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I couldn’t lose a single kg of my menopausal weight gain which had put me 16kg over the highest I’d ever been in my life. (15kg in less than 6 months to my highest weight & then another 16kg the following year & I hadn’t changed a single thing in my diet or activity.) My feet ached at times, my fitness wasn’t great & I knew there were a lot of health complications in front of me if I didn’t do something. Woke up one morning, said enough & made an appointment with my GP. About a month later I had my surgery. So glad I did it. Good luck with your surgery.

I count total weight loss. Heaviest weight was at 1st consult with surgeon 10/31/20.

Congrats on your almost one year surgiversary! And you're close to your goal already! It took me 18 months and 1 day to get to my goal weight lol, but I did get there (though I'm actually trying to lose another couple pounds if I can, before I hit maintenance. I want to get to 175 or even 170 if I can). Snacking, I think is something many people have issues with (I know I do). Trying to talk yourself out of eating something you know you shouldn't, but you really want is hard and sometimes I give in to those cravings (generally this is during my period though, when I'm most miserable lol). I'm sure you'll reach your goal very soon at the rate you're going!

I hear you! The 18th is my next appointment with the dietician and my surgeon and they should give the ok by then! If not I think I'm just gonna go ahead anyway especially since I feel totally fine and healed up. My insides gotta be by now too. It's been 3 months (at least by then). I've already been feeling like I should have been working on toning long ago. My husband says he can really see it in my (under) arms and backs of my legs that I really lost a lot of weight. The grandkids tell me too. So yeah, I NEED to get to toning/gaining muscle to hopefully HELP that from getting too out of control with sagging and whatnot.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I really appreciate it! Quick stats: Started 280. Now 195.5 this morning, 5’8”, currently fitting into size 10/12 pants and medium/large shirts. Today was my 3 month post op visit with my surgeon. This morning I weighed 195.5 and weighed in at 199 on the doctor’s scale. Not bad! I plan to ask my dietician about weight swings during the day. I can’t be the only one that weighs themself in the morning and evening..right? Does anyone else have 3-5 lb weight swings? I went in today with two concerns: I feel like I’m losing sooo slow and my hair is falling out like crazy. I went through surgical menopause when I was 31, so I already have very thin hair to begin with and I feel like I am pulling clumps out in the shower everyday. Regarding losing so slow, the doctor reminded me my BMI day of surgery was 34 not 50+. Losing 10 lbs a month the first three months is totally normal. He told me MY normal is 5 pound loss per month. He saw my confused expression and said that I’ve been obese most of my life, so my bones are denser than thin folks because I needed the stronger structure to carry the weight. I don’t have much fat to lose as someone going in with a higher BMI so I need to give myself some slack. I asked him what his goal for me is and he said a BMI of 27 which for me is 178. My goal is 160-165. He told me I will get to my goal and may even exceed it but warned me after a few years I will gain some weight back. If I can keep a 27 BMI or lower I will be successful for life. It’s hard to wrap my head around that I have about 20 pounds until his goal already. No wonder I have only been losing 1 pound a week lately. It’s all normal and I just need to accept that. I get caught up in others who are losing 3-5 pounds a week. I need to remind myself I don’t know where they started. It makes sense for a higher BMI to drop weight quicker as they have more to lose. It’s a good lesson for us all. Don’t compare! Regarding the hair, Dr told me to start taking 50 mg of zinc sulfate everyday in addition to my biotin. I’m going to pick some up today and report back next month. I know it will grow back eventually but it’s so depressing to see the hair fall out. Moving on- I can eat pretty much whatever I want if I follow some rules. Red meat in small portions and chew it to death and then rest my stomach. My stomach doesn’t care for it much but we’re trying to come to an agreement because I like steak I allow myself to taste desserts on occasion. It’s not often but I won’t eat a full serving again. My last post I talked about vacation and I did eat a full serving and was so sick afterwards. Never again. I began weighing my food again. Turns out I wasn’t serving myself enough. Crazy! I was trying not to eat too much! It works because I felt my restriction during dinner last night. I was able to get 3oz of chicken and a few baby carrots but that was it. I had been eating my full meals lately and worried it was slowing down my weight loss because I still wanted more. I was under eating! My advice don’t slack on weighing and measuring your food! Oh funny thing my nose starts running when I am full. I thought it was allergies but nope every single time I am “done” my nose (right nostril to be exact) starts running. I must admit I am not doing so hot on using my elliptical. I haven’t been on it in two weeks. I am talking 20 min walks every night. Saturday I deep cleaned my entire house and it took me 3 hours. I only stopped for water and my watch told me I hit my goal for the day. I will count it. This is awful but I really don’t have much time. I’m slammed at work and can’t get into a groove to get on that dang machine. It’s in my house and I work from home so I feel like I have no excuse. Ugh. I had to goto the dept store and get a work outfit last weekend. Would you believe I needed a 10?! I couldn’t believe it. Still don’t actually. Last topic because this is long! This is all mental but I can’t shake it. I see myself in the mirror but I don’t recognize her. I study my face for a long time and I don’t see me. I see someone who is older than I used to be and has different features. To be fair I am (almost) 40 and losing weight has caused some wrinkles. I can’t describe it. Does anyone understand?

Hi guys! I just have to ask this question, because the only thing I'm reading here is "I followed my plan 100% the first year", and other likewise statements. Does this mean that none of you ate a cookie the first year/during the weight loss stage?? I've been craving a chocolate chip cookie since the surgery and was looking forward to trying a bite once I can have solids. Does this make me crazy/abnormal? Sent from my moto g(6) using BariatricPal mobile app

I knew that WLS was the right course of action for me because I have already tried everything else....I would lose like 30 pounds but than gained a 100 back within just half of a year. I started at 470lbs last December and I lost 70lbs to have my surgery, im now at 330lbs and it hasn't even been a year yet. I knew that if I didn't do anything, I would of stay depressed, still be experiencing a lot of back pain, and would probably end up in the hospital and, or dead. This has been the best decision I have made, it hasn't been easy but its been easier than it was being at 470lbs.

My weight said 180 for so many years- they never asked me if I needed to update and I didn’t offer, so my weight kept saying 180 even when I was around 340- yikes. I’m currently only 6 lbs from that lie, so when I renew next year I can either keep the weight there or hopefully be lower than that? Thank goodness I didn’t go missing anytime in the last 15 or so years because if they advertised that the missing woman was 180 they’d have never found me even if they were looking straight at me.

CKmommy & Bronx cutie, you both look amazing! Congratulations on your weight loss. I'm so inspired by your progress. 🤩😊🥳

when I realized I probably wouldn't live to see my 60th birthday if I didn't get all that weight off pronto. I'd tried and tried and tried for decades (I had surgery at age 55). I always, always, always regained it. I was just spinning my wheels. So even though I kept telling myself I could do it on my own, realistically, I couldn't. I'd tried. Hundreds of times. I knew surgery was my only choice. And I'm SO GLAD I did it!!

I was eating around 800 calories a day at that point. 500 is very low for that far out - most people only eat that the first month post-op. And no, you will not gain weight on that. You'd likely still lose even at 1000 cal a day. Yes, your weight loss may slow down a little, but you're still going to lose - and at this point, I'd be more worried about your health than I would losing slightly faster/slower.

Hi I’m exactly 5 months post op I was 120kg 173 cm before surgery and now I’m 79kg. I eat no more than 500 calories a day. I feel dizzy and hungry. Should I start eating more and if I start eating more will I gain weight ? I also do weight training 3 to 4 times a week. How many more calories can I eat without gaining weight

I was too large for any scale but my surgeons so it really wasn't a choice. But it was a tremendous benefit. I *never* saw a stall but rather consistent weight loss month after month. When I got to a weight where I fit on a home scale (which was a goal) I used it for a couple weeks, then got bored with it. I learned that my surgeon really didn't care about my weight but was concerned with how I was doing on the plan, how was my life, was I having issues. In point of fact, my weight never came up unless I brought it up. I took all this to heart and stopped worrying about my weight but focused on my plan, how I felt, how my life was going. I still don't weigh myself. I get weighed at my annual physical and that's it. I stay on plan and that aspect of my life takes care of itself. The rest is where my head is. Good luck, Tek

I knew when I was starting to feel unhealthy after being so sedentary during the pandemic and I wasn't even enjoying my food anymore, just shoveling it in. I had developed asthma and GERD in a short period of time and had gained back the last of the 100 lbs that I lost 6 years ago. I had considered bariatric surgery a few times, but I was always too scared. Now I'm too scared of being unable to keep up with the activities I enjoy (travel and hiking) to not have surgery. But I'm still scared of surgery!

I just realized that my weight and the way it made me feel we’re keeping me from living as my true self. My aunt knew how my weight was keeping me from wanting to do things and she knew someone who just got the sleeve and she introduced me to her. After seeing her success I started researching like crazy and made my first appointment shortly thereafter.

I lost my gall bladder after rapid weight loss, and I can no longer digest fats properly meaning I have chronic diarrhea. Stats differ but I’ve read that one in 10 people have severe problems like mine after losing their gall bladder. Nobody even told me that there was a high risk of losing my gall bladder with rapid weight loss. I have difficulty leaving the house. I feel doctors gloss over the possible problems of losing your gall bladder. Turns out, I did need mine.

I knew when I realized that my weight was standing in the way of me doing things I wanted to do in a meaningful way. Also...I checked my insurance and found they had started covering bariatric surgery.

I have my surgery booked in 4 weeks time - it still feels too far away to be real in all honesty. My head was all over the place - am I making the right decision, am taking the easier way out ( I know it’s not!), am I being selfish spending such a large amount of money on myself ect ect. We had a family gathering last weekend, one of the first ones since Covid and lots of photos were taken. I saw said photos today. I burst into tears. I know and photo gate only reinforced that WLS is the right decision for me. I’ve been a yo yo dieter for as long as I can remember, I’ve been every size you can think of - but always always end up fatter than I started. Self esteem is non existent. I need to stop letting my weight control me and the quality of my life and decisions. Bring on 4th Sept. When did you know, WLS was the right course of action for you?

I know someone from another bariatric group who takes RA drugs and has lost a lot of weight. She has been put on steroids now and has stalled, but not everyone with RA has to go on steroids too. There are lots of monoclonal antibody drugs. Are you not taking one of those? Are you seeing a rheumatologist? Or was this your PCP?

Oh, how insensitive is your doctor. After weight loss surgery, you are unable to take nsaids. (Sleevers are eventually able to take the odd nsaid but not regularly.) But there are alternative pain relief & RA management drugs for rheumatoid arthritis than nsaids such as steroids and dmards (like methotrexate which 2 friends take). Chat with your surgeon as to whether you’re able to take these drugs as it will depend upon where in your body they are absorbed. Hopefully you may be able to take one of those. Plus as you lose weight some of the pressure will be taken off your joints which should offer some reduction in pain too.

Yes, you’re likely experiencing your first stall. Yes, you will have more. Perfectly normal. Just your body taking a break to get used to the changes. You can easily weigh a couple of pounds more at the end of the day after eating & drinking versus first thing in the morning after not consuming anything over night. It takes time for all you’ve consumed to pass through your body. Weigh at the same or similar time wearing the same or no clothing to get the most accurate reading. I’m an after breakfast, after I’ve been to the bathroom & in my underwear weigher. Find the frequency of weighing yourself that works for you - though just not multiple times a day. I weighed every day while losing but now weigh about 5 times a week. That’s because I need to know I’m keeping to my plan & maintaining. In the past I wouldn’t weigh myself if I was suspicious I’d put on weight - if I couldn’t see that the scale had gone up I could convince myself I hadn’t put on weight even if my clothes were tight. I’m also more conscious of my own body’s fluctuations now too so I allow for slight daily & weekly variations (up to about 2lbs).

As the other posters said plus are you constipated? That adds weight too (& it will become quite a regular occurrence). Good luck & congrats on your surgery.

Don't weigh yourself multiple times a day. Everyone gains weight during the day. Weigh once a week at the most.

Great post @MandoGetsSleeved. I’m sure many of us go through the same thing or similar. It’s the old habit thing. In the past, we ‘d lose weight, feel good about ourselves & then let it all sludge away & go back to what we used to eat. So we do it again this time. It’s wonderful that you realised what you were doing & committed to going back to the new better habits you were learning. It is a constant battle though. Congrats on your weight loss so far. You’ll at your goal in no time.

My gallbladder was remove when they did my bypass I’m crying because I don’t see weight loss looool 😂😂😂😂😤😤😤