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Being kind to myself. All the physical things like fitting in seats, standing, clothes... All FANTASTIC! It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to do all the things that were challenging before. But being kind to myself. Remembering all my body has been through when I was at my heaviest, how I got there, my decision to change my like, and the journey to where I am now. What a story! I look in the mirror now and see a woman who got her life back and I owe it to her be kind. Does she like the saggy skin and no boobs? No, but they tell a story of overcoming and personal redemption. I'm kind to her on bad days when all she wants is chips and brownies. I'm kind to her when she gains a couple pounds. And I celebrate with her when she loses those couple pounds and gets back on track. My weirdest non scale victory is to love the woman staring back at me despite everything else.

When they do surgery often they tilt the table and it can put a lot of pressure on your lower spine/back. I've had multiple surgeries done and each time I have lower back pain for weeks because it pisses off the arthritis in my back when they tilt the table and I lay that way for hours. LOL I also got back pain as the weight started to come off at first. I don't know why it was worse then than now, but it was. I think it is because of the change in center of gravity, as noted above. If you notice you are needing pain meds for it or it is worsening, definitely ping your doctor about it. Oh and if you still have a uterus it could be cramping from that locale too. I used to feel that a LOT in my lower back before my hysterectomy.

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.

Nah, I haven't had any issues with this post-op once I was past the nausea phase 3 months out. And OMG sex is so much better with less weight on your body! My boobs don't try to suffocate me quite as much... 😂 Maybe your tummy is just having an emo week? Go to bland foods for a few days to see if it settles down. I always revert back to plain foods when mine gets cranky pants, it seems to do the trick.

Hate to tell you this, but unless some miracle has happened in the past year, there is no test a doctor can do in office for endometriosis. The only conclusive way to diagnose endometriosis is by laprascopic exploratory surgery or in some rare circumstances, an MRI, though they don't usually do those to diagnose it. Surgery is considered the only definitive way to know and usually they remove it in the same surgery, as much as they can. There are a number of tests that can be done to detect PCOS however and I agree with the above poster, that should have been a go-to for your GYN. As should an intravaginal ultrasound to check the lining of your uterus. Odds are you may have had PCOS when you were a higher weight, which could have caused you to not ovulate and shed your lining month by month, leading up to a thickened lining which when your body ultimately tries to shed it can cause a lot of pain and heavy cycles. This lining can easily be seen by ultrasound. The proper way to deal with that IS a D&C, but I wouldn't have a D&C (and I've had 3 of them over the years) without first seeing it on ultrasound. Ultrasound can also show things like fibroids which could have been caused by the odd hormone surges as you've lost weight. Treatment for fibroids is often surgery and I'd want to be sure they were knocking me out for the RIGHT procedure. I too would recommend you find a new doctor and get a second opinion. You are your most important advocate. ❤️

A good way to remember the difference is to ask yourself "Is this processed? If so, how much?" For instance, white flour is a simple carb, it has had the fiber and such stripped from it, which causes the carbohydrate in it to hit the system faster and spike blood sugar rapidly. Stone ground whole wheat flour is more of a complex carb, because it has the fiber intact along with all the nutrients that come with it and spikes the blood sugar less rapidly because of that fiber slowing the release. Eating it with protein and fat will slow the spike of blood sugar even further. Potato chips? Simple carb--they are white, starchy, and fried. A baked sweet potato? Technically a complex carb, though it does have a lot of sugar in it. Still, much better choice nutritionally than potato chips! Most fruits and vegetables are complex carbs, as their fiber and nutrients are intact. But some can be higher in sugar than others, so it is good to be mindful of their glycemic load as well. Whole grains like quinoa or brown rice and beans are complex carbs, though due to their high carb content they are best eaten in moderation. Most white, starchy, processed things you buy in boxes or bags are simple carbs. Cakes, cookies, white rice, sugar, semolina pasta, ice cream, all simple carbs. Most SADI and DS patients have issues with simple carbs causing gas, or large amounts of complex carbs. So, a big slice of cake may cause gas. A large fruit salad could also cause gas. Their sugar sources are different, but the digestive system sees sugar as sugar and reacts in kind. Apples in chicken salad? Probably fine once you are far enough out to digest fruit. A wedge of watermelon with a bunless hamburger? Also fine once you are far enough out to digest fruit. A few bites of cake or fruit salad? That may also be fine if you are able to practice restraint! Personally, at 6 months out, I have never had any issues with onions like I used to. But I cannot eat beans in any form, not even pureed on the soft food diet, they immediately went through me and caused gas! I can eat small amounts of a cooked fruit, like blueberry muffins, or frozen blueberries microwaved and stirred into yogurt. But I cannot yet eat fresh/frozen fruit. The nutritionist suspects it is because berries are really fiber dense. This is likely to change in the next year. But that first 18 months is prime weight loss time and prime weight loss is boosted by being in ketosis, which means I have to keep my fruit portions small anyways for now. Once I'm at maintenance I'll worry about adding fruit and complex carbs in. Right now I focus on protein, then low starch veggies, then a bit of starch if I have room, like a bite or two of potatoes (I'm Irish, I can't cut them out forever), or a few bites of quinoa.

You're only 5 days post op, so it could be constipation, gas from the surgery (it travels and causes A LOT of pain until it finally dissipates), your body recovering from the surgery, the weight starting to come off...any number of things. Make sure you're walking, getting your fluids in (especially fluids with protein in it), and take Miralax in your drinks to help move things along.

I can relate to being afraid of gaining weight after working so hard to lose it. We all deal with that here. But it's a fine line between being mindful about it and developing disordered eating habits. I can speak to this because it happened to me. I was dropping weight like a champ, then I hit stall after stall, and each one lasted longer than the previous one. And I would panic. And I would restrict the amount I ate, I would kick up the intensity and frequency of my work outs. I would have anger and confusion and fear anytime I either didn't lose or I gained a little (turns out, I'm one of the ones that gains 3-5 pounds during a stall and then just sits there for weeks and weeks. Then when the stall breaks, I drop like 6-7 pounds all at once). I had to actually go to a therapist that specializes in bariatric disordered eating (not easy to find, btw) to get my head on straight. And it's still a struggle sometimes. Especially since these last 11 pounds absolutely fight me tooth and nail and just don't want to come off. I said all that to say just be very careful. I never started out intending to have these issues. I thought I'd have the surgery, lose the weight, get healthy, and bada-boom bada-bing, life would be great. But it's never that cut and dry, is it? We can become obsessed with losing the weight, seeing how low we can get the scale, getting into that lower size, looking thinner, never gaining weight again, getting that bmi just a little lower.....and before you know it, you have a whole new eating disorder that's even harder to get out of and we're doing even more damage to our bodies without even meaning to. And we can justify what we're doing because HEY, we got off our meds, we're getting healthier, we're losing the weight, we're EXTENDING OUR LIVES damn it!!! And that's harder to overcome and harder to recognize and going too far than being obese is. We knew we needed help. We knew we were doing wrong. That's why we had the surgery. But now? Now it gets harder to see what we're doing because HEALTH!! WEIGHT LOSS IS GOOD!!! NO MORE MEDS IS THE GOAL!!! JUST A LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OFF CAN'T POSSIBLY BE BAD!!! So please please just be really careful with where you're at now and where you're wanting to get to. Lastly, on the days you're working out (especially the really hard weight days) increase your protein and calories. Your body thinks it's starving, so you need to reassure it that you're not. The heavier the work out, the more your body needs. You can't run a car without gas and you can't run your body without food. So give it what it needs, in the amounts it needs, and it'll do what you want it to. Make sure you also have a larger amount of fluids than you normally would on those days, too. Dehydration can really do a number on the body, as well.

I had a nice trip to Nantucket for the Daffodil festival this weekend. Lots of meals out. I had chicken teriyaki, poached eggs and kielbasa, smoked bluefish pate, mozzarella and beet salad, and scallops with bacon among other things. Got in lots of walking. Weight was unchanged this morning, but I'm curious if that is a mix of not enough water and too much salt from so many restaurant meals. So we'll see what a couple days of regular routine does for me. I'm grateful I have had no issues with foods for almost 2 weeks now. Hoping that means my stomach is finally healing properly.

Hi darling, Thank you for your elaborate reply, I appreciate it. So to answer some of your questions: I had the sleeve, it was the best option for my size and BMI. I do not have any comorbidities, on the contrary, I was healthy and worked out consistently for over 15 years. My problem is kind of unusual, I maintained a BMI of 22-23 my entire adulthood through working out, eating well, all sorts of cardio and resistance training, I actually am a certified trainer and nutritionist. Had my first child and snapped back, had my second and snapped back quickly too, then 2 months later my body blew up and I gained over 20 lbs in one month and struggled to lose weight after that. Back in 2022 I had a very bad foot injury practicing Taekwondo and was in a cast for 4 weeks, I couldn't move without pain and my mobility was greatly affected and I gained another 40 lbs and since then no matter what I did, how little I ate and how intensely I worked out I couldn't lose a single gram, my weight kept going up and my foot started killing me that I needed to bring my weight down, I even tried injectables (Liraglutide) and not a single gram dropped. So after struggling for 5 years and my foot injury worsening I decided to get the surgery. I know how it sounds being upset when I have reached my goal, it is just terrifying to me to gain weight again or go back to what my reality was pre-op. I really really don't want to be overweight again, hence wanting to lose a few more KGs to ensure that I have some wriggle room I try to get in 1-1.5 liters of fluid a day, keep my carbs under 55, try to hit my 65 grams of protein. I take my vitamins daily and I try to workout 3 days a week, doesn't always happen but I get in at least 2 sessions a week. Hope this answers your questions. Thank you again

I’ll add to @SleeveToBypass2023 response. We all carry our weight in different places. If you carried it in your tummy, this will take the longest to go simply because it has the densest volume of fat. For some it might be their thighs or their butts. Even when you get to your goal you may still carry some weight there. But yes as @SleeveToBypass2023 said, this will also likely be where you have the most loose skin after too. Out of curiosity, have you had children? There could have diastasis recti where the abdominal muscles that separate during pregnancy don’t rejoin after. It can cause your tummy to protrude. Congrats on your weight loss so far. Wonderful.

A few thoughts from my Sadi experience after nearly 10 years: - Nutritionists are like driving instructors who read a book about driving but never drove themselves. The same can be said for many doctors since only weight loss specialists understand the procedures. - Eat the basics everyday (protein, fruit, fiber), then mostly anything else. - Hydration is vital, I get mine from fruits, tea and water. I eat between 20 to 30 lbs of fruit per week (not kidding). It doesn't add weight. - Get exercise everyday, even just steps are fine. I'm a 6'1 male, 63 yrs old, weigh about 166lbs today. I lost about 152 lbs in year 1, gained back 25lbs after 3 years. Recently gained about 5lbs but working out a lot. I prioritize eating the basics daily, taking the vitamins (less than a DS'er), then eat whatever I want. I get exercise everyday by walking my dog, hikes, biking and going to the gym. It took me about 4 years to get in decent shape after surgery. Now workouts are just a thing I do everyday like any other activity.

Constipation is very common. So your pain may be from that. Remember even though you’re only drinking liquids, those shakes & soups have nutrients that end up as waste once your body has got what it needs from them. Your poop may be small &/or softer or you may have bouts of diarrhoea from all the liquid. Don’t expect to go every day either in the beginning. Back pain can also occur because of your weight loss. Many of us experience this as our bodies try to rebalance ourselves as we get smaller. Our muscles, tendons, etc. have been compensating for our heavier weight & now it doesn’t have to. Our posture & centre of gravity changes too so don’t be surprised when at odd times you lose your balance. The back pain can be from being moved about during the surgery too. But as with all things, if this seems strange or unusual for you or the pain isn’t manageable, contact your medical team. Better to be sure it’s nothing than something. Congrats on your surgery!

Hey yall! Anyone else in my shoes??? So it’s been about 15 months since my vsg! Maybe 6-8 months ago I started having irregular cycles, very painful cramps and odor. I have never ever had these issues prior to my vsg. I clean my private very well so when I started noticing an odor it instantly had me scratching my head. I haven’t changed partners, std free, same soaps and laundry detergent as well. My cycle would be between 2-3 times a month which is stressful and alot to deal with. The cramps have been painful to the point I'm bent over in pain or balled up in bed- neverrrr ever had this all my years of menstruation. So of course I mentioned it to my surgeon who said oh give it some time your body just went through a major surgery blah blah- cool. Well time turned into more time and decided to see gyn. Who ran std test which came back negative for everything, she did the endometriosis test which came back normal as well. So now I have to get a D&C done tomorrow for more “diagnostic” testing. They have yet to do an ultrasound hmmmm. I have a friend who had the same surgery vsg as me and she is also experiencing the sameeee exact symptoms as me. She has found out that she have cyst on her ovaries and need to have them removed. Have you or anyone else you know that have had weight lost surgery have any of these complications? What was the findings? Any success stories and or updates? Freaking out and stressing over this bc of course they are making it seem like it’s no big deal when it is to me!

Literally me lol I thought it was just big because I was so fat. Turns out, I have 3 EXTREMELY large uterine fibroids that I knew nothing about (found accidentally on a CT when testing for something completely different) and they are making me stomach the size of someone who is 5 months pregnant. I'm having a total hysterectomy on May 7th to take care of it. The part of your stomach hanging down is likely from being so overweight, and as you lose more weight, it'll get worse due to loose and stretched out skin. Honestly, there's not much you can do for that outside of surgery. I tuck it into my underwear and it's good to go lol

So...I'm struggling with how to answer this because I want to give you helpful information, but I still have questions. I guess I'll jump right in and see how it goes. 1) You started off at a lower weight to begin with, so your body is likely at the point now where it's at it's healthiest. As of right now, you're 5'5" and 136 pounds with a bmi of 22. You're exactly where you should be. If you lose 15 more pounds, you'll weight 121 pounds and have a bmi of 20. On paper, that's still healthy. But my concern is you're becoming addicted to losing the weight and even though you're exactly where you should be (and could even gain 10 pounds and still be where you should to be) you'll panic and possibly go about things in an unhealthy way to drop those pounds. 2) Were there other reasons besides your weight that led you to getting the surgery? Did you have any comorbidities such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, etc? You didn't mention that. My fear is, if you only wanted to drop weight and your bmi was 33 to begin with, and now you're wanting to continue to drop even though you're being told you look "stick thin" (and you're in the healthy range now but still want to go lower), that this might have more to do with the number on the scale than getting healthy. 3) Stalls are normal, and happen all the time. The fact that you haven't had one until 4 months out is actually kind of surprising. They do break on their own, but honestly, you may lose little weight going forward (and what you DO lose will likely come off slowly) since you're already well within the healthy and normal range and your body feels it's happy at its new set point. 4) Your body likely thinks it's in starvation mode, based on how you're working out and lifting and what you're eating. The harder the workouts, the more calories you need. Prioritize protein first above all else, then veggies, then carbs and healthy fats. But you definitely need to increase your calorie intake. This isn't necessarily advice for dropping more weight (although that tends to happen when things like this go on) but for healthy purposes. If your body thinks it's starving, it'll hold on to every single calorie and bit of fat. And it'll eat away at muscle before fat just to make sure you survive. So my suggestion is to increase your calories. I don't do heavy lifting, but I DO do weight training, and on those days, I go up to 1400 calories. Core and strength training, I go up to 1300 calories. Cardio I go up to 1200 calories. Non work out days I eat around 1000 calories. 5) You didn't mention what surgery you had, but I'm assuming it's the sleeve. If I may ask, what made you choose having surgery versus doing anything else for weight loss? Have you tried changing your eating habits before, did you try medication, or did you go right to surgery? How have you changed the way you eat, and what you eat, since the surgery? How much fluid are you taking in every day? How much protein and carbs are you taking in each day? Are you taking your vitamins every day? How many days per week are you working out (should give yourself 2 days off ideally, but for sure at least 1).

The little things are sometimes the best NSV. Just going into regular shops will never get old to me. Congratulations on your weight loss and the NSV.

hi guys! i did gastric sleeve on September 23rd of 2023. my height is 165 CM, my weight was 102 KG and as of today im 67.5 KG. i've lost weight from legs, arms, back,etc.. however im noticing that my belly is still hanging and big. is this normal? can it be some other issue that i dont know about? if anyone else is going through this or knows something about it, i'd appreciate the help because im getting extremely frustrated..

Hi there! Newbie here. Been reading a lot of the threads and already feel like a lot of you are my friends when I haven't actually spoken to any of you 🤣 I had my surgery on the 17th of December 2023 and my stats were: Height: 166 Cm (around 5'5/5'6?) Weight: 90 KG (198 lbs) I didn't do the liquid diet because my surgeon doesn't believe in it. Also, my surgeon specifically said "I will be very happy if you lose 20 KG (44 lb) but it's quite unlikely".I wan't heavily overweight and I was very athletic with a lot of muscle mass. Fast forward 18 weeks post surgery I have lost around 28.4 kgs (62.48 lbs) and my surgeon's mind is kind of blown lol, he wants me to stop losing but I do not think I am done yet. I get these comments that I look "stick thin" but mostly get many compliments as there is no sagging or loose skin (due to muscle mass pre-surgery). My problem is that I have hit my first stall ever this past week where I didn't lose anything (I was losing quite rapidly) and I am low-key freaking out. I still want to lose another 7 Kgs (15.5 lbs) just to have a wriggle room if my body decides to gain a little rebound weight later. I have started some heavy lifting the past week and man I am SO SORE so I think it's due to the inflammation? I am quite sad and disappointed to have not lost any weight the past week and I need some emotional support. I eat around 800 kcals a day with 65 grams of protein - give or take- (starting the past 2 weeks as I was still on a 300/400 kcal a day prior to that). Could that be another reason? Was anyone done losing at 4 months post op? While I know my weight is currently good/slightly under what is good for my height, I really want that wriggle room and I really don't want to be done so soon. Any advise?

Keep us posted about your weight, whether it continues to fall or stabilises. If it does stabilise, let us know if you feel you have lost more weight than what suits your physique.

I had VSG in 2017 and found myself pregnant with my first! I have not taken vitamins as I was supposed to post op. But I have been taking prenatal vitamins since finding out. I lost a total of 150lbs since surgery, and this last year another 20 due to stress. I’m concerned the weight loss will continue (I know I’m just stressing more, it’s kind of my thing) For you bariatric mommies, were you able to hold enough food for you and the baby?

1). I lost 16 lbs the entire first MONTH, and I went on to lose over 200 lbs. Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month (yes - MONTH). So unless you're an outlier or the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", you are doing very well! 2). sounds like you are experiencing the infamous "Three-week stall" right now - right on time, too! The vast majority of us hit our first major stall within the first month or so after surgery - and it's usually the third week;, hence, the name. If you google the site for the three-week stall, you will find something like 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding). A slight bump-up in weight is not unusual, either. It's almost certainly just water weight. The best thing to do is to continue to stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. As long as you remain compliant with your program, the stall will break and you'll be on your way again. It usually takes 1-3 weeks. 3). you won't feel much (if any) restriction or "full" until you move to solid foods. Liquids go right through you, and purees pass through pretty quickly, too. Plus you had nerves cut during surgery, and it takes awhile for them to start to regenerate. You'll feel it fairly soon. However, "full" doesn't always feel the same way for many of us that it did before surgery. I don't feel "full" the same way at all - it's more a discomfort - sort of like pressure - in my chest. Once I start feeling that, I know I'd better stop eating or I'm going to be sorry. Others have even weirder full signals - like a runny nose or sneezing.

Total Vs net carbs aren't really a thing this side of the pond. Disclaimer - I am writing this post with a glass of wine (completely useless carb) beside me, so make of it what you will. While you're in the active phase of weight loss post op IMO you should be minimising carbs. If you're not quite full after your protein and veg then have a little more veg. Or protein. Carbs are what make people fat - what made US fat. There are NO essential carbs (there ARE essential amino acids - i.e. protein - AND essential fatty acids - ie fats). Nobody needs refined carbohydrate to survive. If you absolutely have to incorporate carbs into your diet while still losing then keep them healthy. Carby veg, fruit, oatmeal, wholemeal bread/crackers, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, etc.

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So I was 6 days out from VSG surgery when I tested positive for COVID-19. I mostly feel fine, apart from my throat. It's really prickly and sore. To the point that I am really struggling to get anything down. It has gotten worse over the past 12 hours, to the point that I'm wondering whether the remedies I have used (Saltwater gargle, sugarfree difflam) have done more harm than good. My weight loss clinic doesn't open till Monday. I am really struggling here! 😫