blackcatsandbaddecisions

I couldn’t agree more- the people I know in life who haven’t kept the weight off long term had zero desire to change their eating habits- they just relied on the surgery to limit portions. That works for a while, but not for long. I’m close to 11 months out, and I don’t eat the same foods that I used to. I used to be a carb freak, and loved snack foods and candy and the like. I’m over a year candy free, and I just don’t bring snack foods in the house anymore. The surgery gave me time to detox from some very bad habits, and I’m committing each day to not backsliding.

Oof, hair loss does suck. I have fine hair but I always had a lot of it. I started losing a few months after surgery and it has been ongoing it seems like ever since. I had long hair but it started getting stringy so I cut it to just above shoulder length and I’m much happier with it. I can see a ton of regrowth coming in so I am pretty sure it’s just temporary. That being said, nobody but my hairdresser and my husband have even noticed. It’s not like I have bald patches or anything- it’s just less full. The nice thing is that I feel like I can pull off shorter hair much better when I’m thinner- I kept my hair long when I was fatter because I felt like it helped balance out my body size, but now I don’t need to hide behind hair anymore. I might even cut my hair shorter, just for fun and because I can.

Insurance paid, I made my first contact with the clinic in February of 2020, had a zoom appointment in March, then did six months of check ins to satisfy insurance requirements. Insurance submitted in October, approved next day. Surgery date 11/10/2020. My out of pocket ended up being a few hundred dollars. I was well above the BMI cutoff, but I’m such a cheapskate that if I’d been below I would probably have stuffed a bra full of sandbags. 🤭

It took 75 lbs before I really had my first comment. Then it was non stop. It has luckily slowed down a bit at this point, only because most of the people who felt the need to comment on it have already done so. Thank goodness people are finally getting used to it. But I do still get a few mentions a week, and when I see people for the first time in a few years I will always get comments. I’m currently 163 lbs down. My favorite is the few comments I’ve gotten from people who will say “have you always been so tall”. I didn’t have a growth spurt in my 40s, guys. But 5’10 looks different at 176 vs 339. Figure it out.

I personally eat a lot of salad now (I’m 10 months out as well)- Leafy greens have a ton of good nutrition to them and are lower calorie to boot. And I like that they fill my stomach- that’s what I’m after! I frequently will eat a salad with chicken breast. At ten months out we don’t need to be as paranoid about making every bite as nutritionally dense as possible. Eating a good variety of non processed foods is your best bet. I find that I keep on having to catch new ways I’m unconsciously eating more calories than I should- grazing on nuts, eating multiple snacks, eating super calorically dense food, etc. It’s possible to eat a very healthy and nutritionally sound diet that a nutritionist would love and still be eating too much of it and gain weight. My end goal is still to lose weight, so I’m eating with that mindset first.

Me at 178.6

Month ten- 178.6. I’ve lost 160.4 lbs total. Soon I could weigh less than I’ve lost, which would be a cool milestone. This month I went on vacation which did get me off my more regimented eating plan. It was amazing to be able to hike all day and then swim with my kids in the evening and have energy and endurance for it all. I did get a beer at the breweries we visited, which was nice to be able to do. I still haven’t found any food that I can’t tolerate, although higher fat foods tend to sit like a brick in my stomach- not that it hurts, just a super heavy and full feeling that lasts for hours. This next month I would love to get down to 170. I’m within sight of my goal weight of 165, and I’m only a few pounds away from not being overweight. I know from past experience the 170s are a set point for me so I’m going to have to work hard if I want to get below this. Im starting to think that I might want to aim lower than 165, but that’s a problem for another month.

Since this thread is active I figured I would update- I started at 339 and I hit 179 this morning. It literally took 75 lbs for anyone to notice. I am also 5’10 though. I spent months thinking that I kept losing weight and it didn’t seem like it, only to one day feel like suddenly everybody noticed and my body started changing overnight. It takes us larger ladies more time to get there but it happens!

No pain pump, the only pain med I had at the hospital I had to drink, which kinda sucked but whatever. I would personally opt out, but I am not a huge fan of pain medicine in general. And if it cost out of pocket I would definitely- I am cheap as hell!

I was so afraid it wouldn’t work for me, but it did. I was 160 lbs heavier last summer- miserable, sweating, embarrassed by how I looked, and not wanting to do anything. I’m only a few pounds away from a normal BMI now and I run every day, I have energy, and life is better in so many ways. Both of my kids wanted to be carried down the hall the other week and I realized that together they are 80 lbs, half of what I’ve lost. The weight of them as I was trying to walk was huge- how the hell was I living my life with twice that weight? For what it’s worth all the calculators said I only had a 20% chance of reaching 203 with the sleeve, and was more likely to end up 225-250. I am 180 lbs, almost 10 months out. I said once I got that tool I was going to use it. I have and I still am.

I went with sleeve and I am very happy with my choice, but I don’t think I would have been happy if I hadn’t had a choice. This is your body, and if the surgeon doesn’t have a specific medical reason why you shouldn’t have the surgery, that seems odd. I’d probably just find another surgeon at this point. This is a huge deal and you deserve to get the surgery you want!

I have thought about this so much and I’ve identified a few triggers for myself. I very much identify with the “I’ve done x hard thing, I deserve a treat” mentality. I also struggle with eating as an activity to avoid something I don’t want to do, or to deal with stress. I have addiction issues in my family as well and I recognize the way I act around sugary foods is very disordered. I keep having to ask myself, even getting close to a year in, why I think the only nice thing I can do for myself is food. Why I feel like the only way to feel better when things are going badly for me is food. I know it’s a lifetime of habits and bad coping mechanisms I’m trying to overcome, and it’s probably going to be a lifetime of work ahead of me, but I’m taking it one day at a time.

There are some foods I’ve just had to tel myself they aren’t for me anymore. Not even a bite, not even once. So my kids and husband still have candy and crackers and things like that around, they eat them in front of me, and that’s fine. They are all healthy weights and that works for them. It wouldn’t work for me. I had surgery, I am making changes for me, and that’s on me to handle

I’m actually shocked by how little loose skin bothers me. I’ve gone from 339-180, and I’m still planning on losing 15 more pounds. I have some loose skin on my upper arms, and some on my abdomen, but overall it just doesn’t look bad in my opinion. Will I be wearing a skimpy bikini around? No but I’m not the kind of person who would do that regardless. I wear regular clothes and it has not bothered me. I may consider skin removal on my upper arms but overall it’s just not these huge hanging piles of skin I had pictured. Think of it this way. The skin is there right now. You already have all the skin you’re worried about on your body today. Do you want that skin filled with fat? I didn’t!

I’ve lost almost 160, I’m coming up on my 10 months soon. Starting weight 339, current weight 180. I’m a 5’10 woman, 40 years old.

No regrets, almost 10 months in. I’ve lost 160 lbs and I feel fantastic. I can drink with complete ease, I eat more fruit and vegetables than I did pre-surgery, it cured my heartburn issues, and I would have never lost the weight without this surgery. I think I would have regretted getting the surgery if I was in a different place in my life. I was mentally prepared for the upheaval it would have with my routines, my emotional eating, and I went into it knowing that it wouldn’t do the work for me. I talked to a friend of mine recently who is about to get the surgery and my one piece of advice is you have to change what you are eating, because portion control is only a piece of the puzzle. Eventually you’ll be able to eat more, or you’ll start eating more frequently, and if you’re still eating snack foods and candy/cookies/chips/super calorically dense foods you’ll stop losing and probably start gaining.

Oof, I hear you on the difficulties losing weight the closer to normal BMI you get. I’m just 15 lbs from goal. I’ve already lost 160, it seems crazy that these last few could be such a struggle but here we are. My weight loss has slowed dramatically a few times and each time I have to look and see what’s going on. Am I snacking again? Am I eating calorically dense food like nuts? Is sugar creeping back in? I know I will slowly push the boundaries and let bad habits sneak back in. I just have to keep course correcting, and I’ll probably be doing that for the rest of my life.

Interesting thing about vitamins is that after about 6 months I had to switch from bariatric vitamins because some of my levels were too high, specifically iron and vitamin d. So my costs aren’t high at all. My husband never even stepped foot in the hospital. Dropped me off at the door and picked me up, due to covid. I was fine, and I’d probably do the same thing even if covid hadn’t been a thing. I was worried I’d never be able to eat normally again, I would have a leak, and that I wouldn’t lose weight. I’d say I eat very normally now (9 months out), I had no complications, and I’ve lost 158 lbs, so all fears were unfounded. My advice to everyone in life is to stay far away from Facebook. Your life will be better for it! This site has great advice.

They asked me what my goal weight was and I picked a weight I’d been at once and had felt I looked good at. In a healthy weight range, etc. I’ve lost 158 lbs so far and I have 16 lbs left to go to get to that weight. I think my actual goal may end up being lower than that, just based on seeing myself at this weight. So I wouldn’t get too caught up on it- hard for most of us to know what we want when we are so far off from it.

Or the fear that the chair might get caught on my butt and I’ll stand up and take it with me. 😜. At my heaviest there was one conference room at work that the arms of the chair cut so deeply into my legs I had almost permanent sore bruises on the side of my legs. Every meeting there was a constant reminder of how fat I was and how I didn’t fit. 155 lobs down and I have multiple inches on either side of me in those chairs. I don’t even come close to the arms now. It’s amazing how things like this can just make your whole day.

I’m just gonna say that diarrhea has never been a problem for me- quite the opposite. 😒 No problems with fruit or vegetable intake here- I probably eat more than I did pre surgery. My biggest obstacles are eating too much at night (for whatever reason I come home and that’s just the non stop eat fest in my head), keeping all snack food out of the house (keep that temptation at the grocery store!) and being patient as weight loss slows down. It goes at such a breakneck pace for the first few months that you start feeling like something is wrong when you start “only” losing 2 or so pounds a week. I’m 17 lbs from goal and in the first few months I was losing that every few weeks- now I’m hoping to get there by November at this rate.

So I’ll ignore the subject of your husband because I think others have said enough, but depending on how strict the hospital is being about covid you might not have an issue regardless. I had surgery during the last surge (November) and I was dropped off at the front door and picked up with no questions asked of who he was. He wasn’t even allowed out of the car. They tried to call my husband while I was in the hospital twice and he never picked up because he just never hears his phone. Didn’t stop them from discharging me. I know from working in health care that sometimes people’s rides home fall through. I wouldn’t be warning them about it before surgery, though. And once the surgery is done it’s not like they can take it back. If you insist on leaving they will generally release you whenever you want, it’s very hard for a hospital to hold someone against their will. People do take taxis home after surgery on occasion. Lots of emergency surgeries happen out there and sadly there are a lot of people who find themselves without a ride home- not like a hospital is going to let someone’s appendix burst because they don’t have family or friends waiting. I think your best bet is to hire someone from care website, but just sharing my experience!

9 months in- my sleeve is officially a full term baby! Weighing in today at 184.6, total weight loss of 154.4 lbs. I lost 8.2 lbs last month, which doesn’t seem like a lot but as I get closer to my goal weight it keeps getting more and more difficult to shed those last pounds! I have less than 20 lbs to go to get to 165. Work has been difficult as we move into another Covid surge, and as my mother’s health is rapidly declining- this may be the first time in my life that I’m not handling stress with overeating. I am still moving forward with losing weight- goal or bust! At this point it is so obvious how to derail a surgery- I can eat pretty much anything. I know I wouldn’t still be losing weight if I was just relying on my surgery for portion control. If you get this surgery you have to take a look at what you are eating and be realistic if it’s only portions that’s causing your weight or if it’s the food too. The surgery helps so much but past the first few months it won’t carry you anymore. You have to be making the right choices. This next month I’m super excited to get into the 170s! It would be awesome if I could reach 175 but anywhere in that range is fine.

Awesome news! And good on your company for listening and updating things in a timely fashion. I personally love my sleeve- the restriction makes it so I’m “full” so quickly, even 9 months later. I always felt like before surgery my stomach was a black hole, I was always hungry.

I had surgery on a Tuesday and took the rest of that week off and the following week. I could have returned to my desk job on the Monday following my surgery but the extra time was nice. I got into a great routine drinking water, plus I used my extra time to do some house projects.