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I first started looking into WLS about 15 years ago, and my family talked me out of it because of the potential for horrible complications. Since then, I reconsidered it periodically, but kept deciding that I couldn't do it. I thought about everything I would have to give up -- all of my favorite things, like diet soda (my one guiltless pleasure), pizza, ice cream, fried foods, pasta -- and I couldn't stand the thought of it. I hated the idea of having to completely change my diet and take vitamins for the rest of my life. What made me finally go through with it was the realization of everything I was giving up to continue living as an obese person. I didn't have any major health problems yet, but I had been diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes and I was going to have to start taking medication if I didn't get them under control. My mobility was going downhill and I was missing out on so much in life because of the physical and social limitations of my weight. My advice is that you make your decision by carefully considering what you have to lose vs. what you have to gain. Studies show that we humans are naturally averse to the risk of loss and tend to overvalue what we have to lose and undervalue what we have to gain. When I really thought about everything I was already giving up and losing by continuing to live with obesity, the tradeoffs of having WLS didn't seem like so much of a sacrifice in comparison. Yes, it is a big lifestyle change and it is really hard, but the improvements to my health and quality of life are incredible. Like so many people, I wish that I had gone through with it sooner before I missed out on so many things in life. There were so many times that I wished and dreamed about how my life would be if I wasn't cursed with obesity, and here I am now, 160 pounds down from my highest weight -- something I used to think was impossible. As for the recovery, it's actually not bad for most people. I only spent one night in the hospital and I had surprisingly little pain. I never even had to take any pain medication after I left the hospital. I only took a week off from work. There are risks to any surgery, but the rate of complications for WLS is very low. The liquid and pureed diet is rough, but it's only a few weeks. You didn't say how old your kids are, but if they're very young, you may need to get someone to help with them for a while. You won't be able to lift them for several weeks after surgery. If they're teenagers, they're probably self-sufficient enough to pitch in while you're recovering.

Hi! I'm not a single parent, so I can't speak to the aspect of having to care for someone while you're in recovery. A few thoughts, though: - It's completely normal to be nervous about it. Having said that, I think pretty much everyone wishes we had done it sooner once the actual surgery is over. - Pre-op, you don't know what it feels like when you and your body both want to lose weight. It sounds terrible to live on liquids only, but it's honestly exactly what you want in those days after surgery. It's easy. - Sure, there can be complications. But as you say, you know the current weight will give you complications, too. Worse ones. Read a little about weight loss without surgery and then you realize surgery isn't an easy way out, it's the only way out for almost everyone

I settled in at around 1100 within the first month, which was comfortable and worked well with my guy metabolism - I had been stable before surgery at 2500+ so I had confidence about having a decent caloric deficit for continued weight loss and maintained that level throughout my loss phase. YMMV. I am somewhat suspicious of programs that ramp up calories on a schedule over time, as our natural inclination is for weight loss to decline over time as we get lighter - we naturally burn fewer calories as we have less weight we are moving around 24/7. I recognize that there are multiple hypotheses about metabolisms and weight loss, but there also seems to be little strong consensus on it, either. I have seen good overall good results from many on these forums over the years doing programs in the 6-800 calorie range, and there are many who seem to stall or go into maintenance early on 1200+ calorie programs. Yet we also see some success at higher levels, or reports of that breaking stalls. Take these under consideration while trying to understand how your body is working, but my inclination would be to keep things on the lower side. At my six month follow up with our RN program director, she was wanting me to cut back my exercise as she felt I was losing too fast (which I wasn't going to do as I was basically working at my semi-normal activity levels,) but by the end of that month (it was November,) I was within ten pounds of my goal weight, and losing a consistent ten pounds per month, so I started ramping up my calories to slow things down (I basically let the holidays happen...) which stretched those last ten over two months instead. I never controlled carbohydrates, net or otherwise, or fats, but sought to get the best overall nutrition from the non-protein side of my diet, but in those later months carbs typically ran in the 100-120 range; I had selectively increased my complex carb intake at around four months for energy management purposes (I was running out of gas in the pool after an hour) which did the trick without any effect on loss rate.

I looked up what I was eating at 6 months, and for the 4 weeks immediately after my 6th month anniversary, my average daily range was anywhere from 500-750 cals a day, with NET carbs maxing out at 25g per day. HOWEVER. At the 6th month mark I was 130-ish lbs, (and I'm, 5'2") so 500-700 cals for me would be a little different than someone who is bigger/taller (or smaller/shorter). Further, I wasn't constantly hungry, so being able to sustain this at the time would have been easier for me than for someone who was. Whatever caloric level you are comfortable at, and able to maintain during weight loss phase (be it 700 or 1200 or whatever), so long as you are at a deficit, you'll find that you WILL lose weight (barring any medical conditions). Good Luck!

Thing is, there’s no surgery that will allow you to eat the way you used to and still maintain a weight loss. You don’t have to “diet” forever but you will need to eat mindfully. A lot of us are accustomed to eating with reckless abandon and that’s how we got big in the first place. Since I’m done losing weight, I allow myself occasional treats. Nothing is forbidden forever, but if mealtime was a TV show, some foods are part of the regular cast and some are “guest stars” I see once in a while. I don’t “diet” but I do try to make good choices about what to eat (with an indulgence thrown in here and there).

Thank you for the information. I was doing 800-900 and then at my 6 month post op appt, the dietitian wanted me at 1100-1200. I feel like this might prevent further weight loss and I haven’t quite reached my goal yet. 🤷‍♀️

It's super super super super normal to have a stall (or a slight regain) after 3,4,5 weeks. One of the reasons is that your body says 'alright, enough is enough' on your liver shrinking and takes resources to make it bigger again. You're kind of going into the next phase, more or less. And don't worry, the weight loss will come back, and it won't necessarily be slower. The bad news is this might take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. Just ride it out, it's totally expected

I had surgery on December 21st. I have lost close to 30 pounds since my pre-op visit. My doctor said losing 3 pounds a week is about average. This morning I weighed myself and I had gained 2 pounds. Has anyone else had this happen? And if so, is there a reason behind it?

I was doing 800-900 and then at my 6 month post op appt, the dietitian wanted me at 1100-1200. I feel like this might prevent further weight loss and I haven’t quite reached my goal yet. 🤷‍♀️

I am having mine on the 2nd also. Very excited to continue on my weight loss journey to become a healthier me.

I've eaten popcorn a handful of times (I started AFTER weight loss phase though). Have eaten up to about 1/2 a bag of microwave popcorn (equivalent to about 2 cups) WITH butter with no issue. I've also had movie popcorn (pre-pandemic) with butter (that had white cheddar seasoning on it) no problem. I'd like to say that I ate the equivalent of 2 cups then also, but i can't say for sure as I didn't measure and it was dark, lol. Whether or not YOU can tolerate it, only you can determine. P.S. I'm a sleeve and 2+ years out, 1.5 years into maintenance.

I too have read relatively extensively about some of the studies on the positive relationship between plastic surgery and long term weight loss maintenance. In my insignificant opinion (which is echoed by others above), it has less to do with the actual surgery itself vs. the common characteristics of subjects who tend to pursue elective plastic surgeries in the first place: level of motivation due to investment (financial, time, etc) , socioeconomic status (like someone said above, those who can afford elective plastics usually have more disposable income to put towards other weight loss/maintenance tools/services), weight prior to surgery (i mean usually only those who are close to, or are at goal weight already continue on with plastics), etc. etc. Of course there will be "successful" subjects who have none of these characteristics, but as stated, its just usually.

I bought bras off the clearance rack. I don't think I'll be going down much more since my goal weight is only 21 pounds away, so I did recently buy a few more expensive ones, but early on after my surgery the clearance rack was my friend. I got great deals at Kohl's and my favorite bra in the beginning of my weight loss was $3. I was proud of that deal lol

Congrats on your surgery. Yep, stalls are frustrating. You’re dropping pounds then nothing. Look at it as your body playing catch-up. It’s going through a lot & is taking a break. My longest stall was 2 1/2 weeks when I was 1 kg from goal. Grrr. It was right there ... I never changed a thing & my stalls still broke. There’s a lot talk about starvation mode & upping calorie intake. The term starvation mode is actually incorrect. The correct term to describe what is occurring is adaptive thermogenesis. This is the body reducing the metabolism rate (calories burnt) in response to a reduction in caloric intake. Weight loss will reduce the number of calories you burn but studies show it’s only about 6 calories per pound lost. But a high protein diet can boost your metabolism by 80 - 100 calories per day. So I guess the take away is make sure you’re meeting your protein goals each day to keep your metabolism up & counter balance any metabolic slow down from a reduced caloric intake. Good luck. This too will pass.

Hi Tracy, sorry to hear about the Gerd. Bypass is supposed to fix that so I’m concerned for you. my Gerd is gone completely but I still get nauseous after I eat food...it’s better than it was a few months ago but still there. My weight loss is very slow. I’m 203 and started at 264 (bypass July 18 2020. One would think that after 3 months in and out of hospital (not bypass related), I would have lost much more, but it’s ok, I’m in no rush. I hope you’ll see your doctor regarding f the Gerd. The meds are not good for your pouch long term. Xo

Waiting for anything right now is a pain lol. I am in southern ca with Kaiser so I can’t answer your insurance questions. But I did have a lot of hoops I had to jump through (weight loss, classes, tests, psych eval, ekg, etc) and I finished in December..... yet ......I’m still waiting. Everything was shut down due to covid so you will find LOTS of people who are impatiently waiting and you will be in very good company 😅

I started with a BMI of 49.9. Had my sleeve surgery Aug of 2019. My BMI is now 26, which is right at the weight that my surgeon, PCP, as I set as my goal. I’ve had a steady loss all along, with a few short stalls. I still have a very strong restriction. I can eat most foods, but in very small quantities. Although I do experience some hunger, I don’t really have cravings and find it very easy to take one bite of something and leave the rest. The sleeve has worked for me just as designed.

At 6 months out since Gastric Bypass, I started my hair loss at the start of December. Currently taking just for hair loss- Collagen, biotin, iron. After talking with my doctor last Tuesday, she told me my iron intake needed to be increased to 50mg up to 100mg per day.and to watch for constipation. We also spoke about meals, currently at about 65-85 grams of protein per day. I add protein to practically every thing I eat. I use Genepro, it can be added to tea and coffee as well as hot and cold foods. It is flavorless and has helped tremendously keeping my protein Intake up. I buy mine on the bariatric pal store. I am due to get some labs this week so I am curious about my vitamin and mineral numbers. Also, I have been discouraged due to the hair loss and the slow down of weight loss. However the doctor told me it is very normal at this stage to slow down losing. That was incredibly reassuring☺️ TLDR;Key takeaways- more protein, more water and check your iron intake. Good luck. ❤️

I had surgery just a couple days before you. I don't think you failed at all. If you do the math you are on track to lose 120 pounds in a year? Math isn't my strong suit but I think that is pretty incredible. I have ran into a few stalls in the last couple of weeks that really bummed me out but after measuring myself and realizing the medications I am off I have learned to celebrate that Non-scale wins along with the scale wins. I have had to really bounce my calorie intake around to find that I believe I was actually restricting my calories too much. Now that I increased my calories to 1,000 a day ( I feel like all I do is eat) my scale is starting to see progress again. I was focusing on just protein and really restricting my calories so much I was actually limiting my own weight loss. I think we all learn a lot about our own bodies along the way of this journey. My exercise also looks different that I thought it was going to. I am doing less cardio than I planned and more weights and yoga, really focusing on core muscle groups and trying to strengthen those muscles that are needing to be retrained after so many years. Do not be so hard on yourself. Your learning as you go, we all are. Play with your calories a little and see if that helps a bit, push yourself a little with your physical activity. A little change can cause a ripple affect in our new metabolism and you may see some more progress. But 12 to 15 pounds a month is nothing to scoff at, they claim 2 pounds a week is a healthy weigh loss, we want to see that every day but its just not possible to see that week after week

Congratulations! That weak feeling may be because of electrolyte loss (like when someone has diarrhea)

I feel like each person has a different path and along the way you will get better results than we deserve and other times we get worse results than what we deserve. I started my journey 12/29/19 and have lost 89 lbs since my highest and 40 lbs of that since my surgery on 12/2/20. I've had unexpected losses of 1.8 lbs and also gains of .8 lbs in one day with no real reason for it. I've also started to see a slowing of weight loss since doing my 1 mile treadmill walk and some resistance band work outs about 4-5 days per week in the last 2 weeks. My mind is starting to get away from the number on the scale to how I look and more importantly how I feel. Losing 8" from my waist and dropping from 3XL to XL has inspired me and adding some tanning salon fake sun has made me feel great. I enjoy reading everyone's progress, keep up the work!

We had no specified limits or goals on macros other than protein. If you think about it, this makes sense as if you get in your requisite protein, and your calories are low enough to facilitate the desired weight loss, then it really doesn't matter what your fat or carb macros are (leave that for the fad dieters) as both will be quite low. As an example, if you are following the common 6-800 calorie post op diet (or even 1000,) with 60-80 g protein and totally ignore the other macros, you may be around 50-60g of carbs; does that make any functional difference to the magical 40g (or 30, or20) promoted by some of the popular fad diets? No. Against a typical Western/American diet that is often 300+ g of carbohydrates there numbers may make some sense (primarily that it represents a lot of calories...) but typically for us post op, it doesn't make any difference. Concentrate on learning to eat a healthy, sustainable diet that includes your typical fruits, veg, leaner meats, nuts, whole grains instead of the processed white flour junk, and in general bypass the junk foods (high calorie, low nutrition) and you will be miles ahead of those who agonize over macro counts and ratios (and most likely, a fair bit lighter in the long run. Good luck...

Further to what @catwoman7 said, since diets and the makeup of each individual vary so much, its difficult to advise someone on an internet board with just one strategy. Soooo....if you want to calculate your macros, you can use one of the calculators i've included below (NOTE: this is not the be all and end all medical advice to live by, just a guideline offered by just TWO sites...there are infinite sources out there....) This first calculator takes your inputted data and it will calculate the suggested macro breakdown for various types of diets as well as a "make your own" one you can customize: https://www.calculator.net/macro-calculator.html *** (see note below) The link above doesn't have a preset for ULTRA-LOW carb/Keto diets (you'll have to use the customize option), but this second one does (this is the one I used throughout my weight loss phase): https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/ Good Luck! Edited to add: I was playing around with the first calculator with my own data and it looks like it will give you a warning to consult your doctor if you put in data that would put your calories too low (I put in 115 lbs and selected "extreme weight loss"). Only when I set weight loss to "mild" did it give me an answer. Looks like it won't give an answer if the calculated calories is less than 1500. If you want to go lower than 1500 (which alot of people do), I suggest using the second calc and playing around with the carb value.

OMG! I had no idea how hard the last 10 pounds would be. I've been within 10 pounds of my goal since before Thanksgiving. I currently have 4 pounds to go. It's been up and down (literally). I never really hit a stall along my journey until these last 10 pounds. My loss had slowed but I could count on at least a 5-6 pound loss a month. But, oh no, not now. I had major surgery in December so I didn't expect much in December but 6 pounds in nearly 3 months SUCKS. Thanks for listening and I know I will get to goal. I just hope it's before summer gets here.

10 yrs ago I lost 40 lbs, got a lot of “you look great!” comments, but it was because I almost died. I don’t make comments on someone else’s weight loss unless they ask for encouragement. I don’t like to make comments on other people’s bodies to prevent “foot in mouth” disease