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4.5 months after my sleeve and I am officially overweight. It's the best thing I have ever done. I cannot believe the speed with which I have lost all that weight. I know that I want to lose another 40 pounds or so and I can only hope that I do, but honestly if I stopped losing weight in the morning I would be happy with what I have achieved right now. Best of luck to those of you starting out on your journey - it's a wild ride.

it's going to vary pretty widely because it depends on so many factors besides starting BMI (although that's a big one, of course). Gender, age, metabolic rate, activity rate, what percentage of your body is muscle - those all play a role. that said, I lost 57 lbs before I had surgery (between my six-month supervised diet that was required by my insurance company, plus the two-week liquid diet required by the surgeon). At one year out, I was 129 lbs down from my surgery weight, and 186 lbs down from my all-time highest weight. I went on to lose another 50 or so lbs during year 2 (have gained 20 of it back since then, which is pretty common. A lot of us experience a 10-20 lb rebound gain after hitting our lowest weight). P.S. Just noticed this was posted in the gastric sleeve forum - I had bypass. Average loss tends to be a little more with bypass (although not by much), but it totally depends on the person. If you really stick to your program, you can be very successful with either.

I was given the option of Sleeve vs Bypass but chose bypass because I didn't want the risk of revision if GERD and also wanted a surgery that had better statistics to back up given my history of PCOS. So have you considered of Bypass? I think out of pocket means it may little more expensive for you to get bypass but do give it a thought and do your research to ease your nerves. Also like others mentioned, you shouldn't get intimidated by certain some a experiences. If some have had not so great experience, there are also others out here who have found success and turned a new leaf in their lives. Every experience is different and not everyone is going to describe their detailed medical history here. So best option for you is to speak to your surgical team and see what they have to say about your dilemma.

My program doesn't allow raw vegetables (no salads) until 5 months post op, no bread products for 6 months (but other carbs are okay), and no alcohol for a year. Curious to learn A)when did you start eating/drinking these things post op and how did you handle it? B)what advice your program gave you about them? C) experience with your first salad? Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks, everyone! I'm excited to have salads again. They were a go-to pre-op. My program isn't strict about carbs. My dietician allows healthy carbs and doesn't believe in eliminating foods, she just doesn't want me to dump or get sick. I eat potatoes, some grains, beans, and chickpeas on the regular with my protein. She said to enjoy a glass of wine after a year but funny enough I don't drink wine. Pre-op I never drank sweet stuff, only some beers and vodka/whiskey with soda water. I never really drank a lot but I'm young and a lot of my friends drink socially so it's difficult. I have all these trips planned with my friends in the next coming months and won't be able to drink anything on them which kind of makes me sad but I know it's part of the process. P.S. no worries about derailing the thread. Tell us about the date haha

I was waved away from bread because it tends to ball up and plug the pouch, which I eventually learned first hand. I don't recall how long I waited, or waited after discovering the reasoning was true for me. I've since learned to sip a bit with bread to thin the resulting paste. Raw veggies, like salads? Never been much of a fan, so don't remember how long I left it alone, but I don't think it was an actual rule, at least not one I recall now. I eat the occasional salad, but not in normal rotation. Alcohol, I have to believe there was a prohibition of some length, but again, too long ago to recall the specifics. I don't believe I drank until I lost all my excess weight. I had pretty much abandoned alcohol years before surgery as I tended to binge, well, everything. I've had alcohol since surgery, it goes to my head quicker than pre-op, and if I drink over much the hangover hits quicker and ends quicker so by morning all effects have passed. I really only drink now on vacations with fruity drinks during the day and after dinner cognac. Good Luck, Tek

at less than one year i was at my goal weight was it easy no worth the effort hell yes

Congratulations and good work getting all the clearances they didn’t even ask for. Lol.

My hair was pretty much a casualty of WLS. I lost most of my hair and it hasn't grown back. My surgeon speculates that my hair fell out due to the normal telogen effluvium that comes with drastic weight loss. Then it didn't grow back due to age-related hair loss I would have had anyway (I'm 57). So the surgey sped up the hair loss and I lost it all at once, rather than gradually over a couple of years. But my experience is unusual and I wouldn't take back the 130 pounds I've lost to get my hair back!

Hopefully surgeons can use this to lobby for insurance companies to begin covering the procedure.