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Happy New Year Everyone‼️ I want to hear how everyone is doing with the hair loss. I’m experiencing significant hair shedding. Is anyone else?? Let me know what you are doing and how long is it happening? Thanks

i noticed my face slimmer after just 10-15 lost lbs. but this makes/made sense to me because, historically, if i gained 10-ish pounds, i saw the change in in my lower cheeks. ive updated all my picture id to look what i look like now except my passport. i had just got one of those 10-yr validity passports a couple months before surgery and today i still have another 5 yrs left on it. it does often cause a delay when i cross borders as the agents always do double takes, ugh. sometimes they comment or ask about the weight loss, and once an agent actually called over another agent to show them my passport and they both looked me over incredulously. that was awkward. but i've never been denied entry.

Hello all! I have been loving the support and the community from this forum since I joined, so thank you! Quick question for anyone in the UK, but where do you get your supplements from? I have seen a US site (Baricol), but I was wondering if there is anything specific to the UK! Also - a general question - did people start taking vitamins before their surgery? I am about 4 months off and this is what I am taking/doing so far: (probably a bit overboard) Taking biotin every day I plan on starting to take collagen capsules too every day Using peppermint & rosemary oil on my hair Using a caffeine shampoo and conditioner Using these every day (believe me, full-body moisturising x3 per day is NOT fun haha): Firming Butter (palmers.com) Firms Tones Firming Body Lotion (palmers.com) Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks (palmers.com) Again, I may be going a bit overboard but I just want to give my body the best chance of success!

Hey! Thank you for your comment! You are right in that it is a disease - I don't think many people actually understand and appreciate that. Like, if it were as easy as just having the willpower to lose 10 stone all by myself, I'd do it and I wouldn't need surgery! Rudeness seems far too commonplace! I also have PCOS! I was diagnosed at 21 (I am 27 now), and I always wondered why I wasn't losing weight with ease, despite exercising constantly and eating healthily! It is so refreshing to hear how you have changed your mentality and how you love yourself regardless, as you should. It is insane to me that I can barely look at myself in the mirror, but when I see someone who is 'bigger'/has the same body type as me, I think they are beautiful! Body dysmorphia is a real thing I guess haha! The hair loss is something that I am dreading! I am sure you know that with PCOS the hair loss is already a thing, so I am trying to take all the steps I can to avoid it as much as possible! I am also really happy to hear you have had such a positive response Thank you for sharing your story, I'll be honest it definitely made me giggle a bit haha. I think I will have to use that phrase myself...

I’m three weeks out of surgery. I’m feeling kind of the same way technically. For my tracker I weigh twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays. I noticed this week from Wednesday to Sunday I didn’t have the weight loss that I was kind of expecting. I’ve also started the purée stage where I’m actually eating stuff now. One of the Support groups that I’m in there is a woman there and she said that this is normal and I talked to my doctor and he said it was normal so I guess it’s normal. I know I’ve heard of the stalls that happen within the first few months. you’ll have stalls as your body adjusts to the new eating habits. Just make sure that you’re eating your protein, getting your water, taking your vitamins, and eating foods that you should be eating, such as puréed vegetables, or soft foods, or whatever that are healthy. Your body will adjust as time goes on and will all feel these kind of oh my God moments. But we got this we’ll get through this. I’m not gonna start worrying about the stalls until I’m six months out and not losing any weight by then, your body should be on the role of losing. I hope that helps.

Fluctuations are part of life. We all experience it regardless of whether we’re losing or maintaining. But you’re eating such small portions there’s no way you could be really gaining. It’s more likely fluid retention, poop, hormonal fluctuations, less or more water consumption, your body reacting to stress, emotions, or just life. I’ve learnt a lot about my body’s quirks & how responds to things through this & why I might weigh a little more today than yesterday. I have my usual fluctuation (up to about a kilogram/2lbs) which I don’t worry about. Any more than that I question what’s changed & make adjustments. Keeps me honest. Remember, your weight loss will never be a consistently straight downward line on a graph. It goes up & down, plateaus, drops quickly then slowly.

I agree with all the above you’re doing well - congratulations. Remember there is also no date by which you have to have lost your weight. Any time frames you may have seen are just averages & meant to give you an idea of what might happen not will happen. We lose at our own rate which is the best rate for us. There is also no time line for when your weight loss will stop. Many of us lose for 18 or more - just very slowly for those last months. I always said to myself if my surgeon & dietician were happy with my progress I should be happy too. Have they said you aren’t doing well? Don't give up & no more I’ve only lost X pounds. Celebrate every pound you lose because it’s an achievement.

You are doing great! Also keep in mind that in the "second half" of the excess weight loss, the scale becomes less important. If you are exercising, you can expect the muscle gain to offset the number on the scale significantly, as it weights more than fat. You'll need to focus more on the "non scale victories" like smaller clothing sizes, increased strength, stamina, and other health improvements, not just the weight on the scale alone. Keep up the good work!

Hi Sleeve to Bypass. good to know I never got the bypass. I was so worried cause of you saying the weight loss and all. I ended up in Emergency NYE as I couldn’t intake anything. I was in so much pain and extremely dehydrated. They went in and found I had to perforations. One just above the fundoplication on my oesophagus and the other in the stomach. A week in hospital on intravenous meds and now 1 week home and I am feeling so much better.

I never did do a 5-yr anniversary post (which was like 3 months ago, oopsies). Here is a reply I made to someone's thread about being newly sleeved. I had alot of fun composing it - despite it going off an a total tangent - and thought it had a five-year-sleeve-anniversary type of feel to it so I'm putting it here! Am also adding my requisite swim suit shot, but this one is from vacay last month, and its NOT a full body shot, AND I'm half in the water, lol. Its too cold around here for me to change into one now and take a pic. Plus I'm lazy. So i give you: "5+ YEARS IN 1000 WORDS OR LESS": #### Begin #### Day 0: YES!! I'm alive! Weeks 1-2: Ouch, this kinda hurts. I detest all food and water! I'm sooo effing tired, im just gonna lay down here and be found in 3 weeks, half-eaten by wild dogs. Weeks 3-4: Oh wow, I LOVE water! Eating is such a chore. I don't want to do it. I lost HOW MUCH weight?? Whoa, this thing is gonna actually work! LET'S DO THIS! Those dogs will be very disappointed in eating me. Months 2-4: Am I ever going to eat like a normal person?? It taking me for-EVAH to eat my tiny cup of food. I am sick of people commenting on how I eat. Exercise is so much funner/easier when I'm not so big! Let me sign up for EVERYTHING! I LOVE new clothes! I am losing my hair! Who knew salad is my favourite thing on earth? Months 5-7: If one more person tells me to stop losing weight or asks if i have a disease I'm going to sic my wild dogs on them. I guess this is life now: eating tiny bits of food all day long...I guess I can do that, small price to pay for looking HAWT and feeling A-MAY-ZING. I wonder if anyone knows how full of myself I really am.... Months 8-10: OMG.I CAN'T POSSIBLY UP MY CALORIES TO MAINTENANCE LEVEL! HOW AM I GOING TO STOP LOSING WEIGHT! I AM GOING TO WITHER AWAY AND DIE! Month 11: Oh. So THAT's my maintenance calorie level. That's not so hard. I'm not going to die after all. Ok, Ok, I'll just take this ONE cigarette from you, handsome Italian guy in Italy...even though I quit cold turkey 10 years ago...it can't hurt, right? Month 14: Plastic. Surgery. Month 15: *cries* Month 16: Whoa, I'm looking even HAWT-er than before. How is this even possible? I wonder if anyone has ever exploded from being so full of themselves.... Month 17: Why hello carbs, I've missed you. bread, Pasta, Rice, we shall never be parted again! Oh, nice to meet you for the first time COVID! How long are you staying? Month 18-21: All skinny and plastic-ed up and no where to go. Eff you COVID. I guess I'll just do a little online shopping for stuff to wear when I am finally allowed out of the house. Sure, I'll have that martini for Breakfast. Hey, my hair is back to normal...and its even nicer than before. Go figure. Years 3-5: Huh. I stayed below goal weight this entire time and I am the picture of satisfactory health...does that make me awesome? I dunno...my closet is bursting with clothes...most of which I've worn maybe once or not at all. How am I still smoking??? It was only supposed to be one cigarette!!! I think I may have developed high-functioning alcoholism? Food intolerances? Who me? Nah, I can eat anything and everything, EXCEPT large amounts of sugar at one time cuz, you know, I may pass out on the couch. I may not eat as much as everyone around me, but I don't want to anyway, so there! But let me cook for you, bake for you, make copious amounts of food for you! And no, i AM NOT finished reading this menu in it's entirety...I'm about to order enough food for 5 people...you better be hungry! Today I take no medications other than for my acid reflux (which unfortunately came on due to my sleeve surgery). I eat carbs and (small amounts) of Desserts, I drink alcohol. My last physical/labs 6 months ago produced no concerns - other than an abnormal thickening of my uterine lining, but that has since resolved. I have ridiculous amounts of energy, I rarely fight with my husband, I handle stress and annoyance like a grown up. I'm digging life. Oh, and I still look HAWT. *mic drop* P.S. i also finally quit smoking 5 months and 14 days ago. yay me! hopefully I don't meet another handsome Italian with an extra cigarette in the future. Edited to add: P.P.S. sorry..i meant to just reply about the first few weeks after my sleeve surgery and food progression, but my fingers got a life of their own as I typed out my reply. plus it was kinda fun writing this. I may cut and paste this into a more appropriate thread if I find one Good Luck! ❤️ #### END ####

You are doing so well and have many more months of weight loss in front of you. As a smaller person you will lose slower I lost weight for almost 2 years and then got to a size I was happy with. I increased my calories from 1200 to 1500 a day to find my maintenance calories. I don't do very much exercise but if I did then I would be able to eat more.

Yeah, very common... I gained like 4 lbs. I was so offended. LOL Then I proceeded to gain and lose the same 2-4 lbs for 6 bloody weeks!! I've just now started to lose a little again. *sighs* Weight loss is not linear and fluid changes and stalls can really play with your mind. Put away the scale for a bit!!

I had both and got the bypass. I was post menopausal so I can’t say it helped with most PCOS issues. I swung the other way 2 years post op and got hyperthyroidism! So my team figured it’s a vitamin imbalance and I’m monitored more closely. (Lower vitamin D can increase thyroid levels). PPI can interfere with vitamin absorption, so does caffeine, so planning your vitamin times counts too. Talk with your team about best practices for your vitamins. I have found that I need extra iron with vitamin C at lunchtime and I can be consistent with it. That extra iron is just because my iron levels tend to be low, most people don’t have that issue. I take calcium, vitamin D and magnesium at night, B vitamins and Flintstones with iron in the morning with decaf coffee in my pea protein shake. If I stay really consistent with my water intake I can avoid PPI s for now. For me, it’s really a balance and worth the shock of being a little hyperthyroid for a month! Great luck to you both! May you have good skin, lovely hair and surprising energy you deserve!

It sounds like you're doing fine. Congrats on your weight loss victories!!! Part of the reason they leaned in heavy on it was because they want you to succeed, but also to a degree, they're covering their own liability and don't want to be sued for not giving you the proper advice. I would try to increase both the best you can, but don't beat yourself up if you come up shy one day. Look for more protein-dense foods and shakes to make up the difference if you can. I like the Fairlife protein shakes that have either 30g or 42g, depending on which is available. One of those can be half your protein content for a day, plus its 11-12oz of fluids! Too little protein can cause your body to run a deficit, in which it will burn off muscle rather than fat, which is not a good thing. The more muscle you can maintain, the more fat calories your body will burn to feed them, which helps with the weight loss. The increased water intake is to keep you hydrated, but it also helps you flush out the waste from what your body is breaking down during your weight loss, preventing it from backing up in your kidneys and leading to problems. But keep up the good work! Sounds like you're getting through the "regret" phase, which I'm convinced we all go through that first month or so haha. It looks like my surgery was a week before yours, and I'm already feeling much better. Hope you are too!

Yeah, the first two to three weeks will have you questioning everything about the process, but that's only due to the temporary discomfort and the idle time while resting and recovering. We all go through that phase, so you're right on track! The good thing about the sleeve, like others mentioned, is that you will eventually be able to eat all of the same things again, but now you'll have that governor in place to stop you from going overboard. Early on, just stick to the diet plan, as its more important to prevent stretching the tissue where the staples are and to prevent infections. After the first month or two, then the goal is to keep the carbs and excess calories down, as statistically you'll have the beest luck losing weight those first 6 months before it slows, and levels off around the 12-18 month mark. Its just to get that jump start on the weight loss. Each day gets easier, but it is gradual and expect the occasional "hangry" day while you adapt. You'll have days where your body will try to fight you since its used to the old foods and quantities we used to eat. It misses its snacks, but our mind and stomachs are like angry toddlers in this phase, they require some discipline. Teaching it early on makes it better on the long run, but be ready for the temper tantrums haha. I'm approaching 2 months from my surgery and I have to say the first 2 weeks were fear/regret, then that subsided in weeks 3-4, and I was more upset about "well I feel like I can eat x, y, or z again, why can't I?", then even that started to subside on Week 5. I will say to avoid excess sugar, as that will still set my cravings off. I made multiple mistakes sampling cookies and cake over the holidays, and the following 2-3 days I would be craving it constantly and getting angry about it. Forcing myself past those 2-3 days, focussing on protein and more savory foods, and the obsessive craving went away. For the gas pain, definitely find some Gas-X or similar medication from a pharmacy. That helped me a lot the first month. Also, while walking, do some arm exercises like lifting over your head, windmill stretches, etc., and that will help disperse some of the gas. That really helped to get rid of my shoulder pain from it.

Hello and congratulations on your surgery Nobody is totally prepared for this surgery. After all we learned to eat as a baby. We never gave a thought to the fact that we might need to re learn these skills. Add to this all the rules that we are told we have to adhere to and then we have remorse. It doesn't last long. Soon you will have it all figured out. Give yourself time to heal. Drink as much as you can, my intake was way off for the first month but as soon as I reached my teams goals, I felt much better. I had pain in the middle of my chest, not my stomach. I was advised on here to drink slower, try hot, cold or frozen drinks and do not gulp in air. If your pain is in the stomach area, if you are allowed try to, vary the temp of your drinks. Cold drinks sometimes cramp up your stomach. I never had gas pain but have read on here that it is usually in the shoulders. It might take you a while to eat all your fav foods but you will be able to soon, mostly. Over sweet, greasy and stodgy are all foods that are off my menu now. My pre surgery favs were salmon and mussels and I heave just thinking about them ! Why, I do not know. I am not bothered about the loss tbh. There are lots of foods to eat instead. I love that I can eat the tastiest morsels and leave the dross to others.

Don't you have the willpower? Ha! Willpower involves something you have control over. Willpower has never and will never cure a disease and obesity is a disease. Rudeness however, is not... Having dealt with being overweight most of my life (Thank you genetics, puberty, and PCOS!) it bothered me in the past when I was called names, overheard cruel remarks, or was told to "just push yourself away from the table!" But with the wisdom of age, life experience, and resulting blessed disregard for what others think about me comes a certain freedom. I don't feel the need to explain anything to anyone or defend myself because there is nothing I could ever say that would change their misconceptions. They want to believe what they believe. So I no longer let it get to me and I've accepted who I am with all my beautiful flaws. When someone I met asked me when I was due, I said - "I'm not pregnant, I'm just fat!" They were embarrassed, but I laughed, because I was 56 at the time and that ship had way past sailed! And I chose to take it as a compliment that she thought I was young enough to be pregnant! LOL As for WLS, I've embraced it. I've made a decision that will extend my life and grant me many more years with my husband (poor man!) So I told my sisters, some friends, my hairdresser (gonna need him when the hair starts falling out!), my boss, and a lot of coworkers. And while the reaction has been hugely positive and supportive, I have to be honest, if it wasn't I just wouldn't have given a 🤐 I admit that when I was younger things would have been different, because when we are young we worry too much about what others think about us. But now I only live for today. As for rude and obnoxious people, I just look at them and think... I will digress here with a little story - I once had a sister-in-law who was a truly evil person disguised as a saint; she was capable of the most heinous acts. She is only person upon whom I've ever wanted to seek revenge. So I would think about dastardly things and one day came up with the idea of going to bookstore with a large magazine section and taking a subscription card from EVERY magazine and filling them out in her name... every type of magazine imaginable. Then i thought about how long it would take someone to cancel all those magazines... and the type of mailing lists you would get on even after you had cancelled them, and I smiled a chesire cat little smile... and then let it go. In my head I had enacted my revenge! I shared it with my husband and to this day when someone really pisses me off I tell him about it and say, "They're getting magazines!!!" and we laugh. So those rude, obnoxious, and nasty people who can't mind their own business and have to comment on things they know nothing about? I look at them and think "You're getting magazines!"

Hi OP! Lots of us won't know what trimfit is. Or how it would help a post bariatric surgery lifestyle. I think most of us just stick to the plan our surgeons set out. We see greater or lesser losses depending on a number of variables. Please could you provide a link or a clearer description of what it is and what you're hoping to achieve by incorporating it into your plan?

I wouldn't be surprised if you losing weight is absolutely terrifying to your ex. As long as you are obese, he can assure himself that you'll never find anyone better than he was, which seems to be important to a lot of people regardless of whether they ended the relationship or you did. It's a pride thing. But when you start losing weight, now you're probably happier with more energy, you might look more attractive, maybe dressing in nicer clothes, too... uh oh! Now he sees you were totally settling for his sorry butt and are likely to find someone way better, and then his ego will be bruised as all your friends and family tell you how lucky you are. My ex, (who is legally not my ex yet, which is very annoying) is the sabotaging type, too. I see him 5 days a week when he picks up the kids for school or drops off from activities. I've had to tell him about the surgery as I'll need his help with the kids, and I am still on a family plan insurance so he'll need to know about deductibles and such, but I fully expect him to start panicking as the weight loss becomes noticeable. I can hardly wait to find out how he'll try to sabotage me.

Hi guys. Start weight before surgery - 21.9 stone lowest weight after surgery - 17 stone current weight - 19 stone I was sleeved on 02/02/22, restriction was doing it’s thing, I caught covid back end of March. Completely lost my appetite for a week, then after that it felt asif I was never sleeved. I worked from home which did not involve a lot of steps a day, come the beginning of may my weight loss had stalled and stuck at 17 stone all the way up until around March 2023. since March 2023 I gained 1 stone 13 pounds through no fault of my own eating what I wanted no calorie counting etc. I started calorie counting the beginning of this week. I am on 1800 calories by working this out as my deficit through the TDEE website. I know this website does not take into consideration my smaller stomach due to surgery however I have no restriction at all and can eat 1800 calories a day no problem and still hungry most days. 5 days on a deficit and I’ve actually gained a pound, I was 18.13 on Monday now 19 stone. Has anyone else who has been sleeved going through the same thing? Didn’t really lose much weight after surgery and tried calorie counting a couple years post op and the scale just did not move, or even go up? Looking to shift 4 stone but feel deflated as doing everything I should be and scales are going up? I calorie counted years before my sleeve surgery and lost 5 stone in 5 months. Shouldn’t it be even easier now I’ve been sleeved? It seems so much harder! Yes I am tracking everything correctly and I weigh out everything that passes my lips.

So my surgeon said that because of the conditions it would be better for me to have the 'harder hitting' surgery - by that he means the one that has the slightly higher % of weight loss results afterwards! He also said that the bypass is more effective in balancing out hormonal issues compared to the sleeve, and that what I need is an entire metabolic reset!

I did not have sleeve I had bypass, I have had pernicious anemia my whole adult life. I have a severe case and take shots every two weeks no change since surgery nor am I willing to risk the side effects from not taking my shots I had severe memory loss before I was diagnosed and my memories were not recoverable. B-12 your body only absorbs what you need you are better off taking a shot than not.

I love that you are downsizing before you even have your surgery! Kudos to you for sticking to your pre-op diet so well and seeing such a big loss. I think size 10s are totally realistic for you. Be prepared to buy things for work before you can wear those clothes, but absolutely be prepared to buy smaller sizes too as you shrink further. Welcome to your new life OP.

Courtnay, I am so sorry you had such an awful experience... I had some nurses that really irritated me and treated me poorly but an orderly found me crying because I was in so much pain and stressed by the nurse and so she reported the nurse, which was uncomfortable in the moment because I had to talk to a bunch of people, but really made them treat me decently the rest of the time! You can definitely have the bypass later once the sleeve takes off some weight. This happens sometimes with DS surgeries where they end up doing the sleeve first and then the intestinal part later once some abdominal fat is lost. Livers can be really tricky. Mine was still "plump" during the surgery, I just happen to have an extremely skilled surgeon who was able to work around it, but he told me sometimes that isn't possible. And I really want to say this, what happened to you IS NOT YOUR FAULT!! I'd find a therapist that deals with trauma, specifically medical trauma if possible, to help process this experience. Later down the road if your weight loss isn't stable you can consider converting to bypass or DS, you have options now with the sleeve! I know it isn't what you wanted, and I don't understand why the doctor didn't just close you up and try again later if you felt so strongly about it, but hindsight is always 20/20 and the good thing is that the sleeve DOES take off weight and that weight loss will help you feel a lot better. You should be on a good PPI with your heartburn, twice a day if needed. Omeprazole was always useless to me, so I use pantaprazole in the morning and Dexilant in the evening, both are prescription and they work wonderfully, no food triggers at all. You don't have to suffer with heartburn and reflux, they really should sort your meds out for that. It will make nausea and eating a lot easier. Oh and a few weeks out my digestive system was very testy. I had IBS before and it was grumpy post surgery. Fairlife shakes make me run to the bathroom for days for some reason! I like the Syntrax Nectar fruit flavors, they are like juice. Seeq is also good, it is like juice too, they are water based protein drinks, not creamy milk ones, and my digestive system handles them both better. You can get samples of Syntrax from Bariatric Pal and samples of Seeq from their website. Sending you lots of love... I hope things ease up soon and those hormones calm down, they are really rough after surgery! ❤️

Just for a little perspective, a good rule of thumb is that on average people lose about 50% of their excess weight by 6 months, then it will take the following 6-12 months to lose the remaining weight because loss slows the closer you get to goal. Your 50% mark is 45 lbs, so you are technically ahead of schedule probably when it comes to your weight loss. Take a moment to let that sink in and celebrate it! That's a big deal! Yes, working out for some people slows their weight loss according to the scale because they are exchanging fat for muscle and their fluid balance changes. But, another issue is that some people don't eat enough to fuel their body and workouts when they are in a losing phase, which will also cause weight loss to slow down. You need a session with a bariatric trained nutritionist to help you work out what your target calories and macros are so you don't end up in starvation mode and ruin that nicely reset metabolism you got compliments of the surgery! Stalls are a normal part of it. I stalled one month out from surgery for 5 weeks. It was really lame and I have way more to lose than you do. But it is all part of the game! Putting too much stress on your body and emotions will definitely trigger slower weight loss too as was mentioned above. This is a marathon, not a sprint... ETA: Almost forgot---are you monitoring your measurements?? Most of us lose inches when we aren't losing pounds according to the scale. That's because even when the scale is at a halt, our body composition is changing! Take those measurements!!