Search the Community

There also should be a thread for people having surgery in January if you haven’t found that yet search January in the search bar and it should pop up. Lots of people with the same nervous feelings that you have. Also, if you really have a lot of anxiety, I made lists and organized everything. I mean down to a tea. I got out my book that the surgeon gave me. I read it covered to cover and I made a schedule for two days before surgery. I mean every little thing I planned out. I have an anxiety disorder, so a lot of therapy has taught me to control what I can when I feel like something is out of control. Yours will be different because every surgeon is different, but here’s a copy of mine. I just found it in my phone. I shaved two days before because they don’t want you to have any fresh cuts because of infection and I’m a model patient because of my anxiety. 😆 I left my crochet bag in the car for my husband to bring up after I had a room and he seen if I was feeling up to it or not. I also had a second bag at home packed with things I would want if I was staying more than one night which was a good thing because I did stay longer. Anyways, some of these things may not even matter to you, but for me just planning it out so that I knew that I wouldn’t forget anything made me feel more in control of my part so once I got to the hospital, I was able to turn it over to them to do what they do every single day because I had done my part already. Also from my list anything that needed to be at an exact time, I set alarms in my phone and labeled them with what I was supposed to do like take that nausea pill or stop drinking liquids or whatever. Review Sunday night Two Days Before (Mon) Switch to the liquid diet. SHAVE, drop off donations and pick up Walmart order, Wash Comforters. 2:00 Therapy on Zoom Pack other bag for 2nd night (move my one rx tonight so I don’t forget and take it in the morning) The Day before: (Tues) Skip that one medication starting this morning, Pack hospital bag and crochet bag switch from full to clear liquid this evening, remove rings, change sheets, take my shower with the special soap, take the nausea pill at bedtime and of course nothing at all after midnight. Surgery Day: (Wed) Wake up at 3:30am and take my allowed meds with 12oz of regular sugar Gatorade- finishing everything before 4:30, (don’t pee) take my second shower with the special soap, toss towels in wash, brush teeth and get dressed (nothing on my body or hair at all except clothes). Then head to the hospital at 5:15. Also remember not to pee after that Gatorade because they need a pregnancy test shortly after I arrive at 5:30. *Bring bag, phone, bariatric book with questions, will, DL and ID. (Remind Hubby to bring a sweater) Surgery scheduled for 7:30am 🤞

It's valid to feel scared about this new experience and really good that you can express your fears to other people. My first thought as I'm reading this, though, is that your size is thoroughly unremarkable. It may not be where you want to it be, and you're doing great taking control of that and changing your life through having gastric bypass. But at your height and weight, surrounded by adults as you will be in college (and not middle school bullies), your weight simply isn't going to be a thing people notice about you all that much. I had my surgery when I was just slightly under where you are now, and I honestly had a friend (who is average weight/skinny) express total shock at my choice because she thought I was "only a little overweight" (while I thought I looked like a Macy's Thanksgiving parade balloon on two legs). Other people do not see us the way we see ourselves. In your mind, you seem to see yourself as worthy of being judged poorly and disliked for your appearance. I would ask, is this how you look at other people? Do you only befriend skinny people? Do you think fat people are terrible? Because if you do, that's a serious personality flaw that I would be way more concerned about fixing than my weight. And if you don't...neither do most people. Also, if they do? See my point about it being a serious personality flaw. Don't give that kind of person power over you. Your existence, exactly the way you are at any point in time, is not the problem. A person who is judging you for existing is demonstrating that their opinion is not worth considering. Most people don't notice weight first, unless maybe when someone is truly remarkable in size. Most people remember a person's confidence, humor, and overall disposition. They might remember a beautiful smile or a charming laugh, or maybe how you wore your hair or a colorful scarf. They want to be friends because they feel a connection to your personality, not because you have the "correct" size tag in your jeans. Again, if this is not the case, ask yourself why this is someone you want to concern yourself with. The person you want to be is not just a "skinny" person. At least, I really hope not. I would encourage you to make a list of 10 qualities right now that you want people around you to see and remember about you, and none of them can be about your weight or similar societal measure of physical attractiveness. Focus on that list. Do you want people to see you as smart? Kind? Funny? You can be all of those things today. You probably are all those things right now, if you let yourself believe that it's true. You don't have to lose a single ounce to make that happen. Do you want to be someone who takes care of your health? You're already doing it. Who eats right? Who exercises? You're that person now. Focus on the things you have control over. You don't get to choose your weight. None of us do. But you can make food and activity choices every day that promote a lower weight. You can't make a specific person or group like you. But you can be the kind of person many people will like. I wish you the very best of luck. I really wish I had known 30 years ago how absolutely, perfectly fine I was without changing anything, and how little other people's judgement actually mattered. It would have made so many things so much easier.

Wow that’s unfortunate but I know there are outliers. My friend lost all her weight really quick (too fast if you ask me) and now the maintenance dose for her is too high. She is having to go off of it because she cants STOP losing and she is getting weak because she can’t eat. I guess most people fall in between these two extremes. Hopefully before long all of these meds will be covered for everyone. They are doing so many studies and learning they work for so many things in addition to weight loss and diabetes. I think it’s just a matter of time 🤞

Research on GLP-1 agonists suggests that up to 15% of people are classified as "non-responders", meaning they don't experience clinically significant weight loss when taking them. It's possible you'd respond better to Zepound/Mounjaro, but there's no guarantee. If you're diabetic, you may have more luck getting Mounjaro covered?

That's beyond true! I think especially in times like now where I'm feeling my loss slow a bit, reflecting on just how different my body is really does help. Thank you so much ❤️

Oh wow, what a transformation. It is SO hard for us to see our losses as we go along. Or to acknowledge them, and the hard hard work that went into them, even if we do kind of see them. What stops us in our tracks are photos side by side like these. No denying what's going on with you!!!!

I had gastric sleeve done in Napa with Dr Perryman from Whole Health Weight Loss.

I have been on Wegovy for 6 months and have been on the highest dose for a month now. I have not had any side effects that I can tell, but I also haven't had any effects at all. No weight loss, food noise is still there and don't notice that I get full faster or less hungry. I asked my Dr about switching to Zepbound but my insurance won't cover it. Anybody else have this medication not do anything?

Yes! Cycling is awesome. One of my true joys with my weight loss, being able to get out on a bike. I road bike, mountain bike, and have a gravel bike in the process of being built :)

It's my 3 month anniversary since the surgery. Not much weight loss this month, but with Christmas I did a lot better than I though I would. I managed to lose about a pound and been gaining and losing that pound all month. But considering that this time last year I would have gained a lot more, I'm happy so far. In three months though, I've managed to go from a size 24 UK to a size 16 UK. What a difference three months has made.

We can probably all remember the nerves. It’s a journey for sure but you will be a few months out and in a new groove before you know it and well on your way to a healthier version of yourself. Take measurements and pictures now and along the way and maybe even write a letter now to your future self to read when the weight loss slows down to give you the motivation to keep it up. Answer the questions of what is your reason for doing this and what your wishes are for your future self. The mental is just as important as the physical in this so journaling and logging your progress using something other than the scale can be really helpful.

I went with the sleeve because my surgeon recommended this based on my age and general health (35, no comorbidities, no history of GERD) I went on the NHS here in the UK so as it was covered by public funds, I only got the choice of sleeve or bypass. I was also hesitant to choose the bypass because my mother had it, had insufficient weight loss and because her operation went wrong and the had to fix something years ago, they couldn't fix a bowel perforation that she had which she died of. So because of her history with that, I wasn't sure that I wanted to go that route. If my surgeon had recommended bypass, I would have chosen that.

As from these posts you can see you ‘re not alone in being anxious about your loss of routine due to surgery or injury recovery. I can add me too. I feared if I didn’t get back into doing some form of my stretching & resistance band routines I would never get back to doing it after my hysterectomy. My innate laziness and dislike of exercise would kick in again. By day 4 I just had to do something so I started very slowly. Didn’t over extend my stretches to anywhere near what I usually did. Avoided certain things. Interestingly there are contradictions with post hysterectomy exercising. No lifting for two weeks, then 5kg, then 10 then all good ( so by 8 weeks lift anything) compared to no heavy weights (>15kg) for 6 months. No core muscle work for 3 months vs start core muscle work at one week. You can understand why I took my own path. If I felt a pull or discomfort I stopped and/or avoided that movement for a few days. I can understand having to avoid upper body work but what about lower body? Like using ankle weights like @kristieshannon suggested when you’re able to walk or get some resistance bands to do some stretches either sitting down or on the floor. Don’t use your arms. If you have circular bands use a chair to brace the band or get your husband to hold the bands. I do some where the band goes around my ankles and below my knees and I pull one leg away from the other. Try deep knee bends, squats, ankle work, pelvic thrusts with feet on a wall, etc. So you’re not doing weight baring exercises but still working your muscles. Even if it’s not your usual routine make it a new, though temporary routine. All the best.

Can you spread your morning meds out so you’re not taking them at the same time? Even spreading them out over 30 minutes may help so you’re not taking large mouthfuls too close together. I can do two mouthfuls to swallow meds but not a third. Struggled to take a Serc tablet one morning for my meniere’s vertigo. Just couldn’t swallow it as it was sticking in my mouth. Finally after 4 mouthfuls I got it down. Then I swear I took 3 steps to go back to bed and up all the water came (& the med 😩). Are any of the meds multi vitamins? Vitamins are renown for making you feel blah or nauseous. Can you split when you take them like I used to take one in the morning and the second one at night. PS Congrats on your weight loss so far. Fantastic!

Hello everyone! I kind of disappeared during the holidays but came back by to poke my head in and see how others were doing. Seems like most of us are plugging away at this 'getting healthier' thing. Reminder (and FYI for any who read this and didn't know) I got the SADI surgery, which is the intestinal revision with the sleeve all in one go initially. This makes me feel extra obligated to update for some reason - maybe because I had to dive so far into my journey to find this option and how eager I was to hear about the results from others. So - my surgery was Sept 5th, and I lost 10 lbs in my pre-surgery liquid diet, which I had for one full week. On the day of surgery I was 352 and now, about four months out, I've lost right at about 70lbs. The weight loss has slowed a bit as I found my balance but I'm still losing 1-3lbs per week on average, about 7 lbs lost in the last 30 days. I got through my weight loss stalls by eating more, as I was only getting around 500 calories per day for a while as I maintained ketosis, with VERY few carbs. That was nice, but my energy was lacking. I shifted to included more fruits, veggies, and upped my protein from 60g per day to more like 75g. Now I get around 900-1200 calories per day, try to really focus on getting my water for the day, and angle for simple protein snacks with a small carb total when I get hungry. I have found cottage cheese to be a life saver as a replacement 'side' - and stirring it into my salads gives the salad more bulk and makes it easier for me to feel full. Eggs are not quite as weird for me as they were for a while - I still prefer boiled eggs over scrambled or fried. I do aim to get at least 5k steps per day and usually make that goal.I definitely slacked on exercise around the holidays and did snack more than a few times on things I shouldn't have. I feel lucky that my intestinal malabsorption keeps me accountable for poor choices. I have gotten the foamies once - and have overeaten like three times by a few too many bites. I feel like my relationship with food is much healthier and am far more likely to cook now as opposed to grabbing greasy garbage food. However your path feels like it's going - this is a great time to correct the course if it feels a bit off track. Your bodies are working for you, and you are working for those bodies! Kudos to all of us for taking these steps to a healthier lifestyle! Remember, too, that no one day of slipping up is going to sink you. As I said to my perfectionist son the other day - an A in school is 90%-100% (generally, anyhow!) so it's still an A even if you slip up one out of ten times ❤️✨

Another factor is insurance. For example, I know my insurance would happily (as happily as they do anything) cover sleeve or bypass. Meet the requirements and you could have either one of those, no questions asked. Everything else was considered "experimental" and was not covered. Based on my brother's experience of significant regain after sleeve, plus not wanting to risk GERD and the possibility of a revision, I opted for bypass right out of the gate. I felt like that would be a one-and-done surgery, and I have zero regrets. A few key differences to consider are bypass is a stronger metabolic surgery, so you tend to get more durable weight loss if you look at 5-10 years post-op. But weight regain after sleeve can be managed with GLP-1 meds (if you have coverage or can pay out of pocket). If you have reflux or diabetes/pre-diabetes, seriously consider a bypass as this surgery is great for reducing or eliminating these conditions. If you smoke or require a lot of pain meds, seriously consider sleeve because your risk of ulcers with bypass is elevated by smoking and NSAID use, and the ulcers are very hard to cure. Dumping can be unpleasant but managed through dietary choices. I have had a couple very minor instances of dumping. Once after eating too much sugar (I absolutely knew better when I did it), and once after a few bites of a very rich, very fat-filled Thanksgiving side dish (this one surprised me). In both cases, my heart raced for about 15 minutes to the point my Fitbit thought I was exercising and awarded me "zone minutes." For me, that was the extent of it and nothing I couldn't handle. I'll just avoid that green bean dish next time. Some people do get worse responses. A lot of people never dump at all. One thing to consider if choosing a less-known surgery in the US is your doctors outside the surgeon who performs it may not be very familiar with it. Everyone should know what a bypass or a sleeve is. Hospitals or EMTs might not know much about your anatomy with a MGB or a DS, and that could cause delays in treatment, which in an emergency might become an issue. Not to say don't get those if they're right for you, but you may have to spend more time educating yourself and your healthcare team if you do.

I live in a rural area. I too hate the gym but love walking. I get out at least 3 times a week, I need the alone time. I come home refreshed and ready for anything the family can chuck at me. I also work 1 day a week in a Charity Shop and oh boy this is physically hard work ! I come home battered after 9 hours there. Whole body and mind exercise This is all I did for weight loss and how I maintain

Its early days, lots of us find some foods totally repellant, for me it was foods that I loved. pre surgery. Chicken, fish and especially salmon were very off my menu. If I even thought of them I heaved. It was like being pregnant all over again. Then some kind soul on here explained that as we loose fat cells they release hormones. Early on we are flooded with these cells because we are loosing so rapidly. It does settle down as weight loss slows. At 3+ years fish isnt totally off my menu but it isnt front and centre either. Eggs revolted me before surgery, now I eat them most days.

Ugh. It pisses me off when doctors make any of us feel like some number they come up with is applicable to each of us when even we know that all of our bodies are unique and the complexity of obesity. A weight difference of three pounds could be ANYTHING!! i know this is a little different because it chemo but it’s really not because like anything it’s not true weight gain so an example is when I come home from chemo I weigh about 6-7 pounds more than I did that morning and the next day. But everytime, the following day I drop it all. I don’t understand the science but it’s something to do with inflammation that any of us could have for various reasons to some degree. Also three pounds I know for a fact I have lost from a bowel movement. I always weigh myself first thing in the morning and I weigh about 3-4 pounds less than if I weight myself later in the day. . Long story short three pounds is absolutely nothing to stress about and if your doctor does then either smile and nod and tell them you will do better or express how ignorant they are being but whatever you do, DO NOT let that get under your skin!! Your loss is incredible. As @Justarwaxx suggested, Don’t let anyone negate how hard you have worked. Instead Celebrate your amazing progress and if anything use his or her ignorance to fuel you and keep going. 100 pounds is absolutely Amazing and takes real lifestyle changes to accomplish. All you have to do at this point is to stick with it and the rest will come off in a matter of time. The time may vary person to person but it will happen. You’ve got this!!

You're doing an incredible job! Honestly, it’s frustrating to hear about doctors who express disappointment even when patients are clearly making amazing progress. You've lost 60 pounds in 5 months—that’s phenomenal! Weight loss isn’t always linear, and the fact that you’re still losing and so close to your goal is what truly matters. You’ve already proven your dedication, and you’re clearly on track to hit that mark soon. Don’t let any external pressure overshadow your success. Your body is adapting, and you’re working hard—be proud of that. At the end of the day, it’s your journey, and no one has the right to diminish your accomplishments! Keep going; you’ve got this!

Dr Matthew Weiner is a great resource so am glad @NickelChip recommended his video. Another is Dr John Pilcher also a great source of information. It’s not really about popularity or the most performed but about which surgery is best for you. Your surgeon should really take into consideration your current health status and history, your weight loss and gain history, your current weight and how much would be beneficial for you to lose, etc. Also discuss the possibility of side effects like malabsorption, dumping, reflux, regain with the surgeries and what you might be willing or not to live with or manage. Do your research, watch these videos and others they may have and prepare questions to ask your surgeon. If you don’t think they’re as comfortable doing one surgery over another or you don’t feel comfortable with their responses, seek a second opinion or a referral to another surgeon. And remember there are other surgeries beside sleeve and bypass so look into them as well (Sadi, duodenal switch,, RNY, or a mini bypass). I would avoid a gastric balloon or gastric banding but that’s my opinion only.

Congrats on the weight loss and the anniversary! The most important thing is to find something you enjoy because the likelihood you will continue to workout will go up tremendously. As such, I'd actually recommend trying a lot of different things. From a health perspective, I'd strongly recommend at least 3 days (though 4 or 5 would be better!), of some sort of aerobic activity (a.k.a. cardio). This can be walking, running, elliptical, biking, hiking, rucking, as well as group classes. Really anything that gets your heart rate up and keeps it there during the exercise is fair game. Start with where you are on this. If you can only do 5 minutes right now, that's fine, but do try to increase that over time to about an hour per session. I also recommend at least 2 days a week of strength training. That again would be a minimum, because just like for the cardio, more days would be even better. Just be careful that you give yourself enough time in between training to let your muscles recover. My number one suggestion would be to enlist the help of a GOOD Certified Personal Trainer to assist you with program design. Note that there are some really good CPTs and unfortunately some really bad ones. You might want to ask around your network to see if anyone has a recommendation? There are just too many variables involved in developing a good strength training plan to provide a recommendation here. At a minimum, a plan has to consider exercise selection, exercise form, effort level, volume, intensity, frequency, and tempo. Some of these variables are highly dependent on things like your current gender, age, strength level, mobility, trainability, as well as any physical limitations you may have. The point is that program design should be tailored specifically to YOU, and that's really not something I could do via a forum like this. Also, in my many years of experience in the gym as a competitive powerlifter, I've seen way too many beginners make horrible mistakes that could have been avoided with some guidance. These are generally mistakes a good personal trainer can help you avoid. Some of those mistakes will just lead to poor results, but some can end up really hurting you. If a personal trainer is just not in the cards at this point, I would caution you to avoid weight machines or free weights for now. As a beginner, you can make tremendous gains just doing bodyweight exercises and there is a lot less risk of injury taking that approach. Feel free to Google bodyweight beginner routines, just keep in mind that some (just like the CPTs), are really good and some are really bad. At a minimum, I'd want a program that has all of the following: Bodyweight squats of some sort A lunge movement of some sort (I'm partial to front foot elevated rear lunges, but the actual type is not really that important at this point.) If lunges are painful for you, an okay alternative might be a bridge exercise A pressing exercise (probably pushups, but if you can't yet do regular pushups, start with elevated pushups) A pulling exercise (Ideally, this would be pullups, but I recognize these are hard for most beginners, thus an inverted row might be a good alternative Some sort of core exercise. A lot of programs have people doing planks, but I'm personally not a huge fan of planks in any form. I'd much prefer to see something more dynamic like a mountain climber, dead bugs, or hanging knee or leg raises. Best of luck!

My understanding is sleeve is more prevalent as a first time surgery, but a not-insignificant number of people have revision from sleeve to bypass down the road because of GERD or insufficient weight loss. There are reasons you may choose one over the other, and you want a surgeon who is just as comfortable with either. If he is suggesting one because he's better at it (sleeve is a much easier surgery to perform) then he is not the surgeon for you! This video has some good information on both surgeries from a doctor who does both:

Happy New Year! 🎉 I absolutely love your mindset and energy—it’s so inspiring! It’s such a huge shift to leave behind those weight-loss-focused resolutions and instead embrace the positives of where you are now. You've already accomplished so much, losing over 40 lbs is incredible, and feeling lighter and better in your body is such a win. 🙌 Focusing on the present and living fully is such a beautiful way to approach life. You deserve to wear that dress, enjoy those experiences, and celebrate yourself right now, not just when you reach a certain goal. Your journey isn’t just about the destination, it’s about living and loving every step along the way. Here’s to a year of living authentically, celebrating every win (big or small), and feeling great in your own skin. You've got this! 💖

I always liked VB dresses too - very elegant and well tailored so was so glad to find this one. Have another I’m saving for my niece's wedding (in October) but unfortunately paid full price for that one. Am keeping my eye out for another bargain one. I used to say my legs were only good from the ankles down. 😁 Though my legs look better now since my weight loss (calves aren’t so big), I still like a longer line for certain dresses. Pretty easy for us shortees though. Tee hee! This dress is probably tea length or just below the calf on taller girls.