maintenanceman

I'm contemplating skin removal, but I'm hesitant with regard to recovery, cost, etc. Do any of you have regrets about choosing to do plastics? Anything you would do differently if you knew then what you know now?

March is my 2 year surgiversary. Maintained at goal weight since December 2022.

My two word response to anyone who comes at me with anything other than less than 100% support... f**k off. It's not my job to educate you or seek your approval. Get on board, or get out of my way.

I agree. You must print and frame this picture, even if just in a place where only you see it.

50 yo

Obviously, I'm not a medical professional so take anything I say with a grain of salt. Tbh, during this weight loss phase, I would try to stay focused on losing weight. Continue to monitor your eating challenges, but there will be time to sort that out after you've lost the weight. As long as you're getting sufficient nutrition and calories, you'll be fine for now. Do your best to meet the protein goal, but if you fall short, it's not the end of the world. Listen to your body, and feed it what it can handle. I'm 19 mo post-op, and even now, solid foods can be a challenge. I generally still eat a soft(ish) diet. It works for me. Obviously, if you are continually getting sick, feel bad, and/or are unable to eat enough to meet your needs, that's an urgent problem. But if you can handle it, give it time and stay focused.

It's a wonderful community, but yes, posting is a bit slow here. If you want more content, check out the WLS reddits... r/wls, r/bariatricsurgery, r/gastricbypass, and r/gastricsleeve. They're all very active.

I stopped at 10 months, when I reached my goal weight, but things really slowed down those last couple of months... 1 or 2 pounds a month. I see that your goal weight requires you to lose another 40 lbs. I don't want to be discouraging, but that's going to be hard given the front loaded trajectory of weight loss surgery. Keep going, but there is a limit. It will be increasingly hard to maintain 800-1000 calories... and no matter how low you keep your calories, the body eventually stops cooperating. Congratulations on all of your hard work and tremendous success!

There's no one place on Bariatric Pal that houses questions/comments about maintenance. There probably should be separate forum for maintenance, but I'll start a thread here. For those of you in maintenance, where are you in your journey? Any lessons learned?

Great. I wish you nothing but success!

OK, but I'm surprised that you found a surgeon who still does bands or even recommends them. Did you get a second opinion? I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, but the negative sentiment about the band is so widespread, I would proceed with caution.

I'm curious why you are doing lap band? Most surgeons have discontinued doing lap bands due to failure of long-term effectiveness and post-op complications. Absolutely everything I have read about lap band has been negative. Have you read through the lap band forum here? You really need to read through the experiences of others. https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/4-lap-band-surgery-forums/

Yes. But that's the whole point of WLS. If we could eat "normal" size meals again, without restriction, we would likely regain most/all of the weight as we all have done with countless diets.

Studies show that the likelihood of losing this much and maintaining without surgery is basically 0%. So, the real choice was staying where you were (and likely gaining more) or WLS. I'm sorry that you're struggling. Your outcome seems to be quite extreme, both physically and emotionally. Are you working with your WLS team to address? Engaged in therapy? This constellation of challenges seems to be beyond what you can address without help from medical professionals.

😀 Because I'm a nerd, I created a spreadsheet. I've had a small bounce back regain, which I'm fine with. Even now, I'm borderline too thin.

I definitely feel more confident, more comfortable in my own skin.

Now that you're in maintenance

WLS solves precisely two problems... being fat and (hopefully) associated health co-morbidities. The rest is work that you have to do. That said, being fat often makes us feel like crap for so many reasons. No longer being fat frees up a lot of energy and mental space to do that work. I have found that engaging in high quality therapy pre-op and during weight loss and maintenance has been very helpful in processing all of the changes and taking full advantage of the opportunities for transformation. I can't imagine going through this process without therapy as a space to process it all.

Maybe try using an occasional enema? I started doing that, and it restored my regularity.

I'm the same height as you, and I sit at 149. I look thin, for sure, but not skeleton-like. I think we get so used to being obese that "normal" weight seems weird. What looks emaciated to us is, in fact, normal weight. 135 might be too thin, but I think getting into the "healthy" BMI zone is entirely reasonable.

Have you thought about trying meal replacement shakes to increase your calories? I've started drinking these on days when I struggle to eat sufficient calories. https://soylent.com

What is "too much"? Why is this a problem? I weigh myself religiously every morning, and I have since day one pre-op. Works for me.

For those of us in maintenance, how would you describe your hunger now? Are you still less hungry than before? Has your hunger increased?

I have never heard anything about the surgery boosting your metabolism. Can you elaborate?

I started off tracking everything in My Fitness Pal, but it got to be too much. Now, I keep an informal daily calorie tally in my head, and so far it's working. I also weigh every morning without fail to make sure I keep things in check. I know some people advise against it, but it works for me.