Search the Community

you'll lose weight quickly at first, but eventually (timing depending on how much weight you have to lose), you'll slow down to the more typical 1-2 lbs a week. BUT...you'll lose as long as you stick to your plan. And you won't fail if you're committed to your program and follow the rules. The most weight I'd ever been able to lose pre-surgery was 60 lbs - which I promptly regained. There were many times I lost 20 or 30 lbs - only to regain. This was the only thing that "worked" for me. btw - I lost 16 lbs the first month, then 10-12 lbs a month for maybe the next six months, then 5-8 lbs a month until I was about a year out. Then it became outrageously slow - maybe 2-3 lbs a month - until it stopped.

It's gotten more busy, but that's expected. Still struggling and may end up dropping down like 10 lbs and seeing if that is easier to maintain... I suspect that I'm going to have to monitor my weight closely (both up and down) forever. Maybe the appetite suppressing effects will lessen after a couple years

I told everyone from work I went on a 10-day cruise, and took 2-weeks off. No one from work knows anything. My father is the only one in my family that knows... I told all family and friends I had my gallbladder removed... If anything happens and I need any other procedures done I will use the appendix removed... My business is my business....

WELCOME, LIZZIE!! My doctor had been urging me to have the surgery for 2 years. I wasn't emotionally ready. When my hip was getting worse, I went to the orthopedic surgeon pretty much knowing I needed hip replacement surgery. He said I needed to lose weight before he could do the surgery safely. He's the one who recommended my bariatric surgeon. Their requirements included meeting with a Dietitian, Phycologist & 6 month weight study. My doctor, since I've been seeing him for over 25 years, had the weight info. He just went back 6 months & filled in the form. I think he was so happy I was finally doing it, he would have filled out 20 years of forms! LOL! My 1st meeting with the Bariatric surgeon was 3/29/2019. My surgery was 7/22/2019. It could have been sooner (in May) but the date they had available conflicted with another event on my calendar, so I was scheduled for June. Then I failed my stress test (part of my clearance fo the surgery), so I ended up with the July date. I was lucky, I guess. My doctor is very pleased. He kept teasing me about waiting 2 years. I'm SO glad I did it & yes, I wish (now) that I had it done years ago. This site has been very helpful. While everyone's experiences are different, there's a lot of info. The Store has SO many products! Some are yummy... some not so much. I also found many YouTube videos that were inspiring and informative. There are even some of the actual surgery! WARNING: Don't watch if you're the squeamish type. This was a long way around to tell you not to let the delay deter you. My surgery was 4 weeks ago today. I have lost 40 pounds. I have been taken off 2 of my diabetes meds. My happy moment today was when I was able to move the weight on the doctor's scale from the 250 to the 200 mark. One of the girls in my church told me, "Miss Nancy, you look smaller!" Believe me, it's worth it!

I just started reading this thread and I have gleaned so much good info. I have been trying to get ready for my surgery on 10/1. I'm currently undergoing a serious case of pre-op doubts. I am self pay, and keeping looking at the $ sitting in savings and thinking " what am I doing? I could use this to do...". Then I think about my health. So, with this in mind, I just ordered the Workbook previously mentioned. Maybe that will keep my mind occupied for the next month.

At 6 months post I can’t guzzle water if I have eaten in the past 1-2 hours. I can drink maybe 3-4 oz every few minutes about 90 min after eating. If I ate 30 minutes ago I can drink maybe 1-2 oz at a time with 5-10 minutes between but if it’s too much or too fast I burp and stop.

I think everyone feels that way, I mean who really wants to have life changing surgery that carries so many risks?? For me I wish I could have found the strength to do it 10 years ago. Im so mad that I wasted so much of my adult life feeling fat and miserable and torturing myself with diet efforts to never see any real long term success. I would renew it every year if I had to. Doing this was the best thing I've ever done for myself.

So, my coworker's brother had gastric bypass a few days after I did. Same office, different surgeon. This was 10 months ago almost. He is STILL not eating solid foods. He tried eating a few things, but he got sick, so now he has a food aversion and only eats jello and yogurt. On top of that, he has become an alcoholic. He had blood in his stool and a local doctor thought it was his colon, but then he woke up one night covered in blood. He went to the local hospital (not the one where our surgeon's are), and lost 3 pints of blood due to a bleeding ulcer in his pouch. He drinks a bottle of whiskey a day and also drinks beer. He looks GREY. He has lost nearly 300lbs in the last 10 months alone. He has not told our bariatric clinic about any of this. They don't know about the ulcer, or his drinking, or that he still isn't eating solid food. He is literally going to die. His family hasn't contacted the bariatric clinic either. I don't know this guy - only what my coworker has shared. She says that every day he tells her he regrets what he has done, but is ashamed to contact the bariatric surgeon because they are going to tell him to stop drinking and he doesn't want to. His family has been unable to get him to see anyone about the drinking. Should I make a call to my bariatric office and just be like "hey, I know you can't confirm or deny that this guy is a patient but so and so had surgery on this date with this doctor and this has happened... maybe just make a call to him as a casual "checkup"" in hopes that that will trigger him opening up to get help?

I'm almost 10 months out. I was a water chugger before wls and still am. I did sip for the first 1-2 weeks after surgery, but by week 2 I found I was able to chug away. I probably even drink more now than I did before. The one difference between now and then is that all that water before made me feel like I was going to the washroom every 30 mins (every couple hours at night!). Now, I go like a normal person. Weird. P.S. I know some my disapprove, but my water of choice is of the sparkling kind. I go through cases of it...I really should invest in a soda stream or something...

You do sound like you are in a better place now . I don't know your metabolism nor age nor exercise routine, but at 1000 cals a day you will likely continue to lose weight, which would likely get you that 5-10 lb loss you want over a couple months. We are the same height, and I slowed down the loss to 2-3 lbs a month at 1300-1500 cals a day. I'd still need to increase my daily cals (to a number i don't know yet!) to totally stop. You'll have to do the same eventually, but you can do that when you are ready to stop losing weight. ❤️

@Lamermaid: So I'm almost 10 months post op, and I *think* I'm starting to grow some hair back..I can see teeny tiny fuzz hairs at my forehead/hairline...I don't see any on my overall head yet, but its a start! Are you still actively losing weight? I suspect the hair starts to grow back when your body stabilizes (which I did about 2 months ago)....

Well all of you were right and thank you for the advice. I was getting so anxious about never stalling and steadily losing 2-3 pounds per week and was afraid that despite increasing my calories to 1000 that I was heading into losing too much too quickly. Then with people making comments about getting too small or needing to eat more it messed with my head. I think it was also the fact of mentally not feeling in control of what was happening with my body I felt like I was on a runaway train. It seems that the first 2 weeks of increased calories did nothing and I kept losing but the past 1-2 weeks I have been bouncing around 132-134 (5 ft 2). I am happy where I am right now at but if I could I would like to slowly lose maybe 5-10 over a few months, not weeks and gain some muscle that would be ideal. I also am thinking since I am just now at the 6 month mark that realistically I could see a possible gain of 5-10 pounds on this journey and I want to have some wiggle room if that happens. I had backed off on fitness for fear of losing too much too quickly, so instead I am going to focus on fitness now and keeping calories and carb level where they are and see where that gets me.

There's no way I could get that many calories in. I was beginning to worry about losing too much too quickly. Weird to think right? My goal was 140, I am now floating around 133/134 but for the past 3 weeks I increased from 700-1000 calories since I have been steadily losing 2-3 pounds per week. It feels like a push to try and get 1000 calories in. People are saying comments about being too thin etc and I am saggy everywhere so I want to maintain here or if I drop another 5-10 slowly I would be ok but I felt like I needed a stall to let my body catch up. I have not been going to the gym much and wanted to get my calories up and weight steady before I push building up muscle so that's what I am concentrating on now. Maybe try to increase slowly towards 1000 calories and see if you can continue weight loss.

Very very soon I’m doing this! ATM, I’m mostly playing around with different eating intervals, and not quite pulling the trigger on alternate day fasting. 2 main reasons: 1. I’m still >20 pounds from goal and would like to wait til I’m within 10 pounds to start more aggressive IF 2. Even though I’ve had a slight bounce this week, I’m going to wait this out and see if I’m truly stalled, or everything is just resettling for a couple of weeks. Today and the next 2 days I’m fluctuating my eating window. Today was 20:4, tomorrow will be 16:8, Tuesday will be another 20:4. Plan is to eat >65gm protein daily and I’ve not yet figured the calories, but I know what I’ve got planned to eat. I’ve got a rotisserie chicken, high protein soup, cottage cheese, Brie, a bariatric hot chocolate, some almonds and plain ole fairlife milk. Today my calories were around 550, tomorrow I’m gonna bump to 900-ish. Mostly I’ll be eating cheese, popping an extra handful of almonds and drinking extra milk to help get me there. I’m hoping to get out of my every day “rut” of eating about 700-800 calories every single day and doing 16:8 almost every single day.

Yeah I do value honesty, even if it is not happy news, be straight with me, don't make me feel it is not all my fault- GOD in Heaven knows I have tried- I wanted to become a Model Patient- somebody that people could point out and say " She's such a success, I feel inspired to now carry on MYSELF!" and perhaps there is someone somewhere that feels THAT WAY , I'm not aware of any. And one of the definitions of model is "An imitation of the real thing". Oh I will Survive. this, I have vanquished many other things in my lifetime. Today I have hunger/ pain, I eat something, never very much because if I try to increase my portion size it hurts until Precious Pouch reflexes up emesis. So i take in a Small amount, never enough to feel good, maybe I will never have such a feeling again, and then 1-1.5 hours the hunger type pain has returned, I give it protein shake or Greek yogurt, if other fluids fail to satisfy, really don't desire mentally anything, nothing sounds good, few things taste good, restraint I expected but revulsion? Nope never booked that in! And those who do comment say "My oh My You look good! " Makes a body wonder - was I THAT disgusting before? And my neck , face and upper chest look so bony and thin- I fear I Am suffering from "Failure To Thrive" and nobody cares enough to notice. Maybe I truly merely look thin never been there before so no standard of comparison. And the people who were blind to me before are too deaf to really listen. to what I am trying to say. I would stop taking my meds, vitamins and minerals, but they May Just be keeping me going, let alone prolonging my life. If that Shannon thought I was depressed in May 2019, she should seen me the spring before, when Surgeon# 1 kicked me to the curb, told his staff to tell me I was mentally and emotionally deficient and totally unworthy of surgery, now THAT WAS DEPRESSION time for ME, but even then , I was not actively plotting suicide, what would have been the use? I was believing I was such a screw-up I couldn't even get THAT right. I just wanted to die passively, would not lift a hand to do ANYTHING. And it took so so much to even attempt to continue seeking my surgery, I was very fortunate to find Ohio State and Dr Needleman and that they not only gave me a chance, they seemed to believe in Me so I once again could believe in Me. That may be why this indifference and ignoring of Me hurts me so much. I. thought They always were There for Me. But I will surmount what I cannot CHANGE, internally my body will not function as it once did, BMs every day, being able to swallow and have food stay DOWN. Yeah, I did have a high calorie count, Might have even binged but I could eat, taste and know I was ALIVE, now the Brand- New ME was worth the pain , poor inefficent healing and sorrows, did I PAY TOO MUCH just to be thin? I gained the World only to lose a lot of my Me-ness , although in theory , a bypass can be reversed, I won't seek it. 1) I do not want to regain back again. and more importantly I still would feel flawed internally. I gotta go forward because backward isn't an option EITHER. And yes, having put this all down has given me some shred of peace- so I will continue on and my end will be victorious SOMEHOW. PROMISE!!!!

Hi, I am 10 days post op and on Friday the Doctor gave me the go ahead to start phase 2 which I am sure you know is like creamy soups and eggs etc. Every time I put anything other than water and my protein drinks into my stomach I start to get really bad cramps and I get nauseous. I have started taking my zofran 30 minutes before I try to eat something which has helped with the nausea a bit but I still get really bad stomach cramps even after one bite. Is this normal and has anyone else had this problem? What did they do and when did it stop or get better??

Beautiful!! 5'4" Starting weight 297 VSG on 7/31/19 266 CW 248 GW 135 Sent from my [samsung Galaxy] using BariatricPal mobile app

Me too! Tomorrow’s the day 8/19/19!! 1st day of the rest of our lives! Good luck to us all!!! ❤️

Yes. Mine was postponed 1 week. I was supposed to have it 7/12/19 but insurance asked for something additional. At 1st I was upset but it was for the best because I honestly needed that additional week to calm my nerves and get my s^%# together. I’m going in tomorrow 6:00 a.m. Try not to worry too much. The hospital usually know how to work with the ins.

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for understanding my drive to keep going. I think that had I been obese my whole life, this would be a great stopping point for me, but I’m still 35-40 pounds heavier than my college weight— and that was about 5-10 pounds over my all-time-low from my sophomore year of college. What’s funny is that when I was in my late teens and early 20’s, I felt so “fat” when my weight got over 125. And I’m 5’7”! Yeah, I’m 30 years older. Yeah, I’ve had 2 kids.... I get all that. But I just know in my heart of hearts that I’ve got at least another 25-ish pounds left in me to go. Today I’m 172.4 (had a 1.6 pound bounce this week) and I’m shooting for an ultimate goal of 145-ish (plus or minus a few on either side for maintenance). That still puts me 10-15 higher than when I was 23.

Thanks so much for posting your experiment. Okay, so I just came off of losing 10 pounds in 3 weeks, which is the most I’ve lost per week since the first month. Weighed in this morning (no poop for 3 days and counting) and I’m up 1.6 pounds since a week ago. Lol, that 1.6 pound bounce put me at my average monthly average of 8-9 pounds, so I’m not gonna hit the panic button just yet. Especially since things are a bit....backed up, so to speak. Today I extended my fasting window and just now (3pm my time) gobbled down some lunch. Pure protein bomb at 44 gm and under 300 calories. I’ll make sure to have dinner finished by 7 so I’ll end up with a 20:4. Also did 2 Pilates classes and felt great, but admittedly pretty hungry by the time I got lunch ready. Tomorrow I’ll go back to 16:8 and then restrict back to 20:4 Tuesday. Plan on weighing in Wednesday am and see if that budges the scale any. I went from 170.8 to 172.4. Dammit I was soooooooo close to hitting the 160’s. My goal is to see 160-anything by this time next week.

Had ESG in Sept 2018. I went from 204 to 121lbs in 10 months. Yay!! Only was really shooting for 155 but I feel good at 121 but could certainly stand to get some muscle back and probably put on a little weight ( I’m 5’7”). So I’ve begun walking and doing some weight training the last couple weeks. All was hood the first week or two as I wasn’t real consistent. I was eating around 1600 cal as that was helping me maintain my weight at least. Then I weighed myself Friday and I was 118!!! I know I need to eat more calories but not sure exactly how much. I know I can play with it and see what works but I also have a hard time upping the calories. At 1600-1700 I feel like I eat all day. Ideas?

Good luck!! You are in good company! We have quite a few 8/19 sibs!! 4 by my last count! Wishing you and all your sibs a successful surgery and speedy recovery [emoji169]🧡[emoji173] Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I really think ADF should be the suggestion for anyone suffering from a prolonged stall. (Given that one is already maintaining low carb diet. Exercising also helps, with shifting as much exercise as possible into a fasting period of the day.) And of course if someone can do some kind of 16/8, 14/10, or even 12/12, that helps so much in burning fat storage.

My first post here thanks to a good friend for sharing this app info. Going in for gastric sleeve tomorrow morning. I know you all will understand my excitement and nervousness! I would appreciate any tips or advice you have for a newbie. Thanks guys!