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Hi. I had VSG on 3/27. I weighed 335 at my first doctor visit and lost 19 pounds presurgery. Anyways, I have been reading on here and I'm worried that my doctor should have recommended bypass vs. sleeve since I have so much weight to lose. He set my goal at 170. That's nearly 150 pounds. I haven't found anyone in here that has lost that much with sleeve. Am I worrying needlessly?

First, your BMR is a bit of a guesstimate, but 2100 isn't unreasonable for a guy. Some calculators/formulas are way off because they simplify things by using body weight, while it is lean or muscle mass that is the important factor (all that extra fat we carry around does little to BMR, though whatever extra musculature we may have to carry around that extra fat does help. There are some tests that they can do (VOx, etc.) that can give a closer reading to your personal BMR, and many body composition scales give an OK estimate based upon their reading of your lean mass. The most important thing is at what caloric level is your weight stable - that gives the best clue as to where you stand metabolically. My BMR was probably around 2100 also, though my stability point by experience and tracking intake was in the 2600-2800 range (consume more consistently and I would gain, consume less overall and I would lose.) BMR represents our resting metabolism, while the extra burn if from exercise and daily activities; most calculators and tables (and ourselves) tend to over estimate the burn from exercise. After surgery, and you lose what you are going to lose, you will likely have lost some muscle mass, I lost around 10 lb) as you aren't carrying that extra 100, 200 or whatever pounds around with you 24/7, so your BMR will likely decline some, but not a lot (maybe down to 2000). This is why most programs emphasize getting in adequate protein, and doing some load bearing exercise, to minimize the loss of muscle mass, to keep our BMR up. If you can maintain a diet of 1100 calories (not at all difficult for the first year or so post op) that will yield a caloric deficit of around 1000 calories to your BMR (and likely more considering activity burn,) which will equate to an average loss of around 10 per month (more initially, and tapering off over time) - that's about what I did at 1100 calorie average, and my final few months before goal was a consistent 10lb per month loss; after goal and into maintenance, I settled into around 2100-2200 per day to maintain a stable weight. Some people, particularly the shorter ladies, may be stable at 11-1200 per day after all is done, so they will need to go much lower to lose their excess weight - this is why we see 6-800 calories as a common intake for the loss phase, and they will often lose more slowly because they have a lower caloric deficit (figure about a pound per month per 100 calories in deficit, on average.) In short, figure on 1000 calories or so while losing, and probably around 2000 or so, give or take, to maintain, as a quick guesstimate.

I will ask your doctor to confirm since surgery does mess with your hormones. It took me a month to get my period which I didnt have for almost 10 months before that, and then I had a period every 2 weeks until I hit my 4th month. Sent from my SM-S916U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi there! I am 4 weeks post op from my VSG. I started at 195, lost 12 lbs pre surgery, and 15.4 lbs since surgery. So down 27.4 lbs total. I am now at 167.4. I am hoping to lose 10 lbs in the month of April, to get me to 158 by end of the month. I’m am just coming out of soft foods phases, and am taking it very slow— still very focused on getting fluids in. I have been drinking two protein shakes a day with several VERY small “meals” a day- but am starting to think through how i can up my protein with real food and drop to one shake a day. No real hunger driving me, just trying to get the basics down before branching out too much on the food.

Christi, I am in the same boat. I was sleeved on 3/9 and have only lost 10lbs! I did not loose ANYTHING for the first 10 days & was completely flat. I was not gone above 500 calories the entire time, and have reached my protein goal 2 days only. I am 55 yrs old so I knew my weight loss would be slower but it is frustrating when you see other people doing less exercise and more calories and the weight falling off quickly. You are correct, don't compare yourself to anyone. We all have different bodies, different metabolisms, even different body types loss at different rates (eg, apple shape vs pear shape vs extra weight in extremities, etc). We are all different and none of us will have the same experience. Keep your head up, keep working your program and you and I will both get the results in our time! 🤗

19 months post op and I still have to let everything go flat before I can drink it. I will have one of those mini Coke Zeros like once a month that's gone flat but thats about it. I only do non-sparkling mixers and wine when it comes to alcohol, too.

Not to mention some people aren't ever really able to tolerate a lot of "soft carbs" that swell in the stomach...I'm almost 19 months PO and still have trouble with rice, pasta, and potatoes.

Thanks for the question and the link. I'm not there yet, but better to be prepared. I've lost less than 5 pounds in 10 days, but at least I've lost. Hoping it's inflammation from the surgery or even constipation because I'm still on full liquids and sticking to my plan.

My surgery is April 10. I’m having Gastric Bypass.

For those of you who had gastric bypass and hiatal hernia repair, how long did it take for the pain to improve to a level you weren't exhausted or needing stronger pain meds? I'm on day 3 post-op. I can feel things improving little by little but still really painful to walk around any longer than 10 minutes. I know to be patient, but of course still anxious to be in the world of the living again. 😅 Thanks in advance!

I've not lost any significant weight over the past two months or so. The scale barely moved down from 83 kg but I noticed some changes on my measurements. The clothes that I bought three months ago are loose now but not to the point that I have to buy new ones. I didn't weigh myself for almost 10 days and you can imagine my excitement when I saw the number on the scale I can't remember the last time I was below 80 kg. Maybe in my early teens. I'm now 9 kg away from my target and I can't wait to shed those. Fasting certainly helped break the stall for me. I hope to lose 5 kg more in the remaining 20 days of the fasting month.

Sounds absolutely perfect for 10 months out. You're probably in a stall - keep on doing what you're doing and it will break soon. I know it's frustrating but 91lbs in you are definitely the expert on your own weight loss!

Hope everyone is doing well! I finished my 1 month training program, start a 2 month one on Monday. My weight loss has been slow, I was going to say non existent but then realized I still lost almost 10 lbs this month. I knew starting weights was going to change the way I weight myself since muscle uses water to heal, but there were some weeks were I was loosing a pound. Once I upped the water, which I hit now 78-84 oz easily and my protein is on point, I started to loose again. But can't complain, really haven't had any stalls and if this can count as one, I'm grateful for it. Exercise made me hungry, like crazy hungry. There was a day where I was snacking on cookies, quest chips etc and realized I needed to stop before it became an issue, so I'm doing 3 meals and a protein shake split into 2 snacks. I'm also thinking of doing a few days of shakes only, if I see my weight not moving much this month. I want to be in onederland by 6 months.

Hope everyone is doing well! I finished my 1 month training program, start a 2 month one on Monday. My weight loss has been slow, I was going to say non existent but then realized I still lost almost 10 lbs this month. I knew starting weights was going to change the way I weight myself since muscle uses water to heal, but there were some weeks were I was loosing a pound. Once I upped the water, which I hit now 78-84 oz easily and my protein is on point, I started to loose again. But can't complain, really haven't had any stalls and if this can count as one, I'm grateful for it. Exercise made me hungry, like crazy hungry. There was a day where I was snacking on cookies, quest chips etc and realized I needed to stop before it became an issue, so I'm doing 3 meals and a protein shake split into 2 snacks. I'm also thinking of doing a few days of shakes only, if I see my weight not moving much this month. I want to be in onederland by 6 months.

I agree with what everyone has said. You are doing so well in regards to meeting protein & fluid goals. Many of us take weeks to actually reach them regularly. I wonder if you are doing a little too much physically this soon after surgery? It’s a pretty major surgery & while walking is great 30mins is a lot in one hit. It may be stressing & pushing your body too much while it’s trying to heal & recover. Try spreading the 30mins out over the day: 2x 15 or 3x 10. Everyone is different of course. Personally if I walked for 30 minutes the first two weeks (or longer) I wouldn’t have been able to move for the rest of the day. All the best.

Sorry that should read 10 lbs pre op diet for total of 20 lbs

Here is my story. I spent years stuck at 210 (I am 5’2) and thousands of dollars on personal trainers, nutritionists etc. watched and recorded everything I ate to no avail and of coarse the only scale movement would be I ate a cookie and gained two pounds. Meanwhile I began collecting every co morbidity - sleep apnea, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes , sever scaring on my liver. After two seperate per ate unsuccessful medically supervised diets I was advised gastric bypass was my best bet. I lot 10 lbs in the lead up (5 days a week of boot camp and strength training and keto diet). I lost another 20 lbs on the per-op liquid diet. Had surgery on March 29th. Lost 5 lbs in the first two days and have had no movement since. Walking 3 times a day at 30 minutes each. Drinking 70 oz of water and at least 90 g of protein plus all of the supplements. I know there is a three week stall but I am on a 3 day stall (at the time when weight loss is suppose to be the easiest). This was my last hope and I am starting to feel hopeless.

My Bypass is April 4th. I am new to this group. I am excited and nervous at the same time. The diet is going well though I did cheat a little one day. Hopefully it won’t matter since I am on the pre-op diet for 24 days. I have already lost over 10 lbs!

After dealing with switching from self pa to insurance, My surgery has been approved. I am very excited! Anyone else getting their's in June?

I had my ESG at Dr Batash's office on 23rd! I agree he is very charming haha. My nurse advised against blending my own food for puree, so wonder what was up with that..? How are you doing energy wise? I pretty much slept the next 3 days and still have very low energy. I've lost 10 pounds though which is insane to me!

I started my journey in January 2022, between all the appointments and getting approved for insurance my surgery date was August 2, 2022. The 2-week liquid diet wasn't too difficult up until day 10 ish I started to get a little over it, especially on the day of my birthday. I drank a lot of protein shakes (fair-life chocolate is still my favorite to this day) and ate a lot of applesauce, berries, sugar-free pudding, and Panera soup broth along with V8 & grilled veggie kabobs. I lost about 13 lbs on the liquid diet but aside from weight loss, the main goal is to shrink your liver. Day of Surgery I was scheduled to be there at 7 am and surgery at 9 am. I didn't go back till about 2 pm. My hospital stay wasn't bad at all. I actually was able to get around just fine with very little pain the entire stay. Getting in liquids was quite difficult but when you have nothing else to do watching the clock and drinking your liquids wasn't really that bad in the grand scheme of things. I only stayed one night and was discharged by 11 am the next day. First week home I was completely drained, and starving. Especially those first couple of days. I basically stuck to everything I had on my liquid diet aside from the berries and veggies. I got around just fine with very little help from my daughter. I was down about another 10 lbs in the first 2 weeks. 3 months out I was "only" 30lbs down from my surgery weight. I was really disappointed at the time but now looking back Averaging 10 lbs a month is pretty healthy. By that time I was eating pretty normally in the sense I wasn't as restricted. Exercising regularly. Had taken a week's trip to Disney World and had my energy back. On the downside, I got sick often. Meat of any kind never sat well with me or anything tomato based. I would end up purging often. I also had a lot of issues with constipation. I became slightly reliant on ducolax (would take every other day to avoid being bound up). I was very reliant on protein shakes, water, and v8. I remember thinking at one point if I knew it would be that bad Idk if I would have gone through with the surgery because I was so miserable (but so glad I did). 6 months out I was 45.9 lbs down from my surgery weight. I was low on iron and high on copper (pretty abnormal about the copper and they think there was a possibility that was inaccurate). I was completely drained and was blaming it on the cold and the weather, not really thinking my Iron was a possibility for how I was feeling. I didn't talk to my doctors about it sooner and I wish I would have. I was still sick often. Meat of any kind still not sitting well with me or anything tomato based. The doctors were kind of unhelpful and just kept encouraging me to keep trying, which was kind of frustrating because I felt like I wasn't being heard for the first time. My issues with constipation weren't as often and was only taking ducolax about 1 or twice a week compared to the months before. I became a lot less reliant on liquids. 8 months out I'm 55lbs down from my surgery weight. 83 lbs down from my highest. I work out 5 times a week and my eating has been dang near spot on, with a few occasional indulgences. If I feel drained I know it's because I missed a few nights in a row of my iron. I can eat pretty normal without the sick feeling but it still happens every once in a while. Constipation is super rare I feel like I hit a lot more stalls than probably most. Eating and physical activity def. go hand in hand and It can be really frustrating. Consistency is your best friend. Between logging your meals, protein & water intake & some sort of physical activity you'll get where you want. I don't think you will ever be fully prepared for what's ahead of you after surgery. I did the research for months to prepare myself and feel like it still wasn't enough. I feel so much more confident now, Clothes fit great. No worries about fitting into booths at restaurants or seats on roller coasters or seat belts on airplanes. I love to put on clothes that once couldn't fit and now are way too big on me. It helps me remember how far I've come even if the scale is disappointing. The biggest compliment I love to get these days isn't how great I look, but how happy I look. I get being nervous, we were all in the same storm as you just different boats. But rolling into that surgery room was the best decision I could have made. I feel like I got my life back.

Hi Nancy! I’ve been drinking the OWYN brand shakes with 30g protein. Also, Miso broth with silken tofu, 9g of protein. Zero Powerades and watermelon mint tea for some sweet flavors. Bottles waters & my Barimelts 3X aday. I’m currently on day 10 of the preop diet and 15lbs down so far.

@ADH868 Hey how’s your liquid diet going? I’m on day 10 🥹

Just got word. I'm having my lap band removed April 10. Then the plan is to do a gastric sleeve in three months. Just no success with band after 9 years. Plus my esphagus is in a snake figure and they had to remove most of the fluid from the balloon and Ive gained back 20+ pounds in a year.

Wow that's an amazing progress congratulations! I've lost 10 pounds in 6 days and thought that was a lot! Felt my first hunger pang this morning and panicked a little.