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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?!?

Got my surgery date of 7/19!!! I have to do 3 week liquid diet before hand. I am on day 4. Anyone else have that long of a liquid diet?

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

Thank you for replying. I don't really know anyone in my new state. I meet people at bars/restaurants but nothing amounts to a friendship. I was told pre op that drinking is common post surgery, I guess I never took it seriously. It helps me sleep, I hate the taste. I was really happy in the 170-175 lb range, even at 190 I was ok. Just by you responding is support. Likeminded people who had the surgery or are going to have the surgery maybe can offer their insight like you. Thank you.

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.

46 year old male here, 13 months post op. BMI was just over 40, now it’s under 25. Starting weight 334, currently 195. Short answer: I wish I did this years ago, it’s been stupid easy for me. 1) It depends. I had no problem drinking water right away. Cold water bothered me for a few weeks but room temp water was fine. I was a chugger and drink in my sleep, I was worried about this but I’ve adjusted. I know exactly how many mini sips I can take (8) in a row and do it instinctively. 2) I’m a year post op and I haven’t thrown up. I’ve been close I think. Twice I ate way too fast without thinking. I said I’d never do it again after the first time…. and the second. Never had nausea or “x food doesn’t agree with me.” I can literally eat anything I used to with no difference in taste, smell or tolerances. Just less. Much much less. 3) I was given a giant antibiotic pill in the hospital right after my surgery. It was an inch long and thicker than a pencil. It caused no issues (took one each day for ten days). I also had no problem taking my regular BP meds, which now I no longer need anyway. 4) possibly. I probably had a two weeks or so after where I felt just tired but very shortly after my energy levels went way way up and I feel like I can work harder and longer each day. I haven’t had this much energy since I was a kid, and my calorie count is still around 1000-1500 a day depending on what I eat. 5) I’ve never dumped and now that I’m trying to find my maintenance calorie levels I’ve been eating high calorie foods (to keep volume minimal) without issue (peanut M&Ms). 6) I never had heartburn in my life. Until after surgery. They put me on… omeprazle or something like that… right in the hospital. It’s a PPI and I stopped taking it after a couple weeks (I’ve never had heartburn, didn’t after surgery so why keep taking it?) I got heartburn!! It sucked, I was scared, omg my first negative side effect!! so I took it again and it went away. When I stopped taking it it came back… so I took it again. Turns out it can have a rebound effect for some people. Once I read about that I just stopped it altogether and the heartburn went away after about five days or so and I haven’t had a single reoccurrence since. Am I unusual because I’ve had a really easy go of this? I don’t know. I know there ARE others out there who have also said it was easy. I do know is this (and I’ve said this before… sorry for repeating to those who have read my previous posts)… this forum is a wonderful resource for people to get info pre op, and to get help post op. That second part is a blessing and a curse. It’s easy to read all these posts where people having issues are trying to find help…. and to get a false impression of how frequently serious problems arise. Not too many people create a new thread to say “hey I’ve had no problems, this was so easy and I’ve been wildly successful beyond my even most optimistic goals… ok carry on.” But we are out there. Most people who fall into this category are probably just out in the wild, living their best life, this forum not anything they think about because they don’t need it. I’m sticking around to make sure people in your situation know that we’re out here. It can be easy, problem free, life changing, exciting, etc. On the flip side my wife also had the sleeve and has had a hell of a time. No problems from the procedure, no gerd or vomiting… just near zero weight loss but you can read my other posts for the specifics. Then there are those who do have medical issues from this, do have problems of all sorts of things. They’re real and I’m so sorry for them, and they do need this forum for advice and comfort and just to vent. I am in no way knocking them for doing what they have to do, but their collective voice is much louder then people like me and it skews perception. No one can tell you where on the spectrum you’ll land. If you take it seriously, know that it’s a just a tool to help you lose weight, make better choices, and are ok with the idea that you may have some ups and downs to cope with, you’re off to a great start. Me? I’d do this 100 times over just to feel the way I do today. I wish you the best. No matter what you decide. From a purely statistical point of view problems from being obese far outweigh problems related to getting sleeved. And unfortunately with statistics there are the outliers. But it isn’t a coin flip.

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..😩