Smanky

I barely lost in the first two weeks post surgery and promptly stalled at the end of week 2, where I proceeded to stall frequently throughout the entire first year. My rate of weight loss post surgery was the same as my rate of loss doing calorie counting pre-surgery. I never had the big-loss-numbers some others have. But it still worked, I reached goal at around month 13/14. Despite not losing fast, it worked. It's done what I needed it to do, it stopped me self-sabotaging and continues to be the adult in the room when it comes to me and food. Losing slowly and steadily is ok! So long as you stick to the plan, the weight comes off.
If you're an emotional eater, get yourself a bariatric therapist who can help because the primary thing this surgery does is help with Portion Control. Everything else is down to us, the calorie counting, the staying on plan, and getting on top of any mental issues that have contributed to obesity and may cause trouble down the line.

I barely lost in the first two weeks post surgery and promptly stalled at the end of week 2, where I proceeded to stall frequently throughout the entire first year. My rate of weight loss post surgery was the same as my rate of loss doing calorie counting pre-surgery. I never had the big-loss-numbers some others have. But it still worked, I reached goal at around month 13/14. Despite not losing fast, it worked. It's done what I needed it to do, it stopped me self-sabotaging and continues to be the adult in the room when it comes to me and food. Losing slowly and steadily is ok! So long as you stick to the plan, the weight comes off.
If you're an emotional eater, get yourself a bariatric therapist who can help because the primary thing this surgery does is help with Portion Control. Everything else is down to us, the calorie counting, the staying on plan, and getting on top of any mental issues that have contributed to obesity and may cause trouble down the line.

I barely lost in the first two weeks post surgery and promptly stalled at the end of week 2, where I proceeded to stall frequently throughout the entire first year. My rate of weight loss post surgery was the same as my rate of loss doing calorie counting pre-surgery. I never had the big-loss-numbers some others have. But it still worked, I reached goal at around month 13/14. Despite not losing fast, it worked. It's done what I needed it to do, it stopped me self-sabotaging and continues to be the adult in the room when it comes to me and food. Losing slowly and steadily is ok! So long as you stick to the plan, the weight comes off.
If you're an emotional eater, get yourself a bariatric therapist who can help because the primary thing this surgery does is help with Portion Control. Everything else is down to us, the calorie counting, the staying on plan, and getting on top of any mental issues that have contributed to obesity and may cause trouble down the line.

Hey y'all. Just a rant and a vent. I went for my pre-admission testing yesterday. My surgery is 6/7 and I'm on liquid diet. I go to my dr. appt first and they give me some more stuff for surgery, like and eating journal etc, and I meet my new surgeon (my other one retired). All went well, as I really liked him. Then I go downstairs for preadmission testing. The nightmare hell begins.
I sit in the cubicle with the temp hovering at about 95, as she has her heat on full blast (mind you I'm always cold with no thyroid) but I was dying. She then proceeds to tell me that my balance is $4500 and how would I like to pay. I look her at with the wtf look and say excuse me, I'm covered under my insurance. I know I haven't met my deductible yet, but I also have a card from my employer to pay that once the Explanation of Benefits is produced by my insurance, AFTER procedure. You're telling me that I have to pay this up front? Before surgery?! Why wasn't this mentioned before? She said "well, it's considered cosmetic surgery and yes, you pay up front" Needless to say, I did NOT have $4500 in my purse, so I was beyond distraught. She said well, you can go on with your testing, but know it's due the morning of your surgery, and they have to have it before you are taken back, and must be in cash or certified check. Pissed and heartbroken wasn't the word. Hello, already on liquids and have taken off work for surgery.
I call a different person today, and she said she wasn't sure where the girl came up with cosmetic, as nowhere on there does it mention that, and she said no, I didn't have to pay it all up front, that I could pay a little (down with that) and the rest billed. Of course I'm still panicked that it will foul up, but I have her name, the time I called, and it was on a recorded line. I could use a drink, a real one.

I just said this today to one of my coworkers!!!! Its a great NSV!

Not a new one, just a re-validation of previously-enjoyed one: I LOST weight on vacation.
I've been on a few getaways in the past 12 months, and each time I come back, i'm always lighter than when i left (after i get rid of all my obligatory vacation-constipation backup of course, lol).
I remember pre-surgery i would always come home 5-ish lbs heavier (even after a good poop)
Guess this means i should go on vacation more!
P.S. i also almost always eventually gain back the weight lost, but still!

People who go on a serious pre-op diet often don't have the big whoosh of weight loss in the first few months that others do because your body has already cleared out a lot of the Water weight, stored carbohydrates, and sick muscle cells that makes up a big chunk of that whoosh. Once you get to a more steady state of weight loss, most (more than half) of what you are loosing will be fat.

Yes, it's a journey and yes, the surgery is a only tool that helps you have success in the long term. You won't lose weight much faster than you would with a traditional diet. But imagine you lose "only" 10 lbs a month for the next year and a half - that's 180 lbs lost, which will put you at your goal weight of 210. Without the surgery, you'd likely fall off the wagon after 3 months, 6 months because you'd be starving. Instead, you'll actually be able to stick to that diet. How many diets did you start in your life where the start of that diet was more than 18 months ago? Imagine if one of those had actually worked. You'd already be at your goal weight now. But you're not, because it was too hard to stick to it. Bariatric surgery is a tool to help you stick with it.

Bariatric surgery isn't a quick fix, and it doesn't mean you don't have to work pretty much just as hard as you would with a regular diet. It just makes it so all that work actually "works."

What were you expecting to lose? If you're looking for 30+ lbs the first month, that's pretty rare unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life". For most of us "average" WLS patients, that much loss the first month is pretty unusual. Most of us lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range. Plus most people don't lose much the first week because of the "gain" from the IV fluids you get in the hospital (which of course is just water) - and then there's the infamous "three-week stall" that many of us experience, where you can go a couple of weeks (usually 1-3) without any loss, because your body is kind of recalibrating after the surgery - so you may be experiencing that as well.
you're not going to lose the weight any faster than if you ate the same thing without surgery. With the extreme calorie deficit we have the first few months out, you'd probably lose about the same regardless if you had surgery or not. The difference is, it's much more easy to sustain that deficit with the surgery. Most people probably could not go for months on end eating something like 800 calories. But with the surgery, you can. Your hunger is suppressed, your stomach is tiny, etc. The most I could ever lose before surgery was about 50-60 lbs. With this, I lost over 200, and have kept it off for eight years. No way could I have done that without the surgery.

Hunger also came back gradually for me, along with my sweet-tooth - so gradually that I can't even pinpoint the time when I really noticed. I was just very slowly and steadily able to eat a little more. My weightloss was also a steady, slow thing, so I didn't have the big-loss numbers in the first five months others can have, I had constant stalls and a rate of loss no different to pre-surgery diet efforts. My loss did slow down closer I got to goal, but reaching goal also snuck up on me because the slow weightloss had me take my focus off the scale for a month or so because I just assumed it was going to take ages. That whole a-watched-pot-doesn't-boil thing.
These days I try to keep my calories around 1500, which I'll always have to be super mindful of because it takes so little to go over. Grazing is the enemy. Protein keeps me satisfied the longest, so that's always got to be the priority. The plan is for life.

Hunger also came back gradually for me, along with my sweet-tooth - so gradually that I can't even pinpoint the time when I really noticed. I was just very slowly and steadily able to eat a little more. My weightloss was also a steady, slow thing, so I didn't have the big-loss numbers in the first five months others can have, I had constant stalls and a rate of loss no different to pre-surgery diet efforts. My loss did slow down closer I got to goal, but reaching goal also snuck up on me because the slow weightloss had me take my focus off the scale for a month or so because I just assumed it was going to take ages. That whole a-watched-pot-doesn't-boil thing.
These days I try to keep my calories around 1500, which I'll always have to be super mindful of because it takes so little to go over. Grazing is the enemy. Protein keeps me satisfied the longest, so that's always got to be the priority. The plan is for life.

For me, hunger came back gradually. At first 800 cal was hard to get to, then it became easier, then 1200 seemed impossible, then it became harder to stay at 1200 calories... Etc. It's natural for our capacity and hunger to expand a little overtime but never close to what it was pre-surgery. The honeymoon period is the best time to reinforce the right way to eat and how to deal with life's problems without food. I think one of the reasons people gain lots of weight later is because they just aren't committed to the life-long changes needed to keep the weight off. Many use life's problems as an excuse to eat around their sleeve, like snacking on slider foods. Some blame the surgery itself when it isn't the surgery but their unwillingness to stay on plan from day one.
If you stick to the basic rules of your program, and stay focused you will be successful. Many gain a small amount weight after reaching it's lowest weight, but that is just the body adjusting to get to a healthy weight for you and that is natural too.

When my last decent honest-to-god effort to lose weight on my own eventually failed during the start of the pandemic, the crush of despair was honestly overwhelming. I knew WLS was my last option. In a rare spot of good fortune, I had the funds coming in that could pay for both the necessary private health cover, and the flat fee my chosen surgeon offered at his clinic. I waited out the year until my health cover's pre-existing condition wait period was over, and never looked back. I could never have done it without that bit of good financial luck, so I'm immensely grateful. It gave me back my life.
Injectables? No way. Stop taking that stuff and you're gaining it back again. Same as a "normal" diet, only much more expensive. With WLS, it's one outlay of cash, then a permanent solution, which is what I needed. I have this for life, and that's a comfort!

We call this kind of vomiting the 'foamies' - You have either eaten too quickly, eaten too dry a food, eaten too much or your stomach is not ready for this food yet. [ or sometimes I get a something like a piece of Tomato skin stuck] Our tiny stomachs have the same amount of acid in as before so it causes plenty of problems, especially when you have eaten nothing. It could be that this is causing your bowels problems too
Until you get your docs appointment, you need to calm this devil stomach. Go back to basics. I can not eat potato and It took me 12 months to master chicken. My basics would be yogurt, milk, cheese and tinned Soups. I hope you get your appointment soon

Definitely doesn't sound normal. I do get some of the cramping/pain and general sensitive gut issues, especially when I have an ulcer developing, but what you're describing sounds extreme. I'd be going to the ER, and letting your surgeon know to move that July appointment forward. They need to investigate this.

I volunteer in a charity shop one day a week. Its great because I can always find something to take with me to gift and always leave with a 'bargain'. Its a win win for everyone

Stomach stretching is NOT a thing. Total myth:

Me, me, me. I have to put a pillow between my knees now, I hate the bone on bone feeling. Jeez what a wonderful problem to have.

Just leaving this here for you:
bony knees!
omg I haven’t even lost a full 30lbs yet and I struggle to get comfy in bed because my knees knock together. Goodness what will happen with my butt goes too?? 😭

Mr Hill, you have no ass. 😂😂😂

Yeah, mine too. And my boobs have vanished. I used to say I'm shaped like a plank with tits, but now I'm just the plank. 🤡
I can wear the hell out of a suit, though. Tailored clothes love me. Bikinis... yeah not so much!

I swear we're negative-space butt-twins, Arabesque!

Yeah, mine too. And my boobs have vanished. I used to say I'm shaped like a plank with tits, but now I'm just the plank. 🤡
I can wear the hell out of a suit, though. Tailored clothes love me. Bikinis... yeah not so much!

I swear we're negative-space butt-twins, Arabesque!

Echoing the "reset isn't real", and definitely co-signing on the calories. Here's a link to calorie calculators for loss and maintenance - pop in your stats and it gives you calorie guides. Super easy.
Weight loss absolutely slows to a crawl as you reach goal, but staying in a deficit works, even if it's slow. I also wanted a "buffer" for the 3-year gain-back scenario, and I'm now ten kilos past my goal, which was what I was after. This whole process is just ongoing calorie adjustment and patience.

When my last decent honest-to-god effort to lose weight on my own eventually failed during the start of the pandemic, the crush of despair was honestly overwhelming. I knew WLS was my last option. In a rare spot of good fortune, I had the funds coming in that could pay for both the necessary private health cover, and the flat fee my chosen surgeon offered at his clinic. I waited out the year until my health cover's pre-existing condition wait period was over, and never looked back. I could never have done it without that bit of good financial luck, so I'm immensely grateful. It gave me back my life.
Injectables? No way. Stop taking that stuff and you're gaining it back again. Same as a "normal" diet, only much more expensive. With WLS, it's one outlay of cash, then a permanent solution, which is what I needed. I have this for life, and that's a comfort!