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The more I read up on nutrition, the more I'm becoming convinced that calorie restriction is not the way to approach weight loss. It actually sets us up for failure and yo-yo dieting. You need to reset your metabolic set point by choosing the right foods and listening to your body for signs of when to stop eating as opposed to counting numbers. When I reached my highest weight last summer, I found the Pound of Cure book by Dr. Matthew Weiner, and this greatly changed my thinking. I started following his program and lost 13lbs slowly and steadily, and without counting a single calorie or macro. Of course, surgery has helped tremendously, but the months I was just following Pound of Cure guidelines, I never felt hungry or deprived. His YouTube channel has hundreds of videos to help get you started. The book is really cheap on Amazon, and there are no soecial products or supplements you have to buy. Just healthy, real food. Anyway, my advice would be to start there and see if it helps.

I just had my first appointment with the surgeon. It went really well, and I’m glad I took the first step. We are leaning toward Gastric Bypass as the procedure for me. It’s a 3 month process to surgery with his office, 3 visits with him, 3 visits with dietician, plus clearance by Cardiology, Pulmonology and sleep medicine. My next visit with him and the dietician will be in about a month and he’s sending out the referrals to the offices for the clearances and working on prior authorization with insurance.

If i remember correctly, i took my multi and one of my calciums in the morning with a tbsp of greek yogurt (if i didn't i'd get nauseous because i don't eat in the mornings...never did, even pre-surgery, and still don't). then 2 more calciums with Vit Ds later in the day/evening. i only had to take iron for 1 week, and during that time i didn't take the calcium cuz they were sooooo humongous and i didn't yet learn the greek yogurt trick. i remember sometime around month 2 post op i started taking those chewable calciums (chocolate flavoured, yum!). did this for a couple months then went back to the ginormous horse tablets. now i am in no way endorsing the following (without talking to your doc first), but full disclosure, i stopped taking any/all vitamins/supplements around the 1.5 year mark. my doc/team knew this and had no concerns because my labs always came back satisfactorily....and continued to do so until my last followup with my surgeon at the 5 year mark last fall. going forward i suppose this will need to be monitored at my annuals with my primary care doc. oh, i should mention i'm also a sleeve....

lots of good comments and recommendations here...i won't repeat. i will however leave you with something to ponder: the "harder" you try to lose weight (vs. it coming off naturally based on a sustainable diet and lifestyle that YOU sustain), the harder it will be to keep off. based on your stats, you are already in a place that most bariatric folks won't reach (i.e., "healthy" BMI), and by the sounds of it, you achieved this quite effortlessly? sounds like a win to me! congrats!

If I’m calculating right that’s 255 lbs so at 5’1 that’s a bmi of 48.2. Have you considered another surgery? I agree the pound of cure book is great and may help you lose some but my experience at the higher bmi it’s pretty unlikely to get down to a healthy weight without help. Especially if you have metabolic issues related to your weight, surgery may be something to consider. Regardless, you may have to cut your calories below 1400 Depending on age and activity level. Have you talked to a nutritionist?

From the research I've done, your lifelong maintenance is less about counting calories and more about eating mindfully while choosing nutrient dense, natural foods. This is one of the best videos I have watched on the subject:

I am waiting for my first appointment with the surgeon as I am typing this out. Scared out of my mind but I know I have to do this to live. No more putting this off. It has to happen. I’ll update after the appointment.

So it's supposed to be at least 2 hours between iron and calcium and I think the same for calcium and calcium as your body can only absorb about 500 mg at a time. I take my multivitamin in the morning. Not quite first thing, as I take my probiotic/prebiotic first on an empty stomach, then usually have a proffee or reg coffee depending on the day. I am currently on 2 calcium chews a day, so I split that between midday and nighttime. I was first taking a bariatric multivitamin w/iron and 3 calcium chews a day. At my 8th month post-op checkup, my vitamin D levels were on the higher end of normal so my dietician wanted me to cut back. So I had to switch to a regular multivitamin (bariatric has 3000iu of Vit D) and cut back on the calcium chews since they also have about 800 iu each of vitamin d. Even though in my diet I get in quite a bit of calcium rich foods, I was advised to continue with the 2 chews a day as unfortunately a blood test doesn't give a clear picture of what is happening in the body calcium wise. If you are deficient in calcium, your body will pull it from your bones. The blood work will look good as it is getting calcium, but slowly your bones are getting weaker. It's usually not until it's too late that you may be aware with teeth, bone and other body issues.

You look AMAZING! really well done! I am so happy for you and I hear everything you say. I have increased my intake on the days I workout to a 1000, let's see how it goes ❤️

I was told no corn, celery, gum, coconut, and popcorn, that they block your anastamosis.