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I weighed 270 and was a size 22/24 when I met and married my husband. After I had our daughter, I was 340. And through the years, I went all the way to 421. My husband is known as a "chubby chaser" so he always loved how I look. Now that I'm 176 (I friggin dropped weight AGAIN...sigh...) and a size med/large, he struggles with how thin I am now. I'm literally the same size I was in high school. I weighed 165 then, so I'm still 11 pounds heavier but my clothing size is the same. My ring size is smaller. I have SO MUCH male attention now, and it actually annoys me. Every time I get hit on, I give the "bombastic side eye" and stare right through them. If they don't stop, and some don't, I say "no" and when they start to question me, I say "no is a complete sentence. now leave before I get pissed and show you my nasty side" and I walk away lol

There is another thread about this called reactive hypoglycemia which apparently is not all that uncommon post weight loss surgery. Actually may be why my teams standard is to have us eat every three hours. I’ve never gone longer than that so I wouldn’t know if I had it. Maybe I should try it while I’m at home instead of it happening when I’m out having fun on vacation or something. Definitely try eating more often a little something. It’s also possible that it’s diabetes related so personally, I would go ahead and schedule an appointment with my family doctor and then just cancel it if eating more often helps. That’s just me because my doctor is kind of hard to get into.

I think it takes our minds some time to catch up to the changes in our bodies, especially when the change has been so quick and you have been distracted by all the new eating rules and weight loss. You also had your holiday to focus on too. Now there are no real distractions and the changes have hit you. I know when I lost weight previously, it didn’t feel ‘real’ - ?? I felt like I was observing someone else from afar. I know it doesn’t make sense - I was the one dieting, I was the one working out, I was the one weighing and measuring but it’s honestly how I felt. I certainly didn’t feel that, once I had hit target, that I would stay thinner and that would be that. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, as they say! Comments from others can add to the problem, especially when your mind is playing tricks on you and you’re struggling to come to terms with a different ‘you’. I hate the backhanded ‘compliment’ because it just strikes me as bitchy when there is no need. It generally means that the person giving it is jealous or miffed at what you have achieved. Well screw them, that’s their problem, not yours. You certainly don’t owe anyone an explanation of how and why. 💜

So sorry you're having some doubts right now. I didn't experience this, but I want to ensure you that you will lose post-surgery. It would be physiologically impossible not to. I suspect what you're experiencing is simply variations in your weight due to other things. Keep in mind that your weight is made up of a lot of things, not just fat. As an example, I'll give you an illustration that's top of mind for me. As a runner, I track how much sweat loss I'm experiencing (to make sure I know my hydration needs), so I weighed myself both before and after my long run today. The difference was 4.8 pounds! I obviously didn't lose 5 pounds of fat, I mostly just lost a bunch of water weight. My point is that fat is just one part of our overall weight, thus expecting that the scale will always go down as we lose fat is a fool's errand. Even unexpected things like hormonal changes, macronutrient balance, and the amount of sleep you get can all impact what the scale says. Were I you, I'd just stop weighing for a while. The scale is not your friend.

I didn’t do the bath or swim yet. I believe it was 6 weeks they said the outside was fully healed (double check on that though because there are different types of closure techniques that may heal slower). My team cleared us for anything but weights at 6 weeks but I noticed that some of the stuff that focuses on the core area in Yoga pulled so I just didn’t do that for a couple weeks (I needed the rest in between anyways 🤣). Tried again this morning in fact and it didn’t pull. I will be 10 weeks out tomorrow. I didn’t realize that I was that far out actually. Probably would’ve tried last week. Anyways, just with anything new, start slow and if you feel it in your tummy, stop!! That’s what I did.

I am firmly behind using every tool at your advantage to tackle regain: Tracking portions, exercise, joining a support group, checking in with your previous or new weight management team and use of the new anti obesity medications.

Have you guys did Rucking what do you put in your back packs!! lol ...or do you use a weighted vest?

I don't care about being the fattest person in the room I've been over 200 pounds since I was a teenager I'm used to it. What bothers me is I need a cane everywhere I go and I can't do literally anything anymore. I can't walk in a store I have to stay in the car, I have to have help with bathing, I can't take showers I have to take baths because I'm too fat even for a shower chair. It's just getting out of hand. I'll be glad when I instantly lose like 10% of my body weight. Can't wait for October 30th so they can set a date already and tell me how the psych eval went in detail. Just saying "I have nothing to worry about" isn't enough for me lol.

Hey! I think the important thing to remember here is that everyone is different, and at 6 weeks you are still quite early on post-op and your body is likely still healing The weight loss will happen for the first 18 months according to my surgeon, regardless of the rate of losing, so just know you are on the right track, and a loss of 10kg is absolutely amazing! Celebrate your wins, be kind to yourself, you are doing great

Not that uncommon and comparatively not more strict. There are variations between surgeons and surgeries with many of these things. Sometimes it’s also related to you, your health, how much weight you have to lose, your relationship with food, etc, Not being allowed carbonated drinks is common. The differences arise in length of time of this avoidance and then whether you can tolerate it. Also you may be allowed sparkling water that you let go flat a bit but not sodas. Same with alcohol avoidance but there are three main reasons often behind this. One is concern for addiction transfer which can occur after weight loss surgery. Secondly, alcohol is calorie dense and offers no nutrients which are vital while we are losing and eating small portions and lastly it will slow your metabolism & dehydrate you. Again some surgeons just put a time frame on it but it does depend on your surgery too. Caffeine is another thing that is allowed by some surgeons and not by others and again there can be differences in for how long you should avoid it. Deconstructing meals is not a forever thing. Certainly while losing, focussing on eating the protein component of your meal first is very important. If you are able after you’ve eaten the protein in your meal. you then can eat your vegetables then any carbs you are allowed. (There were many times I could only eat my protein at a meal and nothing else.) This is because of the small portions we can eat initially & the necessity of getting that protein in to meet your protein goals. It does make tracking your food much easier too. When you near your goal, and are eating larger portions, it’s not as important to eat your protein first but you must continue to hit your protein goals forever so it will be something of which you are aware when you’re eating. In saying that I often ate soups, stews & casserole type dishes, omelettes, etc. which combined protein & vegetables while losing but not every meal and not every day. Actually not allowing protein shakes is also not uncommon. For example, in the UK, many aren’t allowed protein shakes in the pre surgery diet (they drink milk instead). Protein shakes aren’t the sole source of protein & nutrients in that first stage after surgery. Bone broths, consommés and cream soups are also options. Thank goodness too because after surgery those protein shakes can be disgusting. I found them unpleasantly grainy and crazy sweet & struggled to drink one a day. Best advice is to follow your plan while you are losing.However, if you find it difficult to tolerate your food options or to reach your goals ask for alternatives that will allow you to still meet protein goals & other nutrient requirements within any calorie guidelines you are given. How and what you eat once your weight has stabilised is up to you, what you’ve learnt about your eating and relationship with food and if it allows you to maintain a lower and healthier weight & lifestyle.

@Mspretty86 I think if I lost more weight I would look frail and I want to look strong and fit. Once I get my boobies in 6 weeks I am going to be feelin' myself HAHAH!!! 😂 Thank you!! We are all winning!! I was strolling on Youtube and this guy who is a personal trainer, Trent Harrison, posted a video how we cannot always live our life in a calorie deficit, that being hungry is normal and a good thing! He has realistic foods that we can buy from a ton of places with high protein and low carb/cal. I have been really trying to dig deep- last couple of weeks I have been binging/grazing and just unmotivated for some reason, like I would still do my workouts but kept looking at the time because I wasnt feelin it or just doing an "easier" workout to say I worked out, but I snapped outta of it and back at it! Now I am feeling like myself! Try out her channel, tomorrow I am doing her glutes and I know I will be feelin it tomorrow whoowee! I used to follow Sydney Cummings- dont get me wrong she is good, but I needed something that pushed me harder and this chick does that. Lemme know what you think!!

If you’ve read all the posts, I’m sure that you’ve seen that most people drop when they finally do drop a chunk of weight like more than 1 pound I think one time I lost 4 pounds after a stall with my sleeve. 🤞

No! No! No! Besides why would you? Let’s be honest. We enjoy eating. The smell, the textures, the flavours, the look and sometimes the sound of food ( like the crunch of an apple) is appealing & gives us pleasure. We celebrate with food. We share food with loved ones. We give thanks with food. Why would you sacrifice that to drink a protein shake for every meal? Yes, you may be prescribed shakes in your pre surgical diet and you will be prescribed them for usually 2 weeks after surgery. The pre surgery shakes are to increase your weight loss to improve your surgical success odds & to shrink your liver so the surgeon can see the surgical field more easily. Post surgery it’s to support your healing & not strain your digestive system (remember all those sutures & stables holding it together). Short term reliance on shakes. The goals of the surgery include you changing your relationship with food and establishing a healthy, nutritionally dense, sustainable way of eating. Drinking shakes for any extended period of time is simply not sustainable. It’s not nutritionally sound, only gives more power to cravings, creates new bad relationships with food and will highly likely result in weight regain & poor health. Key word here is supplement. If you are struggling to get your protein in via the real food you eat, sure a protein shake can be beneficial as a supplement to your earring. Same with any vitamin or supplement. If your body is lacking in specific vitamin or minerals, sure take a supplement but they should never be what you totally rely on to get the nutrients your body needs to function unless you have a specific medical condition that means you can not eat real, solid food. I never touched another shake after I began purées (start of week 3). My goal was always to get all the nutrients I needed through real food. And I do. I don’t even take vitamins now (except in winter when I have a dip in my vitamin D - I feel the cold so hibernate in winter & rug up if I have to go out so little sunlight for me then). Ask your nutritionalist, surgeon & GP. I bet they agree with all of us.

There are so many different studies on the effects of caffeine on weight loss outcomes, but I cannot find anything specific to our population. Maybe someone else has a resource to share. As for the restrictions, usually the warning is that caffeine is a diuretic and appetite suppressant. That can seriously impact hydration early on. But every program is different, mine didn’t particularly care if you had coffee/tea but you couldn’t count it towards hydration. Here’s an interesting (mouse) study on matcha and it’s effects on obesity (through the liver gut axis) https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.931060/full Anecdotally I’ve never stopped consuming tea (including matcha) but I was never asked to, thank goodness 😅

Thank you for your encouragement! I am at a plateau in my weight loss journey. Somewhat discouraging. I am exercising, measuring, and getting my protein in. Worried I am not getting enough hydration (noticed some dry skin on my legs). Wishing you continued success throughout your journey!

5 months into GB (surgery date 5/9/24). Ive lost 44lbs in 5 months and have a goal to loose 50 more. Weight loss has reaaallly slowed down to next to nothing. Thise 3 lbs came back and i lost 1! I have started walking more. I do notice I’m craving sweets. I also notice i don’t seem to have dumping syndrome that many of you talk about so i really don’t fear eating things i shouldn’t. That scares me because i think thats part of the equation with this surgery. Today gonna start concentrating on how do i feel. Am I really hungry or just craving something.

On 1/22/25 I had surgery initially to bring my remnant stomach down from my chest and they said while they were in there, they'd repair a hernia.. It was done robotically, so I anticipated the dreaded CO2 shoulder pain. I was up & walking, doing what they recommended & was discharged the next day.. After about 48 hours, it had subsided but had occasional twinges.. Unfortunately, I wasn't informed that I would need to be on straight liquids, but I had a Roux-en-y in 2008..so piece of cake. What wasn't so simple was taking my various pills & having one get stuck 3 days post-op. I had no choice but to throw it up. Apparently that caused swelling, so I ended up in the ED... After about 10 hours, the swelling reduced & I was able to swallow again. After a few days of taking bare necessities, I flew home to CO. I will be doing my 2 week surgical follow-up via tele-health. However, I am now 10 days post op & I am having intermittent what I assumed was CO2 shoulder pain. It is excruciating and extends up my neck & radiates into my ear. I couldn't figure out why I was suddenly having shoulder pain again as the CO2 should be out of my system by now. After reading about everyone else's experiences, at least I know I'm not crazy but hope that the stress and swelling after the pill incident didn't mess things up. Needless to say, I will be calling my surgeon first thing in the morning. BTW.. Even though I had some complications after my bariatric surgery in 08..I would do it ALL over again. No regrets.. I was 333 pounds the day off my surgery and 169 today.. And here's something only a bariatric patient will appreciate.. At 5'8", I was no longer considered OBESE, just overweight.. That is until osteoporosis hit and I am now 5'3, still 169 but back to being obese.. It sucks cuz I have maintained my weight between 167-169 for over 15 years but I can't control the fact that I shrunk 5 inches in the past 6 years.. The joy of getting older 😁 Thanks to everyone for sharing and saving my sanity..

Thank you @GreenTealael 💛 Woo Hoo for being sub-target once again @FifiLux👏👏👏 It does give a bit of a boost doesn’t it? Especially knowing that the odd gain can be tackled in a timely manner and be rid of. I had some beginner Pilates classes donkeys years ago and actually enjoyed them. Wouldn’t manage them now because of my knees but I would like to try it again once they are sorted out. I can definitely feel the difference in my muscles from upping my levels at the gym on Monday. Like you say, it’s a *good* pain! It’s interesting that your gym offers a body scan process? Mine certainly didn’t! @Bypass2Freedom I had prosciutto and burrata mozzarella to start, fillet steak with pepper sauce, small chips, mushrooms, grilled tomato for main and then chocolate fudge cake for dessert. I was happy with my choices and it really was a lovely meal 🙂 Our weather really isn’t good at the moment but then I read about how bad other places have it and I know we don’t have it that bad in comparison. Winter clothes? Mmm…I’m looking for jumpers but nothing is catching my eye particularly. At least with winter clothes you can get away with coming down a couple of dress sizes before having to bag them up and donate them! Did you get sorted for the gym?

My minister at church very concernedly asked if I was ok obviously worried I was sick. A neighbour, after congratulating me on how good I Iooked, ‘suggested’ I not lose anymore. My uncle commented I looked like death. I had people I’d known for decades not recognise me & then make a fuss even though I was only obese in the last 5 or 6 years & was often a healthy weight in the years they knew me. And so on. We talk about our body dysmorphia but I believe others experience it in how they see us. They have an image of us being obese and they find it very difficult to accept us not being obese. So you get told you’re too thin, wasting away, you’ve lost too much, you must be sick, or just plain rude and unkind comments. Some of those are from people who are jealous or bitter b**ches. Some are from people who feel more comfortable seeing you as obese and want you to stay in the fat friend box. And yes, some come from people who want to be supportive but can’t express it in a way that doesn’t come out wrong (critical or hurtful). In time you won ‘t get those type of comments. Eventually, people start to see you for how you are now as their perception changes. I haven’t had anything said to me for about 3 years now (well except for my sister-in-law’s cow of a mother last Christmas but I hadn’t seen her since before my surgery).

Oh my travel scale arrived the other day and while it is still cool, and less than 0.5lb off the main size one, I am disappointed in the weight of the scale itself. I am not sure I will bring it with me on my holidays like I planned as it is heavier than I was expecting based on the details and reviews etc. I will bring it with me on my work trip tomorrow as I have loads of room in my case but not sure about sacrificing the weight for my holiday to the US.

Sorry you're in pain. I don't know if I've lost enough weight to justify skin surgery. I love to see it before and after if you're comfortable with that. Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk

Tbh...there is no "best shoe for walking." One type might be great for me and not you. Plus, one might be great for being 100+ over weight, but not at healthy weight. Your best bet is to go to decent podiatrist and ask their opinion or a shoe store and try them on, tell them what you are needing and looking for in a shoe.

There are lots of averages around weight loss and the different surgeries but, trust me, there are a myriad of differences around those averages. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s how they get those statistical averages. Everyone loses at their own rate and as with all averages, some will lose more or faster and some will lose less or slower. You’re losing and that is the only thing you should consider. If you are losing any amount, you’re winning. Celebrate every pound you lose. You’ve lost 10kgs! That’s amazing. Congratulations!

This is fantastic! I made a heavy metal song about losing weight called "Shredded to the Bone" https://suno.com/song/2a5b2b64-b16d-4650-80d3-93feb3caf4a4

I rarely bought brand new clothes while losing post-op. I love thrifting and had a blast as I shopped for smaller and smaller sizes. I sometimes hardly had a chance to wear some of the clothes I bought before I outgrew them. I go through my closet once a month pulling out what I have outgrown and donating. It's slowing down now as I near goal weight. When I was at my largest I could never find anything to fit me locally. I mostly ordered online and even then a lot didn't fit right. 4-5x Funny now that I'm in a smaller size, I'm finding cute plus size stuff. Go figure. But I ain't complaining. Here's a pic of my latest closet clean out. Yeah I wear a lot of black. I'm trying to change that but boy a few of these items were hard to part with. I did find a loved one who wanted a bunch of it so that made it a bit easier to let go.....