Afrikanaaa

About four months out my edges on the right side of my head thinned out really really bad.... I wore wigs or full sew-ins to hide it, but now I'm about a 15 months out and my edges are back.

About four months out my edges on the right side of my head thinned out really really bad.... I wore wigs or full sew-ins to hide it, but now I'm about a 15 months out and my edges are back.

I just wanted to chime in here. I don't come around much anymore. There's probably an old buried thread I started years ago about slow loss success stories somewhere around here.

I'm 7 years out next month. I lost about six pounds a month. I had months where I lost just two pounds. I had six week stalls followed by nine pounds off, then I'd bounce back up a few pounds. It took me 17 months to lose 107 pounds. I got pregnant six months later (on purpose) and in the year after I had my daughter, I lost that weight and went below my initial goal weight by another 17 pounds, bringing me to my final weight of 118 pounds today. I've been steady for 2.5 years.

Slow loss is frustrating but it's still loss. At times. Let's not lie - the stalls are agonizing. My body loved every bit of the weight and didn't want to give any up. I tried every trick in the book. The only thing that worked was being consistent. My body eventually gave in. I needed less calories than most people, I needed to eat some carbs, but I mostly needed to just keep plugging away.

The good thing is that I can promise you there is no expiration date on your sleeve. So it doesn't matter if you lose in a year or three. Just lose it. And live a better life for it.

You guys get the struggle. I never liked the whining bit, because it was always harder for me.

Good luck to you.

Cheri

Intermittent fasting has a lot of science behind it as a method of actually prolonging life! I do 5:2 intermittent fasting. I'm at goal and use it to maintain and to take off a few pounds after the holidays and such. I don't consider it a fad diet I consider it my way of life. Been doing it for 3 years now since reaching goal a year post op.

I'm over two years out and this is still something I have to deal with. I am at least thinking of what food I need to eat rather than what I want to eat though. I still stick to my weighed portions, but I am making sure that the food meets my macro requirement for the day. I was kind of hoping that it would be second nature to me by now, but it is very much a exercise in planning.

lots o good points,,, Im almost 3 years post op,,, and am looking into / trying I.F. not really for weight loss,,, but overall health,,,

I 16:8 fast with my best friend although I have been slipping on it lately because I have been gaming and just acting like I'm on Spring Break. I started it long before surgery.
We did it because we work from home, set our own hours and pretty often, stay up late. It was a way to cut out late night eating and in turn it stopped us from staying up until 2 or 3 am gaming. If you are hungry at midnight or 1am, you just go to bed if you can't eat.😂
I have never been the kind of person to eat when they wake up anyway. So not eating till noon works for me.
I drink coffee and Water until noon. It allows me to easily get my fluids in all morning. Then I eat every 2 hours basically till 8.
This is fine when I am at home all day working. It sucks when I am up and out doing things in the morning. It works for my lifestyle but if I had a regular 9 to 5 job I could never make it work.
If 16:8 is too hard, try 12:12. Almost every one fasts at least 8 hours a day because they are sleep so extending your fast a little longer isn't as dramatic as it sounds. There is a reason Breakfast is breakfast, because you are breaking your fast.

Like @BigViffer I pretty much think about good all the time. I plan and craft it so I can meet all my macros. If I didn't some days I wouldn't eat at all. I still don't have much of a physical appetite. I have to be very aware of food or I will just drink water and coffee all day and not eat.

Hey! Wanted to start this thread because when I was researching it I didn't see much information about intermittent fasting after weight loss surgery (especially vsg). But I'm a year and half out, not yet at goal, and was stalled for about 3 months. So I went to my bariatric nutritionist, showed her myfitnesspal logs (I track everything—even my workouts) and she told me to increase my Water and try to get back to 500. For me, trying to stay and function at that low of calories gave me really bad headaches and made me feel really weak. So, I went to my primary care for some direction. She suggested that I try intermittent fasting (while adhering to my bariatric caloric restrictions).

Basically, I eat my meals between 12 noon and 8pm, and drink nothing but water/tea (sometimes coffee) the rest of the day. I do 2 meals and a snack or 3 meals (3-4oz each), and it brings me right about 800 cals a day. I guess the "science" around it is giving your body 16 hours without eating to process the food you consumed.

I've been doing this for about 2 weeks and it's really kickstarted my weight loss again. I'm down 5lbs. I'm also able to drink more water (which some days I struggle with).
Just thought I'd share for any one else who needed to shake things up as well!

@BigViffer YES... My NUT is DEF not the brightest tool in the shed. [emoji23]
And I see what you mean about the fad-ish thing. A lot of the info I saw about ppl was very skewed to that. But how my Doc advised is easy enough to follow and it's working so i definitely plan on the 8-hour time block as my lifestyle. Still restricted. Maybe I just needed to spend less time thinking about eating? Lol

Jesus, your NUT sounds like an idiot. There is no way you can get all of the nutrients your body needs on 500 calories. Man, my NUT was clueless about anything but smoothie recipes but at lesat she wasn't trying to starve people.
As for the intermittent fasting, I believe it to be another fad diet. One of the reasons for my surgery was to never do those again. I track my intake and as long as I hit my macros, I'm good. However; If someone find that after 6 months the fasting works for them and they have committed to that being their lifestyle, more power to them all and congrats for finding an eating pattern that works!

Hey all! Checking in. How's the weight loss going? I'm having a weird issue because I gain muscle so fast the scale has been playing tricks on me. My legs are becoming super define (win) but the scale has me at the exact same weight though my dress size has changed. ☹️

It's been about 14 months since surgery for me. I've lost 65lbs, and went from a size 26 to a 14.

How's everyone else doing?

Love wig grip!
My hair thinned out for a long time. Now it's growing like fire. I have found I like wigs more than weave. Easier to be active with wigs you can just take them off, workout and put them back on

Go to your doctor ASAP, sounds like your gall bladder.

I think keeping track of your body fat percentage and lean mass is the best marker of progress. Which is why I like DEXA scans so much.
I'm doing great. I have been struggling during Lent since I have up meat. Protein Bars have made sick a few times. I am so excited for Easter! Back to all the meats. It has been a great learning experience and I have learned that the way I eat normally really works for me and I can never go Vegan or vegetarian like I had been considering. Too hard to eat right even with seafood included, no meat at all would be impossible. Oh well.
Culturally it is interesting to see how people react to me being so small now. I'm heavy in weight at 188 ish but I wear size 8s and 10, a 9 in juniors. So that is pretty small for a Black woman my age. My RNY associate has commented she would never want to be this small it isn't her ideal, lol, but when she first had surgery all she talked about was onederland then she got a man at 250 pounds and decided that was enough weight lost. Now she is back around 300 and borderline diabetic again. A good lesson about losing as much as you can for health and not just losing enough to meet a physical ideal. I liked being curvier, but I enjoy being healthy.
Just a few more pounds and I will have lost more than I weigh!

Don't use the scale as your only source of measuring. As you've said you have gone from a 26 to a 14 (12 inches btw) and you have more definition in your legs and soon the rest of your body. As long as you are feeling great and keep doing what you're doing you'll get to that goal, and be fit and healthy along the way.

Keep doing what you were doing in the beginning. The scale is a checking point if you are loving what you see don't let the scale mess with ur mind.

Hey all! Checking in. How's the weight loss going? I'm having a weird issue because I gain muscle so fast the scale has been playing tricks on me. My legs are becoming super define (win) but the scale has me at the exact same weight though my dress size has changed. ☹️

It's been about 14 months since surgery for me. I've lost 65lbs, and went from a size 26 to a 14.

How's everyone else doing?

I didn't really experiment in the soft phase. I lived off of Greek yogurt, babybel light cheese, mashed Beans, Protein Shakes and yogurt.

For the person that is pre-op right now wondering if this is really the right decision for you while you struggle with your insurance for coverage, I was you.
For the person that is recently post op and has a million and one questions, excitement mixed with regret and is scared to death to drink Bc of that weird, heavy and sometimes painful feeling, I was you.
For the person in the first 3 phases after the surgery struggling to get down their Protein, Water and Vitamins in.. or these vitamins, I was you.
To the person that is weighing themselves every day, twice a day and finds themselves stalled even though you are doing EVERYTHING right, I was you.
To the people on this journey that are learning more and more about themselves every day, finding the strength in will power and the empowerment of eating to live instead of living to eat, gaining back your confidence while on some days still struggling with poor self-consciousness, I am you.
This journey began for me 8 months ago, and what a journey thus far.. there has been struggling, feelings of defeat and many tears.. but I would do the VSG again in a heartbeat Bc I have my life back, I am no longer a prisoner in my body and I have grown so much as a person. People sometimes ask me if I have any regrets, the only "regret" that I have is that I didn't do this surgery sooner.
Wishing everyone on this journey (pre and post op) support, love, and light.
YOU CAN DO THIS!
Below is a pic I took the day of surgery August 24, 2016
Next to it is a pic that I took exactly 7 months post op on March 24, 2017
I'm down 68 pounds.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm 5 weeks out and 36lbs down. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing because it's working for me. Thank you though.

This was me until about month four, and idk if I ate my yogurt to quickly or was just reacting to the Ursodiol or something but I threw up and was sick for days.
I'm fine now. Closing in on 6 months. And haven't been sick since. But rejoice in not being sick now but be aware that throwing up and dumping can happen at any time. Listen to your body.

I feel your pain! I've been stalled for 3 weeks now. Prior to this I was stalled for 2 weeks but then suddenly lost 5lbs over night. I think we just have to keep the calories, keep the Protein up, keep drinking Water and ride the stall out. This time next year we won't even remember that we were complaining today. Lol

I feel your pain! I've been stalled for 3 weeks now. Prior to this I was stalled for 2 weeks but then suddenly lost 5lbs over night. I think we just have to keep the calories, keep the Protein up, keep drinking Water and ride the stall out. This time next year we won't even remember that we were complaining today. Lol

I feel your pain! I've been stalled for 3 weeks now. Prior to this I was stalled for 2 weeks but then suddenly lost 5lbs over night. I think we just have to keep the calories, keep the Protein up, keep drinking Water and ride the stall out. This time next year we won't even remember that we were complaining today. Lol

I feel your pain! I've been stalled for 3 weeks now. Prior to this I was stalled for 2 weeks but then suddenly lost 5lbs over night. I think we just have to keep the calories, keep the Protein up, keep drinking Water and ride the stall out. This time next year we won't even remember that we were complaining today. Lol