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As you may recall, I'm an "honorary" February member. My surgery was originally scheduled for February 25 but was postponed at the last minute until February 3. By then, I had already bonded with all of you! As for how I'm doing--better than I ever could have imagined a year ago! When I entered maintenance, I was18 pounds below my original goal weight, and I have now settled at 10 pounds below it. I'm also eating much more "normally" than I ever thought possible, although I now crave healthy foods. In short, this surgery is one of the best decisions I've ever made!

How is it less invasive? With bypass things are rerouted. Nothing is removed. With sleeve 80% of the stomach is removed. i had a hard time deciding too back in 2017. I went with the sleeve but almost changed my mind to bypass right up until surgery day. Mid 2019 I got pretty severe gerd and hiatal hernia. Had to revise to bypass. My only regret is that I did not choose the bypass and ended up having to do the surgery twice. you are the only one that can decide what is right for you. Do your research and make the best decision for you. Good luck!

RNY BYPASS 10/28 6FT - 183CM 35 M HW 322 - 146KG Surgery 257 - 116.5KG CW 201.5 - 91.4KG 1st photo at 320lbs 2nd photo I think 210lbs. I hope to get down to like 185-190

I was 10/28 but RNY down 55lbs

I gravitate to sweet for a different reason. Some time ago my taste buds stopped working properly. I couldn’t taste anything anymore mainly if it were strong sweet, salty, creamy or by texture. Sometimes it is worse than others. I tend to use sweet but without sugar. I use stevia in my tea or coffee. I buy skinny girl flavor syrup usually from either Burlington, Tuesday morning, tMarshall’s or home goods or tjmaxx they have them cheapest. be careful with sugar alcohols especially maltitol, that’s dangerous for dumping. but there’s plenty of healthier sweet options like protein bars, protein cookies, smart cakes, smart muffins, mug cakes, etc. BariatricPal store has quite a selection. Also Netrition.com. i haven’t had it in a while but if you crave bread great low carb bread company makes good bread, bagels, thin pizza crust, and other things even pasta. It’s a balance of fiber and protein. I try not to tempt myself with too much sweet and im not a snacker. So the sweet has to be protein for a meal. Of course that’s just me. I keep it little to no sugar, avoid sugar alcohols unless it’s a little bit of Erythritol. And stick to low carb and make sure it has protein. Fiber helps. if you like chocolate I found an interesting protein bar that’s called Built Bar, it comes in a bunch of flavors, 110 calories, 15 grams protein and low sugar. I bought a sampler box with a $10 coupon from their Facebook page. I tried mint brownie and it’s a bit like a dark chocolate peppermint patty. Not sure if it still works but the $10 off code is FIRSTBUILTBAR There’s even healthier gummy candies (smart sweets) that are sweetened with stevia and have lots of fiber. I think there are protein gummies too. halo top is one lower sugar, low calorie ice cream option.

39 year old male - 6’2” Pre-Surgery Weight: 410 lbs Surgery on 27 September 2019 Current weight: 302 lbs 108 lbs lost in 3 1/2 months 82 lbs to target

Just checking on everyone. We seem like a smaller group compared to other months I'm down 42lbs. Its definitely come g off a little slower now. I am 3 months post op next week. How is everyone else faring?

GORL! I got an IUD this past summer so no cycles. No cycles, not PMS. It’s. Amazing. Taking a pregnancy test 1/24 though (JIC) but I couldn’t get pregnant 10 years ago when I was 50lbs lighter than I am now so I seriously doubt it.

I'm doing great, feeling great....lost a few pounds in the past 2 wks. Totally enjoying the journey [emoji16][emoji16] 5'4" Starting weight 297 VSG on 7/31/19 Surgery wt: 266 CW 208 GW 135 Sent from my [samsung Galaxy] using BariatricPal mobile app

I just rejoined - actually I don't remember if I initially joined or not - but I am feeling desperate and trying to do something before these last 10 pounds take me back to my pre-surgery weight. I hope this does not deter anyone from getting the surgery; everything went well and worked (I initially lost 60 lbs, not my goal, but it was significant) but then I messed up and basically acted like I never had the surgery. I've never been one to exercise and I've been eating anything that fits into my mouth. It's embarrassing but I'm hoping that talking about it might help. I have been trying to do a pouch reset but I get 2 days into it and stop. I'm pretty sure my downfall is mental stuff but I haven't been to my therapist in months. I think I feel like therapy has given me the tools by now to deal with everything, but I suppose I need to rethink that. I dunno. I guess I just wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience or if anyone can relate and somehow overcame it.

Hello everyone, I had gastric sleeve surgery on the 3rd July 2019, my starting weight was 120kg/265lb and is now 83.5kg/184lb which don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with but at 5ft1 my ‘goal weight’ is around 134lb which seems so far away and impossible for me right now. Since October I’ve only lost 7kg and for the past month or so it hasn’t moved at all, just the same lb up and down. Is this it for me? Has anyone experience it stopping this early? Thankyou x

Hey guys! Ok, so I got my surgery on 12/12. I made my 1st appointment on 10/14 and within a week I was scheduled. I am seeing other people are having to go through more steps, including my good friend. He needs a series of visits to get approved for surgery. What is the difference and why such a crazy change in whether you will get approved?

Hello everyone, I had my surgery on the 26th of February 2016... Almost four years now! I just wanted to show that it's possible to maintain your weight even after a few years... I'm happy with the decision I made even though I was only 23 back then. It changed many aspects of my life, mostly in a very good way! Here are some "before pics": Here are some pics from my 2019/2020 trip to Slovakia (I did celebrate new year's eve with nice drinks, oops): If I can be useful or answer any question, don't hesite to ask me anything Cheers from Belgium!

Indeed! I said right afterwards " That would actually be fabulous, if the feeling stayed for more than 10 minutes... however, a good hearty burp clears it out straight away and then I'm able to eat more." It sounds to me like the band actually worked for you, which is great. For whatever reason I was able to clear my band out frequently even after eating healthy foods. I'd sit and have a scrambled egg, some cantaloupe, and 1 slice of toast for breakfast and it would be perfectly satisfying, until the dreaded belch and I would literally feel the food slide through the band to my stomach. The hunger would return within a half hour. It was so frustrating. I reverted to slider foods because I just gave up. I lost 40 pounds with the band and kept it off until I had twins but I'm nearly 300 pounds and need a much more significant loss than that. Thank you for your comments too, @elcee. I'm leaning more towards RNY. That's what my doctor recommended when I saw him last, during my pregnancy. They had to take all the fluid out of my band but I haven't been back since. I got discouraged because if the band doesn't work, will anything? I fully understand that WLS is a tool, but a tool should actually HELP, shouldn't it? With the band, I felt exactly the same way as I would if I was on Weight Watchers. Shaky, dizzy, and hungry. There's no point in having WLS if it doesn't help curb that awful feeling.

First thing first - Do not use a ladle to hard use Two forks on top not lined up fork and pour the eggs thru a fork while moving the fork around so it splashes in different areas Japanese Style Egg Drop Soup (Kakitama-jiru) Prep Time 5 mins Cook Time 5 mins Total Time 10 mins This is a Japanese version of Egg Drop Soup called Kakitama-jiru. Kakitama-jiru broth is based on dashi stock, but Chinese egg drop soup is made with chicken stock. Fluffy eggs in the soup look almost like ribbons. It also reheats well. Cook Time does not include the time to make dashi stock. Recipe Type: Soup Cuisine: Japanese Keyword: Egg Drop Soup, Egg Soup Serves: 2 Author: Yumiko Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml) 400ml / 0.8pt dashi stock (note 1) 1 tsp light soy sauce (note 2) ⅓ tsp salt 3 tsp cornflour/corn-starch diluted in 3 tsp water (note 3) 1 egg , beaten A handful of snow pea shoots cut to 2.5cm/1” pieces (note 4) substitute parsley better and easier! Instructions Bring dashi stock to a boil and add soy sauce and salt. When salt is dissolved, add the cornflour to the broth slowly while mixing the broth with a ladle. This prevents cornflour lumps in the broth. When the broth thickens, reduce the heat to medium so that the broth is gently boiling. Using chopsticks or a fork, pour the beaten egg along the chopsticks/fork, drawing a circle starting from the centre of the pot towards the outer edge (note 5). Gently stir the egg ribbons with the ladle, then turn the heat off. Add the snow pea shoots to the soup and serve while hot (note 6). Recipe Notes 1. I strongly recommend home-made dashi stock if you have time and access to dried bonito flakes. The broth is seasoned very lightly and you are meant to enjoy the great flavour of dashi. If you need to use an instant dashi pack or granular dashi powder to make dashi stock, reduce the salt to ¼ tsp or less depending on the type of dashi pack. The granular dashi powder contains the most salt. Taste and adjust when seasoning the broth. 2. You can substitute light soy sauce with normal soy sauce. The colour of the broth becomes marginally darker if normal soy sauce is used. You may also need to adjust the amount of salt as normal soy sauce is slightly less salty than light soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is not suited for this recipe. 3. The amount of cornflour/corn-starch can be anywhere between 2 to 4 teaspoons depending on how thin/thick broth you want. 4. I picked only the tip of the snow pea leaves to avoid thick stems. The most commonly used garnish in Japan is mitsuba - a wild Japanese parsley or the Japanese version of Cryptotaenia. You can also use mizuna, baby spinach or finely chopped shallots/scallions. This is for a garnish and you don’t have to have it, although the green makes the soup look prettier. 5. If you have a ladle with small holes, you could pour the egg through it instead of using chopsticks/fork. 6. When transferring the soup from the pot to a serving bowl, gently scoop the soup and try not to break eggs into smaller pieces. 7. The serving size is the size of a typical Japanese soup bowl. If you would like the soup to be served like a Western-style soup in a larger soup bowl, you will need to double the quantity.

Also, always a good idea in my opinion to check in with your surgeon/nutritionist when concerned about weight loss. They know your history hopefully extremely well and any challenges you are facing (i.e. illnesses, diabetes, PCOS, menopause (peri, during or post), injuries etc. that prevent regular exercise)....they should not be just a team that does the surgery and goes away. My surgeon, nutritionist and I already kind of knew ahead of time that I was likely to be a slow loser and I had been an extremely slow loser in any method I chose after years upon years of yo yo dieting. So we knew I was going to likely fall somewhere in the middle range at best but we all hoped for more. They have termed me a low average to slow loser and that is fine as I know it just means I need to be more diligent on the things within my control that will take me from slow to 'no loser'. We made adjustments and tweaks along the way working our ways through stalls, through possible other issues. Like I mentioned before, I had been given, when 2 months out, my target calories and I had to push a bit to get my target macros as I favor a low carb/low fat diet. After 4 weeks, even being under 20-30 grams of carbs, things just seemed to flatten. Then they switched my macros around and increased my carbs which had me tripping out but the weight started coming off again. Sure we can come here and vent and hopefully what this leads to is productive behavior which means continuing to stick out the journey, to step away from the scale when the frustrations threaten your journey, to look at other NSV's, to check and see are their basics we are letting slip (i.e. I stopped logging food in my fitness pal for 3 days so I had no hard data when something changed)...are we choosing a 'good/valid' entry in our trackers...do we have firm understanding of some of the things we are concerned about. If ppl ask you to post your food, don't think it is that they don't believe you...there could be something you are missing or it validates what you are saying, you get others who have been down this road...their very valuable input...and then ppl can help tackle troubleshooting other things. What I hope we get the MOST from threads like this is when we are open, and...maybe a bit more careful with tone (not saying things should not be challenged or debated that are actually wrong...I just don't want to alienate someone who doesn't understand how we got to xyz reply and frustrated tone..to not post what they are doing because they are afraid. In the end we want to all help each other REMAIN on our journey whether losing 20 lbs, 10 lbs 5 lbs a month..or sometimes even 0...yes, that can happen...because we know in the end, patience and persistence will win out.

We are bookends, your surgery is on Monday/27th and my surgery is on Friday/31st. Costco has Premier protein on sale (2 cases max) for 19.00 each until 01/26 I believe. Wal-Mart grocery store is good for our Jello and Sugar free Popsicles, Trader Joe's has plenty of broth varieties. I've been shopping as I go, building my supplies and getting ready for the transition to bariatric surgery. I also live alone and don't want to be without my needs during recovery time. My focus is going to be on rest, hydration and walking in the proper time intervals.

The problem is, I don't feel "full" I just feel like I can't eat anymore. Does that make sense? Like I want more, and I wish I could eat more, but the band stops me from eating. That would actually be fabulous, if the feeling stayed for more than 10 minutes... however, a good hearty burp clears it out straight away and then I'm able to eat more. The result is I take a bit longer to eat a regular meal but I can eat as much as I want. Having the top portion of my stomach full is great but the bottom portion definitely calls out to be filled up too. The result is, once I burp and the small pouch empties, I want more. If the duration between the full-feeling stayed much longer I think the band would work just fine for me. Did that happen to you when you had your band? Would you mind sharing the difference you feel between the sleeve and the band, if anything? If it's an identical experience I don't want to stress my body from another surgery... but I do want something that works. I didn't expect the band to do all the work for me, but it never worked to begin with even when I followed the rules (because of the pouch emptying so fast). I talked to my doctor about that so he added a small amount of fluid to the band but when I went to take a drink of water I was completely stopped up, so he had to take it back out right away. He said I was at the max tightness for my tolerance. It's so strange.

Thanks for your support, truly. I've actually asked more than one poster to put their diet on a variety of threads. I even put my own typical diet on here as an example. I talked about burn rates, CICO, etc. What however happens is the people who have a "problem" always seem to disappear when someone tries to actually get to the root of the problem. This then leaves other people not knowing what is really happening, and as such puts doubts in their minds about what they can expect. Interesting enough, where you do see people "fess up" is on posts where individuals say "I've lost control" or "how do I get back". that's the reality of this entire situation. Many people are actually in the process of "losing control" or on their way "up in weight" but they mistakenly cloud it in "it's not my fault". They don't get the help they need, and 10 other people feel like their chances are futile. Part of the problem is also what really constitutes a "slow loser". I would think it would be anyone who loses less than 3-4 lbs per week. I.e. if you are losing 3-4 lbs per week, than don't worry, its all good. If on the other hand you are not losing that much, then lets all talk intelligently and cordially about what may be going on, so we may help.

The most negative statistical outcomes has been directly attributed to "The band" . most insurance companies don't even cover it anymore, and most surgeons will not perform the surgery. I believe one of the easiest ways to counter the negative vibes that you may encounter when talking to someone who "knows someone" that has significantly failed is to merely ask the question: "do you know what type of WLS they had". In my experience pre and post op, virtually everyone says the same thing: "they had the band". If so, then just take a few minutes to talk about your surgery, and let them know that there is a significantly higher chance of success with the Sleeve or bypass. In fact if you look up the history of the sleeve, it was originally developed to be a "first step" in the bypass process, as an attempt to have severely obese people drop initial weight to a level which made the actual bypass easier and safer to accomplish. What they however found in the majority of cases, was that patients didn't even need the bypass after the sleeve, which is why it is now so popular. The sleeve, and associated nutritional education are on the cutting edge (no pun intended) as a cure of the blight on our populace by the proliferation of cheap easily available questionable food choices. Corporate marketing of non-complex high carbs and calorie laden meals are literally tapping into the same brain chemistry as heroin dealers. The food industry makes in money in carbohydrates, not protein. Protein is expensive. Carbs are cheap. When you go out for your "reasonably priced" pasta meal, consider that 85% of what is on your plate, cost them 10% of what you are paying. The protein then eats up 75+% of their costs. Unfortunately they are typically covered in sauces to make you think they are all the same thing. Not! The cheap carbs are what cause the problem and they are the majority of most meals. As a side note to all of your "banders" who have succeeded. Bravo! I know it cant be easy.

So, sadly, this is a reality. The ASMBS places much higher success rates on surgery. But that is because their definition of success is "people who maintain a 50% EBWL over a 5 year period" post surgically. That mean that people regain 10-20% based on their original average expectations of weight loss. I think it's how we choose to perceive and frame these comments. I hear that a lot. And it makes me: 1. Continually aware of the existence of this being a possibility. (AKA Scared Straight! Cuz I think of this potential any time I face a choice to eat calorie dense, emotionally vacant meals--oh I'm talking bout you French Fries & Pizza. It helps reinforce my behavior to eat mindfully with healthy choices. It's not 100% but it's at minimum 80-90% and works for me.) 2. It makes me exercise every day to keep my metabolism up and to not rescind into old slothful habits. 3. It keeps me connected to my support system (support group in real life and online, and to BP forum) + doc + RD + psych 4. It keeps me focused on building new health living skills and having a barihealthylife! 5. It makes me determined to not be a statistic anyone will be able to say about me. I will do anything necessary to be successful by my definition. So you see? Don't waste energy on anger. Turn it to your advantage! Congrats on all your hard work!!!!

I was still supplementing with shakes through month 5 (not every day), but definitely while still in first 2 months to hit my protein goals. You need the protein to heal from the surgery. From what I have read and encountered here, losing 10 lbs in your first two weeks is awesome. Several of us had swelling, water gain from the surgery/IV fluids, etc. and our overall first month weight loss ranged from 7 lbs to 15. 10 is great for an entire month! I take it your surgeon is aware of your AS, what limitations does it give you when it flares up? I know that some people will just walk throughout their house and I've seen them hitting amazing #'s doing this...to get things moving not only physically but to help with the gas pains from surgery and to get things literally moving everywhere. Are you able to do this?

Agreed. The message has been communicated and the facts that we can and should derive from it are tipping from helpful into hurtful. The message is being lost in the way it is being harped on. We get it... You may notice that about 90 to 95% of the posters in this thread are women and yes, it has been proven that men TYPICALLY lose faster than women. Please give us credit for some intelligence and the ability to read and take what we know to be true and/or our questions back to our professionals and find ways to work with/deal with and continue on our WL journey whether we are losing 10 lbs a month, 5 lbs or have stalled. Fluffly's definition of what her team determines to be a stall was helpful. I think much good can come from this thread. The majority, to me at least, seem to be interested in getting clarification, are acknowledging things they are facing they can't do anything about - menopause, etc. while also admitting things they need to do something about. I personally know that I will not consider the month of December in my weight loss average as I went on a cruise, admitted to gaining 1 lb and I know that will skew my results. We also have been around long enough to help newbies, as i was shocked that my first month loss was so low but my preop had been SO LONG (switched dr's - long story) and the way the surgery impacted me...my weight didn't really start moving until weeks 3 and 4. It was good to hear that this happens for others. In fact my surgery sibling group had me back away from the scale. NONE of us were, at that point..or almost none of us..eating more than 400 calories so we knew even w/o exercise that the scale would INDEED MOVE.

I'm 44... will turn 45 in a few months. I had surgery on July 23rd. My starting weight was 234. Current weight is 164, so I've lost 70 lbs. which is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I'm in a size 10! I never thought I'd see that size again!!!

I had my rny surgery on 12/9/19 and my 2week post op I lost 10 pounds but since then nothing. I have a hard time with the shakes so I know I am not getting my protein in. It’s also hard for me to be active do to my AS flaring up. Do you guys have any help or advice for me? I just feel alone and lost