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I’m ten pounds from where I’d like to be but overall have had a good year. My constant issue is snacking junk but I do have my positive habits (exercise, water, protein) intact. How you doing?

First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey. The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself. Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$. This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser. Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't. Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

I'm so excited and just have to share the news that insurance has approved surgery! I have been going through all of the motions since January and am so excited! A little about me: I'm 46, mother of two kids (10 & 7), and I teach 6th grade. I had medullary thryoid cancer and my thyroid was removed in 2008. Even though my thyroid hormone levels are within range, weight has been a problem ever since the removal of my thyroid. Have I mentioned that I am SO EXCITED?!?

I am 69 having surgery on August 16. any support is very appreciated.

I knew surgery was the only choice for me when my younger sister gave birth to her second daughter in February 2019. I was 389 pounds and my health had only been declining as the years passed. When I first held my niece I was hit with the realization that if I didn't do something then I wouldn't be around to watch her grow up. It broke my heart. I was only 31 at the time (I just turned 34 last month) and I was absolutely sure that I'd be dead before I turned 40 if things didn't change. I'd done numerous diets over the years and nothing worked so surgery was really the only option for me if I wanted to be around to watch her grow up as I'd been able to watch her sister grow up. It's one of the best decisions that I ever made for myself. And, since I made that choice, and made that change, my sister has given me my first nephew and my brother gave me another niece. I get to watch all three of my nieces (ages 12, 2, and 17 months) and my nephew (age 9 months) grow up without having to worry that I'm not going to be around for them. My family has always been my strength and has always helped pull me through the worst times of my life and the idea of not being around to watch the youngest family members grow up into these amazing and complex little people were what pushed me into making the choice for surgery. I'm grateful every day that I made that choice.

I had no problems at all with seasonings and like future skydiver (love the name I’ve always wanted to do it and now I’m not afraid of snapping the harness) said, it helped keep me on the mushies longer. For me, nothing felt any worse than pre op spicy wise, if I could handle it before it was the same after.

I used seasonings without any issue. Some people can’t do spicy early out like others said so keep that in mind.

My plan has refried beans and ground meat in the soft food stage. I also don't think eight bites total adds up to be a large amount (unless you're somehow managing to eat large bites currently). I guess I'm wondering why this is freaking you out? To me that is a good mix of fiber and protein.

I think many of us have had some regain in one form or another. For ALL of us, once the surgery stops working it's completely up to us. Post op 7 years next week, when I was losing I thought I was invincible and had no fear of regain. But I lost a parent, changed jobs, changed jobs again, went to night shift, went to grad school, dealt with all kinds of things, and the 'eat all things in small amounts' went out the window. I had to fully commit to a very specific PERMANENT very low carb lifestyle. I lost all my regain and more, but I have eaten only a ketogenic level lifestyle for the last 6 years. I am not one of those patients who loses their weight and can resume eating all things just in tiny amounts. I have to work at staying very low carb, no sugar, almost no fruit, no starchy veg, no bread/rice/pasta/oats/grains etc. I basically eat meat, green veg, eggs, cream/butter, and a high protein shake with water or almond milk daily. it's a tight regimen but it works for me. Remember your WHY. find it and recommit. you totally got this!

Nervous 😩… hope my surgeon don’t take too much stomach..😩