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Congrats on the 16 years of success! As we get older, our metabolism likes to mess with us, haha, but this is common. My surgeon told me that after a while, some weight regain will occur, but the best way to restart things is to redo your pre-op diet for 2 weeks, just to jumpstart things. His plan is at least try to get 64oz of water a day, start with 2 protein shakes for the two meals a day where you typically eat less. On the "big meal" each day, try to get in 6 oz of meat/protein of your choice along with as much leafy greens/broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers as you can. Cut out breads, starchy veggies (potatoes, carrots, etc) for the 2 week duration. Target 60g-80g of protein, and under 50g of carbs per day (not quite keto levels, just reduced). Calorie target was around 600-1000 per day, but it is meant to be temporary and not long term, just a jump start. From my personal experience, sugar/starchy carbs tend to send my cravings off the deep end for up to 3 days after eating them. I'm having to avoid bread, cookies, cake, candy, tortillas, wraps, potatoes, carrots, rice, and oatmeal whenever I start to regain. Some artificial sweeteners seems to set me off too, but I am a recovering Type 2 diabetic. I haven't isolated which ones affect me yet, but I can drink Fairlife protein shakes without having that sugar craving, and it has Monk Fruit, Stevia, and Sucralose. First day is absolute hell, but after 3 days it eases up considerably. Give that a try for 2-3 weeks and see if that helps with the weight loss. After that time, start working in your normal foods again, but give them a few days to see if any are triggering the new weight gain to happen again to see what's worth keeping. Slowly increase your calories to find the amount that works best for you long term. You want the range that lets you have the energy you need without weight gain. Some people may be only 1000 calories, others 1200, and others may be closer to 1800, so there's no exact number that works for every single person. Good luck, and I wish you well on your journey!

I'm on a three week stall in weight. I'll weigh twice a week. I'll be down a pound or two. The next time I weigh. I'll be up a pound or two. Just hovers. I think im stalling because of my daily workout, the victory on the scale isn't happening to my liking. But overall I do feel better. Next week is my 3 month post-op appointment. Hopefully the blood tests reveal why I've been so exhausted. Just keep plugging away, it's a marathon. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I would check with your dr. If your levels are low they just send a script to pharmacy and you self administer them. Im guessing it’s a lot cheaper through insurance. I recommend that you get labs to monitor your levels after doing the injections too because there are side effects of getting too much in your system (some serious). I am anxious to hear if this helps with your energy and or weight.

I'll be "exactly" 5 ½ years post sleeve next week...started at 235 lbs. been maintaining below goal weight this whole time. depending on the day, i lost anywhere between115-120 lbs total since settling into the 115-120 lb range for over 4 years now. i do have a bit of an annoying reflux issue i have to deal with (i take the min dosage omzparole once a day), but other than that, no real complaints and life is more than good.

This is great advice. I would also ask to speak to the surgeon and clarify the information the rest of his team are giving you. You are on a very restricted diet already, your body will not drop more weight easily without time. Its wrong of them to expect this. Speak out.

Its crazy how different every Dr is. Mine tells me the same things to strive for. 3 meals plus a snack no more than 4oz or 1/2 cup. But she 100% understands that I just can not physically do it yet at 2 month post op. So she absolutely tells me to supplement with shakes because it is more important to “try” to get to these guidelines while maintaining my protein intake for the health of my body. Right now she says is the time to take advantage of the weight loss, to try all the foods I can tolerate so I can build that healthy diet. But telling my I am not allowed to supplement will only discourage me and make me feel like a failure. She said these are your goals, and every day you work to make it to these goals. But 3 priorities over everything. Water Protein vitamins…..

Like @GreenTealael, I agree finding a way of eating that is sustainable is key. If you choose to follow an eating style that is too restrictive or makes you feel like you’re missing out or can’t participate, it is destined to fail like any diet we tried to follow in the past. And same with whatever exercise you choose to incorporate. If you don ‘t enjoy the exercise, find it restricts or limits your lifestyle, you aren’t’ going to continue with it. Of course, over time you will find you make adjustments or swap out certain foods or activities as your way of eating or exercise routines evolve. You may explore other options, discover you can have a little of this or that occasionally, try a different activity, or you have lifestyle changes. Do I eat exactly like I did when I first stabilised? No. I can actually eat more but the modifications I’ve made are pretty close to how it was and it still works for me & allows me to maintain at the same weight. You have to be vigilant and keep working at it though. Complacency is a slippery slope. Don’t be afraid to seek support & help with therapy if you find yourself sliding back to habits and behaviours. We can’t always do all of this on our own. All the best.

Make sure you ask your team about bubble bathes before you take them. I was told no bath or swimming for a while. I would have ti look at the paperwork but I think it was 6 or 8 weeks maybe. I love that your hubby is on board to eat the healthy foods with you, that will make it a lot more fun. Maybe you can do a blog or a thread on here with recipes if you have the time?? And your sister being so supportive is amazing. I found That I used the food processor instead of the immersion blender in the purée stage but it was super sweet of they regardless. I got a little 3 cup one. Actually splurged Quite a bit on the kitchen aide one so it wouldn’t bugg me to leave it out but bf budget doesn’t permit for that they have them far more reasonably priced. I have puréed eberything. I also found these little containers from dollar tree to be super handy to store leftovers in individual portions. They are 2.6 oz I think. 1/4c is 2oz and I am allowed 1/8 to 1/4 on puree so then take up a lot less room in fridge than all the big leftover containers and I can keep a pretty good variety that’s grab and go. They are basically little baby containers if you don’t have dollar tree I’m sure Amazon has something. I also got a couple of packs of their little desert sized paper plates for now and spoons so I don’t have to deal with as many dishes for a while. in terms of weighting it was really hard for me not to weigh everyday but what I did with the sleeve was to record my weight in my phone notes once a week so that when I got discouraged I could look back at that and see the overall downward trend. You can do it in the Baritastic app as well or on this app but doing it was than daily sort of reinforced it to my brain that little daily fluctuations didn’t matter. I’m curious to see what pill organizer you got. I have added magnesium at night now so I have five doses a day. I didn’t think they made one big enough for all these big vitamins so many times per day. Although I figure that most times I will only need to take the calcium while I’m out. Then again it couldn’t hurt to keep a couple multi vitamins with us just in case we would get stuck out unexpectedly. I do that with my rx meds and these are just as important ooh and if you like the fruit flavors chews you may like the caramel to change it up as well they are sorta like weathers original flavor but better because they are chewy.

Don’t think the small amounts you eat in the beginning is how much you’ll eat forever. After surgery your stomach muscle is very tight so it can’t tolerate much. But as it heals, and you start to introduce more foods, it slowly starts to soften (not stretch) & is able to tolerate more. I was told, though I began with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from the puree stage, by about 6 months I’d be up to about a cup. Which was pretty accurate for me. I’m 5 years out & from about 2 years, I was pretty much eating a recommended portion size. Check the nutrition panel of processed pre prepared foods and google recommended portions of other foods or ingredients to give you an idea. Generally about 3-4ozs of protein & a cup of vegetables, 2 eggs, a small apple, etc. Some days I can’t/not interested in eating that much, other days it’s the perfect portion. The liver shrink diet is not to actually shrink the liver but the fat around the liver. This is to allow your surgeon to have better vision of & access to your tummy during the surgery. This diet does differ surgeon to surgeon, patient to patient. Generally it’s two weeks of a shake three times a day. However, some are four shakes, others two shakes & one lean protein & steamed vegetables meal. Others are only for a week or a couple of days. Mine was keto for two weeks (I started a couple of days earlier). Some people lose seemingly a lot of weight, others only a few pounds. It’s one of those things linked to how much weight you carry. It can be tough as you may experience withdrawal like symptoms (from stopping/reducing sugar, carbs, caffeine) for about 5 days. Apparently my surgeon’s patients who did the two week all shakes called the first week hell week. While tough, remember it is only for two weeks and the big picture benefits & wins makes it so worth it. All the best with your surgery.

Almost 5 years out and I still feel cold. Was just at my beauty therapist & had a blanket wrapped around me while I had a pedicure. Bbrrr! Simply it’s because you’re losing your insulation. Plus your body doesn’t run as hot as it did when functioning at your higher weight. Some people acclimatise eventually others, like me, don’t. I keep a coat in my car for emergencies & try to dress according to where I’m going or what I’m doing.

Hi everyone. I thought I would pop this on here, and someone who is feeling incredibly frustrated and let down by the whole waiting process. For context; I am waiting for a gastric sleeve date, after almost 5 years on the waitlist with the NHS based in England. Ironically, I could've paid for private surgery almost twice over with the amount of tax I've paid since waiting! I have been 'at the top of the list' since October last year, and have done everything they have asked of me - kept my weight below my initial weight at the beginning of my consultations; diet change; lifestyle change; everything to try and help eleviate some of my PCOS symptoms whilst I wait. I'm just feeling so ticked off today. I missed a call by a couple of seconds whilst I was driving to work, and had a gut feeling it would be from the hospital I'm having the surgery in. I tried to call back, but typical, it was a number that didn't receive incoming calls. I tried for 20 minutes to get through to the right department (had the phone put down on me when I was put through to the wrong team, and asked to be put back to the switchboard?). When I finally managed to call through to surgery admissions, I was advised that because I didn't answer the phone (despite LITERALLY not having a number directly to call back on), they had already called someone else and given my slot away. Livid and heartbroken do not come close to how I felt today. I am so exhausted of the waiting game, even moreso when there's been several times I've had appointments in person cancelled at the last minute, after travelling 2 hours there and back; cancelled phone calls at the last minute; zero in-person physiotherapy despite being told for over 2 years I would receive them. I now have to wait - god knows how long - for the next phone call, that heaven forbid it's unsafe for me to answer my phone at that point in time. Has anyone else in the UK had anything like this before? I just can't believe they wouldn't give me a chance to call back as I did, or call me again within a couple of minutes. I'm self-employed, and as the spring/summer months approach, I may lose out on a lot of work and earnings with surgery recovery, which is why next month would have been perfect. Any support right now would be great. I'm feeling so deflated and worn out by this.

@BlueParis Still stalled I had my 3-month appointment yesterday. It seems I'm on track based on the numbers my doctor wants to see, which is losing at least 10% of your day-of-surgery weight at the 3-month mark. For me, that would be 22.3 lbs, and I've lost 22.4 lbs. So, I just have to trust the process, I guess. I have to go in Friday morning to have blood drawn for iron and B-12 check, and I need to redo my TSH (thyroid) from my physical earlier this week because Biotin messes up the results! So I have to stop my multivitamin and my biotin supplement for 72 hours before retesting. And @Noelle74it's so true that the weight does not just "fall off." Maybe the first few weeks, but after that? It's a struggle. Lots of ups and downs. Lots of frustration. I think a lot of trial and error, too, until you find what works for you. My plan is to just keep tracking protein and water, as directed by my dietician, for the next month. I have a vacation at the end of June. If I get back from that and don't like my progress, I will try limiting carbs to under 50g per day until my 6-month check-up at the end of August. If I'm worried at that point, I will talk to doctor about adding GLP-1. But hopefully there will be no cause for concern. My next thing is to learn how to use my resistance bands! That's my goal for the coming week.

sounds like the infamous "three-week stall" (it's not ALWAYS the third week, but it usually happens sometime within the first 4-6 weeks after surgery). Almost all of us have our first major stall then. If you do a search on the three week stall on this site, you will find over 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding!). It'll likely be the first of several stalls during your journey. The best thing to do when you hit a stall is make sure you're following your eating plan to a "T", and stay off the scale. Instead of every day, weigh yourself once a week. As long as you stick to your eating plan, the stall WILL break. Usually takes 1-3 weeks. But it'll break. Mine lasted two weeks, and once it broke, I dropped like 6-8 lbs practically overnight. it's just a way for your body to come to terms with what's going on and re-calibrate before heading down again. It's a natural part of losing weight and happens to almost all of us.

You can take my advice with a grain of salt since I've never been in the position of losing too much weight and am only 4 weeks post-op, but I think at this point your best bet is to ignore calories and just listen to your body. Eat if you're hungry, don't eat if you're not, and focus on nutritious food. Your body will stop losing weight when it feels like it. I agree with @Spinoza that I think the surgery gives you a new set point. It's best to just see what that is and only worry about it if it's so low that it's unhealthy. More than likely, it'll bounce back up on its own if it's too low for you to maintain. But better you bounce up to where your goal was initially than put the brakes on now and then bounce up 10 lbs higher than you wanted in a year.

Honestly I think this is one of the reasons therapy is so helpful when going through this experience. Even if you don't go every week, having a person who has both perspective and understands the ins and outs of abusive relationships and how they echo through us for years after can be immensely healing. You are changing a LOT and it is normal to have feels about that. And he will have feels about it too, because he loves you and as you change, he will have to change in some ways too, to accommodate and appreciate the ever-changing being that is you! My partner doesn't care what weight I am. I gained 100 lbs since we were first married. We've been together 17 years. They look at me with just as much, if not more, desire than they did when I was young and smaller, which is hard to wrap my head around! They have always encouraged me to dress in ways that feel good. They prefer curvy women, always have. I have been worried that as I lose weight they might lose some of that attraction to me because in time, I will be smaller than they've ever known me, smaller than I've ever been in my adult life! But they assure me that while they aesthetically like the look of curvy women, they LOVE me in all my forms and my health and wellbeing is more important than anything else and no matter how I change, I will still be beautiful. If they loved me at 200 and they loved me at 320, they will love me at 170 or wherever I land. I've done enough work in therapy with the abuse I dealt with in the past to be able to trust what they say. But it still gets to me sometimes... Today I noticed my boobs have become visibly flatter. This is really hard for me because I LOVE MY BOOBS. 🤣 I have always been booby and I like it! Last year I found out I carry the CHEK2 mutation and with my cancer history combined with it I have a much higher risk of developing breast cancer than I'd like. The specialist I saw advised I consider an elective mastectomy after my weight loss stabilizes. I understand the logic, but I've already had to bid goodbye to my reproductive organs thanks to cancer, I wasn't expecting to have to consider saying goodbye to my boobs too. So I was standing in the bathroom today having the feels about my flat boobs and my partner came in so I pointed out the change. They admitted they could see the difference but very stubbornly said "These are my favorite boobs in the whole world. They are the best boobs ever, no matter what size they are." FFS, really?? Am I not supposed to cry at that?? They said something similar when we talked about a mastectomy. I feel very lucky to have a partner that can abide all the changes that I've gone through in this life and still look at me through the eyes of love. I hope I succeed at giving that back to them...

Differences in size never cease to amaze me. I am almost exactly the same weight as you but 3 inches taller and I am a US size 8-10. No idea how that happens. OP I am a firm believer in the concept of a new set weight after bariatric surgery. I would have been happy 15 or 20 pounds heavier than where I settled. That was my goal actually. After I got into that ballpark I didn't try to lose any more, but it just happened. And then, eating very much the same stuff, my loss then stopped. And I've maintained thereabouts for a year or more with very little effort. If you can keep eating healthy and nutritious foods then could you just see where that gets you to? There are lots of healthy people with a BMI of 25+ and lots with a BMI of 19-. You'll find yourself somewhere in the middle eventually I suspect.

So today during a work meeting, one of my colleagues who I have known for many years turned and said to me, "you are annoyingly beautiful". I was genuinely taken aback by this, and just laughed and jokingly told her to shut up 😂 but I wanted to just think about why this shocked me so much. I always thought compliments like that were reserved for those people who were confident and effortlessly beautiful. I really am not used to receiving compliments, or really even being perceived, and I think this is something that a lot of people who struggle with their weight feel at some point. 280lbs me just wanted to be small and unseen, and not looked at for the wrong reason (very superficial, I know). And now I am being seen, I think, in a different light. It does feel weird. In most ways, it is really nice getting compliments like that, I feel really happy and it was genuinely sweet of her. In other ways, I feel a little bit of grief for the girl who I was a few short months ago, and how she didn't get told things like that. Either way, I do feel really happy about being told that, and weirdly a little tearful if I am honest! Anyway...happy Monday all! 😂

I didn't have any expectations or set goals regards to inches or weight as I have found before that it is a negative thing for me if I don't achieve, even if I get close and adds more pressure. I am now 8 months post op and have gone in in my jeans from a 3XL to a EU38 so US6. I am finally finding my energy is coming back to me now so I have signed up for an exercise program to do at home. It recommends taking measurements weekly to see where inches are coming off even if weight isn't so I have started as of yesterday and hope to see the measurements improve over the next month or two.

Oh, hello, three-week stall. I see you've arrived like clockwork. I'm one of those people who weighs every morning as soon as I wake up. I started doing it the day before my pre-op diet began. I won't do it forever, but I really wanted the record so I could look back and see what patterns my weight loss actually took, because I think it's easy to forget over time. Plus, I like graphs. So, I hit 217 lbs on Tuesday, and have now been that weight for 4 weigh-ins in a row. I think my body must have access to a calendar because it hit the 3-week mark perfectly. I mean, I'm kind of impressed.

Hi Penguin733, thanks for the reply. What surgery did you have and what’s your goal weight? I’m day 6 in my post op and down to 254 lbs already. My goal weight range is 190-200 lbs but concerned my weight will drop below this mark.

Congratulations, it sure feel great to just be overweight doesn't it. I remember your struggles. You had it tough. Are you managing to eat better now ? I am happy at this weight so am not bothering with going down another category even if my GP says it would be good for me.

I unfortunately only spent a few months following surgery without being overly hungry, but after about the three month mark it came back with a vengeance, so I decided to do some research. I now consume Non digestive or Resistant meladextrin. Its a corn fiber that your body can't digest so; no calories, good fiber and probiotics purported to help with the following: Resistant maltodextrin is believed to enhance gut health by [19, 29, 30]: Promoting the growth of good gut bacteria Improving stool weight, consistency, and bowel movements According to some researchers, resistant maltodextrin has potential against obesity, diabetes, and heart disease because, in various studies, it has [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39]: Reduced belly fat and body weight Decreased food intake Increased satiety hormones (glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY) Lowered the production of the “hunger” hormone (ghrelin) Reduced blood sugar levels and insulin resistance Blocking the growth of cancer cells and tumors ** hasn't been proven** Decreasing endotoxins, inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress markers (TNF-a, IFN gamma, MDA) Increasing protective antibodies and anti-inflammatory substances (IgA, butyrate, IL-10) In clinical studies of over 200 people, resistant maltodextrin enhanced the growth of good gut bacteria, including [19, 29, 44, 47, 48]: Bifidobacterium Ruminococcus Eubacterium Lactobacillus Lachnospiraceae Bacteroides Holdemania Faecalibacterium As a resistant starch, this type of maltodextrin will help keep your blood sugar level stable after meals. In a meta-analysis of over 900 people, resistant maltodextrin blocked the increase of blood sugar after meals (postprandial glycemia) [37]. resistant maltodextrin decreased blood glucose and insulin levels. It increased a weight-loss protein called adiponectin that blocks glucose production. 3) Obesity In several clinical studies of over 300 overweight people, resistant maltodextrin reduced body weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat. In one 12-week clinical study of 30 people with metabolic syndrome, it decreased waist circumference and belly fat [31, 55, 35]. In clinical studies of over 160 overweight men, resistant maltodextrin decreased feelings of hunger, increased satiety, and reduced and food intake. In another study on 32 healthy people, it decreased levels of the “hunger” hormone (ghrelin), lowered feelings of hunger and improved satiety [31, 32, 33, 34]. In rats, resistant maltodextrin reduced body weight, belly fat, and suppressed excess food intake [56, 6, 50 I found numerous research studies that pretty much said the same things above..so I figured I'd give it a try. It has no flavor and desolved completely so I just add it to my water plus it has no calories and helps regulate Ghrelin (hunger hormone). It really seems to help! I just make sure its non GMO etc etc. Perhaps it can help you, I figured it couldn't hurt and I do feel less hungry...still by try but less.

Please don't ever be sorry for a post's length. I don't think there is a person here who minds posts of any length! That's crazy about your insurance. I, too, hope it is resolved quickly for you. I can't imagine the new insurance company won't honor something you already had approved and were moving forward with. If they do, can you go back to the old company and appeal to them about the situation? I didn't even know that some insurance companies won't cover weight loss surgery. That's absurd! Please keep us posted, and PLEASE don't let this get to you so much that you overeat or smoke. This too shall pass, and you will be fine on the other end.

I am not surprised you are ticked off. You know what is right and working for you now and stick to that. You are not doing anything wrong and have much such changes in your life to get to where you are, well done. My surgeon is the opposite and he told my target should be 75kg/165lb and I said 66kg/145lb so as to be in the healthy range on BMI chart. His response was to not fixate on the BMI chart and just be happy and healthy. He said he thought I would look older and less healthy if I lost too much more weight. My GP doctor said similar about being happy and healthy. We agreed to reduce my target to 70kg/154lb but I seem to be stuck at 72kg/159lb anyway! I do think now that the target I set myself is probably not the best for me, as my bones and brain probably weigh 70kg 🤣🤣