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Thanks for the tag @AmberFL I never had a food addiction either, was never a binge eater, I never had issues sticking with a diet, I exercised religiously (even during my 2 pregnancies), ate extremely well ...etc. but never lost the weight that I gained over the course of 5 years for some reason. No matter what I did and how hard I worked, my weight wouldn't budge, add a severe ankle injury to it and I was a whopping 65+ pounds heavier. Mind you, never had issues maintaining great shape my entire adulthood and post two pregnancies, but I believe my body just broke at some point. WLS helped me lose the 65 pounds and then some (I dropped to BMI 18 but was able to bring it back up to 19), it gave me back my life (dramatic I know, but feels like it) but because I was never big, seeing myself like that messed me mentally up so much, I was so desperate that I even tried injectables (spoiler, they didn't work for me). WLS gave me my confidence back (tenfold). If I had to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. I don't want to say go for it, that's your decision, but I 100% understand what you're going through, and it did feel like I literally have no other choice. The surgery completely restarted my metabolism. It's been a great success. The fact that you're not a binge eater or have food addiction can be a great success factor in your case as you don't have to worry about returning to old habits once your restriction loosens, it's a problem a lot of WLS patients battle, and it's a tough one. Also, the fact that you're active helps a lot. I worked out consistently my entire life and that probably is the reason I don't have loose skin or need plastics - obviously genetics help -.

Making the decision to improve your health and reclaim your life is huge so congratulations. And yes starting now can start to get you into the right frame of mind and help you start establishing better habits and new routines. You don’t have to jump in with everything. Small changes are often easier to adopt and adapt to. Here are some ideas you could start with. Just pick a couple which you think you could begin to introduce. Finding time to be more active when you work full time, for long hours and sit all day. But you can carve out short blocks of time throughout the day. The little bits of 5 mins here 10 there add up so don’t think you have to find a solid 30 - 60 mins a day to improve your health. Go for a walk at lunch time even 10 mins is better than nothing. If you take public transport get off at the stop before your office or home. Take stairs not the lift. Walk up escalators. Park further away from where you’re going. A lot of us start off with these small changes and then build and incorporate more activity as they go on. I still do short boosts of activity (stretches and bands) and incorporate these other behavioural changes in my usual chores I do day to day. May be start reducing or dropping those late night snacks. Up your fluid intake. Reduce portion sizes. Up your protein intake. Avoid following any fad or social media trending diet tips, diets or food fear mongering. They usually don’t work, are never sustainable & not based in any truth. Have you found a surgeon yet?

Hello, welcome! I understand your plight. I too had troubles in the procreation department. However, it is going back to the basics. High protein meals! Eat within 1 1/2 hours of waking and stop after eating dinner. Calories is not an issue, the amount of protein is the bigger deal. I'll leave the specifics to SpartanMaker, he writes volumes. No simple sugars and limit your food sizes. 30 minutes of exercise? What kind of exercise? Are you just walking, doing strength training or cardio? Walking is always a good thing. Keep working the basics and the weight will come off, but nothing will happen quickly. Wishing you well.

Its a thing. I have never been as vigilant as I am now. I log my food and exercise every day. I weigh myself every day. Two pounds up and I deal with it. Carbs still sit heavy on my stomach so I still don't eat them which is a bonus for me. I hope you find some way to stay thin too.

Hi, I had gastric bypass 3yrs ago October (I'm now 39). My starting weight was 340 and I'm current 260 with my lowest being 245 (I float between 255-260). I lost all of my weight the first 9mos and then I went off plan because my fertility doctor wouldn't restart treatments until my weight stabilized. I had surgery so I could get pregnant (I had undergone 3yrs of fertility treatments before surgery). I've had 3yrs of fertility treatments since then, no luck. My new dr said I'd help if I lost another 50lbs before we do IVF again. I've been trying for months and cannot get below 255. I lowered my calories to 800 with 30min of exercise and literally didn't even lose an ounce. I eat clean, very little to no sugar, fruit, veggies, beans, lean chicken breast, and no flour products or processed foods. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hey, @SammyGold,welcome! I’m new here too and really glad I found this space. I have been managing type 2 for a few years and just recently, I started on a GLP-1 after metformin alone wasn’t cutting it. It’s helped curb my appetite, which made it a bit easier to shift away from junk food (though that wasn’t overnight). I’m still figuring things out, but happy to swap notes anytime.

ok. well if that is what u want, then so be it. we all have our reasons for what we want, which may or mat not be understood by others. that's life, as they say! with that said, to gain 130lbs (from ur current weight of 130 to your goal of 260) will likely take a considerable amount of effort to gain HEALTHILY. i would suggest working with a professional to form a plan to gain this amount of weight while maintaining a relatively good level of "health". there is also the "easy" way to gain weight, by just eating low-volume, high-calorie foods. think: all thinks considered "junk": fast food, candy, dessert, fatty foods, liquid calories (pop, juice, alcohol) etc. you may be compromising your health and longevity, but i mean if a higher weight is what YOU want, then go for it. you know yourself best. good luck!

@Tianabell77, you are very right, it is sometimes the hormones. It is not that we did anything wrong, we ate as we were taught by our parents and society as well. It is not always a mindset of willpower or having an addiction of food. I just wanted to let you know that you are correct. Thanks, now we can get back to our health and wellness.

Some of us don’t overeat and still stay stuck. I learned that it's not always about willpower or food addiction. Sometimes it’s hormones!!

Your PCOS is probably your worst enemy when battling your weight. Hormones were certainly mine. From puberty I started gaining and I bounced between 60 & 75kgs most of my adult life using a multitude of diets & exercises programs to manage it. Generally I was a low calorie eater even regularly skipping meals to limit calorie intake. I went to a dietician once who told me I wasn’t eating enough. (Never lost a pound seeing her.) Perimenopause hit and I suddenly went from 60 to 80. Then menopause and I was 91. All gained seemingly overnight. Couldn't lose except a couple of kilos on a 500 calorie a day diet and it took weeks to lose that. Nothing worked until I had surgery. When hormones come into play how many calories you eat, how much you manage the quality of the food you eat, how much activity you do, you are fighting a battle with the odds against you. One of the benefit of the surgery is that it alters your hormones (gut, metabolic, reproductive and other hormones like cortisol) to varying degrees. This is why it may help you. A lot of others on the forum with PCOS have found success with the surgery & hopefully some will respond with their experiences. But as others have mentioned you have to be mentally & emotionally ready for surgery. It’s not easy with a lot of head work involved. It takes a lot of commitment. And it is a lifelong commitment but so worth it All the best, whatever you decide to do.

@WendyJane I don't /didn't need any advice other than that of my team and members of this kind forum. If you have a spare 40 dollars a month the bully for you, lots don't. I don't save the money on my food bill. I shop for better quality, more nutritious foods. I don't think its helpful to mention the company when the name has not been asked for.

I never had a food addiction, never had any food related issues and WLS worked (for me) by managing whatever metabolic dysfunction I had. My heaviest was 250 lbs and I am now ~ 150lbs for the past 7+ years. Not battling a food addiction probably set me up to have an easier journey. I didn’t really over eat prior to WLS, but I definitely don’t over eat now. You can try to hunt down the reasons for your obesity (but often it is too complex even for doctors to really appreciate) but TBH managing it is much more rewarding to focus on. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Good luck!

i am a big proponent of food tracking...but im anal and love spreadsheets and data so its actually kinda fun for me. so i get that its not for everyone and may actually be harmful for some in terms of anxiety, et. al. BUT...if you can commit to tracking everything you put in your mouth for a week (preferably two!) you can determine exactly what your habits are instead of guessing that you are "mostly on track". you will be surprised how much we underestimate what we eat (and for this very reason i used to always OVER-estimate everything i track/tracked). hopefully this data/info you collect can help you come up with a plan for YOU. but yeah, it takes a bit of commitment and effort. if this is not for you, the simplified version of my advice would be to do something else if the thing you are doing is not working. good luck! ❤️

@summerseeker I do not think it is a dollar a day wasted, you can find information and people there too who have all had the surgery and live with it every day, including those that have had it and they are the professionals that hold groups in the BariNation. Take a look at some of the YouTube videos. Maybe you will see that there are bariatric surgeons, licensed social workers, licensed counselors and others, including nurses in the BariNation group and they have four pillars, it is community, and you can ask questions and get answers and everyone is experienced working with Bariatric patients/clients. There is talk about all kinds of things. Until you give it a go, you wouldn't understand it but it is not like this forum that gives non-professional experience. For those that need to work with therapists, it is a lot cheaper to have 5 sessions of group therapy than 1 session in a one-on-one meeting with a private therapist. It is cost effective and you get so much more than you can imagine. I'm not saying anyone should join, just some that I feel would benefit. I might be "advertising" BariNation, but it is no difference than promoting Bariatric Pal vitamins. If I feel someone would benefit I would make mention of it and a little bit of information, but never do I try to persuade anyone to join, it is entirely up to the individual. Check out some of the YouTube videos. The latest drop was of our Leaders attending ASMBS and speaking about the need for patient support. If ASMBS invited them to talk, than that is something. When doctors/surgeons are asking to do pod casts and question and answer sessions, you can't say that they know nothing about bariatric patients. If you don't like it, I'm sorry but there is more than just writing, sometimes having a video meeting with people like me is important for my mental health and my journey. I have made friends and enjoy hearing about other people's lives and I have tried to learn from those that have had surgery well before me, even revisions for things that they had no control over. Before you criticize BariNation, you have to experience it. You are saving money on food, you can afford a few bucks a day to try it for a month and join in on anything on the calendar to check it out before making your opinion about BariNation. Thanks.

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I am not over eating. I have been weighing my food on a scale for the last four years. My obesity is presumably caused by a PCOS variant though doctors have failed to identify and diagnose me due to me not having every symptom. 15 years ago I was a size 8 jean and ate much more than I do today. Even ten years ago I still ate fast-food. I haven't eaten at a fast food restaurant in 6 years. I prepare my meals and I drink plenty of water. I am very careful.

Obesity is a disease. As that being your mindset, it is a chronic long lasting disease and despite the loss of weight and a healthier you, obesity is still in the background. You need to treat the disease like any other chronic disease. Exercise even just walking is movement. You also need to focus on protein as your primary source of intake as it gives you a full feeling for longer than any other macronutrient. You may be eating carbohydrates, I eat none and am losing at a steady rate, and I just had the surgery after years of dieting. I am no longer in the diet mentality but rather focused on an overall healthier me. By following the dieticians and surgeons steps in the diet pre and post op I have been able to lose quite a bit in a short amount of time. Surgery is NOT the solution, but it is another tool for those with the chronic disease of obesity. The decision is yours and yours alone, but I wish I could have had this surgery earlier in my life. I would already be where I want to be. If you are seeking more information, there are Youtube videos out by BariNation that you can view to get a different perspective. This years push is being an advocate about stopping shame and stigma, but earlier videos focus on mindset, so you don't have the emotional eating, the eating while being bored, and how to get over the holidays and eating the right foods. Take a look and I wish you the best on your journey.

Only you can decide if surgery is right for you, but if you are obese, you overeat... full stop. One fundamental rule of weight loss is that you cannot break the laws of thermodynamics. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you'll lose weight and if you eat more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. I know some people don't like to hear that, or think it doesn't apply to them, but physics is physics. You can't add body mass unless those calories are in excess of the number your body needs to keep you alive. Look at it like this: your body burns a certain number of calories per day. It's not exactly the same every day, but for most folks, it stays fairly consistent. The problem is in your case, you stated you only eat 1400 calories a day. That number alone is completely meaningless. Because weight loss, weight maintenance, or weight gain are all about energy balance, you also have to also know how many calories you burn in a day. If you are gaining weight on 1400 calories per day, there are only two possibilities: You are underestimating how much you actually eat. I know you probably think you're being accurate, but underestimation is incredibly common. Study after study shows that almost everyone underestimates how much they actually eat, even if they think they are accurately measuring everything. Part of that is measurement error, part is variation in foods, part is failure to count certain parts of a meal, part is "eyeballing" foods, and part is due to inaccurate calorie listings. The bottom line is that calorie counting is hard and often not nearly as accurate as we like to think. You may have an exceptionally low resting metabolic rate. As I said, 1400 calories consumed per day is irrelevant because you don't actually know how many calories you burn in a day. Since the basic principle here is you have to consume less than you burn per day to lose weight, 1400 calories consumed doesn't matter if you don't also know how many calories you are burning. Let's move on to how surgery works. Bariatric surgery works primarily by simply limiting how much someone can eat. Yes, there are also hormonal changes, but those are about satiety, so in your case, those may be less important. There is also some reduction in intake calories through reduced absorption (yes, even in sleeve surgery), but that's a fairly minor component overall. At the end of the day, this is no different than weight loss drugs like GLP-1s, or even diets. They are all designed to reduce calorie intake. If you truly have no problems dieting, then it sounds like you need to just reduce your calorie intake until you start losing at a sustainable rate. You need to forget what someone may have told you about how many calories you're "supposed to" eat to lose weight, because it sounds like that whatever that number was, it's not the correct number for you. Once you're losing at about a 2-3% per month rate, just stay there until you reach your goal weight. This should be simple for you since you said you have no problems sticking to a diet. Best of luck.

I ate about 1400 calories per day and see a nutritionist about the content of food I eat. I'm still obese. I've been eating extremely healthy for the last four years with portion control and still never lost any weight unless I completely starved (500 calories per day). I've posted here before about wanting to get the surgery but now I'm not so sure. I have no food addiction and don't over eat. I have no issue sticking with a diet. I'm not so sure this would be the right procedure for me at all. My heaviest weight was 230 pounds and I am 213 and can't lose anything at all. My body tries to put on weight when I skip a day at the gym even. I'm not sure what to do. Is the surgery for folks with a food issue primarily and does it not work otherwise?

When I feel that I need to snack, I drink a protein shake, that takes my hunger away. I get my movement in and do both strength training as well as cardio, now that I got clearance to do so. I track everything I put in my mouth from the water I drink to ever morsel of food. If you think you need a therapist, I would suggest spending only 40 bucks a month and join BariNation. They have groups with licensed people, including social workers, counselors, dieticians, physicians, and quite frankly there are people just like you and me and everyone in this forum, all bariatric patients and we help and support each other. You can attend any group or meet-up you wish, and there are so many ways to track your wins every day, particularly your non-scale victories. Just a nudge to check things out, you will be surprised. To see a little bit, they have YouTube videos too, for free if you want to check them out. All of the professionals in BariNation are well versed in working with Bariatric patients/clients. Community is therapy. Hope for the best!

Sometimes, it is your brain thinking you are hungry, it is called head hunger. Stop and think to yourself and ask during the pause about is this truly hunger in your stomach, or is it some other reason that is making you think you are hungry? Sometimes people eat due to boredom and if you are only a couple of weeks out from surgery, you will have to suffer through the hunger signals that your brain is putting out. Kind of like mind over matter. You don't need the matter, find something to do, like journaling and make it just go away. It is hard, very hard, but we all need to focus on the reason we are hungry, the head or the stomach. I hope you find something to keep your brain occupied, other than food.

Thank you @SpartanMaker and @ms.sss. I have gotten two nights now of good sleep and feel much better. I have always been a bit of a night owl but 3 and 4 am was a little too late to get to sleep. Things are just taking a while to get back to something close to normal. I have been REALLY lucky and not had too much pain, nausea or spasms but the sleep issue was piling up on me. Next step I see the surgeon for a follow up tomorrow and talk to the dietician about moving to pureed food Monday. Changes, one ounce at a time!

Keep going! Maybe keep logging food and bring it down a little. And over the next 4 months you will have lost at least 10 more lbs! Hopefully more! As long as I am getting smaller I am ok with it going slow. The last 3 months I only lost 9 lbs. Lost lots getting ready for surgery and right after. But am upping my calorie expenditure now and hoping I will meet my goal of being 154 by my year appointment in December. Good luck!! As my quote says on my profile, the only way out is THROUGH!! Stay intent on what you want to accomplish. You will do fine!

You are not alone. And regain can be very stressful and emotional. Many experience regain over time of varying amounts. I’ve had a small regain this year able it has been very upsetting. Many things can contribute to this regain. Life in general, which can throw crap at us. Medical reasons. Emotional or mental health issues. Complacency. From what you said it seems like complacency maybe a factor for you. Unlike @learn2cook, I’m not a tracker of my food. I’m a random checker though like @learn2cook I’m also very routine and predictable in my eating (what I eat & when I eat) but it is what works for me. You may find it useful to measure and record everything I eat & drink for a couple of weeks to identify where those snacks, larger portions, calorie drinks or whatever are sneaking in. Can help to make note of why you think you snacked, or ate a little larger portion, and such too. Look over what you’ve recorded and then start to make changes. Just one or two at a time for a couple of weeks then make another change or two. Slow and steady adjustments are always easier to adopt and adapt to & are more sustainable in the long term. Checking in with a dietician can also be helpful to ensure you’re on the right path. If you think there may be an emotional factor involved, a therapist may be able to support you too. Many find a therapist very helpful. Unfortunately, managing our weight will always be a battle to some degree we just have some extra tools and knowledge to help us now than we did before our surgery. All the best.

The emotional rollercoaster after surgery can really screw up your hunger signals. Your head hunger signals go into overdrive as your head tells you to eat to make you feel better. Not helped by surges in estrogen that is released from our fat as we lose weight messing with our emotions too. Also many nerves are cut during surgery plus the swelling & inflammation @SpartanMaker mentioned distorts messages like hunger and satiety even if they actually get through. And it’s a pretty major surgery and it knocks you about. It takes time before you don’t feel tired, weak, dizzy, doughy headed, etc. It takes a good 6+ weeks to fully heal after surgery, so these mixed signals & feeling unwell will continue for a while. Generally though, if you’re craving a specific food, flavour or texture, it’s head hunger. If you’re feeling sad, anxious, frustrated, angry, bored, etc. it’s likely head hunger. In time you’ll discover real hunger signals are different. For me I feel restless like something is wrong not that I ‘feel’ hungry. Having eaten enough can feel different too. Many sneeze, or get the hiccups. Don’t eat until you feel full or until you’ve eaten all you want. It takes 20 odd minutes for the full message to get through normally & a lot longer this soon after surgery so don’t eat until you feel full - you’ve eaten too much by then. Stop when you’ve had enough, when you don’t need any more. You’ll have lots of meals (appropriate portion sizes) you simply can’t finish because you’ve had enough and don’t need any more. I still do at 6 years out. The lightheadedness could be from being dehydrated too or from your blood pressure dropping (many experience this). Are you meeting or close to meeting your daily fluid goals? Often an electrolyte drink can help. It does get easier and you will feel better. Just give yourself time.

Have you talked to your surgical team? That should always be your first point of contact when you're having issues. I really doubt the surgeon somehow didn't create an appropriately sized stomach pouch. They use something called a bougie to determine where to staple. Not all surgeons use the same size bougie, but they definitely have a guide to use that would preclude somehow leaving your stomach too big. With that out of the way, we can think more about what may be going on with you. Obviously I don't know for sure, but just to throw out some ideas here: Some people have a hard time with the liquid portion of the diet specifically because the desire to chew can override their brain a bit. It can even make them think they're hungry when in fact the issue is just this strong need to chew. This happens because part of what signals our brain that we've eaten is actually coming from chewing, not from a "full belly". There are hormones released while we chew that signal to our brains that we're "done" and don't need to eat anymore. Your stomach is also really inflamed at this point still and the mechanisms involved that signal fullness can get really messed up as a result. This should settle down the further out from surgery you get. It's not unusual for people to not be good at understanding the fullness signals out brains are receiving. Overweight and obese people especially often associate being overfull almost to the point of pain as "being satisfied", when in reality that stuffed signal is not actually what we should have been relying on to know when to stop. If you're chasing this feeling now, that may be part of the issue because you're not going to have that feeling for long, if at all on just a liquid diet. Finally, keep in mind that it's common for hunger cues to be based not on anything physical at all. Sometimes we yearn for food so soothe us or satisfy other psychological needs. If your desire to eat is still present, even after you have a "meal", then it may be psychological, not physical hunger cues that are driving you to eat. Best of luck.