Spinoza

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.

Wow a 6 month prep seems so long. Hard to stay motivated, I totally agree. You're clearly eating what you should be because you've lost more than you need for your surgeon. Honestly if I had a 6 month run into surgery I would have accelerated my adherence to the programme in the 6 or 8 weeks before the date itself. Agree with the others - celebrate your non scale victories (although you totally have scale victories too)! Look at where you are now compared to where you were 3 months ago. And then visualise where you will be once you have your surgery. It's hard to stick to any eating plan for 6 months. I wish you all the best.

That's a really good tip. I carry foil in my bag all the time but not everything can be wrapped efficiently in that. Deffo gonna bring my own take out box in future - I have so many. Thanks OP!

Plateaus and regains are part of the journey for most of us. Weight loss is not linear - it's ups and downs and side to sides and all other possible bumps in the road. If you stick to your programme then you will lose - lots. I totally understand your frustration - we all go through it. You'll be fine 😍

Yesss! Could not survive without my electric blanket in bed. I keep it on low all night, other than on the warmest nights (we have very few here ,LOL).

OMG old soul in a young body? Hilarious! 😂

Absolutely this. Knowledge is power. Scan the menu, make your best selection and then only eat what you want or need to when it arrives.

Oh yes, must be even more tricky for people cooking for one. We all hate waste. Freezers are our friends.

Just adding my voice to the general advice to eat 3-4oz of protein per meal (chicken breast seems best for you?) Then a couple of oz of green veg. Berries for snacks if you really need those. Ditch everything else from that plate? I totally agree there's nothing awful on it but if you are fighting a new set weight (WLS can do a number on that) you might need to redraw the lines of battle. Strictly protein and green veg till you're losing consistently?

Still a huge thing for me 2.5 years on. I feel cold almost all the time. I wear 2 layers outdoors in summer (Ireland though - it's not ever properly warm here), 4 layers indoors and probably 6 outdoors in winter.

Oh this is what I dreaded when choosing between sleeve and bypass OP. I had reflux for years but it always resolved when I lost significant amounts of weight. And returned when I regained. I gambled on my reflux being pressure related, had the sleeve, and I won the gamble. Other than spicy foods or too great a volume of food I don't experience reflux now. I totally accept (and did at the time) that it could have gone the other way. I haven't heard of the procedure you describe as fixing reflux or a hiatus hernia. Maybe the more experienced members here will have? I suspect that you're heading towards a revision. Your symptoms sound awful and very persistent, and you seem to have been prescribed everything to control them. Bad bad luck.

That has to be the way forward. What are the chances elsewhere in the world whilst big food companies are making billions in profit as populations become obese though? I have a horrible feeling that Australia might end up taking the lowest common denominator path unless there's a strong will not to.

Sounds super expensive Arabesque. Absolutely beats me how people are expected to eat even remotely healthily. Especially people on lower budgets. A tax on sugary and ultra processed foods that directly subsidises fruit and veg maybe?

Oh I eat a variation on this all the time. Without the bread though - that still sits in my stomach like a lump of lead. Avocado and (for me fried) egg is a match made in heaven. And yes, you have to have some seasoning. 🤩

Thank you so much for sharing. I hope you can get back on top of things and stay where you want to be. I agree pouch resets sound drastic - we've all done boom and bust a million times. I hope you can incorporate better choices now that you've identified what's happening. I also weigh myself every day. If I'm gaining I need to know. Whether I choose to do something about that, or when, is up to me, but I need the data! I put on 5lbs over the winter and I am keeping a beady eye on that. Seems to have settled again for now so I'm not panicking and just putting it down to third year regain. Your post is encouraging me to remain vigilant though.

I'm the same height as you but not the same starting weight. I lost less than half what you have in the first 6 months - around 60lbs - not including my looooonnnnng pre-op diet. I continued to lose consistently for around 2 years, although the second year was a total of 11lbs (I think) so when I got close to my new set weight I was losing a pound a month, that's major fun but still a loss, LOL. From memory I would have been eating around 800 calories a day at 6 months so 900-1000 sounds completely spot on. Sounds like you're doing absolutely amazingly.

I believe I only restarted raw veg at around 5 or 6 months (I might have had lettuce and *maybe* cucumber before that) but luckily I didn't have any problems at all.