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OK...i want to stress that this is my personal experience only and do not advocate what I do/did to others. Do as I say, not as I do!!! lolololzzzz. I am 2+ years out and I can definitely eat much more than I could the first year (in terms of volume). BUT no where near what I could pack in pre-wls. Pre-wls I could easily eat 2-3 full plates at an AYCE resto (plus room for dessert!). Now a meal that is under my barf line is about 1 to 1.5 cups in volume (more if its salad greens, less if its dense protein or fluffy bread). I went through my logs to see if I ever went over 4000 cals. According to MyFitnessPal, i came close in June 2019 with 3896 calories. Though after looking through the list, it probably was well over 4000 cuz i notice I didn't log any alcohol that I KNOW I drank that day. Further, I did my logging after the fact as it was one of those morning-to-afternoon-to-night-to-the-next-morning backyard bbq parties. I was basically eating/grazing all day (and night) long. I also recall being sick a couple times in the evening. Now, I had just reached maintenance the month prior, and was concerned about my continued weight loss at the time so I figured, what the hell, I'm gonna go all out. It was not pleasant. Since then, I counted 9 times that went over 3000 cals in a single day (cheese, alcohol or dessert where the main contributors). But a normal day for me now is about 1800. My restriction is still alive and kicking, but I can definitely eat around it if I wanted to by grazing all day. In case you are interested, here is the log for that day (again, my alcohol consumption is glaringly missing from this log, so I would guess add another 800-1000 cals on top of this)

I had lap band in 2009, it slipped in 2017, and I had it revised to bypass December 2020. I lost 16 pounds in two weeks then nothing for over a month. I worry that our bodies already got used to the lower calorie intake from when we were banded. I also think that is why I gained so much when my band slipped because I was eating “normal” amounts of food, but my body had been set at band amounts for a decade! I’ve finally started losing slowly again in the last week. I too got discouraged reading people’s posts about their significant and quick weight loss, I was starting to feel like a failure. But we each have our own journey and I wish you all the best on yours.

Hi! The vitamins were a bit of a challenge at first for me. I think alot of (but not all) people have this experience?) My prescribed vitamin regimen was as follows: 1x multi tablet (regular size), 3x calcium tablets (horse pill size!) 3x vitamin D tablets (teeny tiny) 1x B12 chew-able (regular size) 1x Iron tablet (regular size) 1x Vitamin A tablet (teeny tiny) The teeny tiny tabs were easy to get down, no issues The regular size tabs were a bit of a challenge. I tried using a pill cutter to make them smaller, but the resulting powder make me gag. Same when I tried crushing them. The horse pill calcium tab was the worst. Actually, I take that back...the chew-able B12 one was the worst. It was like a grape-flavoured chewable Flintstone vitamin and was disgusting to me. Further, the multi and the Iron made me nauseous almost immediately after taking them. I was rarely successful in getting all what i was supposed to the first 1-4 weeks. By month 3-4, after some trial and error, I finally got a regimen down that I was able to sustain: Dropped the iron (my labs showed I didn't need it, plus it was making me sick) Changed the multi to a low iron one (see above) Switched to B12 drops, but then my labs showed I didn't need it so that eventually dropped. Started taking my calcium horse pills with a spoonful of yogurt and that made it much better...but then I discovered Calcium chews and loved them. They were chocolate flavoured and had the consistency of one of those square caramels. Yum. Vitamin A was dropped as didn't need those either. Vitamin D was no change, I had no issues with them from the beginning. I'm 2+ years post op now, and....not advocating this in any way...I pretty much stopped taking all my supplements about a year ago. No real reason other than laziness/boredom. I had satisfactory labs in all my followups up to that point, and had 2 more after that that continued to show I am A-ok. Even my bone density check last November was better than the baseline one I took 2 years ago (which sorta surprised me given all the weight loss as well as my age).

I hope it works for you - but reviews on it are pretty mixed. Some people say it did nothing for them (just so you know...). Luckily, for many of us, we don't really lose enough that other people will notice. You'll notice, of course, but massive hair loss is fortunately not all that common.

^^^ I agree with this 100%. We see posts on here from "revisionists" who say the weight loss is much slower from them than it is from "virgin" surgeries. Just follow your plan. As long as your weight is trending downward, you're good.

Me. I can relate to slow weight loss with the sleeve and for many of the same reasons you've stated. I had a lap band in 2005. Did great, but was miserable and later found out that my band had slipped. I had it taken out in 2009 and did pretty well maintaining my weight until I had some major life changes and did some stress eating. Gained all of my weight back over the course of 2 years. Had a sleeve done in 2018 and my weight loss was slow but steady. I'm still not at goal, but I'm happy and feeling good. COVID lockdown has totally stalled me and maybe added a few, but my tool is still there and when I'm ready, I'm confident I'll get back on track. Stay the course. Follow your plan. It will work. (side note: it is my understanding that revisions typically lose slow. Something to do with the impact on our metabolism. Sort of a "been there-done that" mentality.) Good luck!

I have never posted but I’m so discouraged I dont know where to turn. I originally had the lap band in 2010. I had great results at first. I developed some great work out habits then fell off and gained back the entire 121lbs. July 7 2020 I did a conversion from band to sleeve. Since then up to today (2/24/21)I have only lost 40.8 lbs. I have not been able to exercise. Not even walk due to an ankle injury that I’ll have surgery for next month. But still my expectations were so much higher. I see so many ppl that had the sleeve at the same time as me losing so much more. That depresses me and I go emotionally eat. A viscous cycle. Can anybody relate to the slow weight loss and how did u turn it around. Plz help guys! I feel like a WLS failure twice!!!

Hey, Spitfireash! I felt the same as you about the hair loss so I did start my vitamins about a week after my surgery. My hair used to be thick but has thinned out as I’ve gotten older. I didn’t want to lose even more hair than I already have. Since starting my vitamins, I am doing fine. No problems. I also read where zinc is good to take to prevent hair loss so I’m taking that along with the biotin, etc..

I've had this for several years. My hair was already thinning, and had finally slowed down and now it's thinning from wls. I have a lot of hair on my chin. The weird thing is I have NONE on my legs anymore. I never had a ton of leg hair before, but I literally have not had to shave my legs in years. There is zero hair. The chin hair drives me nuts. I have a thing called Flawless on Amazon, which is like a little face shaver for women. [emoji2368] I am 49, so I suspect a lot of this has to do with starting menopause. Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I’m scheduled for the sleeve on March 12th. Woohoo 🎉. But my most recent weight loss attempt, I lost about 60 lbs from eating less than 1200 calories. One day I just gave in to everything in my freezer/pantry and ended up consuming over 4,000 calories in a night. I just couldn’t bring myself to stop since I had dieted for the prior 6 months strictly. The big question: is that possible after let’s say a year or two after the sleeve? How difficult is maintenance after a year or more with the sleeve? Have you been able to eat as much since before the sleeve?

That is curious, and beyond my limited experience! I suppose that is can be strictly an esophageal problem, though as I noted, I have only seen such things as they related to other root causes. No, I haven't had such a revision, though it was suggested at one time for another issue, but I have avoided having to go that route (with the help of some second opinions that basically said to leave well enough alone for now.) I do have minor GERD, which is readily treated with low level OTC meds, so there is nothing worth fixing at this point on that account. The sleeve is predisposed to GERD by virtue that the stomach volume is reduced a lot more than its acid producing potential, but the body usually adapts to that over a few months, and most surgeons prescribe a PPI for the initial few months and then wean off of them. (Similarlly, the RNY is predisposed to dumping, reactive hypoglycemia and marginal ulcers, so there is no free lunch in that regard, no matter what procedure one goes with - there is always some risk there.) I would prefer to keep the sleeve as long as it cooperates, as the RNY is a little bit fussier to live with, but it's not the end of the world, either, and certainly preferable to what you are going through; my wife has a DS which is a bit fussier still, so I'm familiar with all that entails if I need to go there. The surgeon who has adopted our local support group does quite a few oddball and esoteric revisions (like the complex RNY to DS), people come from across the country to see him, and he sometimes pulls up scans on his laptop of one of the wonky sleeves that has come his way, so we get some feel of what can be done, that other surgeons pass on. That's why I brought up the stricture idea (beyond your regurgitation sounding like that might be it,) because that is something that many surgeons prefer to revise away rather than correct. I does seem like you are heavily restricted, much more so than normal for a normal sleeve, or RNY. 500 calories isn't so bad - it's not that unusual for people with any of these WLS to still be down there, though more commonly somewhat higher in the 6-800 calorie range; it's the water intake that I would be concerned with as dehydration will get one thrown into the hospital a lot faster than low protein or other nutrients in the short to intermediate term. The vast majority of people go through this, an RNY, or VSG, or a DS, with little or no complications, but sometimes they crop up; hopefully, you have had your share of them now and that's it. In some respects, the RNY is a more familiar procedure for the surgeons,, even if they don't do as many of them as sleeves, as it has been around in bariatrics for 40-50 years, so most started out with them; the basic procedure upon which it is based has been around for some 140 years in treating gastric cancer and other GI maladies, so it is familiar territory for most; the VSG on the other hand, had more limited application until it was created/adopted for WLS as part of the original BPD/DS, so it was not as widely used until the DS guys started using it some by itself (usually as part of a two stage DS) and saw that it offered good weight loss all on its own, so I wouldn't worry too much about your surgeon's experience with it, as that was the default WLS in Canada until fairly recently.

So I have a question. I've already stocked up on the one a day chewable bariatric vitamins (which the surgery coordinator told me not to take till they clear me to do so after surgery). I also stocked up on Calcium Citrate powder and on B12 and Biotin liquid. I know they say not to take the vitamins right off the bat, but if I start taking the biotin and the B12 liquid right after surgery would this be an issue. **I got the biotin because I do not want to lose my hair and have it thin out. I have very fine and silky hair as it is, if it starts falling out I'll look like a have barely any hair.

at six weeks out I'd lost 22 lbs. And I started at over 300 lbs. Your loss is pretty normal. I think a lot of people come into this with overly high expectations because of shows like "My 600 lb Life". You have to remember that the people on that show start out at a MUCH higher BMI than the average WLS patient. Most of us lose somewhere in the range of 15-25 lbs the first month after surgery. You'll always find some that lose more or less than that, but they're the exception. If you've lost 29 lbs in six weeks, then I'm guessing at one month out you were in the average range (15-25 lbs down). So your loss is totally normal.

I would not write them all out. As a group they all feel like they can attack the new you. What will your response be if one of them reached out to you with questions about this procedure and if you would do it again etc? That happened to a friend at work when was sleeved back in July 2020 and now is at goal. Our co-worker stated "why would you do that to your body?" and a couple weeks ago had many questions and it sounds like will be proceeding with her own weight loss surgery. Feeling the loss of friends support is a loss and is hurtful. You have a right to grieve this loss. I hope it all works out for you in the end and keep up your good work in a healthier you.

Yes we are very similiar profiles would love to keep in touch i have finally list some weight happy to report down 7 pounds in 13 days post op well done To you on your weight loss a long and hopefully successful road ahead for both of us 🤞🤞🙏🙏😂 mary

CONGRATULATIONS !!! You are doing great! I have read all of the responses above and I feel like I’ve already heard some of my responses mentioned there...... However....I also had my weight loss surgery for other medical reasons. (My spine is deteriorating and I have already had 3 surgeries to fuse it together and I’m only 53!) Like you, me losing weight and keeping it off is critical for my quality of life. I have only told my 5 kids and an aunt who I am very close to about my surgery.....even my mother doesn’t know because she would react as your friends have. Try daily affirmations. Look at yourself in the mirror and say out loud so you can hear it.... I am STRONG! I am BEAUTIFUL! I CAN DO THIS! I am DETERMINED and DYNAMIC! I’m doing this for ME! Negativity will not bring me down! If everything you hear is negative comments, it’s hard to get those feelings out of your head. Give this gift to yourself, you deserve it! Really listen to your affirmations and let them sink in. YES, I AM strong, beautiful, dynamic, etc. I hope this is helpful because you are a superstar! You deserve to SHINE!

Hugs! Congratulations on your weight loss! You are doing amazing, so don't listen to the haters!

Just an update. I’m almost 6 months post op (on Feb. 27th it will be 6 months) and I weighed in this morning at 177.2 so that’s a 51 pound weight loss since surgery and a total weight loss of 75 lbs since I started this journey in January of 2020. I’m about 5’9 and my goal weight is 155ish. I say “ish” because it may be more or less....I’ve been working out since I was 6 weeks post op (Peloton bike) and at this point my goal is more fitness/strength/endurance so if I continue to increase muscle mass my goal weight might be higher. Regardless I’m very happy with my progress so far. For those that are curious, I would say my weight loss since December has slowed immensely and I’m losing about 5lbs a month now. (Pre-op my BMI was just over 35)

I honestly have no idea why the weight came off so fast. I have always just kind of guessed it was because of my age. I did not lost any hair and I actually wasn't exercising at all for like the first year after my surgery. I was eating VERY little for a long time.

How awful for you? If may be useful to tell us what weight loss surgery you had, so you get relevant responses.

My "definitive" statements had everything to do with my experience. Believe me, if I wanted to apply what I have gone through to everyone, I would have. I was explaining what has happened to me, what I have learned through my own experience about what head hunger is for me. What I have learned that is the difference between when my body is happy receiving protein and what's going on chemically in my brain when I crave carbs or sweets. I don't need 1000 calories to thrive. I never have, even before I had weight loss surgery. And I don't get hungry. I never said that no one gets hungry. I said I don't experience actual hunger. I have a schedule that lets me know when to eat. There are weight loss patients who experience this, sometimes for the rest of their lives. I have read way too many posts about people who had surgery over 15 years ago who still don't feel actual hunger. That means that when they had surgery, it affected ghrelin, which is what causes one to receive the signal in their brain that they are hungry (the stomach growling, etc.) If I don't have a schedule, I can go for hours without eating, only experiencing extreme tiredness. So, for me, I know the difference between real hunger, which I don't have, and head hunger, or emotional eating. When I lost weight after surgery, I was not hungry. My body was fulfilled with what I ate everyday. I got in more than the suggested protein and fluids. Not only that, I was exercising 5 to 6 days a week, weight training and cardio. My body simply burnt off what it no longer needed. I was not dieting. I was eating the most important calories. Recently, with the pandemic, I allowed bad habits to return to my life. I compromised, and gained weight. Even though it's been more than 4 years since I had surgery, I still don't need anywhere near 1000 calories, proven by eating that amount or more, and gaining weight. So, now I am breaking those bad habits and going back to getting the right calories, not giving in to emotional eating. Going back to eating on a schedule, so that even if I'm not exercising as much as I used to, I will still lose weight, because I have done away with empty calories and only eat until I get the first feeling of fullness. I allowed the pandemic to get the best of me. But my tool still works. And I will use it.

for some reason, it didn't register to me the first time I read these, but: 1. @NovaLuna, you went from a 54 inch band to a 38?????? That is AMAZING lady...an effing 16" loss in your torso circumference is mind blowing (and you're not even done yet!). I can't find a "bowing" or "i'm not worthy" emoji so let's just pretend I inserted one here: ❤️. 2. @GreenTealael, I had to look up what an H was...that's a QUINTUPLE D 😳. Your back must have been made of steel....your boobs look fab now, so whatevs! (but whoa).

I use drink ginger ale when I get nauseous it really help me plus it helps me with my meds I have seizures I do have hard taken meds I just came here for advice not feel attack what I post of my questions I don’t want be judge this is all new to me this is my first weight loss surgery

Ugh, I had terrible back AND hip pain starting around 1 month post op and it lasted for a few months (maybe 2-3 months if I remember correctly). I too chalked it up to my bones and musculature adjusting to the weight loss. It went away eventually...hoping yours does too ❤️

There is nothing that my family won’t use as a butt of jokes, so I’m not sharing any information about this. My weight isn’t a joke to me, and I don’t trust them to be appropriate with the information so forget it. I haven’t seen any of them since before Covid, so when I eventually see them I’m sure some will guess but that’s not my problem. In general people react very negatively to others weight loss because they don’t like the status quo being changed (skinny people who enjoyed being “better” than us) or feeling like their own weight is being called into question for those who are overweight. I am only nice when I feel like it, so the one person who made a “joking” negative comment about my weight loss I just told them that was a very hateful statement and that I felt sorry for them that they are the type of person who thinks things like that. They immediately said it was just a joke and I told them if they think that’s a funny joke they need to examine their sense of humor. But I’m a jerk who doesn’t care about being nice to people sooooo... 😬