Weight Loss Surgery Success Stories

10,189 topics in this forum

Hi, my name is Sue. I was banded almost 6 months ago. During the first few months I felt like I wasn't losing like I saw others doing. I finally realized this was my story and not to compare it with others. I went thru 'bandsters hell' during November and December. I thought to myself - what the heck have I done? Another thing I'm going to fail at. But I kept at it. Got more fills - 6 to be exact. I'm now at 8.8 cc's in my 10 cc band. The last three months I've been losing around 6-8 pounds a month. I've gone from a size 20 to a size 14. I've lost 50 pounds!! I went to my first yoga class today and couldn't believe how well I did. I'm off my high blood pressure meds. My…

I've let myself indulge in some unhealthy Snacks. I've not gone back to eating fast food, which I struggled badly with before VSG. I'm 6 months out. Down 144 lbs since March 22, 2013. Any tips on how to get back on track? I've scheduled to see a psych to talk thru some of the addictive issues I've been working on for the last two years. Thank you!

At the beginning of my weight loss journey, I sat down and made a list of goals including both short-term and long-term goals. The first of my bigger, more long-term goals was to be less than 200 lbs for the first time in more than 11 years and only the second time in my entire adult life. I reached that goal this morning! I weighed in at 199 lbs this morning and I couldn't be more excited! I'm so happy I could just cry! I am no longer a 200+ lbs person AND I no longer have to shop for plus sized clothing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my band!

For more years than I can remember, I've sat in the aisle seat on airplanes. Some of the reason was because my arthritis made it easier to get in and out of the seat but there was also another reason why I sat on the aisle. I was so heavy that it made me very self-conscious when I lumbered over the seats as I struggled to get past them just to sit down or head to the bathroom. In order to not feel so bad about this, I told myself that looking out the window was just for kids and folks who didn't fly often and since I flew alot, I didn't need to have a window seat. Well...tonight I purposely sat in a window seat because I can move around on an airplane much better tha…

I am down 38 pounds and I am off to the gym right now, feeling good and shrinking away! Happy Dance!

So I was a bit bummed that I had only lost 15.5kgs (35 lbs) in 3 months, then slapped myself because I could never have lost 15.5 kgs without this tool. Exercising nearly everyday and loving life. Compared a photo from a wedding a month before surgery to last weekends work function. Happy with my progress.

For a while now I have been dealing with the fact I am what might be considered a "slow loser". I had my surgery on 10/21 and have lost 51lbs post operatively, 84lbs over all. I try my best not to compare myself to others, but it sure is rough when one of my besties was sleeved 12/17 and has lost over 100lbs to date! ( starting from his 12/7 preop diet ) Ok, he is a big guy and men lose faster than women...blah blah blah. All I see is I am two months ahead of him yet many pounds behind him. For a while this really bothered me. In fact, it would probably be a lie to say I don't still have a tinge of jealousy. But then I think "I weigh 232 lbs today" I haven't weighed 2…

Hey everyone I hit a year and a half this month and thought I would check in. For those that have been here a while I used to post with the name BigCountryAB, but that account dissapeared or something. So I've lost a total of 110lbs and kept it off for a full year. I've experimented with lots of different fitness regimens but currently I'm trying to add mass lol. I'm able to eat anything I want and I can eat more than I wish I was able to lol. Below are my most current pics. If anyone has a question let me know.

Got my sleeve this past Friday. Been an uncomfortable recovery but I'm ready for the future. It was same day for me so I was able to go home and sleep in my bed. Boy was I glad to have my bed.

Sw:270 sleeved on 7/8/13 Cw:152 Gw:120 Height 5'1 I'm really trying to tighten up all my skin , although I'm proud of where I came from and what I've been through and what I've achieved , the extra skin may make me more insecure than the fat . My boobs are skin bags don't let the bra fool you , my stomach hangs and sags a lot , my upper thighs and my arms as well . I noticed my butt lifted more but besides that I can't see much progress with the extra skin . Definitely considering cosmetic surgery .

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my surgery. It has been an amazing journey to say the least. I can tell you that I am not the same person I was a year ago and I am very happy about that fact. I did not have any complications thankfully and I would not change any of the experience whatsoever. Did I follow the plan to the T? Absolutely not. For the most part I stuck to the Protein first rule however I did and have enjoyed foods along the way that were not part of the plan. I have stuck to the no carbonation and no straw rules though. For the most part if I wanted or craved a food I ate it. I do still have restriction but it is not what it was in the early months. Th…

Tomorrow is 1 week left until the best decision of my life (April 10 is my sleeve surgery). I was only to do a 1000 calorie diet 2 weeks preop which I've been following - tomorrow I want to change to an all liquid diet for the rest of the time. I've read a lot of people's plans have them doing a liquid diet preop. So I put the question out there- what are some of your go to sugar free, fat free liquid items you do for the liquid diet you're on.. I plan on doing 3 shakes a day, possibly 4, with sugar free jellos and popcicles. Anything else I should try?!

Hi Everyone! It is finally pleasant in NY so my family and I decided to take a trip to the city. While at Central Park I had the best time of my life. I was able to run around with my 6 year old daughter. We climbed rocks, we rode a carousal, and walked a lot! I was not tired and body felt great! It was just excellent. Furthermore, my daughter took a picture of me and when I looked at it I barely recognized myself! What a great, great day! Before and today. 3 and a half months later.

It's been a long year with many ups and downs but I am proud to say today I finally reached my goal weight this morning. I had Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) April 8, 2013 and over the last year I have worked hard to loose 89lbs. I started at 214lbs and am now 125lbs. VSG is not for everyone, but it worked well for me. My only advice to anyone thinking about the sleeve is to really REALLY do you homework and think about the lifelong changes YOU must make to use your sleeve to its best advantage.

I have been trying to find on this forum sleeve books and cookbooks. Any good suggestions of books that have been helpful? Thanks all!

hello!! I think I should have posted here in first place, I am still learning how to navigate on this board. I apologize if you have read me before. Please read my story on this link, and follow me on youtube as I am making a new video with current pics. https://plus.google.com/115997421400295293801/posts/XrKviw1xjzk

Hi I am 11 weeks post op and have lost 40lbs. I wish it would be more and I just can't seem to lose the lower belly fat. But all and all I am thrilled!!

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds! (sorry if this is a repeat for some of you but thought i should post this in this forum too to help/motivate more people) So the truth is the way I had success was to get real with myself. The first year I completely failed my lapband. I lost a little and then gain 30 pounds back. I didn't exercise at all and tried to tell myself walking the dog counted as good cardio. I also didn't count any calories that first year. I ate crap and tried to blame it on my band not working properly. I was very uniformed and thought the band was magically supposed to work. I didn't understand that I needed to get to that "sweet spot". The second…

I saw my doc at hospital last week first time in a couple of months did the norm weight check before I go in. So hes all your doing so well you’ve lost so much weight its fantastic keep going I say wellllll actually I gained weight since last month! He looked at me and says what?! I said oh yeah I was puking up for 2 and half week I lost 11lbs seems I gained it all back once I could eat again! He then changed his tune and told me I should workout more and watch my diet I just started laughing! I mean really for 2 and half weeks even a mouthful of tea was coming back up NOTHING was staying down so I stopped trying food and just had tea shakes and Soup which just all come u…

Is this the healthiest you have ever been? Just curious ...

Tomorrow will be one month post op for me, the shortest month o the year! I had my bypass done on February 19th. I am absolutely amazed at how this has gone. I had very few issues, none other than some constipation. I was back at work 14 days after surgery. To date I have lost 45 pounds, including 15 during the pre-op diet. The only issue I have now is the taste of the Bariatric Advantage multi-vitamin and Iron supplements I purchased. So happy I took the step to have this done.

At 4 months out I'm down 100 pounds as of this morning. I'm so glad I had this done as my life and health have improved so much in a short period of time.

I went to the doctor this week for my 3 week check up and the doctor said I should be losing at least 10 pounds a month and I lost 32 pounds. I also got my butt into a size 18 jeans, I'm doing my happy dance around the house.

The VSG procedure has been the best decision of my life (other than marrying the love of my life). It is truly up to me how successful the surgery will be. The numbers on the scale went steadily down and I felt that there was no need to exercise, but when I saw the numbers level off, I had to admit that exercise is a big part of this journey. 10, 15, or 20 minutes a day makes a big difference....and it is so much easier to move. Besides this website and the Big Book on the Gastric Sleeve, I rely heavily on my fitness Pal and my fitbit. These tools really keep me in check as far as nutrition, how much I move in a day and my weight. I think if I had started an exercise re…

Hello everyone! I officially hit the 3 month post op mark today and wanted to share a few photos! I have lost a total of 47lbs and have gone from a size 16 to size 8. I'm 5'1 HW 197 SW 186 CW 150. I've got 21 more lbs until I hit my first goal weight which will be my lowest weight!!!

Yesterday was my 6 month surgiversary and I cannot be more pleased with this journey. I have so much more energy, have discovered a hidden runner inside me, am more active with my kiddos, and all-around more confident.

So I am 29 years old and have been putting this off for years. Finally i have the guts to go through with it. My first appointment is April 11. I have read so many stories on how it can go right and how it can just go so wrong. I am totally scared to do it. The what ifs are haunting me.. What if i get a blood clot in the lung? What if something bad happens.. How do you get over this fear and just do it? I have read many people with the same fears so that comforts me that I am not the only one.. But O man...

I am an apple shaped lady. I'm talking big boobs, bigger gut, wide shoulders and skinny legs ... Sigh. Anyway, can you successful apple shaped sleeved ladies share your stories, or better yet, before and after pics. Just wanting to see if weight loss makes you any less... Um... Well, apple-y.

So I have lost 138 pounds at this point 9 months out from my bypass. I still need to lose around 70 more pounds but I haven't lost hardly anything in 2 months now. I bounced around in the same 3 pound range. I upped my exercising the past 2 weeks and lost 4 pounds but now seem to have stalled again as all 4 pounds were in first week. So last week I upped the exercise a bit more again. I am eating 1200 calories a day (I am accounting for the exercise in that- which I'm doing 5 days a week). My surgeon actually told me to stay at 1000 calories a day but that seemed too low. Now I am concerned that maybe 1200 is too low? All the calculators I've used to determine the calo…

I am one of those people that would jump on the scale every chance I got to see if I lost or gained weight, about 2-3 weeks I made a conscious decision to stop doing this, instead I've been more concerned with how I feel and how my clothes fit, and both had been great. My goals for getting sleeved were to lose weight, get fitter and healthier. The last time I weighed I was around 230, but I feel great, I hit the gym 3/4 times a week sometimes more, my blood pressure has been perfect, my clothes are falling off me and on the plus side my wife has not been able to keep her hands off of me. I just don't want to be overly concerned about the numbers, I just want to li…

Just completed my 1st 5K last week with my hubby! I did my in 34:21 and he completed his in 29:11! Our life's have changed so much and we both feel so great! So much more energy now. We both were sleeved in May total lost between us over 250lbs!!

Me and my wife just returned from a 7 day cruise and had a great time. Was totally excited when we both weighed in when got home yesterday to find out we only gained 1 pound each. Ate very well on the boat and did plenty of drinking and had dessert at dinner every night. hopefully the photos will attach to this. It felt great to just get away and have a good time. First time since surgery i have gone more than 1 day without scale. The picture with the southenmost point in the US is in Key West the top picture was two years ago. My wife is about 10 months and I am 16 months post-op.

Such an awesome Journey with my husband! Any other couples sleeved together?

Like the title says today I am 2mo and 3 days out from surgery. I am 51 lbs down from the date of surgery and 76 lbs down from my 1st Dr. appt. I wanted to put how I am feeling about this cause it may help someone else, and to find out if anyone else has felt the same. I have mixed emotions about this. 1. Is wow 76 pounds gone that’s awesome. 2. Why is it not more? I should be doing better. I am nowhere near as excited about this as the people around me are. So I went and talked to my Physiologist about this. What he had to say made a lot of since. He talked about the 5 steps of depression over a loss. He told that the surgery can be viewed as an emo…

Had surgery November 26th and I am now down 88 lbs and feel so much better! Before pic is me at my highest of 302 back in September and the after pic is me at 214 lbs. 19 more pounds to reach my goal!

Hello everyone. I am 7 months post-op. I have gone from 289lbs down to 190lbs (woohoo! 99lbs gone for good). I understand that we can't do much for excess skin, but I always figured I could hid it with clothes. My problem is where my extra chin use to be is now very loose. It looks like a turky gobbler neck. It is driving me nuts. It is way too early for me to consider pastics. Does anyone have any suggestions or remedies (short term or long term). I've been using neck firming cream but other than that I have no clue what to try. BTW.......Turtle neck shirts make it look worse.

Hi Guys My name is Sarah & I'm a 34 yr old mother of one from New Zealand.I was recently sleeved on 20 March 2014 and have already lost 12 kg post op (about 26 pounds) and really looking forward to the health & lifestyle benefits of the surgery.One great thing is that my blood pressure immediately corrected so I am off meds for that yay Just looking for support,inspiration & to hear the stories of all you fellow sleevers

So I used up the last hole on my smallest belt. As a reward, I bought my first new post -VSG piece of clothing...a beautiful new belt. I'm down to just 2 pairs of jeans that fit now, so those will be next

I feel GREAT. Can you tell? [ATTACH]42967[/ATTACH]

Just got back from a business trip overseas and realized...that heavy suitcase I could barely lift weighs 26 kilos (57 pounds). I was wearing that much extra weight 24/7 just 6 months ago! How did I lug that much around all the time? What a great feeling to know that it's gone forever, and how much healthier I am and how much better I feel. How lucky we are to have this amazing opportunity! Feel free to view my before and after pics. I am feeling great!

Sleeved nov 19, 2013 went from 330 to 250::::80 lbs gone forever with more to lose very soon:) [ATTACH]42955[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]42956[/ATTACH]

First off, I know I had a bad day yesterday and ate a lot of things I shouldn't have..... I guess it was my eating disorder rearing her head....And I will deal with that. That said, I am in horrible pain that started last night. I had popcorn in the morning, some frozen pizza for lunch and frozen yogurt later..... I have been having pretty severe abdominal pain and back pain . It's almost like bad diarrhea pains but I don't have diarrhea and the pain is also in my back. I'm worried it could be my gallbladder although I don't know because I have never had issues with it before. Does anyone know how that feels?

Hi, friends. Just sharing, as I'm so excited. Wednesday made 16 calendar weeks post-op VSG, and as of today, I've lost 50 pounds! Holy cow. I am halfway to goal in just four months!! SW =257.2 Dec. 4th--->Today = 206.0 ---> 170 (or 150--ultimate goal). I was hoping to enter Onederland by June 1st, but I think I'll get there before that, do you think...? I need to do monthly weight-loss tallies, but oddly, I lost 13 pounds this month! (I don't know why, but I'll take it!) OMG. And the NSVs are occurring every week. I really need to take pictures; I think I'll regret not having done so along this journey. Just sharing. This feels good...and I reall…

Hi everyone so today is marking my 2 week PREOP mark and I'm trying today to preassemble some puréed foods for after when I'm at the puréed stage. So today I used my vitamix and made puréed butternut squash Soup with SF maple syrup, cinnamon and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I also made up some puréed cauliflower with rf parm cheese and laughing cow Swiss cheese wedges. Anyone have some great recipes they really like?! I don't know how I'm going to feel about puréed meats when the time comes but then again I may not care for the stuff I'm making now either- but just trying to get a heads start! Let me know thoughts!!

This was the title of a news story this morning as I was reading the "mail": http://www.charter.net/news/read/category/Top%20News/article/the_associated_press-christie_weightloss_surgery_lifechanging-ap So the New Jersey governor thinks surgery is life-changing?.... I AGREE!!! No matter if you agree with his politics or not, he's been successful with the weight loss since surgery. Christie: Weight-loss surgery 'life-changing' TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says undergoing stomach banding surgery more than a year ago was a "life-changing decision." Appearing on his monthly TownSquare Media radio show Wednesday night, Christie sa…

I had my lap band with plication surgery on Sept. 19th. It has been 5 1/2 months since that surgery and life is good and I feel very blessed with the success I've been seeing so far in my lap-band journey. I have lost 82 pounds to date and finally, yes finally, just threw out all the sizes of clothing that no longer fit me...and NEVER will again. So I purchased some new pants and shirts that actually fit and look flattering on me. Well, the compliments have been pouring in from every direction. And although yes, it is very nice to hear and very flattering....it is sometimes a little overwhelming. I dont like being the center of attention especially when that attent…

For the first time ever in my life, I put on a pair of dress pants, and they literally floated on me so much I couldn't walk out of the room without them falling down. What an amazing feeling! I think it's today that I finally realized how much I lost! :-)

Hiya y'all …blowing off steam... so i have just started the process…i got all my referrals and made all my appts…the only thing left was my primary care doc….*sighs* i showed up as a walk in and boy i was early…way early…in walks the charming doc..i told her why i was there and got an ear full…"why didn't you do it and MY hospital"…i have to fill out these forms?..am not doing their job…(surgeon)..u know we are all digital…all these forms…. normally I'm pretty hot tempered but this is real important…in a milli sec…i would be sending emails to her supervisors... but i was looking at the big picture…why tell her what i really think about her…. at this moment when i needed…

I just realized, 3 years ago today I was banded....and it was just as cold and snowy outside.... Nothing unusual, went through the same as everyone else...6 month diet ( which I failed at like any other diet), all the hoops I had to jump through, clearances from cardiologist, pulmonary, psych, etc, . Went in for surgery at 7 am for prepping, wheeled in around 10am, home by 5 pm...became one with my lazy-boy recliner, a warm comforter and my pain meds for the next 24 hours....wife kept me supplied with broth and Water...(also had coffee...can't live without it) One week after surgery, had my post-op appointment with surgeon...check incisions, few questions, released …

Heaviest 302..could be more, stopped weighing at that point Current 219