Search the Community

I finally showed my before and after photos on facebook. I was very, very scared. I had told a lot of people - but some didn't know. I had never EVER showed a full body picture like that. From the side at that! Anyways, on the left: I was a miserable 369lbs. SUPER unhealthy, probably headed to death. I doubt very seriously I could make it past 400. My body would probably just give out. I was already struggling to breathe doing simple tasks/walking up stairs. ANYWHO, the right was a shot taken by my beautiful momsicle on Mother's Day just last weekend. Ignore my "suns in the eyes" face. I am over 120lbs lost from February 27th, 2020 to now. I finally am under 250lbs and I am just floored. Of course, I won't lie. It's been a struggle. Currently, my biggest challenge has and still is - dumping. In the beginning, for the first 8 months, I threw up every. single. day. I realized ice cream, fried foods, steak - out of the question. Buffets were a waste. Most every meal I got out, was a waste. It made people feel bad at first because I would stop eating after 3 bites. I had to constantly remind people that I didn't mind if they ate! I got accepted into nursing school and reverted back to some old habits. Sugary coffees (which made me dump like HELL), chicken nuggets, fries...Anything I could stuff in my mouth "on the go". I would pay the price, but I wasn't puking after every single meal. So I thought I was in the clear. Earlier this year, I started to have tremendous abdominal pain. Spasms that took my breath away. After numerous tests, it was concluded that I had severe IBS with constipation and diarrhea. After talking to my NP at the weight loss place, we decided to try more plant-based alternatives. I'll admit, I was skeptical and very upset because this girl LOVES a nice juicy steak! But, I have noticed my symptoms are near non-existence when I eat beans, (wild) rice, whole grains, some fruits, and almost any veggie. I take it light with caffeine as that is a trigger, but I do still consume some. Suffice to say, this has been the hardest battle I have ever fought in my entire life. I continue to fight it. I continue to struggle with choices about food. I've learned to not limit myself completely. If I want a cookie, I'll eat half. I don't starve myself. I just don't overindulge like I used to. It seems to be working as I have lost a ton of weight. I plateau, but it's going. I just want to be an advocate for anyone considering the surgery and will answer ANY questions! I want to also be your cheerleader if you have already had the surgery. I can't promise it won't be hard, but I will promise it will be worth it to look at yourself in the mirror and have self-esteem again! I am actually OK with people taking full body pictures now! Insane! I am waiting for my weight to be stable to get skin surgery, but baby steps! #AMA

Hi @kbrookings, I certainly don’t know better than your dietician and so I can only share my own experience. I was eating around 500 to 600 calories at around week 6/7 and to be honest have only really had my lost loss kick up a gear since getting around 700 calories. I think my body went into starvation mode prior to that and I also kept feeling dizzy and tired, plus my weight loss was quite slow after the initial t2 weeks post surgery. Now, I eat anywhere between 650 and 720 calories and I feel so much more energetic, healthy and am losing more weight and inches than had I been when consuming less calories. I don’t even know how you could get 60 to 80 grams on protein in 300 calories. That seems crazy low to me. Good luck and hope it all works out soon for you.

Thanks for replying as well. It seems like yout doctor had you eating different ranges gradually to accommodate how small your stomach was but not to restrict you too much. Sounds like a smart, safe plan for someone coming out of surgery. I love your idea of figuring out how many calories I'm eating now and then reducing by 200 - 500 calories at a time. I think that's a great plan to follow until I can get down to 1,000 to 1,200 calories without feeling like I'm doing too much at once and then binging. And it's smart that both of you plan for days that you'll be treating yourselves and can accommodate the rest of the days the week so that the average is still cared toward weight loss or maintaining. I'm so proud of both of you for being able to reach your goals and for maintaining for this long. I'm making notes of all of your suggestions to work out a plan that I can sustainably follow. Thanks!

Thank you so much for such a detailed response. I especially appreciate your suggestions for non-animal protein sources since I will be reaching my 2-year vegan anniversary next month. The 500 calorie diet was torture. I remember just wanting a bite of fruit and being devastated when I was told I needed to continue until I reached goal. (Guess who never made it to goal) And you're right, I feel like I have a few more eating disorders than I did before the surgery now. I haven't had a diagnosis because I'm a child who's afraid of doctors. This surgery was the most terrifying/bravest thing I've ever done; it was my last straw to losing weight because I'd tried everything else. I got within 15 pounds of goal and gained everything back. It broke my heart. I'm so excited about the research your surgeon is doing and how that I'm able to see the results when the study is done. It seems like he actually cares about your health and wellbeing. I love that you're seeing a bariatric therapist;I should probably see you in myself, but I just hate talking about myself. I'll see if I can look into it though. I wish junk food and taste as good as before. It's I feel like junk food is my main food staple now. All I do is eat sugar and carbs and salties and sweets. Thank you again so much for such a detailed reply. If you happened to track calories during the weight loss process or even during maintenance, would it be possible to send me a day from your food diary? I'm curious to see how everything was planned out. P.S. If my reply seems scattered, it's because I'm reading through your message and replying while working with customers at the moment. Sorry about that.

Speaking of fish skin...picked this up at Costco this morning. I haven't had this particular brand before, but i've had the flavour...YUM. It's crazy high in calories, so probably not for those in weight loss phase:

A few years back my (then) 3 year old son would go crazy every time this ad for a local weight loss clinic came on TV and yell “mama, mama, mama!” When the before weight loss woman was shown. Sigh. He was honestly excited to see “mama” on TV.

I’m open with many people but not with all. For example I didn’t tell my in-laws bc they can be nosy, judgmental and invasive and it also just isn’t anyone else’s concern. When they asked why I wasn’t eating a bagel for breakfast I just said I had a toothache. It just doesn’t need to be any of their business or part of the conversation. But for other people, I will share where my weight loss is coming from. It depends on the individual and everyone’s unique circumstances. I don’t think we should be judging the choices others make. As long as YOU aren’t the one saying that people who have surgery are lazy or cheating, you can’t control how others feel or believe.

@lizzlosingit...so true! Pick your hard! I will never forget my sister (who is also overweight) saying "Are you sure you want to do this? It will change your relationship to food FOREVER!" And I just looked at her and said "That's kind of the point!" Every weight loss plan needs to change your relationship with food, or it won't work long term!

I am considering the same thing you did for the same reason. I see this post is from 2017. I'd love an update about GERD/reflux and also weight loss. How much did you lose after the revision, and how are you doing at maintaining? Any regain? Thank you in advance!

that "stair step" pattern of weight loss is pretty common, actually. If it's driving you nuts, maybe just weigh yourself once or twice a week instead of daily. As long as you stick to your plan and your general trend is downward, you're good -

It’s unlikely to be fluid retention but it would be your best interests to have your kidney function checked before looking at taking diuretics. Have you spoken with your surgeon or your dietician? Ask your dietician to review your diet & activity. 1000 calories seems a lot at 2 months but every plan is different & if you’re more active you can consume more calories. Stalls are common through out the weight loss phase where we don’t lose but weight gain like you’ve identified isn’t. Have you continued to lose inches even though the scale has gone up? Are you weighing yourself on the same set of scales, in the same place, at about the same time? Are you weighing & logging everything you eat & drink each day to ensure you’re not accidentally consuming more? I encourage you to go back to your medical team. Good luck.

Choosing to have surgery is not cheating. Sure the surgery kick started my weight loss & there are aspects, like the restriction & inability to eat large servings of food, that reduce the opportunity for me to gain. But I’ve worked hard to change how I eat, what I eat & to understand why I eat. Probably way harder than someone who’s never been obese or battled being overweight & certainly harder than when I dieted before. And I work every day at changing a lifetime of bad habits, things that defined who I was & who people thought I was. You have to be ready & willing to make the changes. The difference this time to every other time you’ve dieted is the changes have to be sustainable - permanent & manageable in your life. The surgery doesn’t fix it all for you. If I started eating high fat, high sugar, high processed carb foods, etc. & go back to old habits I’d put on weight again. For most of my adult life I bounced between a bmi of 23 to 29. I gained & lost for 30 years. Then when I was about 50 yrs old it wasn’t 15kgs I needed to lose it was 31 & I couldn’t lose it. All my old dieting tricks failed. I woke one morning at almost 54yrs & said enough, I’m going to have surgery. I didn’t have any health issues at all (except for sore feet & a lack of fitness) but I knew it was in my very near future & I didn’t want to be that big anymore. Is it worth it? You bet it is. I hit my 60kg goal in 6 months, historically my lowest weight as an adult. I lost almost another 12kgs over the next year. I may only have been maintaining at my current weight for 6 months but I have never, ever in my life been able to maintain a low weight after dieting for more than a month. And I haven’t been this weight since I was about 12 yrs old. I don’t know what the next months or years will bring but I’m not going down without a fight. I’d ask why they recommended bypass too if only for your own information & peace of mind. After going through my weight loss & gain history in detail, my surgeon went through the surgical options identifying the pros & cons of each. He then explained which he thought would be best for me & why but he also asked which I thought I’d prefer & why. His process made be more confident about my surgery. Good luck.

Anyone can grow gallstones but rapid weight loss can be a contributing factor to their growth. I presume it’s because of all the cholesterol that’s released from our fat as we’re losing. Our body struggles to process this excess & it forms the gall stones. Many people with weight issues already have gall stones (more likely if they have high cholesterol) & it’s not uncommon for their gall to be removed when they have their weight loss surgery. Others have it removed a year or so after because they develop stones or grow more & have gall problems. It may not happen to you at all but it’s good to be aware of it.

My liver function was never an issue until after surgery & it went back to normal after I lost most of my weight. I’ve never had gall issues either until Sunday. My cholesterol had maintained the same okay level for about 30yrs until I was in the weight loss phase & up it went - back to my old levels now. So I guess that’s why they didn’t even consider removing the gall. The high bilirubin levels were picked up in the post surgery blood works & is still high. It also was when I found out Gilbert’s Syndrome was in the family & I fitted the symptoms of that. Had the scan this morning & I’ll ring my GP tomorrow for the results. Fingers crossed.

My experience is very similar. I even had the same Surgery date...Mar 29. I echo the same sentiments. There seems to be varying degrees of guidance post op. I had my surgery in Canada, and by your forum name my guess is you did as well? I’m grateful that I have had lots of support pre and post op from the medical team. This is week 8 for me as well. I’m in between soft food stage and “rest of your life” stage. I’m slowly adding more and more things to foods I can now tolerate list. Like you, the focus has been on high quality protein and not calories per se. I try getting in 60 to 80 grams of protein a day splitting it up in 3 meals and 1 to 2 snacks, never going over more than 1 cup of food total along with choice of grain and fruit/veg at each meal. Good luck with the rest of your weight loss journey.

Hey, so I looked at your info on your profile and we are virtually identical when it comes to the stats. I had my surgery 3/31 and am down 45 pounds as of yesterday. Started at 260 at 5'6", lost 25 pre-surgery, and 20 pounds after. The reason it's interesting to me is that our journey to those very similar loss numbers sounds very different. I had a 3-4 week stall after losing 13 pounds the week after surgery, then nothing for 3.5-4 weeks. It sounds like that stall was just as frustrating as your 2 pound loss a week. I think it just goes to show that our bodies all process loss differently, but we kind of end up in the same place. I think your body is just a 'low and steady' situation whereas I will have those 'melt off phases' but they certainly don't last forever and I have long periods of stalls. It doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong, it's just not what you thought it would be pre-surgery which I DEFINITELY went through. It took me a long time, and I'm still working on it, to be ok with how things were going because ultimately it's not something that I can force. The thing that worked for me was tracking macros (fat, carbs, and protein specifically) and total calories. It just helps ground me and remind me that I'm doing what I need, and things will be on track. Hope this helps and hang in there! ❤️

sadly, it's not that uncommon. In some cases (not all, but some), there were issues in the relationship beforehand. A lot of people who lose a ton of weight become more self-confident, and I think they probably realize they don't have to put up with it anymore. In other cases, the non-weight-loss partner becomes jealous and possessive, like kristieshannon's. For whatever reason, relationships change, and sometimes end because of it. mine actually got better - but it was pretty strong to begin with, and we've been together for decades. My husband never had a weight problem and was/is very active. I could never keep up with him when I weighed almost 400 lbs. Now, I can. If anything, it's made us closer. so anyway, it varies - but divorce isn't all that uncommon after WLS.

Myran I think you’re making the right choice. I know that even if my parents were able to understand things like this surgery at this point I’d never discuss it with them. Unfortunately people who were a negative influence on your weight and eating habits as a child would often be the same people who would be a negative influence on this weight loss journey as well. You’d think they’d be happy we were “fixing the problem” (tongue in cheek- us existing as overweight people shouldn’t be viewed as a problem in their lives but we all know that’s how some parents view it) but in reality the same negative behaviors and attitudes would just come out again.

Wow. You sound exactly like me. I was 48 when I this done last year. I also had a 9 year old son. He's 10 now and I'll be 50 in August. I'm still scared of failing. I have lost 148 and still have about 60 I would like to lose. My weight loss has slowed recently, and I'm afraid I won't get to my goal. I has all those feelings you had, and I still worry. However, I knew if I didn't do it, I'd stay the way I was for sure, and probably not live to see my son grow up. I'm SO glad I did the surgery. I was worried about missing food, but since you're not hungry at first, that makes it easier. And I do have cravings, but they're easier to control now. I just do my best to follow my plan and don't beat myself up if I do give into a craving, which isn't that often. Therapy is also something you might want to consider. That can help you work though issues with food. This is a big life change and I would be worried if you weren't scared. It's pretty normal to have those feelings! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I think I’m going to try setting alarms on my phone so I don’t forget to eat or prioritize other things. I’m pretty discouraged on how weight loss has stalled the last couple weeks.

Ok, playing some catch-up...here goes: @GreenTealael maybe you could hold some video tutorials to those of us who own sewing machines and don't really know how to use it??? I've always had fantasies of sewing my own clothes but honestly just suck at it. and i dunno about you and @ChubRub, but I STILL wear scrunchies. And I dunno how it always happens but I swear I had my eye on a pair of braided sandals too!!! check out the ones in my shopping bag below...still trying to convince myself I need to buy them despite living in PJ's and having nowhere to wear them. @kristieshannon: the tucked-in jeans look fab on you! they fit like a glove. Also, you are looking super confident in recent pics you have been posting...you are giving off a vibe. I like it. @BayougirlMrsS: um, I want that denim vest. and I didn't even know I needed one in my wardrobe until just now. And yeah, that black printed dress wrap dress is too big at the bottom...any chance you will get it altered to fit? I think you would be curves supreme with a side order of fries if you get it taken in a bit at the bottom a little bit...or maybe shorten it so its like a flippy-mini? @Arabesque: smokes! did you actually wear all the shoes you brought for the weekend wedding?? That coat looks super warm...though i still CANNOT relate to how "cold" Brisbanians (Brisbanites?) get in "winter". I was the standout wearing capris and sandals while the locals wore fur-lined hooded parkas and boots. BTW, double thumbs for those art-deco-ish shoes you wore. I need those. @Jnfinney: congrats on the achivement and looking Hot AND Smart...an awesome combination. @Sophie7713: that's a twirling dress alright. its time to bust out the whites!!! been missing you on here. @Kris77: whoa. you int that black dress with your hair down. you look tall skinny and....posh. (ok, i never use the word "posh" in my vocabulary, but i couldn't think of a better word to use at the moment, lol) We gots a new supermodel in the ranks! @WishMeSmaller: hows the leg healing? And that last pic you posted in those amazing flared jeans just reminded me again that you are the OG supermodel round here*. BTW, another reason I am jealous of the height-blessed (do i really need yet another reason?!) is your ability to find and wear flared pants....i look like a hobbit wearing them. If I ever find a pair that is properly proportioned on me, maybe I'll change my mind. But jeez your legs length. Love em. And super excited for you and your plastics!!! You are going to be unbearable for me to look at (that's a compliment, btw, lol) *Edited to add: another OG supermodel who deserves a shout out but has been MIA for a while is @shanza ... -------------- I haven't been wearing anything worth posting so I'm empty handed today. HOWEVER, for funsies, here is one of the least unflattering of the many truly unflattering pics that I found on my phone this morning. I've been hanging out by BFFs pool alot given the fabulous weather we have been having, and yesterday it seems she took to taking a bunch of pics of me with my phone as I was asleep on the lounger. Why? To point and laugh at me later apparently. Multiple choice question: This is a pic of me after having too much: a) sun b) liquor c) sugar d) all of the above.

I don't think many surgeons do the mini bypass in the US, so I can't speak to your actual question (mini-bypass vs the standard gastric bypass), but I just wanted to say that yes, some people would consider getting weight loss surgery "cheating", but if that's the only thing that actually works for many of us to get rid of our excess weight, then so be it. For most of us, it's either that or continue to be morbidly obese and risk our health (and potentially shorten our lives, too). I was more than 200 lbs overweight before surgery. I was constantly dieting and then gaining it back - and the most I could ever lose was 50-60 lbs. Then I'd hit a wall and the weight would gradually come back on. This happened over and over and over again for most of my adult life (I'm in my 60s). Weight loss surgery was the only thing I tried that got me beyond that "wall". I ended up losing all of my excess weight and maintaining most of my loss (like many people, I gained 20 lbs after I hit my lowest weight - but I'm fine with that!). I never could have done this without the surgery. Believe me, I tried...

Wait you can develop gallstones? Because of weight loss surgery?

Well my Sunday night was a lot of fun. 🙄 How can one small gallstone cause so much pain?? Far out!! I thought I was dying. My tolerance for pain is pretty high but I was groaning, moaning, almost crying with the pain, rolling about on my bed, doubling over, stretching out, sweating, ... all from my single gall stone which decided to revolt & stage an escape. Thankfully it only lasted about 75 mins & not hours like some experience. I swear I was a minute from calling an ambulance when the pain quite rapidly reduced. After about 5 minutes I was pain free except from a vague discomfort that seemed to trace across & around my intestines. I wondered if I had actually passed it & the excruciating pain was the stone actually it forcing itself out of the bile duct & into my intestines. I’m glad I was pretty sure the pain was from the gall stone. Not knowing what was causing it would have been way worse & extremely frightening. I saw my GP this morning & she is sending me for an scan to confirm if the gall stone is still there or if I did pass it. (I forgot about the need not to eat before the scan otherwise I would have had it right after I saw her - blast.) If it’s still there, she’ll send me back to my surgeon to remove the stone hopefully endoscopically or smash it by ultrasound. The stone could have formed because of my weight loss, high bilirubin levels, being on HRT or I could have had it for years without knowing. If I hadn’t had a scan at 7 months post sleeve because my liver function was off & had high bilirubin levels, I’d never had known I had a gall stone.

Whiskey and water. My tolerance is as it was before surgery/weight loss.