Kat410

I had almost no stamina until about 4 months post op.
If you factor in dealing with a major calorie deficit, plus the emotional withdrawal from food (if that applies to you), plus the healing required from surgery, plus the crazy hormone and god-knows-what-else that is being dumped in your body as your body starts burning its fat reserves (not to mention it's winter and there are all sorts of bugs going around); being exhausted is not a shocking side effect.
You must take care of yourself. I work 6 days/week about 65-70 hours and a week and had to deal with doing this with almost no stamina. When I went home, I went to bed. When I wasn't working I mostly preferred to be alone. I took naps on my time off. Sort out what works for you.
It will pass, but when you're in the middle of it, it can be pretty intense. You may also notice being moody, angry, surly and all sorts of feelings. Give yourself space. Warn people. THey will have compassion.

And you won't need the luck of the Irish to Do it on this bright and glorious month.

Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi everyone!
I wanted to take a time out here and share about my weight loss journey, as I close in on my goal weight it's a good time to reflect, look at what worked and what isn't work and set myself to accomplish what I am out to accomplish.
I had gastric sleeve in Mexico on 5/26, and started a 10 day liquid diet before. I was self-pay, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery. I coordinated with my PCP (who wasn't thrilled, but once she got I was going to do it, we did all the preliminary lab work in advance so there would be no surprises.) The surgery was straightforward and seamless and besides not liking the hotels included in the package (I went to Cancun), everything else was great (the surgeon, nurses and other staff).
I had prepared myself for what there was to deal with and took a week off work afterwards which was more than enough time.
Before my liquid diet I weighed 335 which was my highest ever weight. I am 50 and 5'8", so clocked in with a BMI over 50. I had not developed hypertension or sleep apnea, but my A1C was 7.0 and had just started metformin.
I hadn't dieted in years - while in the past I found it pretty easy to lose weight, at some point I would fail and more weight would come on so I had concluded that I would stop dieting and just deal with being fat for the rest of my life.
I started to consider WLS about 3 years ago, but I was so scared to confront this issue again, I just avoided doing any planning, acting or organizing to move this forward. It was last year (feb 2017) that my A1C was up to 7 and that's when I decided to act. I had known that VSG patients were almost immediately cured of diabetes that's when I started to act.
After surgery, I dropped weight quickly and easily and still am. Not including the 1st month (a huge loss), I have averaged 2.5 lbs per week. There are a couple of things that made a difference for me.
1. Keeping the Protein first rule and learning which foods are sliders and which foods are triggers.
2. After I was down to 290 I started an exercise regimen. I used to play sports and work out and knew that I could build muscle quickly and easily which would support my weight loss. I did HIT and strength training and am now doing low impact conditioning and strength training (injured my knee last month).
3. I weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak. Right now I am eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I average about 1000 cals/day. Every 4-6 days I do a major calorie/carb spike. I am now experimenting with single day fasts. However, high fat/moderate protein seems to be the best combination. I do the carb spike if I go 4 days without losing weight. I made all this up, it's strictly a function of weighing and tweaking. I don't know if there's any science (except the studies that validate that the most successful weight loss people are the ones who stick with it and find what works for them.) Until I am in maintenance I will continue to weigh and tweak and if any approaches stop working, I will stop using them.
4. Paying attention to building lean muscle - improvements in strength, flexibility and endurance were as important as drops on the scale. I hired a trainer who runs a small boutique fitness gym 2 doors from me - I selected it because I figured I couldn't have any excuse not to go given I didn't have to walk far, take the subway or deal with transit. I got lucky - he is amazing, unbelievably educated and started training me right where I was and its unbelievable the changes in 4 months of work. He said he couldn't promise weight loss - that was up to me - but he could promise strength, endurance, balance and flexibility - all of which he delivered.
5. I am planning for maintenance - I am a very target-oriented person. Given me a target, a goal or an outcome and once I set my sights on it I am pretty unf****kable with it. I am looking at different goals and outcomes to create for myself.
6. I am surprised at how necessary exercise has become for me. Even when I played sports, I hated all the training that came with it - I just wanted to play and compete. To some extent, I think I am competing with myself, but this is a journey and I am excited about what my body can become and accomplish.
For the first time in almost 30 years I am under 200 lbs. I have lost 85% of my excess body weight in 10 months. I am grateful for surgery, genetics, and also the people on this board - whom I have learned a lot from.
What is next?
I am still experimenting and am educating myself on fasting. I am doing weekly 1 day fasts just to get in the world of what that's like and will plan for a 3-5 day fast at some point in the future.
If I get my knee straightened out I would like to hike up a mountain. This summer I would like to sail and bike the west side of NY along the Hudson River. I would like to lose these last 30 or so lbs my birthday in June (which is unlikely, but I like targets!)
Thank you for these boards, your participation and every journey here, it has made a difference.

Hi everyone!
I wanted to take a time out here and share about my weight loss journey, as I close in on my goal weight it's a good time to reflect, look at what worked and what isn't work and set myself to accomplish what I am out to accomplish.
I had gastric sleeve in Mexico on 5/26, and started a 10 day liquid diet before. I was self-pay, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery. I coordinated with my PCP (who wasn't thrilled, but once she got I was going to do it, we did all the preliminary lab work in advance so there would be no surprises.) The surgery was straightforward and seamless and besides not liking the hotels included in the package (I went to Cancun), everything else was great (the surgeon, nurses and other staff).
I had prepared myself for what there was to deal with and took a week off work afterwards which was more than enough time.
Before my liquid diet I weighed 335 which was my highest ever weight. I am 50 and 5'8", so clocked in with a BMI over 50. I had not developed hypertension or sleep apnea, but my A1C was 7.0 and had just started metformin.
I hadn't dieted in years - while in the past I found it pretty easy to lose weight, at some point I would fail and more weight would come on so I had concluded that I would stop dieting and just deal with being fat for the rest of my life.
I started to consider WLS about 3 years ago, but I was so scared to confront this issue again, I just avoided doing any planning, acting or organizing to move this forward. It was last year (feb 2017) that my A1C was up to 7 and that's when I decided to act. I had known that VSG patients were almost immediately cured of diabetes that's when I started to act.
After surgery, I dropped weight quickly and easily and still am. Not including the 1st month (a huge loss), I have averaged 2.5 lbs per week. There are a couple of things that made a difference for me.
1. Keeping the Protein first rule and learning which foods are sliders and which foods are triggers.
2. After I was down to 290 I started an exercise regimen. I used to play sports and work out and knew that I could build muscle quickly and easily which would support my weight loss. I did HIT and strength training and am now doing low impact conditioning and strength training (injured my knee last month).
3. I weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak. Right now I am eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I average about 1000 cals/day. Every 4-6 days I do a major calorie/carb spike. I am now experimenting with single day fasts. However, high fat/moderate protein seems to be the best combination. I do the carb spike if I go 4 days without losing weight. I made all this up, it's strictly a function of weighing and tweaking. I don't know if there's any science (except the studies that validate that the most successful weight loss people are the ones who stick with it and find what works for them.) Until I am in maintenance I will continue to weigh and tweak and if any approaches stop working, I will stop using them.
4. Paying attention to building lean muscle - improvements in strength, flexibility and endurance were as important as drops on the scale. I hired a trainer who runs a small boutique fitness gym 2 doors from me - I selected it because I figured I couldn't have any excuse not to go given I didn't have to walk far, take the subway or deal with transit. I got lucky - he is amazing, unbelievably educated and started training me right where I was and its unbelievable the changes in 4 months of work. He said he couldn't promise weight loss - that was up to me - but he could promise strength, endurance, balance and flexibility - all of which he delivered.
5. I am planning for maintenance - I am a very target-oriented person. Given me a target, a goal or an outcome and once I set my sights on it I am pretty unf****kable with it. I am looking at different goals and outcomes to create for myself.
6. I am surprised at how necessary exercise has become for me. Even when I played sports, I hated all the training that came with it - I just wanted to play and compete. To some extent, I think I am competing with myself, but this is a journey and I am excited about what my body can become and accomplish.
For the first time in almost 30 years I am under 200 lbs. I have lost 85% of my excess body weight in 10 months. I am grateful for surgery, genetics, and also the people on this board - whom I have learned a lot from.
What is next?
I am still experimenting and am educating myself on fasting. I am doing weekly 1 day fasts just to get in the world of what that's like and will plan for a 3-5 day fast at some point in the future.
If I get my knee straightened out I would like to hike up a mountain. This summer I would like to sail and bike the west side of NY along the Hudson River. I would like to lose these last 30 or so lbs my birthday in June (which is unlikely, but I like targets!)
Thank you for these boards, your participation and every journey here, it has made a difference.

Forget about burning calories - that is not how this works.
Get your attention on goals that increase strength, flexibility and endurance.
Weightloss will be mostly nutritionally driven, not exercise driven.
And you can support your nutrition by getting stronger and fitter.

While we have to deal with the caveat that every body is different, it’s not necessarily the case that a stall is caused by homeostasis (e.g., your BMR adjusting for the calorie reduction.)

The point here with the OP’s question is that focusing on burning calories during exercise is the wrong goal. I have focused on building lean muscle mass, endurance and balance (which had gotten very bad) and more fundamentally I focused on doing exercise that I enjoy. You will probably never see me going for a run (hate it).

Trial and error in the kitchen is what will have us find the nutritional approach that works for our WL goals.

While we have to deal with the caveat that every body is different, it’s not necessarily the case that a stall is caused by homeostasis (e.g., your BMR adjusting for the calorie reduction.)

The point here with the OP’s question is that focusing on burning calories during exercise is the wrong goal. I have focused on building lean muscle mass, endurance and balance (which had gotten very bad) and more fundamentally I focused on doing exercise that I enjoy. You will probably never see me going for a run (hate it).

Trial and error in the kitchen is what will have us find the nutritional approach that works for our WL goals.

I disagree with @ashash and I am a huge exercise proponent. I run 15-20 miles a week and do 4-5 hours of yoga classes. And I can easily gain weight doing all that.
Weight is lost in the kitchen not the gym. Exercise is to build muscle and to improve cardiovascular health. If you build muscle you will burn more calories. Exercise can also help with maintenance and can definitely be an adjunct to assist weight loss, but it can also increase appetite so it’s usually a wash.
That said.... even if you want to add exercise to help with weight loss, I would argue that setting your goal by how many calories you burn is rarely helpful. First of all, most calorie burn estimates are inaccurate whether they are from tracking software or cardio machines. Second, if you look at exercise as calories burned then you miss a wonderful opportunity to learn to love (or at least enjoy) exercise as anything other than a means to subtract food. Exercise is a great opportunity to set non scale goals... to look to improve endurance or strength or flexibility or coordination... why look at it as “burning calories?” It’s an area we can succeed in to improve our health without it being about the scale or those numbers.

Forget about burning calories - that is not how this works.
Get your attention on goals that increase strength, flexibility and endurance.
Weightloss will be mostly nutritionally driven, not exercise driven.
And you can support your nutrition by getting stronger and fitter.

There are things I was looking forward to that happened and an even better category of things I didn't know that I wanted but really did!
So, in the first category - fitting comfortably in airplane seats, being able to climb subway stairs without feeling like I am going to pass out, walk all over NYC without feeling like I am going to pass out, shopping for clothes I actually like, enjoying physical activity, no longer being oriented around food/eating and finding other interests.
What I really love now that I never thought I would - Strength training, walking up hills, shopping at Zara, cooking healthy food, running errands and being active.
Summertime bucket list - sailing, horseback riding and going on a great vacation.

Forget about burning calories - that is not how this works.
Get your attention on goals that increase strength, flexibility and endurance.
Weightloss will be mostly nutritionally driven, not exercise driven.
And you can support your nutrition by getting stronger and fitter.

Forget about burning calories - that is not how this works.
Get your attention on goals that increase strength, flexibility and endurance.
Weightloss will be mostly nutritionally driven, not exercise driven.
And you can support your nutrition by getting stronger and fitter.

Hubby and I are also puppy raisers for Leader Dogs for the Blind. They give us a puppy...we keep it for a year doing basic obedience, giving it lots of new experiences....and after a year bring it back to the school to start formal training to guide a blind person. It's hard to give them back! But they do keep the name you choose, and if they are ever dropped from the program, the puppy raiser gets first option to adopt:)
Dog training is something hubby and I have enjoyed doing together since we dated. All of our dogs do basic and advanced obedience, good citizenship tests, and have therapy certification. We like running agility, too. I've done humane education in schools and visited nursing homes with my fur kids. We have husky friends who mush sleds, too:)

Hi everyone!
I wanted to take a time out here and share about my weight loss journey, as I close in on my goal weight it's a good time to reflect, look at what worked and what isn't work and set myself to accomplish what I am out to accomplish.
I had gastric sleeve in Mexico on 5/26, and started a 10 day liquid diet before. I was self-pay, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery. I coordinated with my PCP (who wasn't thrilled, but once she got I was going to do it, we did all the preliminary lab work in advance so there would be no surprises.) The surgery was straightforward and seamless and besides not liking the hotels included in the package (I went to Cancun), everything else was great (the surgeon, nurses and other staff).
I had prepared myself for what there was to deal with and took a week off work afterwards which was more than enough time.
Before my liquid diet I weighed 335 which was my highest ever weight. I am 50 and 5'8", so clocked in with a BMI over 50. I had not developed hypertension or sleep apnea, but my A1C was 7.0 and had just started metformin.
I hadn't dieted in years - while in the past I found it pretty easy to lose weight, at some point I would fail and more weight would come on so I had concluded that I would stop dieting and just deal with being fat for the rest of my life.
I started to consider WLS about 3 years ago, but I was so scared to confront this issue again, I just avoided doing any planning, acting or organizing to move this forward. It was last year (feb 2017) that my A1C was up to 7 and that's when I decided to act. I had known that VSG patients were almost immediately cured of diabetes that's when I started to act.
After surgery, I dropped weight quickly and easily and still am. Not including the 1st month (a huge loss), I have averaged 2.5 lbs per week. There are a couple of things that made a difference for me.
1. Keeping the Protein first rule and learning which foods are sliders and which foods are triggers.
2. After I was down to 290 I started an exercise regimen. I used to play sports and work out and knew that I could build muscle quickly and easily which would support my weight loss. I did HIT and strength training and am now doing low impact conditioning and strength training (injured my knee last month).
3. I weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak. Right now I am eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I average about 1000 cals/day. Every 4-6 days I do a major calorie/carb spike. I am now experimenting with single day fasts. However, high fat/moderate protein seems to be the best combination. I do the carb spike if I go 4 days without losing weight. I made all this up, it's strictly a function of weighing and tweaking. I don't know if there's any science (except the studies that validate that the most successful weight loss people are the ones who stick with it and find what works for them.) Until I am in maintenance I will continue to weigh and tweak and if any approaches stop working, I will stop using them.
4. Paying attention to building lean muscle - improvements in strength, flexibility and endurance were as important as drops on the scale. I hired a trainer who runs a small boutique fitness gym 2 doors from me - I selected it because I figured I couldn't have any excuse not to go given I didn't have to walk far, take the subway or deal with transit. I got lucky - he is amazing, unbelievably educated and started training me right where I was and its unbelievable the changes in 4 months of work. He said he couldn't promise weight loss - that was up to me - but he could promise strength, endurance, balance and flexibility - all of which he delivered.
5. I am planning for maintenance - I am a very target-oriented person. Given me a target, a goal or an outcome and once I set my sights on it I am pretty unf****kable with it. I am looking at different goals and outcomes to create for myself.
6. I am surprised at how necessary exercise has become for me. Even when I played sports, I hated all the training that came with it - I just wanted to play and compete. To some extent, I think I am competing with myself, but this is a journey and I am excited about what my body can become and accomplish.
For the first time in almost 30 years I am under 200 lbs. I have lost 85% of my excess body weight in 10 months. I am grateful for surgery, genetics, and also the people on this board - whom I have learned a lot from.
What is next?
I am still experimenting and am educating myself on fasting. I am doing weekly 1 day fasts just to get in the world of what that's like and will plan for a 3-5 day fast at some point in the future.
If I get my knee straightened out I would like to hike up a mountain. This summer I would like to sail and bike the west side of NY along the Hudson River. I would like to lose these last 30 or so lbs my birthday in June (which is unlikely, but I like targets!)
Thank you for these boards, your participation and every journey here, it has made a difference.

I'm going to do it! I'll report back.

Get a dog and either cuddle it or walk it 😊

I am an over achiever. Always have been. Currently I work full time in a demanding but fulfilling job, go to school full time at a major university with a double major, preparing to graduate next spring and move right on to a joint masters program for my MPA and JD. What else makes sense? Having weight loss surgery in the middle of the holidays!!!
I did it. I got those nifty holes poked in me on December 27th, 2017.
I'm a tough lady. I'm just like my mama who has a high tolerance for pain I guess. My surgery was a breeze. Other than the feeling that was reminiscent of those mortifying middle school years when we were forced to do the sit-ups in gym class. So I had to maneuver myself out of bed, but no real pain. I walked and walked in the hospital. Not one bit of nausea and although it felt weird to drink, no nausea. Well, except for 2 minutes before I was released and I thought I was going to projectile vomit. I started sweating and then... BUUUUUURRRRRRRP. Yeah. That happened. If I hadn't taken the time off due to the holidays anyway, I would have gone to work the day after my release (stayed overnight).
Anyway, I have followed my diet and exercise to the letter. I walk 5 miles (treadmill) at the gym 3 times per week, I have approval to work with weights now so I am working with small weights (Amazon basics has a great CHEAP set 1lb, 2 lb, and 5 lb pairs), and I walk outside as much as I possibly can.
I've been gung ho since day one. So how much did I lose the first month after surgery?
6 lousy pounds. SIX. S I X.
I did have an immediate weight loss of 7 pounds the week after surgery (probably my stomach lol), but then... six in a whole month.
I was a size 22 when I started this journey. At the time of the surgery, I could squish my butt into a 20 but by the end of the day I would be in pain and usually undid my pants at my desk. I had moved to leggings (yes, they ARE pants) after the surgery because they wouldn't bother any incisions.
Still all moping around because of my 6 pound failure, I decided to try on my cute size 16 jeans. I know, 16 isn't a good goal but I had it as my first goal. They were out of the plus size, and on clearance.
To my shock, THEY FIT.
Not only did they fit, but they fit comfortably. I haven't been able to fit 16s over my thighs since about 2000, if not before.
How? Why? WHAT?
I am smart. I understand that muscle weighs more than fat. I knew that I had been really making an effort but from a 20/22 to a 16? WOWZA!
Had another appointment the next day and I spoke with my surgeon and he had them do all my measurements. I have lost SO MANY inches. He said that I had lost a lot of fat and gained muscle and my actual number weight loss will catch up and to not worry,
I did. Another month of it and I lost over 12 lbs last month! To some, this is slow. I have read about people losing 5-8 lbs per week. That's great and all but I am apparently the tortoise in this race. I feel great, albeit slow and steady, and I will win this race! My resting heart rate was high 80s/low 90s before surgery. Now I'm in the low 70s. My blood sugar has stabilized and I am no longer pre-diabetic. I have been taken off my cholesterol statin. I'll still have extra skin but I'm working hard at firming a lot of it up.
So don't get discouraged, friends. We all lose differently. Being a slow loser has some advantages. Just keep on track, stop worrying about the scale number that we have all been so conditioned to look at most and measure yourself. Don't get too down. Drink your Water. Get to that Protein goal. Drink more water! Watch those sneaky carbs! WALK WALK WALK WALK. Drink water lol.
Also, don't be afraid to ask questions. Call your bariatric team/surgeon. They are there for you.

Thank you so much for all your inputs and help! I really appreciate all your help!
You guys are right, I dont eat as much as I used to but I dont count my calories, I eat whatever I feel like it. I need to change my eating habits again and I have enrolled back with a nutritionist through my work...

Thank you again!

Hi everyone!
I wanted to take a time out here and share about my weight loss journey, as I close in on my goal weight it's a good time to reflect, look at what worked and what isn't work and set myself to accomplish what I am out to accomplish.
I had gastric sleeve in Mexico on 5/26, and started a 10 day liquid diet before. I was self-pay, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery. I coordinated with my PCP (who wasn't thrilled, but once she got I was going to do it, we did all the preliminary lab work in advance so there would be no surprises.) The surgery was straightforward and seamless and besides not liking the hotels included in the package (I went to Cancun), everything else was great (the surgeon, nurses and other staff).
I had prepared myself for what there was to deal with and took a week off work afterwards which was more than enough time.
Before my liquid diet I weighed 335 which was my highest ever weight. I am 50 and 5'8", so clocked in with a BMI over 50. I had not developed hypertension or sleep apnea, but my A1C was 7.0 and had just started metformin.
I hadn't dieted in years - while in the past I found it pretty easy to lose weight, at some point I would fail and more weight would come on so I had concluded that I would stop dieting and just deal with being fat for the rest of my life.
I started to consider WLS about 3 years ago, but I was so scared to confront this issue again, I just avoided doing any planning, acting or organizing to move this forward. It was last year (feb 2017) that my A1C was up to 7 and that's when I decided to act. I had known that VSG patients were almost immediately cured of diabetes that's when I started to act.
After surgery, I dropped weight quickly and easily and still am. Not including the 1st month (a huge loss), I have averaged 2.5 lbs per week. There are a couple of things that made a difference for me.
1. Keeping the Protein first rule and learning which foods are sliders and which foods are triggers.
2. After I was down to 290 I started an exercise regimen. I used to play sports and work out and knew that I could build muscle quickly and easily which would support my weight loss. I did HIT and strength training and am now doing low impact conditioning and strength training (injured my knee last month).
3. I weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak. Right now I am eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I average about 1000 cals/day. Every 4-6 days I do a major calorie/carb spike. I am now experimenting with single day fasts. However, high fat/moderate protein seems to be the best combination. I do the carb spike if I go 4 days without losing weight. I made all this up, it's strictly a function of weighing and tweaking. I don't know if there's any science (except the studies that validate that the most successful weight loss people are the ones who stick with it and find what works for them.) Until I am in maintenance I will continue to weigh and tweak and if any approaches stop working, I will stop using them.
4. Paying attention to building lean muscle - improvements in strength, flexibility and endurance were as important as drops on the scale. I hired a trainer who runs a small boutique fitness gym 2 doors from me - I selected it because I figured I couldn't have any excuse not to go given I didn't have to walk far, take the subway or deal with transit. I got lucky - he is amazing, unbelievably educated and started training me right where I was and its unbelievable the changes in 4 months of work. He said he couldn't promise weight loss - that was up to me - but he could promise strength, endurance, balance and flexibility - all of which he delivered.
5. I am planning for maintenance - I am a very target-oriented person. Given me a target, a goal or an outcome and once I set my sights on it I am pretty unf****kable with it. I am looking at different goals and outcomes to create for myself.
6. I am surprised at how necessary exercise has become for me. Even when I played sports, I hated all the training that came with it - I just wanted to play and compete. To some extent, I think I am competing with myself, but this is a journey and I am excited about what my body can become and accomplish.
For the first time in almost 30 years I am under 200 lbs. I have lost 85% of my excess body weight in 10 months. I am grateful for surgery, genetics, and also the people on this board - whom I have learned a lot from.
What is next?
I am still experimenting and am educating myself on fasting. I am doing weekly 1 day fasts just to get in the world of what that's like and will plan for a 3-5 day fast at some point in the future.
If I get my knee straightened out I would like to hike up a mountain. This summer I would like to sail and bike the west side of NY along the Hudson River. I would like to lose these last 30 or so lbs my birthday in June (which is unlikely, but I like targets!)
Thank you for these boards, your participation and every journey here, it has made a difference.

Hi everyone!
I wanted to take a time out here and share about my weight loss journey, as I close in on my goal weight it's a good time to reflect, look at what worked and what isn't work and set myself to accomplish what I am out to accomplish.
I had gastric sleeve in Mexico on 5/26, and started a 10 day liquid diet before. I was self-pay, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery. I coordinated with my PCP (who wasn't thrilled, but once she got I was going to do it, we did all the preliminary lab work in advance so there would be no surprises.) The surgery was straightforward and seamless and besides not liking the hotels included in the package (I went to Cancun), everything else was great (the surgeon, nurses and other staff).
I had prepared myself for what there was to deal with and took a week off work afterwards which was more than enough time.
Before my liquid diet I weighed 335 which was my highest ever weight. I am 50 and 5'8", so clocked in with a BMI over 50. I had not developed hypertension or sleep apnea, but my A1C was 7.0 and had just started metformin.
I hadn't dieted in years - while in the past I found it pretty easy to lose weight, at some point I would fail and more weight would come on so I had concluded that I would stop dieting and just deal with being fat for the rest of my life.
I started to consider WLS about 3 years ago, but I was so scared to confront this issue again, I just avoided doing any planning, acting or organizing to move this forward. It was last year (feb 2017) that my A1C was up to 7 and that's when I decided to act. I had known that VSG patients were almost immediately cured of diabetes that's when I started to act.
After surgery, I dropped weight quickly and easily and still am. Not including the 1st month (a huge loss), I have averaged 2.5 lbs per week. There are a couple of things that made a difference for me.
1. Keeping the Protein first rule and learning which foods are sliders and which foods are triggers.
2. After I was down to 290 I started an exercise regimen. I used to play sports and work out and knew that I could build muscle quickly and easily which would support my weight loss. I did HIT and strength training and am now doing low impact conditioning and strength training (injured my knee last month).
3. I weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak, weigh and tweak. Right now I am eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I average about 1000 cals/day. Every 4-6 days I do a major calorie/carb spike. I am now experimenting with single day fasts. However, high fat/moderate protein seems to be the best combination. I do the carb spike if I go 4 days without losing weight. I made all this up, it's strictly a function of weighing and tweaking. I don't know if there's any science (except the studies that validate that the most successful weight loss people are the ones who stick with it and find what works for them.) Until I am in maintenance I will continue to weigh and tweak and if any approaches stop working, I will stop using them.
4. Paying attention to building lean muscle - improvements in strength, flexibility and endurance were as important as drops on the scale. I hired a trainer who runs a small boutique fitness gym 2 doors from me - I selected it because I figured I couldn't have any excuse not to go given I didn't have to walk far, take the subway or deal with transit. I got lucky - he is amazing, unbelievably educated and started training me right where I was and its unbelievable the changes in 4 months of work. He said he couldn't promise weight loss - that was up to me - but he could promise strength, endurance, balance and flexibility - all of which he delivered.
5. I am planning for maintenance - I am a very target-oriented person. Given me a target, a goal or an outcome and once I set my sights on it I am pretty unf****kable with it. I am looking at different goals and outcomes to create for myself.
6. I am surprised at how necessary exercise has become for me. Even when I played sports, I hated all the training that came with it - I just wanted to play and compete. To some extent, I think I am competing with myself, but this is a journey and I am excited about what my body can become and accomplish.
For the first time in almost 30 years I am under 200 lbs. I have lost 85% of my excess body weight in 10 months. I am grateful for surgery, genetics, and also the people on this board - whom I have learned a lot from.
What is next?
I am still experimenting and am educating myself on fasting. I am doing weekly 1 day fasts just to get in the world of what that's like and will plan for a 3-5 day fast at some point in the future.
If I get my knee straightened out I would like to hike up a mountain. This summer I would like to sail and bike the west side of NY along the Hudson River. I would like to lose these last 30 or so lbs my birthday in June (which is unlikely, but I like targets!)
Thank you for these boards, your participation and every journey here, it has made a difference.

Mine started to fall out at around the 3rd month. In the 4th-5th month I shed like a german shepherd and cut my hair short. In the 8th month it started growing back. I am in my 11th month and back to thick locks (and the pixie doesn't really work anymore).
I had a lot of hair to begin with, so even though I lost tons, it was mostly a housekeeping problem (daily cleaning of an all-white bathroom).

Mine started to fall out at around the 3rd month. In the 4th-5th month I shed like a german shepherd and cut my hair short. In the 8th month it started growing back. I am in my 11th month and back to thick locks (and the pixie doesn't really work anymore).
I had a lot of hair to begin with, so even though I lost tons, it was mostly a housekeeping problem (daily cleaning of an all-white bathroom).

Mine started to fall out at around the 3rd month. In the 4th-5th month I shed like a german shepherd and cut my hair short. In the 8th month it started growing back. I am in my 11th month and back to thick locks (and the pixie doesn't really work anymore).
I had a lot of hair to begin with, so even though I lost tons, it was mostly a housekeeping problem (daily cleaning of an all-white bathroom).

Even without the background info that is helpful it’s probably safe to say the answer to the OP’s question will be some variation of EAT LESS.

Even without the background info that is helpful it’s probably safe to say the answer to the OP’s question will be some variation of EAT LESS.