glitter eyes

Congratulations on your weight loss success. Awesome job. It's hard work to make any lifestyle change that involves healthy eating and consistent exercise.
My question is why do you feel that you are healthier now and have learned more valuable lessons than if you had gotten the sleeve or had a bypass?
I had the gastric sleeve over a year ago and I am the healthiest I have ever been in my life, including times in the past where I have been thin. I am now physically fit, strong, energetic, adventurous, and have a zest for life.

I stuck to my plan faithfully until about month six. It was Christmas time and I had some sugar Cookies and cake. That was the first carbs I had eaten since surgery. I got right back on my plan by Jan 1.
I am now post op month 11 and some days I chose unwise foods such as pretzels, cookies or cake. However, I try to keep it to a minimum and only one day a week. I have been able to maintain doing this and even occasionally will lose a pound.

Hi. I am four and half years post op. I stuck to my program religiously until I lost the majority of my weight. However maintenance has been a different story. I do “cheat” at times; as a matter of fact I just ate some pancakes with real Syrup for Breakfast. However, I usually weigh once a week and if the scale creeps up near the five pound gain I get back on my plan until it’s gone. When I am on vacations or during Christmas holidays I also give my self permission to eat what I want. This far out post op maintenance can be a challenge!! That said, I will got the gym hard today and cut way back tomorrow to make up for my pancakes today! LOL. I do admire the people who can stick to their plan perfectly especially the further out they get.

What really helped stop my Hair loss and helped it regrow was I started taking powdered fish collagen every day in my Water. I also drank bamboo tea at least once a day and sometimes several times. Bamboo tea is rich in silica which helps the hair skin and nails. I tried Biotin and it did not help me, but I have read on here that others found it helpful.

What really helped stop my Hair loss and helped it regrow was I started taking powdered fish collagen every day in my Water. I also drank bamboo tea at least once a day and sometimes several times. Bamboo tea is rich in silica which helps the hair skin and nails. I tried Biotin and it did not help me, but I have read on here that others found it helpful.

One of my close friends had it done. She said it was a waste of money. Never saw any results. But that’s not saying it wouldn’t work for someone else.

Hi. I am four and half years post op. I stuck to my program religiously until I lost the majority of my weight. However maintenance has been a different story. I do “cheat” at times; as a matter of fact I just ate some pancakes with real Syrup for Breakfast. However, I usually weigh once a week and if the scale creeps up near the five pound gain I get back on my plan until it’s gone. When I am on vacations or during Christmas holidays I also give my self permission to eat what I want. This far out post op maintenance can be a challenge!! That said, I will got the gym hard today and cut way back tomorrow to make up for my pancakes today! LOL. I do admire the people who can stick to their plan perfectly especially the further out they get.

Hi. I am four and half years post op. I stuck to my program religiously until I lost the majority of my weight. However maintenance has been a different story. I do “cheat” at times; as a matter of fact I just ate some pancakes with real Syrup for Breakfast. However, I usually weigh once a week and if the scale creeps up near the five pound gain I get back on my plan until it’s gone. When I am on vacations or during Christmas holidays I also give my self permission to eat what I want. This far out post op maintenance can be a challenge!! That said, I will got the gym hard today and cut way back tomorrow to make up for my pancakes today! LOL. I do admire the people who can stick to their plan perfectly especially the further out they get.

Hi. I am four and half years post op. I stuck to my program religiously until I lost the majority of my weight. However maintenance has been a different story. I do “cheat” at times; as a matter of fact I just ate some pancakes with real Syrup for Breakfast. However, I usually weigh once a week and if the scale creeps up near the five pound gain I get back on my plan until it’s gone. When I am on vacations or during Christmas holidays I also give my self permission to eat what I want. This far out post op maintenance can be a challenge!! That said, I will got the gym hard today and cut way back tomorrow to make up for my pancakes today! LOL. I do admire the people who can stick to their plan perfectly especially the further out they get.

Hi. I am four and half years post op. I stuck to my program religiously until I lost the majority of my weight. However maintenance has been a different story. I do “cheat” at times; as a matter of fact I just ate some pancakes with real Syrup for Breakfast. However, I usually weigh once a week and if the scale creeps up near the five pound gain I get back on my plan until it’s gone. When I am on vacations or during Christmas holidays I also give my self permission to eat what I want. This far out post op maintenance can be a challenge!! That said, I will got the gym hard today and cut way back tomorrow to make up for my pancakes today! LOL. I do admire the people who can stick to their plan perfectly especially the further out they get.

In feel your pain too. I am ten months post op and haven't lost anything in over four weeks. Like you I get plenty of fluids, Protein, and limit carbs. I exercise five to six days a week.
This week I am trying to up my calories a little and change up
my exercise routines to try and shake things up.
I hope both of our stalls end soon.
We can do it!!

I have to chime in.. I had the gastric sleeve and I have been very diligent about meeting and exceeding my Protein goals every day. I take all my recommend Vitamins, all my lab work post surgery has been perfect. I have taken high dose Biotin since pre op, make my Water requirements, track all my nutrients and adjust my diet to meet my goals. My hair has still fallen out. So not everyone will keep their hair just because they are eating enough protein.
I think it may be the luck of the draw. I just happen to be one of those with thinner hair who has followed all the rules.
That being said the weight loss has been worth the Hair loss.
Good luck to everyone.

I started out at 271 and I am only 5'3". It took forever for people, besides my family, to notice my weight loss. It was actually funny because people would say things like; I love your haircut, did you get new makeup, you look so pretty is that a new shirt..etc. I just smiled and said "Thanks", but inside I was thinking no, it's the sixty pound weight loss. I have lost 101 pounds so far and finally people notice. Some of my co-workers will say "you look like you have lost some weight and you look great". When I tell people it's 100 pounds everyone says that I didn't have that much to lose and they don't believe it. I just take it all as a compliment; either I hid my weight well (NO) or they are just unobservant. All that matters is I feel great and look forward to losing more and continuing to get fit. The people who are close to me notice my weight loss and are super supportive and are a blessing in my life.

I have never taken collagen pills, but I have taken marine collagen powder that I add to my Water. It has been an amazing help to my hair and stopped the Hair loss I was having from the surgery. However, I never saw any change in my skin. I think with the skin it varies from person to person and depends a lot on age, genetics, starting weight, and other factors. I have been very diligent about my Vitamin levels, Protein, Fluid intake. I use good quality lotions and oils on my skin. I dry brush before showering everyday. For me nothing has made a difference in my saggy skin. I think for me it's because of my age and the fact that I have lost weight in the past (my skin went completely back to normal then, I was in my early 30's) then I gained my weight back. So my skin had already been stretched and then re stretched again.
However, I say try everything you never know what might work for you!!! Some people never have saggy skin.

First of all give yourself a lot of credit for what you have accomplished!! You are a success. Also, this weight loss surgery is for life. It's not just a diet that we do until we get to goal. That being said life does happen and there will be times we don't eat perfect or have bad weeks. The trick is to recognize what is happening (which you have) and to go back to basics to correct the problem.
One bad week does not make you a failure. I went on vacation for 14 days this summer and I gave myself permission to eat like crap. I ate horrible and gained 12 pounds. When I got home I did three days of Protein Shakes only then the rest of the week Protein. I lost my vacation weight that week.
I have thin friends and have noticed that they have times they eat poorly and then they get right back on track.
Realistically we can't be perfect all the time the rest of our lives. One trick is to not let the guilt make you feel bad enough to continue the behavior.
You can get this under control!! Just remember how far you have come.
I agree with one of the above posters- focus on some of your non scale victories you have experienced. Maybe when you want to snack or get head hunger you can journal on how those have made you feel.
Good luck!!

Here is what worked for me. I started drinking a serving of powdered marine collagen in a bottle of Water every day. I used a brand called Vida Glow. That stopped about half of the amount I was losing. I then started drinking a cup or two of bamboo tea everyday. Bamboo is high in silica which is great for skin hair and nails. This slowed the loss down even more. My hair lost its brittleness and dry full look. My hair became soft and shiny again.

Here is what worked for me. I started drinking a serving of powdered marine collagen in a bottle of Water every day. I used a brand called Vida Glow. That stopped about half of the amount I was losing. I then started drinking a cup or two of bamboo tea everyday. Bamboo is high in silica which is great for skin hair and nails. This slowed the loss down even more. My hair lost its brittleness and dry full look. My hair became soft and shiny again.

Here is what finally worked for my hair loss... I drank one or two cups of bamboo tea every day ( ordered from Amazon) that helped a lot. Bamboo is high in silica which helps hair skin and nails. I also drank a serving of marine collagen in my Water every day. I used a brand called Vida Glow. It was on the expensive side, but it only took about two months. My hair is now back to its original state.

It's SO easy to be cocky newly post op (1-2 years). I remember. You think you have the tiger by the tail.
Then the honeymoon period ends.
Suddenly, you're hungrier. You can eat more. You've settled into "boring" maintenance. You no longer have the thrill of the scale moving downward. People are used to how you look now, and you aren't getting the validation of constant compliments on how great you look. You're fully healed and feel as normal as you did before surgery, and sometimes you're alarmed by how much more you can eat and how much hungrier you are. Behavior fatigue sets in, and you push the limits of how much sugar or alcohol or carbs you can consume before you see a gain. After all, you pretty much could still lose early out even after the occasional splurge. And if you did gain a pound or two, a couple days of cutting back on carbs and some extra Water, it came right back off. Until you discover it doesn't work that way anymore. You gain much easier now for seemingly no reason, and no matter how hard you try, the weight won't come back off like it did before. You become complacent, almost accepting a 5, 10, or even 20 pound gain because it becomes so hard to lose it again. We won't even talk about the guilt and self loathing regain causes. You feel like a failure (even though you really aren't).
A fairly new post op has no idea the struggles people 3, 4, 5 years out and more have, so telling people to just suck it up and have more willpower is utter bullshit.

I completely understand how you feel!! I too am so grateful for my weight loss and the fact that I have maintained it (over two years post op).
I love myself and have a wonderful fulfilling life, yet I don't really like clothes shopping because nothing ever fits quite right and I have to look for things to disguise my "hump"- which is the name I have given my lower belly. It does get frustrating.
I have tried a million creams, oils, exercises and nothing makes a difference for me.
I feel like you, that I am not "finished" until I get my stomach fixed. Hoping next year to try and fund plastics- this year we had to have a new roof and our pool redone.
I think that part of the problem is I was normal size a good portion of my life and like you it's kind of a shock see our bodies look the way they do.
I know seeing a therapist would not help me. I don't have body issues or feel bad about myself. I just want my stomach gone. Hopefully we will both find a way to get our plastic surgery done!!

I am almost three years out and it can be challenging at times to maintain my weight. I gained about 10 pounds at Christmas- ate way too many sugar Cookies and cakes[emoji30]. I was struggling to get it off and a friend who also had Bariatric surgery told me about a website called Bariatric Eating. They have a face book page that you can join called no Bariatric regain. They sell Protein powders called Inspire. Their website talks about how to get back on track. It's four to five shakes a day and one Protein meal. I ordered their shakes and love love them!! I started doing the shakes all day and a protein dinner and the weight started coming off. It was easy to stick too once I got in the habit and kicked the carb cravings. I lost my ten pounds and another 10. I am 10 below my lowest weight.
You could check it out and see if it is something that might work for you. The Facebook page is private, but you can go to their website and get added. It is very supportive and there are so many people who have regained and are losing their regained weight. It's a very positive uplifting Facebook page.
Good luck to you- you can do it!!

I had Hair loss and my hair got pretty thin, dry, brittle and had a lot of breakage. This happened even though I got plenty of Protein, took Vitamins, lab work was normal and I took Biotin. I tried tons of different shampoos, oils, and essential oils.
What finally worked for me was I started taking powdered marine collagen mixed in my Water every day and I drank a cup of bamboo tea once or twice a day (bamboo tea is high in silica and is good for skin hair and nails). This combinations stopped the hair loss and my hair over a course of about two months got shinier and the breakage stopped.
I am almost three years post op and my hair is back to normal. I occasionally drink bamboo tea just to help it out plus I like the taste.

I had Hair loss and my hair got pretty thin, dry, brittle and had a lot of breakage. This happened even though I got plenty of Protein, took Vitamins, lab work was normal and I took Biotin. I tried tons of different shampoos, oils, and essential oils.
What finally worked for me was I started taking powdered marine collagen mixed in my Water every day and I drank a cup of bamboo tea once or twice a day (bamboo tea is high in silica and is good for skin hair and nails). This combinations stopped the hair loss and my hair over a course of about two months got shinier and the breakage stopped.
I am almost three years post op and my hair is back to normal. I occasionally drink bamboo tea just to help it out plus I like the taste.

I had Hair loss and my hair got pretty thin, dry, brittle and had a lot of breakage. This happened even though I got plenty of Protein, took Vitamins, lab work was normal and I took Biotin. I tried tons of different shampoos, oils, and essential oils.
What finally worked for me was I started taking powdered marine collagen mixed in my Water every day and I drank a cup of bamboo tea once or twice a day (bamboo tea is high in silica and is good for skin hair and nails). This combinations stopped the hair loss and my hair over a course of about two months got shinier and the breakage stopped.
I am almost three years post op and my hair is back to normal. I occasionally drink bamboo tea just to help it out plus I like the taste.

You have a great list going!! Honestly the baby cutlery and small bowls and plates were an amazing help to me. Also, I loved sipping from a medicine cup those first probably two weeks. It helped me a lot to take those tiny sips.
Only thing I might add to your list is a good food scale. I got a digital one and still use it occasionally at three years post op.