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I used to be a pear shape, but in the last 7-8 years have been an apple. At first, when I started losing weight my body was exactly how you're describing yours. Now it's starting to change and I can't believe it! I do a lot of exercise, of all types and I'm quite excited to see what my final shape is gonna be like! Are you sleeved yet?

Fantastic because Ibhave to get all this weight off...bypass hopefully will help me get on track.

clk posted this a few days ago and I think it is brilliant. I hope she doesn't mind me reposting it and it helps you! I think too many of us focus on the fast losers when we're planning for surgery and then we assume that once we're sleeved the weight is going to just fly off. Not everyone is so lucky. My starting weight is close to your preop weight but you must be taller than my 5'1" and some change because my BMI was much higher at your current weight. I was a slow loser. Slower, I guess. There are a handful of people here that are even slower than I was. It took me 17 months to hit goal, to lose 107 pounds. You cannot compare yourself to everyone else. If you're doing the right things and still losing, the sleeve is working. You can try to adjust your food or exercise for a better result but I caution you against doing anything drastic that you won't be able to maintain. Part of why the sleeve is great is that it does away with the need for that diet mentality and helps you build positive habits you can maintain forever. Some folks cut the carbs down to 20 a day, something I consider extreme, but if they can live their lives that way and get great results then it works for them. My biggest piece of advice isn't one you'll like, but it's something you're going to have to get used to at some point or another. RELAX. That's it. Because this isn't a race. I promise you, 85% of your stomach just got removed from your body so you're going to lose weight. I see this over and over and over again on the boards - people just so frustrated and worked up because they expected to lose the weight faster, or people that get mad because they feel they didn't need the surgery if they were going to be slow losers. It took me 17 months to reach goal. It took me 17 YEARS to go from where I am now to my high weight. Am I any less pleased with my success because it took me longer to get here? Nope. I'm happy as can be. Track your food. Eat responsibly. Get your Protein in, drink your Water, start moving more. In six months you're going to be posting that you're nearly to goal. Give your body a chance to recover from the fact that it's lost 27 pounds and undergone a major surgery the last two months. And yes, even if you want to break the scale sometimes, and even if you don't lose for two weeks of the month (like me) you're going to lose this weight. So, RELAX. ~Cheri

Thank you so much, you are truly an inspiration to me. I had a steroid injection in my knee yesterday so I will be able to walk through the hospital for my pre-op class and doctor appointment next week. I hope I will never need to take another steroid injection again. I feel like a pin cushion! Congratulations on your weight loss, you should be so proud of all of your hard work! I hope someday I will be able to take a Zumba class!

hi Janice, I am having surgery May 30..I also have lower back pain..I have had radio freq ablation. have also had both knees replaced. I am hoping losing weight will help my back because the ablation does not last forever. good luck to you.. I am thinking our age is not a factor in this surgery.. Bev

Hi, I am 9 months post op. I am 49 years old. Prior to surgery I weighed 330 pounds and had horrible low back and knee pain. I saw a chiropractor every week and had injections in my knees. I lost 40 pounds prior to surgery, and with every pound I lost, my pain was less. I have lost a total of 185 pounds and I am still shocked to wake every morning without any pain. I still come to the top of the stairs and grab the railing waiting for that sharp stabbing pain with the first step down, only the pain doesn't come!! I would advise you to find some form of exercise that works for you. I found a recumbent elliptical. The more weight I lost, the less pain I had. Today I took a 90 minute Zumba class, and even with all that jumping around I sit here pain free. I don't have words for how liberating it is! I know you asked how much you would need to soar, and I don't have a number for you. I will tell you that every pound makes a difference. Congratulations on taking this step! You are going to love your pain free life!

Nicky why are you here? I'M NOT GONNA BE GENTLE WITH U!! you sound like every one I've ever meet trying to say I can do it without surgery. as if surgery is the easy way out while struggling with my weight Who are you trying to kid your over 3 hounded poundse. If you could do it by yourself why havent u??? I lost 60 pounds under a doctors supervision just to gain 70 back Im addicted to food and so are you nothing will change for you until you admit to yourself you need help and cant do it alone the sooner you do it you will look back and thinkof all the time that you wasted trying to fool yourself we have to change the way we think before changing the way we eat all the dieting and working out.wont help until we accomplish that.

My insurance company required I lose at least 5% of my body weight. The reason is to make sure you are "committed" and that you will try. My doctor suggested this as well so my liver shrinks. This is to have better access to my stomach and if my liver is fatty, it makes it harder to get to. You really have to try hard. I felt that if I could lose weight on my own, I wouldnt need the band. But, you have to work for this. It will be worth it. I had to lose 12 lbs in three months and lost 14. Do you know how fast you can lose that? Just drink two shakes(Isopure) per day and eat a regular dinner, drink a lot of water. Weigh yourself once a week. If you want to cheat, keep it to minimum on the weekends. We all have SOME willpower as we have all lost weight in the past. I just got my surgery in October, lost about 35 lbs, including pre=op its about 50. Good luck.

Welcome! You've come to the right place! Congratulations on your choice to make a change to make yourself healthier. There are always going to be people that are negative, for whatever reason. It doesn't really matter why. Most people on this site have had difficulty with weight issues, and I've found, are incredibly supportive! Good luck on your journey!

I am scheduled for sleeve surgery on 4-27, and I am on day 9 of my 12 day liquid diet. I have done well, with the exception of not drinking enough water. I am worried though, because the weight is not coming off like I feel it should. I definitely feel a big difference, but my scale hasn't moved in 4 days. I had a kidney stone this week, which made me very sick. I had lots of chicken broth, and a couple of nights I had a few saltines because I felt so sick. I finally went to the hospital last night, and actually passed the stone in the ER. They said I had no infection and was ok to have the surgery. My concern now is my weight. My doc relys on weight loss to show compliancy with the pre-op diet. I don't know if it is because of the kidney stone, all the sodiium I had this week, or the crackers I ate. I just really need to get my scale to move, or I'm afraid my doc won't do my surgery! It has been such a tough week being in such pain AND being sooo hungry. I'm frustrated and scared. I would really appreciate any help or advice. Thank you!

worried so my one of my docters put me on a adhd med and now i am loosing weight like crazy that i cant get my surgery on the 24th anyone know what bmi they will tell you to not get surgery i am at 40 now just dont wanna have docter ever take me off meds and gain weight after that Sent from my LG-M430 using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats on your weight loss success! I will be having the lap band procedure on wed. June 1st. I am so excited to start my new healthy lifestyle. My goal is to lose 120 pounds. I just have to tell you that you are an insperation for me personally. By the way, you said something about having loose skin around your stomach, can that be prevented in any way?

Thank you both for the encouraging words! The anticipation and excitement is too much to handle! After battling my weight my whole life (I'm 30 now), I'm ready for a new chapter. I will keep encouraging hubs and try not to get too sensitive to his comments. Men don't always know how to express their feelings! Looking forward to updates from you both after surgery!

Please, anyone, tell me it gets better and easier and life gets back to "normal"... Sleeved July 22nd and have regretted the surgery since day one. Very depressed, not over food, just in general- for having the surgery. I feel I could have tried harder. I know, I didn't and I need to move on.. Problem is, I don't know how. Besides, I cannot stomach the protein shakes and am struggling getting in all my water. All I do is cry and feel very dizzy and weak. I just want this to be over with and move on already. I need to get back to work. It will be a month tomorrow. The regret has overcome me.. Will it get easier? I don't even care about food, for I have to force myself to eat, or about losing weight at this point. .. Just need some advice, or someone that has experienced something similar... Anyone (?

By all means, make the lifestyle changes, as they will be essential to your long term weight stability and well being, even if they aren't likely to get your weight down to where you want it to be - once we get to the size where we are considering WLS. there are enough various factors stacked against us that we run into that 5% success rate noted above. The way I approached this problem, when my wife and I got serious about our respective weight problems and started toward WLS was to start doing those lifestyle changes that would help to ensure my long term success. We know what we have to do - be more active (it seems like you already have that inclination), cut the junk out of our diets, improve the overall nutrition while reducing the calories to a level that will maintain us (if not leading to total weight loss to normal.) Most have already found that the various fad and "book" diets (any book entitled "The _____ Diet", most particularly if it also mentions "miracle" and is authored by a "Dr.") don't work in the long term. They may get your weight down to something approaching normal, but they teach you nothing about how to maintain that loss over the years, and the weight builds up again when trying to go back to a "normalish" maintenance diet. I avoided those diets, but worked on moving my diet as close to the ideal as I could sustain in the long term. It was not "perfect" by any book or nutritionists' standards, but it was what I could do within my tastes and it was something that I could do forever, and it was much better than the normal American crap diet that got most of us where we are/were when considering WLS. I kept tweaking things to carve out a few more calories where I could, and improve the overall nutrition of what I ate. That was almost 13 years ago, and I dropped about 50 lb over six months (335 - 285) or so and came to a halt. I could make small moves down and then back again. But I did maintain that loss for several years. In the meantime, my wife had her WLS after the serial insurance denials and ultimately self paying for her DS, and we settled into a reasonable maintenance lifestyle, though I usually ate about twice what she did. Once our insurance started covering the sleeve, I went for it as it was clear that I was not going to lose the rest on my own in any sustainable manner. That was five years ago, and so far so good. I also used that interim period to test my maintenance ability and help choose which surgery, if needed, was most appropriate for me. Had I regained what I had lost over those few years, that was a sign that I should go for the DS, with its better regain resistance. With the stability that I had managed over that time, the sleeve seemed like a good bet that I could avoid any revisions due to regain problems.

Thanks everyone I am going to try another one. The one I got from GNC has 60 grams protein in one serving I think it is more for body building. I said to my husband great all I need is to gain weight.

I am an 11/11/13 vertical sleeve pt also. I had my surgery done in Wyandotte, MI. The first day was rough, my pulse was in the 39-50 range and the monitor kept beeping. Anytime I would move it would go in the normal limits. I couldn't get much sleep with the monitor beeping and so I found that if I walked I could keep the pulse up (the monitor from beeping), keep the SCD stockings off and get on my way home faster. Went home the next evening and no more pain meds. The gas pain in my shoulders and chest pain from gas was bad but it mostly gone now. It took about 3 days to get lower than me pre surgery weight due to all the Water weight. The small amounts of food I can have tastes wonderful and I'm waiting to upgrade the diet weekly. The walking is going well and I feel almost normal. I am wishing everyone health and success on our wonderful journey together. I am 5'4", was 303lbs at my heaviest, now at 274lbs and can't wait to be able to move this body easier and be healthier. Good luck to all.

Congratulations! I’m about to have my surgery soon & was looking for average weight loss in 1st month. Do you mind sharing how much you want to lose in total or BMI % at start?

Just very curious about if you can keep losing Weight after reaching goal.

I had my Lapband put in Oct. 2005. Initially I lost between 50 and 60 pounds and eventually gained it all back. It really did me no good. Partially my fault too, not just the band. If it was "just a tool", I didn't think it was a very good tool. I am sittiting at my pre band weight. On March 23rd I will get the band removed and a VSG procedure done. I have been spending a lot of time online researching and reading. I am hoping to get helpful info here. I start my pre op diet this Tuesday. My first question is: will I have to get a catheter put in? I have never had one and it seems like it would be painful. Sent from my SM-N900P using the BariatricPal App

Congratulations on being approved for surgery by your insurance company. I would recommend three things at your stage. 1. Take a good before photograph of yourself, so that you have something to compare to after surgery. Many times we are blind to our obesity. We do not see ourselves. Therefore when the weight begins to drop off rather dramatically, we question if this is really happening. Photographs are a good visualization of our success. Many people carry a before and after photo with them, just to remind themselves of their success. 2. Walk 30 minutes each day, every day until surgery (or equivalent exercise). Walking helps the recovery process go smoothly and minimized the pain levels from surgery. 3. Wean yourself from caffeine and carbonated beverages now. After I gave up my 6 diet coke a day habit, I suffered from a week of severe withdrawal syndrome consisting of severe headaches and body aches. I was miserable. You don't want to combine the effects of caffeine withdrawal with the effects of surgery.

Every time this topic is posted you get a myriad of answers--because it's a personal decision. I chose to tell family; not much of anyone else. When people comment on my weight loss I thank them and say I'm working on it. Haven't had a single person pester me beyond that. If you opt to shout it from the roof tops-- make sue you can let the Snide comments go. One thing for sure- people will talk either way.

depending on your starting weight, you may have time to think about this. I had my surgery in June (2015), and it was Oct or Nov before people really started noticing the weight loss. By then I doubt anyone linked it back to my "vacation" in June. And it did give me a lot of time to decide whether or not to tell people.

I'm from down Olympia way, got my sleeve surgery down at Madigan on JBLM. Got to loose the weight so my wife and I can enjoy our sailboat once again... That and travel around the country. The military sent us all over the world, to the point that we've been to more countries than states here in the good ole US of A, now is the time I choose to lose the weight and start a wonderful retirement.