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I've recently updated my profile photo on social media (Facebook and Instagram) and I got so many comments on how my face looks different in both photos and how much younger I look now. A lot of people have told me the same thing in person as well. I've always considered my face shape to be round but now it is more like an oval. Here is a before and after photo. I certainly lost the cheeks and double-chin 🤣

Would love to see your face before and after photos also.

3 hours ago, Smanky said:

Give yourself space and time to heal. It's 3 weeks. At the size most of us are/were at surgery, weight loss ISN'T visible until months after. I know it's hard, but try to block out the voices of others, it's not helpful. Concentrate on healing, be patient, focus on the plan and distract yourself where possible. You'll be experiencing non-scale-victories frequently, so enjoy those as they come.

I honestly didn't get any "you're looking smaller" comments until a good 3/4 months after surgery. I was 130kg and wore my weight from head to toe, so even a ten kilogram loss wasn't a big visual change at that stage.

I totally agree with this. Don't stress too much about how much you have lost and if you look different or not. Focus your energy on healing and following the post-op diet. People lose weight differently. For me, I lost most of the weight on my thighs and lower body at first and for the first few months my face almost looked the same.

3 weeks is too early to see any noticeable changes to be honest and your body is still healing. That is also when most of us got the infamous three-weeks stall. At least that was the case for me. Good luck

27 minutes ago, kcuster83 said:

Hello, Do you have the link to this video? I don't want to loose it so I can watch it later.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39w4LJtk7ME. I'm watching the video rn

12 hours ago, summerseeker said:

So I did it, I got to onederland, a place I dreamt of but did not ever believe I would attain. I thought loosing 100lbs was a reach but I ran through that. I was on a super high until I wanted to change my next goal weight. The BMI doodah says that I am still in the obese range, damn. 150 to 180lbs is still classed as overweight, do I really need to get another 49 lbs off my already skinny bod to be in the 'normal' range ? What are your thoughts on a new goal weight ?

Oh happy day! Congratulations. I also ask my self the same question. I still need to lose 14 kg to reach my ideal weight of 70 Kg. My current BMI (29.1) puts me at the end of the overweight range. I think I'll be happy if I'm in the range of 75-70 Kg.

6 minutes ago, SkinnyMingo1408 said:

Lol! I love this. My 17 year old and I have the same size panties now. She's be horrified if she figured that out.

I bought new plain round neck T-shirts and the maid put those in my wife's wardrobe. Guess we are the same size now lol

We went to my son's school Sports Day last Friday. Me and a few parents were asked to join the activities which was really fun. Doing the spoon ball game as a team with my son was so much fun and he was really happy that daddy was finally on the field.

The coach even asked me if I could join the daddies 100 m run. I don't remember being asked last year hmmm 🤣. I couldn't join because I didn't have proper shoes on. Looking forward to next year event

7 hours ago, summerset said:

With WLS being around since a whole while now and more and more people getting it I'd guess people asking questions will suspect WLS anyway. It's not a niche procedure anymore. Most people know that these procedures exist.

A former colleague from another department lost a ton of weight after having been absent for maybe two or three weeks. People are suspecting WLS, even though they've not asked her directly.

People are no fools. Most of them won't believe that story about "lifestyle changes" and "healthy diet and exercise" while conveniently not mentioning the surgery anyway. The easiest way is to say "I had surgery". People who're interested in the whole thing might want to know what kind of surgery it was but usually that's the end of it.

Most of the people I'm working with now have not seen me at my heaviest. Only two of three of them. The problem is when staff from HQ come for the monthly meetings / site visits. I try to keep a low profile during those day but still will get noticed lol.

7 hours ago, RaiderRhode said:

I've been very open about my surgery, mainly because I live in a very rural area where gossip reigns supreme. There are a few people I know who have had the surgery and didn't tell many people, so now rumor has it they lost weight on the 'meth diet'. I don't want that, or any other controversy so I'm just being an open book.

I think you did the right thing in your situation lol. The last thing I want is someone spreading rumors that I'm a methhead 🤣

5 hours ago, 3Jaysmom said:

One thing that helped me is that I had a hiatal hernia- which I’d mentioned to friends from work before because I’ve always had “odd” eating issues. So it was easy to explain the time away by telling them that I’m finally getting it fixed- and I technically did, I just also had a few other major things done at the same time, lol.

When it comes to the weight loss (I’m not quite where anyone would notice just yet) I feel really weird about it. I’m always up front with people about things because I feel like people who leave big things out are misleading, which isn’t fair- for example, people often think I’m younger and ask about what skin care treatments I use or whatever, I’ll tell them, and say “….plus a hefty dose of Botox in my frown lines!” because I just feel weird about “taking credit” for something that’s not natural, or that what if they buy the same skincare stuff and expect the same results. Idk, I’m overthinking it probably.

But when it comes to my gastric bypass, I feel so much more private about it because I’m not anyone who would ever acknowledge my weight in any way. I just don’t feel comfortable with comments about my appearance at all, so I’m dreading people making comments of any kind, even that they think are positive. I’ve even told my husband to tell my MIL that I got it and to not make ANY comments about my weight in general or how much I’ve lost, no matter how complimentary she thinks they are. This is mainly because I was at a fit weight for most of my life, so she wasn’t shy about constantly commenting on my weight as it crept up (under the guise of concern, of course 🙄) so her saying things like “it’s about time you stopped eating so much and lost weight!” is not out of the question. I’m just hoping the vague “working with a nutritionist and working out!” will keep the people who I’m not close to from asking any further questions. Maybe I can just be a shut in and avoid it altogether, lol.

My sister who had her surgery before me also used a similar "cover up" story for her WLS. She has a hernia also. We had our surgeries with the same doctor within three weeks and started losing weight around the same time. Luckily we don't live in the same country otherwise our extended family members would have noticed lol.

"working with a nutritionist and working out" is exactly what are you doing now, so stick to that. You won't be misleading people by telling them this. It worked for some people without the WLS (not for me tho). Good luck

On 2/26/2023 at 6:33 PM, pintsizedmallrat said:

I'm honest. I really don't care what peoples' opinions are. I almost died to get here. I'm proud I made it through to the other side. They can judge me if they want but I know the truth; this is far from the easy way out and if someone wants to treat me like it is, I appreciate them letting me know they're not someone I want to continue to maintain a relationship with.

I don't mind telling family members and close friends if I feel they might benefit from knowing. I didn't tell anyone at work (except from my boss and MD whom I consider to be friends etc) and I intend to keep it this way. Cutting ties with coworkers in not an option of course.

14 hours ago, Sleeve_Me_Alone said:

I have an office sweater, a bedroom sweater, a dining room sweater, and blankets on every ding dang sitting option in the house. Its a running joke in our family - my old lady sweaters and my blankets! I wish I had a solution, but 115lbs down, even in Arizona, and I'm pretty much always chilly.

Same for me here. I have a sweater for the car, the office and at home. I'm in Malaysia (tropical country) and it is raining almost everyday here. I can't remember the last time I turned on the air conditioning or the fan in my office or at home. My coworkers always joke about how my office feels like a different zone compared to the rest. The air cons are running at full blast all over the office except for mine

10 hours ago, Sleeve_Me_Alone said:

Yep - sometimes packing up leftovers gets me to gag. I've noticed that having something else (non food scented) to smell helps; a candle, a napkin with an essential oil, etc. Even washing my hands with a good smelling soap can help take the edge off. It doesn't happen all the time, but I definitely know the feeling.

I'll definitely try that. Thanks for the tips. Here is what worked for me so far:

- sucking mints (sugar-free ones) really helps. I carry them with me everywhere I go.

- I don't eat before cooking my food (which I do once a week). Otherwise I won't be able to do it.

- Going for a walk after the meal also helps

13 hours ago, Recidivist said:

Yep, still happening to me after four years! After I've eaten, the sight or smell of food makes me naueous.

13 hours ago, pintsizedmallrat said:

I have a bit of this myself; once I reach something resembling satisfied I just want what's left taken away from me, I can't stand to look at it.

Good to hear I'm not the only one. I hope this is just a phase and it will go away. Good luck

I'm one year post-op and I'm eating almost everything but in small quantities (please don't tell my doctor 🤣). I noticed that I can't stand seeing or smelling food after finishing my meal regardless of what food I ate. It is not a big deal if I'm eating at home since I can just move to a different room or go out for a walk. Last week we were invited to a restaurant. The smell coming from the kitchen was really appetizing when we went in and I was excited to get my food. I enjoyed the meal but I wanted to leave as soon as was done eating. I really couldn't stand the smell coming from the kitchen after eating. The group wanted to have a chat after meal and I was really struggling to keep up. That feeling went away after a few minutes but still it was difficult. I follow a lot of food photographers on social media and I always avoid checking my feed after meals for the exact same reason.

Anyone with similar experience?

2 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

carrots wouldn't be considered slider foods. Slider foods are things like ice cream, popcorn, and various other junk food that you can eat a lot of, and most have a lot of empty calories to boot.

I eat baby carrots when I'm trying to ward off a potential binge. Reason being is that if I eat enough of them, they often irritate my stomach so much that the last thing I want to do is eat more. Not only do i not want to eat more carrots, but I don't want to eat ANYTHING!

carrots are very nutritious and have very few calories. They also don't go down all that easily - as in comparison to something like ice cream. So definitely not a slider food.

It is popcorn in my case. I also found out that french fries and Pasta do the same for me like you and baby carrots. I take a couple of bites and I don't want to look at or touch food again. It could be the starch but I'm not very sure.

1 hour ago, BriarRose said:

I thank them for noticing, and then compliment them on something - "Oh, I love your ring" - "that's a great tie ! it matches perfectly with your pin stripe"..... and then they talk about themselves. If they come back to it again, I say that I am eating less, and moving more.

This is brilliant. People certainly love to talk about themselves more than listening to others doing it. I'll try this the next time and see how it works

I was at the hospital just now for my 1 year blood work and the front desk guy handling the paper work said I look nothing like my passport photo. I thought he was joking but apparently not 🤣. Taking the blood sample was much easier this time. They didn't have to poke me a million times to get the sample.

1 minute ago, catwoman7 said:

btw - in the long run, it was worth the pain and discomfort. I have a normal-looking body again, and my clothes fit better. I'm very happy with the results!

I'm glad to hear you are happy with the results. If I ever decide to do plastic surgery, I might consider removing the loose skin on my belly. I'm not too concerned about my forearms and thighs. I still need to loose some weight

I was away for almost three weeks after my MGB. The doctor allowed me to fly back to Malaysia (from Egypt) after 10 days then I had to quarantine for a week at home. My surgery was done the old fashion (I had a big vertical incision which took longer to heal) and I had to change the dressing everyday and take some shots also. Desk job as well. I returned to work when I entered the semi-solid food stage which was just nice. I set a reminder on my phone to take a walk every now and then which helped a lot. Good luck

I agree with the others. Better stay away from it. I think the risks outweigh the benefits in this case

1 hour ago, GreenTealael said:

The pain from plastic surgery was a lot more intense than laparoscopic weight loss surgery for me (however to me it was comparable to a caesarean).

I also didn’t think I would pursue skin removable when I started because I was so focused on health. Honestly I could have gone either way but what pushed me over the edge was someone asking when was I due. I was not pregnant. I booked a plastic surgery consult less than 6 months after that.

I see a lot of sleeveless compression tops for men and that might be I lighter layer option to consider.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I giggled when I read what pushed you to do the plastic surgery. My sister who had her WLS just before me is complaining that no one is offering her help or giving up their seat for her now she lost the weight and the belly. She was pregnant for a long 15 years or so 🤣.

Maybe I should give these compression tops a try

9 hours ago, Courtney* said:

Thank you! I’ve been doing the Water thing and that helped a lot. I’ll try less more often as well. Are there specific things you notice as being full or is it just any discomfort at all?

I will echo what @Alex Brecher and @heatherdbby said. Slowing down between the bite is the way to go. I used to take a bite, chew it well, swallow it and wait for at least 2 mins or so between taking the second one. If I feel I'm full or discomfort I will stop right away. I struggled with some foods more that the others. For instance, I had to be extra careful when having chicken, meat or scrambled eggs. I cut my meat and chicken is very small bites and chew it very well. I hope this helps

11 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

it IS more painful and takes longer to recover from than WLS. And every time I had one (I had three plastic surgeries altogether), i said I'd never do it again, but then, a year later - I was back on the table doing it again! It was worth it to me in the long run since i now have a normal-looking body, but yes - those are definitely tougher surgeries than WLS.

Just curious, why you had three plastic surgeries? All to remove loose skin? What was the down-time while recovering from surgery? This is what worries me. The pain also lol

7 hours ago, Sigh said:

I am going to try a binder to help hold everything in and protect incisions for compression— is there something like that to help under clothes for men?

Maybe a compression top that tucks into waistband of pants to smooth that area?

I was given a compression binder like the one you are referring to at the hospital and I wore it for at least 3 months after the surgery. I'm now looking for a long-term solution after losing the weight. I saw some shape wear for men online but I don't really like wearing layers and layers of clothes. Maybe I will find some high waist pants

2 hours ago, Smanky said:

Yeah, we're pretty much stuck with the loose skin. I keep my sense of humour about it, and stick to high-waisted undies and jeans/pants. Can't do much about my crepey arm skin, especially in summer, but they thankfully don't bother me. I find dressing myself post-goal is a lot of "smoke and mirrors", with a healthy dose of "eh, I don't care" for the bits I can't hide.

I have to agree. I don't think I will ever do the Excess skin removal surgery. From what I read, it is more painful and takes longer to recover from compared to WLS. But never say never, right. For now, I will just try to get flattering clothes and adopt your attitude. Tucking my shirts helps which I'm doing now.