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Had mine at 43. I’m 46 now. Lost all my weight too. I still have to monitor myself and keep myself in check but for me it keeps me accountable. You can do it😊 keep us updated

Congrats on your weight loss! Sorry to hear about that intense heartburn. Does your program have any recommendations for how to prevent this? Was it due to any specific food or eating pattern? Hope that gets better. I need to work on arm and leg toning also. I'm glad it's not as bad as I've heard it can be. All the best for getting to your goal weight! You are so close 🙂🤞👍

I had RNY at age 55. Lost 100% of my excess weight (over 200 lbs). It was slower than average, yes, but I was very committed to my program and far exceeded my goal.

since the average weight loss is 60-70% of your excess weight, you've done very well!!

rate of weight loss varies so much between people depending on so many factors that it's pointless to compare yourself to others. I was a slow loser, and I started at almost 400 lbs. People who start at a low BMI (for a WLS patient) are pretty much ALWAYS slow losers. What was your starting BMI? if you're following your program and keeping active, that's pretty much all you can do. You can't control your gender, age, metabolic rate, genetics, starting BMI, etc - and those will all influence your rate of weight loss. If you stick to the plan, you WILL lose the weight, whether fast or slow.

Hello everyone. I'll be 4 months post op on the 14th.. lost 71 pounds so far and about 15 pounds from my goal weight. Right now just working on toning my body because im noticing loose skin in certain areas. As well as trying to eat more to maintain my weight. The only issues I notice so far is a lot more painful heartburn that almost sent me to the ER and the occasional constipation but besides that everything is going well. Happy to see how everyone's progress is going.

There’s so many to list. - not having the bone pain from excess weight - not being on a list of medications -being able to cross my legs again -being able to walk more without pain or sweating up a storm ..ugh -being able to cruise again without thinking I won’t be able to walk the ports - being more active

Deciding which surgery to have is not straight forward & it’s a good idea to ask for real life experiences to help you decide. Some factors will direct you more to one or the other more easily. Like some surgeons recommend bypass over sleeve if you have a larger amount of weight to lose. If you have reflux/gerd already the sleeve really isn’t for you. Then it becomes lifestyle choices, existing medical conditions, weight loss history, etc. that will influence your decision. I had sleeve surgery even though I had occasional reflux. I experience it more now but it manifests differently. One of the reasons I chose the sleeve was because it would change my digestion the least but also because I could revise to a bypass if I needed in the future. My tummy has always been a sensitive (lactose, spice esp chilli, fatty or oily foods, etc.) because of the reflux, a parasite in my gut, an acid tummy & just me. Consequently, I thought I’d be more likely to end up with additional food limitations with a bypass. 27 months on & I’m happy with my sleeve. There are odd foods I’m not good with. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes sit like a weight in my tummy. Dry meat & vegetables like char grilled ones cause the foamies & gagging. Oily fish upset me more now than before surgery. But this is very individual & you can’t predict it. Amusingly I’m way better with dairy than I was before - tossed that parasite with most of my tummy. I find it harder to find non spicy & non chilli food than foods I eat with my sleeve. Foods you struggle to eat in the first couple of months after surgery may be fine later on. Your tummy can be sensitive to begin & you might have episodes of diarrhoea, vomiting, dumping, foamies. It can help if you introduce foods back into your diet slowly. Most of this is temporary or only if you eat a specific food & I just try to avoid those I know upset me. Some people, though, seem to have no issues with food at all. These experiences seem to be similar across the surgeries. I remember my mother lamenting she didn’t know what food to buy when I visited her. The reality was she didn’t have to buy different foods or cook differently (mind you I’d always do the shopping & cooking when I’m there). I just bought my own yoghurt & protein bar snacks but otherwise we ate the same foods except she has dessert & slightly larger portions. You may choose to make a lot of changes to your long term maintenance diet (I have - rarely have sweet cakes, biscuits or desserts, no fast foods, etc.). You may chose to go the moderation path & still include the odd take away, sweet treat, etc. Doesn’t matter what form your maintenance diet takes it just has to be sustainable for you & how you want to live your life. Good luck with which ever surgery you choose.

Released the same day? I didn't think that was even an option! It sounds like I'll just bring my phone and kindle, plus I'm guessing my CPAP mask and such. I can't wait to lose enough weight to not need THAT anymore.

Awesome to hear that your heartburn is gone! Thats huge! Eggs were hit or miss for me in taking a break from them now. Congrats on your weight loss. And I can relate to the fun of unpacking a totem at the bottom of the closet and going "shopping". Woohoo! This weekend, I think I will be removing some larger items from my closet 🌞 I have mixed feeling a out that though. I have some nice items that now look like clown suits on me, hahaha. Glad that you are happy about your surgery! Have a great weekend!

Great news a out your A1c. Congrats! It's great that you can kick that medication to the curb. So, guess what. I typed my post this morning before I weighed. When getting ready for work, I weighed myself and my stall was broken! Honestly though, I thought the scale was messing with me when I saw the new number. LoL. You all brought me good luck, lol. 🤣 I know it doesnt work that way. I dont really change much except watch water intake and walking when I get a stall. They are so normative during this process that I accept them. I'm not racing to a finish line, so I'm not pressed for fast losing. Just safe and healthy weight loss is my goal. Hmm, I want consistent loss also, to be honest, but I'm ok if my body needs a week of stabilizing before we drop down again. Plus, I just hope the slower pace will help me not have as much loose skin. So far, that's not a huge problem. I noticed some areas that I'm wondering what will happen when I lose more weight in those two areas. So, I definitely need to get on tonight and strengthening. Thanks so much for sharing your update and your kind comment a bit me keeping our thread going. Thanks for being here. 🤗

I had RNY at 53 for medical reasons not related to obesity even through I was over weight. I lost 70 lbs in about 8 months.

Hi there! Congrats on your weight loss. Roller coaster is a great way to describe the process. Continue having fun with the clothes experience. 🙂

I had planned to start exercising as soon as my dr gave me the go ahead after surgery. However, I was consistently losing week after week and, while this might sound stupid, I felt worried to change anything that might then affect the consistent loss. I said to myself that if the weight loss slows down or stalls, then I would start to do more exercise to help get things moving again. So 5 months out now and I only walk/hike a couple times a week but that’s all. I have been really lucky to not stall so far (I weigh myself once a week only) and I still plan to increase my exercise if my loss slows down, stalls or once I hit goal to tone up, whichever comes first That’s what has worked for me so far but everyone is so different and has different goals to achieve. It’s all about what works best for you and what you’re comfortable with.

Not quite 4months for me yet (April 19th) but I am 7lbs from having a normal weight BMI! [total of 60lbs lost since I started this process] It has been years! I still eat mostly soft foods, fruit, salad. Cannot do chicken or scrambled eggs. But can do over easy eggs and tiny pieces of steak. Overall, energy level is good and heartburn is completely gone...thank goodness. Did not enjoy that at all! Been doing a lot of clothes "shopping" in my closet and a few totes of smaller sizes that I had stored away years ago. It has been fun! Best decision ever! 🙂

Maybe if you share what your starting weight is? For example: say you are starting at a lower BMI and thus a lower weight such as if you're starting BMI is 40 or your starting weight was 233 pounds then l would tell you that 22 pounds in 10 weeks is really fantastic for the weight you started at because that means that you lost almost 10% of your total body weight in those 10 weeks. If you start at a lower weight then you can't compare your weight to someone who started like me at 389 pounds because I would have needed to lose 37 pounds to equal the same percentage of weight loss as your 22 pounds. Comparing your weight loss to people who started at a higher weight is going to do nothing more than drive you insane! Trust me, you don't want to do that! We all lose at different rates because we all have different circumstances and each of our bodies works different. Also, daily weight fluctuations is 100% normal. You can expect your daily weight to be different on average of a 2-5 pound difference due to fluid retention, or your bowels being full. Hell, even inflammation or an upcoming or current period can cause your scale to have a higher number than you want to see. I had to deal with my hypothroidism causing more stalls than anyone I've ever seen on this site ever mention (literally went into one at least once a month from month three post-op to now. My longest one lasted 47 days) and yet I was still able to reach my goal weight. I've been in a stall since I reached my goal weight, admittedly, but I'm still weighing in at 179 (was 179.4 today, despite the fact that I had physical therapy just three days ago and am having a TON of inflammation and hip pain because of my arthritis, AND just started my period, tmi, sorry). I used to drive myself absolute crazy comparing myself to others wondering why my weight loss was so damn slow compared to everyone else and I hope you don't do that to yourself! If you keep with the dieting guidelines, and keep up the hard work, then your body will get there. It may just take more time then you expected, but you can do it! Please try not to compare yourself and your progress to anyone else. We really do lose weight at our own bodies pace, and so trying to match someone else is just going to drive you up a wall! You will stress yourself out and my PCP warned me that stress can cause weight loss stalls (maybe that's why I had so many lol. I get stressed out wayyyy too easily!). Anyway, I'm sorry that you're stressing out! It's pretty normal, I think. To stress out and think your weight loss is slow, I mean. I think many of us unintentionally thought we'd have weight loss like 'My 600 pound Life' despite the fact that none of us were that big. It's unrealistic to compare oneself to that since we generally have nowhere near as much weight to lose. Personally, I think you're off to a great start in your journey and I really wish you all the best!

50 y/o. VGS 3/5/21 down 64 since surgery and 94 since the first of the year. If you stick to your plan and exercise ( I walk and have a rower) You will lose weight! Best decision I have ever made.

I'm not sure about what insurance you have or if it matters but I only had to state what I've tried in the past to lose weight I didn't have to provide anything physical. Hope this helps. Sent from my SM-G991U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi! I would love some help from everyone I am 10 weeks post op and 1 day. I am only down 22 lbs from surgery and 31 lbs down in all. I see other people story and they are losing way more than that. Here is my breakdown I eat shrimp, chicken and lots of veggies my snack (if I can eat one) is a the skinny pop one bag I do weight lifting at the gym 5 times a week not a lot of cardio I am 5’4 and I’m 25 so I’m not understanding why my weight loss is so slow. Sometimes I even gain back a lb or 2 and then it goes away I’m stuck someone please help!!!

Thank you Matt for updating the post with a picture to bring this fantastic post up on my radar. Great details and I really appreciate graphs. I am one of those on the fence. I am 5 10, my high weight was 319. I have been around 315 for the last 7 years. I am 49 years old and pretty healthy. No comorbidities. Cholesterol, blood pressure, blood tests are all normal. I take no pills. But I am sick of wearing size 44 pants and 3x shirts. And I think once I turn 50, it is inevitable that I will start to get other health issues. I saw a surgent on July 23rd. I have a surgery date of Nov 12th. I have been eating very clean since that day and have lost 17 pounds in 2 weeks. My wife thinks the surgery is too risky and I could do it on my own. But she is very supportive either way. I have the option of having the GSV or RNY. My surgent's recommendation is GSV as A+ and RNY as A- for me. My insurance will cover both procedures. I am not afraid of the procedure. I am super worried about "the future", How much will my life change. Will I still be able to go to the shore and sit at one of the restaurants on the water and enjoy some blue crabs and a drink? Will I be able to invite friends over for BBQ? Will we be able to go out to dinner with another couple? For example, I am just about to go to Boston for sightseeing and to eat lobstah rolls and clam chowdah. Will I ever be able to do this after the operation? I guess I am mostly worried about the social interactions with friends. I am sure food at work and at home will not be an issue.

I'm 48 and in the beginning phases (dietician visits and tests) of bariatric surgery. I am probably getting the RNY. A lot of posts that I see are from younger women (which is great!), but I'm concerned that the weight will come off slower now that I'm older. Especially since menopause is probably around the corner. Could you share your stories (successes or challenges), so I could get an idea of what things look like for women close to their 50's. Thanks!

My first stall was week one I was still on clear liquid only!!! and the scale didn’t move for 4 days!! and I lose weight FAST at the beginning no matter what I try. I was like, what the heck? That scale is such a jerk!

I've been in this WLS world for close to twenty years, since the initial work up to my wife's DS and then my VSG some years later, and from what I have seen from many in our support groups, most everyone can lose up to around 30lb of regain - it takes some effort and a few months, but it comes off more or less like a "normal" person. 50lb or regain is more a a 50-50 proposition - some can lose it on their own, and some need a revision to help it along. My general feeling is that the revision should be your last step rather than your first. Go back to some basics and try to understand where your regain happened, as if it happened, once, it can happen again after a revision., so you need to get your head around the root of the problem. Is it a head problem, meaning that maybe some therapy is in order, or not really understanding the nutritional side of things and how to eat and live to maintain a healthy weight - an RD can be helpful for this. Or, maybe a bit of both. Unfortunately, our WLS, and by extension a revision for regain (rather than for complications) is really more of a "do over" rather than a cure for the problem Very commonly, before we had WLS, the most frequent reason for failure in dieting is that the diet will yield some weight loss, maybe even to normalish weight, but then the person declares success and goes back to their old habits, and diet, that helped to promote the weight gain in the first place - they never really learned how to live, and eat, to maintain that healthy weight. This is why we frequently see people regaining fairly rapidly after notionally successful dieting. The same basic profile often happens after WLS, only it takes a while longer to happen owing to the lower volume that we can eat, but that tendency is still there. Another consideration is that every time we go inside to do surgery, we back ourselves further into a corner, limiting our options for future treatment should that be necessary, whether for regain revision or for something completely unrelated; you have limited any future surgeon's options in what they can do to help you with some future problem. This is why I am very shy about "wasting" a surgery if I can possibly treat the problem some other way. Again, let it be your last choice, rather than your first.

Hello All, I had sleeve April 15, total down 55 pounds. I was stalling alot it seemed until I started grazing and than it's slow but steady weight loss. The full meal's were not working for me. I am amazed at how food changes constantly. I was loving watermelon and now can't tolerate and eggs. And things I didn't like before surgery I am enjoying now. So strange. Anyway, keep up the good work and I hope we all talk again 5 months out. Peace

Hi! I had my surgery late July (27th) so I'm 10 days post op. This is how things went for me: Day of surgery The surgery took 1.5 hours, and I spent an additional 1 hour in the recovery room. I was only nauseous immediately after waking up but it went away quickly. When I got back to my room, I slept for a while. After about an hour I was able to get up and walk around, use the bathroom, and drink water. This made me a bit dizzy and nauseous and I felt weak. I tried to walk around every hour or so but all I really wanted to do was sleep. Most of the pain was in my back and chest. Pain level was 7/10 so they gave me more painkillers for the night. I slept on and off throughout the night, waking several times to use the bathroom, have a walk around my room and a few sips of water. These were definitely the hardest hours of the entire recovery. It took quite a bit of concentration and strength to get myself out of bed each time. I never experienced any nausea or vomiting, just some dizziness when walking or standing up for more than 5 minutes. 1 day post op The next morning I felt much better, pain level 5/10. Was able to drink a lot more, walk around the entire ward, have a shower and take 2 pills orally (1 for stomach, 1 for pain). Most of the pain was more of an aching in my back and upper chest, and an extremely sore abdomen. My husband said the color in my skin was back to normal and I was generally in good spirits. I was discharged at 11am and when we got home (to our hotel) is when the shoulder pain and gas pain started to kick in. I noticed that it helped a lot to drink hot peppermint tea and broth, as well as to lie down flat on the bed. Once I would get up and walk around some more, though, the shoulder pain would come back. I walked around as much as I could because I had read that, although painful, it's the quickest way to get the gasses out and recover. That afternoon I also had my first meal: about 2 tbsp of babyfood puree. Went down fine. It was also the first time that evening that I noticed my belly rumbling a lot and making noise. Slept through the night without waking up just fine. 2 days post op Pain level was just a 2 or 3 this morning with some gas and shoulder aching. I spent the day taking small walks, napping and alternating ice water with hot broth and tea, and had about 100g of babyfood puree throughout the day. 3 days post op No real pain on this day, just soreness in the abdomen and some dull ache in the shoulder every once in a while. I had some Greek Yoghurt in addition to the babyfood and that went down well. Could feel a lot of rumbling happening in my belly. Also had my first BM! 4-5 days post op This is when I finally started to feel some hunger. But after having just 2 or 3 teaspoons of yogurt or puree, my stomach felt very full and this would last for 3-4 hours during which I could focus on getting my water in. I comfortably traveled home (1.5 hr flight + 1 hr train) on day 5. Present (10 days post op) No pain or discomfort, just some soreness around my incisions that I notice a few times a day. Energy levels are fine unless I try to do something physically demanding - then I get wiped out very quickly and need a nap or a rest. I am continuing to take omeprazole every morning and have 1 more day of blood thinner injections left. Eating around 50g of puree food, 5-6x a day. Highest weight: 241 lbs Surgery date weight: 228 lbs Today's weight: 216 lbs