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I was worried about losing too much weight too The thing is that they can suggest changes all they want but we already know how we are supposed to eat. If we could do it we wouldn’t be where we are now. Chances are you are not going to be able to stick to any diet for a full six months. I know I couldn’t. Also, the surgeries are known to help with sleep apnea and GERD depending on which one the dr feels is appropriate for you. I can’t imagine that being a reason to disqualify you. I have heard of a lot of people getting a hernia repair done at the same time as their surgery.

Yea. I checked and I don’t have any coverage for them either so to get the real deal I would be looking at a considerable amount out of pocket like you. I didn’t mind the suggestion though, some insurance companies are actually covering them for weight loss now and when they do they are much more affordable. I have a friend who just got on Wegovy for weight loss and her copay is only $25 a month!!! If I had that coverage I would for sure be asking more questions. A lot of companies are also making compounded ones that are like $2-300 but it’s not really clear if they are as effective and/or safe quite yet. . My primary provider said they were working on getting the compounded ones in their office so I assume those would be safe but still I question the effectiveness and they are only beginning to work on it now so who knows when it will actually happen. My primary said if it was her she wouldn’t wait for that option to become affordable since my numbers are creeping up. Anyways, your surgery is getting really close. Are you excited? Nervous? I am already a little of both. Mine is Aug 7. I keep on questioning if I am crazy to go with the newest option just because there isn’t as much help out there for me post op. At least I haven’t found it yet. I already spoke with two nutritionists and both of them claimed to know beforehand about the procedure then both of them pushed the same information on me as they would for a bypass. Total waste of money. I have an appt soon with the NP at my office, though. I’m hoping to get some answers about the regular diet and the supplements that are specific to the SADI. Have you started your pre op diet yet??

Hmm, that is true actually! It feels as though we have skipped Summer here 😅 I shall hold off from buying anything just yet, as I am conscious of how fast the weight loss is right now! I think I am suffering a bit from imposter syndrome right now - I feel like a fraud if I were to buy smaller sizes if that makes sense! Like my body won't actually ever fit into them (which I know is insane, given that I am and have lost weight) but my brain hasn't caught up yet. I have heard nothing but good things about M&S - I may create a holiday wishlist on there! I admit I have never even worn those kinds of trousers before! But I think that was just due to me not feeling like they'd suit my shape!

Week 3 Puree diet sucks. I may need to seek counseling as I didn't realize my relationship with food, or lack thereof, is this out of control. Maybe it's not a food addiction? Maybe I don't try hard enough? I lack control and I know it will affect me long-term. I convince myself that I'm trying, but am I really? I'm supposed to be eating/drinking plenty of protein. 64oz of fluids per day, but I'm not. I have absolutely NO motivation to get out of bed or the control to not snack on foods I'm not even ready to properly digest. I keep telling myself I'm chewing enough so it's "basically pureed" before I swallow. I could literally be furthest from the truth. Wth is wrong with me? I did SO good for my pre-op diet. I was very militant, even drank more fluids than I was supposed to. I also lost more weight than my doctor asked me to. What happened? I'm hungry, what seems like, all the time. I was warned I may not like sweet things and even salty foods could throw me off. If anything, I'm craving those two like never before. I've been cheating with food already...drinking around 35oz of fluids per day, on a good day. I'm so tired all day all the time. End rant... I hope I'm not the only one here who is suffering from stagnancy and lack of control. I will become stronger. I have faith in myself. It's just right now I'm at a loss.

I don't know how other programs do it, but my 6 months of supervised diet was basically just a logbook of what I was eating, when, how much. My team didn't have me on any restrictions until 2 weeks before the scheduled surgery. They certainly followed up with me consistently, but it was more to suggest how I could adjust my food after the surgery -- ie, "I see you had 2 cups oatmeal for breakfast! After the surgery, you'll probably start at half a cup and go from there, you'll want to make it with either a higher protein milk like fairlife or even a protein shake, you'll want to use thicker oats rather than instant or minute-oats," etc I did lose about 20 lbs total pre-op -- just because having to measure my food made me more aware of how much I was eating. I don't want this to come off the wrong way, but I don't think losing too much weight before the surgery will be an issue for you -- or for most people approaching it as an option. If your BMI is high enough to qualify you starting the program, it's highly unlikely you'll be able to lose enough on your own to drop your BMI to a point that it would disqualify you. (I'm not saying it's impossible! But most people turn to WLS as a last resort after so many other methods have failed -- if we could successfully lose a big chunk of weight by ourselves just by being on a supervised diet, we would have done it without turning to WLS.)

It sounds like a lot of people have that 10-15-20 lb rebound after they stop losing, so that sounds kind of natural. Don't sneer at your 70lb loss though -- that's the average / median weight of a 10 year old girl. You have lost the equivalent of an entire child's body weight. I definitely second the therapist / group counselling route. I personally think therapy is good for everyone, anywhere, anytime -- but for things like ED it can be a game changer. Also? This forum. Come here often. Make it a point to log in at least two times a week, even if it's just to say hi, or grumble about your new protein powder tasting like saccharine-dipped-shite, etc. Honestly, reading other people's trials & tribulations reaching out and interacting on the regular with other people who are on similar journeys can be such a great support.

Hi, everyone, I've just caught up on posts after being away from the site for a bit. I would love to comment on everyone's posts because we're all going through such similar things. I'm really proud of us for the changes we're making. @ShoppGirl, I think you are correct about the treadmill being narrow and having to balance on it. I was shocked to find that walking on a treadmill is very different from walking on the street, but it definitely is. I have a treadmill that I walk on during meetings at work (I work from home) and that's a lot easier for me than walking on the street. But I had to set it under a stand-up desk because trying to balance on the narrow thing would be a full-time job and I couldn't pay attention in my meetings. (Also I'd probably fall off of it a lot.) My first week back to work was exhausting. I was just fried at the end of each day, even though I work from home. My hubby had his prostate out on Friday. He was able to come home the same day, which we were not expecting but it was a very nice surprise. I'm plenty recovered enough from my surgery to do stuff for him, so we're doing well. But it's obvious to me that I'm still recovering, because I get tired much more easily than pre-op. I'm proud of myself because I planned and brought protein drinks to make sure I got nutrition throughout the day. All day, I had been aware of the hospital cafeteria, which is close to the surgical waiting room, but I knew that I was not going to go in because I had no reason to. Back in the day, I would have had the perfect excuse to go nuts in there while I waited for hubby's surgery to be done! Then, since I got to take my husband home, I ended up being at the hospital later than I expected, so I had to find something to eat and ended up having to go there. So I had my first experience of eating somewhere other than home. I was able to find appropriate protein in the right amount, and that's all I had. I had my first post op visit with the PA, who told me not to worry about the fact that I don't have fullness cues. She said by 3 months it may get harder to get things down, because scar tissue hasn't formed yet, and also by 3 months, I'll have developed a much better sense of what's going on in my body. Surprisingly, she said that if I'm doing pureed easily, I could move to soft. So that was a great surprise and I'm enjoying the soft stage. I can eat more of a variety of things. It's going fine, which still bothers me because I wish I had more sense of restriction. I worry that I'm going to return to old bad habits! So I'm being careful to measure, and I tell my Baritastic app everything I'm eating! The thing I'm currently struggling with is that eating only 1/2 cup at a time, I've been eating only one thing and focusing on protein. I'm finding myself craving things like fruit and vegetables. So I had a couple florets of broccoli tonight which was great. I read a sample diet for the soft stage that had entries like, "2 bites of _______". I am going to focus on eating more fresh things, now that I understand I can just have a bit less of whatever my protein is and "2 bites" of something fresh. I'm also struggling with getting all the vitamins in, since I have to separate the calcium from the iron from the multivitamins. There are only so many hours in the day! I know others have mentioned this, so at least we're all in the same boat, and we'll figure it out. I am losing maybe half a pound a day. I know that's a lot, and I had a couple of non-scale victories the other day. I had to go in to the office for a meeting, and I put on a dress that had been too tight to wear. It fit perfectly! And the sandals I wore zip up the back. They'd been hard to zip because of my fat ankles, but now they are even a little bit loose! On paper, I've lost 30 pounds from my heaviest, but it doesn't feel or look that way to me. I'm only 5 feet, so that much weight should be quite obvious, but it isn't. That bugs me some, but I know I'm just beginning and I WILL be able to see the difference when I lose more. I'm happy that I can move around and get some exercise. I thought I'd be just weak from taking in so few calories, but I'm not. Occasionally, I'll get a little lightheaded, but it's not bad at all. I was able to do my pre-op treadmill routine (3 30-minute walks daily at 2.0 MPH, which means 3 treadmill miles a day) although I did have one day when I got a little lightheaded and had to turn down the speed just a bit. Today was the first time that I actually felt "hungry" since surgery. But it was mixed in with a desire to eat out of boredom as well as some head hunger, so I'm not quite sure what the deal was, exactly. I am trying to just pay attention to that stuff and ask myself questions about how I'm feeling, without any intention of acting on it. I think I will do better if I start eating more of a "meal" type diet with mostly protein but a little of things like vegetables and fruits, so that I have some variety and am getting in some varied nutrients from food, not just my vitamins. And yes, I STILL have a little of the sticky stuff from the hospital on my skin! What is that about?

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Congratulations on your surgery date. That’s a pretty long liquid diet but I guess it’s because you have a specific amount of weight they need you to lose. It will be well worth it because it will make your surgery that much safe plus be that much less you have to lose afterwards. I can’t suggest much for the wedding but When I did my sleeve I celebrated my birthday early because of the pre op diet. I guess you missed that window but you can celebrate late (a half birthday this year perhaps). But honestly one thing you will learn from this surgery is that we tend to celebrate things with food but there are many other ways to celebrate. You can take a weekend trip somewhere you’ve been wanting to go, spend a day at the spa or buy yourself something you have really been eyeballing. And you can have people around who will inevitably need to eat something but not have the day centered around food. Or you can schedule something between lunch and dinner and ask people to not bring food. It’s your day so you get to celebrate it how you want.

that's not why some insurance policies require a six-month supervised diet. They require it because they want to see if you're able to stick to a diet long-term, because they don't want to fork over thousands of dollars for patients to have an elective surgery only to blow it big time by not following their clinic's plan. On top of that, some surgeons require that you lose a certain number of pounds before they'll let you have surgery. I lost 56 lbs on my six-month supervised diet, and no way were they going to tell me I couldn't have surgery because I could obviously "do it on my own" (and honestly, fewer than 5% of people who lose a lot of weight can maintain it for more than a few months. Bariatric surgeons are well aware of this fact)

Sometimes we have the best ideas at 3am 🤣 Very much the case - I know I am guilty of not realising just how much work goes into this post-surgery, even with being well informed. There is a difference between reading about it, and living it! It is so strange to me now to look back on how I was, even though I am not too far out yet - I was binge eating on a massive scale, and my weight was just rising so quickly. I think back to that little 12 year old girl I used to be, who struggled with her weight back then, and I genuinely feel grief for her. This surgery has given me the ability to not be controlled by food - yes, it is still important, but I don't think about it 24/7, I don't have to crave sugar and I feel so much better already. And you guys on this site have all contributed to me just biting the bullet and going for it with the surgery!

Looking great, and I hope you enjoyed the beach! Last summer, I took my kids to an indoor water park at just around my highest ever weight. I had to buy a new suit because nothing I had fit anymore, and looking back at the pictures, oh my goodness. I even looked uncomfortable. We went again a few weeks ago, and I was 4 months post-op. Let's just say that thankfully, the suit from last year went straight to the giveaway bag, and I had to order a new one because even my "skinny" suit from a few years before was a bit roomy. I ordered two new ones and ended up with one that is perfect and one that was a bit tight, but I'm hoping it will fit me well in a few more months. Such a great feeling, and going on the water slides was so much more fun this time than 60 lbs ago, for sure.

Is this the same if you’re on HRT I wonder? Pre-HRT I would have quite happily stabbed hubby just for breathing too loudly and I honestly thought I was going mad - anger, tears, emotions all over the place. Really weird when I’ve generally been relatively sane previously! HRT has calmed all that down but I’d be interested in hearing from menopausal weight-droppers 🤔

Stuff happens, sometimes randomly. I tell myself that feelings are just feelings, nothing good or bad about them. They just are. Feeling low is not your fault, and you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I’m glad you’re getting the emotional support! It takes great emotional strength to admit out loud that you need help with something you can’t fix (like we all did by asking for WLS). You gained experience and better health overall that no one can take away from you. Bravo!

A 3 month stall??? Holy smokes, you are definitely stronger than me. The worst I ever had was 2 months and I was climbing the walls. I was trying soooo hard to pay attention to the NSVs but 2 months of nothing moving on the scale nearly drove me to insanity. I have no idea how you handled 3 months, but I give you all the respect, props, and credit in the world for getting through it. CONGRATULATIONS on hitting the 100 pound mark. That's absolutely AWESOME!!!!! I'm really happy for you. It feels amazing, doesn't it? Not only are you solidly in ONEderland, but you're so close to your goal!! I know you'll get there. Just be ready, because the lower your bmi, the sloooower the weight comes off. It took me a full 2 years to lose my weight, so don't get discouraged if it takes a while. But you can definitely get there. You got this!!!

Now that I'm 2 years out from my sleeve and 1 year out from my revision to bypass, I can tell you that I eat around 1200 calories per day when I'm not working out and 1400 - 1500 per day when I'm working out (depending on the type of work out I'm doing). I'm on my feet all day at work, so I increased my daily calories from what they were before. Same with my work outs. I can't work out as often now, so I go harder than I used to on the days I can actually work out (now that I have full medical clearance with no restrictions). I noticed pretty early on that if I didn't eat enough calories during the day, but was still working out, my body thought it was starving and it would hold on to every single thing. As hard as it was to wrap my brain around, I took the advice I saw on here and increased my calories on work out days by a couple of hundred each day and I actually started losing again!!! I was floored!!! So as I increased intensity of my work outs, or increased the weight I was lifting, I increased my calories a bit. I didn't go crazy, but enough to let my body know it's still healthy and not starving. BUT....I had to initially give myself grace and time to be able to increase calories. Work outs or not, I had to do it on my body's timeline, not a doctor or nutritionist's. No way could I have been at 900 or 1000 calories at 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 months. There just was no way. And honestly, mine didn't expect that. They didn't want to see us above 700 calories before 5 months post op. I had JUST hit 900 calories at 7 months post op. I'm actually thinking about increasing my calories a little again, because I'm still losing, and I'm nearly 10 pounds under my goal weight, and I really would like to start maintaining lol If I drop to 179, I will definitely increase my calories by 100 everyday and see what happens.

They may still consider you for the sleeve even with GERD. It’s gets super complicated and I don’t understand how he knew exactly what was causing what but I have MILD GERD post sleeve and I take only 20mg Omeprazole which controls it. The surgeon said if I wanted to revise to bypass I was good to go but if I wanted to revise to SADI that he had to do some tests first. He did a Endoscopy which found a hiatal hernia but because of my sleeved stomach he wasn’t able to turn the camera to get a good angle to determine the exact size of it. He then ordered an upper GI (I think that’s what he called it, but some call it a barium swallow test) and also a gastric emptying study). Then when he had all the results he said that the hernia is very small and he wouldn’t even repair it. Anyways, i will still have to be on PPI’S but he thinks they should control the GERD after the SADI. Many people choose the bypass so they don’t have to take the PPI’s again or if it’s so bad that PPI’s don’t always work but being able to take the occasional NSAID and the better weight loss statistics made me choose the SADI over the bypass anyways. That being said, just be aware going in that there is a percentage of people who need a revision post sleeve because they have inadequate weight loss or regain by like 3 years out. Your surgeon should go over all that with you. I have seen a few people on here say their insurance does not cover revision surgery so that’s something to consider when you make your decision. I hope I didn’t add to your confusion but it is a big decision and the more info you have the better to know what to ask at that appointment with the surgeon. My surgeon did not make me decide at the first visit either. I got to ask the NP questions every month at my weigh in and then decide which surgery I wanted (for my sleeve, the process for the revision was a little different).

Thank you @ShoppGirl @Bypass2Freedom and @JennyBeez for you lovely, thoughtful words. I really do appreciate your comments. The clothes came - the shift dress that I thought would be OK is massive and the jumpsuit that I thought would be too tight fits perfectly so go figure 🤷‍♀️ Annoying though when you buy the same size from the same brand and there are massive discrepancies. So, dress is going back and I’ve ordered a couple of things from the sale at Roman for less than half the price of the dress I’m sending back 🙂 @ShoppGirl I have to say that my hubby is being fully supportive. There are obviously times when I want to smother him with a pillow but not over this. He is onboard with what I am trying to do so no complaints from me over that. He just wants me to feel good about myself and get some confidence back I think. I did take your advice and ordered some new, dressy shoes (backless so if my feet do shrink again, it won’t matter!) I hope that the metabolic changes from the op really do kick in and work in tandem with the other changes we make. I know the op is a positive thing that we’re doing both for our physical and emotional wellbeing. @Bypass2Freedom Definitely seek food to ‘soothe’ when in meltdown mode. It is difficult to lose weight and keep if off. I hate, with a passion, those that patronisingly say “oh, you just have to eat less and move more”…OH REALLY?? 🤬🤬🤬 Well tell my metabolism that you arsehole. Continually dieting just screws your metabolism up, I’m sure of it. I’m hoping that the op acts as an internal reset button so my body stops acting against me and works with me for a while. I do know I need to stop being so harsh on myself…old habits and all that 🙃 @JennyBeez Yes, to camouflage, yes to self-sabotage. I know what started my weight issues and disordered eating. Food was used as a punishment when I was growing up (amongst other things) I won’t go in to detail as I don’t want to trigger anyone but I have undergone counselling etc. I did lose approx 100lbs around 12 years ago and then immediately started with Rheumatoid Arthritis which threw a massive spanner in to my works! My focus went from weight and gym visits to meds, hospital visits, X-rays pain and tests. Weight went back on, Osteoarthritis decided to join the party and then recently Fibromyalgia because why not?? Did I choose any of that? NO! Looking at it all dispassionately, I can see that I was angry with my body - I’d done the major weight loss, I was at the gym 5 days a week because I loved it, I was happy with myself and then I felt that I was kicked in the teeth without rhyme or reason. I know that WLS won’t make everything go away but hopefully it will make things easier to handle and get me moving once again. I miss the gym like you wouldn’t believe and I’m just hoping that I can get going to it once again for my physical and mental health. Working on my mindset is definitely a work in progress.

I wish I ate more of the things I loved pre-op LOL!!! Nah jokes aside, WLS is a tool that we utilize towards - hopefully - permanent life changes, if you see it as a means that'll all it'll ever be, if you see it as an effective tool, it will get you where you want to be. I would say, clean up your act, get moving, change your daily habits and get into the fat loss mindset. This doesn't mean going completely cold turkey on everything, but whatever bad habits that led you to needing the surgery in the first place need to be thought of and turned around. I didn't need a liquid diet, my BMI was on the lower side and I worked out consistently my entire life so I didn't much change anything and boy I wished I changed some things because dealing with the discomfort of the surgery, the huge changes in your diet and all the restrictions afterwards is no fun all together. I wish I cut back on caffeine (I had caffeine a week post surgery because I had terrible headaches), I wish I cut out diet soda prior to WLS because I love diet soda so very much and it was tough to think that I can never have this without any mental preparation beforehand. I wouldn't change much else because fortunately for me, I had a good experience post op, the weight dropped off very quick, I never threw up or had severe food aversions and have very effective restriction. But I also had a very balanced diet and workout regimen before WLS and that helped me tremendously and I know that might not be the case for everyone. Also, prepare yourself for a new life and new you, it's cliché but it's very true.

Definitely try and get some sleep! 😂 This is definitely the case! I know myself that I need to focus a little bit more on my water intake - then hopefully I shall feel a bit more energy! I have been back to the gym in the last week and started walking more, and I will be having a personal trainer come the 1st August so I know I am going to be putting my weight loss & health first! Which is surprisingly exciting haha.

You would be surprised they can be quite hurtful. Even the well intended ones that say you look so good are usually followed up by commenting on how big you were before which pretty much sucks. This can be especially difficult if you put a little weight back on or in my case a lot and then you have to go around those people knowing they are for sure judging you again. And even if you don’t gain it still kinda stings to know that people who are supposed to love you were judging you before for something that was out of your control. I had one person who had known me for years tell me that they just realized what a pretty girl I am about five minutes after they asked if I had lost weight!! I don’t think people think before they talk sometimes. Bottom line is any comments about weight CAN be hurtful and it’s something that people should tread really lightly about in my opinion. Or better yet learn to see a person for who they actually are and not even notice a persons size amongst other physical things (only in a perfect world I know). Why do you say you wish you were getting these comments? Have you not lost what you expected to with the sleeve? Are you still losing? That’s what I had first and I never did get to my goal weight. I am doing a revision surgery to the SADI in early August. My dr said that the sleeve is a great surgery for a lot of people but obesity is a complex issue and it is not the best fit for everyone. Some people just need more of a metabolic change to be successful.

when i first started getting the "you are too skinny" comments, i was annoyed...because i was still considered overweight for my height and i thought the people saying this to me were blind. or stupid. then i started to feel secretly good about it, cuz i felt i looked great and was super proud of my weight loss and thought people saying this were just jealous. or stupid. THEN i started to doubt myself and be self-conscious about my looks as i began to take these people's comments to heart. i thought these people were mean. or just well-meaning (this was the worst stage...luckily this phase didn't last long...maybe a couple months). after a little more time, the comments began to just get boring. i finally knew i looked and felt awesome. so those people went back to being stupid. now, no one makes any comments at all (despite me weighing LESS now than when all their "concern" started showing up). almost all the people that knew me as fat are now used to me being skinny. others never even remember knowing me as fat. i'll be six years out in October. so long story short. eff all the people and their comments. so long as YOU feel great, you're golden. try not let others' opinions change your own good opinion of yourself. ❤️

I am sure you have just reached a stall period, don't let it worry you, EVERYONE has gone through it, or is going through it, as it is raised as a topic here every few days it feels like. Your body is trying to adjust to the new you, new routines etc. so even if the scale has stalled (or even goes up a bit) you may be loosing inches etc. Over the last year I have had a few stalls and it is frustrating but part of the process. It also gets harder/slower as you get closer to your natural weight as there is less to loose. When it has happened I have upped my exercise (an extra walk or longer walk, more time in the pool etc.) to try and give the body a little nudge to get loosing again not sure if it helps or not but makes me feel better. Try not to stress and just keep up the positive changes you have made. It is seriously not that long into this part of your journey.

Do you change up your workouts? I’d read somewhere years ago that you need to change them every 6 weeks or so as your body gets used to what you’re doing. Can you change your reps/sets? The amount of weights you’re using? Try something completely different? I had to keep doing this and it did work for me so maybe it’s something that could work for you too? I remember I stopped working out for a couple of weeks and dropped 7lbs 🤷‍♀️ Our bodies are weird!

Estrogen is stored in your fat. As you lose weight it is released into your blood stream. This additional estrogen or estrogen flush causes your emotions to go haywire (like major PMT) & changes to your menstrual cycle (heavier/lighter, more or less frequent periods). Plus in general, this is a pretty emotional & stressful time. The surgery, the reduced eating, the structured eating, etc. all can mess with your emotions too. It does settle eventually though when differs person to person.