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Hello all, I'm about 60 days post op. I lost 11 lbs liquid diet and 20lbs since surgery. I am feeling down because everyone around me seems to be dropping weight but me. I do the treadmill at Planet Fitness. I'm following the after surgery phases to the letter. I get 80 to 90 Oz of water a day. I've lost nothing in over 7days in fact according to the scale I've gained a lb or two. I feel my baratric team is not giving me clear guidelines. I asked nutrition how many calories per day her response is don't count calories. Huh?!?!? My nutrition team keeps saying the scale is not a true indicator for weight loss but shouldn't it move some..... I just feel down today about it. Someone help me out I don't wanna fail. Sent from my SM-A716U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi Natty I'm julie I had the sleeve in 2010 on the NHS I have sleep apnea and didn't lose much then decided to go to the doctors to ask for a bypass had to go through 2yrs diet and cbt I had high blood pressure sleep apnea heart failure caused by high blood pressure prolapse disc in my back and artritis in my back and both hips I had my first at Macclesfield in a private hospital and the second at Stoke University hospital they were brilliant couldn't do enough for you , just go and see your doctor and ask about weight loss surgery and could they put you forward, good luck

I have came to the same conclusion as you! Unless I'm drinking 10 cups of tea, I'm not going to get dehydrated. Its not like I can lose 5 pounds of water weight by having a cuppa. My bariatric Dr Even said a cup of tea here and there isn't going to hurt anything. I normally have one cup of tea in the morning and one can of diet soda. Because of the carbonation, I will have to quit the soda for awhile.

This is in response to the person whom posted the article, I hope your brother is doing ok and I would like to emphasize I am in no way saying you should attempt what I'm about to tell you however it was a shot in the dark as well and I was lucky enough to save my fiancee from a horrible fate...... My gf/fiancee had a duodenal switch surgery which was very successful inside of 2 years her weight stabize at 160 lbs down from 300lbs. Shortly after her target weight was obtained she started having severe depression with suicidal ideation when she had been a very happy person her entire life. After a 6 day stay in the psych ward she went back to work and soon after developed back pain sever enough to leave her screaming in pain at times she had muscle spasticity, difficulty swollowing breathing, peripheral numbness, muscle wasting in legs and arms. I had to put hand rails in our home so she could get around. Incontinence and difficulty swollowing, breathing, and speaking came next.....after much reading and a near refusal to do any mris by the hospital that did surgery.(I suspected they feared a large lawsuit) The reumatologist and neurologist we were referred to both said they suspected als. I became obsessed with finding a way to heal her save her from what was already horrifying illness. I had a lot of trouble sleeping because her breathing scared me and I just sat and read listening to her shallow strained breathing. I swear I read enough studies and articles to have completed medical school. I accumulated almost 220 pages of hand written notes in 2 weeks time I came up with a plan there are many vitamins and antioxidants said to be imbalanced in the brains of pals the problem is supplemented antioxidants take to long to get into the Central nervous system so once the imbalance is bad enough to cause motor neuron death its like a snow ball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger that can't be stopped by ingestion due too the blood brain barrier making absorption slow and difficult this is made harder by malabsorbative aspect of surgery. I needed to get large doses into the brain and fast. I have read many article how methamphetamine exposure in small amounts stimulates brain cell growth and protects against cns and brain diseases by causing a small amount of damage stimulateing a neuroprotective effect as well as making the blood brain barrier more permeable these are the supplements I used in order of imprtance. I am not a Dr. I have no medical training please don't think I'm saying I truly know why or how thos worked but it did all supplements taken 3x a day with a small smoked dose of approximately 50-100 mg of street grade methamphetamine. N acetyl cysteine 600 mg Alpha lipoic acid Acetyl l carnitine Curcumin with black pepper Magnesium chileate Coq10 Vitamin e Creatine B vitamin complex (especially folic acid) Egcg Dhea Tart cherry extract Zinc pico lineate As well as a gluten free diet and several other listed in linked article. A full dose of bariatric vitamins 3x a day as well here is a link to a article written by a world renowned neurologist going over all these compounds how they could work and why as well as how they help THE USE OF METHAMPHETAMINE TO FERRY LARGE AMOUNTS INTO THE BRAIN IS DANGEROUS...... It's been hard just getting her to take all supplements 3x a day caused conflict but slowly she got better now the only symptoms she has is occasional incontinence and a mild parkinsonism when she sleeps as well as mild spasticity. She is a bit slow but walks fine talks perfectly and breathing is normal as well as respiration normal and blood [pressure went up too normal range.... https://drcgolding.co.za/integrative-approach-motor-neuron-disease/

Hi there. I started our roughly about where you are starting, and went with the sleeve. I am still very early on (6.5 months out) compared to others, but can comment on my experience. I'd always preferred the sleeve, but talked myself into the bypass based on online reading because I was so heavy to begin with. I was never excited about the option, until one of the surgeons I consulted with pushed me (in a good way) to reconsider why I was doing it. Obviously it was going to be my decision, but he emphasized that the statistics are just statistics, and at the end of the day it is a tool that is only going to work - no matter the surgery - if you use it properly. Neither surgery is a magic bullet. That really resonated with me, so I reverted back to my original preference of the sleeve. I would up switching practices, and when I went to the new one, they were perfectly happy with the sleeve as long as I didn't have GERD. I had to get an endoscopy to confirm that was the case. Again, I am still in the honeymoon period, but I am not regretting this choice one bit. I'm really happy with my weight loss to date (80 lbs since the 2 week pre op diet) and I feel amazing. Honestly, I feel lighter than what I actually weigh and better than I have in ages and ages. Even if I never get to a normal BMI, given how heavy I started, even getting to "just" overweight would be game changing. And, I am comfortable with the changes I made to my body, because it was what I preferred among the options I had available to me. I hope some longer-term sleevers who started at similar weights will comment. Some have had incredible success!

My husband is VERY against WLS surgery He says I haven't tried to lose weight or create a healthier lifestyle on my own. Now that I have been on the pre-op diet and losing some weight he says the same as another poster said ... why can't you just keep doing this? He also is very cautious about surgeries in general so that doesn't help. Sent from my SM-G781U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I appreciate you sharing your story with me. It is interesting to see both ends of the coin and I know nothing is absolute especially reading off the internet but I always see it will cure it or reduce symptoms. That a huge reason why WLS was an option for me. I used to be a fitness person (or at least for 2 yrs. ) but I was torturing myself. I would do 1200 Calories a day and 4 hours of working out to shed any pounds. This got me to lose 2-5 lbs a week but then would eat something like a bowl of cheerios and gain 5 back. It was disheartening and to only get to 198 naturally and stop, ugh!

Of course - I wonder if it's accurate for lower starting weights too.

Just remember: the weight they predict is only an average - you could be higher or lower! They predicted right on for me (I'm about a year and a half post-op), but I still want to lose 10 more pounds.☺️

I am not sure why society still sees this as the easy way out. Once you get back to regular foods you could technically eat something every hour if wanted to. And if you did that, especially combined with poor food choices, you could take in a huge amount of calories and would not lose or possibly even gain. I seen this firsthand at 10-11 months out when I had death in the family. I started out by just eating more servings of food and gained a little bit then began with poor food choices and ended up gaining 4 pounds in a very short amount of time. It’s not a magic wand, or easy. It’s just a tool. Yes it sets you up to be successful if you do everything right but NO iT DOES NOT do the work for you.

we have people on here who've had great success with both surgeries. Yes, statistically the bypass yields somewhat greater weight loss than the sleeve (but we're talking 70% vs 65%, so it's not THAT significant), but stats are stats - you have people who fall on either side of those percentages - including people who lose 100% of their excess weight, and people who lose 30 or 40 lbs and then gain it all back. Honestly, I think your ultimate success has a lot more to do with how committed you are to your plan than which surgery you have.

I use regular bathroom scales, and they are enough for me since I calculate the rest of the information myself. I don't use smart scales because I don't trust what they display when I measure something other than weight. On the other hand, if you buy expensive smart scales tested by many buyers and reliable, this is really a worthwhile purchase. Still, unfortunately, I am not ready to overpay for additional calculations that I can easily make myself. If money is not a problem for you, it will be a worthwhile purchase.

I walked that much after surgery too, because my normal before surgery was 12-15k a day. Gatorade Zero or it’s equivalent helped me as well as hitting 1k steps every hour to spread it out. I also had small snacks between meals. My doc said no serious work outs until 3 weeks and to ease into it, just mild walking and movement. I had to wait for 6-8 weeks for weights and yoga. Talk to your center for their guidance.

Maybe he's one of those spouses that the idea of their spouse actually losing weight makes them insecure. I've read that this happens for some couples. The spouse in question is afraid that if their spouse loses weight, it will change the dynamic of their marriage. If the spouse having WLS actually loses weight this time, they will gain confidence and will be noticed by others of the opposite sex, or even leave the marriage. So they're using the excuse that it's the easy way out in order to deflect from their own insecurities in the hopes it guilts you into not having the surgery. Again, I've never heard of this happening with anyone I've known, just read about it. But in the end you have to do what's best for you and your health, so maybe you just need to explain this to him that you're worried about where your health will be in 5, 10, 20 years if you don't get healthier now. Best wishes to you!

Hey guys, Just some details: I've only just met with the surgeon a couple weeks ago and am still completing my appointments and tests. I am female and currently weigh 375lbs and am 5'5. My surgeon said I would have great success with either sleeve or bypass with the bypass yielding most weightloss. I am still very unsure as to which one I want, but am leaning more towards the sleeve since the surgery doesn't seem as intense as bypass. I am nervous, however that I won't have significant weightloss with the sleeve since I am starting at such a high weight. I totally understand I will need to put in work for either one and everybody's body is different. Am I over concerned? Any thoughts or opinions? Thoughts on Sleeve vs. Bypass in terms of surgery and recovery? I truly appreciate any help and insight!

I agree with the above posters. You will want to be as healthy as possible to raise the wonderful children you will have. Also, congratulations on your current weight loss!

I was hoping that Alex would bring back the chat rooms here, since it's an exclusive weight loss community, the chat rooms would be nice to chat in a group setting about topics specific to weight loss surgeries and topics important to this community.

I did the sleeve at over 400 lbs. Reasons to pick sleeve: 1. It's a shorter operation time so safer for a high-risk person under anesthesia. 2. If you don't lose enough you can convert to bypass whereas bypass is a one shot deal. Bypass does yield faster results though. As you can see my weight loss is still going in the second year. I think for some people that would be discouraging but I'm looking at this as a marathon.

It seems I celebrated too early 😬 I have completely stalled since January 26 (4 weeks ago). Weight loss was already “slow” in December and January but now I’m stuck. Any ideas to get out? I’ve already “played” around with my calories though I could truthfully do more exercise. Maybe that’s whats needed now? I’m seeing my nut. on Wednesday. Oh also! I’m *this* close to fitting into a size 16 (started at a tight fitting 24) 🤗 Some dresses will already fit, others are still tight especially around the boobs lol Soon though, I hope!

No. No revisions. It's my first weight loss surgery! I can't wait! I'm excited [emoji16]!!! Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Yes unfortunately, your hunger does come back but what helps is all you’ve learnt about yourself & your eating habits. Like is what you’re feeling real hunger or head hunger? If it’s head hunger, try a strategy to help manage those feelings (distraction, glass of water, go for a walk, etc.). You said you feel like you’ve put on weight but have you actually put on weight? But you’re not alone worrying about possible or real weight gain. Doesn’t really matter how far along you are, possible weight gain can make you anxious & reflecting on your eating behaviours & your physical & emotional health is the first place to start & then start making any necessary changes. I’m currently battling a small gain so I’ve been revising my food choices & portion sizes. Have I become a little complacent? Is my metabolism slowing a little? Do I need to up my activity? Am I meeting my protein & fluid goals? Is my body ‘settling’ into a new happy place? Should it become my new happy place - more head work? Is my HRT the wrong dose now as I’ve been getting acne lately (WTF?!?!?)? So I’ve started by adding a little more activity, been more vigilant about my water intake, reduced my fruit intake, didn’t have wine at our girls’ lunch. We’ve got this. All the best.

Seems some surgeons recommend bypass over sleeve based on the patient’s weight loss history as well as their health. Bypass is generally considered the stronger surgery but the stats on the success of either surgery & how much weight loss is possible are pretty similar. I mean, they do sleeves on people who started at more than 600lbs on My 600lb Life & they lose weight. Yes, sleeve changes less of your digestive system & malabsorption issues rarely occur, but your general health status, like pre existing reflux/Gerd, may mean bypass is your best way forward.

@rjan Many diets over the years, with mixed results. Had a long "f*** it" phase, which is what I meant by not thinking about it at all. Then post surgery for the first few months, there wasn't really much I could do wrong given my 4 bite max at every meal. Now I can eat a real meal, and get hungry again, so being cautious is somewhat new. Prior to surgery, my best weight in the past 15 years was around 240, so even what was being careful then isnt too helpful in the 190s and hoping to still drop a little more. Love the tracking - very similar progression as I am on. I am optimistic that at month 20+ i am still slowly dropping and not heading in the other direction. I think part of my concern stemmed from talking to a guy at work who I hadnt seen since pre covid, and sadly, he looks close to where he was pre surgery. 1 year of losing followed by 2 years of gaining, now back in roughly the same spot. He's not an idiot, but bad habits die hard. Dont want to end up there. I also dont want to calorie count. I want the occasional dessert at a nice restaurant or a friends party. Keeping the balance and not letting one dessert, or a vacation turn into a trend is the fear. If I get in the habit of a 9 pm snack, multiplied out, does that still allow me to lose weight. Does it "open the door" to an apple becoming an apple with peanut butter, to a reese's peanut butter cup... I know, up to me, but the slippery slope effect is real. Now snacking on meatballs is a new idea. Sounds very satiating. Might try that midday. Thanks for the thoughts and tips!

Oh, he’s one of those who think surgery is cheating or easy. This is a much harder way to lose weight than just going on a diet & exercise program. You’re also contending with recovery from your surgery. The diet is more restrictive to begin than many other diets. Your tummy can become more sensitive or fussy about certain foods for a while. You have greater accountability with your surgeon, dietician, GP, therapist & of course your self watching over & monitoring your progress. (You also get all their support too of course.) I did a lot of research & learnt more about food choices, general nutrition, my own nutritional needs, my emotional & physical health, etc. than I ever did on any of the hundreds of diets I did in the past. Many find therapy very helpful on their weight loss journey & it may be beneficial for your husband too. Someone impartial he can work through his feelings about the surgery & any fears he may have about how it will affect/change you & may be your relationship. All the best.

@Arabesque Thanks for the thoughtful response. The experimenting is part of the fun. And this forum is great for guidance. Understanding normal after 30+ years of bad habits, bad family habits, and frankly, an American culture of obesity and gigantic portions has been a challenge. While I have not even had the desire to follow any of my 300lbs habits, trying to gauge what is appropriate both currently and as a trajectory has been unclear - and I guess its supposed to be. Thanks again! @njlimmer Glad to not be alone in the confusion! @LaoDaBeirut Ordered - appreciate the tip! @BigSue Thanks for the meringue tip. Definitely going to try. Nervous about protein bars - I really like the thinkthin lemon bars, but at 230 calories (though well balanced, making that a habit would be 1/2 lbs per week - basically my entire weight loss. Love a 25 calorie option! Great tip!