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Day 3 of pre-op diet (5 more to go). I’m down 10 pounds since staring the pre-op diet (62 total since I started trying to loose weight last year). Today was the first time I really “saw” weight loss in myself. My clothing have been looser, but I hadn’t noticed obvious body changes until this morning. It hit me - there’s going to be a lot of skin.. lol. Already getting some “wings”, but honestly I don’t mind it’s a badge of accomplishment at this point. I’ve earned those wings. 🤣 Today is the first day I have felt actual hunger, but I’ve been more active today than the last two days and it wasn’t bad, the protein shake helped. I also was around food and ok… but I have to stay off FB and avoid ads…. Those pictures kill me!! My plan is to get all my requirements in (shakes, juice, water) and if I feel like I need something more I’ll add in broth, jello… or one of the other allowed “free foods” to tide me over. I’m hoping I can drop at least another 11 or 12 lbs before Tuesday. That would put me in a really good position to get under the 300 lb mark before the end of the month and I have seen the scale point to anything in the 200’s in a looong time. I’m almost as excited to hit that number as I am to get to onederland! Lol. Now that will be a celebration!!

I am two weeks out today too! Such a huge change! I wish I had been kept overnight for pain management, but I survived Great job on the weight loss! I am loving the scrambled eggs with a touch of reduced fat cheese, definitely has become my staple! HW: 293 SW(before pre op diet): 289.4 CW: 250.1

We're almost exactly the same starting/current weight but I'm a couple weeks ahead of you. I only weigh once a week for my own mental health but I'm going on 3 weeks at the same weight. It's normal. Just keep doing what you're doing, search for "stall" in posts here, you're doing great! With a lower BMI to start we aren't going to see the type of numbers others will post. I do wonder if you are consuming enough. 300 kcal sounds very low, but your team should be able to advise on it.

I am pre op and will be starting my pre op diet officially in September. (3 weeks with 50 carb limit a day) Just curious about how much, if any, people lost during their pre op diet - and what their plan entailed…. (As of today 8/10/222, i have already lost 61 lbs from my highest weight last year just through changing my lifestyle and dealing with my binging and emotional eating - am excited for every ounce lost that gains my ability to actually live life)

The clear liquid diet has been a bit harder than the full liquid diet. Being limited to 5 protein drinks a day but unlimited sf jello, popsicles, and broth. However, in the past 4 days, I have lost another 6 pounds. I had gained back up to 234 before my pre-op appointment eating things that I shouldn't have. But I wanted to say goodbye to them for awhile 🤪Mind food cravings are real! But that's just it, they are in your mind. Drinking all the water and drinks and unlimited free foods definitely will keep you full. Chewing gum when you HAVE to give your jaw something to do has been helpful to me. The biggest challenges I have experienced on the clear liquid diet is the caffeine headache (which is better today, but not gone) and seeing any kind of food posts on social media. I believe I'm going to stay off social media for a while because it's too tempting and a constant reminder of what I cannot have right now. I have also noticed that some things make me feel like I'm in my first trimester again - smells and textures around food that I can't eat have been bothering me. It's like I want to crawl into a little bubble and not see, taste, smell, or feel anything that I can't have. 🤣I am on my 5th day of the clear liquids and it is getting better. I know I can do this! You can too I hope it gets better for you soon too!

Your loss is really impressive and you should be incredibly proud of yourself. I started at 385, though my highest weight ever was at least 400 lbs (my scale didn't go higher) and am now at the same weight as you (not losing nearly as fast as you have - and really slowly now). On the one hand, I feel so amazing. Physically, I feel so much lighter than 271. I feel spry. Things are so much easier and I don't automatically feel limited. I am enjoying physical activity and exercise. I have SO MUCH ENERGY and have been so productive in my personal life. Medically lots of things are better. But, even with that, I know I am still fat and that's how everyone around me sees me - as the fat lady. It's tough because on the one hand, I am so proud of what I have done and how hard I am working, but on the other, I still have SO MUCH FURTHER to go and I know society as a whole still sees me the same way as it did before. It's like being in mile 13 of a marathon... so proud of managing 13 miles but dreading and a bit depressed about having 13 more to go (and worried I won't make it). I'm not sure that I feel significantly differently in public situations, since I am still obese. But, I feel more "normally obese" if that makes sense. I don't always feel like I am automatically the biggest person in the room. I am not paranoid about sitting on chairs (will they hold me? can I get on the stool?) like I used to be. I'm less worried about what my butt is running into (I have a booty, it is/was a real concern). But, I am still obese and I know judgement abounds. Not sure I am helping in any way, but it is a weird place to be in.

I'm at a sort of midway point after the 168 pounds weight loss and still have more to go. I'm at a point were i'm making my way back into society starting a new job, I feel human again. I can do so much more than i ever use to be able to do. Just to feel the wind on my face and the grass under my feet. Being able to stand on my feet for hours at a time without the need to sit down or feel the burning sensation under my feet. I feel in a sense "normal". Planning vacations and know i'm going to be able to travel and fit in a plane seat that now i dont have limitations it's a good and also a strange feeling. That might sound strange but for me it means everything and i know it's only going to get better and better. For those who started out as large as i did, how do you feel now or really anyone whos gone through a huge weight loss but still has more to go. How do you feel in public situations now? Still being over weight there are still people who look and look away. I can handle that now because i honestly don't care i think to myself how far i've come and nobody can take that feeling away from me.

Im having surgery the same day and I weight the same amount! Bariatric buddies!

My bypass was 6/8/22. Here’s a quick update. I went into surgery at 208 lbs. I had started the liquid pre-op at 222. I came home from surgery on 6/10 at 223… IV FLUIDS from the hospital caused that. On 6/30, I weighed 192. It was my 3 wk visit with the surgeon. We talked about stalls and not weighing every day. Today is 8/10, 2 months 2 days post op and I weigh 178. Historically I am a slow loser, so I’m over the moon at how this is going. I’m averaging about 1/2 lb loss a day. I found meeting my hydration and protein goals challenging and I had to focus to meet them. It took me a few weeks, possibly 5 weeks even. I made sure I made hydration goals first and then I focused on protein. I found that large amounts of anything with artificial sweeteners (crystal light, etc) stalled my weight loss. Except for 2 s/f ice pops per day, I steer clear of artificial sweeteners. I stopped drinking protein shakes when I made the connection between stalls and artificial sweeteners. I put PRO-T (17 G protein) in a bottle of water a few times a day to meet my protein goals. I buy it on Amazon and I used it after cosmetic surgery a few years ago with great results. I was slow (intentionally) to progress through food stages by choice. I have not been hungry, I have to remind myself to eat (I’m thrilled), and I eat what I feel like eating if it’s something allowed I go through phases: cucumbers, hummus, soup, zucchini, pickles, egg salad, tuna, peanut butter. A couple of bites and I’m full. I walk 3 miles a day, 4-5 times a week. I take vitamins my surgeon has prescribed. I am always drinking water. I have one cup of coffee a day and have essentially lost my love of it. UNPLEASANT: I’ve had 3 vomiting episodes. All my fault because I ate too fast. They were basically uneventful and I was immediately fine. One dumping episode. I didn’t realize buttermilk has sugar in it and I made a dressing for zucchini spirals. I never needed pain meds in the hospital post op probably because I was given a 3 day nerve block in the abdomen by the anesthesiologist. I NEVER had a single gas pain. Ask me any questions: I will try to organize this info and perhaps make it easier to follow. In no particular order, my go-to foods are: ricotta cheese, lettuce with skinny girl dressing, tomatoes, zucchini, chicken-crust pizza (recipe from Sugar Free Mom-Google it-its TDF), many recipes from Bariatric Kitchen on fb. There are SO many recipes…more than I could ever hope to prepare in my lifetime. LOL My attitude has reverted to what it had been most of my life: eat to live. The emotional eating is an issue I have dealt with personally and I dealt with it by removing myself from the kitchen and drinking a bottle of water. When you are sipping, it takes awhile to drink a bottle of water and that’s a good thing. Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions.

Hello everyone I'm just trying to see if anyone has poor circulation in their arms or legs before surgery and noticed after surgery it has reduced. I have trouble mostly at night my arms become numb and it's painful. It is causing me to not sleep well at night. It is new to me and I'm at heavier weight than I normally am. Hopeful that it would reduce with weight and not something else I have to work on. Thank you Sent from my DE2118 using BariatricPal mobile app

Recognize and pay attention to the "effects" of eating too much for your sleeve. I got so close to throwing up twice. Once I broke out in a sweat and had a runny nose. The second time was like heart palpations, runny nose and being centimeters from actually throwing up. It was awful to stay the least lol. You would think it would only take once to recognize it but as with everything for me it took twice lol. I sometimes get skiddish to eat for fear of losing track with eating too much. By the time my nose starts running Ive already had 1 or 2 bites too much. Dont over buy all the "stuff" needed for post op. You more than likely dont need it and wont eat or drink it. I have a couple of bags of things I thought I could use but I never did. You dont feel like eating and its something to build up to. Ditto to what everyone else said about comparing yourself to others. Some will lose quicker and some will lose alot slower (this is me). It can be frustrating and discouraging but itis what it is and its your body's way of handling the weight loss. And ditto to measuring yourself you will see the difference. I was at my dads birthday party this past Saturday and my oldest brother was videoing and got me in the shot. When I saw the video I was horrified at how I looked and quickly realized I have just lost 52 lbs. A couple things went through my head: 1) if I thought I looked bad now imagine how I looked 52 lbs ago. 2) I could see the difference enough to realize I needed to keep going no matter how long it takes. So pictures and measurement help to put things in to perspective.

But now I'm not. I was super pissed about being in yet another stall, pissed I haven't lost any more weight. Extremely pissed about the amount of pain I am in. Pissed that I ran into coworkers and friends, one of which accused me of lying about getting the surgery. (sigh) Then in today's true fashion I open up Facebook and find out a close relative just passed. There went my opportunity to see her again. There went opportunity to hang out and do some fun stuff and spend quality time with her. We always think there is plenty of time left but sometimes there's not. I decided my petty issues were just that...petty. Time to focus on what's in front of me and having this surgery is allowing me to do things I couldn't a year ago.

I don't think you should be at all concerned with doctor shopping - we look at different cars/dealerships, different realtors when we buy a home. A doctor should be no different. But it looks like you have made your way through and yay for getting a revision! I had the Lapband in 2011. I never really felt restriction after my pouch healed (2 weeks or so) and I lost 60 lbs. I've kept it off but every time I try to lose more weight I end up gaining it right back. I've gone vegan for 2 years, then went keto and promptly had to have my gallbladder removed last summer - doc said it was directly related to keto. I've lost 40 lbs on my own and gained it right back. So in July I decided that since my insurance now covers bariatric I'd see what could be done. Boy have things moved fast. I went to my PCP (also a NP and I love her) and she referred me to a bariatric surgeon. I had my first consult with him on July 12th and he scheduled me for all the tests. I got them done in record time, sometimes two doctor appointments a day, and got done last week. Had my 30 day follow up today and although they're just submitting to insurance now, he's confident they're going to approve so I have my surgery date for October 24th. Here's to revision and another chance!

I've had 2 stalls already, and my weight loss has slowed considerably. I've had to train myself that if I see ANY loss when I do my official weigh ins each Tuesday, it's a win and to celebrate it. Keeping it off is also a HUGE win. I'm so excited to get under 300. I can't wait!!!

Awesome Job! You're killing it! Just be kind to yourself when the weight loss slows, as it inevitably will. It's all part of the process. Think about it this way. You're already 70% of the way to the 200's! You'll hit that before you know it!

Did I mention that having surgery in peak COVID sucks? It does. Now open heart surgery is hard enough, but I was in the hospital a 7 days and was not allowed any visitors the entire time. I think that was actually harder on my wife through. Especially the first few days. I had some complications, was in a lot of pain and was highly medicated, so I was unable to talk to her. My nurse was supposed to give her regular updates, but like most nurses, she was overworked and wasn't able to call regularly. Imagine a loved one in the hospital after major surgery, but you can’t see them, can’t talk to them, and have no idea what’s going on other than they are having “complications”. Now maybe I should explain these “complications” a bit. Basically I was having trouble breathing on my own and they thought they would have to reintubate me. For those not familiar with the term, it means they would have had to put me back on a breathing machine. They didn’t want that and though I didn’t know it at the time, I didn’t want that either. Some studies suggest the mortality rate of cardiac patients that are reintubated is over 40%. Not good odds. Thankfully they didn’t have to go there and I was finally able to make the staff understand that one of the drains in my chest was causing the breathing issues. They removed that drain and I was immediately able to take a nice big breath. Crisis averted. Once I went home, the story honestly gets pretty boring. The surgical recovery period was hard, but being a big fat dude made it harder. The important takeaway here is that my cardiologist said I’d need at least a year to recover from the heart surgery before he would even consider signing off on the weight loss surgery. So my hopes for WLS in 2020 were dashed, but at least there was hope for 2021! Those of you that realize it’s now 2022 (I know, with COVID, I lose track too), will also realize I’m still waiting for my weight loss surgery. Why I’m still waiting well over a year later is a tale for next time!

I used to have active hobbies like gardening but since I was diagnosed with arthritis in my spine (all over my body, really) I can’t do things I used to be able to do. I was very depressed for a long time because I had to leave my job I loved because of all the pain. That was three years ago and since then I’ve found other things to do that make me happy. I go to the pool and just walk around in the waist deep water to move my legs (I had a hip replacement recently.) I have gotten really good at needlework/ cross-stitching and have completed some beautiful projects. It took awhile to change my mindset and now I focus on my health and eating well. I’m able to focus on tracking my food which has allowed me to gain control over my eating/ calorie consumption. I’ve lost 80 lbs and I have 50 more to go. We all can do this!❤️

It sounds like you’re doing everything perfectly! But don’t worry. The weight will start to drop again. Summerseeker mentioned weight loss like a staircase and I found that to be true for me. Keep up the great work. You’re really doing well! 40 lbs down is great! 😁

Mine has been very smooth as well. I was ready to go home about 6 hours post op and had to wait what seemed like forever to get out of there the next day and get on with it! I'm almost 5 weeks post op now and those first few days feel like ages ago. I've had no issues with getting my fluids or protein in from the get go. I've stopped having any incisional pain and hopefully will get the clear soon to work out harder (more weight, planks, core exercises etc). Still taking that part easy until follow up next week.

Best thing I have ever done in my life !! I'm 13 months post opp and I've lost 100 lbs and gained muscle .

I had my surgery on 22/12/2021 and have since lost 35kg/77pounds and i’m sticking under 100g of net carbs 55-60 protein struggling though and aim to never exceed 1200 calories and i still haven’t touched fizzy drinks though i’m realllly struggling to stay away from sweets i used to not be a fan of chocolate and other treats but liked savoury more however I now find myself reaching a lot for chocolate however I recently have been more aware and trying to have less i have gained 2 pounds however I will be losing it and more but I think i’m on stall currently but i’m very happy that I did this surgery and now live quite a normal life compared to before!!

I took a helicopter tour! The weight limit is 300 pounds per person and 600 pounds total for a group of 3. I would have been over the limit at my heaviest. The best part is that I didn’t even check the weight limit. I didn’t even think about it until I got there and saw a sign. When I was over 300 pounds, I would have checked that before I drove there.

My was much easier than I expected. I only vomit the day of the surgery at the hospital. But never again. The pain was gone the next day I went home and never took the pain medication. I was walking a mile literally 3 days after my hubby was telling me to take it easy but my doctor told me to live my life as normal as possible just stop it I was to tired or felt dizzy which never happened. 2 months I lost 33lbs and I feel amazing…I started working out and lifting weights. I am so happy best decision I ever made. Some days I wish I had decided sooner

My surgery was 11/1/2021. From 217.5 (245 at my highest pre-surgery weight) to 157. My goal is 140 (I'm short at 5'3"). I'm starting to panic because I am noticing my restriction less and I'm hungry more lately. Starting to think about food like I did pre-surgery. Has anyone else dealt with this? I'm trying to keep my cravings under control by sticking to plan. It is getting harder. I need to stay positive and deal with my head hunger....protein, protein, protein. Would love your input fellow VSG's!

As of today, I am exactly 3 1/2 months post sleeve surgery and have lost 61 pounds!!!! I can't believe it!!! I still feel like I'm fighting for every pound, but I also knew PCOS would do that to me. Still, I'm so so happy that I hit that weight. I know it's going to get tougher the more time that goes by, but the fact that I'm losing and not putting the weight back on is huge!!!! I'm so excited. My next goal is to hit 320 (that will officially put me at a lower weight than I was with keto - even though I lost 100 pounds then, and it'll only be 67 pounds now, because I went into the surgery a lower weight than I was at when I started keto). After that, my next goal is to hit 299 and be under 300 for the first time since 2005.