catwoman7

yep - sounds like the infamous "three week stall" that happens to probably 90% of us. If you do a search on this site for it, you'll find over 17,000 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding. just stick to your plan and stay off your scale for a few days. It typically lasts 1-3 weeks. But it WILL break and you'll be on your way again...

oh sorry - I didn't catch that you're six months out. Yes - if it were related to surgery, it probably would have stabilized by now.

a lot of women experience screwed up cycles the first few weeks or months after surgery because of extra estrogen (or so they say...). Estrogen is stored in fat cells, so it's released during rapid weight loss. For most people, it'll eventually stabilize. However, with your medical history and various meds, your situation may be more complicated than that.

my program didn't talk about calories at all, but I know a lot of people seem to eat in the 600-800 calorie range for most of the first year (after the first month or two, of course - when it's usually lower). HOWEVER, I'm hearing more about programs who want their patients to eat more like 1000-1200 pretty early on, so what your dietitian is recommending is not unheard of. I think it has to do with metabolism or something. Or being less restrictive from the get-go so people are more likely to stick to it and/or not have as much of a regain or something (I haven't paid much attention to the rationale since I'm pretty far out - I just know this has come up before on this site). Anyway, ask her.

I'm 6.5 years out. This is NOT easy. I was very successful with it, but it is NOT easy. I struggle to maintain my weight every day.

I agree with NovaLuna - most surgeons don't do it, and most insurance companies don't cover it. So that's the primary reason, I'm guessing. My surgeon (and my insurance company) only do/approve sleeve or bypass.

I had the regular gastric bypass - not mini - and I had two strictures early on. They're minor and an easy fix (just saying this because you said you were glad you didn't have strictures -- but they're really a pretty minor complication and easily fixable)

whoop - sorry! I thought it was the OP's post. I saw ExLax in there and just knew I had to respond, so I wasn't paying attention to whose post it was. Thanks for clarifying - I"m glad to hear you're not taking it every day!

my first Thanksgiving post-op I brought pumpkin-flavored Greek yogurt with me to eat while everyone else was having pumpkin pie. You could even put a dollop of light or sugar free Cool Whip on it. To be honest, I think I enjoyed that as much as I would have the pumpkin pie!

I didn't eat bread the first year or two after surgery (for the record, I'm 6.5 years out). Now I have it occasionally, but when I do, I usually eat this 35-calorie-a-slice bread I get at Aldi's. A lot of bread products sit in my stomach like a brick, so I can't eat much of them. Plus bread isn't all that nutritious and we have tiny stomachs, so I try to eat mostly nutrition-dense foods to make the most of my stomach space. I can eat maybe five French fries. I can't tolerate much fat anymore. I didn't eat a fry for at least a year after surgery - maybe two. for your second question, you'll lose weight because you'll be eating much less than you did before surgery. I used to be able to eat half a large pizza at one sitting. Now I can eat 1-2 pieces at one sitting. Exercise helps somewhat, but I've read in several places that 80-90% of weight loss is due to reduced food intake, not exercise. Of course, exercise is wonderful for you in many ways - it's just not the main factor in weight loss. Diet is.

talk to your PCP or surgeon. Chronic constipation is VERY common after both RNY and VSG, and you have to keep on top of it (many of us take Miralax, magnesium tablets, etc every day). Since those don't work for you, you'll have to find something that will. ExLax might be OK for very occasional use, but not every day since it's very harsh and you can develop dependence on it to boot. Check with a doctor - they can probably recommend or prescribe something that'll work for you AND that you can take consistently.

ditto what Hop Scotch said. A 10-20 lb gain after you hit your lowest weight is VERY common. It's not inevitable, but it seems to happen to most of us. It's just your body settling in at a weight it wants to be (a "set point"). Of course, you can always go lower, but it'll take effort if this is indeed your new "set point". I know - I first gained 10 lbs that I was actually happy about since I'd gotten too low, but these last 10 lbs I am NOT happy with. It's a constant battle. But it can be done...

slight weight gains when you're in or near maintenance are very common, but I'd try to get ahead of that because it could start getting out of control if you're not careful. It's way easier to lose 5 or 10 lbs than it is to lose 50. I've been in maintenance for about five years now, and I allow myself a few lbs of fluctuation, but when my weight gets up to my "oh crap" number, I spring into action. It's all hands on deck until I'm safely back in range. If 172 is comfortable for you, maybe have 180 as your "oh crap" rate? (just a suggestion - you could make it anything). To get back down, just really buckle down and make sure you're following all the rules until you're safely back down to where you want to be. note that a 10% gain (10-20 lbs for most of us) is VERY common after you hit your lowest weight. It usually happens during year 3, but then, you lost your weight very quickly, so you're likely already in maintenance even though it's only been a year (and congrats, by the way!! That's an impressive loss!!). That 10-20 lb gain is not inevitable, but it seems to happen to the vast majority of us without much "effort" on our part. I think it's just your body settling in at a weight it wants to be (not saying that you're doomed to stay there - with effort, you can get lower - but our bodies do seem to want to settle in at some "set point" - unfortunately, my "set point" is about six lbs more than I want to be, so it's a constant struggle!!)

that price is insane. I bet I spend $10-20 a month tops. I just get a bunch of drug store vitamins. If you have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), they may cover vitamins if your clinic writes them up as a prescription and says they're medically necessary (which for WLS patients, they are...)

I didn't have any complications - but sorry to hear that you did and hope you're on the mend soon...

statistically, people tend to lose more weight with the bypass, but then, a statistic is a statistic. With either surgery, you'll find people who lose more or less than the statistical average. You'll find plenty of sleevers who do better than average - losing 80%, 90%, or even 100% of their excess weight. It really depends on the individual. By working at it hard and following the rules, you'll likely do much better than average - and do just as well as you would have had you had the bypass.

I could walk right away (even before I left the hospital) at 4 weeks out, I was cleared to do everything except for weights at 8 weeks out, I was cleared for weights

I mostly walked and did water aerobics the first few months, because at my weight at that point, they were the easiest things for me to do.

1) you've hit the infamous three week stall. Happens to probably 90% of us. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. It'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again. It usually lasts 1-3 weeks (that "gain" is likely just water weight) 2) yes - fluids go right through you. Some people have a hard time getting them down, but I never did. I didn't drink any differently than I did before surgery. Your stomach will tell you if you're going too fast.

no two ways about it - pre-op diets are tough. You just have to white knuckle it. It gets better by the 3rd or 4th day when your body goes into ketosis (or at least it does for most of it). I thought the pre-op was the worst part of the whole thing - I was actually relieved the morning I checked in for surgery because I knew the pre-op diet was OVER!!!

I had one. It was very helpful. I weighed 146 lbs at the time and wanted to see how much more I could lose. The tech said - "none - you're already at 22% body fat - so you're already there!". I wouldn't have known that otherwise since i had a lot of excess skin that I assumed was fat - but nope!

it's the infamous three week stall. Happens to about 90% of us. If you do a search on this site for the "three week stall" (it's so common it even has a name), you'll find over 17,000 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding. just stick to your plan and stay off the scale. And know that it'll eventually break and you'll be on your way again. It typically lasts 1-3 weeks.

happens to about 90% of us. If you do a search on this site for the "three week stall" (yes, it's so common it even has a name), you will find over 17,000 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding. just stick to your plan and stay off the scale for a few days - and know that it will eventually break and you'll be on your way again. It usually lasts 1-3 weeks.

I"m not sure if I've ever heard that (but I've been hanging out on this and other boards for about seven or eight years, so it may have come up and I'd just forgotten). I never had that issue. And now that I've lost all that weight, I rarely even break a sweat!

it slows down as time goes on. Once I got to within 20 lbs or so of a normal BMI, it slowed to a crawl - like 2 lbs a month.