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Hi, official card carrying member of the SLC here! You're losing at about 1.2kg a week, which is around what my average weekly loss has been. First up, that is good weight loss! It's nothing to be discouraged about, that is a healthy, good rate. It's easy to buy into the rapid-loss dream, and I absolutely don't begrudge folks who have had their "honeymoon period" and had weight "melt off" - genuinely thrilled for you! But I think it's vital to go into WLS managing your expectations (with rate of loss, loose skin and hair loss). I went into it pretty zen, though I have had my perfectly human moments of wishing I was losing faster. BUT, I'm losing well, about 7 months out and have lost over half my excess body weight and have dropped 4 sizes. Results aren't always on the scale - it's important to remember that! I'm not just a slow loser, but I'm also a serial staller. I have lost count of how many stalls I've had - stalls and I are on a first-name basis. In the first four months I was stalling every second week, for at least a week at a time. I feel like I earned a damned trophy for my stalling expertise. But they always break (even if they go on for weeks), and that's what you need to keep in mind. Stay off the scale when it happens, focus on the good things like feeling better, clearer skin, the clothes that are starting to fall off you. And ultimately? You're not alone. Your experience isn't weird, or wrong, or abnormal. Don't compare yourself to others, manage your expectations, slow down and breathe. Enjoy all the small victories the journey brings.

it depends on how old you are, your genetics, and how much weight you lose. I'm in my 60s and lost over 200 lbs - so yes, I looked older. But on the other hand, when I was super morbidly obese I looked young for my age - people were always surprised when they found out how old I was. But after I lost all that weight, I think I just looked my age. P.S. Supplements won't help with loose skin - on your face or anywhere else, unfortunately. I like the suggestion summerseeker had about looking at before & after pictures. And I agree, most people's faces don't look old and wrinkly. And you can always get a facelift if you don't like the way your face looks afterward - but most people don't because it's not bad. Excess skin is usually worse on the body - where it's easy to hide in clothes.

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.

OK. So here was my experience. But I do want to stress that this may or may not be the same for you or anyone else. During weight loss phase and a few months after I was in maintenance, I looked pretty haggard (and older). This was my own opinion, as well a as a select few who who had the balls enough to say to my face. There were likely others who thought the same way, but had the grace to not say so to me, lol. What i did find that in after a little bit more time into maintenance, i looked much, much less skeletor-ish, and I attribute that to as increase in carb consumption. And now, 3.5+ years out, i *think* I look younger than I actually am. Im 50 this year. Mind you I do think I look older than before I started the road to obesity, but that was like 15 years ago! I think alot of people who at first thought they looked pretty run down in the face after weight loss phase find that they start to fill out a little more as time goes on. You'll know when you know. Good Luck! ❤️

I had similar problem. Thinking surgery has something to do with it. I had super heavy 3 to 4 days then light 3 to 4 and it kept going round in circles. Took almost a month, but mine finally stopped and it's been about 8 days. I keep worrying it's gonna come back, but so far no. I have a mirena iud, so haven't had regular cycle in like 10 years so it was super scary to me. Saw my gyn couple days ago and she wasn't too worried. She said if it keeps going for 3 months then call her. One thing they did tell me was to try 3-4 advil every 6-8hrs. Said it helps contract the vessels. I only took it once, not sure if it helped but mine stopped shortly after. Hope that helps...

You can do this! Two years ago, I had a similar situation -- my surgeon wanted me to lose 20 pounds before surgery and I didn't know where to begin. Here's one of the first posts I ever made on this site: Long story short: I ended up losing 70 pounds in the 5 months before my surgery (and another 130 pounds after surgery). My first advice on where to begin is always to start tracking your food. MyFitnessPal makes it pretty easy, and entering everything you eat can be really eye-opening and help you figure out where to get the most bang for your buck. Start by looking at the healthiest things you already like to eat, and eat those things more often while reducing the highest-calorie things that aren't worth it. As you do this, you can gradually reduce your calorie intake and start losing weight. Once you get on a roll, 11 pounds will seem like nothing. Plus, it will help you to get a head start on some of the changes you will need to make after surgery. Good luck!

You have nothing to worry about. Get in the liquids and protein. Your stomach will not stretch like that... liquids tend to go from your stomach to your small intestine in less than 30 minutes.

Clear liquids (according to my diet plan) are water, broth, sugar free jello, calorie free gatorade/powerade, sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, unsweet tea, decaf coffee, calorie free- non carbonated drinks, and clear protein drinks. And if it is really needed, pedialyte.

I've had my band for almost 13 years and i love it! I had my surgery in March 2008 and lost from 200lbs down to 140lbs at 5'2" which i maintained ever since (including through 2 pregnancies and a few fluctuation along the way. In the past year i have made some more habit changes that led me to drop another 20ish pounds leaving me at about 120-125lbs at 5'2" with a BMI of around 22. I wouldn't recommend planning to have the band removed after a year for 3 main reasons: 1) It's a surgery and going in expecting to have 2 surgeries within a year doesn't sound like the best idea (but that's between you and your husband and the doctor) 2) The band is CRUCIAL TO MY ABILITY TO MAINTAIN MY WEIGHT - for me personally, the lap band (and weight loss surgery in general) has always been about maintenance. I had yo-yo dieted my whole life and wanted off that roller coaster. In fact, i knew i could lose the weight (even if it wouldn't be easy) but why bother if i was just going to gain it back like i had ALL THE OTHER TIMES BEFORE. That hurt more than anything and i just couldn't do it again. And i was right, the band has been EVERYTHING to me in my maintenance journey! I would never have been able to do this without it and the habits it allowed me to build...which leads me to #3 3) HABIT CHANGE TAKES TIME - your husband needs to give himself the time to adjust to his new lifestyle both during his losing period and after. One of the advantages of not losing weight at epically fast speeds is that your body and more importantly mind have a chance to adjust with you! In order for your new habits to stick, you need to give them time to develop and teach yourself that you can conquer the inevitable bumps in the road. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to permanently change your anatomy and some people like that the band is not permanent. But it is no small life change. For me it has been THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE. Happy to talk to you more about it if you ever need any support or perspective! There are still a lot of us successful veteran bandsters out here who might have some useful perspectives if you are considering a gastric band. Hope that helps some!

I am 5 1/2 months post op and I am down 93 lbs since pre-op and 78 lbs since surgery. I was so embarrassed when my CEO said I really needed to stop wearing my big clothes. I immediately went out bought new clothes and gave away my old ones.