BigSue

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

This is something you need to discuss with your doctor ASAP.

I am 6 weeks post surgery and I've been pretty open about it. Mainly because it's easier to explain my small meals and I don't have people trying to get me to eat. What drives me crazy are the people that when they find out you had surgery, give advice like "why didn't you just walk a little more?" I want to scream "gee why didn't I think of that!". Instead, I grit my teeth, smile and say, "it doesn't always work that way". Really, do people think that I would have major surgery and spend the next 6 weeks drinking liquids and trying to reintroduce myself to food if instead all I had to do was a walk a little more?

This might make you roll your eyes, but I like to say that you don't choose your goal weight -- your goal weight chooses you. You can't just pick a number and will your body to get to it. I feel strongly that the non-scale victories are far more important than the number on the scale. I wanted to lose enough weight to get rid of diabetes and hypertension, to wear non-plus size clothing, to fit into a restaurant booth, to walk up a few flights of stairs without ending up winded and drenched in sweat, etc. If you get to that point and the scale says 10 pounds higher than the arbitrary number you picked, so what?
That said, when I had my psych evaluation, the psychiatrist wanted me to say my goal weight (probably just to make sure I had realistic expectations), so I went with the average weight loss for gastric bypass. There are a lot of online calculators for this, and I think I used 70% of my excess weight to arrive at a specific number (I ended up losing 100% of my excess weight). Here's another calculator that uses a lot of data from actual WLS patients to give more precise predictions based on more specific parameters:
https://mbsc.arbormetrix.com/Registry/public/calculator/uiCalculator/7?menuId=1013

It's kinda dangerous this close to the surgery. The last hurrah should've been before you started your liver shrinking pre-op diet. The night before I started mine, I had a 3 oz rib-eye steak, 3/4 cup of mashed potatoes, and 4 shots of tequila! But, then I buckled down 10 days before the revision to an all liquid diet. My doc told me if they found food in my stomach or gut during the surgery, he was gonna cancel everything and sew me back up. Then, I'd have to wait another 3-6 months before he'd consider it again.

I think the time for the last hurrah is before your pre-op diet OP. Eating off plan so close to your surgery might actually jeopardise the procedure because the whole point is to shrink your liver so they can get in to perform it.
I totally understand the cravings - we all do. But you will have this lots in the next few months and if you can get past them then you will see amazing weight loss. I wish you the best of luck.

Wow, great job! It takes a lot of strength and persistence to make such a change.

This might make you roll your eyes, but I like to say that you don't choose your goal weight -- your goal weight chooses you. You can't just pick a number and will your body to get to it. I feel strongly that the non-scale victories are far more important than the number on the scale. I wanted to lose enough weight to get rid of diabetes and hypertension, to wear non-plus size clothing, to fit into a restaurant booth, to walk up a few flights of stairs without ending up winded and drenched in sweat, etc. If you get to that point and the scale says 10 pounds higher than the arbitrary number you picked, so what?
That said, when I had my psych evaluation, the psychiatrist wanted me to say my goal weight (probably just to make sure I had realistic expectations), so I went with the average weight loss for gastric bypass. There are a lot of online calculators for this, and I think I used 70% of my excess weight to arrive at a specific number (I ended up losing 100% of my excess weight). Here's another calculator that uses a lot of data from actual WLS patients to give more precise predictions based on more specific parameters:
https://mbsc.arbormetrix.com/Registry/public/calculator/uiCalculator/7?menuId=1013

You don't need to fixate on a specific number. Look at where you are now and figure out if this is the right weight or if you want to weigh less or more than your current weight.
There are a lot of things to consider, but to generalize, how do you feel and look at your current weight, and how sustainable is it? If everything is good now, congratulations! This is your goal weight. It's probably not that simple because it can be a bit of a balancing act, but figure out, overall, if you'd be better off losing more weight or staying where you are.
Are you physically comfortable, able to be as active as you'd like to be, and have good mobility? (Of course, there are factors other than your weight that affect these things, but consider whether losing more weight would improve these things.) Are you satisfied with how you look, what size clothes you wear, how people perceive you? Do you look healthy or do people often ask you if you're sick (which may indicate that further weight loss would be a negative for your appearance)? How easy or difficult is it for you to stick with your current calorie level for the long term? If you're hungry all the time and struggle to stick to your plan, you may be setting yourself up to fall off the wagon and regain. If you're satisfied with what and how much you're eating and exercising to maintain your weight, it's sustainable for the long term. How are your health metrics? How's your blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, etc., and would losing more weight be likely to improve anything? Do you have any Vitamin deficiencies that indicate that you're not eating enough (or not taking the right supplements)? I would take the numbers from your dietitian and GP with a grain of salt because bariatric surgery patients are different from their average patients, and without specialized training, they may not understand the nuances and may be basing their advice off the good old BMI chart. In my opinion, if they are giving you a specific number as a goal weight, or telling you that your weight is "too high" or "too low" based solely on your height and weight rather than your actual health metrics, they probably don't have great knowledge in this area. The bariatric dietitian will probably be more helpful. I know you have to wait a couple of months, but you seem to be doing fine for now, so unless you have major problems, you can probably just keep on doing what you're doing until then.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

If you're not familiar with the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collective, you should definitely check it out. They have an extensive database of bariatric surgery patients, and there's a calculator that shows average outcomes based on the data.
https://mbsc.arbormetrix.com/Registry/public/calculator/uiCalculator/7?menuId=1013
My info:
1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT - female, 39 (at time of surgery), 5'3"
2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) - 64 pounds
3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. - 277 pounds
4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery - 256 pounds
5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery - 225 pounds
6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery - 181 pounds
7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery - 144 pounds

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thanks... I think I will always feel like BigSue. It's weird because when I was big, I pictured myself as much smaller than I really was, and now I picture myself as bigger than I actually am, so my self-image has probably only lost about 50 pounds.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thanks... I think I will always feel like BigSue. It's weird because when I was big, I pictured myself as much smaller than I really was, and now I picture myself as bigger than I actually am, so my self-image has probably only lost about 50 pounds.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

Thought I’d share a fun pic from my 3-year surgiversary (ok, I’m one day late, but close enough). I don’t really have a good before and after set of pictures because I used to hate being in pictures and I would avoid the camera at all costs. However, I still have a pair of size 28 pants that I wore at my highest weight of 341 pounds, and yes, I can now fit my whole 135-pound body into one leg.

There's a reason Shelly's Baked Ricotta is the most popular soft food recipe in the WLS community. It's basically lasagna minus the Pasta and it is amazing after weeks of Protein Shakes and sugar-free Jello. Pro tip: divide the recipe into 8 ramekins or small glass dishes before baking.
https://www.food.com/recipe/shellys-baked-ricotta-324036