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Yay, its finally real enough and close enough to fill out, congrats! I'm with you and I have no idea what a good goal for things like neck size is lol. I guess you can google average sizes and then I would be generous and aim on the high side. I've never taken any of those measurements of myself before but I do think it's an important part of this weight loss journey since sometimes the scale might not move but then a measurement will change and that can keep the positive thoughts going. I'm even having trouble thinking of goals for the next page. Just saying weight loss and exercise more don't seem specific enough. If you have goals you are willing to share for that next page, I would love to hear them so that I can come up with some better ones. I haven't started my journal yet but its coming up fast.

I recently discovered these forums and I am super excited to explore and learn and hopefully help others, too. I have been overweight my entire life. Even when I was in elementary school. My dad gave me nicknames to try to get me to stop wanting to eat. Fat in the can, the Crisco Kid. He was funny and I love him dearly, but he had no idea of the forces behind my eating problems. And an old-school way of tough-love (never physical, but jokes, which can be bad too). Anyway, In '92 I enlisted in the Army Infantry. Yes, I lost enough weight to get in, and Boot Camp took care of the rest. Then slowly gained weight back while I was in, despite all of the running and pushups and "pleasant nature hikes." Weight became a problem and I was called out all the time. But I always passed my physical fitness tests, and always did my job and stayed out of trouble, so I was mostly left alone. Fast forward to today. Heaviest weight after the Army was 315 pounds (I am 6'2"), and now I am 275 pounds. Constantly up and down up and down. Discovered Engine 2 and stayed on it for 6 months, was down to my 250s, then simply could not stay on that diet, and pushed back up to my current 275. Finally went to Ohio State University's (OSU's) Bariatric program and in-processed trying to use BCBS. BCBS requires the last 5 years of weight history. I am apparently supposed to be under a medically supervised diet for 6 months. See a Dietician (end of this month) and a Psychiatrist (end of this month), and find my own Therapist and start having sessions. So no surgery until next year some time. HOWEVER, I changing jobs in a few weeks, and will now have Cigna Health Insurance. My OSU coordinator looked up Cigna and said they did *not* have a 6 month supervised diet, so if things go well I should be able to have surgery before the end of the year. SUPER excited! Going with bypass, not sleeve, because I became diabetic this past year (only taking Metformin to control), and have routine bad heartburn. It is a better fit. Anyway, that is me, and hopefully a new me is around the corner. I cannot wait for a fresh start in life, albeit a difficult start. Thanks for listening

Gas pains were terrible for me during the first two days. I had to use a heating pad for random pains for the next week for what I assumed were leftover gas pockets. I had my favorite shows ready to distract me and take my mind off of the pain. Sleeping was uncomfortable that first week. Day 6 or 7 it got much better for me. I'm post op 16 days now and there are still some things that suck: getting out of chairs, rolling over in my sleep, drinking too fast, and I get physically tired towards the end of the day. Take it a day at a time. I hope you start feeling a lot better very soon!

When I had my sleeve I was struggling with fluids but when it was revised to RNY because of gerd I was able to drink shakes and broth and water and pretty much any fluid pretty easily. I remember being in the hospital the day after surgery and being able to drink 8oz of crystal light no problem while having a conversation with my surgeon at the same time. He wasn’t worried so neither was I. Fast forward to purées and soft foods and I felt full much sooner. Depending on your surgery, how much swelling and inflammation you have, things may be easier or harder at each stage. If you’re still concerned, talk with your surgeon and they’ll be able to reassure you.

I agree w the Fast food issue, I’m a Nightshift nurse and developed a terrible fast food habit I’m overcoming!

You're doing amazing. That's really good weight loss for such a short time! We all lose at different rates. I started out pretty fast for me and lost most of my weight the first year, but after about 6 months is slowed down considerably, but I still lost all the weight I wanted to lose (over 200 pounds) by my 2 year surgiversary this past July. Sent from my Pixel 5a using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm sure he has his reasons for telling you that, but my doc said no working out for 6 weeks or until she clears me. I am supposed to be walking as much as I can comfortably. I've been trying to work up to 3 miles, but I don't walk fast and I take breaks when I need to. Maybe just start with walking a comfortable distance.

Even though you've had you're gallbladder out, you can actually still have pain similar to when you had you're gallbladder in. No one told me that for years. After years of GERD, I also found out that I had esophagitis and gastritis, which went unidentified until I had an endoscopy. After taking 2 PPIs for a while I eventually healed. That was before having my bypass though. Hopefully your surgeon figures out what's going on and a solution fast. Hope you feel better soon.

From my 1st appt to my surgery date was only 2 1/2 months. It can be a little overwhelming when it happens so fast, but that's also a good thing. So many have a 6, 8, or even 12 month wait and we didn't. We're extremely lucky and blessed. That just means you get to start your journey to a healthier you that much sooner Congrats!!!

I see the fatty liver clinc at UW Madison on the last Tuesday of August. Sorry that your son had to have all that happen. How is he doing now? The boyfriend is like it's his job to keep me healthy. I was a wreck prior to meeting and dating him. Lots of fast food and prepared meals that where not what I should have been doing. I struggle with depression and anxiety and attention deficit disorder as well. Looking at UW Madison because all the departments work alongside each other.

It's getting to the point that I can only drink liquids. Eating is miserable. I get full almost immediately and everything starts feeling heavy and burning and I can't get comfortable. I've never wanted a Monday to get here so fast before...

Five-week Post-Op update. W1 - 7/22: -12.6 lbs W2 - 7/29: -5.6 lbs W3 - 8/05: -2.6 lbs W4 - 8/12: -3.8 lbs W5 - 8/19: -4.4 lbs That's 29 lbs since surgery to go with the 28 lbs I lost prior to surgery. It's great to see the numbers go down because when I see myself in a picture or in the mirror, all I see is my (still) big belly. I was weighing myself daily for the first 4 weeks, and not seeing big results each morning was driving me crazy. So, I am only recording my weight on Fridays now. After the first week, it looks like I'm losing about 4 pounds a week now. I think that's good, right? NSVs: My face is definitely thinner. My pants fit much looser and I am now fitting into some clothes that I had outgrown. I had to dig out an old belt since the one I have been using no longer had enough holes. I'm about to fully transition from my 3XL shirts to 2XL. Right now, it's a mix in my dresser drawer. Physically, I feel great. I still get hungry, but I fill up fast. I have a bit of a problem knowing when I'm full and it's hard to get out of the habit of eating everything on my plate. If I eat too much, it's a bit uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt. I guess this concerns me a bit. I want to get better listening to my stomach. The diet plan completely sucks, and I try not to cheat. But it sucks, so what do they expect? I just got back from a family visit and had two 1,000 mile drives. For the trip, I made a low-fat chicken salad and had string cheese and Quest Protein chips for snacks.

**My hair has begun shedding...A LOT. I have PCOS so I thought I was already used to it, but it's to the point now that if I run my hands through my hair a few times, hair comes out. Not in clumps or anything, just a lot of shedding. I knew it was coming, so I'm not freaking out, but it still sucks. **2 nights ago I had some kind of episode where I had a snack about 45 minutes after I worked out at night and I had INCREDIBLE pain. Felt heavy, sharp pains, burning. Hurt to sit up, hurt to lay down, couldn't find a comfortable position. Took pepto twice before I finally got any relief after about an hour. I was left with burning in my throat. My husband said it sounds like reflux (I'm on a PPI for 6 months, but I've never had reflux or GERD or anything before). My snack was normal (1 tbsp hummus and 1/4 cup sliced cucumbers) but my workout was more intense than normal (had the treadmill at a 5.5 incline at a speed of 3.5). Now I have burning in my throat everyday and slight nausea depending on what I eat. **I'm always tired. I have spurts of energy here and there, but they don't last long and I go back to being tired again. Even a nap doesn't really help all that much. I mean, I guess it does a little, but mostly I'm less tired (but still tired). **My taste is still weird. I thought it would correct itself by now, but I guess not. Stuff I loved, I don't like or can't eat now. Sour/tart stuff still tastes really sweet. What little sweet tooth I had is completely gone (the thought of chocolate, for example, literally makes me grossed out). I have no craving for anything greasy, salty, or fried (those were my weaknesses). I never use salt anymore because the taste is overwhelming, even in small amounts (I used to salt EVERYTHING). I can barely tolerate pickles (which were a STAPLE in my diet because I was obsessed with them) because the taste is just way too overwhelming and strong, even in tiny amounts. **I can finally drink diet soda again, but where I used to drink a 2 liter a day, I can drink one MAYBE two 12 ounce cans per day (usually just 1) because it tastes a little different and it takes a while because I still have to be careful with the carbonation (stomach is ok if I go slooooow, otherwise I get into trouble if I drink it too fast). **I can tolerate a little bit larger amounts of food now, but I have to be careful still because if I overestimate how much I can eat, food goes to waste or I end up in trouble. For example, I can eat 2 scrambled eggs and 2 sausage patties now (used to only be able to eat 1 of each). But there's no way I can eat more than that. If I do, it HURTS. I can eat 3 oz of steak in 1 sitting now (with 1/2 cup of a side like green beans), whereas I used to only be able to eat 1 or 1 1/2 with 1/4 cup of a side. At first it freaked me out, but now I'm good with it because I knew we would be able to eat more eventually, and I'm careful with what I eat and how much (and how often). **It's actually gotten easier to eyeball my food and see how much I can have. I still weigh it if I'm not sure, but more often than not, I can guesstimate pretty accurately. **It's a lot easier to stick to my diet and not overeat or eat stuff I'm not supposed to. Now that my brain is trained (still a work in progress, but so so much better now) I don't think about stuff I can't have. I use MyFitnessPal and I have my meals all planned out for the week and use that to know what I can eat, how many calories and carbs and protein is in each meal (makes it soooo easy to stay on track and get everything I need each day).

I'm part of a group of people who are mostly several years out of surgery. Some have tried WW. Some of them really like it and have been successful with it, but for others, it's not their "jam" and they gave up. I guess all you can do is try it and see if it works for you. others have tried things like Keto, intermittent fasting, or going back to logging and eating protein first, etc (in other words, the basics). Whatever works! BTW - 800 kcal a day being as far out as you aren't isn't really sustainable. Start logging to find out what your calorie range is (i.e., about how many calories does it take to keep your weight where it is. May take a month or so of logging to figure this out). Then, if you want to lose, cut back from there. Maybe 100 calories at a time. For example, if it takes 1600 kcal a day to maintain your weight, try cutting back to 1500. If after a couple of weeks nothing's happening, cut back to 1400. Rinse and repeat.

So, we’re jumping forward to May 2021. Picture this: I’m about to talk to my cardiologist at my 1 year surgery follow-up and am getting nervous. Mentally I’m going through all the things I’m going to say to convince him I’m fine, and that he should definitely approve me for WLS. Turns out, I was worried about nothing. He went through the standard checkup stuff and at just about the point that I was ready to go into my well rehearsed sales pitch, he actually asked me if I was still considering bariatric surgery. Imagine my surprise at that one! When I said yes, he didn’t hesitate to say he was fine with it and didn’t see the heart surgery as an issue at all. He just became my new favorite doctor. I walked out of his office ecstatic and ready to call the bariatric center to get the weight loss surgery scheduled right then. I mean if they would have taken me in tomorrow, I was READY. It was late in the day though, so I decided to wait. Turns out waiting was a bad choice. I woke up the next day with horrible back pain. I’d had back issues for many years, but it had been mostly stable for a while. Now I was experiencing a bout of sciatica that was so bad, I had little to no muscle control in my legs. Great, more health issues to deal width and once again bariatric surgery would have to wait. Let me jump forward a bit here. It took a few months, some new meds, some injections, and some aquatic therapy, but the back was feeling tolerable, at least. I was finally ready to call the bariatric surgeon’s office. Remember me saying I should have called sooner? It turns out they had a 2 month backlog for “new” patients. You see, because I had been out of the program for almost 18 months at that point, I basically had to start over. Fast forward to September 2021 and I finally get to meet with a PA and start the “intake” process. I then did the standard psych evaluation and 6 months of dietitian visits required by my insurance company. The surgeon also decided that I needed to do an abdominal CT scan with contrast. Not sure if this was typical, or something “special” just for me. Unfortunately, once again something wasn’t right. This meant the surgeon wanted a closer look, which meant more testing. Pro tip, if you ever get told you need to do a fluoroscopic swallowing exam, see if you can get out of it. Seriously. This was probably one of the top 5 worst exams I've done. I went in thinking it would be no big deal and was much more worried about the endoscopy they also were planning. Turns out, I had it completely backward. I slept through the endoscopy, but the swallow study just was miserable. After a few tense days of waiting for results, my surgeon’s office said they found a couple of issues, including a hiatal hernia, but I was okay to proceed to surgery! Now it became a waiting game for insurance approval and surgical scheduling. (Apparently they are still way behind and not able to accommodate a full surgical schedule due to a COVID-19 induced backlog.) After an eternity waiting, I finally, finally got scheduled for September 20th. I just thought I was anxious before. Now the waiting really begins!

I don't believe it would be a waste of money if you go to a good surgeon. I wish I did my revision sooner or skip the sleeve all together because I got gerd from it. The revision was the best thing I have ever done and worth every penny. The sleeve was good at restriction but the rny, at least to me, is another animal altogether. I don't dump at all (once early on) but I get full so fast. Although I had my revision for uncontrolled gerd purposes, I lost over 90 lbs. in less than a year. I could never get below 160 lbs with the sleeve (which was fine at the time) but here I sit at 114 lbs. No gerd, no side effects, I feel great physically. I have been transitioning to get to maintenance the last 3 months.

I should clarify - up until 7 months ago my pouch didn’t empty as fast and didn’t have a desire to eat between meals. I do eat enough protein and drink quite a bit of water each day (at least 100 oz). I reached my goal weight, and have since gained 25lbs. So having the pouch empty so quickly after eating a meal concerns me.

Yea we all loose weight at different rates. some are slower some are fast. I am 4 months post op and i have lost almost 80lb, but some months i loose a good amount of weight and some i dont. Last month i only lost like 7lb because i hit a stall at 3 months. but in the last 2 weeks i have lost almost 10lb so i am hoping i am out of my stall. No hair loss at all (yet) But yea eating those carbs are getting you back into a bad habit so i would try to avoid that

I could do with some advise from somebody more experienced than I am yet. Decided to try a couple of fried eggs on a piece of toast for lunch. Used a skillet which has been seasoned and which released some of the vegetable oil during the cooking process so they were fairly greasy. Never crossed my mind that might cause a problem. They didn’t digest well anyway but after a couple of hours felt a bit nauseous and very tired, and started sweating. And then, well just say I couldn’t get to the loo fast enough. And repeat 4 more times since. Not pleasant and I had no control. Feel delicate but much improved now. Have I experienced dumping syndrome or is this just my body telling me it does like fried food?

Much happiness and good thoughts to everyone who is having surgery this week! I'm officially 1 week post-op RNY (with hernia repair)! Here is what I've learned this week from my surgeon, my partner (who is a nurse) and myself: 1) If you are in pain, take your meds. There is no shame in taking pain meds for a major surgery. Everyone's pain tolerance is different and I have been in a fair to high amount of pain since surgery. I'm not sure if it's the RNY plus the hernia repair that is causing this level of pain, but I took whatever pain meds the nurses gave during my hospital stay (there was a combination) and then every 6 hours after I was discharged for the first 3 days and now I'm only taking them when I feel pain, but I still feel pain, so I'm still taking them. 2) Rest. I'm a person who is always on the go and it's been difficult for me to just REST. It's driving my partner (the nurse) crazy. He keeps reminding me "It's only been ____ days! You just had two major surgeries! Rest please!! Sit down! Take a nap!" Don't feel guilty about resting your first week (or weeks) home. 2) PLAN PLAN PLAN. Once I was on full liquids I was shocked at how low the protein value is per BARIATRIC SERVING and quickly realized if I didn't plan what I was going to eat and when I was going to eat it, this will get out of control really fast. Yes, a container of protein greek yogurt has 20 grams of protein in it (a 5.3 oz container), but if you are only eating 2 oz servings at a time, you have cut your protein down to 7.5 g per serving. I've added Isopure to almost everything I eat and I do 5g Isopure per 2 oz food which adds another 4g protein. 3) It's extremely difficult to get your 64 oz of water in. Pre-surgery I was like "that will be easy." Nope. Not at all. First, your new pouch will only hold a sip or two at a time. Too much and it will hurt. And once you are eating full liquids or purees, you have to stop drinking 30 min before, 30 minutes after (and another 10/15/20 to actually eat your food) and if you are eating 3-5x a day...this becomes a full time job. I know it will get easier, but it has been overwhelming right now.

I have BCBS of Illinois and they covered everything but $1500, and my secondary covered $1200 of that. So I only had $300 out of pocket. They approved my surgery within 48 hours of my surgeon's office submitting everything. From my 1st appt to my surgery date was 2 1/2 months. BCBS only required 1 pre op and 1 post op nutritionist appt, 1 psych eval, approval letter from my neurologist (because I have MS), approval letter from my PCP, having tried at least 2 methods of weight loss in the past (my PCP knew about me doing keto and also low/no calorie and put that in the approval letter). So it was a fast and painless process. My surgeon's office wanted the blood work and EKG before surgery. BCBS approved every test with no issues.

That statistic, besides being an average, reflects bounce back weight gain which is pretty common, general diet complacency where after a couple of years we let things slide a bit, adjustments to the way you eat to better complement your lifestyle, general health, changes to medication, etc. It’s not the highest amount of weight you may lose but where you MAY end up at the three years point. It’s the same stat that says the a average weight loss at three years for sleeve is about 65% of the weight you have to lose. The most I lost was 43.8kgs (141%) . Then I settled at around 42kg (135%). Now at three years it’s 40 (129% - damn HRT & I had to up my protein intake.) Yes, my gain is minimal & I lost a lot more then the stats suggested but others do experience less loss & greater gains. Treat averages (stats) & BMIs for that matter as a guide only not a hard & fast rule. They just give you a bit of an idea of what might happen.

I was blowing through sizes so fast that I bought everything except for underwear at thrift stores (like Goodwill). Actually, I still get most of my clothes there, and I've been in maintenance for over five years!

lol what a catch 22! Ummmmm I’d say I’m excited about surgery I’m a revision so there’s a bit of been there done that . I just want to fast forward to when I’m recovering at home. I felt overwhelmed with how much new information is out/products since I had my first surgery in 2010 . I’m naturally a worry wart so I’m going through the motions of overly researching duodenal switch . I know it’s best for me due to my metabolism disorders. I read somewhere you could lose a pound a day ! Like that’s crazy to me lol ! (Also I’m making you my accountability partner lol there will be meltdowns FYI !)

Hi Everyone, I was posting over in the RNY August thread, but it doesn't seem to be very active. I had my surgery on Tuesday, so today is my Day 3 Post Op. The surgery & hospital stay went very well, but I had a rough first day at home yesterday. I think it was mostly because I no longer had the IV for hydration and it takes forever to drink enough water on your own. The barium swallow test at the hospital was pretty gross. Plus, it didn't move very fast through my bowels so I was sitting around for like an hour while they kept trying the x-ray; they finally sent me back up to my room and had a mobile x-ray come up a few hours later. Everything was fine, it was just slow moving. It made me really nervous that something was wrong though. I was on a pre-op liquid diet (OptiFast shakes only) for 7 days, clear liquid only the day before surgery and until this morning, I've only had clear liquids. I haven't been hungry at all, but I can tell my body is pretty weak from not taking in many calories. I've been really tired. Today I started full liquids, which for me is 3 servings of 2 oz per day until my 1 week post-op appointment. I had 2 oz Fairlife Chocolate Shake this morning which went down well and I'm working on a 2 oz portion of SF vanilla protein pudding right now. It's been difficult for me to get my 64 oz of liquids in. I never thought it would take this long to drink! Before surgery, I was a person who drank 100+ easily before bed.