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yep - most of us lose our sense of hunger for up to a year. I know it seems weird at first, but honestly, I found it very liberating after a while. I was free of "food noise" for the first time in forever! I hoped I'd be one of the very lucky few whose hunger never comes back, but I was not. it came back at five months out. Anyway, yes, norrmal. and take full advantage of that!! It's never going to be easier to lose weight than it will be right now. when you're never hungry and don't give a flip about food!

Thank you so much for mentioning this podcast. I had to go to town to have blood drawn this morning, and I started listening to them. I started with the finale, and oh my gosh, they made me cry. When one talks about the best part of the journey so far and describes the thoughts she had as an obese person. I just lost it. I'll be 69 years old next week, and when I think about the hours of my life lost in "obese thoughts," it really hurts. Things like "Am I the largest woman in the room?" "What will the poor person next to me on the airplane think?" "Will I be able to sit at all comfortably in that chair?" "Will I break that plastic chair?" "Do I have to find sturdier beach chairs?" "What are they thinking of me?" etc... the thoughts have been never-ending and all-consuming at times. I'm going to go back and listen to more of their podcasts. Thanks again! @NickelChip Yay on the weight coming off again! So exciting, I'm really happy for you. I can understand the not being interested in food. There are times I even dread it. I try to shop for things that I like and they sound good in the store, but when it comes time to eat, I'm usually apathetic about it. Good luck with your vacation. I found some protein bars I like, but they will melt sadly. In case you haven't tried them, they are https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C4V2ML1C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@Missy4391 congratulations on the beginning of your journey I remember thinking that the waiting was one of the worst things, but trust me, it comes around quickly! As others have said, taking before pictures & measurements is a good idea! And I would also advice getting your head into the right space where you don't rely on the scales. I think it is all too easy to get addicted to weighing yourself, especially in the first 4/5 weeks after surgery when your body just needs that space to heal without the added strain of any stress you may feel if your weight fluctuates. This forum was amazing for me to prepare for the surgery and also what to expect after, so I really do recommend reading as much as possible One thing I wish I had done is trial some vitamins to see if I liked the taste pre-surgery. I know people say that your tastebuds can change, which is true, but some of the vitamins are just unbearable 🤢I bought Bariease powder supplement and my god it was the worst thing. I now just take dissolvable orange A-Z vitamins and let the fizz die down and it is so much better! @MrsFitz I think I may have already said this, but I am also in the UK so if you want to chat or have any UK specific questions please do let me know!

My surgery is April 30th. I am getting it due to severe GERD and ongoing damage to my esophagus. But weight loss is an excellent side effect! Good luck to everyone!!!

I only drink water, body armor, and ensure protein shakes, so no not really drinking a lot of calories. I've been having pretzel crackers with cheese and eating a lot cheese but just unlucky in it adding any weight...

I had a sleeve and then a year later had to have a revision to bypass due to a LOT of complications. But I had the sleeve for 13 months before I had the revision, so here's what I can tell you. No matter what surgery you have, eventually your stomach will stretch out to a certain point. Will it go back to the size it was pre-surgery? No. But it will become a little bigger than when you first have the surgery. For example: pre-surgery, I would 6 scrambled eggs w/ cheese, 2 sausage patties, 6-8 pieces of bacon, and 2 pieces of buttered toast for breakfast. After surgery, I could eat 1-2 tablespoons of scrambled eggs. Now, I have a 2 egg omelet w/ cheese. I'm 2 years out from my initial surgery and 11 months out from my revision. For dinner, I would have an appetizer, a 12oz steak, loaded mashed potatoes (w/ butter, cheese, bacon, and sour cream), some kind of veggie, a dessert (pie or cake, depending on what was there). Right after surgery, I would have 1-2 tablespoons of hummus and avocado spread. Now I have 3oz of steak and 1/4 cup of cauliflower mash and 1/2 cup of veggies. If I want dessert, it's something with little to no sugar, or at the very least, no added sugar. So while your stomach WILL stretch a little bit (completely normal) it will not go back to its original size. Having said that, if you eat slider foods and a lot of crap, you won't see the results you're wanting. Just eating smaller portions and not making any dietary changes won't get you there. The surgery is a tool and needs to be used as such. Also, make sure you move your body. I was your size, so I know it's hard. Walking, water exercises, chair exercises, walking with ankle weights....all things that can be done at your size while you're losing. Once I lost the first 100 pounds, I was able to REALLY go ham in the gym lol I've lost 190 pounds from my initial surgery date. But I've lost 223 pounds from my highest weight (421). It hasn't been easy, but it's been absolutely worth it.

Long rant ahead sorry ... So, I'm slightly angry (understatement). I saw my french primary care doctor yesterday. She's never been great to be honest. I've been seeing her for 6ish years. 5 years ago I gained over 80lbs pounds in a year and a half going from 118lbs (that had been my standard adult weight since my teenage years with a BMI of 19) to 200lbs ( BMI 32.3) after taking antidepressants. I stopped the antidepressants after a year because the weight gain was making me more miserable than I was being slightly depressed and thin. I have been struggling to loose the weight since... loosing and regaining the same 15-20 lbs again and again. As I've mentioned before, I have slight cérébral palsy - nothing too bad but enough to make walking pretty painful on my legs when I hit over about 130lbs and to make me generally clumbsy - I also lack gross motor coordination and don't have the best fine motor skills either... I can't really do any sports that require coordination and can only really ride a bicycle in a flat straight line and it takes a lot of mental effort for me to keep my balance, crowds freak me out because I'm scared of tripping and falling and don't even mention jumpy little dogs, my nemisis as my balance is so precarious. However I've always made do and It's never stopped me having an enjoyable fufilling life and a pretty decent career. My weight gain really really made me suffer, emotionally of course, my self esteem, my self worth etc ( I live in Paris which is the thinnist city in a thin country ... and it's not a place where people are kind to overweight people at all - I checked and the mean BMI of a Parisienne woman is 22.3 - so when you hit a BMI of 30 here you're really a fat outlier and are basically scorned in all public spaces ). It also made me physically miserable and I lost the little flexibilty I had - constant pain when walking - loss of gross motor skills, trouble showering standing up at 30 years old, not being able to put my socks on etc etc. For the last 4 years I have been to my Primary care doctor about 5 times asking for a referal to a nutritionist - she's always refused as told me "but it's simple, you just need to eat less and move more, it's not magic, No need to waste money on a nutritionist if you have no willpower "No **** sherlock! She has no idea the willpower it takes to get out of bed at 200lbs with cerebral palsy when you feel like your legs are litterally going to snap, when your feet are burning with weight stress induced neuropathic pain. In January I finally cracked after a lot of introspection and thought and booked my VSG for February in Turkey. I've now lost 35lbs since my preop diet so in just under 2 months. I already feel a lot better, the pain when I'm walking is lessening, I'm fitting back into the "second round" of fat clothes I got myself. So I walked into her office yesterday ( I had the intention of "fessing up" to having had a VSG and asking her for iron supplement ideas as I'm still being sick when I try and take iron ) She took one look at me and said "ah, you've finally found your willpower, loose another 20kg (40 pounds) and you'll be an attractive young woman again" I had a surge of red rage inside me, I kept my calm, but didn't tell her about the surgery, I just smiled and told her I needed a refferal to a dermatologist for a mole on my face and left. I'm never going back to see her again. I spoke to my physical therapist on the phone this morning and he sort of helped he said "can I be unprofessional ? Honestly, qu'elle aille se faire foutre, (she can go f*ck herself)" Lets find you another doctor." My physical therapist knew about the surgery, as did my orthopedic surgeon and booth agreed that with my CP anything is better than being even slighty overweight and that the surgury was worth the risk as they've both seen me loose my mobilité over the last few years and has seen how its affected me. They said that if I could afford to go private abroad I should because If not I'd have to jump through hoops for years in france because my BMI (32) wouldn't have been considered high enough as a stand alone. So yeah... this weekend I find myself another doctor who's not a fatphobic arsehole and has a minimum of human compassion. And for the iron I'm just going to go and ask directly at the pharmacy what the have to propose. Sorry that was long but I just had to get it out, I'm slowly realising all the **** I've put up with because of my weight these last years and I am ANNNNGRYYYY!!!! Hope everyone is having an okay hump day!

So after my revelation yesterday, I had my weekly therapy session. I have been going to therapy for almost a year now, mainly to help with my PTSD, and now moreso to address some of my trauma when it comes to my weight, and how that effects my emotional eating. I brought up my thoughts to my therapist, and she agreed that it is self-perception, not how my loved ones are seeing me. I'll be the first to admit, that I don't particularly like being emotional in front of other people, and in the entire year I have been attending therapy, I have only cried in front of my therapist 2-3 times. I found it quite hard to hold back the tears during this session (though that didn't stop me) - I realised that I have only really scratched the surface of the trauma I have from past relationships, and how that has completely tattered my self-image. More than anything, I realise that now more than ever, I need to address this as I approach the beginning of my weight loss journey. It is becoming more and more apparent, as everyone says, that surgery really is just a tool. It will give me that initial kick to lose weight so that I see the physical benefits: I will be in less pain, more able to get up and move about, more energy. I will *hopefully* feel more positive in myself and more confident. But the rest of the work, well, surgery can't do that for me. I am responsible for changing my behaviour & attitude, and I think for me at least that starts with being kinder to myself. I can't remember a time where I have been kind to my body, in how I treat it, and how I think about it. I realise that if I want to be successful on this journey, I need to work on me as a whole, body and mind, or else success isn't something I'll be able to achieve. Old habits would creep in, and my expectations would be too high. I am now attempting to drop the mindset of: "when I am skinny everyone will love me, and they will all treat me better and I will be an amazing person" - because truly, that has been my internal narrative, and I didn't see it as a negative until the other day. I need to rework it into: "I am me now, and I will be the same person on the inside even when I have lost weight. Those who I care about already love me and treat me with respect and care, and anyone who doesn't, isn't deserving of knowing me. Regardless of if I am 20 stone, or 11 stone. I am worthy of love". So, time to put my words into action 🤞🌸

I'm 7 months or so out. I do weights, but you'd have to watch the eating style. 2 or maybe 3 protein shakes can give you up to 90 grams of protein. That would be in addition to what you eat.

Are you male? I was on a pre surgery diet of 1000-1200 calories max (female) and that's fairly common...Men 1300 - 1500 max.. The amount of exercise I did didn't matter (I was very active). I started May and my surgery was in August.. I was under the impression those calorie limits were fairly normal, am I missing something here? On average not trying to lose weight is 1800 - 2200 (maintenance) based on age, height etc..Sooo dropping to 1200 would still be healthy but allow for healthy weight loss. Lastly, I understand you're training, but after surgery you will be on even less calories (I'm almost 9 months PO and I get 800 calorie and your swimming event is 2025 - post surgery..so you'd be on calorie restrictions then..what's the difference between now and then?. Training is about building endurance and calories shouldn't matter as long as you're getting what is recommended and the right macros. Yes, everyone is different but your dietician knows your current weight, goals and objectives. I personally would do as your plan dictates if you want to go ahead with the surgery. Once you go and do your own thing (which I'm assuming is why you need the WLS in the first place) its very difficult to stay on the program. I also realize that your swimming event is important to you, but you need to decide what is most important - the swim event or becoming healthy. Something to think on...

I have the mini gastric bypass and the smell after using the toilet literally strips the paint off the walls. The stench is out of the world nauseating and lingers. I truly feel sorry for people who are experiencing similar issues with the smell, because no amount of air freshener or pills make a blind bit of difference. It's a very depressing existence. The weight loss is to be celebrated, but the smell issue is something that really affects your confidence, relationships and quality of life in general.

Excess body weight equals your starting weight minus your "ideal" body weight (not the highest weight in your healthy BMI range). You can calculate your ideal body weight here: https://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html You get several slightly different calculations with this, plus a healthy BMI range (in my case, 114.6-154.9). For me, 3 out of 4 calculations tell me my ideal weight is 130, so I'll go with that. It should be noted, that is not my "goal" weight. Keep in mind all of this is a guessing game, not an exact science.

Since my surgery in 2017 I've lost my weight loss powers. I'm a mere mortal when it comes to weight loss. That being said I do the following: 1- Weekly weigh in and log it in 2- Stop eating at 7PM and start again at 7AM (I usually go to 9AM) 3- Eat the same thing every day. For me, Breakfast greek yogurt and hard boiled egg, cup of coffee Lunch, tuna fish, sardines or salmon from a can (no additives such as mayo) dinner broiled or baked seafood with a salad. I will also eat a costco protein bar if I need it. 4-Excercise, for me 3x at gym nothing too strenous just 30-45 on treadmill 5 degree incline with a brisk 3.5 mile speed walk Very Very difficult to stay within 5-10 pounds of goal weight then try to get back down. Vigilance and sorry to say obsession are my keys. It's a struggle every day.

I've seen many different recipes for pizza crust using chicken and turkey. I use ground chicken or turkey to make the crust mix with prok rinds to make the crust base easier to mold. My weight loss has been slow. According to my scale which could be off a couple pounds. I've lost 30 lbs since Feb 7th. I eat small snack size meals 4 sometimes 5 times a day. My goal is 90 G of protein a day but I typically hit 110-115 G. Carbs I'm supposed to stay near 30 g. But I typically hit 40. I always log on the baritastic app. I exercise each evening. Rowing machine with light weights. Im sure I'm trading some muscle weight with fat loss. I think our bodies are so used to eating more calories, that it's a shock and the body needs a lot of time to adjust. I've lost a lot of inches in my waist. So that's a plus. It's going into the right direction a lot slower than I expected. Which my doctor has said is normal. This evening im going to get an IV with vitamin Infusion to see if that helps with me feeling exhausted in the evenings.

Yea. He said it’s definitely a more aggressive option than the bypass for revision with a few more risks but better weight loss for most people. I read somewhere that when you eat the wrong foods that it causes gas pain and bathroom issues which if that’s true I think as much as it would not be fun it may be just what I need to remind me to keep making the right choices. Also If I understood correctly it does more to reduce the hunger hormone which was definitely my biggest issue. From day one with the sleeve I was able to eat more than expected at every given stage. I just chose not to and that was easy while the hunger was gone but when it came back it came roaring back so I lost most of my weight and then gained it all back like a yo yo. In the beginning I was still eating all the right foods but I was starving so I ate more than I should have. I am really hoping that this procedure the hunger hormone remains less intense for good.

if you increased your weight training, it could be water retention. Muscles hold on to water. Calories sound OK at this point in your journey with the added weight training, so I wouldn't drop those until you rule everything else out. AND three-week (or longer) stalls aren't uncommon when you get that far out. I remember times around the year mark (and after) thinking "OK - so this must be it.", and then I'd end up dropping 2 or 3 lbs. So it's not over 'til it's over.. EDITED to add that I just checked your stats. You're very close to goal. The closer you get, the slower the weight comes off. Those last 20 lbs were a BEAR for me to lose - but I just stuck with it and finally managed to make it

i was 46 when i had my surgery at a weight of 235 lbs (im 5'2"). it was easy peasy lemon squeezy, really. i had some of the regular issues come up, but nothing i couldn't handle with relative ease. lost 120 lbs in 7 months, and settled into a weight of 115-ish lbs ever since. i am 52 yrs old this year and i weighed 117.2 lbs this morning. so yeah, age didn't seem to hinder me in any significant way. i personally think the less you stress and realistically manage ur expectations as well as be flexible and deal things as they come (vs overthinking all the what ifs), the more successful and and peace u will be. change and new experiences await u, enjoy the ride! ❤️

Interesting question. Some say it’s the weight you need to lose to put you at a healthy BMI. Some say it’s the weight they personally want to lose to put them in their happy weight zone - a weight that worked for them in the past or they think will work for them in the future. Personally, I think of it simply as the weight you want to lose to get to your goal regardless of how you worked it out or chose it. Not as a sort of standardised amount of weight defined by someone else (surgeon, dietician, etc.) or statistical data. This (weight loss) is all about you & your experiences & no one else’s. As you know not every one reaches their goal & statistically average weight loss with sleeve or bypass is about 65% of the weight you are to lose (based on BMI defined excess weight). And then there are those who find they’re happier at a weight that is more or less than the goal they initially chose. They all lost excess weight & are healthier for it.

Bodyfat to muscle ratio? My concern as the weight comes off is losing too much muscle weight as opposed to fat %. A low number on a scale doesn't reflect that. But it will show in clothing sizes. Or could it be excess skin???? This discussion does pose a question for me. Everyone here who has hit goal weight and lost a ton of weight to get there. I see these people who have skin removal surgery, and they weigh it and turns out to be 30+ pounds. How does that figure in to goal weight if never removed??? Say if goal is 150 and you are left with excess skin weight, would 180 be more realistic or if you reach 150 would you be underweight if you are carrying around 30 pounds of excess skin???? Such a conundrum. 🤔

I also didn't get any calorie guidelines -- even fat/etc. I got protein goals, and was just told to keep my sugars and carbs as low as I could for the first month. When I started on soft foods, they gave me a bit more advice for carb/sugar limits and fibre goals but it was a pretty broad range. My team basically said it was because every 'body' is different and will react/thrive/etc with different levels, but that while still technically in 'recovery' it's more important to focus on protein and nutrients that you need as opposed to the fats/carbs to limit. I mostly did my own research, put a limit in my food tracking app, and am making my own notes on what amounts I can have over a day and still be on track. Like for me personally, my targets are 80g+ protein, and under 45g carbs & 25g fats per day. I can go over one or the other by 5-10 grams without it seeming to affect my weight loss, as long as it's not both on the same day. (Most days it's not even an issue but I'm still only 2 months in myself. Early days!)

I made this post in another thread as a response to someone else, and then I realized it's something that might help others after they've had their surgery and find themselves struggling. Maybe you're seeing an increase in hormones all of a sudden...maybe you're discovering there's a lot more work involved in getting and keeping the results you need after having the surgery. Maybe you're struggling to change your relationship with food. Whatever the case is, maybe this will help "I never really had the emotional ups and downs, mostly because at the time I had PCOS, and the influx of estrogen from both my surgeries actually normalized my hormones for a few months each time lol What I DID have, however, is the emotional issues that came with changing my relationship with food. I had NO IDEA that would be a thing lol Changing what you eat, how you eat, when and why you eat, how often you eat is like breaking up with a toxic partner. You've been together for a REALLY long time, and even though you KNOW it's a terrible, unhealthy relationship, it's really all you know and you're so dependent on it you don't think you can function without it. And now you have to figure out how to. You have to completely retrain your brain, learn the difference between true hunger and head hunger (there is an actual, real difference), and you have to learn to read the nutrition labels, track your calories and Protein and carbs, work out, don't cheat (and don't make excuse after excuse and justification after justification for why you went back to the toxic relationship even after you knew it was bad for you, yet still gave in), measure food, track fluids, take HONEST accountability for your actions (which isn't something most of us had been particularly good at) and make adjustments as needed to stay as compliant as possible for the long haul. Contrary to what so many think, there's actually a LOT of work that has to happen after the surgery. The surgery itself is just a tool. It's not a miracle cure. It won't fix all the issues if you don't put in the actual work. Just eating smaller amounts without making any of the necessary changes isn't enough, and that's a hard lesson many learn later on. All of this is such a mind eff, and takes a toll on a person. It's a lot of changes, and a lot of work, thrown at a person all at once. And no matter how ready you think you are, it can still cause so much emotional turmoil, and understandably so. What I, and so many, don't realize is that we all have ED (eating disorders) in order to get to being obese and morbidly obese (or in some cases, super morbidly obese). It's not just anorexia or bulimia. I genuinely didn't know that. We have to retrain our brains to get out of that, and sometimes that requires help, and we have to be ok with getting that help. And because we have to do that, we then get incredibly frustrated and defeated feeling when the weight comes off slower than we thought it would, or we hit stalls (or in my case, stall after stall after stall - which is COMPLETELY normal, by the way, and should be expected). I said all of this to say there's SO many different reasons we can have emotions all over the place. Influx of hormones all at once, changes in relationship with food, changes in routines and increase in the things we don't particularly like doing (or not doing anymore), learning we have to do a lot of work to get and maintain the results we want after the surgery, learning PATIENCE with the rate of weight loss and trusting the process (easier said than done, believe me, I know), realizing that body dysmorphia is REAL and we can and do struggle with seeing ourselves as anything other than our formerly obese selves (I'm 182 pounds and I still see 421 pounds sometimes when I look in the mirror), and of course, hair loss (also COMPLETELY normal, and will eventually stop). You won't go bald, there's nothing to prevent it or stop it, you need to increase your protein, biotin doesn't slow it down, and it's a COMPLETELY normal part of the process that many of us don't know about until it happens and then we freak out. So give yourself some grace and just know this is normal. You're doing great, and we're all here for you, just like everyone was here for me "

Short update: I had my gastric sleeve procedure done in November 2019. I lost around 85 lbs and then stalled eventually regaining around 50 lbs back and a horrible case of GERD. I had never had symptoms of GERD before my surgery and about 3 months later, I had to begin taking omeprezole daily to deal with it. If I forget a dose I can tell by the afternoon. During the first year post surgery, I lost my husband (not unexpectedly but it DID happen 10 days post-op for me), moved across country from Florida to New Mexico, bought a new house and started a new job. My daughter is 1 year post-op and lost approx. 150 ibs on the DS. l just started the process to obtain a revisional surgery. Will be discussing the benefits of either the DS or ByPass. I had the upper GI completed which showed a small hiatal hernia with evidence of GERD. It also showed mild cricopharyngeal hypertrophy. Any suggestions regarding which of the 2 procedures would help with the GERD and to help lose the 130 lbs. that I still need to drop to get to my goal weight?

Hi All! Lately, I have been receiving attention for my weight loss, mostly positive. People have been asking me how I lost the weight. I prefer to keep my surgery private and only a select few know about it because I do not want to hear negative comments. When people ask how I did it, I say, "Thank you! I have been following a low carb diet, walking every day, and not drinking alcohol." Recently, someone commented on how quickly I lost the weight on this diet, and for a moment, I worried that they might be thinking I was using drugs. LOL Does anyone use different excuse?

Thank you @Shanna NYC for your kind words. I broke my stall (slightly) this morning and am feeling much better for it ... I also know that I need to work on my coping mechanisms and be kinder to myself. Up until 2019 I'd never weighed more than 115 pounds for my whole adult life ... and then I gained nearly 100 pounds in just over a year and have spent the last 3 years desperatly unhappy and going through cycles of loosing and gaining the same 20 pounds and you are right ...25lbs is more than I've lost on any of the crazy diets I've tried... So I'm on the right track! Merci Encore (as we say in French!)

Just adding my voice to the general advice to eat 3-4oz of protein per meal (chicken breast seems best for you?) Then a couple of oz of green veg. Berries for snacks if you really need those. Ditch everything else from that plate? I totally agree there's nothing awful on it but if you are fighting a new set weight (WLS can do a number on that) you might need to redraw the lines of battle. Strictly protein and green veg till you're losing consistently?