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My grandma is In hospice so we are pulling shifts making sure someone is with her 24/7. I have gone ONE WEEK without tracking and I have gained TWO POUNDS!! I haven’t had anything crazy bad just a few more servings of the same foods and snacks I have been eating. I know that I should be able to lose it but wow- that was way too easy to gain.

Different plans have different timelines around when to start consuming alcohol again. What does your plan say? Remember it’s always best to follow your plan. Why the craving? Is it really beer you’re craving or something else (food)? Do you really need it or are you looking for something to comfort you? Swapping one addiction/craving for another is a concern after weight loss surgery. You can’t satisfy your food craving so you look for something else and alcohol is often what people turn too. Will one beer satisfy your craving or will you want another one tomorrow? Will that beer be worth the calories & the carbs? You’re not 4 weeks out & are still healing. It’s why you’re still on a staged return to eating a broader diet of solid food. Beer is very acidic & will upset & irritate your healing tummy. These are just some things to consider before making your decision. All the best.

We all heal & recover in our own time. Some will say I was fine after a week or two others will say a month. Me, I was a couple of months but I always seem to take longer to recover from everything even a cold. Plus it was complicated by my tendency for occasional drops in blood pressure becoming low BP all day every day. Even my head became doughy & my concentration was poor. Don’t give yourself a deadline. Take your recovery at your pace & listen to your body. Keep working at meeting your fluid & protein goals. But you won’t feel like you did before - you’ll feel so much better because of your weight loss & improving general health. Won’t it be great.

I didn’t eat potatoes at first, but over a year out I eat them now. Not every night, and I’m not getting fries at fast food, but tonight for dinner I’m planning on making a potato and chicken sausage fry. I don’t have a ton, but I really enjoy the meal. Carbs are a tricky subject on these forums. Some people avoid them for life, and some have zero restrictions on anything. Personally I try to be reasonable with carbs- I don’t need candy or fast food, but I do have small amounts of rice and potatoes if it’s a part of a meal that is more heavily weighted to vegetables and/or protein. It works for me.

We really are surgery twins! I am just outside of Atlanta and am scheduled for surgery 2/3. (That is assuming Anthem and Northside can figure out their differences by then.). I finished my requirements in November. I am in day 8 of a liquid diet and and down to 303. My highest weight was 330 this summer; 316 when I saw the surgeon in October; and 312 at the start of the liquid diet. Good luck to you!

That's almost four months from surgery, isn't it? Your weight loss stats are very similar to mine. I lost 25lbs before surgery and 27lbs since. My first advice would be to take a week and track absolutely everything you eat. Go back to basics - protein first, then veg, then good complex carbs if you have room. No drinking fluids for at least half an hour after eating. Clear the house of junk - you sound like you know that's what's holding you back and causing the dumping. Sticking to the program works (well it has for me so far!) I hope you smash that stall in no time. 💪

This is awesome! Congrats on not losing muscle mass. It is so hard to lose weight and maintain muscle mass. 💪

Congrats on your progress! I am doing strength training. Wife has a peloton bike, but I can't stand the tiny seat.. I'll try again when I lose some more weight.

@AnotherGuy, great post! Stalls are super frustrating.. About losing muscle. One of my surgeon's goals is to avoid/reduce muscle loss. He says that if you are losing muscle, you need to up the protein intake, to have a 'positive Nitrogen balance'. The basic idea is if you don't get enough protein, the body breaks muscle mass. Every month he tests my body composition using an InBody scale (same one found in gyms), One month post-op I was losing weight, and he bumped my daily protein from 100 to 120.. one month later I didn't lose muscle mass (according to him ), and he bumped up my daily goal to 135g/day. This is my report from 3-4 weeks ago.

Congrats on the weight loss 👏🏼 My program sounds quite similar to yours - As in we can have almost anything we can tolerate including rice, pasta, bread etc. I just don't eat them much right now. May incorporate them later on. We just don't have much focus on calories. Focus is more on serving sizes and protein/fluid intake. Don't have any numbers for carbs or fat intake either. Only thing is how did you manage to eat 1200 calories post week 4? I am almost week 9 but I still can't manage to eat more than 750-850 calorie range. Either that or I need to figure out how to incorporate foods high in calories 😂 Only calorie rich food group in my diet would be cheeses I suppose. But I also don't wanna overshoot fat intake. How was your fat intake first few months?

It sounds like you're heading in the right direction. Congrats on the contiuned weight loss!

I follow a girl on YouTube who is on a weight loss journey and she does Grocery Haul videos and she says it's very good.

Which app is that? I started using the Baritastic one months ago but it doesn't seem to tell you what foods are good or better options like the one above. Just logs food, weight, etc.

Hi. My surgery was on 28th of September. I weight 220 pounds (100 kg) in surgery date and I am 5’7 (172cm) tall. My goal weight is 149-157 pounds So far I am down many clothing sizes and about 52 pounds ( 24 kg). So 10-15 more pounds to go to hit my goal. I have not lost any weights for 2 weeks now. Getting a bit stressed by that. I do Pilates and weightlifting 4-5 times a week and I am active. I walk a lot and use a bike more then the car. All of my blood work came out great, and I am eating enough protein and so on, but I just found out that I have inactive thyroid and possibly fatty liver. That came as a bit of shock to me. Does anyone have experience with thyroid problems ?

I'm in about the same boat. Starting weight (on day or surgery): 300.5 Current weight: 305 Eating regular food but have completely stalled for nearly 3 weeks now. Have been walking up to 2 miles per.dsu, 3.times per week. Would do more.byt this darn RA flare is killing me.. But I know when I lift, I lose fat .

Today I am 5 weeks 1 day post op and I have to weigh and measure weekly as per my surgeon and nutritionist. Today is that day. I’m loosing 2-3 pounds a week and I’m 70 pounds from goal. I’m on regular food now except crackers raw veggies etc. I’m just bored and not interested in food. Here’s my stats - I’d love to hear how you Dec surgery buddies are doing! I get to start the gym on Sunday! I’m walking 3 miles a day around the house right now. So ready to go to the gym and see if I can start loosing more than 2-3 pounds a week!  SW 227 Current weight 195 Inches lost total 32 5’6” my height 52 YO Sleeved 12/22/2022 Stalled for 14 days 10- days post op

I live in Burnsville, Minnesota and was wondering if anyone else lives in Minnesota. If so, which weight loss center are you going to? I am going to Ridgeview Weight Loss Center.

February 28th here! Atlanta Georgia. I started this journey July 2021 @330. I finished my requirements by October, now at 304lbs. Labs, EKG, Insurance approval all good thank the Good Lord above. I have advanced Osteoarthritis so I need to lose some weight before they’ll do any knee surgeries on me. So now I’m just waiting for the day to come. My surgeons preop is 2/8.

I’m no longer pre diabetic. i can walk now (I was wheelchair bound practically and walked with a cane prior to surgery along with a huge plastic leg brace). my kidneys are functioning better than they every did. migraines: I still get these. Nothing changes there. high blood pressure: I now have the opposite problem. My blood pressure tends to be really low. Hyperparathyroidism: still a problem. gout: I had a flare right after surgery but my uric acid levels are almost within normal range now (I will have to take meds for this forever. This is a family thing and won’t go away no matter what weight I am) All in all my doctors have all told me how I have saved my own life by making the decision I did. They refer to me as the poster child of success for the reversal of my conditions and the fact that I went from being in a wheelchair to walking without problems.

Excellent progress pxt. And great top too. Shame it will be swimming on you so much soon you’ll have to consign it to the donation bin. 😉 Congratulations on your weight loss so far.

I have a sleeve but my liver function was off too - much higher levels. My cholesterol increased as well even on my very low fat diet. Some of it is because of the hormones, toxins, triglycerides, vitamins, etc. being released from your fat as you’re losing. It’s why some develop gall stones after surgery too. (I did ☹️.) Once I stopped losing, my cholesterol dropped back to it’s usual levels (had always been consistent regardless of my weight for decades) & my liver function returned to normal too. My surgeon & GP did more blood tests (almost every month) & ultra sounds to ensure nothing was untoward while I was losing & until everything stabilised again. Wouldn’t hurt to ask for additional tests just to ensure there isn’t another reason too.

Yep, erratic & changed periods post surgery is quite common. As you lose weight, oestrogen (& other hormones, vitamins, toxins, etc.) stored in your fat is released into your blood stream. I’m menopausal & after surgery my symptoms disappeared. Yay! (Though on HRT I still had break through symptoms before surgery.) Unfortunately they all came back when I stopped losing - no more oestrogen being released from my fat to offset what want I wasn’t producing anymore. ☹️ I questioned my surgeon about my HRT absorption because a much younger friend was told she’d have to find an alternative to her pill. My surgeon said taking the pill or HRT was not an issue with a sleeve. But it all depends upon where your pill (or any medication) is absorbed. Check with your surgeon or prescribing doctor to be totally certain.

Hello All, Sometimes it is nice to know that you are in a group of the "world's best" at something. It is my opinion that we are the world's best at losing weight. I do not mean to imply that once we have had bariatric surgery, we are good at losing weight. I am willing to say that, prior to your surgery, you have lost (and gained) tens and tens of pounds over your lifetime. You have tried at least six or more diets and you were probably successful in losing a significant amount weight on each of them. I have done this too. The problem is we are world class weight gainers also ...ugh! Thankfully, we have weight loss surgery to help us eat fewer calories. However, each time we lose weight, we must face the "STALL." You know, that period of time when we don't lose weight even when we think we should. Everyone dreads these time periods. If you are interested, I would like to share with you some information that has helped me over the years to overcome and understand stalls. First, I am not a doctor nor am I offering any sort of medical advice. I am simply trying to provide you with information from my own personal experiences. You are free to believe or not believe. Every single person is different. If you know something that works, please share. I would love to learn from you. Until then, here are my thoughts. Vary your exercise routine. This is pretty simple. One must understand that we come from a long, long line of survivors. Just think, there is a very good probability that several of your ancestors survived the black plague which eliminated almost half of the population of Europe. Over time, our bodies have learned to adapt to new "challenges" so to speak. Here is a secret to assist weight loss: YOU MUST CHALLENGE YOURSELF to avoid your body's natural ability to adapt and become more efficient to your routines. If you are doing any kind of exercise, you will need to vary this exercise every few weeks. For instance, I am currently using an elliptical machine for cardio. Every two weeks, I change my routine. I went from just moving for 30 minutes at any speed for the first two weeks to adding intervals of going as fast as I can for one minute and then slowing down for three minutes. I have also changed the interval times. For example, I went fast for 30 seconds and then slower for two minutes for a period of two weeks. Next week, I will be changing to a stationary bike for cardio. In a few more weeks, I will be heading outdoors for walking/jogging, etc. The point is to change it up so your body must adjust to new challenges. Build muscle. These are the facts. Muscle burns more calories, even while resting, than fat does. Did you know that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson eats more than 5000 calories per day? The man is a beast and definitely is not fat. He is able to eat so much because he has a huge amount of muscle mass. That muscle burns a lot of calories. Check out what he eats in a typical day here: The Rock's Diet. I wish I could say the phrase "build muscle" and, magically, I would build muscle...*sigh* Until then, I must incorporate strength training the old fashioned way. I lift weights. At the moment, my routine consists of body weight type of exercises, pushing and pulling. My goal is to preserve as much muscle as I can while losing weight. I want to burn the maximum amount of calories possible...even while sleeping. YouTube has many, many videos to help just about anyone. Keep track of your food intake. I measure my food and keep a daily log. I know how much food my stomach can hold and I do not over eat. But my personal opinion may be different than yours when it comes to caloric intake. Personally, I cannot live for the long term on 800 calories per day. Many of us were/are eating about 800 calories or so per day after surgery. I have no plans to eat only 800 calories per day for the rest of my life to maintain my goal weight. Therefore, I have increased the number of calories I eat per day. At the moment, I am eating around 1500 calories per day. I am about six weeks post surgery. The bulk of my calories comes from protein. I try to add calories to my day without adding a lot of volume to my stomach. Here are some things I do in order to add calories. Once per day, I drink a protein shake instead of water. Also, I will add the following ingredients to meals throughout the day (not all at the same time, mind you): olive oil, avocados, sour cream, cheese, mayonnaise and peanut butter. These are generally healthy fats which allow me to consume more calories at every meal. I try to eat approximately 400 calories three times a day and then supplement with a few snacks in between meals. I typically eat 5 to 6 times per day. Set realistic goals. If you do not know, one pound of fat is 3500 calories. To lose one pound of fat, you must create a deficit of 500 calories per day for each day of the week...500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories lost. Create a deficit of 1000 calories per day and lose two pounds per week. 1500 calories = 3 lbs. per week. This is the idea...a 500 calorie deficit per day equates to one pound loss per week. A typical male burns about 2000 to 3000 calories per day (typical female: 1600 to 2400.) You can play with these numbers all you like but the reality is: it is very hard to lose a large amount of fat in one week. Last week I lost three pounds. I believe that this result is fantastic. That loss is a 10,500 calorie deficit for the week (equivalent to NOT eating 37.5 Snickers Candy Bars.) I believe this is a heroic effort on my part...I celebrated with a quiet "YES" and a fist pump while standing on my bathroom scale. Fist bumps to all of you who have shared the same win. NOT an exact science. Things change. There is not a perfect formula. When you lose weight, you lose fat AND muscle. This is NOT avoidable. No one is able to lose 100% fat. It is not possible to do so, therefore mentally prepare yourself for some disappointment. If you do not have strength training in your schedule, you will lose more precious fat burning muscle than you would if you incorporate strength training. Either way, you will burn fewer calories per day when you, eventually, weigh less. It makes perfect sense. At 300lbs. you may have burned 2500 calories per day. At 250lbs you may only burn 2200 calories per day. You were bigger so you burned more calories. Therefore, it is harder to create a calorie deficit when you weigh less because you are burning fewer calories. Again, this concept really sucks but it explains why we lose less weight as we get closer and closer to our goal. Okay...so this turned into a much longer post than I originally anticipated. Some of the words above make it sound like I have it all figured out. But alas, no. I have issues too. I gained over 100 lbs. in the last six years eating pizza with extra cheese and trying to diminish the world's supply of beer. I am somewhere in the early stages of this particular weight loss journey. My goal is to make this my last weight loss/gain journey. I truly wish all of you the very best life has to offer. The struggle is real and I know, like me, you are fighting every day. I look forward to all of your comments and learning from your experiences. Best, AnotherGuy

Hi, Amy. Congrats on your weight loss! Real Good brand makes a frozen chicken crust pizza.[emoji4] Sent from my Pixel 3a using BariatricPal mobile app

elevated liver enzymes are common the first year or so after surgery, even without Seroquel. Rapid weight loss is really tough on livers. Mine were high that first year and then were back to normal sometime during year 2, when I was at or near maintenance.