Neversaynever

Wow, you look amazing and you also look very toned, champion job!

I know you live in America, but I seriously wish you were my next door neighbour, I love your humour!

Same as a lot of people on here, mine started this week, just around 12 weeks after surgery. Losing lots I take all my vitamins, including Biotin.

I'll kick this off. I had a pair of scales a few years back that told me my body fat was 62%, I doubt it was accurate but you never know. I started this process 2 years ago and it took that long for me to get accepted here on the NHS. My body fat percentage just before my op was 43%. I have lost 54lb (almost 4 stone in the uk) and my body fat is now 40.2. It can only get better from here on in!

I was just wondering if most people don't have scales that tell you this information?

@Frustr8 I honestly love you!

I have only told my immediate family and my best friend. Anyone else that asks I just say I am following a very low calorie diet and it is working! Also, regarding the scars from surgery, if anyone asks in the future, I will say it was from having my gallbladder out, which is true but I had it done 15 years ago lol. One other thing, here in the uk you can have the surgery done for free on the Nhs if you go through many hoops and it takes about 18 months to two years. Some people take offence that you have what they would class as non essential surgery and that it means in their eyes that you are a burden on the Nhs. That's obviously false as statistics show I will be much less of a burden once I lose all that weight and won't need diabetic meds and high blood pressure meds etc in the future.

Every few days or when I am feeling thinner. I did start getting weird about the whole thing and if I hadn't lost or god forbid, gained, it really affected my day. I decided life is too short to hang my entire days happiness on what the scales say.

Someone posted this recently and it made me feel a lot better about my 33lb weight loss ( I am 9 weeks out)

I log everything in myfitnesspal as I am also worried about my protein intake. At least this way I have an indicator as to how much I am taking in, if its low for the day, I have an extra glass of milk with extra milk powder in to boost my protein for the day and also it helps with my liquid goals.

I have just measured myself and using the measurements from before my surgery, I have lost 42 inches from my body, gobsmacked! Unfortunately, 6 of those inches are from my boobs

Well done!

I don't think thats a normal reaction to be honest. I have no pain when eating and I had surgery just over 2 months ago.

Seriously, wow just wow...

Hi, I could eat about three tablespoons about 3 weeks after my op. I am now just over 8 weeks out and can eat possibly 5 tablespoons, but, it all depends on what I am trying to eat. Slippy things like mash potatoe and soup etc go down a lot easier than solids like a chicken fillet for example. I found that round about week 4, something kind of "popped" and I was able to eat more after that happening, it was very noticeable. Obviously people vary but from reading other peoples posts, it seems that a lot of people are able to eat more as the weeks and months progress. You have to remember that your stomach is still very swollen and once the swelling goes down, things will be a lot easier for you x

I had surgery on the 14th of May. I have lost roughly 30 lbs since surgery day but almost 50 lbs since the start of this journey. I am 5ft 9 and weighed 304 at the start, or for people in the uk, 21' 10 I had a couple of stalls which were beyond frustrating! but, I knew they would happen so I just carried on drinking the water and eating the protein and going for my daily walk. On average, I am losing about 1.5 to 2lbs a week after the initial dramatic weight loss immediately after surgery. I am very very happy with how my body is responding so far. Yes I do get envious when I see people posting they have lost 60lbs + in the same amount of time as I lost 30 lbs, who wouldn't! but I accept we are all different and that its not a race. Congrats to all so far who had surgery in May, well done!

Myfitness pal, tells me everything I need to know, its on the internet and also available as an app for those who have smartphones or Apple phones.

I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get my surgery and one of the hoops was a regular weigh in with the dietician. I did well but always panicked a few days before every appointment and went on a starvation diet to make sure I hadn't gained anything since my last one. I remember the relief when I got on her scales and she said " you have lost or stayed the same" which meant they couldn't stop my surgery. Tomorrow I have my first appointment since surgery and for the first time, I am looking forward to it. I have lost roughly 28lbs since surgery so I know she will have nothing but smiles for me, excited!

I agree with this, look at it this way, when you walk down the street, people see you and your shape, they don't see a number hovering over your head! Keep the scale as one way of measuring but be realistic, its how you look in real life that matters.

Popcorn for me

I have lost 22lbs since my surgery almost 6 weeks ago but haven't lost anything of significance since week 4. I went away for 12 days to Greece in week 3 and although I ate very little and walked for miles, I only lost 4lbs while we were away and nothing since then. I was quite depressed today about my weight and this operation. I think I am going to fail at it Reason being, I have realised that I can eat whatever I want, it just takes a lot longer to do it, this is shocking and sad to me. For instance, I can make a sandwich, eat a third, wait half an hour or a bit longer, then carry on eating, depressing. This seems to apply to any food except possibly meat. I realised that I could easily eat more than 1200 calories just by eating every hour rather than having a meal then feeling satisfied and not eating again for at least three hours. I am so mixed up and confused about this, and so sad. I am not eating out of hunger as I haven't actually felt the hunger yet, just a vague empty feeling now and again. I haven't lost any weight at all in a week, this is very telling for me. I have realised I no longer have that bad restriction. Its as though my stomach has suddenly got bigger overnight, I tested it with some rice and chilli and was able to eat 5 dessert spoons before I felt ill. I literally couldn't eat another bite at first when the restriction kicked in, now I can and its only slightly uncomfortable, nowhere near the pain threshold I had previously, this is worrying to me. On the one hand its great that I can eat a little more but on the other, its a scary, and very slippy slope. Today we had a bbq and I I was very surprised to find that I could eat 4 beautiful juicy prawns and a full sausage without the full feeling kicking in. When we last had a bbq a couple of weeks ago, I only ate half a sausage and a quarter of a burger. I have definitely healed a bit more in my stomach area which must be why I can eat more. I'm making a conscious effort to drink at least 2 litres/ 8 glasses of liquids a day and I have at least 60 grams of protein every day as well. I am not exercising much at the moment, just taking a daily walk. From reading lots of posts, hundreds of people on the internet have all lost at least 100lbs (7 stone) over a year to 18 months. Maybe I am judging it a bit too quick and my body is still adjusting to the weight loss but it is so depressing to me that I could fail. I do understand that I could be one of the slow losers, I do understand that I could be in a stall. I really need to get my act together, it can't be just me that it doesn't work for! P.s sorry for the pity party

Thank you for your advice, you cheered me up

Thank you all, for your replies. I realise this is not normal behaviour and I need to rectify it. I will take on board all you have suggested and see if I can make this work for me.

I am 5 weeks out now and so far, have had little if any hunger. However, I don't know if the last couple of days, my mind is trying to play tricks on me or if I am genuinely starting to get the hunger feeling back. I am feeling ever so slightly empty at the moment but I can't tell if its hunger or just my old, greedy mind saying you can eat something lol. How far were you before genuine hunger came back?

I recently went on holiday to Greece to recuperate, I had lots of small victories! The plane seats were a better fit, the walk to a different terminal wasn't as tortuous and turning myself over from front to back on the sunbeds was a breeze, previously a real struggle!