lyladyp

Hi ....
a few lessons I did learn is don’t go back to eating what made you heavy, after a few years I started my bad eating again and gained 30 pounds back. I wasn’t happy with myself at all. So I started back from the beginning after I got out of the hospital. It worked for me and since then I have kept my weight down. You have done an amazing job with your weight loss. Keep up the great work .

at 2-3 years out, many of us put on 10-20 lbs, unfortunately (some gain much more, but that 10-20 lb bounce back happens to most of us, it seems). I gained 10 during that period, and then put on 10 more over the last year or two. I'm trying to lose that last 10 (I don't want to take off all 20 because I got too thin for awhile). The simple answer is to cut calories and/or increase your activity (and preferable both) - but I know that's easier said than done.
I still track my food at almost six years out. I know from tracking that if I stay within the 1500-1700 calorie range, I can maintain my weight. So to lose weight, I have to eat around 1500 pretty consistently (or better yet, under it - but that's tough). Looking back at my records, I'd been eating at the high end of that pretty consistently, and often a bit over. So I had to gradually pull myself back. It's easiest to do it if you just cut 100 calories at a time - do that for two or three weeks, and then cut another 100. You don't notice the drop as much if you do it gradually.

@Tiff71This was actually happening to me and I thought I was crazy!! Starting in early March, I would just be sitting down and feel my skin starting to swell. The final straw was going for a walk/jog and when I stopped, I had a major flare up on my thighs and arms!
I had a virtual appointment and was prescribed generic Zyrtec. I have been taking it for about 2 weeks now and have not had a flare up again. Have you changed anything recently (vitamins, food)? For me, I think it was a new sugar free drink or these new bariatric Vitamins that I tried. I stopped both until I can get to allergist for them to do some testing. But it is frustrating, especially when you can't figure out what the heck is going on.

Just say your home scale must be off.

I saw my Doctor for my 2 year follow up today, on my actual 2 year anniversary, and it went great. I asked him if I should worry about year three. He smiled and said I don’t worry about you, you get this, and has every confidence that I will stay on track.
I think the second year was easier for me than the first year, I feel like I know what I have to do, and what to avoid, to maintain a healthy weight. I lost weight so slowly the first year, I got very frustrated at times but I never lost hope, cheated or gave up. I WANTED And needed this, so quitting was never an option for me. Reading this board then participating A few months later really helped me reach my goals.
Im not going to kid myself and assume anything. I have to stay diligent and track what I eat and remain active. There is no magic answer, you have to put in the work and keep doing it. It hasn’t always been easy but it has been so worth it.

So far, so good.

Happy 2020!🍾
I'm five years post op. Starting weight was 254 Lowest 125.
I maintained pretty easy in my first two years. My honeymoon ended when I had a regain in my third year. It was an emotional freak out moment. I came back to this site for support and worked the weight off. I maintain in the 130's. I give myself a ten pound bounce range to work up and down the scale. So far so good. We will see how I do in the years to come.
I identify as a weight loss patient but, life is normal and mundane this far out. People no longer comment about weight loss. Most have no Idea that I was obese. I am vigilant about my weight. I indulge and take diet/exercise breaks. When the scale moves up, I go back to bariatric weight loss diet.
I looked into plastics my first and fifth year out. I backed out both times. I'm done with people judging my body at any size. I'm comfortable in my loose skin *wink* I will never be a bikini model with the damage I did being obese. *I was not a bikini model before surgery.*
Before and after.

I'm 22 months out from RNY (Feb 20, 2018). I walk 60min/day and slow jog. I am making a commitment to do core strengthening 3 days per week.
I also still identify as a WLS patient and always will because it DOES keep me honest and keeps me focused on living a healthier life that continues to grow and evolve.
I am a daily weigher. And this morning was 130.4lbs. Lowest weight was yesterday and was 129.4lbs. I maintain in a range of 130-135lbs.
Oh an 8 years, late stage cancer remission continues. Check up in 2 months.

recovery from both surgeries is about the same. I've never seen any anecdotes about recovery from sleeve being easier than recovery from bypass.
bypass: statistically, bypassers lose more weight, but we're talking a few lbs, and besides, those are just averages. Some sleevers lose a lot more than bypassers, and vice versa. It comes down to the individual and how committed they are to their plan. There are people on here who've been wildly successfully with both surgeries, and people who have failed both surgeries. It comes down to commitment. If you stick to the rules, you'll lose the weight.
weight loss is faster with bypass, but not by that much. And they equal out after a few months. If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you're going to have loose skin no matter how fast or slow the weight comes off and no matter which surgery you have. I don't think it makes a difference at all which surgery you have when it comes to loose skin.
there is malabsorption of Vitamins with the bypass, but deficiencies are rare as long as you keep on top of your vitamins (you'll have to take vitamins with the sleeve as well) (p.s. the malabsorption that Mikey mentioned - the malabsorption of calories with the bypass - that is temporary. Lasts maybe two years tops. Your system gets smart and at some point is able to suck every calorie out of whatever food you eat again. I'm talking here about malabsorption of vitamins. That is permanent, but if you keep on top of your vitamins, you're very unlikely to have problems with this)
only about 30% of bypassers dump, so don't count on that happening. I, unfortunately, have no trouble at all eating sugar. I wish I did, but...no.
sleeve - I'm not sure why people think this surgery is less "drastic", although many do think this. Cutting out 80% of your stomach and throwing it on the garbage doesn't seem much less radical to me than sectioning off your stomach with staples and moving your small intestine up. They're both pretty radical...
stomach stretching - this actually isn't very common, from what I've read. If it happens, it's due to chronic overeating - day after day of overstuffing your stomach. Which hopefully you would not do after going through something as drastic as surgery. We all have our days, but you'd have to really work at stretching your stomach.
the only things that really should be strongly considered when making a decision is if you have health issues that would make one surgery more appropriate than the other. If you have GERD, go with bypass. If you have diabetes - well, either surgery can help with that, but the bypass tends to be more effective with putting it into remission. Otherwise....??? It really comes down to personal choice.
as far as your past eating disorders go, if you're still dealing with those, or are worried about those coming back, therapy is the best way to deal with that. Surgery doesn't really help with that. There are many bariatric patients who work with therapists, and there's nothing wrong with that!!

I had the sleeve and 7 years on I wish I had gone for the bypass. It's a really personal decision, but I tend to eat compulsively throughout the day, not large meals. Overtime my sleeve stretched and I regained a lot of weight due to eating small amounts regularly. I am now scheduled to have a mini bypass. So when you are weighing up your options, remember that the initial restriction from the sleeve is not permanent, I can now eat the same size meals as my husband. I hope that helps 🙂

7/10 was my surgery date. So i took these pictures on 7/9/2019. The after pictures are from 7/9/2020.

The sleeve was by far the best thing i have ever done. I used it for what it was, and that was a tool to kick starting a healthy life style. I had a plan in mind and i stuck to it. Ive become addicted to working out. Which is much better than being addicted to food like i was. Food has come fuel for me. Its a necessity and i treat it as such. But ive learned what, good quality foods to eat, and to help my everyday performance. For me this wasnt about being on a diet and then going back to how i was, and just eating less. I took this opportunity to learn and to build a new lifestyle for myself. I never told people i was on a a diet, I would simply say im trying a new way of life. Because i know i have to stay on this course to maintain what ive earned. I think a lot of people believe the sleeve is a quick fix and will just lose the weight for you. ANd it will at first. But that only last so long. I think a lot of people dont necessarily get that going into surgery. Overall, ive never been happier. This page has been a huge help and ive met some pretty awesome people on here. I love my new way of life and i wouldnt change it for anything. Cheers.

Hi there ! That’s great ! I’m 10 months post op .
Hw-272
Sw-260
Cw-203
Gw-140-150
I’m 5’3”
It’s been a hard road and I feel like I’ve lost a very slow rate . I had to incorporate
Exercise - cardio and weights also I’ve been trying to do a green smoothie in the morning and a big salad for lunch , dinner is balanced meal . Good luck keep on keeping on !!!

I disagree with people being told not to have a goal in mind or having a goal that seems unattainable...
I had the bypass and I was thinking I'll be happy to get under 200 which I did then I felt I'll keep going and I started at 322 got down to 165 that's almost half my body weight gone and well below any goal the surgeon had set for me, I feel it was important for me to set different goals as I went along and there's nothing wrong with setting hard goals it will keep you focused and so that you don't get complacent and think I've done okay I'll stop now...
I disagree with @AlwaysCruising it's completely fine to set hard goals and WORK your butt off to get there...
I know many people believe in this new age of P.C and kids today can't even be happy to win or beat their opponents anymore... Some schools telling kids not to think about winning but I say enjoy your successes and Celebrate your WINs in life...
I started with a BMI of 43.6
I'm now BMI 22.4 and lost 100% EBW

I agree with above! You body is fighting back and you need to fight back harder! A few things that worked for me at the end was to do some Intermittent fasting, Mix up my calorie intakes one day really low next day 1200. Worked for me

Look more closely not just at calories but also the carbs and sugars and fats

Believe it or not, the time goes by really quickly. I had my initial appointment in October 2018 and had surgery May 2019. I actually went through GW hospital just because it was closer to where I worked and it was easier to get to appointments. But once you start the nutritional portion, it usually depends on what your insurance requires. I was required to attend 6 nutritional appointments and have a psychological evaluation. Once I completed my 6th appointment, I was scheduled shortly thereafter.
My husband went through AAMC several years ago and his time frame was similar to mines, so I think it mainly depends on your insurance and you not missing any required appointments. If you do, usually the time will start over. But both hospitals have good programs, I think AAMC was a little stricter in the after surgery eating requirements. I hope this helps.

First, let me make the mandatory disclaimer that everyone is different. The experiences of each person on here vary GREATLY.
With that said, my own personal experience was that I got actual physical hunger around the 8 or 9 month mark. Everything else was just cravings. (For the first 1-3 months I actually had food aversion. Later it would just be sporadic in the sense there would be days every once in a while that I just didn't want to eat)
I'm 1.5 years out now and I definitely get hungry regularly. But not the ravenous kind from pre-WLS. And it definitely doesn't take as much food as it did before to satisfy it.
I would also like to add that I have times when I just want to eat (even when I'm not actually hungry). If I'm not mindful, I could go back to just eating/snacking just for the sake of eating/snacking. So I have to be mindful. I realize this is going to be a life-long thing, and I'm fully prepared to do it.

It has been a journey, the last several months the hardest! The down 2 up 1 is driving me crazy after the dropping easier for the first 6 months. Now I struggle for 5 pounds a month. But today I'm going to sit back and enjoy the loss and feel very proud of myself. I never thought I'd be here a year ago. I was still trying to qualify for the surgery and gaining weight each day. Today is the start of my new me and new life. I can walk every day without knee pain and look forward to it too. For those of you thinking about it just do it. For those who think you are too old, I'm 73 and did it. Good luck to everyone out there and please stay healthy!

What has really helped me is the excitement of losing as much weight as possible to surprise everyone with the "new me" when the quarantine is over!
I haven't seen my coworkers in over 2 months, and likely won't see them again until September. Same holds true for all of my friends, and most of my family! Can't wait to unveil the new me!!!
How old are your children? Maybe you can get them to exercise with you for fun? I've been doing Youtube videos (Popsugar fitness barre is my favorite), and then when the weather is nice, we go on bike rides together. I've found that I can use my kids to keep me motivated. I'll tell them we are going on a bike ride at 4pm, and come 4pm they are bugging me for that bike ride, so I can't change my mind and be lazy instead! LOL!

Today is my 3rd Surgiversary. I'm maintaining my 151lb loss.
HW:334
SW:324
CW:183
GW:190

As a insane grilling machine, I Smoke shoulders and briskets all the time. Need more information. Did you inject it with a anything? What Rub did you use? Did you trim off the fat or most of it prior to pulling it?
Or did you do the big NO NO .......... Did you buy a pan of it pre made from Sams or Cosco? If pre made read the label has so many chemicals and enhancers in it!
You should be fine Cooking your own shoulder or but and the light season or very light sugar free Sauce

Stalls typically last 1-3 weeks. If yours has been going on for months, you're probably in maintenance. You'll probably have to lower your calories or increase your exercise (or both) to get things moving again.

I officially weigh less than my husband!!! 177!!!! Woo Hoo!!!
It's the little things!!! LOL!!!!

Great question, my response...
1. Remember why you had the surgery every day.
2. Stick to the plan
3. If you don't see the weight falling off, don’t sweat it because it will...soon
4. Be discipline and avoid an abundance of sugar and carbs.
5. Read labels if the card and sugar count is high push away from it. Again remember why you had the surgery it will help.
6. Remember, you can lose all the weight and get healthy and go right back to where you started. There are many people who have gained the weight back.
7. Remember, the surgery is just a tool, not a quick fix. You have to put in the work daily.
8. Drink your water!!!
I hope this helps and if you need to call me you are welcome yo do so.
2/20/2020

2/20/2019

This is exactly what I am trying to avoid happening before I even reach my goal!! I have been purposely trying to eat less and go outside for a few minutes of exercise daily.