Those who have lost 100% EBW esp. those vets who kept it off- what's did you do?

[Suzi_the_Q 257]

Hey all, I've read and seen a lot of great success stories on here that lost 100% of their goal (or more) and I want to eventually be one of you! So I must ask- how did you do it? What's your secret? How long did it take and how much did you lose? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thank you in advance!

[catwoman7 11,212]

I originally lost 235 lbs (gained back a few in year 3, but I'm still OK...). I lost 57 lbs before surgery, and the rest took me 18-20 months to get off.

I did it by being VERY committed to my program. I almost never cheated.

[Foxbins 625]

The surgery did most of the hard work, I just helped. After my sleeve I was not hungry and my sleeve did not care for many foods I had loved when I was fat. bread balled up in my stomach and swelled and felt awful, so I quit eating bread, muffins, cakes, biscuits, all those bready foods, Pasta and rice, too. I learned to recognize when I was full and stopped before then. After three months of mostly Protein I lost my taste for sweets and I figured I shouldn't tempt myself. So really my sleeve got me eating the way doctors and nutritionists say you should anyway. Protein, vegetables, fruit, some nuts, not much fat or sugar. So no secrets.

Look at my signature for my stats. I love my sleeve but I have GERD now. Revising to bypass tomorrow.

[ms.sss 15,608]

I don’t consider myself a vet yet (20 months post-op last week), but I credit my weight loss to: of course the surgery, but also to being very strict about calories and ultra-low carbs (>25g NET carbs a day). And to a lesser extent, daily exercise.

Starting at 235lbs 2 wks before surgery, I reached goal at 7 months post-op with a loss of 108lbs at the time (I dropped another 17lbs after that...I’m 115 now)

I continue to stay away from most carbs (bread, rice, Pasta, potatoes, etc), but I love me some dessert, so I will occasionally indulge, lol. I also run almost every day and force myself to do 20-30 mins of strength training daily (i admit, i hate it). I also still log/track everything I put in my mouth and weigh myself every morning.

I hope to maintain this weight for the super-long term, but only time will tell, I guess. In the meantime it’s working for me, so its all good.

I think so long as you keep the on top of things, for like FOREVER (and understand and accept that this is your new normal, and not just a temporary thing) one could reasonably expect to achieve and stay at goal (give or take 10 lbs)

Good Luck!

[Suzi_the_Q 257]

Thank you all for the advice! I'm really hoping to hit my goal!

[Arabesque 7,257]

Thank you for starting this thread @Suzi_the_Q. Any help & advice to stay on the right path would be wonderful.

I’m only 13.5 months out & hit my goal at about 6 months. I continued to lose for another four. While I’ve been maintaining for the last 3.5 months, I know this will continue to take effort & determination. I don’t want to throw away the opportunities the surgery has given me.

I try to keep to routines of when & what I eat, eat slowly & keep portions small. Like @ms.sss I too say no to Pasta, bread & rice. I also avoid potatoes. And I weigh myself almost every day.

I’m still in the sweet spot with a strong metabolism so the real work will begin when that starts to slow.

[Daisyjayne 124]

I'm nearly 9 months out, and I've lost 15kg more than my surgeon's goal for me. So I'm well past losing my EBW. I started at a relatively low BMI of 37 though, I think that absolutely helped. I try to eat Protein as a priority, then vegies, then quality carbs. I avoided junk for pretty much the first 6 months, but it's crept back in, in miniscule amounts as I start to navigate maintenance. I started at the gym doing bodypump about 4 months ago and I'm seeing the results of that, particularly on my arms, and I've recently started running the couch to 5K with my 10 year old. Unfortunately with exercise has come a surge in hunger, so I'm working on dealing with that too. I'm nowhere near being a vet, but I stuck (and still 80% of the time do) to my surgeons plan and it's really worked for me. I can't wait for my 12 month follow up appointment to compare my measurements from the 6 month one!

Oh, and I'm extremely strict about taking my Vitamins and not drinking within 30mins to an hour after eating. I'm amazed sometimes how much I can eat at 9 months out, but that's mostly slider foods based on flour (bread, scones) when I'm a little less strict on weekends. I've learned standard white bread is a no-no for me, as it's a true slider, and leaves me wanting more. Dense protein and veggies still fit me up for hours.

[Suzi_the_Q 257]

5 hours ago, ms.sss said:

And to a lesser extent, daily exercise.

When did you start exercise, to what intensity and did it end your honeymoon period (make you hungry)?

[New&Improved 1,780]

14 hours ago, Suzi_the_Q said:

Hey all, I've read and seen a lot of great success stories on here that lost 100% of their goal (or more) and I want to eventually be one of you! So I must ask- how did you do it? What's your secret? How long did it take and how much did you lose? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thank you in advance!

I will say I'm early days but I've lost all my excess weight and below the goals doctor set for me. I lost exactly 157lbs in 8 months that included 2 months before surgery.

It's now 8 months since surgery and I've been maintaining well.

I guess for me personally I stayed on liquids looking term literally with the bypass I had no urge to eat for months and Protein Shakes kept me satisfied...

I was very strict on myself weighing every and tracking every single little thing I consumed.

I logged everything and kept on top of it and had next to no carbs for months.

It's only recently I've been exploring more real food and meals but still seem to be maintaining well...

The bypass seems to have totally changed my metabolism because I will admit I've had some treats whilst in maintenance and not gained at all...

I started at 322lbs and now most days I'm 165lbs and I look great and feel great with BMI of 22.2 :)

[ms.sss 15,608]

8 hours ago, Suzi_the_Q said:

When did you start exercise, to what intensity and did it end your honeymoon period (make you hungry)?

Started with just walking around the block a few times a day on Day 2.

But it really started in month 3. I tried lots (and lots!) of things for about 2-3 months, looking for something I enjoyed and thought i would keep at: weight training, zumba, salsa, tap dancing, rock climbing, walking (which eventually turned into running), swimming, hot yoga, spin classes, lol. I would say I was doing maybe 1-1.5 hours of some sort of exercise every 2-3 days during this period. Intensity varied, depending on the activity: from low (walking, yoga) to high (spin class)

Turned out I love running and hot yoga (swimming is good too). Haven’t gone to the studio nor pool since Covid, but these days I run at least 5K daily. Sometimes twice a day. This is quite a 180 for me, as for reals, I was the epitome of couch potato pre-wls. I mean, I would get winded going up a flight of stairs!

(Btw, it also turned out that I detest weight training, but I do it anyway)

...and no, I didn’t find that starting regular exercise made me hungrier (i didn’t really start to feel hungry until a couple months into maintenance?). Though I do remember that I started to really want salt. Probably I wasn’t replenishing with enough water...

So this is my VERY long winded lead-up to sharing this semi-pro tip: Find something (anything!) that you like to do and start doing it as early as you can muster. By the time u get to maintenance, it will be a no-brainer part of your life and it will help keep u there. Plus it makes u feel good...and when u feel good, you look good, and will have confidence oozing out of your every pore, that it will make others around you want to barf...lololololzzz.

P.S. I also recommend strength training as soon as u are able, even if u hate it, just do it, as it really does make a difference. When all your fat has melted off, your hard earned muscles will see the light of day and it’ll be all good. ❤️

Edited to add: Correction: I haven’t gone to the studio nor pool since before my PS in December! I just haven’t been BACK since Covid. Pools are open now, but I’m wary of going back at this time, and I have no idea when the studio will open up...

Edited June 29, 2020 by ms.sss

[PollyEster 228]

I began the WLS process 16 months ago at 292lbs. I lost 50 lbs during the 6 month wait for surgery by following a 1100 kcal/day whole-foods plant based lifestyle (which I'd already been following for over 6 years), and exercising at least 150 minutes per week (beginning with daily yoga and simply walking as far as I could each day, slowly working up to 10,000 steps/day and adding weight training, cycling, hill hiking, and indoor rowing). After surgery, I reached my goal weight in 7 months, and am continuing to lose rapidly without the slow-down that is commonly experienced at the 6 month mark. Currently, I have lost not only 100% of my EBW, but 58% of my entire body weight. I now expect to reach the weight I was in high school, 112-114 lbs, and to maintain long-term in the 115-120lb range.

The rapid loss window after surgery is finite: only about 6 months. How much weight one loses in those 6 months is primarily determined by genes, but all gene expression is dependent upon environmental variables, so I did everything I possibly could to maximize loss during that time. For me that meant: Protein first veggies second; eating only nutrient-dense whole, clean, plant-based foods (meaning no processed or packaged foods, no animal products, no nutrient-poor foods); staying hydrated; waiting 30 mins before and 45 mins after drinking to eat; consuming no more than 600-800 kcal/day; practicing portion control; being mindful while eating and chewing food extremely well before swallowing; no snacking or grazing or emotional eating; weighing and tracking all food; taking all of the required Vitamin and mineral supplements; weighing myself daily; using a fitness tracker and logging all exercise; exercising upwards of 15 hours per week (because I really enjoy it; I never had to force myself); meditation; taking good care of my emotional and mental health, and sleeping 8 hours minimum per night.

I still do every single one of these things, except now I eat more (not too much, but enough to healthfully support my activity levels) and exercise more (upwards of 25 hours per week training for eventual distance cycling and triathlon events, as well as many other sports including weight training and squash especially). Though it's all just my regular, everyday, normal life now, I'm still only 8.5 months out from surgery, so it’s all relatively effortless. I'm fully committed to doing all of these things for the rest of my life, however. I will *never* forget how disabled I was -- how limited I was, and how limited my life was -- because of morbid obesity.

Edited to add: According to several bariatric experts that I've spoken with, the "honeymoon stage" basically ends when people resume some or all of their old habits: making poor food choices, eating too much, not exercising, and not following evidence-based best practices for long-term weight loss and maintenance (based on observing 5 and 10 year outcomes for hundreds of thousands of bariatric patients). Obesity is a disease and WLS is a treatment, not a cure. If you have heart disease and undergo a triple bypass but start eating burgers and fries again 6 months after surgery, you’re still going to die of heart disease because you’re not addressing the underlying cause of disease unless you change your diet and lifestyle.

50%-60% average weight loss after VSG is just that, an average. So if you don't want to end up with average results over either the short or long term, then definitely do not do what the average person does. Use the first year after surgery to entrench yourself in an entirely new way of eating and moving your body (including weight bearing exercises to build muscle), regularly examining what's working and what isn't, and adjusting or pivoting as needed over time to continue seeing the desired results.

Edited July 3, 2020 by PollyEster

[NYJenn 1,463]

I lost 130+ pounds (surgery was 7/10/18) and I’ve stuck to my lifestyle meal plan. I can’t eat sweet things anymore, they taste terrible to me. I drink a gallon of Water a day, exercise 4-5 times per week and stopped using food as comfort