Thucydides

Congratulations, @@LittleBill! That is terrific work. You must feel great!

Things are going well for me. I am now 13 months out and about 4 lbs away from my initial goal weight of 240 lbs. I've done well enough that I am hoping to push things a little bit further and hit 220 lbs. I ran my first 5K on Thanksgiving and could not be happier with the changes that I have seen. The only downside I have discovered is that I spend a lot more on clothes now that I can pay attention to the "does it look good?" question rather than "can I fit it out over my enormous body?" question. I also continually amazed at how differently people treat me now, both strangers and people that I have known for years. I'm not sure whether feeling better about myself has changed how I act or whether people are nicer because I appear different. Keep up your great work, @@aggietop! It looks like you are doing terrific!

That is amazing progress, @SalOdyssey. Congratulations!

Congratulations, everyone, for the tremendous progress. It is inspiring to see! As for the bulging veins, I still have them in my legs at 1 year post-op, but they are much improved. I have also had bruising on my shins for years. That has improved, but still not completely resolved. My dr. is confident that the bruising will go away over time.

I started off with a small amount of walking, gradually upgraded to brisk walking. Now, my exercise is mostly kettlebell workouts, hiking, and brisk walking. In a couple of weeks, I will start krav maga. I don't think that there is any one exercise that works for everyone. The key is to find something that you like and that will keep you moving over the long-run.

The hormonal stuff hit me pretty hard for about the first 8 weeks or so post-op. Same thing, didn't really feel like doing much and I was randomly moody for no real reason (which is pretty atypical for me). After that, it lifted and I went back to my old self, but with more energy. If it continues to bother you, be sure to mention it to your doctor during follow-up. My sense is that the hormonal dumping effects can be really common.

Congrats, @@Justgotsleeved, on getting below 300 lbs. That is a big milestone! In terms of my weigh-ins, I'm a few weeks shy of my 1-year anniversary. My starting weight was 518 lbs. As of my weigh-in on Friday, my current weight is 255 lbs, so I'm down 263 lbs. I've essentially lost an NFL linebacker!

I'm 11 months post-op and hit a big milestone for me with this week's weigh-in. I'm down 261 lbs, which means that I now weigh less than half what I did when I started this process a year ago. I can't get over how different my life is now and how much better I feel. In less than 1 year, I have gone from having to park in a handicap space to hiking 7 miles purely for fun and enrolling in a krav maga class! Thanks to everyone on this forum for the helpful information and encouragement.

The first surgeon that I met flat out told me that I would "never be normal." That kind of irritated me, but pushed me to think differently about my goals. I know it sounds crazy, but over time my goal became less and less connected to how much weight I lost. Instead, my daily goal was to just stick with my exercise and food plan. Beyond that, my only other goal was to be able to be more active and to be able to buy clothes off of the rack. By just following that, the weight loss came on its own but I wasn't obsessed with my weekly weigh-ins or my total weight loss. That helped me avoid being frustrated if I lost too little weight in an individual week or avoid getting overconfident if I lost a lot of weight during a week. At 11 months out, I am happy that I am down 257 lbs, but more happy at how different I feel, move, and act.

I'm dealing with the same issue as well. I have tried using compression shirts, but have struggled to find any that are long enough that they cover my whole, elongated belly. @@DavidOso, have you found a particular compression shirt that works well?

I am nearly 1 year out from surgery, am happy with the progress that I'm making, and have stuck with each of my post-op surgeon visits since I had my surgery last November. Although I intend to go to my 1-yr post-op appointment, I am really beginning to question the value of continuing these appointments. I have not seen my surgeon since before my surgery, appointments have always with a PA or nurse practitioner. Because of problems with lab work being sent to an out of network lab, my post-op labs have all been done with my primary care physician since. The feedback on blood work from the nurse at the surgeon's office has been wrong on 2 separate occasions (ie; misreading lab results). My surgeon does not have an in-house dietitian, so I consult with a dietitian separately. For those who have been successful long-term, is there a benefit to long-term follow-ups with your surgeon's office that I am missing that should push me to continue visits with the surgeon's office rather than just continue follow-ups through my family doctor and dietitian?

Thanks, @#9grammy. That is what I have in mind to do.

@@SalOdyssey My average, since my surgery date, has been a little more than 5 lbs a week. My weightloss during an individual week has varied pretty substantially around that average. Early on, I lost a lot more. I have slowed a bit as I near my goal, but still have my ups and downs. I went through a 3-week period this month where I only lost 1 lb per week, despite lots of exercise and sticking with my calorie/carb/protein targets. I upped my calories and then dropped 5 lbs this week - weird! Your pre-surgery weightloss is really inspiring! Great work!

Congratulations, @Justgotsleeved. The best part of it all is that as great as you feel now, you will feel even better tomorrow!

I'm just about 10.5 months out and started with a BMI of 64. Today, I'm at a BMI of 33. I've worked hard and have more work to do, but it is all about sticking to the plan in terms of protein, carbs, and exercise. Follow the plan and good things will follow. I feel healthier now than I did when I was in college 20 years ago.

Thanks, @KristenLe. I'm giving bumping my calories up to 1200 this week a go to see how things shake out. I won't know until I weigh in on Friday, but I am already seeing that I am a good bit less tired after workouts, so you may be on to something.

Here is my update: I hit my 10-month post-op anniversary yesterday. I'm down 246 lbs from a starting weight of 518. I took my wife to a concert for the first time since surgery and I still have a hard time getting used to being a little more normal-sized. I still worry on whether a concert arena, theater, etc. will have seats that fit me. I have not gotten past the surprise when I actually fit into the seats. I'm really happy with how the weight loss has gone. I hit my first mini-stall since surgery a few weeks ago, only losing 1 lb three weeks ago, none the next week, and 1 lb this week, all while sticking with my eating plan (950 calories, 100 g Protein, <60g carbs) and exercising (hiking and kettlebells) an hour a day 5-6 days a week. I am torn on whether this is just a temporary lull, a sign that I need to change things up, or a sign that I may be approaching a weight where things will just move more slowly. I would like to get below the "obese" category for my BMI, but I am finding myself less fixated by the scale number than I thought that I would be.

Best of luck, @@Dap73! Forty pounds lost pre-op is great progress.

The Quest bars are my favorites, particularly the chocolate chip cookie dough ones. costco has some pretty similar Kirkland-brand ones that are a good bit cheaper than the Quest ones. Their macro nutrients are nearly identical to the Quest bars, they come in two flavors (cookie dough & chocolate brownie). They are a notch lower than the Quest bars in taste, but close enough that I switched to them for the savings.

I had the exact same thoughts as you before my surgery (November 2015). I could not fathom the possibility of losing such a large amount of weight. Now, almost 10 months later, I could not be happier that I did it. There were two things that I did not realize at first before the surgery. First, I kept thinking about the total lbs that I had to lose, which seemed impossible. I only realized after the surgery how much better I felt every week as I lost weight. I haven't reached my goal yet, but have felt better and been able to do more things with each 25 lbs that I lost. Second, I didn't realize how much more planning I had to do when I was heavier. I couldn't walk far, so I had to wonder if I could park close enough to where I needed to be. I couldn't fit in many chairs, so I had to wonder if there would be someplace suitable to sit when I went somewhere. I couldn't stand for more than 10 minutes without back pain and breaking out into a sweat. Flying was a nightmare. All of those worries are gone now, even before I have hit my goal. I don't really think about success or failure or even a number on a scale. I just judge things based on whether I can do the things that I want or not: travel, buy clothes off of the rack, go hiking, etc. If you take it day by day, follow the program, and keep with the exercise, it is completely worth it. It has changed my life. Best of luck to you.

My surgeon recommends Centrum Chewable Adults. I take one in the morning and one in the evening. They are not terribly expensive and my blood work has been good (9.5 months out so far).

I was feeling pretty good about the cardio and kettlebell workouts that I have been doing, but this is seriously impressive. Thanks for sharing.

I'm a little more than 9 mos out and am pretty happy with the progress that I have made and the good fortune that I have had in terms of avoiding major complications. I am continuing to struggle with some food aversions that are beginning to concern me and are making it difficult to eat a varied diet. It started with chicken, which the mere thought of eating is completely revolting to me. I'm also increasingly feeling that way now about things like shrimp and pork. All of these are things that I liked before surgery. Making matters worse, I have never really liked fish, so I'm starting to run low on types of meat that I can readily eat. I still consistently hit my daily Protein target, but that is largely with the help of things like Protein Bars, Greek yogurt, small amounts of cheese, and things like chili. I've mentioned this to my nutritionist, but she has not really had any advice apart from emphasizing the importance of eating a varied diet. Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Were you able to do anything to improve things?

Best of luck, @@Ignatius ! You will be amazed at how quickly the entire process from pre-op to surgery to post-op goes by now that you have the ball rolling. I'm 9 months out and my life is completely different, all to the good, now.

Today was my 8-month follow-up appointment with my surgeon. As chance would have it, today is also the day that I dropped below 300 lbs. At 518 less than a year ago, I could not have imagined it back then.