Search the Community

I am an outdoor walker through and through - all weathers. I have dogs so this has always been non-negotiable, LOL. I also do Pilates (indoors obvs) 2 or 3 times a week nowadays. I enjoy that in a different way. Honestly anything you can do and enjoy you're more likely to keep going with. If you can click with that then do it. Horses for courses!

I can handle toast, but not bread. I only eat one or two slices per week and keep the rest in the freezer. I'm in Canada so our grocery store options might be different, but I've had luck with: * Dempsters ZeroZero Protein bread (per slice: 1.5g fat, 13.5g carbs, 0.5g sugar, 5.5g protein) *Country Harvest Whole Grain & Protein Blend (per slice: 2g fat, 16g carbs, 2.5g sugar, 6.5g protein) Really though, any sourdough or whole wheat / whole grain bread is probably the best bet. Wonder bread does a thin-sliced whole wheat that my brother (and his kids, lol) swear by. EDITED TO ADD: If you're specifically looking for non-bread alternatives, there seem to be a lot of protein-added wraps and tortillas on the market these days -- and I love crackers, I feel like you never go wrong with crackers. Everything from the Ryvita brand is delicious with a great crunch, and whole wheat saltines are really satisfying topped with NSA peanut butter, or cheese and apple slices.

oh the hair loss blues. if its gonna happen its gonna happen. mine started dropping out at 3 months, i had CARPETS of hair all over the house. bit the bullet and cut it to a pixie cut cuz i got tired of vaccuming and snaking the shower drain of all that effing hair. at around 6-7 months post op i noticed little chicken hairs sticking straight up all over my head. by 2 years, all those little chicken hairs were the same length as the rest of my shoulder length hair. by 4 years, my hair was just as long as it was pre-wls AND it was thicker AND curlier (bonus!). i aslo had regular haircuts throughout all this, so i'm sure it would have been longer if i didn't...but it probably wouldn't have looked as healthy.... i'll be 6 years post op in October and my hair is still long and lovely. here's a collage i made when i was 4 years post op to show the hair state progression. the last pic is of me 2 years ago, i'll see if i can post one of my hair today after i shower, if i don't get to lazy.

I have experimented with making my own low carbohydrate breads using primarily eggs and almond flour. Here is a go-to recipe for making a little at a time; I scale it up if I am meal prepping. 1 egg 1 Tablespoon olive oil 3 Tablespoons Almond Flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and pour into a microwave-safe bowl or ramekin. Microwave for 90 seconds. Flip out and slice in half. It's not exactly bread, but paired with a veggie sausage patty, it's a very filling grab-n-go breakfast. For convenience, I have purchased Healthy Life Keto Bread at supermarkets. It has 35 calories per slice, 9g of carbohydrates, 8g of fiber, and 5g of protein. My serving size is usually one piece toasted, with avocado, tomato, and nutritional yeast on top.

Thank you. That was very helpful. The desire is definitely to chew. The food cravings I have are from Mediterranean cooking accounts on instagram. The salads look amazing. The old me would have liked at sugar and baking that way. At least the food I want is healthy. My surgeon doesn’t want me starting my vitamins until the 2 week follow up. The rationale is that getting all the fluid and protein that I need in a day should be my primary focus and he doesn’t want too much put on me all at once. im prescribed omeprazole twice daily. I’ve been taking the morning dose but not my evening dose. That also seems to me when I start feeling the “hunger”. I start taking them twice a day as prescribed.

Thank you so much!!! A trick was to have the hair dresser do layers in my hair. Adds shape, depth, and fullness. And the shorter length really helps. I wash my hair twice per week. I blow dry it with a diffuser so the heat isn't directly on my scalp. I add leave in conditioner for curls and a tiny bit of curl defining mousse and then blow dry it. Once it's all set, I run my fingers through it a few times and that's literally it. Think about doing layers when you get it cut. It's hard to part with the length at first, but once you see your hair looking fuller and healthier, and it's a lot easier to manage, it takes the sting out pretty quick.

I am thinking I will have to do the same, which I have stopped putting heat to my hair now, Might just do one blow dry after my wash a week. I agree your hair shorter looks healthier and fuller. You have a nice face shape for both so you are rockin the new do! Call me vain but I am devastated about looking at short hair cuts LOL Thankfully my hair grows quickly so I am going to take collagen so my hair growth comes in healthy and strong. You were right nothing I am doing is helping I brush my hair every morning and 15-20 strands of hair just come out *le Sigh*

My hair was down to the middle of my back. It really looked terrible. Split ends, super dry and brittle, no shape, emphasized my scalp and the general thinning. After my surgery, I was nervous to go too short so I went to juuuuust below my shoulders. Looked good for about 6-8 weeks and then started to show the thinning and my scalp again. This time around, I cut my hair just ABOVE my shoulders and decided to stop straightening it. My natural waves came back in full force, which helped A LOT. And it's easier to maintain and doesn't look thin at all.

1. What was the best part of surgery for you? The best part for me has been being able to do things I enjoy again. There were several things that I either couldn’t do or didn’t want to do because of my weight and now after losing so much weight I have been able to start doing most of those things again. For example, I love going to sporting events, but I had stopped going because I didn’t fit comfortably in many chairs at stadiums. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have any complications with the surgery (I had the bypass). Really my only complaint about the entire process was the gas pain following surgery. I was told by my doctor I may have some pain in my chest after the surgery, but it was way worse than I was expecting. But it only lasted for a few hours and after that everything went smoothly. 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) after your surgery? Not really. My surgeon did notice an umbilical hernia while doing my surgery but decided it would be better to get that fixed after I lost some weight, so I had another surgery for that 9 months later. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? Easier than I expected actually. I think it helps that I live alone right now so I have quite a bit of control over my environment. Like if I had a roommate who ordered pizza a lot, I think I would have a lot harder time eating healthier, but since I live alone I am able to control what food I am around for the most part. Probably the hardest part for me has been making sure I get enough fluids. I have always drank a lot with my meals and now I can’t do that anymore, so I’ve had to learn to drink throughout the day. I am finally doing better with that but I felt like I was constantly dehydrated for several months after the surgery. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? Not very long. The toughest part was remembering not to eat too fast or take too big of bites. During the first couple of weeks especially it does not take long until you will feel full and even just one too many bites can make you very uncomfortable for a while. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? The short answer is no. I have not found any food that I can’t tolerate, but there are foods I choose not to eat anymore. The only issue I had was with rice, and I think that was just because I ate a little too much. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? My recovery was not bad at all. Like I mentioned earlier, the gas pain was the worst part, but after that really the only pain I had was in my abdomen when I got out of bed or the recliner. I vomited a few times when I was learning to eat again but all of those were from just eating a little too much I think. Recently I’ve discovered I get low blood sugar really easily (and I’m not diabetic). I actually just talked with my nutritionist about this earlier today. I don’t have sugary foods too often, but I’ve found that if I have too much sugar all at once, I will get low blood sugar a few hours later. This never happened to me before my surgery. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? Just a few days. My surgery was on a Monday and I remember thinking I probably could have gone back to work that Thursday if I had needed to (my job is not physical at all though- I work at a desk most of the day). The toughest part was energy level. I returned to work one week after surgery but I was only able to work half days for a couple of days. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? Yes, I have way more energy than I used to. I used to have to force myself to work out a few days a week, now I don’t like going even one day without some form of exercise. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? Yes, I think it has. It has helped my mental health in some ways, like being able to do more of the things I enjoy has helped with my depression, but I have also found I am struggling with stress and anxiety more than I used to. I think at least part of the reason for that is that I used to cope with stress and anxiety by eating and I can’t do that anymore, at least not the way I used to. Also I should add that there was a part of me that thought that all of my problems (including my mental health issues) would magically go away once I lost weight. My mental health has definitely improved since I lost weight, but it is still something I am struggling with. I started seeing a therapist a few months ago and I believe that is helping me out a lot. 11. Do you regret it? Do you recommend it? I have not regretted it for a second. I was relatively young when I had the surgery (I was 32) and a part of me felt like I didn’t need the surgery, like I thought I was still young enough I could lose weight without surgery, but looking back on it I am glad I didn’t wait. I had a number of minor health problems that were all slowly getting worse, and I realize now that it was good that I didn’t wait for them to get worse. I will add that I feel I am one of the lucky ones that has had basically no complications from the surgery and no food intolerances or dumping. I know not everyone has had as easy of an experience following the surgery as I have.

This July it will be 5 yrs out since my gastric bypass. Originally I wanted to put goal weight at 150 but even when I was 16 and on the swim team and burning calories like crazy, the lightest I ever was, was roughly 145. As a teen I even did VERY UNHEALTHY things to try and get down to what at the time, according to the notorious insurance standards, was a medical goal weight of 114 -135 lbs for my height at the time. I never managed to get down to 114 despite going on under 600 calories a day (again, with no medical guidance..I was a teen and listened to peer pressure and society tell me what was 'ideal'). So to think that in my 50's that I need to even try for that kind of weight, I figured I'd just disappoint myself plus I'm older and my body has changed. I finally set my goal at 170. Fast forward to THIS year (year 5) - I had consistently been tracking between 169-175 (and been THRILLED) and for some reason I hit a rough patch about 7 mos ago where I was hungry all the time, scary hungry considering I had been more at ease with my life and not feeling like I had to monitor anything. Things felt like there was a natural rhythm to hunger and how I addressed it. I didn't feel desire to overeat and my family said I still 'ate like a bird, but I realized I had let bad habits creep back in and it was more a boredom thing and honestly, extreme stress. What I was doing that let calories creep in was I was eating more frequently. You can overcome any 'restriction' at some point by eating frequently. I gave myself 'guard rail'/target weight zone instead at the end of my first year post surgery. If I'm in my 'zone', then I'm not actively trying to gain or lose, I'm content. If I get up towards the high end of my zone, I re-evaluate what I'm doing. I ended up in 1 month blowing past the high end of my zone to a weight spike that I had not had for 3 solid years. I had been consistent AND happy with where I was at. Thankfully I've course corrected and with some help I'm at my lowest weight ever since I was...er...18? I'm 165 right now and as I am also considering plastics, I'm going to re-review the valuable info on the plastics forum/threads as I know I want weight 'stability' for sure. I knew when I did the surgery that I personally wanted to wait until a few years out because honestly, I was afraid I'd find some way to tank the surgery even though I waited 5 yrs before having the surgery to work on myself mentally/emotionally. I also knew I'd have to pay for it out of pocket so I would need YEARS to save so I figured I could lose the weight and tone what I could so the plastic surgeon, if I was fortunate enough to find one I could trust, would know what they had to work with. I'll let them tell me if they also feel I'm ready. I have SO much loose skin that I honestly don't know with it removed if I'd weigh 5 lbs less than what the scale says. I also learned my watching my 1000 lb life that loose skin doesn't weigh as much as I THINK it should..LOL. That is why I'm only attributing 5 lbs to my loose skin I think you are doing AWESOME! I'm glad you are keeping your goal where it is. Just settle into your 'new fantastic self' which is just another facet of the already awesome person you were! We can both spend time researching the plastics info while you are in this new chapter of your life and I'm hanging out at 5 years hoping I win the lottery or at least a big payoff scratch off so I can put some money 'down' with a plastic surgeon..LOL!

F 52, 5'9.5", SW 255 26 lbs, with 2 week liquid diet 36 219 202 186 Almost 5 months post op, 174. RNY Gastric Bypass 1/3/24

Life has been nuts the past couple months but I do periodically stalk the pages to get ideas. This was last night’s dinner- espresso bbq roasted chicken thighs, coleslaw, broccoli watermelon, and loaded mashed potatoes. (Chicken thighs marinated in buttermilk, KC bbq rub and espresso rub then topped with more of each and baked at 450F for 35ish minutes)- I’m not currently counting calories as I’m doing cardiac rehab 3 days a week and have lost 25lbs since I’ve had heart surgery that I had gained beforehand (stupid fatigue). Also, went to the museum with my youngest on a field trip today and we grabbed ice cream to share. This is the after from both of us eating it.

I am still basically stalled too. I fluctuate up and down the same pound over and over again but everyone keeps saying “you’ve lost more weight, haven’t you?” Ummm, no. It must just be shifting around. I know how discouraging it can be for the scale to not move especially after the quick initial weight loss right after surgery. I try to tell myself it’s a good thing because my skin seems to be bouncing right back and if I was losing too quickly it wouldn’t and then I would have the added problem of loose skin everywhere. I have about 25lbs left to lose so if we have a year to lose our weight I have 9 months to lose that weight. If you look at it that way it’s more bearable. Hang in there

I am 4months post off and I am going through the same. I work out hard, My weight is melting off, My hair is falling out which is devastating right now and I do get the occasional dizzy spells but other than that I feel really good! I am about 15lbs from my goal weight and I struggle to eat more than 1100 calories which I know I need to because I burn anywhere from 650 cal to 1000 calories a day (depending on the workouts) . I started much heavier than you but I am worried it wont stop and I will be a walking skeleton. I am meeting with my dietician and surgeon on the 13th and need to do bloodwork as well. 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT F, 35, 5'9, SW 297 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 31lbs 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 266lbs 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 236.6 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 205.2 I am at 4 months post op 185.8lbs 8. Type of Surgery (Sleeve, ByPass, etc...) Gastric sleeve

@BlueParis Thanks! Yes, I see some changes in my face in the photos and when I look in the mirror, and also my arms and even my hand look thinner in the most recent picture compared to last month. I've been microwaving, which may be the problem. Steaming would probably be the way to go. I brought home a delicious chicken shawarma from the weekend, but it dried out after a minute in the microwave and caused me all sorts of trouble. I wonder if putting it in a sous vide would work. I have a fresh turkey breast that I think I will try in the slow cooker that I can then use the meat for my salads at lunch. I do well with raw baby spinach, red peppers, cucumbers, and carrots. I never thought to cook turkey in a slow cooker, but the package suggested it (along with 3 cups broth). Worth a try! I'm so glad you're feeling a bit more at peace with your progress. I envy you being in London, although I swear you can freeze there in the middle of summer. But it's one of my favorite places. I had hoped to go for my 50th birthday this spring, but with surgery, it didn't really work out, so next year! Having spent the weekend away this weekend, I don't envy you all the travel because choosing foods while on the road is very hard. I feel like every time you go into a restaurant, it's some new server staring at your hardly-eaten plate and wondering what's wrong with you.

The bariatric center I go to told me the same thing about stalls. But they also added that little things could prolong them. Like I mentioned in another post about the pre workout and post workout fueling (eating). The stalls still happen, but at least I feel a little better from having more energy. That's great you're staying with your brother. That's what brothers are supposed to do! Sounds like you have a good one. You have a very interesting job to be able to travel all over the world. I'm sure there's times the traveling is too much. But, wow. All the places and different people you get to meet and work with. I hope the stalls don't last too much longer for you. From my own experience with them, they are tough to get past, even when you do see other positives going on. I wish you good rest and safe travels!

I'm still stalled but feeling better. I spoke to my clinic who said it is normal because I've lost more than goal at this point and had a lower BMI to start off with. The clinic has said the stall may last up to a month which means I'm half way through the stall trying to be rational about it. I managed a decent walk ( 15.4k steps) yesterday in my raincoat that helped. I'm still in London for work and it is grey and raining but I bailed on my hotel and came to stay with my little brother (who lives here for his work) and it's a bit like being home. I hadn't seen him in a few years because we're not that close but he made me airfryer spicy tofu and asparagus for supper, offered to look over some work excels with me and to top it off he washed, dried, folded my laundry from my suitcase whilst I was asleep and woke me up with coffee in bed this morning. (I suspect he's been talking to my partner). He's made me feel very cared for and also said that even without weightloss in the mix he gets very very down when he has a bad stretch of travel for work and the weather is ****. He helped me find friends of friends to stay with when I have a week in Budapest in 10 days time so that I'm not all alone at a hotel again. And we realised we'll both be in Boston for work next month and can meet up there and we also sync'd our work travel agendas and found out we'll be in Singapore in October at the same time as our brother in law ( sisters husband) and so all three of us can stay together! For my job the travel is going to be wild until the end of this year (wrap up of a 5 year worldwide project) and so I'm just going to have to "hack" it as much as I can. I get back to Paris very late tonight and might see if I can move enough meetings around to take Friday off work and just spend 3 days for myself in Paris. Hows everyone getting on ?

Okay first, thank you so much for such a comprehensive answer. I've seen some of your tips in the forums before but this really lays things out. I'll start varying my routine more and see if I can trip things up a bit. This iron thing in particular is interesting. In my last series of labwork my iron came back very low, but not quite anemic. (The range was 50-170, I came in at 55.) I have upgraded to the bariatric multivitamin with more iron and started also taking the iron melts with vitamin c, but I struggle to do this consistently due to how often I have dairy, and I haven't felt much of an improvement yet. I get re-tested in ~5 weeks to see if the numbers are better (or rather, to make sure they're not getting worse). Interesting lead either way.

I thought I'll put my progress for more context: 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT F, 33, 168 CM 5'5/5'6? 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 0 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 198/90 KG 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 172/78.2 KG 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 148/67.4 KG I am at 5 months post op 131.78/59.9 KG 8. Type of Surgery (Sleeve, ByPass, etc...) Gastric sleeve

Your body is healing & the tiredness & lethargy as a result is very common. If your body wants you to rest or nap, do rest or nap. It takes about 8 weeks to fully heal from the surgery but you will notice slow improvements in regards to how tired you are as the weeks pass. You may find there are times in the future while you are losing you experience drops in energy. This too is pretty common & again be a bit easy on yourself & your energy levels will rise again when your body is ready. I often wish I could still justify an afternoon nana nap. LOL!

It happened to me with BOTH surgeries. Started around month 3 after my sleeve and my once really thick hair shed so much it thinned out to the point that I needed to cut my hair and change how I styled it so you couldn't see how much it thinned out. It finally stopped at 9 months, but then at 13 months out I had my revision, and it started again at 2 months out. Here I am 11 months out from the revision and it finally stopped. I got another hair cut and this time decided no more straightening my hair, and now the shorter length and the waves and curls really help hide the additional thinning. Honestly, biotin doesn't promote hair growth or prevent shedding. It just makes the existing hair soft, shiny, and somewhat healthier. The protein is what makes the biggest difference since hair needs it but can't produce it. There really isn't anything that will prevent or lessen the shedding. It just is what it is and has to run its course. I would use volumizing hair care products, have a shorter hair length, possibly style it differently, and just wait it out. That's really all you can do.

Ah why do we do this to ourselves? Mind games. OP you've just done the best thing you ever could to secure your ongoing long-term health. Please trust your procedure and please follow your plan. It's there for a reason. A week out (and I had a sleeve not bypass so maybe slightly different) I think you need to be pushing for your fluid goal first and protein goal second. It won't harm you, it'll only help if you can get close, I promise. After that everything will be good. Not drinking in particular seems a recipe for disaster and a readmission for fluids.

You will get loads of sympathy here OP - for a woman (usually more than a man I think?) our hair is often tied into our identity more generally, for better or worse. Massive weight loss causes our non-essential body functions like hair growth to stall completely. Body thinks - no calories - what can I ditch? I know - hair! Once we get through the biggest rate of loss and our body is regrouping then the stalled follicles get pushed out by new growth. I lost masses of hair in I think 3 distinct phases, about 3 months apart. It's truly properly shocking, that first hair fall. (And for me the second and third - I hope you don't get those too!) Please please be reassured that most of it grows back for most of us. It just takes a while and it's so worth it.

1. What was the best part of surgery for you? The jumpstart to weight loss was obviously amazing, but I was surprised how quickly my usual body pain & aches stopped bothering me. My knee problems have basically vanished, and the lower back pain I had gotten so used to living with has gotten so much better. I can breath easier when doing things that used to have me out of breath -- going up 2 flights of stairs, for example. 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? The pre-OP shakes -- I'm lactose intolerant and have trouble with stevia, and there were no shakes my care team could find for me that didn't have one-or-both things, so I spent a good 8-9 days barely keeping anything down. The surgery itself went off without a problem, and the pain wasn't as bad as I thought -- other than the car ride home! If you get WLS, bring a pillow to clutch to you afterwards!! 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? Nothing during, nor after -- but I'm only 10wks post-OP tomorrow. 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? I too am on SSRIs for long-time depression & anxiety. Most days have been awesome and cheery. Even during the initial aches and pains of recovery, just knowing that things were going to start changing for the better improved my mental state. I still have bad moments / days but once I started seeing all the improvements to my life it makes it easier to push through. It certainly helps to have a good support system -- people in my life, but also honestly this forum. TBH I was in a #$%& mood all day and feeling lethargic, but logging in here I know that everyone here understands and it just makes me feel more settled. 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? I am currently having a ton of problems with chicken breast. I hate 'dark meat' poultry, but tried chicken thighs recently and it's not too bad but still leaves me with a heavy feeling in my stomach -- still better than the stuck feeling in my chest that the white meat gave. I feel like no matter what I put on it or how I cook it, it's just clearly a No for now. That said, for the most part everything else has gone down well as long as I eat slowly, and make choices consistent with my care team's plan / schedule. Going from puree to soft foods was probably the hardest for me physically, because it felt so different in my stomach. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? It's early on for me, but the changes in my body's hormones seems to have stopped most of my cravings. When I'm having a rough time emotionally, I still have momentary yearnings for old 'comfort foods' but honestly just the thought of some of them will turn me off within a few minutes. (For some reason if I think about fatty oils too long, I just get nauseated). And many of my old comfort foods have just updated into healthier things I can eat. Instead of my mum's Dutch mashed potatoes, I have a smaller bowl of healthier mashed potatoes (or cauliflower, or heart of palm) with a scoop of bone broth powder to up the protein. Instead of spaghetti and meatballs, I have homemade meatballs and extra sauce -- or a ricotta bake instead of lasagna. 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? I've had one instance of dumping syndrome so far, and it was 100% my own fault. I knew what the culprit was immediately (white-flour leftover tortilla and more difficult chicken breast). I won't lie, I seriously wanted to die for probably an hour, and then slept the rest of the day away. It's horrid. I'm hoping that I've learned enough to take better care / caution and avoid any more instances. Other than that, recovery has been pretty smooth. All my incisions healed up without issue, the gas pain only lasted a few weeks and then there was just a strange tightness / mild soreness on one side of my body for the first 5-6 weeks. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? I want to say 2-3 weeks. Around the time I started eating puree (week 3), my energy levels started bouncing back much more rapidly -- which let me walk more easily. 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? 100% yes. NGL, sometimes I feel like skipping even though it's not suitable for someone my age, LOL. I feel like I've been more efficient at work post-OP just because of the energy improvement, and physically I notice the increased stamina every time I go on an errand or for a walk with my dog. (I tire her out now!) 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? For the better. Some of it is because the energy and the physical improvements make me feel better about myself in general, but part of it is kind of a trickle-down effect. I spend more time making good, healthy choices for myself, spend more time being mindful whether it's while I'm eating, or making a grocery list, cooking, etc. It's so much time spent on self-improvement and self-care. So I have less time to worry about what other people's secret thoughts or judgments might be and take people more at face value. I have less time to waste on people that bring toxicity to my life or can't respect my boundaries. It's like this microcosm of self-care made by investing my energy in my current journey has expanded it's hooks into the rest of my life. I feel like for the first time in my life, I am actually one of my top priorities. 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? I had moments of regret during dumping syndrome, for sure. But as soon as I recovered from that one bout, I was still happy I'd done the surgery. I think it definitely forces us to take ownership of our own health and making the best decisions we can towards that. I would recommend it to anyone who has struggled with weight loss and can honestly look at their life and see themselves living in this framework for the rest of their lives. By all accounts it seems to be incredibly important to keep it all up -- the vitamins and supplements, the healthy choices and portion sizes, etc. I would NOT recommend it for anyone looking for a magic pill. This takes work, will continue to take work.