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I was weighing every day and that was driving me crazy. Most people on this board lose 10 lbs a week. I just got my surgery and only lost 30 since surgery and 50 total. I feel behind everyone so I weigh only every week. I only lose 2 lbs a week but hey at least i'm losing.

Just finished the pre-op consultation for my gastric sleeve. Everything good to go for surgery on 20 Jan. Have to be at the hospital at 0530 (oh, joy). Expect to stay till next day. Pre-op diet is HPMR thrice daily beginning 12 Jan. Only clear liquids on 19 Jan.

Im literally bringing in the new year with a new me. I would love to connect with someone to share the journey with Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

An excerpt of my 10 day Plastics Post-op Update (link to this below): * TMI Alert * Poop Watch 2019 continues... Today marks Day 12. I am carrying TWELVE days of poop in me, people. Mr. (he's a keeper) assisted me with suppository insertion this morning. After no less than 2 minutes, I felt the sweet, sweet urge to push. So I skipped (skipped!) to the toilet and out came........a partially melted suppository. That's it. Are you effing kidding me. Now, the instructions on the box said not to use more than once in a 24 hour period. It also said that it should have worked within 15 mins to an hour. So I'm going to try it again at 6pm tonite, which is 12 hours after this morning's attempt as I figure I basically pooped the suppository out before it even melted and do its thing. In the meantime I ate 2 prunes. Good News is that it didn't make me sick, Bad News is that I am not a fan of the taste. I am also drinking water like a crazy person. Miraculously, despite my backed-upped-ness, I don't have any pain nor cramps. Just a feeling of absolute bloat. Ugh.

People Suck... I didn't tell many people that I had WLS (just Mr, the Kid, Mom, Sister & BFF). Those NOT in know were told that I ate much less, chose healthier foods, cut out carbs and exercised every day to lose the weight. I've been in maintenance for a while now, so being the main topic of conversation at family parties has lessened. My weight loss is no longer interesting, thank goodness. These past couple days, showing up at the various Xmas parties this season hunched over from my TT, I decided to let those who asked that I had plastic surgery to remove excess skin from massive weight loss. I was surprised to get the comments and questions most on here get from others when they share they had WLS! I got: "Why didn't you just do it the real way?" "Cutting your body parts off is a little drastic, isn't it? Why didn't you just go to the gym and turn it into muscle?" "I think if you just dieted more, your skin would have shrunk just like your body did"'. "Plastic Surgery is cheating". "Wow, that's pretty vain of you". After attempting to explain to the first two or three busy-bodies that skin cannot turn to muscle nor shrink with massages or lotions (!), I gave up. I always knew people are sometimes stupid, but man, extended family seems to always raise that bar of stupidity to new levels. Should have stayed home and kept my mouth shut. Le sigh. To add insult to injury, I didn't even get to dull the drone of their yapping with alcohol. I am on a regular date schedule with my new friend, BENEDRYL to keep the itching at bay, and have yet to finish my round of antibiotics, so I figured I should refrain. Which was too bad, as I'm sure a couple glasses of wine would have made these people much more funny and much less annoying. Le double sigh. Poop Watch 2019 continues... Today marks Day 12. I am carrying TWELVE days of poop in me, people. Mr. (he's a keeper) assisted me with suppository insertion this morning. After no less than 2 minutes, I felt the sweet, sweet urge to push. So I skipped (skipped!) to the toilet and out came........a partially melted suppository. That's it. Are you effing kidding me. Now, the instructions on the box said not to use more than once in a 24 hour period. It also said that it should have worked within 15 mins to an hour. So I'm going to try it again at 6pm tonite, which is 12 hours after this morning's attempt as I figure I basically pooped the suppository out before it even melted and do its thing. In the meantime I ate 2 prunes. Good News is that it didn't make me sick, Bad News is that I am not a fan of the taste. I am also drinking water like a crazy person. Miraculously, despite my backed-upped-ness, I don't have any pain nor cramps. Just a feeling of absolute bloat. Ugh. In other news... Haven't weighed myself since the day of surgery (I was 115 lbs even 10 days ago). Out of curiosity I stepped on the scale earlier and surprise! I am still 115 lbs even. However, I was fully clothed, along with wearing an arm compression shrug & abdominal binder, am retaining fluid to the equivalent of a 4.5" increase in waist circumference, AND have 12 DAYS OF POOP in my belly. Arms continue to not comfortably raise higher than my shoulders. I am not yet standing up straight. Hands continue to deflate and my forearms no longer make me look like Popeye (I'd say they are maybe 85% to normal) The v-jay is no longer sore (but is still looking up at me!) For some reason my skin on my face is FABULOUS. I suspect this is due to: (1) not wearing make up for 10 days (2) all the water I have been drinking (3) all the sleep I have been getting (4) swelling??? Been wearing too-big clothes for comfort and ease, and am totally looking forward to putting something cute on and going out. BUT. MY. PANTS. DON'T. FIT. Le Triple Sigh.

I'm so sorry...what day is it now? ...Poop Watch 2019 Good times.

I'm coming from a different perspective because I loved my big boobs and missed them when they disappeared. I'm now 2.5 weeks post op from 450 cc silicone implants. Here are my opinions from tons of reading I've done + multiple consults I am nervous to get implants because of the percentage that need to be swapped out after 10-15 years I'm skeptical on what this real percentage is. I feel like implant manufactures put a life expectancy on them to set low expectations. I think of it like an expiration date on canned vegetables. 😂 I also have known many women who have had the same implants for 10-20-30 years (I live in LA) Capsular Contraction is the most common cause for explantation and it is now believed it is caused by bacteria entering the pocket from the outside of the body during surgery. So silicone vs. saline has no bearing on that complication I also had a full nipple graft so I am not even sure if they can do another lift or implants??? A lift is generally needed if your nipples point downward vs. forward when standing up. A lift is optional if your nipples point outward, but are lower on the breast than you prefer. The standard is at or below the breast fold and/or if your nipples are more than 21 cm from your sternum notch (this one confused me, won't it be different on tall people vs. short people?). Mine was 22 cm (but nipples pointing outward), and all my consults except the surgeon I went with recommended a lift. My surgeon did not, as long as I was ok with a more mature looking breast, not a 20 year old's. Also some surgeons are better at getting an implant alone to look like a lift than others (Don't ask how many boob pics I have looked at in the last year 😂) As far as your nipple goes. For an implant alone, they can go under your breast, in the inframammary fold. This is believed to have the lowest instance of capsular contraction. downside is the scar on the underside of your breast. This might be your best choice since you already have reduction scars and it doesn't affect your nipple. I have Peri-areolar incision. Basically a half moon around the bottom half of my nipples. I'm personally very happy with this. I can already tell my scars are going to end up being nearly completely invisible. I also have full nipple sensation. I don't know if it's related to my incision placement, but I've had almost zero pain from my ba. Trans-axillary: A small incision is made under the armpit. This has fallen out of favor because of a higher rate of capsular contraction. The surgeon also has less control over where they make the pocket and these implants sometimes sit high long term. Transumbilical: An incision is made above the navel and can only be used on saline implants. Not as popular as surgeons again have less control over creating the pocket. As far as gummy bear implants. I originally thought I wanted these in a tear drop shape. But consult after consult told me they just don't end up looking as natural as silicone gel, especially if you have little natural breast tissue. Saline's big downside is rippling and unnatural feel. Rippling is especially apparent when there is little breast tissue. Additionally the shell is still silicone, so it's not as if you won't have silicone in your body if you go with saline. Fat grafting has quite a few downsides as well. The biggest one IMO, is that not all the fat stays, it dies, gets absorbed and migrates away. And there is no control over that process. So you may end up with asymmetry. There you go ... that's my dissertation on all things boob related 😂

Hi all. My name is JoeJohn. I am 280 40 BMI 5.' 7" 57 yrs. old I have already been diagnosed with Diabetes 2, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep-apnea and am taking medication for all, including insulin. My hope is that I can in the near future overcome some of these conditions. I have been told by doctors that they are weight related. My surgery is on Monday, Dec. 25, 2019. So it is now just over 3 days more of clear liquid diet. I don't feel hungry because of all the protein shakes, I guess. But, of course, I did have a dream that I had lost my sober/clean time by sneaking out of my house and chasing a cheeseburger all over the city. I am hoping those kinds of dreams are normal. Anyway, I feel both anxious and excited, a bit of both. I work a 12-step program of recovery and have a strong faith in my Higher Power, so I believe the spiritual principles and living tools will now help me in this new era of my life. So we say the prayer: "Take my will and my life, guide me in my recovery, show me how to live. . . " and I begin each day at that point of surrender. God bless you all, and thank you for sharing your stories as they are giving me strength. Happy New Year!

Yesterday, Thursday, Dec. 26 Maintenance : 5'2" / 1yr PO Sleeve / ??? lbs (last weight in 115.0 lbs on Dec 18th) ---------------------------------------- Dear Poop Gods, Please pay me a visit the next time I attempt a Number 2 cuz I am seriously freaked out with the amount of stuff going in and the lack of stuff coming out. Sincerely, Ms.Sss ---------------------------------------- 11:00am - coffee-cayenne w/ stevia + 4 dark chocolate covered coffee beans 3:30pm - salad w/ vinaigrette + 2 oz roast pork w/ 2 tbsp gravy + 4 dark chocolate covered coffee beans 5:30pm - 1/2 cup greek yogurt + 1 oz blueberries + 1 tbsp sliced almonds + 1 tbsp dried cranberries 7:30pm - salad w/ vinaigrette + 1 oz roast pork w/ 1 tbsp gravy + 1/4 oz cheddar cheese + 1 oz avacodo + 1/2 white chocolate macadamia cookie + 1/8 Portuguese custard tart 10:30pm - 2 Keto choco-coconut fat bombs ---------------------------------------- Totals: 1202 cals - 51g Protein - 81g NET carbs - 69g fat

I am new here and had the sleeve done on July 24, 2019. I started at 300 pounds and am now 223. I feel great but feel like I should have lost more. Is this normal?

I weigh myself every time I go to my nutritionist so about once a month but the first month I had the doctors weighing me every week because I was losing more then 10 pounds a week and she wanted to see if it would slow down which it has, to about 6 pounds a week but to keep me mentally here without the whole depression because of some water weight in the morning or constipation. Honestly once a month is fine gives you the whole surprise of “i lost 15-20 pounds that’s great!” Feeling

I got my surgery 8/12/19 it felt like one the worst decision I ever made right after the surgery. My neighbor got the same surgery 6 months before I did and she was down almost 100 lbs and the one thing she told me was keep telling yourself “it gets better.” For the first two months I just kept talking myself that and it did get better. I just made it through most of the holidays and I’m down 80 lbs from my surgery weight in over 4 months. Does it suck not to be able to eat all the food I want, of course it does but then I remember I did this so I wouldn’t eat all the food I used to. My Dad reminded me that I used to eat a whole plate of food, use the restroom and have another plate and it made me kinda sick that that’s the way I used to eat. Today I went buy some new clothes (I’m 36 almost 37) and I haven’t worn a size 40 men’s since I was a freshman in HS. Just keep telling yourself “It gets better”

Holy hell @ms.sss. That swelling is mind boggling. I would have been freaking out. So happy they’re deflating. Is your swelling like this too @rs? While I’m enjoying poop watch 2019, I know it’s hellish for you. Fingers crossed for some movement soon. I love how supportive your husband is. Volunteering to insert your suppository is way big love. PS - Happy to share the ‘windy’ quote. 😜🤣

I had a reduction years ago when at a BMI of around 34. I went from a saggy 40G/F to a perky 38 DD/DDD. They were great and over the past few years despite not gaining or losing more than 5-10 lbs. they lost perkiness and dropped a bit but were still WAY better than prior to reduction. Now from WLS and losing from 195 to 145 I went down to a 34 DD. Still fullness etc. so a smaller bra and everything was fine. Then last 15 lbs from 145 to 130 made them go down a lot to a sad droopy 32C/D but that is only because side boob skin helps fill up the cup. I am flat at the top (lost fullness). However I now wear a thickly padded bra they are ok in clothes and I feel like I look balanced out but will definitely have to get a padded swimsuit next year. It's OK and manageable but not great. I can see others on here at my height 5'2"ish weighting 125 or less look great. I honestly think I personally looked better 10 pounds heavier than I do now and I think a lot of that is due to the loss of my boobs. I love the smaller waist and skinnier legs from the last 15 pounds of loss. However, I do not have great skin elasticity and my skin reacts like a grandma,very wrinkly and I looked better naked 10-15 pounds ago. I am trying to maintain at around 127 for now and stay at that for plastics. I am going to have plastics for arms and a TT in a few months. I am assuming once I heal my body will go back to 127 like I did post breast reduction (I lost 4 pounds of breast skin/fat but my body within 2 weeks was back at my prereduction weight and stayed there for a long time. Now here's where my crazy thought process is. I am assuming I will stay at 127 even though I will lose 3-4 pounds of skin from my TT and arm lift but I am assuming those few pounds will settle else where in my body. I am also assuming I will have they the typical bounce up a lot of us have 2-3 years post surgery. If that happens it would probably get me to where I think I look better at around 135 and the increased 10 pound shouldn't all settle in my arms or belly since I will have less fat cells there. I am assuming the fat would hopefully go to my boobs, maybe butt and probably thighs. That said it could be wishful thinking and the 10 pound weight gain I assume will happen may not happen at all or could go straight to my calves or back or big toe, who knows. I briefly considered implants but do not want to have to think about going in to have implants replaced. The doctors on the TV show Botched made a comment about the average life span of an implant being 10-12 years. I had no idea that was a thing. I also kick myself for not doing the WLS before the reduction but hindsight is 20/20. I just want to have this one plastic surgery and be done with it so I don't think implants are in my future. I don't judge others who have multiple surgeries etc. but I am anxious about the risks and feel guilty and spending the $ and time recovering. You are still early enough out from WLS that maybe your body composition will shift even if you don't gain or lose much weight and maybe you will feel differently one way or the other in 6 months.

Love the shirt! New_Me 2019

So, I am having my butt skin and leg skin removed in 2020. I had a breast reduction in 2017. I went from a 48H to a 42D. 8lbs of boob was removed. After weight loss, I am now a 34B. But my boobs are empty. There is NO volume at all. It's basically just skin. Because the breast reduction included a lift, they aren't droopy, but if I bend over they look like skinny pregnant dog nipples. I had a LOT of back pain from my large breasts. I hate boobs. I kind of just want the excess skin removed, but that would make me 100% flat-chested. I am nervous to get implants because of the percentage that need to be swapped out after 10-15 years. I don't really want to have more surgeries in the future. But I also don't really want to have NO boobs. So I was THINKING of B cup saline implants. I don't know! I was SO happy to have my breast reduction, it seems weird to put boob back in. I also had a full nipple graft so I am not even sure if they can do another lift or implants??? The blood supply to my nipples is tenuous as is. BUT, ever since my breast reduction my left nipple sticks out pretty far so it would be kind of neat to remove them both and get those hyperrealistic tattoos instead, lol. Anyways - do I go flat-chested, stick with my somehow perky yet "skinny" boobs, or get very small implants to add volume? DECISIONS DECISIONS

I didn't measure my arms until the trainer did it this past Monday, which would have been 5 weeks post-op. My last measurements were from June though so I don't really know exactly how much was taken off. My arms are 6" smaller than they were in June (16" to 10") and my waist is 8" smaller (36" to 28"). I still think my arms look droopy, though, and it is really bothering me. Two people have mentioned that they still look like bat wings. But clearly a lot was removed. The trainer and surgeon both said to chill out (LOL) and to work on bulking and toning my triceps and biceps and the surgeon was adamant about not taking off too much so it looked unnatural. But I am still going to whine about it. I'm still in garments at least another 3 weeks minimum. I haven't been emotional, other than my tantrums about my arms not being EXACTLY super sleek. But really I have NO muscle definition. I just started 3lb weights on Monday so... with time I will get there. SIGH. IMPATIENT.

Surgery: gastric Sleeve SD: 8/21/19 HW: 315 SW: 280 CW: 216 GW: 165 When I look in the mirror, I don’t see the weight loss at all. When I see the photos of others on this site, I am floored and find it hard to believe they ever had a weight issue. The only way I can physically tell that I am losing weight is the enormity of my old clothes. I am going from blouses I never wore because they were too tight to the same blouses I can’t wear because they’re too big. I have exactly three pairs of pants that fit me but I refuse to buy new clothes until I get closer to my goal weight. I want to thank all of you who have posted photos. You are all my inspirations.

Haha. So look. People are different. Right? And the mistake most of us make is assuming that other people see the world through the same filter or lens as our own. Right? And when we observe someone we think in terms of the filter and value as it relates to our belief system. So you look at the way I interact with food and nutrition from YOUR perspective and it just feels like a craptastic amount of work, effort, and feels like it's living in penury. I on the other hand have 20+ years of knowledge about this stuff and most of it is autopilot. I was MO for a variety of reasons including making poor food choices/behaviors. But also because of medical and genetic reasons...you know, like most of us. For me, I don't feel like I'm skimping on a single day. I adore my food! Both the good choices and the bad! I'm not 100% perfect on any given day. But I do try. So it's not onerous. It's a pleasure. And because this works for me, there is comfort in the knowing. And I'm not the only one who does this. Over almost 2 1/2 years in this world, I noticed that THE most successful vets - without exception - are the ones who do not try to wing it. And who do not buy into the dual myths of restriction and malabsorption. They apply their knowledge. The follow a format. And the know how much they weigh each day, what they consumed, and how much exercise they did. I decided long ago, that if I was gonna cut out 80% of my tum and reroute feet of intestine, I was in it to win it. I didn't want the scenic tour- been there done that. I wanted to TCB as quickly as humanly and safely possible. And I did. Now I can spare a few fun times each week that keep me excited and looking forward to M-Thurs on plan TCB living doing the things that will promote DEEP health in the long run! I'm so deprived. In Texas the day after Christmas is usually Mexican food. So I decided to make a taco with leftover 90/10 hamburger that I drain the fat off of cuz if I eat too much fat at a meal I feel miserable. I'm in the process of eating this right now. It's about 2 cups of salady food and about 2oz of protein in it. I will show you afters. I will have that at my next meal--probably afternoon snack. Now doesn't that look like an, "Oh, poor me, I'm so oppressed meal?" Who WOULDN't want to eat this way given half a choice? Ok, done for this meal. Here are the leftovers for AS: And here's how the whole thing shakes out in MFP. I save it as a Meal, then next time I eat it, I will just go pull it up and see what was in it and replicate it. Then I just select that meal and the size that I eat and enter into a meal slot. Takes about 2 seconds to do once it's saved. So my lunch was about 200 cals and I go 18g of protein in with less than 10g of whole carb. Not bad, could be better cuz I do aim for 1g of protein per 10 calories.

I won’t go into details, I did once on this sight. Suffice it to say, it took me four years to get my surgery. It was an emotional roller coaster and I won’t lie there were many tears of frustration. The two years prior to my surgery, I lost 35 pounds on my own with diet and exercise. Since my surgery in August 2019, I have lost another 64 pounds. Most of that from the four weeks on a liquid diet before and after my surgery. Maybe because it took so long, really appreciate the wonder this surgery has brought to my life. I always considered my inability to lose weight and keep it off my biggest failure in life. For the first time in my life, I feel like I will not only lose the weight but be able to maintain the weight loss. Where exercise was always a challenge, it had just become part of my daily life now and I have finally come to realize what huge portions of food I had been eating. I am trying to lose one more pound by the end of the year because if I do, will go into 2020, a hundred pounds lighter than my heaviest weight!

It depends on the day. Haha. In the early days, I ate 4-6 times per day. Now days I do a complicated rotation. It's the way I maintain my weight. This morning I was 129.4lbs--a Christmas Miracle I'm waiting to see if it sticks or not! If it does yay, if it doesn't I won't be devastated). But I'm at the bottom of a maintenance window I would not be sad to reduce by another 5 lbs to my BDG Goal = Barbie Dream Girl Goal. So it's business as usual for a Thursday for me = Meal 1: B1 - 3 protein lattes with 1oz of Premier Protein + 7 drops Vitacost Liquid Stevia + Decaff + ground cinnamon 1 cup tea (green decaff tea + Earl Grey decaff tea + 1 shot of unfiltered ACV + 1 lemon wedge + cayenne + ground cinnamon) Meal 2 (optional): B2 - I will either eat around 10-11 or I will skip if not hungry. Meal 3: L-Big Ass Salad (1 1/2-2c of salad + 2-3oz dense lean protein + 2-3tbsp Zero Cal Dressing + 1 serving healthy fat (I will eat this until full. Sometimes it's the whole thing and sometimes I finish the balance as my afternoon snack) OR Turkey Cheese Rollup with raw greens and veggies OR Green Soup OR Green Smoothie with fiber OR Can of Sardines and Raw Veggies Meal 4 (optional and regulated by hunger): AS-Either leftovers from lunch OR cup of Herb OX no sodium broth + baby greens + mushrooms OR 1 hardboiled egg OR 3-5 oz of raw veggies + 1/4c fat free Greek Yogurt Dip (Tzaziki, Ranch, Onion, Asian) Meal 5: D-3oz protein + 1-2oz veg + 1oz avo/1oz tom + 1 serving healthy fat or extra cheese Meal 6 (optional and regulated by hunger): BS-usually a decaff + 1oz Premier Protein OR 1-2oz underripe GS Apple or pear + 1tbsp nut butter OR 14g walnuts or almonds OR 1 square 90% Lindt Chocolate + 14g walnuts or almonds