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Andrea, have you lost just the 4 lbs from your surgery weight in November? Or do you mean in the last week/month?

Congrats! Sounds like you are making some good progress if you've gone through that many clothes! I can relate to both of you. I feel like I haven't made the progress I should be, but Long Covid has hurt my exercise efforts and constant brain fog is frustrating. I also hit a 6 week long stall that really brought me down. Thankfully that finally broke the last two weeks for me, but I still dont' have my strength back. A 2 mile walk pretty much drains me still, even though I was doing 4-5 miles at a time 4 weeks post-op before Covid. EDIT: Based on continuing conversation in this thread, I just wanted to say I realize I have made good progress, but was trying to emphasize that I still have a mental block that, for some reason, prevents me from appreciating it. I've lost more weight than I was ever able to on my own, but at the same time feel physically weaker than any other point in my life despite trying to exercise. Also my start weight of 352 was from my highest ever weight in 2021, and not my pre-op diet weight of 321. Not trying to be dishonest, just trying to remind myself how bad off I was 2-3 years ago.

i know several people (including myself*) who have used Ozempic and/or Mounjaro, all with great results (read: all lost probably an average of 10-15 lbs with little reported effort. From an observers point of view, it *looks* like most slowly gain weight back when discontinuing use. but some seem to keep the weight off (but it's early still so time will tell). *i seem to be part of the latter group. i took my mom's leftover Ozempic for a month in April last year (shes a diabetic and takes less than she's prescribed cuz she doesn't like how it makes her hate food...and yes i know i shouldn't be taking someone elses meds! dont judge me! it was in the name of science, ok??? 😂 ) i lost about 7 lbs by the end of it, and gained back 2-3 lbs a couple months later. to clarify, i was 122 when i stated in April, 4 weeks later i was 115, and i've hovered between 114-118 since then to today. long story short, the stuff WORKS. but you will likely experience regain without significant lifestyle changes when u stop. or not. who knows? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m really excited about the progress being made in pharmacology to manage obesity! This medication works well but is still generally considered a lifetime or long term treatment. Some can manage to keep the additional weight lost off with intensive lifestyle changes. However its so new there is much data on this for our population. Check out Dr. Weiner, he covers the topic extensively on his podcast and has additional info on his website. https://youtu.be/eu6Zt0LTg14?si=_rPWlf8DlrhGh3u6 https://www.poundofcureweightloss.com/glp1-medications/ Please connect with a Bariatric/weight management team that supports this. Unless you are T2D, you’ll likely be prescribed Zepbound. Make sure to check your insurance coverage and download the coupons. https://zepbound.lilly.com/coverage-savings

I am considering taking Mounjaro to deal with a 35 lb weight regain after 9 yrs post gastric sleeve. Has anyone done this and what were results?

Hello. I had a conversion from the gastric sleeve (2017) to the bypass on 1/8/24. I should start regular foods this week, however, I am at the pureed thin phase as once I incorporate foods with any weight or texture, such as oatmeal, scrambled eggs, finely blended chicken (not pureed), the food feels stuck in my esophagus and I am vomiting froth and mucous (not the food). Has anyone else experienced this? I have contacted my surgeon, seeing her Wednesday as she was on vacation last week, I have spoken with my dietitian and the center for weight loss and they believe that my esophagus is having spasms. Has anyone else experienced this? I have simply gone back to full liquids as I had no problems with that.

short answer: yes! upper/lower/mid back pain improved! as did foot pain, knee pain! long answer: it got better, then it got bad again, and then better. apparently rapid weight loss results in weird aches and pains as your body musculature re-adjusts to your smaller size. lower back pain returned and i got a new hip pain, but then both went away. aside: but one thing that was new and annoying and hasn't gone away is that get back pain now when i sleep on my stomach (i never had this problem before)...my guess is because now that i don't have a larger stomach to prop me up, my back is actually hyper-extending now when i'm on my stomach which results in pain in the morning. boo.

I owned a home scale, but for the first 18 months or so I was too large for it. I did have monthly follow-ups with my surgeon, so I weighed in there. At my follow-ups the topic of my weight / weight loss was never brought up unless I brought it up, since there were more important things to talk about. The things my Doc paid attention to were how I felt physically and mentally, if I was having any issues or concerns, did anything significant change. The things I also paid attention to was how my clothes fit, my stamina, was I happy. Once I could fit on the home scale I almost lived on it for a couple weeks, as the novelty of it was just too much. Then the novelty wore off. Since then I only weigh at medical appointments when they ask me to do it. One does not need a scale to succeed at weight loss. Home scales can be had pretty inexpensively, I see one on Amazon for $16. If it's a matter of dire circumstances I'm sure your Surgeon or PCP or any of your other medical professionals wouldn't mind if you stopped by for a weigh in. Most department stores that sell home scales would allow 'testing' the scale before you buy or don't buy. Good luck, Tek

noticing how your clothes fit is a good idea for monitoring weight loss if you don't have a scale. you could also take your measurements if you have a tape measure; you could use the scale at your doctors, the gym, at a department store; or even water displacement, lol: fill a tub with water to a certain level get in up to your neck and mark the waterline...😂

yep. i was notorious for barely eating anything. i just didn't want to honestly. and i want to be the type of person to force my self to eat if i didn't want to (personally i think that is just as an unwanted eating habit as eating out of boredom). i did also lose more that i wanted to after reaching goal (at 7 months), but it all leveled out eventually (by 1 year). and no, i did not waste away, i did not become malnourished, i did not starve to death. while i did look pretty gaunt for a few months, that too went away despite not re-gaining any substantial amount of weight. i did have to re-learn how to eat higher calorie foods (abstaining from them during weight loss phase got ingrained into me, so it took me a few months to be mentally ok eating it again, you know?) i'm 5+ years out and there are still days when i just don't want to eat, or just forget to eat altogether. i don't worry about it too much because i know there will be a day when i just wanna eat. so long as my weight stays within my acceptable range, my pants fit, my doc is not concerned and i feel great, then i'm all good. honestly i just accept that i didn't reach my goals that particular day...so long as i reach them at least like 60-70% of the time, then i consider it a success. but i'm a bit far out now...during early weight loss phase i did try a little harder by drinking protein shakes (which i don't anymore), also i never tried to forcefully increase calories during weight loss phase though, no matter what i was eating. but during maintenance i was concerned about increasing calories...see my go-to's below: stuff i ate to increase calories in the early days of maintenance when stomach real estate was on ongoing issue: - avocaods - nuts and nuts butter - full fat dairy and cheese - beef jerky - olive oil drizzled on whatever - chicharron / pork rinds --> yeah this one would raise eyebrows cuz the crazy fat content, but i loved/love it! plus it had the added bonus of being very high in protein, ha. and it really helped to bump up my calorie intake. finally, i am also a grazer...since i can't really eat alot in one sitting, i eat a little bit every hour or so. this was really an issue for me in the early years, but now my food intake capacity has increased so it doesn't feel so much like a chore as it used to. In sum, just do your best, keep up with your labs and doc appt to make sure you medically ok, and eventually the stuff that you are worrying about now will be just that thing you used to worry about. good luck! ❤️

well, i *thought* i was in menopause before I had my surgery (i hadn't had period in about 1-2 years). a few weeks after surgery i got my period and it came like clockwork every month for the next 2-3 years (i guess it wasn't menopause and i was just fat? or maybe the estrogen release from my diminishing fat stores that re-activated my period? i dunno.) Anyway, a couple years ago when i was at maybe 3 years post op, my period disappeared again, and i haven't had it since (except for a singe errant period when i was on vacaiton of all places last year). im 5+ years post op now and i guess to answer your question i was both perimenopausal and menopausal AND post-menopausal before, during and after the entire experience. i don't know if being in that state affected my weight loss in any way as i have nothing to compare to, but i can tell you i reached goal by 7 months post op (lost 108 lbs by goal date) and was down a total of 126 lbs by 1 year post op (i was 235 lbs 2 wks before surgery). like i said above, i'm 5+ years post op now and am still down 120-ish lbs today.

Hello to all my surgery buddies, I've read some really amazing posts on here and just want to say thank you to all of you that show support to each other. It can be a very scary time, specially for those of us who are alone in our process to recovery. I had my gastric sleeve surgery on February 8th, I am 17 days post op as of this post. I still struggle a bit to consume even liquids. I burp a lot, and feel bloated all the time. I also have a constant feeling like everything slowly creeps up in my esophagus and just sits there. My pain levels are actually quite low, and my surgery incisions are healing quite well. I'm just worried about my stomach, my doctor wanted me to start introducing some solids slowly, but I told him no way I can barely tolerate liquids. So he has me on liquids for another week. I hope I am not one of the unfortunate few where the surgery will have long lasting complications and although I will lose the weight, my quality of life will be lowered because of all this discomfort. Thanks for reading, I wish everyone here a speedy recovery.

I had a revision from sleeve to bypass, but it was due to complications, not for weight loss. When you have a revision, the amount of weight you lose is a lot less than the original surgery, and tends to come off slower, as well. For example... with my initial sleeve, I lost 103 pounds the first 8 months. Since I've had my revision (and it's been 8 months) I've lost 57 pounds. I'm not complaining, by any means, but it comes off a lot slower and you definitely lose less. Also, with the initial surgery you tend to lose the most weight in the first 6-7 months. With the revision, I noticed it was the first 3-4 months. In no way do I regret it (as I said, I had some pretty gnarly complications, so a revision was a must) but it's just something to keep in mind when looking at a revision for weight loss versus because of complications.

I had the menopause in my very early 40's and this surgery at 62. The only things that I have noticed a difference are - My hair had already thinned so I got really worried at one stage and had to cut it really short, I can notice my scalp with wet hair but hide it after styling. - My skin is a mess. I lost elasticity after menopause. I have decided to not have the surgery. It looks too brutal and having to pay myself it would be out of my reach for all the work I would need. I have lost a huge amount of weight and mostly without exercise or having a busy work life. I had a lot of long stalls but I tried not to compare myself with others who were storming along. You will get there in the end, Have a chat with your team. I found it useful.

I had zero interest in food, If I am honest, apart from my breakfast yogurt and fruit, I could easily go without food. I have little appetite. Early on I had serious nausea issues. I cooked and discarded so much food in the early days. I gave pureed foods a wide berth. Pureed meat just was not for me. My team were sympathetic and said to just do my best. At this time I found protein yogurts and they helped me along. Eggs took me 18 months to accept. Chicken took over two years for me to manage a small piece. Pasta and potatoes are still off my menu. I have just begun to eat homemade bread again and I can manage about a Tbsp of rice. Cooked salmon is seriously off my menu. Its made me ill so many times since surgery that I have a phobia. I force myself to eat meat, Cheese is a huge favourite, especially paired with fruit. TBH, My weight is stable and my labs keep coming back ok, so I am skinny and happy. You will figure it out for yourself. Don't feel pressured by others who you think are doing 'better' than you.

Does anybody else not own a scale lol. If you don't own one how did you keep track of weight loss? By clothes?

Did you guys have improved back pain after you had surgery. That's one of the main reasons that I wanted to lose the weight cause my back pain is excruciating

This isn’t uncommon. Our tastebuds & sometimes sense of smell changes after surgery while we’re healing & our tummy is very sensitive. It is temporary usually about two months which is about how long it takes you to fully heal from the surgery. Unfortunately though it can make finding foods & drinks we can tolerate challenging. You may find something you easily ate yesterday you can’t face today. Don’t give up on that food. Just avoid it for a few days & then try it again. Some foods seem extra sweet or salty. Textures can be off putting too. Sometimes a food or flavour you didn’t enjoy before tastes delicious during this time. Add to that our loss of appetite &/or interest in eating & it can feel like a nightmare & you’ll never be able to eat again. In a few weeks you’ll find you are enjoying flavours, textures & foods more. If you’re lucky your loss of hunger & interest in eating will last a 6-12 months +/- which helps with your weight loss but they too will pass. Actually after they return you often wish they hadn’t & you still weren’t hungry. I embraced things tasting exceedingly sweet at this time. I gave up sweet foods - never reintroduced them. So no cakes, biscuits, desserts, lollies, flavoured carbonated drinks, etc. except on very odd special occasion. Very little added sugar (<5g a day) & avoid artificial sweeteners or sugar alternatives where I can. I ate a lot of soup, yoghurt & extra milky scrambled eggs & extra milky instant rolled oats during purée. During soft foods I ate a lot of minced meat dishes (meat balls, savoury mince bolognese, …) with sauces & slow cooked stews/casseroles. Give your self time to heal & recover & your tummy to be less fussy & sensitive. I used to say my tummy was like a petulant temper throwing 2 year old during that time.

I did. Perimenopause & then menopause saw me gain 30kgs (15kg above my usual high weight of my fluctuation range). Tired to lose it for about 4 years but couldn't. No co morbidities. Was almost 54 & on HRT when I had my surgery. Reached goal at 6 months (a 23 BMI & my usual low weight of my range) & then lost another 11kgs over the next 11/12 months. So I lost about 135% of the weight I was hoping to lose. Haven’t weighed this since I was about 12 years old. And I have pretty much maintained my weight at almost 5 years post surgery. My rate of weight loss seemed pretty average. Didn’t exercise (don’t like it). Was a low calorie eater in comparison to many others. My hunger didn’t return for about 12 months. All my menopause symptoms disappeared while losing (still had some breakthrough symptoms though on HRT). Thank you that oestrogen hormonal flush that occurs while losing. They came back after I lost most of my weight though. Sigh! Almost 59 now, still menopausal, still on HRT. No real issues with the surgery or after. My tendency to have low blood pressure drops occasionally before occurs every day now. Had my gall bladder out at the two years mark which left me with a protein malabsorption issue. Blood work otherwise always good. Haven’t taken vitamins since 8 months out (except Vit D in winter). Have reflux but had it before surgery too just mild then. Tummy can be a little sensitive but it was before surgery too. I have episodes of the foamies but I think my oesophagus is more sensitive too. So really just some quirks that are special to me. LOL!

My hunger or interest in eating didn’t really return for around a year. I found eating to a routine very helpful. In fact I still eat this way. I started doing it to establish good/better eating behaviours (been a meal skipper for most of my life in an attempt to control my weight) & also to ensure I was getting in calories & necessary nutrients. Not a food tracker either. Wasn't required to in my program. I do random checks for my own curiosity, to ensure I wasn’t slipping or getting complacent & to check new foods/ingredients or recipes. I more often checked portions. I know my calorie intake was low compared to others (barely 900 at 6 months & my goal) but at least I was eating regularly & nutritiously. I still have times I don’t feel hungry. Usually just a day or two but went through a period of a couple of months recently which saw me reduce my intake a little. Went from 4 meals & 3 or 4 snacks to 3 meals & same snacks. On the days or times I didn’t feel as hungry I chose something lighter to eat like yoghurt, soup or just ate some protein & didn’t care if I didn’t eat all my portion. Oh & I still take 30-45 minutes to eat most meals - used to take up to an hour. I’m also a meal repeater. I have favourites & there’s nothing wrong with that. Know how much I can have as a portion & the protein content. I used to eat scrambled eggs or rolled oats for breakfast. Now I just eat rolled oats. Similarity at lunch - 3 or 4 options I rotated through currently two options. Dinner is repeats too mostly because of left overs. I still cook much as I did before 😁. Eat that meal for 2 or 3 days & freeze the remaining portions for those nights I don’t feel like cooking (love my freezer & microwave - little reheat & sometimes cook vegetables - 5 mins total). I usually cook pretty simply too: protein & vegetables so I can easily check what I’m eating & getting nutritionally. I never had those signals many speak of regarding fullness. No sneezing, no runny nose, etc. Just my restriction if I went too far or if something sat more heavily than expected. It’s why I started asking myself if I really needed the next bite or just wanted it. It’s not unusual for me to put food on my fork & then put it down again to maybe eat a couple of minutes later. I remember the first time I felt hungry after surgery. I was about 7 months, had a busy day & then went to a function. Hadn’t eaten much & there’s was nothing suitable at the event. Was home & in bed when I realised I was vey restless. Something was wrong but didn’t know what. It took some time to realise I was hungry. I realised this was my real hunger signal. Didn’t want a specific food, flavour or texture. There was a logical reason I was hungry - I hadn’t really eaten for most of the day. Took another 3 months before I felt it again. One of the things I’ve learnt along the way is you have to do what works best for you. Because it works for someone else doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Whether that is tracking or not tracking your food, how many meals or snacks you have, how much activity you do, what foods you choose to eat, eat occasionally, or generally avoid, etc. Use other people’s experiences & routines as suggestions of things you could try if you’re stuck but if they’re wrong for you, try something else. So after a long way of getting to it, my two suggestions based on my experiences if you want to try them, are: Track your calorie intake & nutrients for a few days just to ensure you’re on track & not missing anything. Then only check new foods you introduce &/or do random checks. Try eating to a routine. Doesn’t have to be a full meal but at least something that is nutritionally dense & protein focused. Oh, yes stalls happen. Mine were short. A few days only. I tracked my weight daily which is how I saw when they occured.

I was on this forum ages ago but when I was thinking about you all and tried to log back in I could not remember my old user ID so I created a new one. I even tried searching for key words I remember taking about for a meetup in the Boston area. I gave up and created a new account. I had my RnY in November 2015. I had the most amazing and pain free recovery. I had my old clip on Fitbit on the day of surgery. It was taking them a while to get me a bed out of recovery and I was bored. I managed to walk five miles that day just in laps around the nurses' station. The nurses didn't believe me but I was able to show them! I went home the next day and had no reactions to meds or food. The hardest part was having my mom stay with me for a few days and wanting to help when I was really fine on my own. What hurt her was she could not use her love language of food on me. I kept most of the weight off until COVID. Working from home and not being accountable to pants with buttons for two years took its toll. With normal weight creep, a bad knee injury in 2020 that led to a lack of exercise, and then COVID too, I gained back about 40 lbs. that I am in the process of losing again with Mounjaro.

TL/DR: Worried about losing weight by not eating enough. | Looking for tips to reach protein/calorie goals when not hungry. | Looking for others' experiences with lack of hunger this far out in WL Journey. ------------------------- I meet with my nutritionist for check-ins about every 3 months. For this last one, my 9-month, she told me not to be upset if I hadn't lost, as a stall was expected. Yet, I had lost just as much as I had been. We went over what I had been eating & she wasn't concerned about content but suggested increasing variety. [I'm a meal repeater 🤷‍♀️] Though, she again warned me that it is now especially likely that I would stall since I hadn't yet. Since that appointment, I've still been losing weight. I know it might appear strange to worry about meeting the goals we are here to meet, but my nutritionist is big on trying to relearn the natural cues of the body. So, as they are absent, you can notice pressure in your stomach, sighing, or a runny nose as indications of fullness. As indications of hunger return, you can utilize them to increase portions within the parameters of slow eating and not exceeding controlled sizes. The thing is, I don't know that the initial increase after, you know, the literal wounds healed, I have really expanded much more. I don't really get hungry until 'early-bird dinner' time. So eating during the day is purely done out of obligation. [& if I'm being truthful, there are times when I forget entirely until after work.] So obviously, that leads me to try to have all of my calories in one 'meal' in the day, which I have to eat over a couple hours [even if it is small] if I don't want to get nauseous or actually regurgitate. [The regurgitation has improved slightly over the last couple of months. I had a very reactive stomach that required me to prolong my dependence on protein shakes. Pre-surgery, I don't think I came even close to needing to vomit since pre-school 🙁.] To be fully upfront, I have not counted a single macro or calorie or weighed a single food item during my entire journey. I've tried tracking before in my weight-loss journey, and it was not healthy mentally for me. I realize that I may be under goals rather than over them, but straightforward counting of calories is just not something that would be part of a successful journey for me. So, all of this is a longwinded way to say: - Is anyone else struggling to eat enough this far out? - What helps you to reach your protein/calorie goals when you don't really want to eat? - Any other tips/tricks/specific brand or meal suggestions?

It is, I guess I worry to much because the scales are not showing weight loss each week.

I’m doing ok. I had revision and it’s definitely not the same as I expected. It’s slow weight loss but at least it’s going down. Body take longer to heal compared to before. Over all can’t complaint. Thanks for asking!

I don't know the percentage , but I lost 25ish pounds so far. My doc said weight loss at my age will be alittle slower because my metabolism has slowed down. So far so good !