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Yeah. I have some that haven’t noticed but you know what, I didn’t do this for them. At my weight (315) I still look fat to people. I however I’m down from 412 (43 since surgery and the rest preop). What they don’t see is I have to wear smaller clothes, can fit back into my bra, and I can move and sleep better. I had my surgery about 10 days after you. I’m down 43 pounds over all. Sadly I am struggling to keep my losing on track. I tend to stall for a week or two and then drop like 5-7 pounds 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️. 60 pounds sounds like you’re right on track. the important thing is how you feel now. As far as how the weight comes off it varies person by person. It depends on if you work out or walk a lot. So however you “burn fat” will affect where you lose faster.

My food furneral wasn’t planned, but it’s happened to be my food furneral in the summer of 2023. I had a family member who was visiting in July and August 2024, and I took her to all my favorite restaurants and favorite food in NYC. NYC really do have soooo much options when it comes to great food. It was during restaurant week and I took advantage of it. I also had a few pool parties… I gained about 10 lbs. After that reflux became an issue and lead to my surgery. And since Oct 2023 I was in a diet till my surgery in Jan 2024. I would not say all the food I ate was unhealthy, but portion is what needs to be addressed. I believe in the future I can still have them, but in moderation. some pictures of what I ate.😅 BEWARE! FOOD PORN!

No this isn't my experience. If I stuck to a low calorie diet (VLCD) I invariably lost weight. I've done that numerous times since my teens. What I could not do was keep that weight off. I regained it all plus more, every time. WLS seems to have changed that for me (so far - 2+ years post op). Can you give us a little more info? What diet were you sticking to, when and for how long?? I think it would be very unusual not to lose ANYTHING ever on a low calorie diet? Far more common to lose a bit, stall, lose a bit more...etc etc

I just found this website while surfing the internet to see if I was on target for where I should be. I had my surgery on 12/18. As of yesterday, I have lost 60 pounds, which is also halfway to my goal weight. I have no idea how much I should lose by this time. The strange thing is that nobody seems to notice! I have yet to receive a comment about my weight loss and I am literally around about 100 or so of the same people every day. I found recovery from the surgery very easy. I used none of the pain medications or digestion medicines I was prescribed. I have had no reflux or nausea. My biggest issue is struggling to get in enough fluids and nutrients each day. I am usually full by the time I finish my protein, leaving no room for the veggies. Before this I ate few meat products. Now I feel like a carnivore! When will this change? Despite this I am barely meeting the protein goals. An odd thing I did not anticipate is that the health problems that should be getting better have all become considerably worse (sleep apnea, joint pain, allergies). I know this will change at some point, but it is frustrating in the meantime. The other odd thing I have noticed is that the fat is coming off in a completely different pattern than how it came on. At what point will the stubborn belly fat go away? Overall, I am super happy that I did this. I hope to get to my goal.

It's nice to see I'm not the only one Nepenthe44 to break down the science for them and yes that when you do they view it as noncompliance and being difficult. I've even had it suggested that if there's not enough time in my day - wake up and drink a few sips during the night. Science states we as humans require uninterrupted sleep more than those few sips of water. So Nepenthe44 I hate to agree because there will be those that say they really do care, but I do, what people fail to remember is the dieticians are doing a job, one most likely they've never personally experienced for themselves; being a bariatric patient vs. nutritional counseling for bariatric patients having never experienced bariatric struggles. I finally suggested the next time she had the stomach flu and was nauseated and exhausted - wanting to vomit picking up a glass and start drinking water and to make sure to get her 80 grams +- of protein in and getting down 60+ ounces of water, she finally "understood." What is a requirement on paper doesn't always equate to what actually works for people much less a bariatric patient. Its all theory. A body is set up that when you need water lo and behold you feel thirsty! I realize the nutritional requirements for the human body per weight/sex are all fairly similar but the comparisons/suggestions for likes/wants vs needs on food replacements isn't even close E.g. heart of palm noodles vs Thai noodles - in NO way are they taste comparable. So to suggest when I say I miss Thai noodles - heart of palm noodles as a replacement is absurd. That's like suggesting when I say I want a hamburger to replace it with a 3oz of fish - not equal! I didn't say "I miss protein"! They don't understand the struggle and since its their job, not a family member or a true friend they really don't "care." Lastly, I realize they are trying to help and its their job to help me achieve my goals in a healthy way (for those who are thinking this as they read this), but in reality they don't really have a personal investment in my success. I do as they suggest, for the most part, but I also decide what goals are obtainable realistically and which aren't based on consumption quantity vs. time in my day vs. work schedule vs. my employers needs.

I had a really physical job and could do really restricted diets without a problem. Three times I lost 70 pounds and three times I regained and added 30 pounds more. Then I retired, got old, covid happened, stopped smoking, got ailments etc. At around 350 pounds I was classed as disabled I could not diet and exercise anymore, I couldn't stick to a restricted diet. I stopped enjoying life and hid at home. I wanted to end the cycle of diet and regain +. I clutched at a chance of stability and am really working to keep my weight off. So far its easier than before.

yep i had back (and hip) pains for a few months after dropping the first 30lbs or so. like others above i asked my dic and did some of my own research and its seems the answer is as the above posters mentioned. - water and mineral bone loss (reduction of bone density) during weight loss (especially at a rapid rate) may cause spinal misalignments due to the weaker structure, hence pain. - muscle tone loss: your remaining muscles are working harder to make up for the loss, hence pain. - your centre of gravity is changing: your back was used to carrying the weight of your belly and it's reduction in size is affecting your posture, hence pain. its a bit of a changeover period, but with some effort you can decrease the discomfort: exercise, stretching, sit/stand up straight, good nutrition, good sleeping position, body alignments (chiro) and what no one wants to really hear: slower weight loss rate. by losing weight slower, you allow your body time to adjust as you lose weight instead of playing catchup which causes relatively more pain. those weight loss pains eventually went away (i can't remember exactly when..maybe around 6-7-8 months post op?), but i do have morning back pain now if i sleep on my stomach (which has always been my preferred sleeping position), but that's another story. im 5+ yrs out

I recall having some unusual pain, too - but not severe. As BabySpoons said, I think it had to do with everything re-aligning after a substantial weight loss. Fortunately, though, it was temporary.

Hello ALL! Oh my gosh! Finally got approved it was a long ass journey! Is their any Texas peeps getting surgery in April?! In a way I'm mad I couldn't get disciplined enough to do it on my own, the other half is like take my whole stomach away 😂😂. I have type two diabetes and fatty liver, this is only a tool! I have to get this weight off!!! I can say Ozempic has had that sleeve feeling effect I can barely eat. It's a great drug and has aided in some of my weight loss pre surgery. starting weight: 290 we shall see look forward to hearing from you all

stalling is a very normal part of weight loss. Most people lose weight in a "stair step" pattern. The best thing to do is make doubly sure you're following your plan to a "T" and stay off the scale for a few days. Maybe just weigh yourself once a week until it breaks. And as long as you're following your plan, it WILL break. Your body just has to stop and recalibrate once in awhile.

I don't know about not losing weight AT ALL with a low calorie diet, but for most of us, the pattern before weight loss surgery was that we'd lose weight but then gain it all back within a few months. It's because you're fighting biology. Your hunger hormones, your gut biome - everything is fighting against you to get back to your previous weight. Weight loss surgery resets a lot of that. That's not to say you won't gain it all back. Some people let bad habits slip back in and take over. But as long as you watch that, the loss is "maintainable".

Has anyone done a low calorie diet and not lost weight, but had success losing all the weight with VSG? I’m curious how it works if eating low calorie didn’t work out. Even though I’m getting VSG, I’m scared it won’t work since I have not lost weight with the low calorie diet.

I started having back pain after losing 50+ pounds and it lasted a couple months. In my case I started going to a chiropractor for adjustments. I was told as I lost weight, everything shifts and needs to be realigned. My body was used to carrying around over 300 pounds so it stands to reason that my back, hips etc would be out of whack. I also had shooting pains down both legs when I did my daily 2-3 mile walks. It scared me. My chiro worked on those as well. Pinched nerves from being overweight and sedentary sitting. I was waking them up with exercise. I pushed through it all and after about 3 months of adjustments and additional weight loss, my pain is gone. All of it. You mentioned having physical therapy. Not sure if that included any chiropractic help but it might be worth a try. It sure helped me and hoping the same for you.

I am so excited for you!! Yaaaayyy!! It is really crazy how changing fluids and sleep can make a difference in weight loss! I too notice it immediately on the scale when I slack. It is common knowledge, yes, but so many people brush it off as unimportant when compared to food or exercise. But man, sleep and hydration will undermine your efforts elsewhere if they aren't on point. You are doing an awesome job, pat yourself on the back for changing two habits it would have been easy to ignore!

I totally get it! I am 2 weeks post op and I am only down 2 pounds from what I weighed the day before surgery. It's hard to say if it's a stall after dropping 15lbs rapidly on the preop diet, or if it's because I had so much fluid weight coming home from two days on an IV. But it messes with your mind, either way. It's easy to panic and think this is it, it's not going to work. But the truth is, stalls will break when they're good and ready to break. All you can do is keep working on living the healthy lifestyle you want to live and give yourself a break when you fall short of it. You can't expect to be perfect every minute, but I do think if you beat yourself up about it, you reinforce the idea that you will fail, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where you're more likely to give in to temptation again next time because you're feeling demoralized from all the negative self talk. 2 dress sizes down is amazing!

If you stop eating food you will not lose weight. If you don't eat enough food you will not lose weight either... If your calories are too low you will drop into starvation mode and your body will lock down and refuse to lose weight as much as possible in order to keep you safe. Stressful events in our lives can cause this to happen too, but it is most commonly caused by not eating enough food. Your surgeon should have given you a caloric goal along with a sample menu. I think eating protein several times a day is a good sign, chicken and steak are good proteins, as is the yogurt, and most people post op end up using shakes for a while to meet their goals. There is one very big issue with shakes though---they are NOT filling. In fact they will often make you feel hungry. Looking over your menu for the day what I notice is a distinct lack of fiber. With the exception of the little bits you are getting in the fruit in one of your shakes, you have no fiber. Fiber is very important for fullness and many low carb veggies are very low in calories while being quite voluminous. You are 6 months post op, you should be cleared for all foods, that means veggies of a wide variety. Things you can try that are easier on the tummy: baby spinach (both raw and sauteed), baby bok choy (steamed or sauteed), carrots (raw, steamed, or roasted), cucumber, tomatoes (both raw or cooked), broccoli and cauliflower if they don't make you bloated (both raw and cooked in a myriad of ways), asparagus, summer squash (sauteed or roasted), zuchinni (sauteed or roasted), eggplant (baked), heart of palm noodles, spaghetti squash, and on it goes. Beans are also a good source of fiber while being high in protein too. Well cooked and rinsed beans are a great way to boost volume in your diet! You could also do split peas and lentils. A bean soup would be filling while still being low in calories. At least half your plate per meal and snack should be made up of fruits and vegetables. Personally, I'd drop the Atkins shake and add vegetables to every meal and snack. Make sure to pair them with protein: hummus with carrot sticks, peanut butter with sliced apples, boiled eggs made into an egg salad and paired with cucumbers, fresh mozzarella with basil, balsamic glaze, and sliced tomatoes, chicken with steamed asparagus, steak with roasted carrots and squash, small salads with protein toppers, yogurt topped with berries and a few spoonfuls of granola. These things will help you feel full and give you a lot of nutrients that you really need right now to feel satisfied. I'd also skip the macaroni for a whole grain or root vegetable if you are craving carbs. So try a side of buckwheat or quinoa, or roasted sweet potatoes, mashed redskin potatoes with the skins on, or roasted pumpkin or butternut squash.

I'm going to say this as gently as I can: stop feeling guilty. You are not on a diet. You are living a new post surgery life. A life that sometimes has room for half a tuna sandwich. And even some chips. They didn't make you sick, so that's great news. You got lots of good protein. You enjoyed them. You've lost 43 pounds. Stalls happen. Weight fluctuates. Follow the guidelines as best you can and embrace a life where you can make sensible choices (like half a tuna sandwich, I mean, it wasn't a triple cheeseburger and extra large fries) and not have to feel scared about it. I would bet the head hunger and the guilt are all connected somewhere deep in your psyche. (They usually are for me, anyway). Maybe spend some time reflecting on why you are craving what you are, and why at that exact moment, and what might make you feel the urge to self-sabotage by making choices you believe you will regret. Those would be good questions to get to the bottom of. But when you do make a choice you don't like, just chalk it up to experience and try to do better with the next choice. It'll be okay! Remember, this is a life journey, not a crash diet.

I am currently restricted to eat raw food, such as salad and crunchy fruit. No nuts yet. At about 3 months then I can try, but I would imagine still have to slowly add them to see how I tolerate. Which when I go to Disney I will be only about 2 and a half month. I can eat chicken and fish with no problem now. I did look at Disney app to see what they have available. Look like grill salmon is on the menu and I sure can eat some smoke turkey leg. My current stall is making my brain sending me signals to eat and making me crave for a lot of unhealthy food. I still still eating about 3oz protein 1oz veggie and 1 oz starch. But I gained 3lbs, I got to 229lbs and were so happy I’m in the 220 range which is before my pregnancy, but this morning I am now 232! I have head hunger all day long, and wants to eat so much. I broke down today and kinda cheated. I ate half a sandwich from Panera Bread… It was tuna sandwich, and some chips! I didn’t even feel sick from it and I am so scared… I am feeling so guilty and feel like such a failure.

So interesting to read these replies - we all come from such different places! I was also a binge eater. I went for the sleeve because it felt less disruptive to my anatomy - didn't mind at all losing a big chunk of stomach. I also actively did NOT want a high risk of dumping (although I know some sleevers do). My one worry was my reflux getting worse. I gambled on it not getting worse because any other time I had lost a significant amount of weight it had actually improved. I won my gamble. The sleeve is suiting me very well so far.

Yes, I absolutely did this. I was (and still am to some extent) a binge eater and I literally made a spreadsheet of all my favorite binge foods to "check off" before surgery, spreading them out over a couple of binges. The thing that really amazed me is that most of them... weren't very enjoyable. I had lost about half of my excess weight before surgery and although I was having occasional binges throughout, they were generally the same few foods. So trying the old favorites, some of which were hard to get, I thought that they would taste amazing. But, frankly, junk food is usually disappointing. I also traveled to the city where I lived for a long time to go to some of my favorite restaurants and have some of my favorite non-binge meals. Again, sort of disappointing. The city was still amazing and I really enjoyed the non-food portions of the trip, but the food part was just sort of meh. I'm glad I did it. I was very worried about being one of those people who can't eat anything after surgery and literally never being able to eat any of my favorite foods again. The thing I was most worried about was salads. I had a big restaurant salad nearly every day up until my pre-op diet. That was the only thing that wasn't disappointing. I'm very, very glad that I can eat salad again!

For the past 6 months I've been dealing with severe back pain. Both upper and lower back pain. It seems to shift around depending on the month. Tylenol barely helps. I took prednisone one time and that did help but I don't think that's a long-term solution. It's already wearing off. I've tried physical therapy twice in the past year. I've had x-rays and MRIs the doctors don't see anything. I did visit with a specialist at New England Baptist spine center i Boston and he said he's had several other cases of people who had the same surgery, had lost 60 lb, knew their protein intake and were having severe back pain. He didn't have an immediate answer, but did order another MRI. I'm curious if anyone else on this forum has dealt with this. It seems counterintuitive to lose 100 lb and have back pain get worse. I do have a history of back pain. I've been a physical therapy many times. But I never expected it to get worse as I lost weight. If you have this problem and had any success dealing with it (or not) please let me know. Thank you, Jonathan

Thank you!!! It's been QUITE the journey lol But I wouldn't change a thing. I honestly never thought I would get this close to my goal weight. And while the last 30 pounds have really been fighting me, I'm DETERMINED to get where I want to be. Even if I go up 5 pounds or so (which I know is normal) once I hit my goal, I just want to get there, see myself in ONEderland, and know that I really did it. I find myself changing things up periodically to "confuse" my body, an when I do, I drop another 2 or 3 pounds. So i know it's working. It's just annoying that it goes so slow at the end LOL

YA'LL.... I am officially in a size XL (also known as a 1x). It's one thing to be pretty sure (when you don't actually have that size but the one above it is too big, so you assume) and it's another to put it on and it fits PERFECTLY. Tops AND bottoms. And the size 6 rings are starting to get a little loose. I have 18 pounds to go to hit my goal weight (I weigh 213 right now), and I wonder if I'll be in a 5 1/2 by then!!! The last 30 pounds have been a REAL fight to get off, but seeing the changes in my body and clothes has been amazing and fun. I feel so much better, I can do so many more things, I look so much better, and on a fun note, I went to a higher end thrift store to get some clothes and I was SOOOO overwhelmed by the choices in my new size!!! I started off as a size 28/30 (5x) and would literally just take whatever I could find in my size. Now, there's so many styles and designs and colors and brands lol It's been almost 30 years since I've been this size. I had literally no idea how fun it could be to go clothing shopping!!! And can I just say, my latest blood work shows my A1c is 5.5, fasting blood sugar is 98 and non fasting is 109, and all the rest of my numbers are literally perfect!!! This past weekend, my son and I went on a 8 mile hike, and other than being tired at the end, I didn't have any issues!!! This surgery is literally the best thing I've ever done for myself and my family. Even with all the complications, the revision, the hernia surgery and THOSE complications....I would do it all again to get where I am now. 18 more pounds to go and I'M THERE, ya'll!!!!! OMGGGG!!!!!!

Oh I forgot to answer this part. My biggest “YAY” moment was when I realized I could buy any bra I wanted (not just tactical grade special order sizes from Plus size stores). When I traveled (mainly overseas), I always packed too many because of my irrational but not improbable fear of my bras breaking (they did every few months) and not being able to find my size (44H). Now wherever I travel I can just bring one bra/bralette or maybe just pasties. This is still my favorite thing about losing the extra weight.