do (because there is no choice) and then you gain two pounds. In fact I think it was around the same time I did that...and then again last week. It sucks bad, but I don't think its anything you are doing, its just your body adjusting.

No required weight loss for surgery, just a six month supervised diet. And my surgeons office documented that by dr appts and nutritionist appts once a month.

Well, the thing about the Lapband is you don't really have to exercise to lose. BUT, and this is a big BUT, if you want to feel better physically, look better physically, burn lots of fat while not doing anything, then you need to work out. Muscle is key to looking good. You can take two people who are the same weight and one has not ever exercised and the other does and has lots of lean muscle and who will look better and be thinner??? Your right....the one with muscle. Too many people want a miracle to happen with a band and not have to put any effort into it. Why not be strong and healthy besides being thinner???

It's not unusual to gain weight before your first fill so don't worry too much (it definitely happened to me). The goal of the band is to put pressure at the top of your stomach to tell your brain you're full with less food. You'll need some fills to get to that point. Make sure you follow the dr's orders and eat slow!

I have heard of this on this, Several times, on BP. And if I remember correctly, it was around the 2 year mark. Personally, I have not experienced it. Maybe get hold of your nutrionist from your bariatric team for suggestions. I specifically remember at least one person coming back and mentioning the issue had resolved, but can't recall how. On another note, it's great you have maintained your weight, relatively well. I never got down to my goal weight and have regained about 11 pounds! It's a real struggle to get it off.

I learned to NEVER give up hope. There are things in life you may not even know exist that can help you. Recall I had come to the conclusion about a year before that I could never lose weight on my own cuz My body was in so much pain that excersize was out and life was just too hard. I couldnt do it when it was alot easier. I had NEVEr admitted defeat about anything before. I had to. Once I did it became alot easier to live with myself. So.. It happened by acident: I had been givin some ULTRAM (non narcotic pain pills) for my menstral pains (obgyn) and soon found my self able to be more physically mobile. I realized I was being all mobile cuz my body didnt hurt. It was a magical day. I was sorting laundry, washing it, drying it.. as if I hadnt just spent the last year Sitting on top of it for three hours, sorting as I sat. And having the kids put the loads in. I discovered PAIN pills, and how if your body hurts and you releive that body of hurt, it functions better.. (I swear it was like finding the meaning to life) I could clean the house, feed the animals, park myself, check the mail, wash my hair...etc etc. I COULD ALSO get some excersize in and focus on my health not on my exhastion and blinding pain. I HAD HOPE AGAIN.. I was alive again. I was SAVED! NOt so fast: My doctor was a fucking cunt from hell who I wish I could confront and humiliate to this day. (all the reasons why will NOT be covered in here) I told her a million times in the past I had constant pain mostly in my back. NOw, I told her how the pills (prescribed by a gyno) had releived that pain and that I would like to have some more for every day please. She laughed in my face. (OH god if you could see the faces she made!) She said I was too "euphoric" about my new found mobility and ability to LIVE a real life. She said narcotic Pills are not prescribed to make people feel happy about their life. She said "cocain makes people feel good, should they do it?" I told her I didnt feel high at all, I knew what high feels like, I wasnt euphoric, If I ever became euphoric I would report to her.. I was willing to start on a low dose. I tried to get her to understand that I WANTED THE PILLS TO RELEIVE THE PAIN IN MY BACK AND BODY.. and BECAUSE that pain was releived, I was able to be my normal happy self. IT WAS NOT the drug making me happy.. SHEESH Finally she says "there is nothing wrong with you.. your obese and your out of shape and your simply having aches and pains and if you would drink more water, excersize and take care of your self, You will feel alot better." She said the way I referred to it as getting my life back showed that I was overly sinsitive and dramatic and extreemly emotional. She also said this is the cause of my pain. That If I had a more possitive and brighter look out on life, I wouldnt have the pain I THink I have. (the thought of her checking my back or doing any kind of research at all to see where my pain was coming from.. was not discussed or thought of by me..I just didnt think of it. If I had I would of asked her to check me out, she should of done that nayway) When she normally said these things, I felt belittled and I shut down. BUT nOW, MY LIFE was at stake. So I tried to show her why I knew those things werent true. I knew what pain was and how to listen to my body. I was NOT stupid! I explained that I had left a crackwhore mom and quit a very bad life of crime and perversion and addictions.. I made a life for myself and my children from age 16, I graduated high school in the top ten, I went on to get my AA and then moved all alone to get my BA.. and I had walked through floods to get the kids to daycare, and worked any shit job i could find, I raised really good kids and I never ever left them, I have lived in my car with my kids for two weeks JUST so we didnt miss any school, and I walked 40 blocks sometimes when my car broke down to college and back rather than risk doing poorly or missing school. I told her how I excelled in every job, I was teachers aid and the next year made a preschool teacher (unheard of for a student) I then taught the incoming students on how to be with the kids and I AM the one who came up with the curriculum after taking a 500 level class..and it was used for the two years I was there. I was trained and became cetified to provide foster care to kids 12 to 21 (though I never took them up on it) The agency pratically begged me to write a proposal so they could open a much needed teen parent home.. I got on at Rape crisis and soon I had the key to the office and the pager for weeks at a time when the rule was no more than 48 hours and it was cuz I outshined and prooved myself to be better than most. Much more. I never had a man taking care of me, and no parents and didnt need friends either. My kids were in every sport, I was room mother. I did special needs child care, I organized city block garage sales, I threw parties for the college housing kids, Those things above were VERY hard for me. I was young, alone, mom of three, poor and obese. I told her that I bust my ass everyday, I have been for a long time. I told her that I dont feel happy unless I am exhausted and feeling my efforts and find it unsettling to lay around and relax. I told her I am not affraid of pain. I kinda thrived on it. I told her that I go 100% almost every day and it barely covers the basics. She snorted at that. Didnt tell her: (I have fallen, passed out and bruised myself at times because its not in me to quit, It makes me feel like shit. So i go too far. I happend to have developed a habit of self abuse. BUT its not abuse if you like it!) I know doctors dont like it when you go on and on (protest too much) BUT I NEEDED her to stop assuming I was some obese lazy loser who didnt know anything. My degree was in psychology. I KNEW plenty. Still she refused.. asking me "what are you doing now" "I HAD TO QUIT SCHOOL cuz of the pain.. I can hardly manage my day" Scoffed.. I tried one more thing.. That IF my pain wasnt really real, that the pain pills wouldnt have that affect.. and if I was depressed and lazy and unmotivated ... HOW and WHY would I suddenly start doing all the things I always did before I got the pain. I would still choose to sit around and be lazy and whine if that was true. She said that narcotics are very powerful drugs that fool the brain and give you a high that can make you do all kinds of things.. I told her I think If that was happeneing I would like do stupid things like druggies do.. BUt I happen to do the things I did before like laundry and the yard and wash the car (things I had stopped doin) She never really heard me and just said what she thought anyway. This was not one appointment. This was many over several months .... I refused to give up. I got the ultram for my cramps once a month and thus I had some to experiment with.. I found out that I never got euphoric, that I only needed like two pills and That they did indeed make me whole again. I saved some to take to camping and BAM, I was doing ALL the camp things I used to love but had to stop cuz of pain. I prooved it to myself over and over that I was NOT lazy and depressed. I made the mistake and told her this and she said I was misusing the pills and she was going to talk to my gyno about that. So here is some back story on the gyno.. this doctor (the cunt) had dicked me around for almost two years.. I had extreme menstral pain and begged for help. Somehow she held me off for that long. I was never gave a pap and she was giving me depo and said I was lucky to get that cuz it did help alittle. ONE day after expelling a ruber chunk the size of a deck of cards, I refused to let her dissmiss me. She threw her hands up and said "GO TO A specialist, THATS all I can tell yOU" She was mocking me.. BUT I DID GO The obgyn specialist, listened to me for half an hour, told me I had some problems to take care of and look into and gave me the ultram for pain. (I have had two ablations and soon to have a hysterectomy) NOW my doctor is threatning to call the obgyn. BUT, I had a nice conversation with the gyno about how my doctor said there were NO pills for menstral releif but anitinflamitories.. The gyno said ultram is used all the time. That I had symptoms of menstral diseases and would need a pap. She realizes I never had one in the two years and she asks me why and I said I didint know.. she explained it was highly irregular and she was shocked. I said my doctor never brought it up until she told me to see a specialist. She was nice to me and wanted to help me. Well the obgyn left practice and I had to turn to my doctor for the pills for my period and she refused, calling them narcotics and NOT for mentral pain. I told her that the obgyn said ultram IS for cramps (used all the time) and that she should doube check. And NOT a narcotic She wasnt saying that she didnt want to give them to me. She was saying that THEY WERE NOT prescribed for cramps. Ummm.. Can she proove it. One of them is wrong. So she faxed the file.. and came in laughing at me that there was NO history of me ever having ultram and that the obgyn had said I was a basket case and needed therapy to get over my fear of a pap smear. I told her I needed to schedule a pap.... and she said she didnt do them. I learned later that basetcase was mY words, and that my doctor had told the obgyn that I had refused paps.. NO I never! I wouldnt refuse, I wasnt that bold. had she told be about them I would of had one. SHe didnt tell me. Plus I found out she DID do paps all along. Well all I had to do is calll the obgyn offices and ask for another obgyn to look in my file and see what I was prescribed and please call it in.. It was done in 10 mimutes.. (she had lied again about not seeing it in the file, he had seen it jut fine) She wasnt happy once I prooved it to her and she had no excuse to deny me.. It was only 15 pills. like 5 aday for 3 days.. I needed them every day.

I learned to NEVER give up hope. There are things in life you may not even know exist that can help you. Recall I had come to the conclusion about a year before that I could never lose weight on my own cuz My body was in so much pain that excersize was out and life was just too hard. I couldnt do it when it was alot easier. I had NEVEr admitted defeat about anything before. I had to. Once I did it became alot easier to live with myself. So.. It happened by acident: I had been givin some ULTRAM (non narcotic pain pills) for my menstral pains (obgyn) and soon found my self able to be more physically mobile. I realized I was being all mobile cuz my body didnt hurt. It was a magical day. I was sorting laundry, washing it, drying it.. as if I hadnt just spent the last year Sitting on top of it for three hours, sorting as I sat. And having the kids put the loads in. I discovered PAIN pills, and how if your body hurts and you releive that body of hurt, it functions better.. (I swear it was like finding the meaning to life) I could clean the house, feed the animals, park myself, check the mail, wash my hair...etc etc. I COULD ALSO get some excersize in and focus on my health not on my exhastion and blinding pain. I HAD HOPE AGAIN.. I was alive again. I was SAVED! NOt so fast: My doctor was a fucking cunt from hell who I wish I could confront and humiliate to this day. (all the reasons why will NOT be covered in here) I told her a million times in the past I had constant pain mostly in my back. NOw, I told her how the pills (prescribed by a gyno) had releived that pain and that I would like to have some more for every day please. She laughed in my face. (OH god if you could see the faces she made!) She said I was too "euphoric" about my new found mobility and ability to LIVE a real life. She said narcotic Pills are not prescribed to make people feel happy about their life. She said "cocain makes people feel good, should they do it?" I told her I didnt feel high at all, I knew what high feels like, I wasnt euphoric, If I ever became euphoric I would report to her.. I was willing to start on a low dose. I tried to get her to understand that I WANTED THE PILLS TO RELEIVE THE PAIN IN MY BACK AND BODY.. and BECAUSE that pain was releived, I was able to be my normal happy self. IT WAS NOT the drug making me happy.. SHEESH Finally she says "there is nothing wrong with you.. your obese and your out of shape and your simply having aches and pains and if you would drink more water, excersize and take care of your self, You will feel alot better." She said the way I referred to it as getting my life back showed that I was overly sinsitive and dramatic and extreemly emotional. She also said this is the cause of my pain. That If I had a more possitive and brighter look out on life, I wouldnt have the pain I THink I have. (the thought of her checking my back or doing any kind of research at all to see where my pain was coming from.. was not discussed or thought of by me..I just didnt think of it. If I had I would of asked her to check me out, she should of done that nayway) When she normally said these things, I felt belittled and I shut down. BUT nOW, MY LIFE was at stake. So I tried to show her why I knew those things werent true. I knew what pain was and how to listen to my body. I was NOT stupid! I explained that I had left a crackwhore mom and quit a very bad life of crime and perversion and addictions.. I made a life for myself and my children from age 16, I graduated high school in the top ten, I went on to get my AA and then moved all alone to get my BA.. and I had walked through floods to get the kids to daycare, and worked any shit job i could find, I raised really good kids and I never ever left them, I have lived in my car with my kids for two weeks JUST so we didnt miss any school, and I walked 40 blocks sometimes when my car broke down to college and back rather than risk doing poorly or missing school. I told her how I excelled in every job, I was teachers aid and the next year made a preschool teacher (unheard of for a student) I then taught the incoming students on how to be with the kids and I AM the one who came up with the curriculum after taking a 500 level class..and it was used for the two years I was there. I was trained and became cetified to provide foster care to kids 12 to 21 (though I never took them up on it) The agency pratically begged me to write a proposal so they could open a much needed teen parent home.. I got on at Rape crisis and soon I had the key to the office and the pager for weeks at a time when the rule was no more than 48 hours and it was cuz I outshined and prooved myself to be better than most. Much more. I never had a man taking care of me, and no parents and didnt need friends either. My kids were in every sport, I was room mother. I did special needs child care, I organized city block garage sales, I threw parties for the college housing kids, Those things above were VERY hard for me. I was young, alone, mom of three, poor and obese. I told her that I bust my ass everyday, I have been for a long time. I told her that I dont feel happy unless I am exhausted and feeling my efforts and find it unsettling to lay around and relax. I told her I am not affraid of pain. I kinda thrived on it. I told her that I go 100% almost every day and it barely covers the basics. She snorted at that. Didnt tell her: (I have fallen, passed out and bruised myself at times because its not in me to quit, It makes me feel like shit. So i go too far. I happend to have developed a habit of self abuse. BUT its not abuse if you like it!) I know doctors dont like it when you go on and on (protest too much) BUT I NEEDED her to stop assuming I was some obese lazy loser who didnt know anything. My degree was in psychology. I KNEW plenty. Still she refused.. asking me "what are you doing now" "I HAD TO QUIT SCHOOL cuz of the pain.. I can hardly manage my day" Scoffed.. I tried one more thing.. That IF my pain wasnt really real, that the pain pills wouldnt have that affect.. and if I was depressed and lazy and unmotivated ... HOW and WHY would I suddenly start doing all the things I always did before I got the pain. I would still choose to sit around and be lazy and whine if that was true. She said that narcotics are very powerful drugs that fool the brain and give you a high that can make you do all kinds of things.. I told her I think If that was happeneing I would like do stupid things like druggies do.. BUt I happen to do the things I did before like laundry and the yard and wash the car (things I had stopped doin) She never really heard me and just said what she thought anyway. This was not one appointment. This was many over several months .... I refused to give up. I got the ultram for my cramps once a month and thus I had some to experiment with.. I found out that I never got euphoric, that I only needed like two pills and That they did indeed make me whole again. I saved some to take to camping and BAM, I was doing ALL the camp things I used to love but had to stop cuz of pain. I prooved it to myself over and over that I was NOT lazy and depressed. I made the mistake and told her this and she said I was misusing the pills and she was going to talk to my gyno about that. So here is some back story on the gyno.. this doctor (the cunt) had dicked me around for almost two years.. I had extreme menstral pain and begged for help. Somehow she held me off for that long. I was never gave a pap and she was giving me depo and said I was lucky to get that cuz it did help alittle. ONE day after expelling a ruber chunk the size of a deck of cards, I refused to let her dissmiss me. She threw her hands up and said "GO TO A specialist, THATS all I can tell yOU" She was mocking me.. BUT I DID GO The obgyn specialist, listened to me for half an hour, told me I had some problems to take care of and look into and gave me the ultram for pain. (I have had two ablations and soon to have a hysterectomy) NOW my doctor is threatning to call the obgyn. BUT, I had a nice conversation with the gyno about how my doctor said there were NO pills for menstral releif but anitinflamitories.. The gyno said ultram is used all the time. That I had symptoms of menstral diseases and would need a pap. She realizes I never had one in the two years and she asks me why and I said I didint know.. she explained it was highly irregular and she was shocked. I said my doctor never brought it up until she told me to see a specialist. She was nice to me and wanted to help me. Well the obgyn left practice and I had to turn to my doctor for the pills for my period and she refused, calling them narcotics and NOT for mentral pain. I told her that the obgyn said ultram IS for cramps (used all the time) and that she should doube check. And NOT a narcotic She wasnt saying that she didnt want to give them to me. She was saying that THEY WERE NOT prescribed for cramps. Ummm.. Can she proove it. One of them is wrong. So she faxed the file.. and came in laughing at me that there was NO history of me ever having ultram and that the obgyn had said I was a basket case and needed therapy to get over my fear of a pap smear. I told her I needed to schedule a pap.... and she said she didnt do them. I learned later that basetcase was mY words, and that my doctor had told the obgyn that I had refused paps.. NO I never! I wouldnt refuse, I wasnt that bold. had she told be about them I would of had one. SHe didnt tell me. Plus I found out she DID do paps all along. Well all I had to do is calll the obgyn offices and ask for another obgyn to look in my file and see what I was prescribed and please call it in.. It was done in 10 mimutes.. (she had lied again about not seeing it in the file, he had seen it jut fine) She wasnt happy once I prooved it to her and she had no excuse to deny me.. It was only 15 pills. like 5 aday for 3 days.. I needed them every day.

Hi ladies, I haven't gained any weight and have not lost any either. It's been 5 days. I am too still bloated and feel very heavy. The gas is another subject of it's own:cursing:. I hope to start charting some progress soon. I wasn't required to lose any weight pre-op so nothing has really changed at all. Do you think this is normal after 5 days? SWRKTP...I noticed you were banded the day before me:tongue:. Were you nervous any? Banded/4-14-09 Weight/ 231 lbs

Hey ladies, I'm just two day post op. Now the nurse in me must step up and in. Remember they pumped you full of gas which your body must slowly get rid of. On top of the bloating and swelling and any number of things going post op with in your body. It is very tempting to think that you are going to have instant wt. loss, but we all know that's not the case. It is very unhealthy for the spirit to weigh yourself prematurely, very unhealthy. Start looking as if you did this for health and not to instantly loss weight. Weighing yourself often or even in these next 2 weeks before your Doctor's visit and true weigh in should not be done. Instead, concentrate on health, staying healthy, getting healthy, eating right and all the the other post op blahs, rather then your immediate weight. This should all be temporary, give your body time to do what it needs to do to heal without added pressure of how much it weighs now.

@@kraek9 you will continue to have many many big decisions for example - fish or chicken for dinner LOL i didn't want the bypass for absorption reasons i take two medicines to control my epilepsy couldn't afford it not going through my system completely i don't think malabsorption is a permanent situation, but it lasts a few years PC - not sure bypass "messes" with your insides (organs) PC again - gastric bypass is considered the Gold Standard (something like that) it works great too doc and i had long talk pros and cons were explained, (sleeve or bypass) and discussed i wasn't positive which WLS i wanted to have initially i thought about the lapband PC - i'm not saying anything bad about lapband it works great i was leaning toward the sleeve doc thought sleeve was better for me decision now made PC (politically correct) i always cover my little assss in case i'm wrong i'm almost 5 years PO!!!! sleeve has assisted me in losing weight i am maintaining - few fluctuations very happy! good luck kathy

I will not deprive myself of anything in moderation. That being said, I didn't get to almost 300 pounds because I did anything in moderation, including food. I truly believe depriving yourself is a catalyst to failure. You will fill punished, you will feel regret, you will feel isolated, you will left-out and eventually those feelings will lead you to not just one slice of cake but several pieces, then those pieces give you permission to eat something else equally bad and before you know it you have started the journey of the slippery slope to weight gain. I understand that it takes great dedication to your health to decide on WLS and with that dedication came sacrifices. Many of those sacrifices include "tempting food" but for many people a slice of pie is just a slice of pie or a few french fries it just a few french fries. Being a WLS patient doesn't mean you give up the joy of tempting food. It simply means you know when and how to make the splurge.

That was my first thought, too. I am apple-shaped and just like pear-shaped people, I just became a smaller version of an apple shape. Still larger on top and smaller on bottom. Clothes aren't made for apples. Especially pants. My weight is around the middle. Pear shapes have their weight in hips and thighs. Sounds like she's apple-shaped.

I *think* I understand where the OP is coming from.. I think she's talking about the apron some of us get when we lose weight.. Or sometimes it's called FUPA in slang (fat upper pelvic area). My belly is somewhat flat, but not perfectly so because of my apron. And the more weight I lose, the worse it looks & more it bothers me. I will probably need plastics, but haven't committed myself mentally to that yet.

How tall are you? I'm thinking a few things. 1) My mom was always thin and when she turned 50 she started gaining weight because of menopause. She cannot eat more than 1,000 calories or she gains. She is only 5'3 though. 2) Very good point made above about sodium. Try cutting out as much processed food as possible and see if the swelling subsides. 3) My older coworker exercised with a personal trainer and watched what she ate but never lost any weight until they found the right combination of pills that helped her body with the Water it was retaining. Now she is dropping weight relatively easily. My point is medication can cease or disguise weight loss due to swelling. Keep up the good work! You will get there. Sent from my KFFOWI using the BariatricPal App

I am 18 months out, well past goal weight and in maintenance, and I still don't eat 1000-1200 calories per day. There is no way I would have lost weight eating that many calories, sadly. Is that the amount your doctor told you to increase your calories up to? 800 was the maximum number we were allowed to still be in weight loss mode. I eat about 900 per day now, in maintenance. I hope things improve for you soon!! Good luck!

No clue, to tell you the truth, but I'd be willing to bet it's a very individualized thing. You can start right now. I started months before I needed to do so, as soon as a bandster friend warned me. She told me to go on a very low-carb diet and stay there. I did, and once I made the adjustments to my recipes and got into the habit of reading all the labels of all the food I shopped for, it got a lot easier. I actually enjoy the low-carb life now, and had no trouble when the doc told me to diet and keep below 30g of carbs total a day. It wasn't until I started tracking calories as well that I actually lost a lot of weight, but by then the extra care wasn't that difficult. You can do this. Really. A little privitation now means the possibility of a lifetime of rewards later. Lena