Smanky

I'll never be able to afford the plastic surgery to remove my excess skin, but I came into this determined to manage my expectations. Eat yourself into morbid obesity, and you cannot expect a tight thin body at the end. Loose skin is the consequence. But as others have said, I will take my loose skin over being 130kg again any day. There is simply NO comparison to my quality of life now that I'm a normal size. Of course I'd love to have the funds to surgically remove the loose skin, but I can absolutely live with it. It's not extreme, and with clothes on, no one can tell. I've never been a bikini person anyway!

In the first week post-op, your stomach is swollen, sore and trying to heal, so it's normal to struggle to put much of anything into it. I could only manage fluids, and I was taking the chewable vitamins (and still do 9 months out). If you're struggling to drink water, definitely contact your team.

Congrats Summerseeker! It's a great feeling making that milestone. And it's especially wonderful hearing you smash it, especially after you had such a rough start. It keeps getting better. xx

Surgery is scary! Even for those of us who've been under a few times, and it's especially harrowing when it's the first time. I'm a pretty tough customer, but when I went in for a knee reconstruction about 25 years ago, you betcha I cried on the gurney waiting to be wheeled into the theatre! I'd never felt so vulnerable in my life. But you are taken care of by a team of professionals who are all there to keep you safe and ease you through. I'll agree with everyone else about the lap-band. The bypass sounds intimidating (I had planned on the sleeve and was talked out of it because I had pre-existing GERD), I had to sit back and consider logically how it was the best option for me. Now that I'm on the other side I'm so glad I got the bypass and I wish I'd done it sooner. You've got some time, so take it slow, acclimate yourself to the idea, and focus on why you're doing it and the pros. And most of all remember you're not alone - this is a well-trodden path!

Yep, my pre-surgery consults were via zoom, and my post-surgery follow-ups have all been over the phone except for the one where I had developed an ulcer and my surgeon needed to physically examine me. The zoom consults were fine, he had all my medical info already, so even without Covid lockdowns, it wouldn't have added anything doing it face to face. Just a bunch of questions, a chat and it was over surprisingly quickly. Honestly, sitting at my computer with a coffee rather than sitting in a waiting room was a bonus!

Almost! It's a NZ aerated toffee candy, also called Honeycomb in Australia. I believe the closest US equivalent is sponge-toffee, or cinder toffee? Basically a mix of sugar and golden-syrup, boiled and then "fluffed up" with the addition of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda. Utterly nutritionally dead, but when you're in the grip of sugar addiction and have a thing for texture, it's dangerous! No wonder I was as big as I was. 🤦‍♀️

It only takes a couple of weeks to break sugar's hold (unlike nicotine!), so after two weeks of pre-op diet and the first 3 weeks post surgery I'd broken its hold. Right after surgery, my taste for sugar was gone and it still isn't really back 8 months on. Sweet things were suddenly horrid, it was like a switch had been flicked. This happens to quite a lot of us, so hopefully you'll get that add-on bonus too! The only sweet things I like now are fruit (apples, grapes and berries, mainly). Anything that contains processed sugar makes me feel sick if I have more than a small taste. Quite the change from someone who could make a batch of hokey pokey and then proceed to eat it over the course of a single day!

Bear in mind that you're likely experiencing withdrawals from sugar and additives addiction. The liver-shrinking diet is the worst bit. Food FOMO seems to really hit some people, but honestly, it's not a scary punitive life on the other side. I'm 8 months out, and can have a bite of things I used to love, but they no longer have a hold on me like they once did, so I can enjoy the bite, and not want another. Unsweetened Soy lattes are my treat, and I don't feel like I'm missing out at all. My brain will still acknowledge something delicious looking that isn't good for me, but my stomach won't want it. I just point it out to my partner with a "wow, how amazing does that look!" and move on. It's honestly been liberating. That said, some folks do need a bariatric therapist to push through their relationship with food and disordered eating. If you're really struggling, talk to someone who can help.

My golden rule is: Don't beat yourself up, but do take accountability and work to change it. I ate myself into 130kg. There were certainly external factors that influenced it - I used to turn to cigarettes in times of stress, and in the long process of quitting, turned to food instead. Got addicted to sugar. I have an addictive personality, so I'm prone to it. I regret getting myself there. I felt horrible, and hit really low points in the year before my surgery. It's not a nice place to be. BUT - I did take charge, I did make the steps towards my last option to fix it with getting my bypass. I'm responsible for my obesity, but I won't beat myself up about it. We're human, we make mistakes, some of them affect our health, but there's nothing that self-flagellation can fix. Instead, embrace the steps to change, and cheer yourself on. Your first appointment towards fixing yourself is a big step in taking yourself back - be happy with yourself for taking it! xx

Who is this in response to? Because Summerseeker was asking about itching scalp relief, not hair-loss prevention.

It'll definitely slow down and stop. You'll notice the weird regrowth. I had a short curtain of new hair growing around my hairline that the rest of my hair is now short enough to blend into. For the itchy scalp, switch to sulfate free shampoo and try popping an antihistamine. They both help when my scalp is trying to crawl off my head. LilaNicole's apple cider vinegar rinse tip is a good one too.

I'm sporting a new super-short platinum blonde pixie cut, and honestly rocking it. My previous short shaggy cut was doing nothing for me, since the regrowth was a noticeably different length to the longer bits of hair. It looked pretty bad - just a constant "bad hair day". Now that my super short pixie blends in with the regrowth length, the thinned hair isn't obvious. My hair has definitely stopped falling out now, and is regrowing. I'm 8 months out.

I hit Onederland without realising it a couple of weeks ago. 196 pounds and counting. Being metric, I had my own metric milestone a while back getting under 100kg for the first time in a good 20 years - now I'm well below and into the 80s, with 14kg to go until goal. Which sounds crazy to my ears, yet here I am. Super happy to reach this point in the journey. One more BMI number down and I'll finally be out of the obese category and into just "overweight".

I'm someone who won't be able to afford to get my excess skin removed (it was a stroke of luck that I got the money together for the surgery itself). I'm just learning to love myself with the loose skin regardless, and seconding what Arabesque said: I'd much rather tuck some loose skin into my pants than be 130kg again.

Yep, sit on your proverbial hands until you're physically cleared, otherwise you'll injure yourself and set yourself back even longer. Even though I was patient, at 4 months out I started the None 2 Run program and screwed up my knee, which is still giving me grief at almost 8 months out. And I weighed less this time than I did when I did the same program way back before surgery when I last lost weight the old-fashioned way. So I was not only nursing an injured knee, but confused as hell as to why a lighter me couldn't nail the program like I did when I was heavier! But the answer is easy - I lost a lot of strength in the pre-surgery months when I was at my absolute heaviest. Everything hurt, so my activity was almost non-existent). Post-surgery recovery took a long time, and I lost even more tone during those weeks. So I bruised the bone jogging on weak leg muscles. So now I concentrate on the gym, doing low impact cardio and weight training to build strength. My partner and I had to run the other night to catch a show we were running a little late for. The run was fine on the night, but the next day, my knee was tender again. I want desperately to run, but may have to accept that it's going to take some time with physio to do it. So small steady steps. Enjoy the other small victories as they come. The process is a long-haul.

If you have no real breaks, keep a pre-made protein shake or protein water handy and drink whenever you can.

I think genetics and your age has everything to do with this, and there's not much beyond eventual plastics if you want to aim for that. I'm 50, have always had good facial skin and still don't have wrinkles. I have started developing the jowl-lines, though. Almost 8 months out, and my face has slimmed down and my cheekbones are back in business, skin clear and redness gone. I've always maintained a good skincare regime, but it's mostly my fortunate genes and shunning of the sun in my twenties and thirties. Where I HAVE aged post-op is my neck. My god. The turkey has landed! The loss of my double-chin and neck fat is a boon, but the skin there has not bounced back. I very much look my age there. So I could either live in turtle-necks and scarves, or embrace it. I'm embracing it. I look happier, and I think that takes years off too. Even my surgeon was startled when I reminded him of my age, and I had a face mask on! Clearly the turkey-neck was outshone by my clear and sparkling eyes!

To date, I've gone from a size AU/UK 24 (US 20) to an AU/UK 16 (US 12), so I can now buy from most "regular size" stores. But because I'm still losing, I've been buying second hand jeans and pants off Ebay. I'm able to wear the smallest clothes I had in storage from before my obese years, so it's nice finally giving those (now vintage) items some love before they too start to look too big on me. I've given a metric tonne of clothing to goodwill, and will be pretty much sticking where possible to buying second hand stuff until I reach maintenance. Then I plan on doing the whole sustainable capsule wardrobe thing, along with thrifting.

I've lost count, and I'm almost 8 months out. The longest has been about three weeks? I have them so often I'm just used to it now. Another one just broke this week. Another one will inevitably start in another week or so, and 'round and 'round I go. Not from a year+ person, I know, but I'm clearly never going to stop stalling.

Some people are garbage and love to announce to the world that they're garbage, like the sh*tgoblins in that car. You wouldn't want their approval even if you could get it. I know it's hard when you're feeling low, but don't let complete strangers bring you down. Don't give them that power. The only opinions that matter are from people you like and respect, not shouty randos who are probably just college kids.

Yep, protein shakes very quickly became intolerable, and flavourless protein powder absolutely ruined any food I added it to. I switched to protein water. Still too sweet, but I could at least manage to drink it. The one I buy has 28g of protein per serve, so have a look around.

My surgical team are in the "if you can tolerate it" camp. I'm 7 months out, and enjoy the occasional fizzy water. Soft-drink/sweet-sodas are a different thing entirely, but I've never been a fan of them, even pre-surgery. I had two little sips of lemonade/spite the other night (friend bought it for me thinking it might be ok for me) and it was absolutely revolting. Pure sugar, and so fizzy it was practically foam. So I'm missing nothing cutting that rubbish out completely. Fizzy water/soda water/mineral water/whatever-it's-called-in-your-country, however, is something I have no trouble with and enjoy. Not to guzzle or drink quickly, but to sip on slowly.

1) A couple of weeks after surgery the scales began to move. There's a lot of water retention post-surgery, which throws a lot of people off. Best advice is to just ignore the scale while you're still healing from the procedure. The weight is definitely coming off, but there's some adjusting your body needs to do. It's been through a lot! 2) I had no appetite right after surgery and was on liquids, so I really can't recall anything that I honestly loved. I couldn't tolerate sweet things, so any liquid savoury soup (like a simple miso) was appreciated. Unsweetened matcha lattes made on protein fortified soy milk also kept me happy. 3) It took a good month for me to recover (I had a hernia repair with my bypass). Once the pain had finally gone and things settled in, I began to feel better pretty quickly. The first big improvement honestly came from having quit sugar from the pre-op diet onwards. By about week 3, my skin was clear and I really noticed how much better I was feeling. No more headaches. 4)The trick with exercise is to pick something you enjoy. There's no point joining a gym if you don't enjoy gym fitness. The best exercise is the one you'll actually do. I personally love the gym, it's my happy place so I don't need to motivate myself to go because I look forward to it. Find what gives you pleasure. It might be swimming, riding a bike, or just walking (great time to pop on headphones and listen to a podcast or audio book). There's honestly a fitness activity out there for everyone. Set aside the time for yourself and enjoy it.

"Last hurrah"s or "food funerals" are a normal thing. In the months leading up to my pre-op diet I was baking like a maniac because I enjoy baking, and I knew post surgery I wouldn't be baking much and certainly wouldn't be eating any of it. Cakes and bread (and hokey pokey and vegan meringues - I admit I went nuts!). Had to "get it out of my system", and honestly I did. By the time my pre-op diet came around, I was 100% ready to do it. By the time I was out of surgery and the following fortnight of recovering from pain, my sugar addiction was broken and my taste-buds had changed to dislike super sweet things. So it all worked out. For sure I gained a bit extra during the "food funeral", but I don't regret it. I haven't looked back post-surgery, and now will take the chance to bake for other people the second I can. I don't miss eating it. The pleasure is watching others enjoy it.

Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to, but I also had a hiatal hernia repair, so my post-op pain was pretty bad and lasted a good two weeks. You might be fine though - it's definitely a case-by-case thing. I flew interstate a week after my gallbladder removal (not as intense a surgery admittedly) and the turbulence and landing was a bit unpleasant, but it was doable.