Shells_Almost_There

Hello Everyone-- This is my story!!!! I was 398 lbs and had gastric bypass RNY on 11/30/2009. I lost 200lbs. I had a baby in March 2017 and gained weight with the pregnancy and have been struggling to return to my pre-pregnancy weight of 213.
My surgeon will reduce my pouch (stretched 3 times it's the surgical size) and reduce my stoma (also stretched). My surgery is on July 15th. I am doing a 3-week liquid diet to get ready.

There is a difference between not losing weight and those that lost weight with a sleeve and regained.
If your main problem was eating around the surgery to begin with, how do you feel bypass will be different for you? You stated you have a sweet tooth and you cannot stop. If you were not losing weight with a sleeve due to eating the wrong foods and overeating, what has changed?
It is a common misconception that you will dump with gastric bypass. It is not a given. My surgeon told me only 30-50 percent of patients will dump, and this effect lessens as a bypass matures for many that do have dumping. If you are counting on dumping syndrome to keep your eating under control, you may be making a huge mistake.
Good luck to you whatever you decide.

So happy to see your name in my mentions! Glad to see an update from you -- I don't check in much here any longer, although I recently converted from sleeve to bypass. It was a good decision, but wow is the weight loss completely different than the first time around (at least for me it is)! I haven't been working out either, so I'm going to take up the gauntlet with you and get back to business.

Praise the Lord, I'm 6 months post op, and very thankful my diabetes was reversed as well as severe reflux I had prior to surgery! My weight loss has been slow with many 3 week stalls, and my surgeon recommends I have to increase the Protein intake, as I slacked off of Protein Shakes the last few months. (Just got tired of them). I'm back to having a Protein Shake of 30 gm. plus what I get in foods to hopefully increase wt. loss & slow down Hair loss. Overall, done well down 50 lbs. & Hgb A1C is 5.4 (also off cholesterol med. since surgery, but lab levels creeping back up, keeping a watch on it)

I love naked anything:)

We will all have to diet. Forever. Sucks, but it's the truth.

Hi! Congratulations, so happy for you! YOUR DOING AMAZING!!!! Sista, lemme tell ya! Your at the ever so common 3 week stall which is lasting a few weeks for you. I stalled at 3 weeks too after I only lost 13 lbs! Yep I only lost 13 lbs (in the 3 weeks after my gastric bypass, which was on 10/17/17). It just took my body time to trust the process as yours is doing to you. It’s ok. Just please relax. Relax. Relax. You’ll lose again! Really! My HW-142, SW-127, CW-189.6 lbs. So as you can see, I’ve had a few stalls & still managed to lose 53lbs in 4 months. It’s part of the process to stall & level out. Some people lose quickly & some just a bit slower, but we all lose good amounts of weight. I am pretty tall & was just over the 35 BMI, so I was told that Ide lose slower than someone with a higher BMI. Those are all individual things we have to remember and take into consideration when looking at our overall weight loss picture. And it’s why we should not ever compare our loss to someone else’s weight loss. I know it’s easier said than done, right?! I know. But it’s true. With that being said, what I did, was I typed into google search “gastric bypass at high weight of 142” and a few ther people popped up with the same or similar stats. I then followed them to see how they were losing. That is the closest thing to a real comparison I’ve found for me, and I say all that because again, comparing yourself to someone else with different stats will be unproductive to you. It may hinder your progres and it will only depress you. Others may be losing faster or slower than you AS THEY SHOULD BE if they be a different BMI than you. As a matter of fact, even people with exactly the same BMI as you starting out will lose weight at varying paces, due biological factors in each person that differ slightly: such as their own liver function (LFT’s or Liver Function Tests are drawn prior to surg to tell the health of liver cells. As we lose, it puts much strain on the liver cells, and if strained with too much the weight loss at once, the weight loss process may become stalled or our body may respond in other ways to signal issues are occurring in thats dept.). Other individual biological factors that we need take into consideration are things likes our own metabolism vs someone else’s (if we have slower metabolisms we may not excercise as much as another which may slow our weight loss slightly compared to another person), also our own Water intake regime is a key to our weight loss too (that’s why you will be good to watch your Creatatinine level in your kidneys-this level elevates with insufficient water intake and the kidney can become strained with quick weight loss if not assisted with the water & hydration it needs to allow fat to pass as we lose), also other health ailments we have or the medications we or another person is on may also slow down to quicken weight loss results. There’s so much to consider. Many factors play into the weight loss of our bodies. We need to allow ourselves reasonable and sufficient time to lose. You’ve lost a tremendous amount of weight! From 232 to 210 in about 4 wks is just truly amazing!!!! Seriously, step back and look at those results and ask yourself ‘when was the last time I lost 22 pounds in a month’?. LIKELY NEVER! So relax and try to enjoy the process. Seriously, we will all lose after this surgery, even those with crappy eating habits, crappy exercise habits and crappy water & Protein habits. That’s actually a fact. Seriously-because 1) the very fact that our tummy’s are drastically reduced in size and 2) because we literally just cannot absorb most of what we eat puts demand on our bodies to keep losing. Now, through the process we will all stall at times to level out and to adjust, but that’s a good thing!! We want it to stop to readjust now & then! And then eventually our bodies will find a new “set point”. But that’s not typically until after the 12 or 18 month mark. So try to be happy as you sit back to watch your new “tool” do its job & the pounds will melt away! You should be stepping on a scale only once to twice a week according to research after these surgeries. Did you know that? I DIDN’T. My surgeon told me, then my nutritionist told me too. Then I started seeing it & read it everywhere. Yep. We don’t want to teach our new selves that a scale is the know all, by which to guage whether we are losing timely or not. A scale cannot tell us if it’s “water weight”, or “period time”, or “hi, thank you for stepping on me again today, I hate to inform you but your body will be taking the next 3 weeks to level out & readjust”. Your body is doing great, reward it with protein, water walking. HUGS!! Congrats again on doing so well!🌷Jen💕🌷

Glad to hear you're doing alright!

I converted from sleeve to bypass this past Tuesday. I also considered a resleeve, but the surgeon felt that I wouldn't get to my goal weight without switching to bypass. I am now recovering and it has gone quite well. I think having been through the entire recovery process once helps the second time (even though there were a lot of differences during post-op with this surgeon). When I woke up from surgery, it was really rough - so much tummy pain and major gas pains in my left shoulder. My new pouch kept having what I would describe as spasms and it really didn't like ice chips. I had a 2-night hospital stay this time, and I feel like that made a lot of difference in how I'm feeling today.
Best of luck to you! I'm hoping to share some excellent weight loss experiences in the coming months!

Yup. I'm definitely moving forward with the bypass in about 10 days! @MonkeyNurse you still on?

Yup. I'm definitely moving forward with the bypass in about 10 days! @MonkeyNurse you still on?

I converted from sleeve to bypass this past Tuesday. I also considered a resleeve, but the surgeon felt that I wouldn't get to my goal weight without switching to bypass. I am now recovering and it has gone quite well. I think having been through the entire recovery process once helps the second time (even though there were a lot of differences during post-op with this surgeon). When I woke up from surgery, it was really rough - so much tummy pain and major gas pains in my left shoulder. My new pouch kept having what I would describe as spasms and it really didn't like ice chips. I had a 2-night hospital stay this time, and I feel like that made a lot of difference in how I'm feeling today.
Best of luck to you! I'm hoping to share some excellent weight loss experiences in the coming months!

I scheduled on the 16th going from sleeve to bypass

I’m scheduled from sleeve to bypass.been dealing with extreme gerd for months can’t wait.

I'm the author of this thread. I did join WW and lost about 30lbs, but I also joined diet bet and won some money too. I had my sleeve surgery 4yrs ago and have kept off 100lbs. I would like to lose 30 more, so I was considering re-joining WW, but just following the program. THere is an app called Itrackbites.com that is pretty much WW with a much lower fee( I think 3 dollars). No one at WW ever flagged me for losing too fast.

Well I know this is an old thread....but I plan to use WW as maintenance for my weight loss. I am lifetime on Weight Watchers and I guess I have a rare story in that I have lost over 230 lbs twice in my life, once with WW (kept it off 5 plus years) and this time with RNY. I just couldn't refocus so I had the surgery. I believe in WW and I think it will be an excellent tool for me as I go into Maintenance phase now.

I recently bought the 1-month multipack (multivitamin [looks like it's not "bariatric" though], D3, Iron, & B12) from Bariatric Pal, and I'm hoping to have a positive outcome on my next labs.

I actually like the Isopure RTD Alpine Punch, Grape, and Green Tea but here's what I do to them:
Alpine Punch-dilute 50/50 with Water + 1 squirt Grape Koolaide SF water drops + 1 squirt HEB tangerine SF water drops
Grape-dilute 50/50 with water + 2 squirts Grape Koolaide SF water drops
Green Tea-dilute 50/50 with more Decaf tea and add a couple wedges of lemon
I do love other drinks:
Premier Protein-6-8oz RTD drink + 4oz SF vanilla Coconut Milk + 16g Hershey's SF Choco Syrup + 6g PB powder (Vitacost)=makes it so much less sweet.
Synthrax Nectar-love many of the fruit flavors but I stick with:
Lemon Tea
Fuzzy Navel
Grapefruit
Isopure Protein Powders:
Unflavored-in broths and Soups
Vanilla Cream
Dutch chocolate
Bananas & Cream-this is the best cuz I love to mix it with PB Powder, frozen spinach, blueberries, and psyllium husks for extra Fiber. Super filling and not very sweet. I blend it all with 4 cubes of ice and it tastes delicious. I use water to make it, but you can boost it even more with Fairlife Skim Milk if you needed to. I only use 1 scoop (32g) per 12oz of fl, not the 2 scoops they recommend.

I have my bypass surgery on Dec 18th. Super nervous, but so ready to start this new chapter. I had a good conversation with @JohnnyCakes and I will tell you that after talking to him and others successes on these forums, i felt sure that I was making the right choice. I'm happy for you. You made the right choice. See you on the other side of this weight loss success journey.

I have been struggling and have experienced a gain - that for the first time since surgery, I'm unable to shake off in a decent amount of months. I'm 3.5 years out and it's astounding how much has changed. So, my answer has been to enroll in a medically-supervised diet program so that I can have accountability and a very specific nutrition plan. My insurance happens to cover it (all but the cost of food), and I'm committing to giving it a number of months - both to reset my habits and to continue on my weight loss journey. I don't know if this type of thing might be of interest, but I thought I'd mention it.
Otherwise, I agree with posters above about Keto, or other specific plans like that - where it keeps us in check and closer to a pre-op diet. I know some people who've had a lot of success with Whole 30 or Paleo as well. Adding exercise might be an option for you, and definitely keep the snacking in check (one of my biggest issues). Best of luck!

I think that's wonderful!

I recently joined some more groups to learn more about nutrition. And honestly, I haven't been keeping a detailed journal of what I put in my mouth. I haven't been calculating things, nor exercising like I should be. Apparently, I need to be eating way more Protein, only 20 carbs per day (healthy, not sugar) and a bit more fat in my protein. I can not have an occasional treat, like a beer, because those carbs just "POOF" me like a balloon for days. I am so sensitive to them its insane. Now especially since I am used to eating so much less. >.> It's a pickle. I'll be doing this forever.

I also continue to monitor this thread, to see others' stories about this challenging weight loss lifestyle!
In fact, over the long weekend, I made the decision to start a medically-supervised weight loss program so that I can get back on track. While I totally "know" what I'm supposed to do to continue to lose weight, it seems my motivation is outweighed by my desire for delicious carbs! So, I'm going to go back on a lower calorie, more regimented plan with structure. Hoping this gets me back on track and working toward my goal! It will be painful (I hate the "food" on those plans and they tend to be super expensive), but I need a push in the right direction.

I feel like I am a true "slow loser" and it has been tough. I'm 3.5 years out (as of yesterday!) and still dinging away at the daily grind. I started out with a lot of weight to lose, and never lost more than 5 pounds in a single week after the 3rd month or so. Even today my current weight after losing 100 pounds is more than some people's pre-op starting weight - crazy! But my journey is my own and I'm not giving up just because it's been rough. I wanted to get healthier and I know I already am, even if I'm still struggling to my personal goal.
Back in the early days when I was more active on this web site, people would post about losing 8 to 10 pounds a week, every week - I could only dream of such a thing. Now that I'm this far out, it frequently feels like I never had surgery at all - it's a distant memory to me now - and each day I just work on sticking with my eating plan, staying within my calorie limit per my metabolic testing, and getting at least 2 shakes down per day to keep my Protein numbers where they need to be. I'm just another person trying to get healthy and all I can do is keep on with my plan.

I feel like I am a true "slow loser" and it has been tough. I'm 3.5 years out (as of yesterday!) and still dinging away at the daily grind. I started out with a lot of weight to lose, and never lost more than 5 pounds in a single week after the 3rd month or so. Even today my current weight after losing 100 pounds is more than some people's pre-op starting weight - crazy! But my journey is my own and I'm not giving up just because it's been rough. I wanted to get healthier and I know I already am, even if I'm still struggling to my personal goal.
Back in the early days when I was more active on this web site, people would post about losing 8 to 10 pounds a week, every week - I could only dream of such a thing. Now that I'm this far out, it frequently feels like I never had surgery at all - it's a distant memory to me now - and each day I just work on sticking with my eating plan, staying within my calorie limit per my metabolic testing, and getting at least 2 shakes down per day to keep my Protein numbers where they need to be. I'm just another person trying to get healthy and all I can do is keep on with my plan.

I feel like I am a true "slow loser" and it has been tough. I'm 3.5 years out (as of yesterday!) and still dinging away at the daily grind. I started out with a lot of weight to lose, and never lost more than 5 pounds in a single week after the 3rd month or so. Even today my current weight after losing 100 pounds is more than some people's pre-op starting weight - crazy! But my journey is my own and I'm not giving up just because it's been rough. I wanted to get healthier and I know I already am, even if I'm still struggling to my personal goal.
Back in the early days when I was more active on this web site, people would post about losing 8 to 10 pounds a week, every week - I could only dream of such a thing. Now that I'm this far out, it frequently feels like I never had surgery at all - it's a distant memory to me now - and each day I just work on sticking with my eating plan, staying within my calorie limit per my metabolic testing, and getting at least 2 shakes down per day to keep my Protein numbers where they need to be. I'm just another person trying to get healthy and all I can do is keep on with my plan.