Dave Butler

I had my surgery about 10 months ago at age 60. Lost 146 pounds from my highest weight. Was at a party last night and caught a glimpse of my full reflection and thought, maybe for the first time ever, 'damn I look good". My motivation was health not looks but damn I am looking good.

60yo and had surgery 3 months ago. Lost 75 pounds so far. Looking forward to enjoying life more than ever!

Great posts by us 60 somethings. Funny, I am healthier today than I was before surgery at 51when I started this journey.
I am thankful. I believe I would still be struggling, and likely losing the battle of the bulge had I not chosen WLS!
This makes my life much better????

I had my surgery about 10 months ago at age 60. Lost 146 pounds from my highest weight. Was at a party last night and caught a glimpse of my full reflection and thought, maybe for the first time ever, 'damn I look good". My motivation was health not looks but damn I am looking good.

60yo and had surgery 3 months ago. Lost 75 pounds so far. Looking forward to enjoying life more than ever!

I am not even going to look at the BMI. If I feel good, can do anything a healthy 61yo man can do and have a diet and exercise plan I can live with to Hell with the numbers

Walking is a good form of exercise almost a vital form of exercise after surgery. I walked for 30 minutes per day for the 6 months prior to surgery. In the 2 days I was in the hospital, I walked 100 lapse around the hospital floor. When I returned home I walked 30 minutes each day for the first year after surgery.
After surgery your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Don't worry, you will not die of starvation. You already have the energy that you need stored within your body. You just need to release it.
I walked every 2 hours after the operation, round the clock, when I was in the hospital. This accomplished a few things. First, it prevents blood clots from forming. Second, it helps to relieve the gas pain that you will experience after surgery. Third, walking promotes wound healing. After surgery while in the hospital, I took no pain medicine. My pain levels were at the most a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. This was because of walking. If you want to get back on your feet, first you must get back on your feet and walk.

Many people say exercise and what they are referring to is getting up and walking. Even your surgeon recommends getting up to walk as soon as you can. However, anything more than that and you risk popping staples/sutures, etc.

Welcome Loraine, just stick to the doctors guidance, careful with wanting to heal rapidly, the process is sometimes super good days and some not so good, hang in there it does pay off.

H.ello e of everyone hey I feel fantastic I am 68 years old had surgery on the 17th of December 2014 down from 274 - 142 yeah yeah yeah I feel great had to go in for minor surgery last month twisted intestine and an ulcer which cause blockage but other than that I've been doing great. lots of energy and excited about gong from 3x to size 10 today. Best to all hang in there, best wishes and enjoy the new you.

How many times have I said OK I need to start over? How many times have I told myself just one more time…and then I’ll start again?
How many times have I committed to recommitting? How many times have I told myself that I will write down every single thing that goes in my mouth? How many times have I told myself I WILL go to the gym today?
How many times have I found myself feeling guilty because of my perceived failure?
I go through these things and more too many times to count. My weight, my surgery, the scale, the gym, food they are always on my mind. When I wake up in the morning I think I need to get a weight today so I know where I am….that’s what’s going to tell me and help me get on track! So I go about my morning routine and the scale shines from the corner waiting for my feet to step up and weigh in but I have just one more thing to do…and I walk past the scale and escape into the next room.
I have defeated the siren call of the scale yet again! Sometimes, I drink coffee and think well now that’s not a “true” weight I just drank fluids! (Really?!) I have to go to the bathroom so weighing in will be better after that elimination of extra weight. (Really?!) Oops I just got dressed for the day including my socks and shoes and I can’t get on the scale now…that’s just too much extra weight and you know…you have to weigh with the least amount of clothing…and my scale needs bare feet and it’s cold and on and on and on…..
I sit at work and my smart watch tells me it’s time to stand…it might as well read “the beatings shall commence”. It starts with the guilt trip, why didn’t you get that weigh in this morning?! It’s been weeks…and you don’t know where you are, and you need to know that. (Really?) Why are you sitting so much..you should be getting up and being more active! You should bring your gym bag in and get your butt down to the gym! (The side commentary often replies with the standard “it’s January and all the resolutioners are in the gym, working out so they can pretend they are keeping their New Year resolution to get healthy. They are clogging things up and you can’t get in there with all that going on!” Really?!) and the beating continues as I guilt myself throughout the day.
I make the “healthy” food choices and for the most part when I am eating “food” I try to make sure I make the healthier choice steering clear of the fatty fried foods, eating my Protein and drinking my Water. So what’s my problem? My problem is that I am perfectionist. It’s all or nothing for me, and either way I have to do it to perfection!
If I have a bad day…well it has to be the badest of bad days. Complete with not only with lack of exercise, but forgetting to take my Vitamins, and consuming lots of all kinds of sugary Desserts. If you’re going to be bad might as well eat the ice cream and chocolate and forget the chicken breast right?!
If I am having good day well you know its perfect right? I wake up and the birds are chirping and the sun is shining and all is right in my world. My feet hit the floor and I can’t wait to step on the scale to see how wonderful I am and what a success I am! (Usually this is where the fantasy begins and ends)
On these days it’s the middle of the road for me. Reality has woken me up and given me that cosmic 2x4 womp upside my head and for a minute the obsessing stops. It’s not about what I did or didn’t do. It’s not about what I ate, but more about what I will do and what I will eat.
I don’t need to beat myself into submission to be perfect, I just need to live for this. Right here right now this very moment. I need to stop. Just stop, and be present. Right here right now. Nothing more and nothing less.
Yes some of those moments are going to be “bad” ones and some are going to be “good” ones. All that really matters is the reality of all of these moments. I don’t have to dwell on the past or the future I just have to live in the now.
It’s really all I am capable of these days. I don’t know what it is in me that strives for this “perfection” it is now and has been a flaw of mine. While it is true that in many ways it helps me strive to learn and grow and better myself, and it is also true that in many ways it holds me back and limits me, and it will even sabotage my success, when I let it (or use it as an excuse!).
I will look at my weight loss to date and I say I have ONLY lost….as though it is a negative. When I should be focusing on the fact that I have LOST that weight and it has not returned.
So today as I write this confession, and my smart watch is beeping at me to stand up and move around and I am taking that time to do just that and to look at it in a positive way. Not saying telling myself I am a failure for not getting to the gym today, but saying hooray you are moving more than you did before!
I am not going to beat myself up for sleeping later this morning, I am going to allow myself the extra Zzz because my body and my soul needed it. I am not going to beat myself up for not stepping on the scale this morning, instead I am going to commit to resetting the darn thing tonight and setting it up to move forward.
I am setting a reminder on my phone to prompt me to weigh in and take measurements and I am scheduling time for ME. Yes I am putting an actual appointment on the calendar to do things that I need to do for me. Including making lunch, getting to the gym, and having dinner out with friends. It’s important, and if I feel the perfection monster trying to sabotage me I’m going to come back here and refocus on the moment and get back to reality of being perfectly imperfect one moment at a time.

To all you beautiful and on your way to becoming healthy slims, may your day ho smooth and may you make right choices, No giving up now. It's all worth the effort. I have gone from being on an overflowing shoe box filled medication container to just two now. No more insulin or diabetic meds, no more high blood presume meds, AIC 10 to 5.5 In a couple of days I will turn 68 and so full of energy I never thought I could have. I had mine on 12/17/14 doen from 274 to 145 went from 3x to size 12. Yes every bit worth it. Best to all.

#69I have to say I never in my wildest dreams thought I would fit into a size 6 Petite pair of jeans, but yup, went shopping and 8's were too big. Amazing though.. My BMI still says I am Obese at 31.5! Makes no sense to me! Who sets these numbers! I have to go from obese to overweight before I am normal range! Really, is normal a size zero for heaven's sake! I am a grandma (age60) wearing size 6. Couldn't be happier and I will just ignore the BMI stats! Yeah really!
I like my curves.

I'm 62 and had rny on 1/12/2016. I'm still taking pain meds but it's getting better thankfully.

I'm 61 and had RNY on Dec 1. I'm feeling great--it's only been 12 days. I lost 22 pounds so far with pre-diet and post surgery loss. Woohooo! I also have 3 grandkids and want to be around for them. I also have a disabled adult daughter and NEED to be around a long time to help her as well. Lots of reasons. I have no regrets with the surgery yet. I hope I don't ever have regrets!

Hey Everyone,
I'm 61 and had vSG on May 15th 2015. I've lost 68 lbs and am approaching my goal. I never post on the 60s forum because it seemed that there wasn't much happening here. I'm glad to find its not true! I'll be 62 in March and hoping to reach my goal by then. There's a lot of strength and wisdom in this group- let's keep posting and encouraging each other!

It's been a long time in posting anything. Had my by pass 6/21/15, the by pass itself was successful, but ran into problems. My colon was stapled and I ended up in the hospital for 21 days. Now,6 months away and I feel terrific. I ended up with snowstorms bag for 4 months as my colon healed. Total of 36 days in the hospital from 3 different surgerys. Would I do it again, yes in a minute. I've had surgery to remove the bag and retook up my insides and feel wonderful. Am inFlorida now recoooperating. I walk 3 - 5 miles a day and have no regrets!

I had my surgery about 10 months ago at age 60. Lost 146 pounds from my highest weight. Was at a party last night and caught a glimpse of my full reflection and thought, maybe for the first time ever, 'damn I look good". My motivation was health not looks but damn I am looking good.

I agree with dhrguru. If you haven't had a recent blood workup ask your surgeon or PCP to order one.

It can be done. I am not saying you can't use supplements, but that you don't necessarily have to.
Not everyone has access to Protein shakes and supplements like we do in the U.S.

I am three months out and still supplement my food with Protein. I make sure to have a lot of variety. chocolate and vanilla whey powder and Silk (or coconut milk) with a couple frozen strawberries blended in. Pro-ti has a nice variety of drinks, not shakes, such as lemonade, strawberry and kiwi, and orange as well as very tasty low sugar bars. Unjury is good but I burned out in them by week 4. I find the key is to have a variety ready, including shakes, drinks, and bars as well as boiled eggs, precooked grilled chicken and Jerky. I get my 60mg+ every day and have lost 90 pounds since surgery.

I think it would be abnormal to not be nervous. It is a very major decision. I had plenty of doubt myself but now am glad I got past it.

That is restriction. Your tummy is full or a piece of food is too big to go through. I usually force myself to get sick at that point. Rather that then the feeling of getting stabbed. Not fun....but yeah probably didnt chew well enough.

Don't forget calcium!

Those sound like serious issues, they do sound Vitamin deficiency related.
I have had a constant charlie horse feeling in my calf. I'm drinking Gatorade and eating a banana to try and counter it and today it doesn't feel as tight as it has been feeling.
Maybe getting some electrolyes/potassium could help you as well?
I hope it gets better