WLS Veteran's Forum

Well upon the advice of my bariatric team, I bought some new protein powder today. SIX YEARS post op. Yup, it still works though! My surgeon wants me to work on a specific health thing and feels like doing a 'pre op' style diet for a few weeks will trigger my body to do what he needs it to. Since I've developed a serious lactose intolerance post op, I'll be using some unsweetened almond milk as a sub. I'm actually looking forward to getting this level of focus back in my life. With all the chaos going on in the world around me, it will be good to let me focus on something else....

I'm not a WLS veteran, being only 11 months post bypass, but would like input from you veterans. Do you think that all the measuring, weighing, and tracking of food leads to disordered eating? I have a history of anorexia long before I was morbidly obese so I obviously have some sort of problem with food!! I just started Intermittent fasting and kind of feel I am entering a slippery slope towards another eating disorder because I have put pressure on myself to lose 9 pounds this month to get to my goal by my surgiversary. My therapist thinks that all the tracking is detrimental, but I think I need to track for fear of gaining weight back. I'm not underweight at 5'4 …

Hm, how to approach this I had GBP in March 2017. I started at 255 lbs/ 116kg and got down to 148lbs/67kg at 1 year post op. I then gained a little the next few months and have been stable at around 156lbs/71kg for the past 1 year+. I'm happy with where I'm at, I don't need to go down more, but I know I can. And the reason is this, and also where my problem is. I eat too much candy. Way too much candy. Especally sour candy. I have tried to cut back and stop, but I just can't. I eat up towards 2500-3000 kcal a day. But I also work out 5-8 times a week (1-2 days twice a day, 1 day a week is no workouts). I'm a spinning instructor 2 a week and I have been…

Ladies. I’m looking for a new sports bra. Medium to high impact, I’m a D-DD (but it’s all skin) and most important I struggle with chaffing under my arms. The wrong bra will tear me up!!!! Happy for all suggestions. Thanks in advance

Hello All. Hope all is well with you and yours. I am over 5 years out and recently feel like I am just a few weeks out from surgery. I can barely eat anything without throwing it back up. Truth be told I shouldn’t be eating the things I’m eating anyways. Is this a blessing in disguise? Are there veterans out there successfully living with stricture?   currently 20 lbs higher than my lowest weight.

Sadly, even 4.5 years post op I am STILL unable to stomach drinking plain H2O. This is an issue for many post op. I'm using sugar free powerade, unsweet tea, 'stir ins', any form of lemon/lime I can find, and a few other options. Anyone else here affected?

Before my VSG (April 2017) I read everything that there was to read about the process. My surgery changed my life and my body! I lost more weight than I ever thought I would. I looked and felt beyond incredible! I've been maintaining at a BMI of around 20 - 21 for about 1.5 years But now, the slippage has started and I am NOT happy about it. People said it would and they were right. When I was in maintenance mode and I slowly started reintroducing more foods back into my diet, I absolutely loved that I could consume small portions of pretty much anything without gaining. But now the restriction has massively lessened. I can see that my portion sizes ar…

I have been keeping up with several groups on Keto diet and there is information on intermittent fasting to promote weight loss. I have tried this ( fasting 16 hours a day and consuming all meals within 8 hours) but with the limited quantity I can eat at one meal, I have found that I can’t get all the calories in an 8 hour period. I don’t get hungry (a good thing) and will eat till “full” but I would have to eat every hour to get 1200 calories in 8 hours. This frustrates me because I know from past experiences that I go into starvation mode when my calories drop under 1000. Has anyone else tried intermittent fasting post sleeve?

First I want to say that at 2 year currently I don’t consider myself a success because, losing weight is easy, maintaining is the hard part. I really hope that some people that have maintain for some years post here. Most of the posts from long term WLS patients are about their failures, regain and trying to “get back on the wagon”. We need more positive posts for people that are doing well and enjoying their post-op life. Hopefully this can be a resource for other people. I followed my post-op plan to the letter almost for the first 6 months. I did not heavily experiment, I did not push limits. I did not advance my food stages. This provided a ment…

sorry TMI-- I had diarrhea yesterday and I don't think it's related to what I ate. I am thinking it was a virus. That made me wonder what happens post surgery if we get a virus like the flu. Do we still vomit? There's not much in my pouch at any given time so I guess it would only be a little? Maybe that benefits us that we wouldn't get as dehydrated as fast? Has anyone been ill post surgery? How was it different?

I never thought I'd let myself get to goal (120) and then regain. But like so many others before me I know what I have to do to get back on track. As of now I am 170. 2 years out last month. January last year I was 125lbs and loving life. It has been an incredibly rough year, but I can't let that be an excuse. I'm no expert, but that's pretty significant regain I had the surgery for my health and now I'm getting back to where I was at the beginning at an astonishing rate. My food choices are terrible, I put alcohol and soda back in my "diet" and I went back to snacking. Ugh! Anyone else in a similar boat? What has helped you besides getting back to the basic…

Hi everyone! I am a bit of an oddity because I am in my 30s but still have six baby teeth that lack permanent roots. They'd been in remarkably fine condition, functioning well, until I used a Waterpik on too high of a setting and it broke a tooth. Then the tooth beside it decided to call it quits shortly afterwards, probably because I'd been using the Waterpik in between those two teeth (I was not using fire hose strength but the dentist said even a bit too much pressure can be enough with baby teeth since they are more fragile). I need to have those two teeth replaced with implants immediately, and it's recommended that I have the baby teeth on the other side of my mouth…

Wondering what folks are doing in terms of drinking. If I want to go for a night out, but don't want to get plastered what can I drink if I don't do beer or wine? Beer is too fizzy and wine puts me to sleep, so I stick to low calorie mixed drinks, problem is they tend to be way stronger so over a couple hours I can easily have more than I want. Anyone have any low cal / low alcohol mixed drinks?

I am 8 years out, and I am just wondering what vitamins you all still take. I currently take Bariatric Fusion chewable multivitamins, iron gluconate, D3, B12 injections, and psyllium husks. I had to have an iron infusion a couple years ago, my surgeon says I don’t absorb iron sulfate anymore. So dealing with a normal MD was not helping my iron rise. I also have a vitamin D deficiency and B12 also. Another problem I’ve had is with my fiber intake, so the only thing that helps me is the psyllium. My labs are finally where they need to be. I’ve just been wondering where others are at and what is still important. I’m 8 years out of RNY and finally feel l…

Hello I'm 6 years out 30 lbs gained .I don't know where to start to fix my self is there a certain amount of calories to eat to lose weight..?

Hi all. I just logged on to this site for the first time in years. Yesterday I went in for my annual check-up. I skipped it last year because I was terribly ashamed of how much weight I had regained. When I hit the 5-year anniversary of my sleeve surgery, I decided it was time to face my fears and scheduled an appointment. I've gained back more than half of what I lost after my surgery. In addition to feeling terrible about it all the time, having had to buy bigger clothes because nothing fit and being embarrassed whenever I reconnect with someone I haven't seen in a couple of years, I also now have a set of bloodwork results confirming what I deeply suspected- I h…

5 years ago today was my VSG. What a journey. I'd do it again in a blink. I'm forever grateful. I had regain, had a health scare and got back on track. Lost my regain. Even though I have about 25 lbs to go until my plastics, I KNOW I would have never done this on my own. I am almost without the words of gratitude to my surgeon and team. Although my insurance changed and I can't see him anymore, I think about my experience all the time. It seems like yesterday. So much has happened since then, but WOW what an incredible time I've had.

It will be two years since my Gastric Sleeve Surgery and it has been one remarkable journey. First off for myself, on the day of my surgery I weighed in at 221lbs. I took a combined 11 pills a day for a heart condition, diabetes, gout, GERD, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other assorted ailments. Today I take one pill for cholesterol everything else is under control without medication. In a little over seven months I acheived my goal weight (lost 63lbs). Since then, I have maintained my weight loss flucuating 3lbs up or down. I set a "red line" weight where if I hit it I will go into overdrive so as not to pass it. I have never done that in the past. Subsequen…

Hi all, I'm a veteran of WLS and a life coach. I had my surgery in Vancouver Canada, and lost 100 lbs. Lately I've noticed that so many wls successes struggle with body changes. I've been pretty lucky myself, as an older married woman I'm okay with some sagging and wrinkles, but I would love to hear from others about what struggles they might have with this issue. You can share here, or message me privately, it would really help me become a more effective coach. And hopefully I can share some tips, too. Thanks!

So I'm out a little over 18 months, though virtually all of my ~100 lbs lost was done in the first 6ish months, so I've been on maintenance a while. I've been doing really well and my weight has been +/- 3 lbs the entire time. I just started a new job and I've been really busy. My problem right now is that I'm not feeling hungry so I don't eat and I'm running around so it feels like when I do eat I'm competing with whether to eat or drink, this has me down to 3 meals a day (from ~6) and my calorie intake is half what it should be for the past 2 weeks. I'm starting to lose weight and generally feel like crap. I've tried adding in some higher calorie stuff (pastry, sa…

So I made the decision to get rid of these extra pounds once and for all. Iv’e been doing this and that but nothing seems to have worked my goal weight is getting further away. After 5 1/2 years I love being at goal and hate the fact I’m carrying around now almost 20lb that I shouldn’t be. It really boils down to lack of making the right choices. There will be many people that disagree with how I’m going to tackle this but I need to act and I need to act now. As of this morning I have gone back on the shakes, 3 a day instead of meals and a small portion of protein at night. Walking 10,000 steps and drinking 2 liters of water. I plan on doing this for 2 weeks and then …

Has ANYONE had WLS, and failed it? I need support, 3 years out RNY.

So I am 5 years post sleeve. I managed to get within 5 lbs of my goal and slowly slipped back into bad habits. When I went for my annual PCP appointment and saw the scales were reading 175, I almost cried. I hadn't been weighing myself over this past year due to my house flooding and all my stuff was in storage for 6 months. I realized that I had been wearing stretchy leggings and hadn't tried on a pair of jeans in a year (again everything was in storage and I bought a few comfy outfits to tide me over till the home repairs were complete) I went through my kitchen and pulled all processed foods, bread, flour, sugars, root veggies, fruits, cereals, pasta and rice. I …

@GreenTealael @FluffyChix @ProudGrammy other vets needing support...etc What is the subject of the book? (Our endless obsession with food, mental health, cooking, sex, murder, biography)

Okay, guys, this it is! No excuses, no whining, let's just make it happen! We know how to make this band work for us and 2015 will be our year!

This is embarrassing...I've been MIA for 2-3 years and want to update my weight info in my profile and can't for the life of me figure out how to do it! When I go to profile there is no way to update it - even though I see the info. Then I will post something very profound Thank you!

Anybody here more than 15 yrs out and still have their band? I’m at yr 13. It has been infilled for a yr due to pouching. My weight is stable but still would like to lose 20 yo be at my ideal weight.

Vets- I need some opinions (although typically i'm more than willing to give my own)...I am 5 years post VSG. I did good overall, losing about 85 lbs. Then, I had major life issues and had some regain. Had some ugly health news about 2 years ago, did Keto and lost my regain. I'm cycling on/off keto for the last few months and maintaining, but find that i have serious sugar cravings occasionally. I have some screenings coming up for the said health issue and REALLY want to get myself back on track and wondering if a short-term reboot using my pre-op diet is a better option than just going back to Keto? Strict keto for me is basically meat, eggs, fat, green veg. …

Hey, y'all. Posting in the vet thread so if it is not appropriate I can get your feedback and quickly delete without getting early WLS folks involved. I don't want to break posting rules, so if anyone can lead me to the rules about this, please help - I've been away for awhile and have only re-engaged in the last couple of weeks. I'm a therapist and a coach who works pretty exclusively with bariatric surgery folks. I want to create a couple of low-cost courses for bariatric surgery folks, both pre and post surgery. I want patient input on what is needed so I only create something really helpful and know this is the best community to ask. There will also be a free "baria…

Hello there. I am trying to jump back on the wagon after about 2 years of non compliance with my Surgeons mandatory South Beach Diet. Or any diet. Having eaten as a non dieter for so long, what portions should I start with? I mean, other than common sense. I'm morbidly obese, 300#'s, 5'4". Is it advisable to try to go back on post surgery portions? I would think doing that would be inadvisable given that I spent 2 years eating at whim. But I really don't know. I've read that that would be too taxing on the system and not doable for long term. Again, I don't know. I'm doing this on my own because I have yet to repair some "tensions", in nice words, with my Surg…

Hi, just wondering what is other peoples go to for inspiration and encouragement when trying to lose regain.I am four years out - I lost alot of weight, felt fantastic, exercised every day and actually enjoyed it, tracked all my food was loving life then over a year mostly due to alot of stress I regained about 12 kilos and I am struggling so hard to lose it and get back to what i was. I hate the way my body feels I hate that none of my clothes fit, I feel self conscious over how I look but I find I am fighting myself everyday to get back into it. I start each day right, I start out determined but I can't seem to keep it up. I've seen a dietitian, I've tried counselli…

Question for vets...I’m 6 weeks out, getting all my fluids, protein in and carbs about 20g. I’m wanting to make sure I’m getting maximum weight loss in these first 6 months (I’m a revision and terrified of not being successful this time) but I see conflicting information about either keeping calories low (around the 600 mark) or eating more to get calories in the 800-1000 range because “your not eating enough”. What is your experience when in the losing phase?

So far bafflement... still undergoing tests but nothing conclusive so far... has anyone else experienced post-op complications several years out? Surgery July 2016. Only lost 100lbs (I know, I know, "only"), but I'm still about 100lbs overweight. I'm not unhappy w/the amount lost at all and feel much better overall so I do not regret the surgery. First, not sure any or all of these symptoms are related at all but since they're all (potentially) GI-related, I can't help but think (especially now) that they are. So here goes: I can't remember exactly when the first one occurred, but it was after "healing" for sure but the first time it happened, it was definit…

It's been 18 months since my surgery and what a wonderful 18 months it's been. (Health wise at least) On the day of my surgery I was 221 lbs (starting weight was 130lbs) taking 11 pills for diabetes, heart disease, high BP just to name a few. Today I weigh in at 158 lbs a 63lb weight loss. ( Not much compared to many others on here) But I'm down to just two pills and all of my health conditions are either gone or in remission. I struggle each day to maintain the weight loss but I don't want to go back to being what I was. I applaud and marvel at those who have maintained the weight loss over a considerable amount of time. From my own experience I know that it isn'…

The past 6 months have been hard and I've completely gotten off track. I hit maintenance at about 15 months post op and was maintaining at 180-182 pounds. I was happy with that and my doctor was to since I was within 5 pounds of my goal. Well I got complacent and allowed old habits back in and I've gained 10 pounds in the last 6 months. I decided part of getting back on track is getting my support system back so I'm logging back in here and going to meetings again locally. I've started tracking food again and I'm back exercising. The hardest part has been snacking. I tracked my daily log a few weeks ago and I was eating so much because I was just snacking way to much. I'm…

Wise ones, At my goal weight and just over 18months past surgery, I am becoming aware of some of my old, bad, eating habits creeping back in. The one I'm focusing on at the moment is this: When I am eating, and just after I'm done, all I can think about is eating more and/or again. I'm not hungry, but it seems that if I haven't eaten so much that I feel uncomfortable or sick, I just want more. I try not to give in, try to wait for a specific period of time, try to write down what I've eaten immediately.... but I'm really struggling with this. I guess I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and start gaining weight again. This hasn't happened, but I worry about my…

Hi, thread connects to the one I just created asking whether anyone who had gone to Mexico for WLS had also gotten dental work there. I have several baby teeth that lack permanent roots and have become problematic recently. I currently have temporary fillings in teeth that need to have expensive and time-intensive implants ($3000 per tooth), and was advised to avoid chewing with them. That is really difficult because the teeth are located on both sides of my mouth. I've been eating more soft foods and liquids lately, but that has caused weight gain since the food tends to be higher in carbs. I lost weight following having the VSG at quite a slow pace, and I think thi…

Long story but i originally lost 140 lbs in about 2 years overall. Sleeve did 100 of it and lots of cardio etc did the rest. then gradually weight crept back, very slowly at first, grazing, life happened, stopped the extreme exercise, let carbs back in. So 3 months shy of my 5 year surgiversary I had gained 65 back. I knew I had to fix this or i’d be right back to 315 in no time. I used the concepts in “Never Binge Again” book (free on kindle) and also Jason Fungs 2016 Obesity Code starting on Jan 1, 2018. I am now down 22 lbs and know I can get the rest off. I never “fixed” my insulin problem. I ate too much protein. and so when the extreme exercise ended the we…

Yup I'm up 9 lbs time to take back the hill- just having too much fun

Thank you all for the input, encouragement and advice about breaking old habits. I'll continue tweaking and working on all of this in order to stay healthy. What I've been remembering is that WLS is a tool, not a cure. In the end, I may have changed my physiology with surgery, but I didn't change my psychology. I had 53 years to build bad eating habits and behaviors, and that led to my being more than 200 lbs overweight, despite years of dieting, therapy, plans, and schemes. Unfortunately, now that the initial recovery period from WLS is ending, many of those habits and behaviors are showing up again. I've been trying to work on them all along and have to remind myse…

Hi everyone. I’m 4 years post op sleeve. I’ve been getting acid reflux since 6 months after the procedure. Never had it before. After multiple meds and finally an upper GI done 3 weeks ago i now have GERD. Big deal right? Well, I’m taking protonics 40mg, but, I just heard that causes cancer. What doesn’t right? Lol I just want to know, is the only permanent relief going to a by-pass?

I have 40 pounds of regain to lose that I’ve gained over the last 4-5 years ..... question is I’m going back to the basics of measuring everything journaling cal 800 carbs 50 sugar 25 anyone have problems with getting the regain back off ???

Hey guys! At my heaviest I was 363 and 1 year post op this summer I was down to 197. I worked so hard to get there and fought for every single pound lost! At my one year appointment my surgeon told me to be happy at 197 and accept it if I gained some back. Looking back I think I took this as permission to slack off instead of being proud of where I was. Now I am up to between 208-215 and I can't seem to find my way back. Anyone have suggestions on what got them back on track or kept their determination going? I need some motivation about now! I will find some before and after pictures to post. Any kind advise would be appreciated [emoji175] [emoji3] Sent from my SM-G965…

I’m coming up on my 5 year anniversary for my Gastric sleeve in January. I had lost a total of 90lbs and could never weigh less then 164lbs no matter how hard I tried. The last two years I have gained 20lbs and then immediately lost it. But this year I seem to keep gaining about 30lbs and no matter what I am doing I can’t lose it. I know I am probably psyching myself out and maybe self-sabotaging. I’m determined to lose this extra weight before it gets any worse but nothing I seem to be doing is working. I’ve reached out to my doctors and they tell me I’m fine and not to worry but I’m freaking out. I’ve have a close family member who had the gastric bypass and when they h…

Hi, everyone! Today (1/3/19) is my 14 year surgi-versary, and I wanted to celebrate by sharing the gift of knowledge with anyone who may be a few steps behind me. 1. Be kind to yourself. This journey is long and hard and most definitely bumpy - but it's yours to do with as you see fit. Don't settle, but don't beat yourself up for a misstep. We did that for too long before surgery, k? 2. Be strong. You are your own best advocate. You know your body, and you know when something is not right. Push for answers. Assert yourself. Fight for what you need. 3. Be vulnerable. Cry, scream, punch pillows - do whatever works and won't get you in trouble, hurt or arrested. Be emotional…

Also posted in surgery success Through trial & error, I have hit a point where maintenance just feels normal. My eating habits are so ingrained that I'd actually have to TRY to regain. NEVER thought I'd say THAT! My sleeve was 1/23/12 and I was 275. Within 9 months I was at goal, had tt/panni 10/2013. Maintenance was a very thin tight-rope. I was following the plan, high protein, low fat, almost no carbs. It worked but 1 tiny splurge and I'd be up a pound or so. I hovered around 120-125. Which is great, but it was taking so much vigilance. About a year ago, I noticed that when I ate my favorite ribs from a local BBQ place, my weight dropped. Calories d…

Hey All, I am a few weeks from my 3 year anniversary of having my sleeve surgery. Sometimes I have the feeling that there is food stuck in my esophagus or I get heartburn. I never had heartburn prior to surgery. Any thoughts about why this might be happening and what I can do to get rid of these problems? TIA!

I'm wondering if anybody else has any phrases or tips they use for the big food gatherings? I find that I get questioned at work occasionally. I sat down at the Christmas lunch with my little bit of food and somebody said "is that all you're going to eat?" I said "yep, saving room for dessert." My plate usually has 1/4 of the food everybody else's has. ? My other go to phrase is "I'm trying to be skinny." Or I tell them that I try eat about 200 cal. every 2-3 hours.

Hi! Happy to be posting here and connected to the group of 18+ months post-op. I hope to learn and continue to improve my health and fitness with discipline, smart choices and living the best life possible.

I was SO good about watching my weight & proud of my weight loss. I looked & felt great. I averaged around 140 pds, which was good for me. I mean, come one, I went from a size 22+ to an 8. WHOA, me, at 8?! Then, life happened, and it happened hard. I lost my job& was unemployed for 5 months. I gained about 20 pds from simply sitting around looking for jobs all damn day. I accepted the job, because I needed one & it paid OK. However, my commute is an hour+ each way every day. Therefore, when I get home, I'm just not motivated to do anything. My son also had a major incident in his life that left us helping him financially & dealing with majo…