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Thanks for your reply. Were you able to get insurance to cover RNYGB? Also is your surgeon assuring you this is going to last. I have two friends who had the RNYGB and both gained their weight back?

Several good possibilities above but also consider this. It is copied from Google AI because I couldn’t think of the words to describe it. “ “Glycogen storage: When you drastically reduce carbs, your body depletes glycogen stores, which are stored with water. When you reintroduce even a small amount of carbs, your body quickly replenishes glycogen, leading to temporary weight gain due to water retention” I know this happens to me. I eat low-ish good quality carbs and then when I have like one cookie it seems like I gained 3-4 pounds and I panic but it always goes back down.

You said that you stopped eating meat, are you taking Protein supplements like shakes? You should be having a high protein diet and not so much in carbs, and some veggies are carbs, like peas for example. Fruit has natural sugar in them, you should be focusing on protein. I strongly urge you to talk to your dietician with your surgical team, and make a better diet plan than what you are on. Something you can do in the meantime is to look at the bariatric bowls and plates available on Amazon, and look at the portion sizes of fruits and veggies, then look at the size of the plate for protein. It may not be what you are eating, but could be your portion size. But based on your initial post, you are eating fruits and salads, you are not focused on protein. I say again, check with your nutrition specialist with your surgical team. I will say what others have, 60 pounds is a good amount of weight to lose. Remember that your surgery is a tool, and not a cure. It takes time to gain the weight, it will take time to lose it, when you are eating correctly and as your nutritionist says, contact your surgical team. Congratulations on your journey, you are doing great so far!!

There are lots of studies that show weight loss (and thus also bariatric surgery), can lessen depression and anxiety. The thing to keep in mind though is that it won't help everyone. It all comes down to the underlying reasons for those negative emotions. As you point out, weight loss has has a considerable effect on how we feel about ourselves, so it follows that for some people, weight loss will help lessen anxiety and depression. There is also some belief that excess body weight can impact how certain hormones in our body work. By losing weight, this can help normalize some of those and that may also help mental health. Like everything, I think the real answer is "it depends".

If it puts your mind at ease, the only way to gain 10 lbs of fat in 5 days is to eat 7,000 extra calories per day (in addition to your usual maintenance calories). If you ate like 8,500 calories per day, 5 days in a row, you would remember. Swelling, on the other hand, is an easy way to gain fluid weight really fast. Hope you heal quickly and start feeling back to normal really soon! Once you get through the awkward first several weeks, I'm sure you're going to be thrilled with the results.

This happens now for me, too. It's definitely normal/inevitable. When people are in maintenance (or just people who are not doing anything to lose or gain weight who have not had surgery), weight fluctuates by a few pounds up or down based on all sorts of factors that are not fat-related. When we're losing weight rapidly those first several months, we don't see it because we're losing way more than that small fluctuation. At most, we see that we lose less some weeks than others. But when you get to 6+ months out from surgery, weight loss usually slows enough that you'll start seeing those fluctuations. It could be anything. Going to the gym, eating more sodium yesterday, the time of the month, not having pooped yet... I went up 4 lbs in 4 days last week, and yes, it was right after Christmas and I'd had some sweets, but I'm fairly confident I did not eat almost 20,000 calories in 4 days, so it wasn't from gaining fat. Now that I'm back to my normal foods, the weight is dropping almost as quickly.

You really do a have a great attitude towards weight loss and maintenance! That’s half the battle for me. The surgery still makes the body shrink back to manageable size when our tracking and weighing attention comes back. I gain weight every Christmas because the foods only happen at that time and OMG pie… But by New Years my WLS still works great. I find I have to ease back into tracking and water etc. I usually start with drinking water. I had a roommate in college that had ED and would punish herself with being severe suddenly with food restrictions and over exercising. I hope you continue to be kind to yourself. Your honesty has been an absolute inspiration to me!

Can you share details on your stats? height/weight/starting weight/current weight? Calories consumed?

My body punished me in the toilet and I weighed myself today n i gained 800lbs .. I know I didn't eat enough to gain but I just pancied and now I'm basically starving myself. The thing is I noticed, whenever I feel "skinny" or someone tells me I go into " I am skinny gal" and I can eat anything i want. I've always had this mindset whenever I lose weight I feel entitled to eat more. God

As a general rule, I would not recommend eating back calories burned for a few reasons: People misunderstand metabolism. Our bodies are highly adaptable and our non-exercise calorie burn is also highly variable day-to-day. We know from recent research that your body tends to try to conserve energy balance, meaning unless your burning over ~400 calories per day in exercise, your body will lessen your calorie burn elsewhere during the day to try to "make up" for the exercise calories. In short, you're not burning as many overall calories on those exercise days as you think you are. Our ability to accurately determine calorie burn from exercise is hard and often we think we've burned more calories than we actually have. For example, you may think you've burned say 400 calories, but it may have only been 250. We also aren't very good at accurately tracking caloric intake, so you may be eating a lot more than you think you are. Adding in even more calories to "eat back" your exercise calories is not going to be accurate, even if the two points above were not true. Something here is not adding up for me. You mentioned you're trying to do a body recomp, but also that you still have a lot of weight to lose. That just doesn't make sense. It's fine to say you want to lose fat and gain muscle, and as a newbie to weight training, you can do both, but you really need to make fat loss the priority here. At best as an untrained woman, you might be able to add 10 or 12 pounds of muscle in the course of a year, but in all likelihood it will be less. I don't mean to discourage you, but most obese people already have more muscle mass than a "normal" person, so you can't expect to add as much muscle as they might be able to. My point is that when we talk about a recomp, what we really mean is trying to stay at about the same weight, but simultaneously lose fat and gain muscle. In my opinion, you need to focus on fat loss first, then try a recomp once you're closer to your goal weight. My suggestion would be to focus on two things: Most importantly, are you still losing weight? If not, then you're eating too much. If you are still losing, is it at a reasonable and sustainable rate? I'd want to see no more than about 3% per month considering that you should hopefully be also adding some muscle mass. This factor is really the primary determinant of where your calories should be. If you're losing faster than ~3%, then it's probably a good idea to eat a bit more, but don't change things by more than a couple hundred calories a day. If you're not losing weight, then as I said, you're eating too much and need to consider scaling back. The second factor here is how you're feeling. If you're eating so little that you can't even think about completing your workouts, or you're just exhausted all the time, then that's a sign you probably need to be eating more. Even so, take it slow here. Add in a couple hundred calories a day and see if you feel better. You can go up to where you need to, but keep in mind, you may also slow or even stop the weight loss. If that happens, you may need to modify your workouts. The flip side of this is if you are feeling good, but not losing, that's probably a sign you're eating too much. In the end, it's a balancing act of eating enough to fuel your workouts, but no so much you stop the weight loss. It will take some time to find the right point for you. Best of luck. (Oh, and in the future, I'd strongly recommend just starting a new thread. This one is several years old.)

So I have not gotten skin removal YET but I did get a breast augmentation 3 weeks before I hit a year P.O. I lost a lot of weight, work out really hard but my boobs were gonners, between losing and gaining for years, breast feeding two children for 13m each I had skin sacs. I can honestly say that my confidence has sky rocketed- I enjoy wearing cute clothes, I feel better but body dysmorphia is a summa bi&^%, I still see myself at 300lbs, think that I look "fat" and not attractive. I do think once you see your lean fit arms without the extra skin your going to be showing them off as you should! Cant wait to see your "after" pic!

I am now 70 years old. I had a sleeve done in 2014, I have slowly gained all of my weight back! Do you think it would be safe to have it again at my age? I'm thinking about talking to my Dr about it

I don't mean to annoy anyone but my question is ,I am on a 800 calorie diet and I find it very hard to stay on this diet no because I am hungry but because everything now is loaded with calories. So I am puzzled and wondering is 800 calories a day too much or too little. Dietician says anything over 800 will cause weight gain and disrupt the process with my shots versus other doctors are like 800 is nothing. I am confused.

Getting back to the OP's question about what do do: If they really feel they are accurately logging and are also having a hard time eating less, then the option would be to take steps to increase metabolism. Yes, GLP-1 drugs can do this, but there are other options. First, would be adding muscle mass from strength training. Estimates are that each pound of muscle increases calories burned per day by roughly 6 calories, Each pound of fat contributes ~2 calories burned per day. This latter fact surprises some people, but fat is metabolically active tissue. It's just that muscle is more metabolically active. If someone were to gain ten pounds of muscle and lose ten pounds of fat, that would lead to an increase in BMR of roughly 40 calories. That doesn't sound like much, but it adds up over time. If you also add in EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption), from the strength training needed to add muscle mass, then I'd estimate this would over time lead to ~400-450 extra calories burned in a week. That would lead to a loss of ~6 pounds in a year even while eating the exact same amount of food. If this is not a sufficient amount, then one can always reduce calories a bit as well. Alternately (I know this will sound counter-intuitive), but the OP might well want to consider UPPING their calories a bit for a while. Our bodies were designed to upregulate our metabolisms slightly when calories are available and downregulate it when calories are scarce. This means our bodies can maintain weight at a wide range of calorie intake. If we're constantly in a calorie restrictive diet, our bodies do downregulate metabolism to keep us from what it perceives as starving to death. What I'd recommend instead is going up 200-300 calories per day for about a month. After this "diet reset", drop down again to 1200-1400 for no longer than 2 months before cycling back up again. You can keep this cycle going on indefinitely. One of 2 things will happen here. Most likely the OP won't gain anything during the increased calorie intake diet reset because their metabolism will increase to compensate. However, when they start back at the ~1300 calorie range, their metabolism may not drop immediately, meaning they'll lose a little bit in the following 2 months. If they do find that they gained during the diet reset, but fail to lose when back in the diet phase, then worst case it shouldn't be more than about 2 pounds (less than 1% of body weight). This isn't likely, but even if this does happen, it will at least tell us that 1300 won't work for weight loss for them and they'll need to go lower. I'd also be remiss if I didn't come back to exercise here. I mentioned that low levels of exercise (30 minutes of cardio), really are not going to do anything toward weight loss. It's obviously going to be different for everybody, but current research seems to suggest that the tipping point is about 400 calories per day. What I mean by that is if you can burn OVER 400 calories in exercise in a day, the body can't suppress your metabolism enough in other ways to keep you from going net-negative for the day. Said differently, you'd need to do something that burns more than 400 calories before it "counts" for weight loss and the only part that counts is the part above 400 calories. Unfortunately, 400 calories is A LOT for most people. The good news is the heavier you are the more you burn, but even at 215 pounds, you'd probably have to run over 3 miles to hit 400 calories. Keep in mind, this would just be to break even, so if you're actually trying to burn more calories this way, it will take even more. I'll use myself as an example here. I'm not trying to lose weight right now, but I have found that if I run over roughly 28 miles in a week, I tend to lose weight. If I run less miles, I maintain. Do the math, and for me that's right at about the 400 calories a day mark. In my use case of one, I'm pretty close to the statistical average as shown in the research. Best of luck whatever you decide.

@AmberFL thanks for posting. You are definitely working hard (maybe too hard? ) I can definitely see the influence of crossfit into your workouts. I'm personally not a fan of crossfit, but you do you. It seems like most of the workouts emphasize supersets or short rests in order to make them burn more fat. Nothing wrong with that approach as long as fat burning is the main goal, but it does mute strength and hypertrophy gains. Some of those also have way more sets and reps than I'd consider ideal for muscle growth. It order to get that much volume in, you'd have to use lighter weights than what I would typically recommend for hypertrophy. The net effect is that those workouts are a lot more focused on muscular endurance. Nothing wrong with that, but it may not be what you actually are wanting from your workouts, especially since you're already doing a fair amount of cardio work as well. After all, one of the main benefits of cardio is not just strengthening your cardiovascular system, it's in increasing your overall muscular and aerobic endurance, which is highly correlated with an increased lifespan. To be honest, I also don't love doing 30+ minutes of cardio after strength training, especially on leg days. I know a lot of people do that, but the science is pretty clear that doing so can reduce your gains. If growing your glutes is a major goal, I'd probably advise skipping cardio on your leg days and maybe doing more cardio on non-lifting days to make up for it. Remember, you don't actually get any stronger or grow any muscle when you're lifting. It's AFTER your strength training when you're resting that your muscles and nervous system adapt to the training you've done. By following strength training with cardio, you're basically turning off certain metabolic and neuromuscular pathways and suppressing the very systems that should be focused on repairing and building new muscle tissue. Is it a huge issue? Honestly probably not. If you like doing that, more power to you as long as you do understand that you're not going to see quite as much muscle growth.

Congratulations maintaining your weight. What is your secret to a healthier life?

@FifiLux the skinnyness gets me too! I weight lift and my veins are insane, I should lift lighter and just chill out but then I keep thinking that I am going to go back to what I was if I stop. Or if I eat a cookie I think I will gain all my weight back. Its a mind eff for sure!

I recently came across this expected weight loss calculator/predictor: SOPHIA Bariatric Weight Trajectory Prediction. Thought it was pretty neat! Sounds like you’re off to a great start!

I hope everyone was successful during their holidays! I actually lose a couple pounds this week, so huge win, when this would be the time I gain weight (from Halloween to Christmas).

Been drinking green tea for about 24 years now and believe me it never did a thing to help with my losing weight. Was drinking it when I had my greatest weight gain periods. Only reason people may notice a little weight loss over time is you drink it plain without extras so no milk, cream, creamers, syrups, sugar, honey, etc. that many add to their coffee so fewer calories. I began drinking green tea for one reason: caffeine was kicking my butt specifically sleep issues & reflux. Tried decaf for a while but felt it was a sacrilege and it would make me a little nauseous. Interestingly the smell of the leftover coffee dregs in a cup turned my tummy too. I also thought if I get any anti oxidant benefits yay but not really a factor. I enjoy it. However, I don’t like the grassy, grainy texture of matcha nor any of the green and fruit blends: bit of a purist. Don’t miss coffee at all. Not all green teas are the same in regards to caffeine content but generally it’s about 1/4 the caffeine as coffee or black tea. So if I have a cup/mug too late it can affect my sleep as it will if I drink more than two a day. Personally I prefer Tea2 green teas (sencha and Buddha’s tears). I believe you can but them online in the US. They have a cleaner taste and tend not to get that bitter dry taste that some brands do. Note the tea bags are large and a single bag gives me a good strong 450ml (almost 2cups) mug. Funny story: Back about 20 years ago, my hairdresser asked an apprentice to make me a cup of green tea. He went out the back & was gone for a little while. He returned and asked how do you make tea green? He was being serious. Still makes me chuckle. Never forgotten his name either: Luke. Bless him.

Congratulations on achieving onderland! Yay! What weight to stop losing at & how to pick a goal weight are interesting questions and you’ll get different responses. I believe it comes down to where your new set point is (the weight your body is happy at & will keep pulling you back to). It’s the weight where you’re not losing anymore and you have reached a sustainable balance of the number of calories you consume and the activity you do. It’s the weight where you’re happy with how you look & feel too. I had a goal (same as yours) which was the low weight I always dropped to before regaining back up from. I exceeded that. I kept losing until my calorie intake which I was increasing and activity level was in balance. I eat in a way that is sustainable & I don’t feel like I’m missing out or if I’m on a continuous diet or that I have to exercise first hours a day. Some reach a weight but found it wasn’t sustainable or they didn’t feel comfortable at so they gain a little. Remember your new set point may not be where you would like it to be. Also your lowest weight may not be where you end up either. Bounce back (a regain of 10 - 20lbs) is always a possibility & can be due to your body resettling, you realising you need more flexibility in the what you eat & the activity you do to find a better life balance, some conplacency, your new set point, etc. Be flexible in your goal. If you don’t reach it, that’s okay. You’ll be in a better healthier place regardless of the number in the scale. Reach a sustainable balance (food intake & activity) in your life that allows you to live & enjoy your life & doesn’t restrict or limit you. All the best.

I know nothing of Herbalife so I am half informed. I know that any gain in this early stage is of benefit. Its tough to drink enough never mind eat our protein quota. I would say - go with what works for you until you can manage something better.

my 2 (or 5) cents about plastics: - first, as mentioned above, there is no absolute timeline in regards to losing (or gaining) weight post wls. i am 7 yrs post op this year. i lost what i wanted to (110 lbs) in 7 months. then had a net loss of another 10 lbs over the next 5 years. THEN i lost ANOTHER 15 lbs in the past year alone. for those keeping track that 25 lbs since calling goal back in 2019. lesson here is that it's not the surgery that dictates your weight, is your lifestyle and genetics. - second, i had plastics 1 year after wls surgery. i would have had it earlier, but my surgeon of choice was booked. from the time i booked plastics to when i eventually had it done i was 15-ish lbs lighter. so there was no "stable weight for six months" requirement for me. - third, my plastics removed a total of 400g off my body weight (it was basically just skin and little to no fat), so depending on what your body composition is like before plastics, it may not make a difference on the scale afterwards. - fourth, i weighed about 115 lbs at plastics time, and today i weigh about 100 lbs (dont be alarmed, i'm like 5'2" tall, probably shorter as i'm shrinking in my old age, lol, i also eat lots and admittedly, badly, but i exercise like a crazy person, so it all evens out, ha) my plastics results did not suffer in any way, in my opinion. if anything, the places where i DIDNT get plastics look so much worse at my lighter weight (i'm looking at you inner thighs and butt). my arms (lift), boobs (lift) and stomach (tummy tuck), where i did get plastics, still look fabulous. - fifth. for me, i didn't get plastics for anyone else, or to impress them, or to snag a husband/wife. i still never really understand why others think i do all my shopping and dressing and med-spa-ing for THEM. i do it cuz *i* want to. i want to look in the mirror and think, daammmmmnnnn. my confidence was re-instated after the weight loss (i can do anything! AND i look hawt!) , with the plastics and the exercise, my confidence level is thru the roof (i can do anything! AND i look SUPER hawt!). aint nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel great. i mean, who WANTS to NOT like how they look or not like how they feel about themselves?? and if liking how you look/feel means you get rid of some extra skin, or pump up your boobs, or lift your ass, so be it. you wont find any judgment here. be awesome. good luck! ❤️

Hi! my name is Shana! I had the DS Loop on 10/31/23. My HW was 309.4 pounds. My SW was 263.7 pounds. My GW was 150 pounds, achieved 7/21/24. My LW was 117.7 pounds on 2/3/25. As of this morning, I am 121.6 pounds. I am not too upset about gaining weight because I feel that I look too thin. I have lost 104 inches since WLS day. I am having excess skin removal in 3/17/25 (bilateral tummy tuck and breast implants. Glad to be joint these forums.