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Without your starting weights and surgery weights and what you are eating daily, its really hard to advice you. I would agree with LaoDaBeirut Why are you doing so much exercise ? You seem to be spinning out and panicking. I think you need to speak to your team. Take care of yourself and take the stress out of your recovery

Me too! I feel like I am failing! I lost 18 pounds in the first 3 weeks.. now I'm at 6 weeks and no more loss but a pound gained! And I am NOT pooping like a champ. Sent from my SM-A716U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you for your encouragement. I can walk and do stairs, physically get around, but have intense muscle spasms, so that can limit my stamina - especially after I over do it - which happens a lot, especially around the holidays. I feel how gain negatively impacts me, so I’m hoping loss will offer some improvement. I do well in water and have both “active” and sedentary exercises I am working with … which I admit I was not great at keeping up with during the holidays. I try to modify my exercise during flair ups, so even on bad days I’m still doing something. I’m pretty good when I can keep things structured, but when my routine gets interrupted, I struggle. From June to Nov I did pretty well, so I’m hoping I can get back to that and loose at least what I’ve gained before my surgery date.

So how did everyone's holiday season go? Usually, in the Before Times, I'd put on 5-10 lbs. between Thanksgiving and Los Reyes Magos. I'll be honest with y'all. I ate like crap this year too. Carbs and sugar and fat and hardly any vegetables or fiber. I did make sure I got my protein and water though. And I chose days when I'd be off track instead of having six or seven weeks of "eh, whatever, I'll start again January 2". Thanksgiving; St. Lucia; Christmas Eve and Christmas; New Year's Eve. I also had nice meals for my fiancé's birthday and went to a friend's party. The restriction did help, though I've discovered more "slider" foods that I need to avoid, ones that I can eat a lot of that don't seem to trigger my restriction. And yet, when I came to the end of the holiday season for my weigh-in this morning, I had lost 14 pounds over that timeframe. I'm stunned. Pants that I bought right before Christmas are now loose; shirts in XL are now starting to flap in the breeze a bit (but not so much that I'm going to size down QUITE yet). My body definitely has got used to the way I was feeding it; when I returned to my usual careful tracking each time, I felt so much better. I don't really restrict myself on foods unless I know they're sliders or I won't have any control (hello, Dot's Pretzels...), but it's a matter of just really carefully weighing things out. "The food scale eats first"—so nothing goes in my mouth until I've portioned it out and logged it.

My plan said it was okay to have "planned" snacks, but NO grazing. So, don't take all morning to eat your breakfast because you will be able to eat more if you eat it over more than 30-60 minutes as it will pass through your stomach. Personally, I am hungry all the time but I can't eat much at once, so I have to have snacks between my meals. Also, for exercise, consider swimming or weight training/exercise bands. They may not hurt your hips like walking. If you are not someone who can eat "just a little" sweets, probably the best thing to do is cut them out completely. I don't have a problem with artificial sugar, but some people find it makes their sugar cravings worse. For me, it can satisfy my sweet tooth (like sugar free hot cocoa - swiss miss with high protein milk instead of water). For high protein snacks, you have the right direction with Greek Yogurt (although many brands have lots of added sugar, so try to find ones with no added sugar), but what about cheese, or deli meat (I like deli meat with hummus on it). Hard boiled eggs are also good with hummus. I like adding some heated up frozen strawberries (no sugar added) and some chia seeds to my Light and Fit Greek Yogurt .

Welcome, and congratulations on starting this process . We all are a little scared (or very scared) of dying on the table. But death and severe complications are very rare. It's common to gain weight before the two week pre-op diet; it's called "food funerals". Plus, you were dealing with the holidays! I will say that after surgery, it's way too easy to eat "slider" foods like chips and sweets, even when you're too full for protein. Do you think your mobility will be restored after losing weight? If not, you might try to find some sorts of exercises that work with your limitations because exercising is good for keeping the weight off long term. You could work with a physical trainer to get some ideas that are designed for your body. Good Luck!

Hey Dan, welcome to the forum. Just keep following your plan, focus on protein/water intake, and ignore the scale for a few days. Not familiar with gout, but if it is an inflammatory disease, maybe the extra weight could be water retention due to inflammation caused by the gout flare-up.

I'm sorry you're going through all of this. Life sucks. I can tell you one thing for sure: the solution you're looking for will not be found in a diet book. It will not be found in a thought process that involves yelling at yourself to try harder! You know what to eat. You know how to count calories and protein. You know how to chew. You've done it all before. What you don't know, however, is how to emerge from a crisis. I strongly, strongly recommend immediately looking at this statement .... ... and bringing that exact statement to someone who can help you talk it through. Group sessions work, too. If you want something you can do now, here's how you deal with emotional eating in a professional/disordered eating setting: FIRST: Get the physical hunger and eating patterns sorted out. Start eating 6 times a day. When you wake up, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Same time every day is recommended. Grab a notebook. On the left side, you write what time you ate, and what you ate. On the right side, you write - once a day, several times if need be - how you felt today. It doesn't have to be connected to the eating. The goal for you is not to lose weight right now, it's to understand your emotional eating which you already identified is what led you off track. There's no skipping this step. All you have to do here is the above. Don't gain, don't lose, just get an overview and start writing. SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS: Habits Once you've gotten this under control and you're starting to see patterns, you can look at your habits. "Ah, so when the kids act up, I actually tend to grab sweet snacks. Hmm. Can I pause for a second and feel that emotion, see if I'm still hungry?" FINALLY: Emotions and a clear mind And now you're ready to actually deal with all the things that caused you to be in this crisis. You can't work on all things at once, and if the regain is the most upsetting, then follow these steps. Hopefully, you don't have to do step 1 and 2 alone, but if you have and you feel you're in a better place, now's the time for therapy and this is also where you can start exploring losing weight. I hope this helps. I'm happy to elaborate.

Hello WSLers Long time listener, first time caller. I was sleeved on 11/22/21. I had lost over 40lbs since my surgery, but now seem to be gaining a pound a day the last few days. My diet has remained the same, 1-2 Premiere Protein shakes, 5 oz of non/low fat yogurt, and 4 bites of misc protein from dinner. Getting 64 oz or more of water has been brutal. Any ideas on the weight gain? It's really screwing with my head. Walking (exercise) has been limited, since I am currently experiencing my fourth gout attack since my surgery. I've been taking 600mg Allopurinol daily and 0.6mg of Colchicine during flare ups. It's been brutal. I have not had an attack in a while. Regards Dan

HW: 210 + CW: 124 GW: 112 I havent reached my goal weight yet but losing weight now has got tougher. So I ve structured my eating more and started cardio. The before picture is unreal, I didnt see myself like that at the time. Anyway, I am grateful for this place and the support I received from everyone

Hi all! I have to tell you how much I appreciate the information shared on here, food, what to expect, advice… everything. It’s very helpful. I met with my Dr first back in August (2021) completed all the paperwork and pre surgical appointments, and his office called just before Christmas to tell me that pending covid, and completion of a few final requirements, my VSG surgery will be Feb 2, 2022. I started down this path because a routine test found that my liver was excessively enlarged, enough my PCP asked me to consider the idea of WLS, because he was concerned. (He’s been my Dr for 40+ yrs and surgery as a solution is not his normal philosophy … so I paid attention when he suggested it). Consulted with my Endo and he was on board so here we are. I won’t pretend surgery doesn’t scare me … it does. A lot. Fear of dying on the table or from a complication after. Fear of failing and waisting the money. Fear of nausea - I don’t do well with nausea at all. Stories of gas pain have kinda freaked me out a little if I’m completely honest. My highest weight was 382 and on my 5’4” body that was scaring me more than surgery, along with the news my liver was so enlarged. After my car accident (over 5 yrs ago) my mobility has been limited and that made putting 50 pounds on what had up until then been my highest of 330 way to easy. Since June of 2021 I was doing pretty well having lost 54 pounds (down to 328), but then between Thanksgiving and New Years I am back up to 340. Now I’m worried what if I can’t do this? I know I ate things I shouldn’t have - maybe in part because I know or feared I soon won’t be able to do that any more. But I also know that’s no excuse. What I’ve learned from these posts is you need to commit because it’s a lifestyle not a diet. Did you have fears or concerns about your surgery before having it? If so, how did you handle, manage or overcome them? Any advice you can give me at all would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hello Surgery friends! Just a quick update... I will be 2 months Post op on January 8th and I am down to 336. I weighed 375 the morning of surgery and 408 on October 24th. I am starting to feel like I haven't lost enough weight since surgery? Only 39 pounds in 2 months doesn't seem like a lot. I have stuck with our dieticians plan to a t just not seeing the weight loss I expected.

I'm 64 years old, 5'4' and have lost 65 pounds since surgery in October 2020 and 97 pounds from my highest weight in 2013. Not only do I have excess skin, but I have the added problem of aging skin. BUT...…I'm amazed at the power of exercise, toning and strength building. I have focused the past 8 months on building muscle and it has made a huge difference. Now when I flex my bicep, what I see is muscle with some extra skin, not the shaking, sagging skin that was there before. I do core workouts and have built abdominal muscles, that does a great job of replacing a lot of the area where fat used to reside. I have people ask me all the time "Where's all your excess skin?" It's there, but not nearly as noticeable because when people see me, they see a toned body. The nicest complement I've gotten in the last few months was from a grocery store manager who said "You looked like you could bench press a 100 lbs." I thanked him and walked out feeling on top of the world.

sounds like a pretty normal weight loss to me...

I agree with GradyCat - if you end up losing all the weight you're hoping to (over 100 lbs), you'll have loose skin. Plastic surgery is the only way to get rid of it, but toning will help a little. I did have mine removed a few years ago, but honestly, I'd take my loose skin any day of the week over weighing 300+ lbs again. ANY DAY! Besides, it's pretty easy to hide in clothes. I just wore slightly oversized, long-ish tops with 3/4 length (or longer) sleeves. Ta da! Skin gone. Here's a picture of me from BEFORE I had plastic surgery. See any loose skin? Nope! (several months after this picture was taken, I had a lower body lift, arm lift, and breast lift. But I did this for myself. No one knew that loose skin was there before I had it removed - other than my husband and me, of course!)

Keep in mind that you can't compare yourself to others who may have started at a higher or lower BMI or weight and have different bodies or may or may not be exercising more or less than you are. That being said, it sounds like you're doing GREAT! Way to go! Good job! Keep up the good work!

You're gonna have excess skin, so you can either tone and exercise while you're losing weight to minimize the effects of it and make it as pretty as possible, have cosmetic surgery for it when you've reached your goal weight, or just learn to love it.

Okay, I can totally hear you on this. Same thing here. I'm 3 years post-op. COVID and life wreaked havoc in my life, lost my 16 year old fur baby . . . 2020 and 2021 SUCKED! But I finally saw a sign that said, "Remember why you started this." and it hit me - - - I had to get my health back. I was embarrassed by my weight gain because after WLS and reading some of the forum posts where people gained weight back, I thought "Oh! I'll never be one of THOSE people!" HA! I am! But I finally found light at the end of the tunnel on November 22nd. Something finally just clicked in my head. I started going to the gym and I've been 35 out of the last 40 days. I joined Weight Watchers two weeks ago and as of this morning I've lost 3 pounds. I have depression, which it sounds like you probably have after all that you've been through, and I see a counselor every 3 weeks. We do online video conferences. It's very helpful to talk about my stressors and fears. You are NOT a failure! Forgive yourself, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and join me on a journey to refocus on our weight in 2022.

I'm in the same boat right now. I got VSG on Dec 20 2021, I am 2 weeks post op, my plan wanted me on pureed foods only 3 days after surgery... which I personally felt was way too soon, so I stayed on protein shakes and broths only for the first 10 days. I had lost about 12 lbs from surgery date up to when I started puree on day 10, but just noticed I have gained about a pound last couple of days. I have been having a hard time getting things moving though too (smooth move tea actually did literally nothing), so I'm sure that has a little to do with it, Miralax takes the full three days once a day before it does anything at all. I'm sure it gets better after the 3-5 week hump from what I've heard.

Howdy y'all! Happy 2022! So it did it end up being a solid 6+ months for me to get myself back on here. The thought even crossed my mind to do a 1 year exactly post and then I got distracted and here I am like 3ish weeks late. Whatever, I digress. So 12 months have passed and with it I have shed 116lbs(that was the total about a month ago at the 1 year surgeon's check up). He is very happy with my progress however I know I can do better. Remember how I said 6 months ago sugar was an issue? Yeah, still is. More so since I got covid back in August and lost my taste/smell--it's back mostly but it has changed flavors and most of it isn't for the better. I can't stomach tomato based foods, I can't explain what it tastes/smells like but it is not good. Cooking garlic makes me gag but I can eat it okay which makes zero sense to me and then of course sugar based foods (especially candy) is almost normal-I suspect is why I have continued to gravitate to it so hard these last few months. Anyway, I decided tonight after posting in the forums for some help and some tough love/encouragement that I would sign myself up for the box of the month from the BariatricPal store--let me try lots of high protein/lower calorie snacks/foods without just blindly spending money on products that are nasty. Figure I'll try it out for a few months and see what it yields, I need to add in some new products to my repertoire. My water intake is back to around 100+oz a day most days. I made it a HUGE priority when the plasma center opened up in my town since my dog is looking to meet at least another two of the specialty departments at the local specialty vet in the next 6 weeks. I take a insulated mug with a straw, fill with ice cubes and I have a 50oz water bottle I fill and put in flavoring (my taste buds settled on the more 'tart' flavors like strawberry lemonade/cherry etc) and make it a point to drink at least 2 of the water bottles a day. I have had zero issues donating both with hydration and iron(hematocrit) numbers. Iron is always on the forefront of my mind since I went into this surgery already on once daily iron tablets due to low grade anemia I got from my mom and she got from her mom. I had tested at 38 which is the absolute lowest you can be at and still donate the first 3 times but today after I had upped my iron tablets to 2 a day as well as my normal 2 Flintstones the last 10-14 days I tested at 44 today! I obviously don't want it skyrocketing since you can actually have it to high so I will go to every other day 2 tablets and see if I can hold my iron steady in the low to mid 40s. I have ZERO regrets from this surgery and look forward to FLYING to see my dad over Father's day weekend, my goal is to be at or below my surgeon's goal for me (193lbs)-still sitting at 225lbs so not an overwhelming amount of weight to lose in 6ish months. I did buy myself a solidly decent treadmill that I have started using several times a week-I enjoy my 'treadmill shows' like The Witcher or Game of Thrones- shows I really enjoy but can only watch if I am up on the treadmill-gives me motivation to lace up the sneakers and go for a power walk. That said, I do plan on finding a chiropractor to do a consult with because my hips and back aches after only a few minutes of going at a solid pace, I assume it's from everything shifting and hope I can get adjusted and/or get some stretching exercises I can do to help get things aligned and make moving much more comfortable than it is currently. I am still in school but maybe just maybe work seems to finally have eased some and we have a new CSR starting in mid-January so I don't feel so exhausted and overwhelmed as I did 6ish months ago. I finally feel like I have the time to get things I want and need to get done, done. My ADD still makes focusing hard sometimes but my annual physical is in February and I plan on discussing ideas/strategies with my PCP. My goal right now is to buy myself a 6-18 month planner that will help me keep track of schoolwork deadlines I want to make for myself, work scheduling, personal/off time to make sure I don't waste my days off wandering around going "I know there is stuff I need to do but I don't remember what it was" or alternatively doing things like starting to clean out my closet-doing that for 4 hours then getting distracted by something else or ending up napping when the cat comes and lays next to me while I am looking through boxes(that's happened more than I'd like to admit). Anyway, moving along. Long story short here, I am very happy with my progress but know I have a lot left to learn and more weight to lose. I think when I hit Onederland and I have the funds, I will seek out beginner Krav Maga classes for fitness but also I haven't been below 200lbs as an adult and self-defense is something I've always assumed my weight would help with and now I won't have it. Maybe a solid firearm handling class and getting my concealed carry license as well. That's all I've got at this point, can't wait to see where I am and what thoughts I have in a few months! Keep on trucking everyone, we've got this!! -Amanda

I’m going to jump right in & focus on your inner child sugar & snack craving & ask if you saw or still see a therapist? If not it may be worth asking your medical team for a recommendation to a one who specialises in supporting bariatric patients, disordered eating, etc. The battle to overpower those cravings will only be won when you deal with that inner child. At the moment that child is winning. Are you eating because you are truely hungry (because your body needs the calories to function) or is it just your inner child wanting to be satisfied & comforted? Honestly, I didn’t specifically crave sugar or salt - I was an equal opportunity treat eater: sweet & savoury. 😉 I got them out of my house. If I don’t buy those foods & don’t have them in my house, I can’t eat them. I know it can be hard when it’s in the work place but try to avoid the break area. Go outside to eat if possible. I also try to prep most of what I eat myself so I can control the ingredients & how it’s cooked. While I was losing I ate pretty simply & a lot on repeat. It wasn’t boring. I actually found it less pressure because I didn’t have to think about what I was going to cook or eat. I had one snack a day: cheese, yoghurt (tub or drink), chunk of cucumber or fruit. Once you have those meals & food snacks in your app you can just select them each day. You don’t have to recreate them every time. So a little hard work to begin. Go back to only eating three times a day & no snacks or only one a day. It won’t be easy. Snacks add the calories which will slow your weight loss a lot. If the child screams at you, sip water, have a cup of herbal or green tea, eat a little chicken, ham, or other deli meat, have some yoghurt, or a little piece of cheese as your snack - note they are all protein dominant. Watch the fruit because of the high sugar content (though natural) so be selective - berries are best. Try to avoid traditional style snacks even if they’re high protein, low fat or low sugar versions - they keep the snack habit & craving alive. Try to avoid artificial sweeteners for the same reason - they continue to feed your sugar craving. You can explore them when you’re maintaining. You don’t have to jump in with both feet & go cold turkey. Even making one change to what & how you eat at a time helps. Drop something this week. In a week or two swap something else out. Little changes are easy to accept & are little wins. Just some suggestions. Feel free to ignore them all. Congrats on your weight loss so far.

So this past year has been HELL for me. Not only am I now almost done with a divorce from my middle school sweetheart xs 3 kids, because he was cheating with the 17 year old babysitter. Yep walked in and caught them in our bed. He said he loved me still not in love with me I wasn't young and pretty anymore. I also lost 2 of my beloved pups. Had to start travel nursing to make ends meet, leaving my youngest daughter with him mostly. Being a nurse during this time is trying enough. Then got caught up in the middle of a shoot out at a gas station. All this stress and I started eating bad again. Gained 40 lbs of the 110lbs lost. I absolutely hate me now. I don't even know where to start to get back on track. How do you eat right living out of a hotel room. How do I handle all these sweet cravings I have from the stress. Please help me with any advice. I have been so depressed that I thought of ending it at times. Feeling like a failure. Ps. I start counseling soon.

As we progress we are all able to eat more & many find their appetite & hunger starts to come back at around 6-9 months. It’s when the next lot of hard work happens - when it’s up to you to control & manage your eating as you can’t rely on the diminishing benefits of the tool (your sleeve) anymore. At 6 months I’d reached goal & had lost 26kg (57lbs) post surgery so about the same as you. My surgeon was very happy with my rate of loss. I was eating almost 900 calories & almost a cup of food depending on what it was. I was slowly eating more but it did take another 10/11 months for me to be able to physically eat enough to stop losing. I eat about 1300 calories to maintain now & that includes 3 or 4 snacks. My serving size is a good cup or about the recommended serving size of most foods. To give you an idea I can eat 1.5 eggs, 3ozs steak, 2 lamb cutlets, a serve of rolled oats, 1/2 - 3/4 cup steamed vegetables, a tub of yoghurt. I take 30-60 mins to eat a meal. I should stress I’m not tall, have a small frame, am almost 57 & am not very active so hence my lower caloric intake. Congrats on your weight loss. You’re almost there. Whoo hoo!

Excess skin is a given for most of us..the extent of it will depend on genetics, age, history of big weight loss/gains, time for skin to shrink to the most its going to, plus some other factors. Exercise, hydration and some good fat intake may help in a limited capacity, some people swear by certain lotions. If you are fairly young and have the right genetics you end up with minimal excess skin.

Okay after a long and hard 3 moth decision I've decided to get the bypass after I read about the side effects of my GERD possibly getting worse even cancerous. Anyways my question is when I'm losing weight how do I prevent myself from getting excess skin?