lsheshequin

I enjoyed reading your post and totally empathize with the stresses that you have experienced since your surgery. I am coming up on my 2 yr anniversary (May 11th) and am also not where I'd like to be. Reflecting on things I realize that I've also had some major life changes (a new, more stressful job, the sudden death of my father) and with the stress comes the old habit of emotional eating. I'm really trying to get back on track...but it's so hard! I hope things get better for you (and me). Good luck. [emoji846]

At this time last year I was just waking up in recovery and weighed in at about 245lbs. My highest recorded weight was 255lbs. Today I am 168lbs. I still haven't reached my goal of 150lbs but I am happier just the same. I had no complications and have been able to eat pretty much anything (in moderation) as long as I do it slowly. I still struggle with crunchy, salty Snacks - definitely my number 1 vice. I've been exercising regularly and have so much more energy. The shopaholic in me loves being able to shop in pretty much any store now...my wallet not so much. Just gotta find a way to buckle down and say goodbye to those last 15-20lbs.

Hi there, I'm in Thunder Bay, ON. I had my orientation/intake appointment at the Bariatric Centre here in December 2014. I had RNY surgery on May 11, 2015 so I'm coming up on my 1 yr anniversary. I'm down 80lbs and about 20 lbs from my goal weight. I've stalled for about 6 wks now, but that is entirely my doing - haven't been as diligent with my diet lately. I had no complications and I'm much happier since having the surgery.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I feel great - like I'm fully alive now! @@Cervidae - my cravings are SO strong and I give in more than I care to admit. ☹. I try to distract myself by doing things around the house like cleaning out a closet or doing laundry. I just finished an apple even though I REALLY wanted a bag of popcorn that my son has stashed in the cupboard! That's a victory I guess. Sometimes though, I just go to bed for the night rather than stay up and munch or agonize about munching...sigh...here's hoping that one day it'll get easier.

I think mine qualifies as a success story . Yesterday was my 9 mth surgiversary and I am now at 169 lbs. That's a total loss of 82lbs from my HW, and 70lbs from my SW. My weight loss has been a slow but steady 1-2 lbs per week since November, and as long as it's coming off I'm ok with that. I still struggle with evening snacking (crunchy, salty snacks) but I've met with my dietitian and psychologist (both members of my bariatric team) and they've given me some good strategies for working on that. I've joined a gym and work with a personal trainer 2-4x per week and I'm finally starting to see some good results with that. Hopefully I can reach my goal of 150lbs by mid-summer. The pic below shows me at my heaviest and CW yesterday.

Hi there! I'm from Ontario (way up north in Thunder Bay) too! In a few days I'll be 7 months post-op (RNY). I had my surgery here in Thunder Bay and had no complications. So far I've lost 74 lbs in total (about 8 of those were during the pre-op Optifast phase). I've been struggling a little for the last couple of weeks - not eating more, but making bad choices as to what I'm eating (CARBS!). Thanks to the support of the TBay Bariatric Centre and my personal trainer I feel like I am back on track. This site is another fantastic support. Hearing how others struggle and meet their challenges makes me feel not so alone, and the success stories are a great inspiration & motivation! Good luck to you on your journey!

I've really been struggling for the last 2-3 weeks. I had RNY on May 11/15. As of today I am 178 lbs, down from 250 lbs (72 lbs). At 5 & 1/2 months out I feel I should have lost a little more. My weight loss has been quite slow since about the beginning of August. Today I finally came out of a 3 week stall. However, I know that the slowed weight loss is entirely my doing. My appetite has definitely returned and I have been making bad choices quite regularly over the last month or so. I do fairly well during the day, although I have had a slice of pizza more often than I should. However, it's mainly the evenings that are my downfall. After the kids are in bed and chores are done I end up snacking and the Snacks have changed from veggies & fruit to chips, pretzels, popcorn...anything salty and crunchy! I know it's not wise and everyday I tell myself today I won't succumb to the cravings...but I really feel like I'm losing the battle. I truly don't want to screw this up but it's so hard! I've recently joined a gym and have a personal trainer who requires that I keep a food journal but even that doesn't seem to be helping! I am due to see my nutritionist as well as the bariatric centre's psychologist in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping that they will have some support and tools to offer. I just don't know how to wire my brain to keep the motivation. Feeling so down.

The stories and photos are all so inspiring - thanks for sharing! On Sunday I hit 5 months post-op. So far I'm down 71 lbs from my HW of 250 lbs. In the first couple of months I lost quickly, but since the beginning of August the rate has slowed to 1-2 lbs a week. Guess I'll have to live with that. At least they're not going up! I've just added exercise to my life so maybe that will speed things up a little again. Either way, I am very happy to be where I am now and look forward to a longer, happier life!

So on Sunday I hit 5 mths post-op. Overall, it's going ok. I'm down 71 lbs total, 60 from my surgery date. Some days I can really feel the difference, other days not so much. I've always been a bit of a shopaholic - that has definitely been more fun lately. Although, after having shopped in the plus sizes for so long I'm still trying to find my way around "stylistically." I constantly worry about overeating and stretching my pouch. Some days I really have to be mindful and not allow myself to eat over 1 cup of food, and feeling like I could eat more. Other days, a 1/2 cup of whatever and I'm stuffed. Kinda weird. I wish that would stabilize a bit. I've been taking pics on the 11th of each month as a visual gauge for myself. This is something that I really need do to keep myself on track I think. While I see some difference, I would be lying if I said I didn't wish it was more noticeable. The first pic on the left is me at my HW of 250 lbs, the middle pic is 3 mths out at about 195 lbs, and the one on the right is last night at my current weight of 179 lbs. I apologize for posting pics so often, lol. Wishing everyone a great journey!

I also have the Mirena IUD. Up to surgery my periods were extremely light, usually only 1-2 days in length, and only every 3 months or so. Of course as luck would have it, I got my period the day of my surgery! But then, I had light, breakthrough periods every 2-3 weeks after surgery. I'm about 4 and 1/2 months post-op now and everything seems to have calmed down again - haven't had any bleeding for about 3 weeks now so I'm hoping it's all gone back to normal. I was alarmed at first but it is definitely due to the changes in hormones associated with rapid weight loss.

So I just joined a "health facility." My physical fitness level is non-existent so I'm anxious to see how this turns out. The only form of exercise that I truly enjoy is cycling (real bikes not stationary) or swimming (in lakes not chlorinated pools). But because I'm from the Great White North (Canada) where we have winter for like 6 months a year, cycling is limited, as is swimming in lakes. The gym I joined is a little pricey, but it comes with a personal trainer which I really think I need as I don't do well with "doing it yourself" initiatives - especially when it comes to personal life matters. Given the fact that I work full-time, have 3 kids (ages 6, 4 & 3) and my husband works out of town M-F, I'll be happy to get in 2 weekday lunch hour sessions, and 1 weekend session when hubby is home. My first session is on Wednesday! Deep breath, "I can do this"...should be interesting!

Hi there, I had surgery on May 11/15. I am down 67 lbs in total (from highest weight), 59 lbs from surgery weight. I too feel like I should be down lower. I'm now at 183lbs and very happy to be under 200 but over the last 6 wks or so I've only been losing 1-2 lbs a week. Seems like a snail's pace! However, I know the total amount down also depends on your starting weight. My highest weight was 250lbs. I've noticed that the members on here who have lost more/quicker also seemed to be at a higher starting weight. Anyways, I'd be happy to exchange updates. Lately I've been struggling with an old vice - salty snacks! Think I need to go on a liquid diet for a couple of days or something to get it out of my system!?

4 months and 65 lbs down. Slowly getting there!

I've been on Celexa for 8 years. My surgeon did not advise me to stop and the surgery went ahead as planned. The only caution I was given was to be on the lookout for the possibility of it not working as effectively post-op due to the malabsorption issue. If that was the case then my dosage would've needed to be tweaked. Thankfully, the surgery hasn't seemed to have impacted anything so far (4 months post-op)!

So on Friday I hit 4 months post-op. I have lost 64 lbs so far. I wish it would come off a little faster but I'm so happy to be where I am right now - haven't been below 200 lbs since I don't know when. I didn't take a pic right before surgery but the first one is taken at my highest weight. The split pic is at 2 months post-op and today. I'm really hoping that it's true that slow and steady wins the race!

I am 4 mths post-op today (RNY) and I have absolutely no regrets. Within about 2-4 weeks before my surgery I got a major case of second thoughts, and even spoke to my bariatric team about possibly cancelling. They didn't try to sway me either way, just laid out the facts/statistics (again). I am so happy that I decided to go through with it. I was lucky, I had no complications and have only had one episode of "dumping" so far. As of today I am down 65 lbs and I feel fantastic! I am honestly happier than I've been in a long time. Everyday feels like another chapter in a new life just waiting to be discovered! Ultimately the decision is yours but know that there are so many successes and new found lives out there thanks to WLS.

I also can't stand Protein shakes (the premade ones), and used the unflavoured protein which I added to foods and also used when making my own protein smoothies. There are many high protein smoothie recipes to be found online - I would suggest you go a Google search. Early on (i.e. 3-4 wks post-op) I gave up on the store-bought, premade protein shakes and turned to Protein Bars instead - the chewy, brownie consistency kind, not ones with lots of nuts. I discussed this with my nutritionist at the time and she said that as long as they were going down alright they were a good alternative to the shakes. Atkins and Pure Protein are a couple of brands I can think of off hand. I also ate a lot of eggs and peanut or almond butter early on. Good luck!

Yesterday was my 3 month surgery anniversary. Overall I'm happy with the results so far - down 55 lbs and 2-3 sizes. ???? The scale tells me I've lost weight, and so do my clothes, but when I look in the mirror I still see the same old, pre-op me most of the time. Weird.

I've been losing hair for the last 3 was or so (I'm 13 was post-op). It seems to be an all over kind of thing for me - no patches that I can see. I have a thick head of hair so I'm not too concerned - I went through the same kind of hair loss postpartum with all 3 of my pregnancies and when it was all said and done my hair grew back in just fine. Hopefully it's no different this time.

I tried Pasta at about 6 weeks and the discomfort was not worth the taste for me. I'm at 12 wks now and haven't re-tried it. But at 6 weeks I was adding a lot more to my diet, scrambled egg with some melted cheese (not process) on top, tuna or egg salad on melba toast or saltine crackers, and bits of meat thoroughly chewed. Cream and pea or bean Soups also sat well in my tummy. My dietitian ok'd all of these items. Good luck!

In the first 6-8 weeks it was definitely a challenge to eat anything more that 1/4-1/2 cup at a time. Now that I'm 12 (almost 13) wks out I am up to about 3/4-1 cup at each meal. I'm Canadian and had my rny surgery via a bariatric centre where I live. It has a whole team that has supported me throughout the process, and my dietitian has assured me that my intake amount is right on track. She stresses that when eating, the focus should be on getting the Protein consumed first. So I do just that. I've been eating a lot of peanut & almond butter lately, lol. I also love cheese so I try to have some of that everyday too. Tuna is something else I've been enjoying. My dietitian said that at this point any deficiencies from not being able to eat any or very little veggies & fruits should be balanced out by the daily multi-Vitamins and calcium/Vitamin D supplements that I've been prescribed to take. I stopped drinking the protein shakes (powder & liquid) at about 3 weeks because I couldn't find any that I liked. I then focused on Protein Bars (the soft, brownie consistency kind, not ones with nuts) and ate about 1/2 a bar at a time. Again, my dietitian said this was fine as long as they were sitting in my tummy fine. Now that I'm further along I make my own protein shakes using unflavoured Protein Powder. There are quite a few good recipes online - I just googled "high protein smoothies for gastric bypass surgery". One of my faves has soy chocolate milk, protein powder, 1/2 banana, 2 tbsp. Peanut Butter & ice. I admit that I don't really keep track of my protein count so I may be falling short. I have my 3 month follow up in a couple of weeks, and just went to get my bloodwork done for that this morning. So I'll be finding out where all of my levels are at - hopefully all is good!

BTW, just noticed that we have almost the same starting stats - weight, height & BMI. Let me know if you'd like to keep in regular contact.

I did cream of mushroom and cream of chicken (Campbell's) without any problems. On the recommendation of my dietitian, I mixed in a scoop of unflavoured Protein powder to them to help push up my protein intake numbers. Slow and easy was key for me - 30 minutes to eat 1/4 cup! Good luck!

I didn't do very many Protein shakes post -op simply because I couldn't stomach the way they tasted (either premixed liquid ones or "homemade" ones using powder) in the early stage. At about week 3 I simply gave up on them and started eating Protein Bars - not ones laden with nuts, but the softer, chewier (brownie consistence) ones. I just made sure they were low sugar (i.e. less than 5 g per serving) and I ate them slowly (starting with only 1/2 at a time) and they sat in my tummy fine. I discussed this with my dietitian at my 4 wk appt. and she said that was fine. I was also adding unflavoured Protein powder to whatever food I could (Soups, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, etc.) which she advised was an important thing to do. Another good add-in is non-fat powdered milk - gives a protein boost. I'm at 12 wks now and can do some protein shakes/smoothies depending on the ingredients. If you have a blender, I would google low sugar protein smoothies - there's quite a few that are tasty even with the protein powder added in.