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I had to do the diet when I had the sleeve surgery 2 years ago AND when I had the revision 1 year ago to bypass. Some surgeons require 2 weeks, some require 1 week, and some only 2 days. Just depends on your weight, bmi, and surgeon preferences. My first time, I had to do 2 weeks. It was all liquid. I was on protein shakes, bone broth, protein pudding, jello, Propel drinks, protein gatorade, smoothies. I was 421 pounds when I started it and 388 the day of surgery because of that diet. It sucked, but was very effective. Thank goodness it wasn't anything I would need to do long term, because no way, no how lol My 2nd time was for a week. It was slightly less strict. Same liquids except I could also have things like 1 meal of ministrone soup, protein yogurts with fruit in it, or hummus, avocado spread, and cottage cheese. This one was much more tolerable, and while I did still lose weight o it, it wasn't as much and it wasn't as bad. Still sucked, though. But at least I knew it was for a very limited amount of time. Both times, I knew it was worth it to make my surgeries as safe as possible. That was the most important thing to me.

Hi, welcome! I read the posts here a lot before my first post too and felt like I knew everyone even though they didn't know me! LOL It is a funny feeling... My first thought is you aren't eating enough to be physically active. The body is pretty particular about how much energy it gets and after bariatric surgery our metabolism gets a nice reset (it is part of what helps us lose the weight) but to maintain that nice, new metabolism we need to EAT. And what is enough when you are mildly active isn't near enough when you are doing things that strain your heart, muscles, and burn a good bit of fuel. So I agree with the above, I'd eat more on days you work out. 65 grams of protein isn't enough for working out, I'd add in at least a protein shake, a little healthy fat, and some complex carbs. Second, it is normal to stall for a few weeks at any point, but it is especially normal if you start working out, or if you increase your workouts. This is because it changes the fluid balance in our bodies and the body takes a bit to even out. Some people even see increases on their scale when they start adding in more workouts! So if that happens, don't panic. We can also stall when our food intake changes. This is commonly seen when you go from fluids to solid food, but it can also happen if you jump in calories at any point, even if it is a needed point. My stalls seem to last for 6 weeks at a time. It is super irritating. At 4 months out you are not likely to be done losing weight yet. You may lose a little bit more. But weight loss slows WAY down the closer to goal we get and you are on the small end at this point so I wouldn't be surprised if it slows now. The most rapid weight loss is the first 3 months, then it tapers off slowly depending on how much you need to lose. Since you are used to being at the lower end of your BMI it is reasonable to expect you may drop a bit more to have the space you want if you rebound some. Just be careful not to starve yourself to get those extra lbs off, if it isn't sustainable for your body you'll really have to fight for it and it could damage that nice new metabolism in the process! Oh, and weight redistributes after weight loss. So you may look a little thin now and it may balance out a bit in the next year. This happens especially around the face for some people.

Hi everyone, I had Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in September 2023. my starting weight (on the day of surgery) was 102 KG and today march 27th 2024 I am 70.6 KG so I've lost a total of 31.4 KG. My height is 165 cm. so I believe I'm almost close to my weight goal. I want to lose maybe 8-10 more kilos and I think that's good enough for me. I took photos of my body on November and yesterday I took photos as well to compare both. however what I'm noticing is that although weight number has gone down, I do see difference in shape of my body (legs, arms, face, back) but I have an issue with my stomach. it has gotten better and smaller, however for someone almost going into 60's I don't think my belly should be looking this big. Do you guys recommend anything to do or try or should I see a doctor about this? please help! I don't want to struggle with reaching my goal weight and having a big stomach still.

From what I've been reading and a video from Dr. John Pilcher I recently watched, it's definitely normal. You usually lose the most in your first 3 months, around 1/2 the weight you're going to lose. After doing some poking around to clarify, it seems that number is calculated using your day of surgery weight. Between 3 and 6 months, you continue losing at 1-2 lbs a week, and this slows to maybe just a few pounds per month between 6 months and a year. So, let's say you lost 50lbs in the first 3 months, it's going to take you 9 months to lose the other 50lbs, but you most likely will lose it as long as you keep doing the right things.

Hey everyone, just wondering how it's going. I'm 6 weeks since surgery and my weight has stalled. I'm down a total of 34 lbs, but almost 1/2 of that was pre-surgery. I was losing quite nicely for the first 5 weeks, but this week is just staying steady and even going up a bit 😥. Is this normal? This week is back to "regular foods" although I'm mostly still on soft foods because I'm not tolerating any thing else yet.

@Mandalynne Welcome! I'm due for surgery the day before you - It's feeling really real now. And the August surgeries have started here. Looks like you have some good prep work done! As long as you are getting your protein, you shouldn't lose very much muscle (what my Dr. told me, because I also do weight resistance) - you'll be burning fat. The headaches should go away soon, and energy will return. Mine were a bear to get over. My LSD is 3 Fairlife shakes, with one meal of broccoli and 4 oz. of chicken breast. After 10 days, I'd kill for a V8 or pudding, haha. Let us know how everything's going!

I personally don't. I typically do cardio, core and strength training, and weight training. I think I'm going to try adding in some beginner yoga on my rest days and see how it goes. I go pretty hard and get sweaty on my work out days, so I'm hoping beginner yoga will be a little easier on the sweating and still give my body a good stretch and a gentle work out while not pushing too hard.

I'm so sorry you are experiencing this!! This isn't a you problem!! If you aren't losing sufficient weight you are either being given poor advice from your nutrition team, poor medical support from your surgeon, or it is possible your body is under significant stress for whatever reason and isn't losing weight. There are rare cases when someone with a sleeve doesn't respond but often those are people who have low starting weights. If they had a high starting weight and don't respond to the sleeve surgery, these people generally end up revised to bypass or a DS/SADI, and then lose weight, but again, that should be a convo being initiated by your surgeon as a future possibility if food modification and medications don't work. Some people take GLP-1 meds to help jumpstart their weight loss if the surgery hasn't triggered it, but again, at the 6 month mark this should be something the surgeon initiates conversation about. You shouldn't be living in fear of your appointments with them. If you aren't feeling supported you might consider getting a second opinion from another bariatric surgeon in the area not affiliated with this practice. I strongly believe in second opinions when talking things like surgery... It may sound like I'm being harsh on your team, but lets be clear. They made a nice chunk of money off of your surgery. You deserve good aftercare!! Some surgeons, like my own, believe that the best way to lose weight in the first 6 months to a year after surgery is through being in ketosis. This involves a good protein intake (60-80 grams with the sleeve) and carbs below 50 total carbs or 30 grams net carbs. You can get pee strips to test if you are in ketosis. Once in ketosis you should go through regular periods when you lose some weight, followed by periods where you lose none as your body stabilizes from the previous loss and recalibrates. If this doesn't happen, I'd definitely be communicating with the surgeon about it! What dietary advice did your team give you? Hydration is important for weight loss. If you aren't able to eat enough calories or drink enough water your body will go into starvation mode like @summerseeker mentioned. This is a huge stressor to the body!! And huge stress will cause weight loss to stop. Sleep is also crucial to weight loss, often more important than exercise. If you aren't getting regular sleep for enough hours per night, this can stall your weight loss. Physical activity of some kind is important, but it accounts for less weight loss than proper nutrition and sleep. And if you are under calories and under hydrated exercise will just further stress out your body.

August 7th isn't too far away! You're close to the preop diet. I started mine a few days ago and it's testing me, but I knew it would. If I were a smaller person, I don't think it would be such an issue. If I weren't having appetite issues even before the diet, things would be easier, too. What's helped has been sipping on broth or slurping on sugar free Jell-O all day. I go slow with those so it feels like I'm eating/taking in more than I am. I'm only nervous about one thing: the gas pains immediately after surgery. I've never had surgery before, so I am not sure what to expect. I want to have a realistic expectation of pain before experiencing it. I know I will handle it better that way. Luckily, I have a few family members who have had laparoscopic procedures before and we willing to be honest about the experience. I've been avoiding stories online of others' experiences of that moment, because we all have different pain thresholds and it's too easy to go down the rabbit hole of scary stories. Especially with AI/algorithms thinking we want to see the worst of the worst. I want to share why I made my decision to have the SADI-S vs a sleeve or bypass. While I cannot speak to what things will be like after surgery, I am confident I'm making the correct decision for myself. I'm in my 30s with no kids, but would like some. I have been struggling with my weight ballooning up and down for the last 20 years. At my heaviest, I was over 320 pounds. I hit that as I made the decision for surgery. I didn't know what surgery I wanted, so I started doing research into the best bariatric surgeons in my state. I read through their websites and looked at reviews for the surgeons through my insurance provider, google, yelp, and other such websites. Then I asked a few friends in the medical field which doctors they would want doing surgery on them. All of that narrowed my list down significantly. I ultimately went on gut instinct and don't regret it at all. My surgeon is amazing. Her teams is extremely supportive. Here's some information she gave me on my options: -- Gastric Bypass: She does not recommend the procedure to any patient. It has more points for potential surgery complications and, in her medical opinion, the highest chance for weight regain. -- Sleeve: potential to lose 70% of excess weight. Less than 1% chance for complications. -- SIPS/SADI-S: potential to lose 80% of excess weight. Less than 1% chance of surgical complications. I want to have children, and she advised that the SIPS/SADI-S (there really needs to be a better name for this) is the best choice to allow me to get pregnant a year or so post-op (depending on how I'm doing) and reenter weight loss when appropriate post-birth. I will have to work very closely with my weight loss team throughout the entire pregnancy, but it really feels like a bonus to have more support. My surgeon's office also recommends patients to very talented specialists for all surgery clearances. They all treated me like they were part of a huge team dedicated to helping me get through surgery clearance. It was amazing. I was given a packet with all the possible issues I might encounter post-op, what can be done if they happen, and how to avoid them in the first place. When I read through it spelled out in black and white, it's easy to see what my life would need to be to avoid a horrible experience. The most embarrassing ones are noted as being most common with gastric bypass than sleeve or DS. Most of these complications can be avoided by chewing well, not drinking during meals, and not overeating. One of my doctors said I am going back to being a baby again, digestively. I will need to reteach my body how to process what I eat and not be afraid to push back milestones if I'm not ready to start the next leg of the journey. I'm definitely anxious. The unknown is always scary. I'm confident at the same time because of the team I'm working with. And because of the support I have at home. I know I'm extremely lucky to have the surgeon and support I do. It's definitely a burden to afford this surgery right now, but I don't believe I will feel that way in 5 or 10 years.

I took it prior to surgery while I was still considering options. It did absolutely nothing except made my hair fall out. After about 90days. I didn’t go bald but it was definitely noticeable and I did find out that was a weird side effect. max dose for weight-loss and I lost zero pounds. It gave me headaches the first 2-3 weeks but other than that it was not worth it

2 lbs a week is considered "rapid weight loss". I know it doesn't seem like it, especially when comparing to others progress, but it is true... By 3 months you want to have lost 25% of your excess weight to be "average" and right on target, though even if you aren't at 25% lost there is still hope, because some people lose very slowly the first 3 months, then pick up the pace. If your surgery weight was somewhere around 286 and your goal is 150, your excess weight is 136 lbs. 25% of this would be 34 lbs. You have lost 43 lbs. So you have actually lost 32% of your excess weight! That is excellent!! You are ahead of schedule... Percentages IMO are much better to use than actual lbs lost because it is the percentages that really show you where you are! And on a funny note, I was exactly where you are at 3 months--43 lbs lost, 137 lbs excess weight, so 32% towards my goal weight! LOL Your team should be thrilled! Sorry your boobs are going south too... A good bra does help, I am losing fast in the band size for some reason, I have to buy a new bra every month! LOL

that's not slow at all - that's pretty average. I was about where you're at the six week mark, and I started out at almost 400 lbs. there are so many factors the affect your rate of weight loss, most of which you don't have much - if any - control over. Gender, age, starting weight, what percentage of your body is muscle, whether or not you lost a ton of weight before surgery, genetic factors, metabolic rate, etc. The only two things you do have a lot of control over is how closely you stick to your clinic's plan and how active you are. Do well with those, and the weight will come off, whether fast or slow. I considered myself a slow loser the entire time, and I lost 100% of my excess weight, over 200 lbs (I've gained a few back since then, but I'm still over 200 lbs less than when I started). don't worry about it - just stick to your plan and the weight will come off.

I agree with NickelChip, the only way I can feasibly see you dropping that much weight is to start your pre-op diet early and stick to shakes and low carb veggies. Sugar free shakes though, because that will allow you to go into ketosis and you'll drop water weight pretty quickly, which could boost your numbers. I don't recommend doing this unless you really feel you have to though. My insurance said I couldn't gain a pound before surgery. Does yours say the same thing, or is this your surgeon's requirement? Often surgeons will ask their patients to lose weight beforehand to show their commitment, I think this is kind of lame, since the whole point of weight loss surgery is that most of us have not been able to lose the weight on our own! It causes a lot of unnecessary stress before surgery IMO. I wish you luck in dropping the weight!!

Thanks for responses all. I spoke with my insurance and they told me it would fall under medical benefits and that they are seeing it ALOT with sleeve. I've gained some weight as well, but that it not my primary concern here. I am having a barium swallow, EKG, endoscopy, and a few others tests. We shall see. It would be interesting to see the different insurance we all have. I have UHC.

Agree with Summer. I went thru sizes so fast there were some items of clothing I barely had a chance to wear before having to bag it up and take to Goodwill. This is probably one of the funnest parts of my weight loss journey for me. Buying smaller sizes, then being able to fit into them in a few short weeks. Also, not having to hang dry clothes so they wouldn't shrink up on me to intentionally putting them in the dryer so they would shrink up for me. So I could wear them longer. LOL

At my heaviest, (320#) I had to have a ring that I never took off, cut from my finger by a jeweler. How embarrassing. Now that I'm nearing my goal weight, I'm still waiting to have it resized because whatever my body settles at in the end ( figuring in the 10-20 rebound pounds) could be a whole lot different than any number on the scale "I had planned." I just don't want to do it twice. I have plenty of other rings to wear in the meantime in all different sizes on all different fingers

I was worried about losing too much weight too The thing is that they can suggest changes all they want but we already know how we are supposed to eat. If we could do it we wouldn’t be where we are now. Chances are you are not going to be able to stick to any diet for a full six months. I know I couldn’t. Also, the surgeries are known to help with sleep apnea and GERD depending on which one the dr feels is appropriate for you. I can’t imagine that being a reason to disqualify you. I have heard of a lot of people getting a hernia repair done at the same time as their surgery.

OK - opinion from the other side of the track. I have had reflux for 20+ years and was always tied to a PPI. When I lost a lot of weight it always receded. When I regained it recurred. I took the chance and had a sleeve procedure. I wanted to maintain my anatomy as far as possible. I took a gamble that my reflux would not worsen and I won. The sleeve does work out for some people. Also it doesn't work out for others. I really hope you can weigh up all the experiences we have to share here and find the right path for you.

Idk about the pain and I can’t speak personally about the goal but I have been on here for almost four years and seen several people surpass their surgeons goal for them. Do not let that discourage you. Keep doing what you are doing and let your body settle in where it is happy. They honestly shouldn’t even try to predict because every single body is different and we all respond to the surgery in different ways. On the gallbladder pain note, I would trust your gut and ask another Doctor if he just dismissed it. Only you know what your pain is. And in terms of the joint pain, maybe see what a chiropractor says. Maybe your body is off balance now because our posture is so bad to compensate for the weight and it may not have gone back on its own. Just a thought.

So I agree with everyone else and should definitely be asked of your team for clear answers. However my slight insight to the SADI is that it really limits fat absorption and what your body cannot process leaves your body rather quickly by way of BM. At least from a few people I've heard say they really cannot handle high fat or high sugar foods for that reason. So I would caution against trying to get more fat in until you have the answers from your team. *side note - (not in any way making this related to the surgery ) - but do you remember when they came out with those chips (lay's i think) with olean? the fat that couldn't be absorbed and people were complaining about bathroom runs. Oh the things we do in the name of weight loss.

I only drink water, body armor, and ensure protein shakes, so no not really drinking a lot of calories. I've been having pretzel crackers with cheese and eating a lot cheese but just unlucky in it adding any weight...

First, a long stall between 3 to 6 months is totally normal and the type of thing doctors should tell us to expect. But weight loss surgery is a game changer. This is no longer about calorie restriction to force your body to shed some weight, and if you think about it logically, it's impossible that your body is carrying out all its bodily functions on less than 1000 calories per day. It's burning fat, and also shifting fluids which account for a lot of what the scale reports to you as weight. If someone who had not had surgery said I will only 800 calories, you would be concerned for their health. I say this as someone who is in a similar place mentally and emotionally as you are after stalling again for 9 days: you have to stop the dieting mentality. Calorie restriction got you nowhere before and it will do nothing but hinder you now. Stop counting calories, especially if your team does not require it. Stop weighing yourself. Focus on eating protein, veggies, fruit, beans, nuts, and seeds. Focus on avoiding artificial sweeteners, processed foods, and simple carbs. Focus on creating sustainable habits and getting the right balance of foods every time you eat. Weigh yourself in a week. Or a month. This isn't about the scale or what you lose from day to day. It's about getting healthy for the rest of your life. It'll happen but you need to step back and not drive yourself crazy over it.

From what I know if you look at your BMI range, it is the top figure weight, say in my case, 78 kg. You now take your current weight, which when I started surgery was say 128 kg. Sorry I work in Metric but it works the same in imperial. 128-78 equals 50 kg. That 50 kg is my XS weight, so if mini gastric bypass has a predicted loss of 70 to 85% of the XS weight then it is 70% of 50 kg to 85% of 50 kg. I.e 35 to 59.5 kg is what I am expected to lose with the procedure. When it comes right down to it from what I understand. If like me, you have been obese all your life. Then you will have thicker, heavier bones to support that weight, more skin to wraparound it and a larger heart to pump blood around your body, so that means no matter what the general BMI limit is it is not totally relevant and there has been some suggestions by bariatric surgeons that to aim for a BMI of 30. BMI is intrinsically a flawed concept as it does not take into account, body muscle mass. You will know the example of the brick **** house musclebound New Zealand rugby player with no fat, looking like a crazy obese person on paper because they have a BMI of 45. I am 52 this year, so I think I would be happy with something above the BMI range. Otherwise my skin will waft in the breeze! 🤣

I'm supposed to get down to 111kg (244lbs) I started at 123KG (271lbs). I've currently lost 4kg (9lbs) since July 15th. My weight has been fluctuating between 118kg and 120 kg for about a week now. I think the other thing about the 12 week diet is I am an NHS patient so it's taxpayer funded and it's a teaching hospital so they are more strict on guidelines before surgeries but also I think they are trying new techniques. I was also asked is I wanted to take part in a trial about dental health on this new pre-op diet which requires everything from blood to a stool sample. I don't mind taking part except now the pretty Spanish periodontist knows I poop!