Serengirl

Hi all, Mounjaro has been AMAZING for me! Like @Tupelo and @vsgchickI lost the regain from hitting menopause and I have lost additional. I am down to 138 lbs which is my lowest weight since college. I'm not underweight at all. I worked my way up to 7.5 mg and that was my sweet spot. I hit maintenance and have slowly stepped my way back down to 2.5 mg. I was still losing on 5mg as I stepped down but so far I haven't lost anymore on 2.5. I'm on my second month of maintenance at 2.5 mg and I bounce between 138 and 141 depending on salt intake and Water weight but I'm very happy with my weight and size. Once my coupon runs out in June, I'll likely transition to something else as I cannot afford the retail pricing for semiglutide or terzepitide. The difficulty is that my BMI is now 23 so I would not qualify under insurance for obesity medication. We are submitting info for a PA under Insulin Resistance, PCOS, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver and preventative/maintenance of WL after surgery to see if we can get either Mounjaro or Ozempic approved. I am hoping to stay on Mounjaro. It works amazing for me and I never had any big side effects. I agree that if this had been around before my surgery in 2018, I probably would not have had or needed surgery but I also believe that it is HIGHLY effective for those who have had any regain after WLS. It gives a very similar feel to that first 90 day restriction.

It’s been more effective than anything I’ve tried. I truly think it has the potential to replace surgery in the next decade or so for many.

I’ve consistently lost 1-2 lbs a week since starting. Below my personal goal (but not underweight 😄).

Like vsgchick, the 10 dose has been the sweet spot for me. Appetite control without appetite suppression. Easy to forget or skip a meal without minding but able to enjoy a meal as well.

Total loss here in week 21 is 30lbs, which I consider great since I was already pretty far in my journey to a goal weight and relatively inactive.

Reading this has honestly lifted such a weight off of my shoulders because THIS WAS ME forever. I eat right avoid carbs, exercise , rarely go over 1000 cals a day _ pre op_ and I would never lose weight. Maybe the first week on a new diet Id drop 10 lbs and then NADA. At one point I worked out three hours a day and ate 900 cals a day and even after weeks I still would not lose weight and Drs and folks assume Im just pigging out on three pizzas and a gallon a soda a night. All I ever drank was Water or coffee. I even went down to OMAD and I think because it affected my insulin levels it allowed me to lose 18lbs but then again- Stall no matter what I did. I have hypothyroidism, PCOS and endometriosis which means I also have too much estrogen and i always had this sense that that is why I never lost weight when i barely eat. I can relate to this thread so much and it is giving me hope that this surgery is going to work for me because going through all of this for it not to is beyond anything I can bear... I wish Drs would research more how hormones and PCOS and weight gain and inability to lose weight are all interrelated. Here is wishing us all luck that this works for us.

Hello I had the sleeve done 11/30 and week 2 I had a stall that lasted 3 weeks and I gained 5 pounds. I went to the nutritionist and she told me I needed to eat more because my body is going into starvation mode. After I did that I started to se a few pounds come off. I still think its not enough. I see the doctor tomorrow he will let me know what he thinks.

I am 2 months out and the last three weeks had stall after stall and had to eat my way through them. As strange as it is, I am losing more weight at 800 to 1,000 calories than if I go below that. I make sure I get my 80 to 90 grams of Protein and then push to hit at least 800 calories and then the stalls stopped. If I drop below 800 calories I stall out. The surgeon said my sweet spot will be 1000 to 1100 calories but I just cannot get that much in when I am working during the day.
I would say I am fairly active as far as working out 4 to 5 times a week and I really try to make sure on those days I get to 1,000 calories a day. I haven't figured out how I will go up to 1200 in the next few months but I figure I will worry about that when it comes.
I had a 10 day stall at one point when I was consistently at 650 a day, I guess everyones body is different so you have to find that sweet spot

I looked up what I was eating at 6 months, and for the 4 weeks immediately after my 6th month anniversary, my average daily range was anywhere from 500-750 cals a day, with NET carbs maxing out at 25g per day.
HOWEVER. At the 6th month mark I was 130-ish lbs, (and I'm, 5'2") so 500-700 cals for me would be a little different than someone who is bigger/taller (or smaller/shorter). Further, I wasn't constantly hungry, so being able to sustain this at the time would have been easier for me than for someone who was.
Whatever caloric level you are comfortable at, and able to maintain during weight loss phase (be it 700 or 1200 or whatever), so long as you are at a deficit, you'll find that you WILL lose weight (barring any medical conditions).
Good Luck!

I'm 6 months out and I usually get 500-600 calories per day. The nutritionist wanted me to go to 800-1000 at 6 weeks, which I don't even think would have been possible then. I probably could get 800-1000 now, but I am trying to stick with my new eating habits. There are conflicting opinions about whether eating too little can hurt in the long run, so I'm not sure what I should do. My results have been great so far, so my surgeon just said to keep on doing what I'm doing. The patient manual doesn't give any guidelines for calories, just Protein and carbs.

I personally range from 800-1000 cal each day. But honestly I don’t know if I’m doing to many or not enough. I only lose an average of one pound each week now at six months out. I’m very slow looser and it’s very stressful and discouraging. Hopefully you are doing much better then I . 🙂

This is probably going to be a mess of a post. I tried to talk to a friend and just ended up crying and she didn't know what to say, and then when she tried to help it just made things worse. I know I am being a little nutty but I can't seem to find anyone that understands me right now.
My husband and I are leaving tomorrow for Arizona for the month of March. This is the first of what will be many "winter" trips south. I turn 50 in May and we have planned to spend our winters down there for a very long time. We will be spending the month with a new group of people that will be our "new" neighbors, they have never really met us in person, we have emailed back and forth and spoke on the phone but that is about it.
5th wheel is packed, pickup is packed, everything is ready, BUT I can't find any summer clothes that fit me. Last summer I weighed 230 plus pounds and my clothes are still in the camper from when we were at the lake, I am about 157 now. I went to town and couldn't find anything that really fit me, everything I tried on I felt silly in, my husband kept saying everything looked fine. I feel like I have skin everywhere, I have no boobs anymore (good or bad I don't know how I feel about that) , NOTHING feels right. I was angry at him for really no reason but still angry because I felt like he couldn't see what I was seeing.
I almost felt more comfortable in size 22. What the hell is wrong with me?
I can't get past this feeling, I can see the numbers on the scale change, I see the clothes size changes but when I look in the mirror all I see is ick. I don't see a slender body, I see a chubby body with a crappy wrapping job.
I have a freaking degree in psychology, I have spoke to kids about body dysmorphia in middle and high school, but I cannot seam to make my brain understand it has to work with my body on this......anyone else struggle with this?

That seems right on track to me!! Did you notice any stalls during the past 6 weeks? Just keep going! You're doing great!!

what was your starting weight? I am 5 weeks out VSG. I lost 10 lbs during the 2 weeks before surgery and have lost an additional 21 lbs since surgery. I feel like I am on the right track but have had a few small stalls...??? maybe update your profile so others can see your information about starting weight, current weight, surgery type, etc. My surgeon told me I should be loosing around 0.5 lbs per day for the first 3 months. I think 29lbs is great!!!

Oh boy it only took two weeks. I knew it was coming eventually but I thought it would be at least two months out. So here comes my dirty laundry and secrets:
I have a serious problem with control. I like to be in control of everything in my life. When I am not in control of something I tend to control something else even more. So, when my eating addiction was out of control my OCD with my house was crazy. My junk drawers are alphabetized. I knew after surgery I would be able to get in control of my appetite and I would start finding routine in my eating and structure in exercise and so forth. This is a good thing.....but.....my hubby had a serious talk ( me and he also plans on having WLS he is very supportive and I know he is only looking out for the best of me but its going to drive me insane). He feels that I am obsessing on what goes in too much and being too restrictive. He looked at my food log (I have no problem with him looking at anything on my phone ) and he about flipped out when he seen over the last 14 days I have had only about 500 calories a day. I know this is low but it is also my first 2 weeks post op, I have had 65 plus gram of Protein and 90 plus ounces of Water. I see the dr and dietitian on Monday and he goes to my appointments with me, I am sure I am not the first person to enjoy the no Hungers after weight loss and by golly I certainly am not going to blow away yet.......I am also aware that I cannot live forever on 500 calories a day.

So here is my question and I will ask the dietitian on Monday in front of my hubby so he hears it from the professionals:
What is your calorie intake that you feel comfortable to lose weight at? protein and carb numbers as well
what is your calorie intake that you feel comfortable to maintain at? protein and carb numbers as well

Exactly this. I always say my pre-surgery hunger was like "FEED ME NOW!" where my post-surgery hunger is more like "Would you mind awfully if we got something to eat?" LOL 😁

I had the same thing but drinking all of your Water will help this. Also just make sure to moisturize right when you get out of the shower. But getting all of your water in is imperative and should help this issue.

I had the same thing but drinking all of your Water will help this. Also just make sure to moisturize right when you get out of the shower. But getting all of your water in is imperative and should help this issue.

I am a bit more than 3 months post VSG and I just hit a total of 100 pounds lost! 42.4 lbs lost after surgery. I feel so fortunate to have had this surgery. I feel better in every way and am finally able to get control of my weight, which has plagued me my whole life. I still have 73.8 lbs to go to goal, but who is counting. 😬

This has been an incredibly helpful thread. I suspect most of us have had similar experiences to some degree. When I divorced 7 years ago I lost a LOT of friends who I considered family, so that prepared me for this journey. I actually had to cut out my mother and brother, the former because she loves to sabotage, and the latter because he weighs 400+ pounds and doesn't want to hear about how I'm doing. It'll be interesting to see how co-workers (and my uber-body-conscious athlete boss) react when I return to work.
All this to say that there's nothing wrong with healthy boundaries. You can still love your family and friends, but you DO NOT have to tolerate their BS or feel responsible for their issues and hang-ups. Love them from a distance and decide later if you want to let them back in.

I got "stuck" with the last 15 pounds. Intermittent fasting (IF) did the trick for me. There are lots of posts here on the topic, with good explanations of the variations of IF. Personally, I feel so much better with IF, that it is now a permanent lifestyle change. I do a 16/8 variation that works by fasting until about noon to 1 pm, and then eating all my calories before 8 pm. I do my best to exercise during the fasting state, as the body has already used up its glycogen stores in the liver and muscle, and has no option except to start breaking down fat into ketone bodies. I am NEVER hungry, and have lots of energy and mental clarity in the mornings. IF boosted me down to my goal weight and is a great tool for life.

I just want to say that I think it was deeply irresponsible of your surgeon to put THEIR expectations onto you, especially when every single bariatric patient is unique and loses weight at different rates pre and post op. For every 5 people who manage to lose 100 pounds in 6 months time, you'll find 5 people who'll lose 50 or less pounds in that same span of time. Your surgeon should have allowed YOU to set your own goals for where you hoped to be by Thanksgiving and then helped you to get there.

Oh goodness, I really hate to hear that! That is really slow. It’s already disappointing for us, but what makes it worse for me is when I see people that had surgery right around the time I did and they’ve already lost 80 and 90 pounds.

On board! For anyone interested the link below is what piqued my interest
https://youtu.be/tIuj-oMN-Fk
Then I started considering the benefits of a hydration focused lifestyle on fat loss because of the link below
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4901052/
I prepped by using a Water reminder
Ive done 20:4(strict) 18:6 &16:8(modified) fasting, I also have a 24hr true fast coming up. I will update my progress here regularly

Update: I did as my dietician suggested and lost 3.6 lbs last week. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I'd lost 87 lbs at the six-month mark, but then, I started out MUCH higher than you, so that's to be expected. That was/is a pretty slow weight loss considering where I started. But I kept losing weight until month 20. Yes - weight loss slows down at around six months out, but you WILL keep losing if you put your mind to it. I, too, thought I'd never lose all my excess weight at the rate I was going, but I did. Keep plugging away at it!!

This has been a source of heart ache ever since my gastric bypass surgery on August 14, 2019.

Right out of the gate I was losing at a slower rate then average And definitely slower than a lot of the folks here or in other Facebook communities.

My starting weight was 285 and this morning I weighed in at 2:18.4 pounds. I am 5’6” and 41 years old.

Since the beginning I have met all Protein goals and on fluid goals and I have had zero complications from the surgery. All in all I live a pretty normal life considering I had my insides rerouted. Starting in January I added Orangetheory fitness to my regimen which is an hour long HIIT class. I go three times a week and It’s hard. Like very hard. I burn on average about 450 cal per class.

My dietitian wants me to be around 1200 cal right now especially since I added the workouts. I have had starches and grains and that makes me nervous because I’m a lifelong dieter but my dietitian has zero concerns about carbs. Obviously she wants me to to be making healthy choices around carbs like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, etc. which I do. When I asked her point blank about carbohydrate goals for the day she said 125 g.

I’m just feeling a little defeated this morning. I am almost 6 months out from surgery and was definitely hoping to be below 200 pounds right now and now I’m wondering if I’ll ever get below 200 pounds.

I guess I just am looking for support or stories of people have gone through similar rate of loss and have continued and meet their goals. My doctor told me at six months it becomes much more difficult to lose weight. But for me it’s
Felt hard since the beginning.I used voice text to write this so I apologize if anything sounds crazy.

a lot of people are stress and/or boredom eaters. Plus a lot of gyms are closed - or were closed for a couple of months. That's why. (I haven't gained - in fact, I've lost three lbs. But I TOTALLY understand why people have gained)