31nites

@hermione53
I lost all my weight with walking for the most part for the first 9 months. I added in Yoga, I did CrossFit for a little while (really just to meet men), and I do weights at home. I found I can't do a lot of really vigorous exercise because I can't eat enough calories to support it, plus it stresses my body out and I cling to weight (everyone is different so you have to do what works for you). Walking 2-5 miles a day is enough to lose weight.
Anything that is really going to make you sweat or burn a lot of calories before 6 months is pretty dicey imo. Just because you can't drink Water fast enough to replace it and you are still healing and it is hard to get enough calories in to support an increased calorie deficit cause by exercise beyond the deficit you are already running because of decreased intake.
If you want to do something intense I think you should wait until you can consume at least 1200 calories a day and drink water at a pretty decent pace. That is going to vary for everyone.
Dr Matthew Weiner is a bariatric Dr I respect. One things he talks about is working out and injuring yourself, you end up back tracking. So instead of having your normal level of activity, now you are hurt so not only are you not exercising, you also are not doing your normal level of activity just moving around the house or the office. At Minute 8:57 he talks about injury.
I think being active is really important, but I think people can lose a lot of weight with walking, something simple. It has a lot of benefits and if you like that is great. I hate being inside, I will run, walk, play any sport, swim, anything if I am outside. I can't stand being in a Gym longer than an hour, but I will walk outside 10 miles at a time. So you have to find what you like.
The goal in the first 6 months should be healing and learning your sleeve, not burning calories to the max.
I hate personal trainers too. LOL I'll never pay for one, and most of them look like they need trainers themselves. I lost my weight with Keto and walking with a little yoga tossed in here and there. I think you will like what Dr Weiner has to say, I hope you watch the whole video.

Edited to Add: I am watching this video now. I love this guy. I have never heard of him until this video. He is right and I like his logic. I need go walking before it gets dark but I am going to watch this whole thing and reply. What he saying about fat brain and skinny brain is totally right. He might be my new Dr crush, lol.

@@Foursmom that's great! We have similar stats. Can I ask how long it took you to get to 160 and how old you are?
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I started the process on my own as well. All I had to do was attend a seminar for 3 hours to get everything started. What I'm saying is that in order for Medicaid to "pay" for the surgery a letter from your PCP along with everything else stated above is required. They will give you a checklist when you go to your appt or seminar letting you know what is needed.
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My insurance paid for a complete Tummy Tuck, with the exception of the reconstruction of my belly button because that was not considered medically necessary, so I paid $2,200 for a belly button :-)

Oprah lies!!!!!!! She has a personal chef, a personal trainer and still after all these years she battles weight!! She says "I eat bread everyday!" Well did you maybe think she eat a bite of bread not the whole loaf???? Besides she bought stock in weigh watcher's and I guarantee she will put that 40lbs back on as 80!!
Here is something that might help in your food addiction. Look for the movie called "Hungry for Change". It is on Netflix. Also after you watch it start watching other types of films like it. It will help to change your perspective on the food that you are craving. And if you can change the way you see that food, you can change the addiction. I know it's hard, but watch the movies and they will help.good luck and I am sending you good positive energy !! Huggsss!!

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Afternoon all!
I'm writing this on a super awesome day: my one-year post op date! This day last year, I weighed 387 pounds and was in recovery after my bypass. This day two years ago, I weighed 450 pounds and saw very little hope of making it past 30. Today I am 207 pounds and perfectly healthy. How times change.
I've learned so, so much in the last two years since I started down this road towards health and happiness. Some of the things I learned were tough lessons, some of them were illuminating and freeing, but all of them together have brought me here. "Here" is a place I never in a million years thought I could be. "Here" is an entirely different Abby, an Abby I thought was sort of a childish dream, or maybe a fairy-tale I told myself to comfort myself during the painful years I spent being obese and incredibly unhappy and uncomfortable.
I still struggle every day with the person I was, the person I am, and the person I am becoming. I struggle to regain my self-image, and to regain an understanding of who I am outside and inside. I struggle with the social and emotional changes that have happened since my surgery, namely the way that people suddenly treat me like a human being because I am no longer painfully obese. I struggle to forgive the cruelty that I experienced at the hands of so, so many people, including my own family and friends. Including myself. I struggle with food cravings occasionally, and with the gravity of the change my personality and habits have gone through. I struggle with that tiny voice of fear in the back of my mind that tells me I couldn't possibly keep this goodness up. I struggle not to compare myself to others and I struggle to keep clothes on my back as I continue to drop sizes. Every day is a struggle.
Every day is also a miracle. I would do this again, and again, and again... forever if I needed to, if it would bring me back here every time. This road has been a little bitter, a lot of sweet, and a wilder ride than I could have possibly imagined or prepared for.
And it ain't over yet!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you here who have been a part of this journey with me, whether you realized it or not. Thank you to all the vets who slapped some sense into me and the kind strangers who listened during times when my anxiety was out of control or when I was feeling so bad about myself that I felt hopeless. You all share a little piece of my victory with me. I wouldn't be here without you and the enormous host of other people outside of this site who have supported me and encouraged me and been proud of me the whole way. THANK YOU. I have a life now, and a future that simply did not exist for me two years ago.
I am ecstatic to be able to share these pictures and my progress with you all today. I love you all.
<3 Cervidae (Abby)
Stats!
Starting weight: 450 lbs
Surgery weight: 387 lbs
Current weight: 207 lbs
Weight lost since surgery: 180 lbs
Overall weight lost: 243 lbs
Jean sizes lost: 20 (size 34 to size 14)
Waist inches lost: 28 in
Hips inches lost: 35 in
Neck inches lost: 4 in
Shoe size lost: 1.5 sizes

So...4 months out and (almost) 4 stones down...the before and after photos are at 3 stone off, I look SO different again, just need to take a pic.

I have lost 12 inches off my waist and 14 off my 'mum tum' (its flabby flap has gone from 3 inches of sag to under 1/2)

I am lighter than my other half...therefore no longer the heaviest in the house *high 5*

I have lost the combined weight of my 4 year old, the cat and 2 of our hens

I buy a UK size 16 off the peg (previously a 22)

I have just applied for and got a job which I wouldn't have dreamed of even applying for 5 months ago...start tomorrow eek!

My 4 teens are super proud of my new look and (though they aren't consciously doing it) are actively spending more time with me around their friends...and my 4 year old is thrilled with my new energy levels.

I'm away to take climbing instruction and have joined 2 groups to learn that and ukulele...and am involved with sorting a 20yr reunion for my high school (a stark contrast from my previous very anti-social self)

I have legs...really nice ones...I have always totally viewed them as my worst asset and had no idea that these shapely beings existed beneath my previous tree trunks.

My boobs are no longer my best asset...this really worried me pre-op as I was massively defined by them...you know what??? I don't care (and neither does he)!

I can go buy vintage clothes...and they fit...and they look amazing (hand knitted 70s dress from a charity shop is my absolute favourite buy)

The skin looseness is nothing like I thought it would be

Learning that food is fuel and not enjoyable is hard and the mental process behind it isn't a nice one...but the feeling of accomplishment helps more than I could have ever believed!

I love yoga!

This is the best investment I have ever made in myself...I am just so, so happy! yes...there are negatives, but they are far outweighed by all the zillions of good stuff :D

I have NHP with mass health and didn't have to do the 6 month weigh ins and gained 14 pounds and had no issues at all.

Mine was about three months From start to finish
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Vomiting and GERD -- I haven't had any
Pro's and con's -- first time in my life I am at a normal weight, which means my life has changed entirely. No real cons except (1) it's major surgery, so that does mean a period of pain and tiredness after as you recover; and (2) some people find themselves unable to tolerate certain types of food after. I can't/don't eat bread anymore or anything carbonated.
Advice -- you have to be ready and want to build an entirely new relationship with food. Food will no longer be your comfort, your entertainment, your stress relief, your way of celebrating holidays or family. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it though. You have to be willing to work hard at weight loss and weight maintenance for the rest of your life (I'm deadly serious about that). You have to be willing to accept the possibility that you radically change the kind of food you eat for the rest of your life. Don't kid yourself into thinking this surgery means you eat three bites of pancakes for Breakfast, one mini-cheeseburger for lunch, a Snickers fun bar for a snack, and a twinkie for dinner with a side of a couple french fries. Doesn't work like that. If you are like most of us, those types of foods are either entirely or very largely excised from our lives completely if we want to be successful in losing weight and keeping the weight off.
Small portions for the first month? I didn't have any "portions" for the first month. My plan called for liquids for the first month post-op.
After that I was allowed to move to pureed high Protein foods for four weeks. Portion size there was 1.5 ounces weighed or 3 tablespoons measured. This was more than enough, believe me.
After that I moved to soft foods for four months and my mandated size for each of my three daily meals was 3 ounces. I could rarely eat that much though.
I am now 3.5 years post op and can eat about 5 ounces per meal, depending on what is in the meal. I still focus on high protein, low carb eating in order to maintain my weight loss (over 200 lbs).
I don't know that there are stats or averages for weight loss in the first month. The first month post-op, your body does some insane things trying to recover from the trauma of surgery. Healing and getting used to a new way of relating to food should be your focus in the first month post op, not how fast you are losing. All that said, I would think anywhere from 8 - 25 lbs is a reasonable expectation for first month loss for someone your size. Focus on the lower end of that and if you lose more, let yourself be surprised and happy. Good luck in your decision!

At first I got the Centrum chewable Vitamins but then at a support group meeting someone told me about Celebrate multi 3 in 1 Vitamin mix that you can mix with Water so you can your Water at the same time as your Vitamins.
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I decided when I began my six-month, insurance-required diet program that I was going to work to lose as much weight as possible before the surgery. I followed a low-carb/high protein/high healthy fat diet (less than 20 grams of carbs per day -- most days less than 15 grams), starting at 2000 calories per day and whittling down to 1800, 1500, and settling at 1200 calories per day for the last 3 months of the 6.
I weighed 397 pounds (at 6'0") on March 21, and I lost 99 pounds by the day of surgery on September 28, weighing 298 when they wheeled me back to the OR. But even better than the weight loss itself, I re-established my relationship with food and got myself in the mindset to be successful post-op.
It is the very best thing I ever did for myself, and I am convinced that it was partially responsible for my almost seamless recovery and my continued weight loss post-op. (I've stayed low carb throughout my food stages post-op, and I've lost 34 pounds since the surgery for a 133 pound loss total.)
Take advantage of this time and get started now. You will not regret it!!
Good luck!

I am so happy today I was sleeved this time last year on this day at 387 pounds and felt like I was headed to my death bed if I didn't make some changes. This is by far the best decision I have ever made for myself. I hit onederland (199) today as well and have surpassed all of my surgeons expectations. That is a total weight loss of 188 pounds and from a size 32 to a 14 in 1 year never thought I would see the scale for myself under 200 again. I feel great I exercise everyday and I am not dying of starvation! LOL! The best part is I think for the 1st time in my adult life I am truly happy and not just hiding behind a smile.