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Haven’t hit my goal weight yet I’m currently 9 months post op will be 10 on July 2nd. But happy and appreciate how far I have gotten. Don’t regret it one bit. SW:226lbs Sept 2nd 2020 CW: 145lbs June 2020 GW:130lbs

Ahhh...hope dad at least had a nice rest at the hospital and be home and all well today ❤️ You make a good point about the endorphins. I went from 100 to zero after plastics on the exercise front and I'm sure that is what contributed to my weepy/icky feels that first month. I stupidly went for a run at around 3 weeks post in an attempt to feel a bit better (cuz i always feel good after exercise) and injured myself, duh. So I suppose this makes us excise addicts?? If only they could bottle endorphin feels and then maybe I could just shoot it up my arm as needed. Transfer Addiction Confirmed. 😂😂😂😂 Assuming you are normal everything (no special medical conditions or superpowers), my insignificant (and totally unsubstantiated) opinion is that you will likely continue to lose weight at 1500, given your height and likely efficient metabolism due to your regular past exercise. In a very UN-scientific comparison, we are similar-ish BMI's...assuming that I also am normal everything, I'm a good 1/2 a foot shorter than you and by my estimation don't/didn't exercise as much as you, and I lost weight when I dropped to 1500 to offset my lack of exercise due to an injured toe/foot earlier this year. It wasn't alot (lost about 6lbs over 3 months), but if I continued on that path it would have added up. Spoiler Alert: I gained almost all of those 6 lbs back now and pretty much back to my regular normal. Obviously, this is just anecdotal evidence but still. As an aside, this is why I track everything (well, also because I am anal 😂) so I can look back and determine patterns/trends/causations, etc. Its not for everybody though, so I get it. P.S. You know I love me some bikini shots. Bring 'em on!

2 months post-op, down 40lbs from starting weight! Sticking to water and protein goals Exercising ~5x a week, cardio and STRENGTH TRAINING! Past self, THANK YOU for doing this for your future self. Thank you for taking the before pictures, even though it was painful. On the days when I can't see the physical change in myself (even if the scale is moving) looking back to these really show me how far I've come already.

Title Nine? I will have to google that. I’ve been given the all clear but I’m not a runner to begin w (unless I was being chased lol) but I do like the elliptical machine. I’ve been extremely cautious on what I do upper body -haven’t done any upper body weight lifting and w my stomach-no crunches yet. Kinda scared to mess something up even though I got a clear from surgeon to do them. They said to start light. Haven’t done that yet. Just curious what others have felt after they started bk up again.

Hello my surgery is the 29th I've been on modified diet/liquid diet for 2 weeks and only loss 7 pounds starting weight 330- cw 323 Sent from my SM-A125U using BariatricPal mobile app

Me Too. @xezar: During weight loss phase people would always offer me food and stuff that I didn’t want to eat and it became a bit if a chore/annoyance to politely and repeatedly decline. If a dear friend made me a cake for my bday I would’ve felt inclined to eat it (even if I didn’t want to). Luckily my bday did not fall within my weight loss phase window, lol Like someone mentioned above, maybe ask your friend if they would like a dessert from you (and if so what kind), and then go from there. Although from this quote below from your post, sounds like your friend already gave you their answer. Its kind of you to want your friend to feel “normal”, but perhaps they are looking for a different kind of normal…and you probably don’t need “to convince them otherwise”.

Yayyaayayya Bikini Pics! You are looking seriously FINE. 😍 Adjusting to maintenance is a bit tricky for most. It took me 4-5 months plus an extra 15 lbs lost before I eventually stopped, gained a couple pounds and settled into my new “normal” weight (115). In the month immediately after plastics, I lost 6-7 lbs (which includes 400g of skin that was removed during surgery). Took another couple months, but I got back to 115 again. I figure give it time (especially since you just had surgery) and you’ll equalize eventually. How many calories are you taking in these days? P.S. i was pretty effing tired too that first month post-PS…and I had a serious case of the blues too so that didn’t help. Be kind/gentle to yourself as you navigate past this part (but I suppose u already know that being a nurse and all, lol). In any case, you look FAB. Feel better soon ❤️❤️❤️

My personal experience: the knee, feet, ankle, mid and upper back pains all went away by month 2 post-op (50 lbs lighter at that point) However, these were temporarily replaced with lower back and hip pain, which i believe were due to my body/musculature/bones adjusting from having to carry the extra weight to not having to anymore so quickly….then, if I remember correctly, probably 2-3 months after they showed up, these pains went away as well. Now all I have is neck and right shoulder pain…but thats probably due to playing with my phone too much in bed, lol

1000 calories from protein & vegetables is the same as 1000 calories from pizza, burgers, fries, cake,… it’s just the protein & vegetables have better nutrients that contribute to a healthier you. Maybe on the day you had pizza or donuts, you consciously or sub consciously ate fewer calories. Who knows but I wouldn’t rely on that being a dependable or healthy way to lose weight or break a stall. At 4 months out, you’re not very far along in understanding & managing your drive to eat. What is an occasional break could easily become a regular thing & you’ll be back to where you started: cravings, weight gain, etc. In time, when you have better strategies in place to manage your cravings (because they never go), you may be able to have the odd pizza or donut. Stalls happen. They end too. Your body just needs to take a breath every now & again. You’re putting it through a lot of changes. When I stalled, I just kept to my program & I’d start to lose again. No cheating, no change to my activity or caloric intake & in a 1, 2 or 3 weeks, I’d be losing again. Good luck.

Some people lose quickly. Some lose slowly. Neither rates of lose are wrong. It’s just how we individually react. As @catwoman7 said there are lots of factors that influence your rate of loss. What you can depend upon is the higher weight loss you experience the first few months doesn’t last & the closer you’re to your goal the more slowly you’ll lose. Never heard that you stop losing at 6 months. I certainly didn’t. I hit my goal at 6 months but continued to lose for another year. Much more slowly in that year cause I was increasing my caloric intake to try to stop losing. If your weight loss has slowed or stopped you may have hit your point of balance i.e. you’re consuming the number calories your body needs to function. If you’re gaining, it’s because the calories you’re consuming exceeds what your body needs. The only way to keep losing is to decrease your caloric intake &/or increase your activity level. Everyone experiences small fluctuations in their weight. I’m pretty careful about my diet & my weight fluctuates about +/- 500g (about a pound up & down). It can be because I’m retaining fluid, constipation, an extra snack, a dropped snack, missed meal, adding a new food, etc. Don’t give up yet.

I am in shock. Up to about 900 calories a day, still getting all of my protein in water in daily. Today is exactly 4 months post op… down 70 POUNDS! 😲 284 surgery day, today 214. This is insane. I knew I would lose weight having this done for my reflux, but I never imagined losing it this fast ! I wish I could eat a cheeseburger to slow it down LOL WHEW!!!

Refried beans, lowfat cheese, salsa.....I ate them all at 3.5 weeks. I did not eat tortillas in weight loss phase.

I always feel awkward when answering these. Most of the time I type all this out then don’t send it. But I’m having one of those days where I don’t care about giving perfect advice or worry about upsetting someone so here it is. Simple and best answer: follow your plan. Realistic talking to a human answer: yeah you should be fine to have a little nibble. One word of caution, be self aware. That means know yourself enough to know if this little cheat will lead to another. Some people can handle it, some can’t. If you don’t know where you fall on that spectrum I would be very cautious. None of us are perfect but that doesn’t mean don’t try to be perfect with the plan. Me? I didn’t like my plan so I found one that fit what I wanted to eat. I’m not assuming my doctor is the be-all-end-all best doctor in the world and all the other doctors who have different post op plans are idiots. I found one that listed cottage cheese early and said “hell yah I like cottage cheese” and switched. I didn’t die, I was very successful with my weight loss. At four weeks I was told to try anything I wanted and if it didn’t agree with me I’d know it. Keep the portion sizes in check though. I believe that is the most important advice I can give. Love the restriction, don’t abuse it.

no need to trick it - and don't start down any slippery slopes. Letting bad habits sneak back in is what derails a lot of people's weight loss efforts. Stalls are a normal part of weight loss. I think it's your body just stopping to recalibrate once in awhile. Just stick to your plan and they'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again.

Thank you. I am actually looking forward to this and if I can lose 100 lbs, heck I will be at my prime weight. I am sure it is a challenge to keep up with the new ideas towards foods and what you can and cannot eat, but I am ready for the challenge.

Human bodies are mysteries! Maybe the greasy food made you poop which can make you weigh less, or maybe you drank more and released more water, or maybe you were just "due" to lose some weight. I can say that weight loss is never a straight curve; it's a very bumpy staircase with lots of ups and downs - just make sure that the downs are more than the ups, and you can best do that by following your surgeon and dietition's plans most of the time. I have found that sometimes I need to eat a bit differently for a few days if I'm stalling (this is before surgery), either a bit more or a bit less, or do different exercises to get the scale to move if I'm in a stall.

As long as youre in a calorie deficit, youll still lose weight! Carbs or not. Now im not saying you should make that a habit, but everything in moderation!!

Hello all! I am a little over 4 months PO...weight loss is steady but slow at times, just under 50 pounds. I try to count macros, log my food, get all my protein in, walk, etc. and my scale will stay the same for about a week, but 3 times now I got off track and ate bad (like a slice of pizza or a donut), I know this is bad for me...!! But everytime, I was 2 pounds lighter the next day. That is so strange!! Does anyone have similar experience with this? Do our metabolisms get stalled eating perfectly and we have to "trick" it once in a while!!?? Feeling perplexed but happy my scale moved again!

there really isn't a honeymoon period with revisions - that "magic" is mostly with virgin surgeries. That said, you can certainly still lose weight - it's just more of a challenge than it was before.

I kept losing until I was 20 months out. Yes - it's easiest the first six months, but that doesn't mean you'll stop losing then as long as you're sticking to your plan. at six months out I'd lost 75 lbs (about 5.3 stone), but I may have started at a much higher BMI than you did, which makes a difference. Plus there are a lot of other factors that influence your rate of loss - age, gender, genetics, metabolic rate, your percentage of muscle, etc. If you do a good job of controlling the factors you do have control over (i.e., sticking to your food plan and your activity level), then you WILL lose the weight, either fast or slow.

Hi so I'm 5.5 months after bypass I've lost 4.3 which is low compared to most. I have another 2 st to lose and am worried this is it now? I actually put on 2lbs this week. But I know my food wasnt great last week. I've heard alot say 6 months the weight loss stops and mine has never been great. Has anyone experienced this and then list a bit more? Sent from my SM-A505FN using BariatricPal mobile app

Stats: Male, 6’4” (193cm for the more enlightened) 46 years old. All time known high weight 356lbs (161.5kg) (approx June 2013) Surgery weight 334lbs (151.5kg). Self pay, Dr Galileo Villarreal - Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, June 12, 2020 $4400 all in, VSG & hiatal hernia repair. Current weight 194lbs (88kg). This turned out to be way too long… sorry. The idea of having surgery wasn’t anything I ever really gave any thought to. I did the lifetime attempts at diet and exercise without success. The lowest weight I ever achieved was 285 when I hiked almost daily in the mountains surround Las Vegas. But like all my other attempts, things changed, I got tired of the same thing, and put it all back on plus some (yet again). Fast forward to 2020 and my wife looks at me and asks “have you ever thought about gastric surgery?” “Well, not really but I’ll look into it.” I don’t recall exactly how long I researched, I know it wasn’t long. One day, maybe two? I knew my insurance wouldn’t cover it at all, so self pay was my only option unless I wanted to wait and change to a different plan (I’m impatient so that wasn’t happening). Anyway I live near Houston so I started looking at the border towns in Mexico and came across the website for Dr Galileo Villarreal in Nuevo Laredo. I made a phone call to his assistant who handles US patients and had an appointment set for two weeks later (for the procedure, not just a consultation). The next few days I mostly looked at before and after photos and was really excited about the possibilities. I don’t worry about much in general(why worry about what I can’t control?) so I didn’t bother reading too many horror stories. I understood that people who have problems are far more likely to post, seeking guidance/solutions than people who cruise through easily. I did look up complication statistics and that alone completely eliminated any worries that may have existed. I watched several videos of the procedure (I was interested to see what’s going to happen to me) and that too brought me comfort, seeing how quick and relatively simple the procedure was. Traveling to Mexico also didn’t bother me in the slightest. The way I figure is a doctor either cares or doesn’t, it doesn’t matter which side of the border they happen to be on. The one obvious downside to surgery in another country is “what if something does go wrong?” But again realistically I knew that was unlikely and it’s not like I couldn’t walk into a hospital once back home to get care for anything I might have needed. I spent the next few days having tons of food funerals. I reveled in the experience and really went crazy with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, smoked brisket, homemade carbonara pasta (I even found some real guanciale), more Cinnamon Toast Crunch… you get the idea.. My pre-op diet arrived via email. It was sparse and consisted of things like cream soup, protein drinks, electrolyte drinks etc. I had seven days of this before surgery. This was - by far - the worst part of the whole experience. Day one I was good. Day two I was pacing frantically. Day three I cheated and hated myself for it. Day four was a little better. Days 5 & 6 I had resigned to the lifestyle and at this point I was so giddy with excitement about the surgery I didn’t care anymore about the food as much. I was fortunate with my timing in regard to COVID. The border was still open and there were no issues about that, I was a little surprised that the Mexican Border Guards didn’t even care to see my passport or ask any questions. I was just waived through, barely given a glance. I arrived at the hospital a few minutes later to begin the pre op blood work and physical. This is where I had my first moment of “oh shit.” It was late in the day and apparently the normal nurse who handled the blood draw had already left. So this nice young man was assigned to get my blood. He takes me into a small room and I could tell he was really scared. We had an obvious language barrier but I kept pointing to a big thick vein in the crock of my elbow that you really can’t miss. I’ve had enough blood drawn in the past, no one has ever missed it first shot. He was literally shaking and sweating all over my arm. I kept pointing and saying “aqui” but he would get the needle close then pull it back and look around and sweat some more. It was a good ten minutes of this and I was starting (just starting?) to get a little worried. Again, I could tell he either never did this or rarely so I didn’t assume this was a sign of how it was all going to go (it didn’t, it all was fine after this). Eventually someone must have recognized there was an issue. Another nurse came in, looked at the obvious vein, and popped that needle in. I wouldn’t know if my blood work was ok until the next morning, so they drove us to the hotel (which was included in the price) and we went to bed. The next morning they picked us up and brought me back to the hospital. I checked in, got word that my blood work was fine and I forked over the cash for the procedure ($4000) plus a $400 deposit in case I had a hernia that needed to be repaired. The hospital was very nice. Beautifully decorated, polished marble walls and floors. As clean (to the naked eye of course) as any hospital I’ve been in. It was small, but appropriately sized for the area it served. It was not a dedicated Bariatric facility, just a typical public hospital. I actually enjoy the experience of being put under anesthesia and I wasn’t nervous at all so I declined the sedative and just went for it. The weirdest part was the staff asking me questions through google translate on their phones. Dr. Villarreal and his assistant spoke perfectly fluent English but the pre op staff had a lot of questions to ask. Even though they spoke some English and I spoke some Spanish, when it comes to translating medical related stuff it was definitely better using the app, it was just a little surreal. I was wheeled into the OR, greeted again by Dr. Villarreal who asked if I wanted any music played (I did) and I went under listening to some classic rock. I woke up in moderate pain, but nothing too bad. I was brought to my room where my wife was waiting for me. The first few hours I just relaxed in bed. Eventually I was given some ice chips to suck on and allowed to get up with assistance and go to the bathroom. Things were tender but I don’t recall being in a lot of pain. Walking was a slow shuffle and I was given permission to do laps around the hospital. I met a couple other people who had the same procedure the day prior and we nodded and smiled knowing we were on the same journey together. They were nice moments and I hope they’re doing well. Later in the day I did a barium swallow to ensure there were no leaks. It tasted like shit (sorry), and I got to watch it on the monitor. It was pretty interesting to see. Doctor visited me several times, and I asked if he had video or photos of my procedure, and he sent me some cool pics of my removed stomach and of my hernia and repair. I was given an antibiotic pill. I had read enough “no pills after surgery” posts here that this gave me concern. The pill was literally the biggest pill I have ever taken in my life. It was an inch long and thick. I pointed at my stomach and said “esta bien?” and she nodded and so I took it. It went down fine, didn’t hurt or anything. We stayed over that night which was more walking and ice and eventually electrolyte drinks and some jello. I was given a bag of pills, more of those giant antibiotics, anti nausea meds, and some non-opioid pain pills. They wheeled me out where my car was waiting for me and we started the drive home. The drive home the next day was about five hours total, we took our time. Getting into the US took an hour or so, but wasn’t an issue. One thing I took particular notice of on the ride home was just how many restaurants there are. I was obviously hyper focused on food and I was dumbstruck at the endless strip centers filled with high calorie options. Just endless. I’ll speed things up here…. The first week was fine, some pain in my left arm that scared me. Spoke to the doctor and he explained that gas left over in the abdomen can rest on the diaphragm which can translate into left arm pain. He advised the typical “walk it off” prescription and sure enough that fixed it. Food intake was slow but I didn’t care. This was much easier than the pre op diet even though it was essentially the same. Broths, Gatorade, protein shakes. By week two I was feeling great and ready for mushy foods. Cottage cheese was my friend. By week three I felt normal. I starting having a scrambled egg here and there and that’s when I began to feel the restrictions. The first meat I tried was around week three, I had some ground chicken with seasoned salt and it was pretty good and didn’t bother me. I visited my regular doctor a month or so in and he was happy with my weight loss. My back doctor was also happy and we both were hopeful it would fix my back issues (spoiler it didn’t completely). One year out I still have zero hunger. I had one spell in December where I thought it returned and it was disappointing and scary. It only lasted a few days and I don’t know what caused it. It really felt like the MORE I ate the hungrier I got and if not for physical restriction I would have eaten myself out of any other normal “diet.” Fortunately that’s gone and I’m back to no hunger, one year out. But im prepared and ready should it return. There are no significant stories or details for the rest of my journey. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had zero problems. No foods have bothered me, I did not get sick, my tastes didn’t change (my eating habits did but not due to bad foods no longer tasting good, Cinnamon Toast Crunch is still awesome but I just don’t eat it any more except a couple pieces here and there). My main drinks are coffee, diet Mountain Dew and Monster Zero Ultra (the white can). I’m not going to pretend that I’m a model citizen of this forum. There are plenty of things I eat and drink that I probably shouldn’t. I’m in maintenance mode now and still losing (very slowly) even though I’m eating garbage like peanut m&ms to try and up my calories without increasing capacity. I know there are better options but I like them and it’s working fine for me. I don’t take vitamins like I should but I just had my one year blood panel done and all my labs came back in the middle of the normal range so no worries on that front. Somehow my vitamin D is normal for the first time as an adult. Again, don’t look at me as a guide, but it is what it is and I think it’s important share what is working. I’ve included two screen shots of some graphs I used in a spreadsheet. The first is simply my weight loss over time. The second is a rolling weekly average using the past seven days. So each point on the graph looks back seven days, takes that weight, subtracts the current day’s weight. “I lost 2.4 lbs the past week” etc. This graph highlights stalls, and recovery from stalls etc. so you can see my weight loss was really fast at first. The big stall during the holidays where I didn’t gain or lose. For me this graph was more useful as sometimes I felt like I was stalled but the graph proved otherwise. Here is a breakdown of my loss at 30 day intervals. Don’t compare me to you or to anyone else. There are over 7 billion of us and we’re all unique. Day 30: 29.2lbs Day 60: 46.0 Day 90: 63.5 Day 120: 74.6 Day 150: 92.1 Day 180: 102 Day 210: 103 (holidays/long stall) Day 240: 113.6 Day 270: 120 Day 300: 129.5 Day 330: 135 Day 360: 138.8 Conclusion and final thoughts: For some of us this journey IS the easy way out, and I honest to God don’t care. Im happy and healthy and I’d do it again without hesitation. I want people on the fence about having the procedure to know that. It’s easy to get lost in the problems people post about. Those problems ARE REAL and do happen. But I really think there are a lot of us out there for whom this journey has been easy, you just don’t hear from us as often. People who are having a difficult time need advice or want a solution so it’s natural and helpful to post questions about those problems. But it does skew the impressions towards the negative. I wish I did this years ago. I don’t know why I never even thought of it. I guess it was one of those things I thought was reserved for medically necessary intervention. But you know what? I had a BMI over 40. It was medically necessary. I’m VERY lucky that at age 45 I was not on a downward spiral health wise, but it could have started any day. My wife’s dad was a “big guy” too, and was active and worked hard. Then one day, diabetes. Another day, bad knees. Another day a stroke. He had the sleeve AFTER these things and did lose weight but he can’t walk, can’t enjoy life, he’s miserable because he waited too long. Don’t wait. If you need to lose weight do it now. Figure out a way that works for you. Surgery is relatively safe, with far fewer complications than doing nothing and assuming you’ll just always be a healthy “big person.” But it’s not the only solution. Whatever it is that works for you, make it happen. I know I won’t live forever and I know I can regain and I know lots of bad things could be lined up in my future. But today I feel great. Today I’m happy. Today I look at myself and I see the me that I always knew existed. It’s the most wonderful feeling. I hope from the bottom of my heart everyone here will feel it too….. ….But I know not everyone will. My wife for example. Surgery has done nothing for her. 20lbs in a year. And she DOES follow the plan. For those of you in her situation who are probably cursing me and telling me to shut the f up, I get you. And I’m sorry. Don’t give up though. We’re all here for you; this forum is a great asset. We want you to succeed. Vent, cry, scream out, ask a million questions, we hear you. Just don’t give up.

Hi all, I was just wondering when weight loss stops with revision to bypass. So far I've lost about 25 pounds and am happy but I would like to lose a bit more. I had revision surgery in February. Any ideas of when the honeymoon phase ends?

LOL Thanks! Don't know what I was expecting, I guess. I just know I've seen videos of people who lost like 30+ pounds the first month. Some people who lost like 75 by month 3. All who started at the same/similar or LESS weight which makes it even more frustrating cause usually the more you have to lose to faster it goes. LOL

Huh. This is the first I've heard of Metformin helping you lose weight. Then again, it does explain some things... I was diagnosed with early stages of Type II diabetes in June of 2019. I was prescribed a low dosage of Metformin. It was as a result of that doctor's visit that I started looking into weight loss surgery and then went "into the program" being required to showing some persistent weight loss before the surgery was approved. Despite my being morbidly obese my entire adult life and never being able to lose weight, I was actually able to lose the prescribed weight leading up to my surgery without too many trials and tribulations... in retrospect, I wonder whether Metformin aided in that weight loss effort without my realizing it. Not that it makes a difference now. I've not taken it since my surgery in July of 2020.