Recidivist

I completely understand the part about enjoying meals with your husband. One of the ways my spouse showed love was through cooking elaborate, delicious meals (which is a big part of the reason I got so big in the first place). I thought that would be taken away from us and would be a source of friction, but three years later we can enjoy a lovely meal together--but my portions are much smaller now! I will be honest--I had major regrets about having the surgery for the first four to six weeks. I know you said you don't want to hear it, but three years later I'm thrilled I did it, and my only regret is not having done it sooner.

More than three years out, and my only regret is that I didn't do it years earlier.

Literally never--even now, more than three years after surgery. I just walked as necessary for my daily routine. And it didn't impact my weight loss at all--I was quite successful.

It's not possible to eliminate carbs completely if you want to be able to eat "normally" in a sustained manner. However, I am 3.5 years out and still keep carbs as low as possible. (I also have refined sugar, zero alcohol, and as fat in moderation.)

Thanks so much for sharing your story! We hear so seldom from people so long after their surgery, and it's particularly good to hear from someone who managed to keep the weight off. So sorry to hear about your kidney issues, however--and thanks for letting us know what can happen. Wishing you the best.

Exercise has very little to do with how much weight you lose, or how quickly. The only exercise I did for nearly a year was walking and my weight loss was very successful. Stalls at about the 12-week mark are very common, as you will see when you read the posts here. It's nothing to worry about. As long as you are sticking with the program recommended by your doctor and nutritionist, the weight loss will come. Just be patient. (Easier said than done, I know.)

That happened to me as well. I was feeling weak and exhausted generally, and I was having a hard time speaking at full volume. It eventually went away, but it was frustrating. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Tomorrow is my three-year anniversary. I stayed at my goal weight pretty easily for the first 18 months but gained about 20 pounds over the past year. I'm eating the same things as I did during the first year, but more of them. My diet is still high protein, low carb, low fat, and no sugar (or alcohol). I'm satisfied with my current weight, but now I really need to be careful to make sure I don't creep up. It's definitely harder than it was during the first 18 months or so, but I'll never go back to my old way of eating (nor anywhere near my previous weight).

Hello everyone! We are now at three years since surgery, and I wanted to see how you all are doing? I'm doing okay, but not great. I've gained about 20 pounds in the past year, and I'm not very happy about it. I could make excuses (lockdown, stress, etc.), but the reality is that I have nobody to blame but myself. It's so much easier to eat at this point, and I acknowledged that I have overindulged. I'm still at a reasonable weight, but I know that I have to be very careful so I don't creep up slowly from here. I would ideally like to lose 10-15 pounds, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't. I'm still much healthier and more active than I was before surgery. I hope everyone else is doing well!

Hi, Lesley! Nice to see someone else from Canberra! I did move there in 2019 and am seeing a GP to check blood levels. Everything is good, so I haven't needed to see a bariatric surgeon since I've been there. I left Australia for work in April 2021, theoretically for three months. Now I'm one of the thousands of people stuck outside the country because there are no flights, and I have no idea when I will be able to return. I'm very sorry you all are locked down. It must be a particularly difficult time to have surgery there!

The same happened to me. I ended up 18 pounds below my goal weight before I stopped losing. Honestly, I looked a little skeletal, and I posted here at that time that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop losing weight. Well, I did--and I gained 15 pounds. I stabilized there and have been able to maintain without too much work for the past year.

It's not so much that they didn't read labels but that they didn't really understand what my dietary needs were. They kept saying I should eat salad and vegetables because they were low in calories, whereas I needed to prioritize protein. It was frustrating when other people thought they knew better than I did what I should and shouldn't be eating.

One surprise for me was that it was painful to sit for long periods of time after losing over 100 pounds, particularly on hard surfaces. I don't think it was loose skin--it was just the fact that I no longer had all the fat back there to act as padding.

As I've said here before, I shared my surgery with a small group of friends and family--and I had a couple of very negative, judgmental reactions even within that group. When other friends or acquaintances ask how I lost so much weight, I tell them it was a medically-supervised weight loss program. The only exception is if a very obese person asks, in which case I will tell the truth in hopes of inspiring them to do the same. I don't think it's fair to give them false hope that my results were achievable without surgery. I will note that I have also had cancer and kept that information among a small group of people as well. Many people don't know how to respond when someone is dealing with cancer, and I didn't want to deal with that. It was a very personal and private journey for me.

Trust me, you will struggle to get a full 500 calories for a while. I had no appetite at all for a few months after surgery and had to force myself to eat enough protein.

Yep, that's me. It's not a matter of being hungry; it's more that the urge to snack becomes stronger in the evening when I'm watching TV. (It was the same before surgery, I should add.). I think it's basically psychological and not physiological.

Hi, FrouFrou. 25 pounds isn't that much in the grand scheme of things, and it sounds like you are ready to get things back on track. What is a "distal bypass?"

I have that dream on a regular basis! I'm eating food I know I shouldn't have and in large quantities. In my dream I know that I've had surgery and I feel very guilty about it. I'm always very relieved when I wake up and realize that it didn't really happen!

Yep--I was exhausted for the first couple of months, but my energy slowly returned. After six months I had more energy and stamina than I had in decades!

My surgeon said ideally no coffee for a year, and I honored that. At the one-year mark, I went back with a vengeance and now drink three cups a day with no problems.

I almost never weighed myself pre-surgery, so my advice relates to post-surgery. Even after surgery, I tried to avoid the scale and weigh myself only a couple of times a week--and ideally only once a week. It's too easy to become obsessed with the tiny fluctuations (up and down) that occur day to day. It's more important to see the overall trend downward, which you will if you don't weigh yourself daily. It's also important that you weigh yourself under the same conditions every time, as others have said. For me, that was first thing in the morning, naked, and before I had eaten or drunk anything. That way, I could be sure that I was comparing apples to apples. Also, I only compared the numbers from my scale at home and not with the scale in the doctor's office, because the two scales could be calibrated differently. Again, apples to apples.

I had bypass and also got the painkiller injected around the incisions in the hospital. I was surprised at how little pain I had afterwards--I didn't even need any pain medication.

I happen to love the Bariatric Advantage chewables and hand haven't tried anything else since I discovered them. I particularly like the grape ones. I also use their chewable calcium. As you said, they are like Starburst--and they are honestly sort of a treat every morning!

Your story is very similar to mine. I had "only" about 100 pounds to lose and initially exceeded that amount, getting down to 132--then bounced right back up to 142. That's where I've stayed through my two-year anniversary earlier this month. And frankly, it's a much better weight for me than a rather skeletal 132 (although I thought I looked pretty fabulous at the time, in spite of everyone telling me I was way too thin). i also had bladder cancer back in 2017--but then again, I am an old man. I actually lost about 50 pounds after cancer surgery and treatment, and everyone told me how great I looked. I told them I wouldn't recommend the cancer weight loss program. Naturally, I gained it all back once I regained my health and strength. While I haven't broken anything, I injured both my groin muscle and knee while lifting heavy boxes during a move last October and had to stop exercising completely. I'm still doing physiotherapy and was only recently cleared by my therapist to walk about 1/2 mile at a time. I made very sure to cut back my calorie intake to compensate for my lack of exercise, and I'm happy to say that I've managed to maintain my weight. Thank you so much for sharing your struggles--especially with such good humor! It's important for all of us to hear that life does indeed happen and that we will continue to face challenges along this journey. And we can overcome them, as we have before!

Not sure which surgery you are having. With bypass, I was up and about within a day and could get around the house without any trouble. However, you will be exhausted and should not be lifting anything for a while, but your wife shouldn't need to take care of you.