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Hi all! I had VSG back in Dec of 2016. I was very involved in this community for a long time. I lost 124 pounds over about 18 months and maintained a 105-110 pound weight loss for almost 3 years. Then the pandemic hit. Then I had some non related medical issues. I went on a medication that caused weight gain. I got frustrated. I fell off the wagon and tumbled down the road and I’m now facing a 60 pound weight gain in about 4 years. I made a lot of excuses! I also started picking up bad habits like drinking alcohol, not counting calories and indulging in carb heavy snacks. But hitting 260+ again shook me. I was only 15 pounds down from my surgery weight. It’s time to get off the pity wagon and get back on track. so I’m back. I’m counting calories. Eating low carb. Cutting almost all alcohol, bread as pasta out! 10 days down, forever to go! My Stats: SW: 305 SD: 275 LW: 181 MW: 195-200 RW: 263 CW: 258 GW: 200

how long have they been underweight? Many of us who make it down into a normal BMI range look pretty scrawny for a while, but then (also for many of) regain starts. I was really worried about how thin I was getting - now 10 years out I wish I wouldn't have worried about it. I've regained more than I wanted to (it's not awful - but I'm now "overweight" and would love to lose 10-15 lbs - but it seems next to impossible!)

Many of you know my story. Was two months shy of turning 54 in 2019 when I got my sleeve. Lost all my weight & more and was successfully maintaining that low weight. I began gaining weight from puberty: about a stone a year. Then I started my 60-75kg weight diet/regain swing from my early 20s until peri menopause & menopause hit and then seemingly overnight I was 91kg. Nothing I did moved that weight. Hence my decision to get a sleeve. I experienced some weight regain (good 2 almost 3 kgs) almost 4 yrs ago after I had my gall removed. We worked out I had an absorption issue and wasn’t absorbing protein well or it turned out my HRT tablet (hot flushes, etc. had returned). Switched to a patch and lost the weight without doing anything & no menopause symptoms. Had a hysterectomy in September 2024 & then couldn’t access the HRT patch I was using (damn supply chain issues) & this is when my body turned against me again. ALL my menopausal symptoms returned: hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep, headaches, creaky joints, acne, etc. & weight gain. Only three kgs so far but that’s in the last three months. And so here we go again. My body working against me. Since this regain began in January (used my last HRT patch in December & was my usual weight at the end of Dec) I’ve made some modifications to my eating. Dropped a snack, reduced some portions (which were still only recommended portion size or a little less). I eat pretty carefully anyway & stick closely to my plan of eating. Was eating about 1600 calories a day and now am probably at about 1300/1400. So at the very least I should have slowed the regain but nope. It’s scary & upsetting. I recognise it as being how my body & my hormones work (or don’t work!) but that doesn’t help. My doctor is trying to help me sort out alternative HRT but nothing is working yet as it all involves at least taking one tablet. I wish I was completely past all this hormone crap & I wish supply chain issues for pharmaceuticals were a thing of the past for everyone affected. I so wanted to be my maintained slim self when I turned 60 in 4 months. I always have been overweight at significant birthdays. This one was going to be different. The way I’m going I’ll be a stone heavier. Not overweight but more than I want to be & have been happy at. Very sad face.

Well, it took 5 years LOL but I finally got there with Gastric Sleeve!! We had COVID, and 2 x interstate moves in that 5 years, so there was a lot going on! Surgery on 16th Jan 2025 - lost almost 16 kg since the journey began and 10kg since surgery 10 weeks ago. This has been so life changing, I am losing slowly, but steadily. Not at all what I expected, I have had friends and colleagues who have been through this and dropped so quickly, my expectations were totally unrealistic as it turns out. I have to keep in mind that losing 16kg in 6 months has not happened before, and probably wouldn't have happened without surgery. Comparison is the cause of so much misery, so I am working hard to not compare and to enjoy this journey for what it is.... my journey! This is me in 2023 probably around 113kg, not my heaviest, I think at one stage around 2010 or so I was over 120kg as my scale at the time only went that high, and it was showing highest for a long time. I will put up After photos when I get there 😂

Hello and welcome! I am also post menopause and was sleeved on Jan 16. I am losing super slowly, I think it's slower if you're older, it certainly is for me, but it's coming off, I am feeling great 10 weeks out! 🥳 I need to start some exercise regime, I have never been into exercise really, but I think it's time! 😂 Congrats on your decision and fingers crossed you have a wonderful recovery! Give yourself time, follow your plan! 😊

@AmberFL love this for you! Major WIN. Thanks for getting on the fasting train with me. I've been fasting the past 10 months now and it has changed me in a lot of ways. I tell people my favorite part of my day is my fasted part of my day and they look at me crazy. Yes I agree with you. It cuts down that food noise by a ton but I guess I'm still in a honeymoon phase because I have minimal food noise hallelujah😂 almost a year out thank goodness I'm gonna hate when that returns. Keep winning chic!

You are doing amazing but I do understand how you feel. In the very beginning I just wanted to lose the weight as quickly as possible but then I had an epiphany! I need to fix my relationship with food! I'm 10 weeks out so I'm still early days but I know that just losing weight is a sticking plaster for the real reason I used food as a coping mechanism. So I think I need to consider therapy! The food noise gets so bad for me sometimes its like torture! I will be so much more happier when I nail these obsessive food thoughts but it will take time, I've had them my whole life. Like many I have lost up to 6 stone and put it back on quite a few times before I took the plunge and had surgery so I guess I need to be kind to myself and learn to understand the parts of myself that I have ignored for so long. Are you counting calories? at the 5 week mark I was managing around 500 cals a day. I didn't have the protein drinks because I was fuller for longer eating minced chicken, tuna, eggs, lentils, cottage cheese and pureed foods for less calories, a quarter of a cup at a time. I still managed to get in my protein and at least 2 litres of fluids too. If I was a little under in my protein I would drink a clear whey isolate protein squash drink, they are around 100 cals and contain up to 22g of protein! I am on 800 cals a day now as my stomach has done a lot of healing since then. Everyone is different though and I know that some people still can't tolerate actual food at your stage, so listen to your body hun. Here's some ideas for purees for you, a quarter of a cup at a time is about right for the stage you are at but if you can't manage it all that's fine, its just a guide for you. Tuna and mayonnaise - 14 grams of protein Blended baked chicken. I would bake chicken in some tinned tomatoes and season with garlic and herbs then blend it. 50g of chicken has 16g protein Egg mayo - an egg has 6-7g protein Bolognese - use 5%fat minced beef and blend with a tomato based sauce or make your own - 11g protein Protein puddings available in all the supermarkets - 15-20g protein readybrek oats with some protein powder Fat free cottage cheese blended with peanut butter powder and some sweetener if you need it. Cottage cheese has 11g protein per 100g PB powder has 8g protein per serving Ricotta cheese bake - you can find the recipe on Pinterest and even on here! I wish you well on your journey my lovely. You are on a path of healing, mentally, physically and emotionally and you are doing amazing! Be kind to yourself the weight will come off and at 5 weeks you are still healing and probably holding extra fluid anyway. xx

Hey guys, How is everyone coping with life after being sleeved? I am doing a lot better than I was a few weeks ago but I still have a long way to go! My surgical wound that would not heal had to be packed by the nurses for a month. I'm 10 weeks post op and it has finally closed but it seemed to take forever! The head hunger is very up and down for me and torturous at times.... but I am starting to learn new things about myself when it happens. I am still very much navigating my way through dealing with it, I have good days and bad days depending on what's going on in my life. Depression is definitely a thing for me, I am very up and down. I have suffered with it on and off my whole life and at times I feel so lost. I am snappy with my poor hubbie and I am forever apologising to him. I have times where I feel as though I am crawling around on my hands and knees in the dark searching for the light switch that never seems to appear. I am distant at times even from my family but I don't want to be alone, probably because I don't wanna sit with my thoughts because I can't deal with them. I notice that when I am feeling low the obsessive food thoughts creep in to torture me. I am starting to look into getting some therapy for this, it may help. Anyway enough about me tell me about how you are doing! How much weight have you lost, how are you coping with your new lifestyle and please show us some progress pics! xx

So I have what I think is Dumping Syndrome or Reactive Hypoglycemia and it is seems like it is caused by 2 things. Taking a shower and exercise. For some reason after I take a shower at night my sugar crashes so bad I have to take glucose tablets to bring it back up. I don't take hot showers (I hate being hot), just warm and it doesn't happen all the time but often enough that I found a pattern and it doesn't happen when I take a shower in the morning only at night. It also happens after I exercise. I eat dinner at 5:00 p.m. I wait at least an hour, hour and 1/2 and I am not a gym rate that I am doing it for hours - 30 minute treadmill, 10 minute rowing machine (I had a total knee replacement so I do this for my knee at a slow pace to get the bend in) and 3 sets of arm exercises with free weights. Literally there are times I have to stop while I am exercising because I can feel my sugar going down. There have been times it has crashed as low as the 50s. I have talked to the doctor about this and the physician's assistant said have protein before you exercise. Well I am having dinner before I do, which is always a protein vegetable and a small amount of carbs. Has anyone else had this issue? I want to exercise but I am afraid every time I do that this will happen and it happens more often than not. I have taken to as soon as I am done exercising to just automatically taking 2 glucose tablets which is adding extra sugar in but in order to have it not crash on me. Thanks in advance for any responses!

I had a very similar experience about a week to 10 days post sleeve surgery! It was awful, never had anything like it previously in my life! I had some San Pellegrino laxative very effective, it took a few hours, but worked very well! Sweet relief!!

Hello everyone! Question on weight stall. I had my surgery in May of 2024. I have not lost weight quickly but steadily and I am down 63 lbs. I have seem to stall for months 9 and 10 and then all of a sudden I lost .80 lbs in the last week. Has anyone gotten to month 8-10 and stalled and then started losing weight again? I have another 30 to go and I am hoping this is not where my body is comfortable. Also I have lost significant weight all across my body but still have a belly and abdomen. Of course it is smaller than it was but it just seem anything has budged from there for the longest time. I do have lymphodema in my from breast cancer so I am hoping it is not a solidifying of any lymphatic fluid (I have the massage machine and do manual massages). So I am hope it is just being stubborn. Thank you for any comments and personal stories with your journey you have regarding this.

I'm doing okay, lost another 10 pounds and still waiting for my surgery day to come. One more nutrition consult. Today is my birthday and went out to a restaurant for lunch with my husband. I had Lamb, it was s o good, and enjoyed them so very much, good source of protein. Otherwise I'm just hanging out, doing as many support groups as possible, and I am learning to love me for who I am. I look forward to the saggy baggy skin, and the removal thereof. Tomorrow, heading out to the pool for a couple of hours of a workout, and hopefully work off some of that lamb I had today. LOL

Hi. I’m 5 ft 6 and started at 13 stone 12. I had a mini gastric bypass 10 days ago. I followed the instructions. I’m walking for exercise. My weight is literally the same every time I weigh myself. Whether it’s morning, afternoon, night. Whether I have used the toilet or not. But my scales are manual so it’s not like it’s a fault on a digital scales. Before my operation it was normal for my weight to vary from morning to night etc. I’ve weighed myself since I came home 6 days ago a few times a day just to see if it changes & it doesn’t. I’m so frustrated. Did this happen to anyone else ?

I am new here, thanks for having me. I am Joyce I've lost 122lbs. Also 1 year post op. April 5th. 2025. I was a size 16-18 pants dresses and shirts I wore 2x 3x now I'm a size 10 pants and dresses also a small in dresses, shirts, panties and bras.. shoe size 10- 11 in women and I wear in men sizes in tennis shoes 8.5 I am in need of clothes and dresses,shoes,socks,bras, panties I can't afford anything as of yet still recovering from almost dying in September 2024 I was hospitalized for four days I almost starved to death my asopagus closed up on me couldn't eat nor drink for two months. Now as of March 20, 2025 thanks to God and my now boyfriend I am here doing better etc.. no my boyfriend can't help right now or otherwise I wouldn't be on here asking for anything.. he's a disabled veteran and barely make our rent.. right now I feel helpless and a burden because I've always had my own things and provided my own way.. but since being sick I haven't bounced back yet.. so please if anyone can help me I definitely will and would appreciate it very much., Thank you... Joyce Bizzell..

I agree with @DaisyChainOz. There's probably a lot going into his feelings and communication is really important. As a man, I do also understand that some men (me included), just are not good at talking about our feelings. It's partly that we've been conditioned over a lifetime that feelings make us weak and thus we are "lesser" because of it. Also, we've just never learned how to express our feelings, nor to really understand them at all. It's not that we don't have feelings, we just don't really understand them in a way that can be expressed. I tell you all this so you can be patient with your husband. It may take some time for him to share what he's really feeling. The best thing to do is just be supportive and make sure he understands it's okay to share what he's thinking instead of what he's feeling. "Feeling" can be a trigger word for some men. One thing that may (or may not), help the discussion is understanding the risks involved. Again. I don't know what's going on in his head, but if he is fearful of change, or the risks of you having surgery, it's important to help him understand that by far, the riskier thing is NOT having the surgery. I don't know your age or current weight, but I'm assuming you are pretty heavy and likely older just based on the need for a hip replacement and the fact that your orthopedic surgeon won't do the surgery at your current weight. If you are in what's termed "Class III obesity" (in other words, you have a BMI over 40), that alone shortens your life expectancy by 10 to 14 YEARS. I think it's important for both of you to understand this. If he truly loves you, then he should want you to stick around longer.

I’m curious to know what surgery all of you had. I had a conversion from sleeve to Sadie. My doctor told me that with this surgery 80% of people keep 90% of their weight off past 10 years just wondering how that actually Fehrs in the real world

Another thing that really surprises me post surgery is how quickly my weight drops if I don't eat well and frequently (every 1-2 hours). I have been eating less the past 6 days and already dropped 2.5 kgs (I was at a BMI 19 to begin with, I already felt too thin, now I feel like I'm skin on bones). This would've never been the case prior to surgery. Never thought losing too much weight, or stopping the weight loss would have ever been things I had to battle, but hey, I'd rather this than the other way around!

Just wanted to say hello. Stumbled upon this fourn as i was looking for a new protien powder. So here is the low down about my journey so far. I Had gastric bypass on 10/15/24. My heaviest weight was 477 lbs that was in April of 24 the day i walked in to the weight loss center. My day of surgery weight was 457 lbs, as I approach my 5 month mark today's weigh in was 346 lbs that's 111 lbs in 5 months and 131 lbs since april...every day i feel better and my mobility improves. This is the best decision I have ever made!

I know I am probably far off from having any form of skin removal, as I have been advised that my weight needs to be stable for at least 6 months before I can look into that kind of surgery, and where I am almost 10 months post-op, I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon! Regardless, I feel the need to start thinking about it now. I am 29 this year, I have PCOS and was previously told I needed to have a baby before I was 27 otherwise my chances of conceiving were very low. I am not in a position (financially or emotionally) where I want children right now, nor in a relationship where I want to have them either. I may want children in my future, but that could be years and years away and I don't know if my biological clock will be long gone by then. I have always liked the idea of adopting too. My question is: what were people's thoughts around pregnancy and plastics? How did you tackle it if this were an issue for you? My current focus is my health and my weight loss, and subsequently my full journey through plastics, not a child...but I know in a consultation I will be asked about this.

I had a post op appt with my NP yesterday. She is please with my nutrition even though it’s not quite status quo. I am still doing chemo with steroids so I have some pretty intense cravings but for now the chemo has made me hyperthyroid so I am maintaining despite a lot less exercise and a less than perfect bariatric diet. Sounds like a blessing to be able to eat more but I’m still having to rein it in because I am ravenous 24/7 and of course there are some real health risks with hyperthyroidism so I have to closely monitor things. I am really hoping it goes away or I’m going to go broke trying to afford healthy food in the quantity I am able to consume. I have mostly nutritious food but I’m not counting calories or quantity for now. Plus with the tiny stomach I eat like 10 times a day so it’s pretty time consuming. On a better note I had a PET Scan the other day and my treatment is working!! A couple more months until the chemo should be done as long as I stay healthy enough to keep getting it. I hope a couple of months later things will be back and I will have a normal amount of cravings that I should be able to handle. I’m gonna need some emotional support kicking the carbs though for sure.

Ugh yep my stomach is always making really loud noises about 5-10 minutes after I eat. Usually when I am around people they will look at me and I have to warn them beforehand because it catches them off guard 😂

I have my date 10 March 2025.i have started my yr off with a major weight loss already I am down almost 60lbs already by eating a bariatric diet already

No I haven’t once I was discharged form hospital I was given 4 sheets of dos and don’ts and dieticians no but I can’t seem to get through. I had my bypass no on nhs in uk. have a 6 week appointment on 10 th march so I will speak to them then x thank you for taking time and advice x

Finally hit over protein for first time in 5 weeks. I’ve not lost any weight in over 10 days. I’m eating around 500/600 calories a day in total since 27th January . I’ve lost around 10kgs since surgery should I be worried x

I feel totally lost too I didn’t really get much after care apart from a cpl sheets of paper with some basic advice on. I have my six week follow up on 10 march 2025.