Spinoza

OP you have done amazingly well. I know lots of us beat ourselves up lots of the time but honestly, to drop almost half your body mass after surgery, AND then regain only 15 - 20lbs three years later, AND to have had a baby in the meantime is unbelievable. Third year regain is common - the norm actually. Trying to get back to your lowest weight ever might not work if your body has chosen a higher new set weight. It will fight you all the way. Forever. Please cut yourself some slack. It might be helpful to ask yourself what exactly you're aiming for now. Is it a goal weight/BMI? Or a state of mind where you accept and celebrate the huge changes you have made to your health and your life and now that of your baby. If you have a set goal, why is that better than where you are, and how much effort or angst do you want/need to devote to achieving it? As a general observation processed and ultra processed foods (products with ingredients you don't have in your kitchen) are what make people obese. The sooner you can ditch those the better IMO. Freshly prepared food is less likely to cause regain. I am a big fan of Dr Matthew Wiener's book A Pound of Cure. Might be worth a read!

That dress is amazing and she looks beautiful in it. You've done your daughter proud.

Also 🙌🎉🤩👯‍♀️👑🎈🏆🥇 just because the emojis here are so weird 😂

You're the absolute poster girl (WOMAN actually!) for gastric sleeve surgery. So many of us here have benefited from your wisdom and willingness to share your experience. Thank you for that, huge kudos to you for getting where you are, and I hope the next 5, 10 and 20 years are just as successful and fulfilling for you.

I haven't ever noticed this and I can't think of a scientific reason for it! What I will say is as humans we are hard-wired to look for patterns and then read into those something significant. I suspect you've just hit a stall. We all do, many times, on our weight loss journeys. If you can just relax into it and wait for it to break and then resume losing I think you'll be good. My experience with WLS is that my body chose a new set weight and I just got there with a bit of effort and sticking to the rules. Totally agree that with previous diets my set weight might have been very different but those haven't intruded *at all* into my life post sleeve.

Hi Debby! Please can I ask what the purpose of the detox is? I know people do these for various reasons. If you have regained some weight after your bypass (if so, how much?) and you're wanting to kick start further loss then I agree with the others above - eat your protein first, veg second and fruit/carbs last. If you have another (health?) reason for a detox then it might be OK to follow what sounds like a very restrictive plan. I'd be worried about your protein intake with what you're proposing though.

Oh that is so helpful - thank you! I really rate this doctor and I expect the program will be helpful. OP you haven't filled in the stats in your profile. What procedure did you have? What are your starting and current weights? Are you close to your goal or wanting to lose a lot more weight? I agree with everyone else - our macro goals and weight loss goals depend on where we are, where we want to be and lots of other variables. I wish you lots of luck on your journey.

Yes of course, we're all on completely different journeys. Can I just check what you mean by 'healthier' and 'alternative'? I haven't looked at the nutritional information so please excuse me if they aren't processed carbs - I may have jumped to conclusions! We all want to help one another here. If they're complex non processed carbs I'd be very interested. 🤩

Carbs are generally delicious, especially processed carbs. But they're what made most of us obese in the first place. As an occasional treat when maintaining I'm sure these bagels might be fine, but in the months after WLS it might be better to focus on protein, veg and fruit with a tiny portion of complex carbohydrate if you need or want it (which you may well find you don't). There are essential fatty acids and essential amino acids that we simply cannot make for ourselves and HAVE to get from food, but there aren't any essential carbs!

Oh I was just full on starving on day one of my pre op diet! hope you're doing OK. It settled around day 4 or 5 when I got into ketosis and after that I could relax a little. After your surgery is when you really see the difference I think. I was a lucky person whose hunger didn't return for many months but when it did I knew the difference. I agree with the others - if you can use the time you get to retrain your body to expect wholesome nutritious foods then you should do really well. I wish you the best of luck. It's a hell of a ride.

They sounds great. I live in Ireland so I haven't seen them. I prepare 90% of my meals from scratch - I love cooking and I have children so it's so much cheaper that way! It didn't take much tweaking for them to get what they liked and me to get what I needed in the months after surgery. I could see this sort of thing being super handy when you're out and about or just to have a healthier option when your partner is eating differently. I am like you - hate waste!

Oh so very frustrating. I'm sorry. Hoping against hope that the scope is OK and you can go with your first choice. But perhaps better that you have as much info as possible beforehand? Not exactly a stellar performance from your surgeon!

Oh it's fab to se your loss OP! Joyous actually. Enjoy those size 38 jeans and look forward to the 36s and the 34s. Welcome to the rest of your life.

Looks absolutely delish!

Total Vs net carbs aren't really a thing this side of the pond. Disclaimer - I am writing this post with a glass of wine (completely useless carb) beside me, so make of it what you will. While you're in the active phase of weight loss post op IMO you should be minimising carbs. If you're not quite full after your protein and veg then have a little more veg. Or protein. Carbs are what make people fat - what made US fat. There are NO essential carbs (there ARE essential amino acids - i.e. protein - AND essential fatty acids - ie fats). Nobody needs refined carbohydrate to survive. If you absolutely have to incorporate carbs into your diet while still losing then keep them healthy. Carby veg, fruit, oatmeal, wholemeal bread/crackers, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, etc.

You look amazing and I hope you feel amazing. Is this your second procedure or am I remembering wrong? If so you're the poster girl for that. Fab photo - congratulations!

No personal experience of travel in South America but I've had loads of holidays whilst on my post op diet. Honestly if you stick to protein first, veg second and carbs last (by a long way) I think you can travel anywhere in the world. I hope you really enjoy your vacay.

Your experience is totally within normal limits of loss OP! I know you'll be reading the posts here of others who have lost really slowly but still reached or exceeded their goal. I lost really steadily but most of us don't. If you stick to your programme you will lose lots more. I did, and my last few months saw me lose 1 or 2lbs max per month - still a loss! Keep the faith.

Calculates me at 182 at 18 months. Which I would have been thrilled with. Even more thrilled to get lower but honestly I had not *that* much of a say in it. My body kind of decided. 🤩

Looks yum as always. I had a crap day at work today so am eating a handful of Doritos and sour cream dip. Yes I am weak in moments of crisis. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

OK so I have no experience with this because I have no interest at all in skin removal. WLS was, for me, all about the health benefits and way less about the aesthetic benefits but I totally get people who want both (and OMG see the photos on the before and after threads for detail and inspiration)! From what I have gleaned in my 2.5 years here people's weight loss is in the single pounds category after skin removal surgery. Unless you started off in the 60s or 70s of BMI? The point isn't the added pounds of loss but more the making their bodies feel more comfortable to them. I am also a huge believer in the concept of a new 'set weight' after surgery. Our bodies just seem to decide where to settle. Pushing beyond that is tricky. I would have been happy 15 or 20lbs above where I am at the minute. I didn't particularly push myself to get beyond that. But it feels like my set weight was decided by my body. I know that sounds strange. You talk about feeling happy at your current weight plus or minus the weight you might be after removal of skin and whether losing a few pounds more might cause sag that you would have to address at a later point. Honestly I don't really understand that but I guess others will be along soon who might. It might be worth discussing in detail with your surgeon what your desired end point is. Congratulations on your loss, it's amazing.

Hi OP, can you share some info and stats please so we can target our replies? Are you pre or post op? What's your surgery? Etc. Sugar is the devil as far as I'm concerned these days. Yes there are (limited) times when I invite the devil in - Easter most recently - but as a general rule I try to avoid both sugar and sugar substitutes as much as I can. They are what made me obese in the first place. Whole foods are your friends and always will be. Protein, veg, fruit. Carbs once you have space or are at your goal weight.

I think the title of your thread says it all. There is such a wealth of experience on this forum. I started from a different place but so do all of us. I hope you can take this very scary step to change your life for the better. If you have specific concerns please say and someone here will have the answer.

Absolutely this, if your head will allow it. Tek is wise. But - as a fellow traveller who wanted to know what *everyone* here had lost at *every* stage in order to compare my loss to theirs and angst a bit (head thing!!!) you are doing so very well. My stats are available on request but you've lost 8 BMI points in the matter of a few months. You've got this 😍 I have now relaxed a bit, 2.5 years post surgery. I do still like to compare myself to others though because I'm that type of human. Totally in awe (and I really really mean that) of all the people who can walk their own road glancing neither right nor left. That's the absolute dream and the path to Nirvana.

I totally understand this. It's not a bad thing AT ALL to step away from the scales if they aren't helping you. Honestly - if you stick to your plan you will lose more weight than you have already - much more. The issue is that the loss is never linear. If you get stressed by stalls and regains then maybe weigh yourself once a month and celebrate your losses then. I was and am a daily weigher but I could tolerate the highs and lows associated with that. Yes - the food volumes we can tolerate increase in the months and years after surgery. If you focus on a diet of protein and veggies you're not likely to go too far wrong.