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I know this is a common one but im particularly excited about it because I distinctly remember being 340 lbs and watching these "progress" videos of other women with towels wrapped around their body, showing how they gradually start fitting into bath towels as they lose weight and I remember feeling so sad and discouraged...like I didn't have it in me to get there too. I'm traveling and in a hotel right now and to my surprise this is the first time a regular "hotel" towel has wrapped all the way around my body without a humongous gap exposing my side and stomach. I am so happy about this I can't even explain it. It just confirms it for me that I can have the things I want, that I deserve them too and am just as strong to fight for them. Photo: the first picture is from just a week preop, the second is from today. Yes...I had to censor my booty cheek lol that whole blue part is the towel that didn't close and that towel is bigger than this one I have here. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I’m so torn right now. I meet with my surgeon next week to discuss things but thought I’d. one here first… should I go with the sleeve or the bypass?? I was set on sleeve but now I’m having second thoughts… I feel like my eating habits/cravings/pcos will just find a way around sleeve and bypass is going to make that more difficult. BUT bypass is more expensive, and I’m self pay. What would you guys suggest!? SN- I have NO issues with gerd or reflux.

I'm scheduled for July7. I'm not required to start pre op diet until 2 weeks prior which will be low carb very low cal. I started on my own yesterday with low carb moderate calorie to get a jump on it. Would love to get the first 20 pounds behind me before surgery day.

I've been weighing everything that doesn't come prepackaged with a label. I do get restrictions but not today. So I usually know when to stop. Or I get the hiccups 🤷🏼‍♀️ I've been sticking to my plan except for today and some yesterday. I haven't lost much but I am losing inches. Oh im 6 weeks post op

I found myself eating more than I should yesterday and part of today. I was only able to eat 1/3 of a burger patty, and then I felt very comfortable and I knew to stop. Well yesterday NOTHING I ate had me feeling comfortable. I'm not talking restriction, I mean comfortable and just not hungry anymore. I'm 5 weeks post op and have started eating actual food (slowly since I'm a week early on it) and I haven't felt that feeling of restriction or feeling comfortable like I read about. I thought starting solids would make it easier to learn my limits. Who knew I'd end up never feeling any restriction or feel comfortable when eating actual food (no, it's not slider foods. It's burgers, chicken, pork chops, veggies, etc...) I think we have to just power through it, reset ourselves, and recommit to the bariatric and diet and just stick to it. I bought a food scale so I'm starting to weigh everything and hoping I can just get used to the amount of food and hopefully teach my stomach it's not starving and maybe the hunger will stop.

Teri weeks of high protein low carb diet with 64oz fluids. I cut out soda and am anxious to fly out and have surgery Tuesday.

I am 3 weeks out and have lost 40 pounds so far. I can’t even believe how fast the weight is coming off.

"They think if you just diet harder & be more committed to exercising you’ll lose weight." I guess that's right, and what's more I kind of think that too, even though I know it's not necessarily true. It kind of feels like failure. Like I'm giving up and I should just try harder. Never mind that I've basically been on a diet since I was 15 or so. I was never overweight until I was thirty after an injury, when I couldn't exercise, so for the first 15 years I dieted without actually being overweight. I did mention the possibility of bariatric surgery to my mom today, and she was pretty negative too. An old classmate of from primary school mine shared the interview with the food addiction lady on social media, and wrote that "you couldn't cut the food addiction out of the addicted person, any more than you could cut alcoholitsm out of someone by cutting their liver in half." She went on to say that she weighed her three meals per day and abstained from xugar, dairy products and refined carbs. She has done this for 13 years and has lost 100 pounds and kept them off. I briefly thought about contacting the food addiction clinic, or Noom, since one of my friends lost 50 pounds least year with Noom. , But then I remember that I did try OA once, which I didn't like that much, and also I didn't lose any weight in spite of adhering to their program. I also tried Noom last year, but I didn't use it. Writing everything down and weighing is so annoying. Still, I feel like I'm failing and thinking of using a crutch when I should be doing this on my own.

I just added caffiene-3 weeks out from surgery. I mixed black iced coffee with a 1/2 of a vanilla Premier Protein shake and it was delicious. Felt like an iced latte.

Hi all. My surgery was on May 16th, the 1st week was going okay, no vomiting no pain, just a lot of gas that would only come out as a belch. I was having bowel movements so the Dr said to give it more time. By Monday May 30 I was back in the hospital. I was vomiting, couldn't keep anything other than liquids down. Turns out part of my intestines was pinched shut. A full week here in the hospital, but finally feeling better after a second surgery to correct the blockage. All the posts I see people are doing great after surgery with no problems. Anyone else here have any complications?

I have read a lot of stalls between weeks 2 and 4. I watched a video that talked about the three week stall. The doctor explained at first we are losing a lot of water weight. Then as we get fluids we gain fluid but is losing pounds. So it does not show we really are losing. If you do measurements you can see that you lost inches during this time. If you will google the 3 week stall with weight loss surgery or sleeve .... you can fine a lot of videos from different doctors. I am in a stall going on 10 days. I have heard people talking about long stalls but started losing faster. If your exercising you might gain muscle but losing fat. I belong to several gastic sleeve support groups ob face book and learned alot.

i did not have a revision. Just the sleeve. I am 6 weeks post op. Here are my stats so far on what i have lost. of course some are faster, Some are slower.

i was on solids 2 weeks after surgery but all surgeons are different but typically fried foods are a no go now. Try grilled chicken next time and small amounts.

So two things - one - does anyone know if this is normal to stop losing beginning of week 3 and actually went up .4 ?? two - chicken- I tried pulverized chicken breast with a bit of fat free mayo yesterday my left side of tummy gut hurts yesterday and this morning. I feel like as soon as I introduced something other than liquid I am getting constipated also. I think back to soups for a couple days. Very discouraging set back but I’ll keep on keepin on.

Start my 2 week pre op diet tomorrow, 50g carbs or less, 1,000 cal or less and no less than 30g protien. Daily for 2 weeks. My pre-op diet is not as restrictive as others. Not sure why. But I'm not complaining.

I’d look into surgery in a neighbouring country. There are a few Europeans on the forum who may be able to make some recommendations. There are always negative stories & a friend of a friend stories. You can find them about anything. I recently read a story about the prevalence of fungal infections in people who to go to the large nail salons so … People who have good experiences don’t always shout it from the roof tops. We do here though. 🙂 Sure, there can be hiccups & things may not go perfectly to begin but generally everything settles & works out in the end or can be remedied rather easily. Some issues arise because of complications from pre existing conditions too. Talk to people who actually had the surgery (like on here) if you can. You also get negativity from people who think the surgery is an easy way out. It is so NOT easy. They think if you just diet harder & be more committed to exercising you’ll lose weight. If it was as easy as just dieting & exercising you’d be thin now. We all would have been. The negative comments from family &/or friends are why some of us don’t tell people we’ve had the surgery. The potential for developing a drinking addiction arises in response to people not being able to satisfy their food addiction anymore so they turn to alcohol (or sex apparently). I’ve seen stats of 16% after bypass in the first year of which 6% had existing issues with alcohol. Stating a 60% statistic would only benefit the woman in the article’s business by scaring people. If you deal with the issues behind your food addiction your chance for any addiction transfer is negated. It is important to do the ‘head work’ to understand, manage & deal with the issues behind your eating habits, behaviours, cravings, etc. Many people seek the support of a therapist after surgery which benefits their weight loss success & maintenance. The hair loss lasts about three months. Your natural hair loss cycle accelerates in response to the shock of the surgery & your change & reduced diet. So the hair you shed is hair you would be losing anyway - just not as quickly. Your new hair is still growing but just at its usual rate. How many wrinkles you have is much like how much loose skin you will have. It will depend on your age, gender, skin elasticity, genetics, how long you carried your weight, etc. Yes, you likely will look more drawn & have a few additional wrinkles at first but a lot of this reduces in maintenance as your body resettles & you’re eating more & a more nutritious & balanced diet. My uncle told my mother I looked like death when I was near my lowest weight. Now, he tells me I look fabulous. I had a lot of fine lines that developed under my chin while I was losing but they almost totally disappeared in my second year. Sure my marionette lines are deeper & that’s from the skin that stretched from having a fat face. I have the face that is mine now. I have a jawline, a longer neck, cheek bones, & my eyes aren’t as hooded. A few wrinkles are nothing. I’d rather have a few wrinkles or loose skin than be obese & be compromising my health. Besides a little Botox or filler can always help with the wrinkles 😉. Ultimately it is your decision. Keep asking questions so you’re as well informed as you can be. All the best whatever path you choose.

Hi all! I just hit my one year post-op at the end of May. I’ve made it to my goal weight and then some which feels great. However, over the past few weeks I have begun feeling extremely bloated in the afternoons and evenings. The bloating is causing some pain above my belly button and gas (sorry tmi). Has anyone else experienced this? I have a meeting with my dietitian tomorrow and am planning on asking about it too. I haven’t changed my diet in any way for several months now and am feeling full/satisfied after eating so I know it’s not hunger pangs. Thoughts? Thanks everyone and keep up the amazing work!

yea - not a good thing to be eating three weeks after surgery. But then, you know that!!

My dumb self ate a greasy piece of chicken and almost 10 mins later I get a headache- anyone experienced this? Im 3 weeks post op revision surgery- yep I’m a mess ! Never again tho!

I'm a CRA! Was it that obvious from my posts LOL? I am unfortunately not a fan of eggs, sausage, and bacon, and usually the yogurt has sugar in it. I usually can buy protein shakes at the local CVS/walgreens. It's really a lot better now, in terms of hunger. I try to eat a lot of fish - finally in the last few weeks I started being able to eat salad, at least mixed greens, if not romaine/iceberg lettuce. So, that opens up a lot.

I am in week 4 post-op. Looks like I'm getting anywhere between 400-850 calories per day. Struggling to get my water in this week and, sometimes, my protein if I'm not careful about tracking my progress throughout the day. I've resorted to using a timer every 15 min to cue me to drink and to stop/start 30 min before and after meals.

Average 1900 a day these days Im 3.5+ years post. (For reference, im 5’2”, 118.5 lbs this morning, and get about 3-5 hours dedicated exercise per week.)

I recently had a conversion surgery from the lapband to the sleeve. I was told that Crystal Light was okay to drink and was drinking a gallon a day. I hit a weight loss stall and got to thinking about something that I had heard before about the aspartame in Crystal Light is bad for you and can stall weight loss and well as cause health issues. I did some research...google searches and read doctor's reports and other patient's posts about it. I decided to stop the Crystal Light and switch to lemon water. It is true for me at least...every person is different... but I feel much better and the weight is dropping again. I was getting hunger pangs when drinking the Crystal Light throughout the days and I have noticed that with lemon water that is not happening. As I said everyone is different and biologies are different but getting off of the Crystal Light has been a positive for me.

Costco had jeans online on sale for $10. I bought the next four sizes smaller than the ones I was wearing before pre-op diet. They came 2 weeks PO. I’m returning two pairs. Too BIG lol.

I feel much better in week 5. About to start week 6 and I’m hopeful. My blood pressure ran 80s over 40s for weeks post op and it was fine. Hopefully your blood pressure finds it’s happy place soon!