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SW: 290 CW:192 GW:160 10 months in and nearly 100lbs down. I can’t believe I made it this far. So close to my goal weight. Never thought I’d see the 100’s.

SW: 290 CW:192 GW:160 10 months in and nearly 100lbs down. I can’t believe I made it this far. So close to my goal weight. Never thought I’d see the 100’s.

And if you want even more encouragement, at just under 10 months I am 31.1 and I NEVER EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT! This means after starting at 52 BMI the first time I went to OSU, I have gone from Morbid Obesity, through Straight Obesity and am ready to soon topple over into Overweight and I did it all in my 70s,now 73, my body looked a deflated wreck in places, too too many years a BIG GIRL,but at my age. few men except doctors request me naked, so I'll continue to cover with clothing. Spent this weekend running elastic through my 20/22 jeans and slacks to get a little more wear there. A little scared to try on 18s for fear they will miss-fit somewhere, but I shall, fear should no longer be in my Clothing life, should it?

I'm having an awful time with returning to my old habits. I was doing so well and now I feel like I've wasted the opportunity I was given to get healthy. I have been thinking about trying a 10 day "reset diet" but I'm kind of skeptical if it actually works. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated [emoji16][emoji16][emoji16] Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using BariatricPal mobile app

OK, when I first was struggling with keto diet 15 months ago, I had ordered some protein powder to make protein shakes with. Flash forward to today, I ended up finding premier protein shakes ready to drink and got a good subscribe and save deal via Amazon. Now I'm scheduled for gastric sleeve surgery on 7/1/19 and am taking stock of what I can still use that I had ordered before but never opened. I have choc celebrate protein powder - expired as of Feb 2019 and I think a cookies and cream one that 'expired' Dec 2018. We all kind of learn what we can/cannot use, taking our own risk of course, throughout adulthood but when it comes to protein powder, I have no idea if it's a definite 'MUST TOSS' as it could cause all kinds of problems or...'CAN STILL USE'. Anyone have any experience with this? Since the one that expired as of 'Feb 2019', well NONE of them have ever been opened...I am SO TORN.

You can walk now. You can do cardio in two weeks. You can do weight lifting in 6 weeks (nothing more than 10 pounds until then)

Okay, so I’ve got a question for you guys here. I’ve been doing (most days) a 16:8 or 18:6 and I’m 4.5 months post sleeve. I’ve been logging fairly regularly on these days and I’m usually between 50-65 grams of Protein in my eating window. I’m also somewhere between 600-750 calories and keep the carbs under 25gm daily. Because of my restricted time to eat, I find it is so much easier to stay hydrated because I’ve usually had at least 42 ounces of Water before I eat my first meal of the day. One reason I love doing this is that it gives me structure and I desperately need structure right now, but I’ve lost so slowly over the last 8-10 weeks that I’m wondering if I need to change my routine. My definition of slow is I’m averaging about 6-7 pounds per month which to me seems slow as I’m still in my honeymoon phase. My current weight is 185 Surgery date weight was 246 Goal is between 145-155 and I’m 5’7”

I did. I was 5'6" and 373 lbs at my highest - so that's a BMI of 60.2. I lost 100% of my excess weight (am now a normal BMI). I should add, though, that that is not typical. My surgeon said about 10% of his patients who start off that high make it to normal weight, and from the peer-reviewed articles I read, that's about right. I worked my fanny off to get it off, though - almost never went off plan that first year - and I still, four years later, log every bite that goes into my mouth. I'm sure it would be much easier if I was OK with being just "overweight" - like 180 lbs or so (and at one time, even 180 lbs sounded like a pipe dream and I would have been *ecstatic* to be there!!), but I really, really want to stay at a normal BMI, so I'm willing to put in the work.

The scientific literature is pretty clear about weight loss...calorie restriction is a much larger part of weight loss than exercise. It's simple math...if you figure out how much exercise is required to burn 300 calories vs how easily you can consume an extra 300 calories in a day then you'll see my point - ex. one Boston cream donut can complete undo 45 mins of exercise. It's also psychological - if you could eat a perfectly isocaloric diet and exercise without any compensatory eating (eating more because you're exercising) then sure you can slowly lose weight with exercise alone. The problem is most of us do not know out isocaloric point and most of us can not maintain this lifestyle over months/years without seeing significant progress. With surgery it's also much easier to go into an extreme calorie deficit - how much exercise would you need to do to burn 2200+ calories per day? An immediate deficit many bariatric surgery patients experience pre vs post-op. This is not to say exercise is not important. Most of the adaptive physiological changes working against us (loss of muscle mass and the subsequent decrease is resting metabolic rate) can be minimized with exercise post-op. It's also important to realize calorie restriction gets the weight off quickly but most of us didn't gain weight quickly - it was relatively slow over years/decades. If you gained 100 lbs over ten years that means an average excess of just 100 calories per day over that 10 year period. You can see how even moderate exercise post-op/weight loss can help to tip the scales towards weight maintenance. Of course post-op diet is still king for long-term weight loss and maintenance....the old saying you can't out-train a bad diet is true.....

You got this! The first days of the rest of your life are coming. I just said to myself prior to surgery, just let go and let God take it from here. Then I went one step at a time. I went almost 60 years without any type of surgery then in about 10 years I had 5 major surgeries and you just have to trust. Know it will be ok, and you will be better soon.

The answer to this depends on your individual situation. Even though I had what I considered co-morbidities, my insurance absolutely refused to pay unless I was at or over 40% BMI. If.... at ANY time in the process I weighed under that number, I would be automatically disqualified and would have to start the process from the beginning— assuming I weighed heavier again. I was right on the cusp, so I had to endure maintaining for 5 months. If I had lost even 6 pounds from when I started it would’ve been “too light” I mean, this procedure is so important that it’s silly to miss out on a lifetime of health over a few measly pounds. I wanted so badly to clean up my diet pre-surgery and I had to be completely on top of what I weighed before I dared go in for an appointment. One time during the holidays I had been sick and lost a few pounds and I actually went in for my appointment wearing ankle weights under my jeans. That being said, I couldn’t go into losing weight mode until the day I had my surgery class because that day was my last weigh in. At my clinic, we have surgery class 16 days pre-surgery because our Doc wants us starting on the low carb liver shrink 10 days pre surgery and then pure liquid diet for the last 3 days pre. That was a VERY rough transition and I wish I’d have been able to start eating better more than 10 days before.

I revised from Band to VSG 8 weeks ago My insurance did not pay for the band 10 years ago -- but different insurance and a doctor who wrote up the request based on the esophogeal issues got an approval within a week. No pre-op diet, no psych eval --- I met with the Nutritionist to go over the post-op plan and did a 1 hour orientation at the hospital --- so, had my surgery within a month of going in for an office visit to discuss reflux and weight gain. Really happy I did it. I am down 20 pounds in 8 weeks (at age 61) and removal of fluid from my band relieved the reflux almost immediately -- and it has not come back with the VSG.

Yes --- and I revised from Realize Band (6/2009) to a VSG 8 weeks ago. I was surprised because 10 years ago I was self-pay for the band --- and I have been saving money in my HSA because I feared that it would have to come out one day and I would be self pay again. My surgeon submitted the insurance request based on my reflux and the damage that had been done to my esophagus -- not necessarily for remediation of obesity --- and I got approved for the removal/revision within a week.

Okay so I’m late to the party, but here is my $0.02. 10 years ago I lost ALL of my hair when I was on chemo for TNBC. The single biggest risk factor for any kind of cancer is obesity. Eventually chemo ended, the hair came back (it was really weird hair for the first year— it was frizzy and a bit orange) and by 12-18 months post-Chemo, nobody would’ve known I was bald as an egg previously. I’m 4.5 months post sleeve, and I’ve noticed some thinning— especially around my temples and on the top of my scalp and it’s slightly annoying because I’d rather not cut my hair until I hit goal and don’t feel like emphasizing my face until then. If it thins much more I might have to cut it. Another side effect from having breast cancer is 2 reconstructive surgeries and scarring, etc. the side that got the radiation is much firmer than the unaffected breast and at the end of the day there’s only so much plastic surgeons can do. 🤷‍♀️ I’ve also got stretch marks in various places across my thighs, abdomen, and upper arms from rapid weight gain and pregnancy. My skin prior to surgery totally was a wreck to start with. I wanted to go into this detail because I’ve already experienced all of these things you’re worried about, and I was morbidly obese! How I look at it now is I can have all these issues and be fat, unhealthy, unhappy, and at continued high risk for cancer recurrence, or I can be fit, fabulous, and happy and decide later if I want/need plastics for excess skin. Honestly the plastic that I want most of all will be Lipo on my thighs. Even when I was in my 20’s and weighed at or under 135, I HATED my thunder thighs and I had massive cellulite even when I was a size 4/6. *sigh Edited to add... I’ve lost 61 pounds and have gone from a size 22 to a size 14 since February 6th.  

I had my surgery about 5 months ago, January 29, 2019. I'm about to get tested Monday. My eyesight which is usually great, is changing for the worse; I'm also losing a lot of hair, having memory issues and a major problem concentrating. I heard that the eyesight could be because of a vitamin A deficiency. I've been bad about taking my vitamins for a couple of weeks and I still have problems eating enough to reach protein goals. I started the shakes again to increase levels of protein. Good luck and have a great weekend!

Maybe if I were within 15 pounds of goal weight I could understand these people, but I’m a full 50 pounds from where I spent half my 20’s in. If I were to hit 10-15 under my goal range (which is between 145-155) then I would probably be “too skinny”. Lol, I’m 185. That ain’t even close!

I'm getting the exact same thing. People are actually telling me I'm too skinny and that I should try to gain a bit, but I know that I should lose 15 more pounds. That would be my goal weight of 150, and I know exactly what that looks and feels like because that's what I weighed from about age 20 to age 32. (Age 32 is when all hell broke loose.) I have been told that it's not uncommon to "rebound" a bit when you reach your goal weight and stop losing--meaning that you can gain 10-15 pounds before you body stabilizes at the new weight. For that reason, I'm actually okay if I get 10 pounds or so below my goal. I'm sure that I could gain 10 pounds without a problem if necessary!

FOR ANYONE IN THE FUTURE THAT MIGHT STUMBLE UPON THIS AND WANT TO KNOW... I will also update after my WLS. Can Weight Loss Surgery Help Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome? Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine system disorder in women. About 10% of all women of reproductive age have signs of PCOS, which is a hormone imbalance that can cause weight gain, acne, extra hair, irregular periods, and other problems. Perhaps the most significant problems experienced by women who suffer from PCOS are hyperandrogenism (the presence of excess of male sex hormones), and anovulation, which causes a woman to stop ovulating, rendering her infertile. Many women who suffer from PCOS are also obese. Recent studies have indicated that women who are significantly overweight may achieve improvement with PCOS through the significant weight loss that bariatric surgery can bring. Below we discuss the role of weight loss surgery as a potential tool to assist patients with PCOS. The Connection Between PCOS and Excess Weight Almost 60% of women with PCOS are obese. Many women with PCOS are also insulin resistant and/or have a reduced glucose tolerance. When someone is insulin resistant, their body does not use its insulin effectively to store glucose in the body as fuel. Too much glucose is the system slows the breakdown of fat in the body and creates new fat cells. This is why someone who is insulin resistant tends to gain weight. The problem worsens when the insulant resistant person’s body makes more insulin, trying to compensate for the inefficiency. This increase in supply only makes the body more insulin resistant. It is estimated that over half of women with PCOS are resistant to insulin and eventually will develop metabolic syndrome, a cluster of serious metabolic conditions (high blood sugar, high HDL cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, abdominal obesity, and high blood pressure) that increase risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. Since bariatric surgery treats weight gain and obesity, it can have a positive effect on the metabolic processes – including how the body metabolizes insulin. This in turn may be able to treat the symptoms of PCOS that relate to problems processing sugar, such as weight gain. This relationship may explain why weight loss surgery seems to affect PCOS symptoms. Studies Show Bariatric Surgery Can Help PCOS Research has shown that weight loss surgery can reverse the conditions associated with metabolic syndrome (such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, etc.) or prevent them from occurring. Additionally, scientific studies have shown a positive connection between bariatric surgeries and relief from PCOS symptoms. The basis of these assertions is the relationship between PCOS and obesity. One study of 33 women with PCOS who underwent weight loss surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation found that bariatric surgery resolved many key characteristics of PCOS, including enlarged ovaries and excess androgen. The study concluded that women should consider weight loss surgery as an extreme remedy for PCOS. Still, the women with PCOS who did undergo bariatric surgery did report positive effects on their symptoms. Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Me too!! By 6-7 months I probably lost about 1/3 of my hair and had 3 fairly bald spots!! I had thick hair and it was at about the middle of my back so I was quite upset when it got so thin and shorter (just below my shoulders now). I'm now at 10 months post op and my hair is getting thicker (the bald spots have mostly filled in) but it hasn't grown longer. I'm hoping that eventually it will become normal again, but who knows.

After I got down to goal weight, I thought it would be ok to drink on weekends. I was aware of the higher risk of alcoholism after WLS, but not that there was any increased risk of damage to your liver or anything. Now there's this: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20190620/drug_alcohol_deaths_soar_after_weight-loss_surgery#1 What a bummer! Oh well, one more reason to avoid empty calories. I tracked down the original article. It turns out most of the reported deaths were from drug overdoses rather than alcohol. They also didn't delve into causation vs. correlation. Big title, but not much real information. If you're interested: https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(19)30143-1/fulltext

It is devastating. We don't realize how much our hair affects our self-esteem until it falls out. Mine got really thin, but it was coming in as thick as ever after about 10 months. I took biotin and L-lysine. (((hug)))