Matt Z

For me, So much has changed during my going on 7 years of this whole process. Going from 370 lbs to (my current) 258, it's just night and day overall. My health, attitude, stamina, outlook have all improved greatly. I'm eating better (more now thanks to the bypass) than I have EVER. My family has reaped the rewards as well, all of them are thinner, healthier and happier than they have been. I'm in the Gym every day again, I've always loved the gym, but getting to be super fat made going to the gym pretty much impossible for all the reasons one can imagine. I bought clothes at Kohl's yesterday, like... I didn't have to go to some specialty store for fat guy clothes. I almost cried.

That's no good! Have you talked to your surgeon / surgical team about this yet? Have they checked for a stricture?

I'd be concerned about the size of the capsules, we were told that after bypass, if the pill is larger than a M&M, it's too big. Most certainly advise your surgical team / doctor about what supplements you plan to take after surgery.

Best advice is to stick with what you were given for instructions. That said, I strayed from puree's here and there. I found creative ways around things, a month on puree's sucks. Do your best to stick to the plan, if something goes wrong, you'll get some finger wags and stern looks. But if you do stray, be smart about it.

This is totally normal. Your body will stall / pause when it needs to re-calibrate. You failed to state your water intake. Our bodies cannot process fat if there isn't enough water. You failed to state your current exercise program/rate. WLS patients need to be hitting 60+ mins of focused exercise a day. Are you focusing on your proteins first? Have you had your body fat % checked? If not, do it! I'm lucky enough to have a scale that measures body fat % as well, for the last week I've been "stuck" at 258, but.. in those 5 days, I've also dropped .7% body fat. So, just because the "dial" isn't moving on the weight number, it could very well be dropping elsewhere. Keep tracking. Keep getting upwards of 128oz of water. Keep (or start) getting your 60+ mins of targeted / focused exercise (moving around at work really doesn't count) Start working out to build some muscle. Doesn't have to be a lot, but larger muscle burns more fat than a smaller one. The stall will break, just stay on target and don't get frustrated!

Maxed out restriction but didn't really "do" anything, spent a while trying to get things right and just never could get to where I was properly restricted, I could eat pretty much anything except leafy greens or things that didn't break down into a puree. Dropped 70lbs, then couldn't lose anything else no matter what I did. Tracked intake, output etc etc etc, just, stuck. Turned out my band was 100% encapsulated with scar tissue. Took over 3 times longer to remove than it should have, gave my surgical team a run for their money!

Congrats on having a band that still works! I had to revise to RNY due to mine just not working any longer.

Looks like you haven't gotten any actually. This is a tough spot, been there a few times personally. Track your intake, try to get 80 grams of protein a day if possible, and get as much water as you can, wait 30 mins after before and after eating to drink. There is going to be a lot of hunger you are going to have to try your best to ignore sadly. Hopefully things get better soon!

Congrats! Doing great!

You'll be fine. It's out of your system now. Food doesn't stick around long. Just this close to your surgery, don't cheat again. I cheated here and there on my pre-sugical diet. The big thing to remember is that, not every pre-surgical diet is the same, nor are the reasons for it. I was allowed celery and watermelon on mine, I only had to stop the actual food stuffs 24 hours before surgery. So, odds are you'll be fine. Just stay on track from here on out! You got this!

Been there. Once my kids started toasting bread and making pizza... I had to fight not to break down. I just kept reminding myself of what my goals were, over and over, what and why I decided to go with the bypass. It's totally normal. And it does go away. You got this!

Banded in 2011, revised to RNY March 21st 2018, wish I had done so sooner and glad I didn't revise from the Band to the Sleeve.

So few RI folks... sigh. Yay Small State!

Check your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) here https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bmr BMR drops as we get older, and as we lose weight. I need 750ish less calories now than I did at my max weight. Track your calorie intake and burn As long as you are burning more than you are consuming, you'll lose weight. Hit the gym, larger muscle requires more calories than smaller muscles. You don't have to limit yourself to 800 calories. You just need to make sure you are balancing everything out so that you burn more than you eat. Do a reset and start over! It's not easy, but it only takes a little bit of work at this point. Good Luck! You got this!

It can take over 2 years for the skin to rebound to it's max. Oils and things of that nature *might* help, but generally they only help if you were putting them on during the stretching phase. Exercising, compression gear, and time are the only things that'll expose what will and won't need surgical intervention to correct. Congrats on being so close to your goal!

Your pouch is tissue, and it can and does retract and shrink. As does pretty much EVERY part of your body if you don't keep stretching whatever it is. So, doing a "reset" so that you aren't stretching the pouch and allowing it to retract... *does* work. To what extent is going to depend on how much you've stretched it out. So, doing something as simple as the pre-surgical liquid diet, will net you some gains, how much really just depends on your situation, but still, allowing your pouch some time with no pressure, isn't going to hurt to try.

I knew I was fat, so in adulthood it never bothered me, and if someone tried to use it as a quip or insult I'd always act shocked, look down at my stomach and throw my hands up and feign shock and awe at my unnoticed weight, then I'd just look at them with a "no $hit" look, that typically stopped them right in it's tracks. As a kid it bugged me, mainly because I really didn't know why I was overweight. I got teased often, and by pretty much everyone including family. I loved to swim, so I got the "Matt Matt the water rat, he is fat and that is that" quite often. Really killed my self image, to the point where when I was in the Military, I still didn't think or feel that I looked good. Looking back, I'd give anything to be 190 lbs of lean muscle again. I really don't like the "...obese due to excessive calories" line, for me specifically because I've been banded since 2011, so, since 2011, I've been on reduced calorie intake, so, that's not quite the reason any more, I correct it every chance I get on my charts because it's just not accurate.

My first was also Cream of Wheat... which I hate anyway so, it was sort of lame having that be the first thing I could eat (I was at the hospital so I wasn't given an option...) I ate it... well, I had like 3 spoonfuls and was "done".

Honestly, don't prep. My wife tried to and we ended up with things getting tossed because it was either way too much to consume post op or I just couldn't tolerate the item any longer. I mean, post op, 1 oz of food is going to totally fill you up and take you a while to get down, so 1 can of say Chili is going to last pretty damn long. Prepping for the family's easement maybe, you might not want to be around cooking food for a few, I know I had a hard time the smell of cooking food for a week or so, just turned my stomach. After a week or so, barring any complications you should be just fine overall, I know I wasn't allowed to pick up more than 10 lbs for 6 weeks... so 1 gallon of milk is 10 lbs, so you'll want to plan for stuff of that nature. Good Luck!

Rhode Island, I hit the gym around 4pm M-F and around 8am on Sat and Sunday... So we can work out "in spirit".

Stop focusing on the scale, esp if it doesn't do body fat, because if not, then you are a missing a rather important metric. I've been stick at 258 for the past 5 days now... but my body fat has dropped .7%, so if I didn't see the body fat dropping, And all the working out, muscle building, eating right, hitting my protein and water marks, and still not losing weight, I'd lose my damn mind. Hell, even having the body fat % numbers dropping, it's still frustrating. If you are eating too much, **YOU** need to fix that. This whole process isn't easy, it requires major changes. Also, stop worrying about what you "should" have lost, there is nothing and no one that can tell you exactly what you should have lost, because no-one is the same, everyone loses as different rates and from different parts of the body first. Just focus on the things **YOU** Personally can control. Your protein intake, your water intake and how much exercise you are actually doing. General basic exercise "requirements" are 30 mins a day, for normal people. WLS patients really should be hitting 60+, every single day. And muscle building **SHOULD** be part of your exercise program. Fat loss and Muscle building. It's far too early to start feeling like you failed. Take control of the process and get back to the struggle. It's worth it. Good Luck You got this!

I'm a little over 2 months and I've got a spot on my leg that's numb. I've read it goes away. I've got a follow up on the 18th, we'll see what they say. Curious what you find out from your Doc.

If you are feeling like you are eating too much, eat less. You always have the option to not eat as much as you make. Maybe you could benefit from doing the reset, which is pretty much just the pre-surgical diet again. You didn't state what you were doing for exercise, just that you haven't been exercising "much". Basic minimums are 30 mins a day, but for WLS, it really should be 60+ a day, every day. Check your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, this is the minimum required calories to be alive, think coma, alive but not moving, that's what your BMR is), as we lose weight and get older, our BMR lowers, so pay attention, the amount of calories for myself, when I started at 32 years old and 370 lbs was 3030, now at 39 and 258 it's only 2285, 745 less calories. If I kept eating at what was allowing me to lose weight at 370, today, it would be too many calories. Inch for Inch, Muscle weighs more than fat, and the larger the muscle, the more calories it requires for upkeep, so building some muscle mass will help with fat loss. Are you tracking your body fat %? I've been stuck around 258 for a week now, but my body fat has dropped .7% over those 5 days. So, I might not be lighter, but I'm thinner and have more lean mass. I know it sucks, and it's a fear I have personally, but as long as you are paying attention to your intake, output and are actually burning more calories per day than you consume, then you WILL be losing something. Good Luck!

I've been using the PatchMD Patches, waiting on the official word back on my blood tests (which should be the 18th of this month) but unofficially, comparing the results myself, it appears as if *most* of my levels are the same or better than pre-surgical tests, and the 1 that was low before surgery, is still about the same level of low. So, initial non-professional opinion on the patches is that they work well enough. I'll have a post when I get the official word.