SpartanMaker

Glad you both found something that's working for you!
The data is pretty clear that WLS patients that partake in at least 200 minutes a week of moderate to strenuous physical activity are significantly more likely to maintain their weight loss.
Not everyone will be able to tolerate running for one reason or another due to impact on joints, but there are lots of other activities that will work as well.

This is good advice. What you're experiencing is something called adaptive thermogenesis in the scientific literature. In effect, your body adapts to your restricted intake by also reducing the amount of calories you burn.
As much as we hate it, this is actually a evolutionary advantage. When our bodies detect "lean times", they adapt to make sure you survive long enough to make it to the next time of plenty. This was important over most of human history because we we didn't always know where the next meal would come from.
To break out of this adaptation where you body is "helping" you survive, you should try to do something different. Varying your macros as suggested above, varying your exercise routine, or potentially even upping the number of calories you eat for a while can all "reset" the metabolic changes that caused the stall.
Now that said, even if you changed nothing, it's unlikely the stall will last forever. At the end of the day, your body can only slow your metabolism so much. If you prefer to wait it out, that should eventually work as well as long as you are sticking to your plan.

As always, @Arabesque is spot on.
I see that you are are only a few days post-surgery, so the one thing I'd add is that everything you're feeling is 100% NORMAL at this point. We all start second-guessing our decision early on because having WLS is HARD! How you eat, how you feel and how you look is radically changing every day. It's physically and emotionally challenging. The good news is it gets easier as you progress.
I told my wife she only had one job post-surgery. When (not if), I started doubting my decision, she needed to remind me of all the reasons I decided to have the surgery in the first place. I tell you this because I feel like you may need a similar reminder right now. You know your own reasons for taking this journey.
It's easy at this point to think the challenges you're going through are not worth the hoped for end goal, but they are. Remember that it WILL get easier over time and you can absolutely reach those goals you set for yourself. Right now, it's all new and confusing and frankly most of us worry this is how life will be forever. It's not. You will make it past this, just like the rest of us did.

As always, @Arabesque is spot on.
I see that you are are only a few days post-surgery, so the one thing I'd add is that everything you're feeling is 100% NORMAL at this point. We all start second-guessing our decision early on because having WLS is HARD! How you eat, how you feel and how you look is radically changing every day. It's physically and emotionally challenging. The good news is it gets easier as you progress.
I told my wife she only had one job post-surgery. When (not if), I started doubting my decision, she needed to remind me of all the reasons I decided to have the surgery in the first place. I tell you this because I feel like you may need a similar reminder right now. You know your own reasons for taking this journey.
It's easy at this point to think the challenges you're going through are not worth the hoped for end goal, but they are. Remember that it WILL get easier over time and you can absolutely reach those goals you set for yourself. Right now, it's all new and confusing and frankly most of us worry this is how life will be forever. It's not. You will make it past this, just like the rest of us did.

As always, @Arabesque is spot on.
I see that you are are only a few days post-surgery, so the one thing I'd add is that everything you're feeling is 100% NORMAL at this point. We all start second-guessing our decision early on because having WLS is HARD! How you eat, how you feel and how you look is radically changing every day. It's physically and emotionally challenging. The good news is it gets easier as you progress.
I told my wife she only had one job post-surgery. When (not if), I started doubting my decision, she needed to remind me of all the reasons I decided to have the surgery in the first place. I tell you this because I feel like you may need a similar reminder right now. You know your own reasons for taking this journey.
It's easy at this point to think the challenges you're going through are not worth the hoped for end goal, but they are. Remember that it WILL get easier over time and you can absolutely reach those goals you set for yourself. Right now, it's all new and confusing and frankly most of us worry this is how life will be forever. It's not. You will make it past this, just like the rest of us did.

As always, @Arabesque is spot on.
I see that you are are only a few days post-surgery, so the one thing I'd add is that everything you're feeling is 100% NORMAL at this point. We all start second-guessing our decision early on because having WLS is HARD! How you eat, how you feel and how you look is radically changing every day. It's physically and emotionally challenging. The good news is it gets easier as you progress.
I told my wife she only had one job post-surgery. When (not if), I started doubting my decision, she needed to remind me of all the reasons I decided to have the surgery in the first place. I tell you this because I feel like you may need a similar reminder right now. You know your own reasons for taking this journey.
It's easy at this point to think the challenges you're going through are not worth the hoped for end goal, but they are. Remember that it WILL get easier over time and you can absolutely reach those goals you set for yourself. Right now, it's all new and confusing and frankly most of us worry this is how life will be forever. It's not. You will make it past this, just like the rest of us did.

As always, @Arabesque is spot on.
I see that you are are only a few days post-surgery, so the one thing I'd add is that everything you're feeling is 100% NORMAL at this point. We all start second-guessing our decision early on because having WLS is HARD! How you eat, how you feel and how you look is radically changing every day. It's physically and emotionally challenging. The good news is it gets easier as you progress.
I told my wife she only had one job post-surgery. When (not if), I started doubting my decision, she needed to remind me of all the reasons I decided to have the surgery in the first place. I tell you this because I feel like you may need a similar reminder right now. You know your own reasons for taking this journey.
It's easy at this point to think the challenges you're going through are not worth the hoped for end goal, but they are. Remember that it WILL get easier over time and you can absolutely reach those goals you set for yourself. Right now, it's all new and confusing and frankly most of us worry this is how life will be forever. It's not. You will make it past this, just like the rest of us did.

I hate that "it's taking the easy way out" line. There's nothing easy about this. Plus, why in the world would that even matter? It's like some people think if we use a tool like surgery, we didn't pay our "penance" for being fat.
"Nope, sorry, you're not worthy of being healthy, because you cheated your way to health. Do it the right way or not at all"
Really?
I sympathize with the position you're in as my wife was and still is very anti weight-loss surgery. Her line was always why would you permanently alter your anatomy when it's possible to do this without making so drastic a change? My response is I never had a problem losing weight, what I always struggled with was maintaining. After way too many yo-yo diets, I needed to do something else. Dieting alone was not working for me. I needed a better tool.
That's what it is, by the way, a tool. The analogy I like to use is that WLS is like a shovel. I know that sounds odd, but bear with me...
I've dug quite a number of holes on my property to plant trees. Most of those trees will be here longer than I will, but It's still worth it to plant them. I suppose technically I could have tried to dig those holes with my hands but wow, that would have been a challenge and I'm not sure I would have been able to finish the job.
With a shovel, it became doable. The shovel still was a lot of work, but it made an almost impossible job, possible. No one thinks using a shovel is "cheating", we just think of it as a better tool.
At the end of the day, the risk of early death for me was extremely high with cardiac issues, diabetes, liver and kidney problems, etc. I began to feel that I was living on borrowed time. WLS for me was life-changing and life saving. It immediately reversed my diabetes and high-blood pressure. I used the tool because I had reached the point where all I saw in front of me was an early death.
For what it's worth, it would also seem that the medical community takes your side here based on the available medical evidence:
https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/442260-after-30-years-new-guidelines-for-weight-loss-surgery/
Best of luck whatever you decide.

This is a fantastic point!
The surgery is just a tool, and plenty of people have surgery and fail. Those that are successful have made fundamental changes to the way they eat.
OP: either way, if you want to be successful with or without surgery, you'll need to change your relationship with food. For you at your low BMI, that may be enough even without surgery.

Can you better explain what you mean by "help me"? Do you need to lose weight? How much? When you say you eat very little, do you know how many calories you're consuming now? Do you know your Resting Metabolic Rate? Do you exercise? What types and how much? Do you have any other medical conditions other than your digestive disorder? Especially disorders that impact your metabolism such as PCOS, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes, etc?
Sorry for all the questions, but details matter.

Reposting something I posted elsewhere:
First, the most common reason for any stall, including the dreaded 3-week stall is simply that you are retaining more Water. There are a few reasons this happens, but around the 3-week mark it comes down to the fact that your body is adjusting to a low carb intake after converting from glycogen to ketones for energy. More Water is needed to burn glycogen, so you were retaining more water pre-surgery than you are now that you're using primarily ketones for energy. At about the 3-week mark, your body eventually recognizes that the water loss is long term, so other mechanisms have started kicking in to start holding on to more water. This water loss due to the change between glycogen and ketones is the primary reason for "keto flu", and something that increases your risk of dehydration early after surgery.
The other "reasons" for plateaus really don't apply as much at the 3 week mark, but will become more important later in the process. Let's cover those too though so you're prepared:
As you lose more weight, your overall metabolic rate will slow down. People sometimes think fat is not metabolically active, but that's not true. Less fat means your metabolism slows down, even if you retain the same amount of muscle. As you lose weight, it takes less effort to move, so the amount of calories you burn from activity also drops quite a bit. As you progress, you'll be able to eat more and especially if you're not tracking intake closely by weighing and measuring your food, you can easily be eating a lot more than you think. This one may be TMI for some, but you may simply be retaining more stool. This is going to be hard for some people to hear, but I can tell you one thing it's not, and that's hormones. Yes, various hormonal processes negatively impact weight loss in a myriad of ways, but they don't overcome basic physics: if you eat less than you are burning, you'll lose weight. What these hormones can do if they're out of whack, is not good things like slowing your metabolism, increasing your hunger, screwing with water weight, or even fooling you into thinking you're eating less than you are.
So, with all that sciency stuff out of the way, what do we actually do if we're in a stall? Well, I think it depends on when it happens and how long it lasts:
If it's early (a.k.a. the 3-week stall), just keep doing what you're doing and you should be fine. I know people don't like that advice, but as I said, it's just water, so don't worry about it. Later on, especially if the stall is lasting longer than 2-3 weeks. that's when I think it's important that you look closely at what you are actually burning, as well as really tracking what you are eating. If you don't know your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), you should. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is to get the balance right between intake and output to make sure you're not eating too much, so fixing this starts with knowing your BMR and accurate food logging. There's a lot of anecdotal advice thrown around about "ways to break a stall", but there seems to be little scientific evidence for any of it. Most of it certainly won't hurt to try, e.g. breaking up your routine in terms of diet or exercise, but just understand that this change may or may not have had any impact. If it makes you feel better to be proactive, go for it. Longer term, there is one piece of solid advice that's backed up by lots of research: Even if you don't really like working out, do it anyway. Those WLS patients that make a regular habit of exercising for 45 minutes to an hour most days a week are significantly more likely to reach their goal and maintain the weight loss. (One caveat here: significantly changing your exercise routine can make you retain water and possibly even add muscle, so don't freak out if you see a stall or even a gain.) I'll take that exercise advice one step further and say you really should be doing some form of strength training. This is also backed up by lots of studies, but the great thing about strength training is that it makes your burn more calories even at rest (in other words, it increases your metabolic rate). There are lots of other benefits, but the metabolic benefit is the most germaine to the stall question. Those that do strength training are less likely to stall during weight loss.

This made me think about my own decision not to share my surgery with anyone that didn't have a "need to know". Virtually everyone I work with has never actually seen me in person, only via zoom, since we almost all work remotely. I didn't tell anyone, even my boss that I was having weight loss surgery.
Quarterly, my larger team (50-60 folks) gets together in person now, but I've put off traveling for these meetings for most of the year. I used my significant hearing loss as the main rationale. I do have a significant challenge hearing in crowded rooms due to my hearing loss, so it's absolutely an issue. If I'm honest with myself though, I put off going mostly because I was ashamed of my weight. I also knew that after surgery, I'd be closer to a "normal" weight and while some might notice a difference between "video" me and "in person" me, I figured it won't be nearly as noticeable for most folks. Anyway, mid-December, I'm finally planning to go to the quarterly get together.
Fair or not, I know 2 things are true, and I made the choices I did based on this:
Being obese carries a significant stigma that we are lazy, have no self-control, are morally bankrupt, are unattractive, etc. I've seen and felt this personally and its impact on promotions and work assignments. No one will ever admit to feeling this way or letting it impact business decisions, but it happens consciously or not. (I digress here a bit, but if you doubt this is real, look at the C-suite in any major corporation and one consistent theme is that it's exceptionally rare to see someone that's even overweight, much less obese.) Many people think that WLS is the easy way out, so don't associate weight lost this way as "redeeming ourselves" for the laziness and lack of self-control. In effect, only if you lose weight "naturally", are you proven "worthy" again. Frankly it sucks that these attitudes are so prevalent, but they are. I made the choices I did because I don't need anyone at work judging me or my motivations. As someone else said, I did this to save my life. We should be celebrating it. Instead, it's just more stigmatizing.

Current recommendations vary a bit, but most suggest that to lose weight and prevent re-gain, 250 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity per week are needed. Of that, at least 150 to 180 should be aerobic activities such as brisk walking, running, swimming or bicycling.
Moderate by the way, is defined as attaining a heart rate of 50-70% of your max heart rate. The easiest way to estimate you maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you are 50, your max heart rate would be 170, so 50% to 70% of that would be 85 to 119 BPM.
In addition to the aerobic activities, strength training should be included. The recommendation would be to perform 2-3 sessions per week for 30-60 minutes. Detailed recommendations are beyond the scope of what I can add here. For beginners, bodyweight training would be my recommendation. Doing so you'll be at a much lower risk of injury and IMO, bodyweight training should be the foundation of all other strength training. Google "bodyweight training for beginners" and you should see some recommendations. Just make sure the website is from a reputable source. there are lots of "fads" out there and some of them could be harmful.
The reason strength training is so critical is that muscle is significantly more metabolically active than fat. By gaining muscle, you'll actually increase your overall metabolic rate, meaning you'll burn more calories even when you're not exercising. This means you'll be better able to lose weight or maintain weight at a higher overall number of calories than you would otherwise.
In addition, strength training can help you age gracefully by reducing the risk of osteoporosis, improving mental acuity, improving balance and physical functioning, and helping manage pain.
Finally, in addition to the aerobic and strength training recommendation, I also think it's a good idea to participate in functional fitness that helps improve balance, coordination, and flexibility. There are lots of options here, but yoga and tai chi are good choices if you need recommendations.

There's actually a entire forum dedicated to this topic. It doesn't see a ton of traffic, but there are definitely folks doing this:
https://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1101-vegetarian-or-vegan-eating/

Are you a politician, Spartan? lol 😉

For me, 100% this too. I never want to be morbidly obese again and all the things that go with it, including not being able to fit in seats or pain from unnecessary health problems. That is my main motivation.

Even naturally thin people will sometimes have too big of a meal, or eat unhealthy foods. It doesn't even phase them. So after all these years, I have finally wrapped my head around the fact that it is not an all or nothing situation anymore, I just go back to my normal routine the next meal. It took me a long time not to take one slip too serious. So the majority of time, my fridge is stocked with nutritious food so if I get the nibbles, I can reach for a handful of strawberries but sometimes I just really feel like having an apple fritter lol. It is a meal to meal, day to day, month to month, year to year consistency for following my plan 80 to 90% of the time.

The long term success of either surgery depends upon you. Many of the initial benefits of bariatric surgery fade over time. Your hunger comes back, your restriction can soften, it is possible to eat around your smaller tummy & your body’s new set point, etc. What the surgery does do is give you time. Time to make changes to your relationship with food: the why you eat, what you eat, when you eat, how you eat. Time to understand your cravings & develop strategies to better manage them. Time to establish new habits about eating & exercise. Time to work out how you want to eat in the future & what works for you & your body.
Regain occurs for many reasons: psychological, physiological, behavioural. Bounce back regain (usually 20%+/- of the weight lost) around the third year is common. It can be because your body settles into the weight it is happiest at (your set point). Medication changes. The crap life can throw at you (employment, relationships, health, pandemics). Complacency. A too restrictive way of eating or too demanding exercise regime. Not dealing with your relationship with food. And for some it can be a deliberate choice as they themselves feel happier at a higher weight or they make adjustments to their food choices to better suit their life. Not failure of the surgery but the impact of outside factors.
The average weight loss for both sleeve or bypass at the three year mark is about 65% of the weight to be lost. Of course as with all statistics there are some who lose more & some who lose less. If you are considering revision surgery of sleeve to bypass as a sign of the failure of the sleeve, remember many who have revision surgery do so because they developed GERD not necessarily weight gain.
I have a sleeve & lost more than my goal and have pretty much maintained though at only almost 4 years post surgery I’m still somewhat of a bariatric baby. I settled at 49kg (48.5-49.5). I unexpectedly gained about 2kgs about 18months ago (50.5-51) but recently we discovered I wasn’t absorbing my HRT meds. Changed to a patch & my weight is slowly decreasing (49.2-50). Small numbers I know.
Has it been difficult? No, not really. It was very obvious what I had been doing wasn’t working for me & I needed to make changes. I put myself & my health first. I changed my relationship with food. Made a decision to change what, when & how I ate. It became a new mindset. The changes have been sustainable & haven’t restricted my life. I still enjoy food & eating but my desire is for healthier, more nutritious foods. And no I’m not running marathons or spending hours in the gym just some at home stretching & resistance bands.
Sorry long post.

Honestly I don't think it matters if it's related to the surgery or not. Your surgeon just isn't going to have the requisite knowledge and experience to diagnose and treat you.
If this is something that recently started (and not something you had since surgery), my guess is this is related to a systemic change in your body, possibly related to an adverse change to your gut microbiota. Regardless of cause, you really need to see a dermatologist ASAP. They'll be able to diagnose the actual dermatological condition (and there may be more than one), and devise a treatment plan.
If you need to go through your PCP to get that derm referral, then go that route, but I really recommend finding a dermatologist ASAP. In the interim, you may get some relief from OTC allergy medications and/or topical creams.
Good luck.

There's nothing wrong with setting a higher goal for now and reassessing once you get to that weight. If 170 is all you can invision, make that your goal and once you get there, you may have a much better sense of exactly how much lower you can go.
If anything, I think way too many people set an unrealistically low goal and then find themselves disappointed when they can't get there. Keep in mind that obese people have heavier bones, enlarged hearts, more blood volume, etc. You may find that at 150, you look and feel as healthy as someone that was never obese is at 135.

Have you considered seeking the support of a therapist? It seems you may need some help dealing with the why you eat & why you make the food choices you do. They’ll also help you identify strategies to better manage those urges when they arise. Many find therapy extremely helpful.
The hardest part of this is understanding your relationship with food, recognising them when they arise & better managing them. We never completely get rid of those urges but we can take away a lot of their power.
As @BigSue suggested get rid of the food temptation out of your house. If you don’t buy them you can’t eat them. And delete any home delivery apps on your phone. It was one of the best thing I did. Look for some healthier alternatives instead of traditional ‘junk’ food for those times the urge for something salty or sweet or whatever is too strong.
And like @catwoman7 what keeps me motivated is not wanting to be the weight I was again. I want to be able to play with my nieces & nephews. I want to feel better & healthier. I want to easily be able to buy beautiful stylish clothing.

I do a lot of what SpartanMaker suggests and it does work! When I’ve gotten of track, I start with drinking Water to visually see that I am taking care of myself.

I also tell someone I trust. Sometimes just admitting problems makes it more real and then it’s easier to make that small tiny step.

Then I hold myself accountable by talking with the dietitian at my center. I can go into the center and weigh in monthly or every six months and talk with the dietitian.

Finally, I realized I was using food for comfort. I was thinking about Snacks instead of how to improve my life/job situation. It was time for therapy because I needed a professional to coach me into healthier life choices overall. It wasn’t just about food, but food was a symptom that was easy to see.

Only you know what amount/level of support you need. I hope that you make some changes to get the real live support you deserve. Starting here was a great beginning!

I also thought I ate "very little" at the time I signed up for the program and start the process but when I started logging everything I ate, the areas for improvement were very clear. I also have the issue of being a very small person whose maintenance calories are only 1500; 3 meals a day that are "average sized" to a person of normal stature was always going to be too much for me. It's also common for people with weight issues to think they EAT very little but are also drinking a lot of calories throughout the day and don't count those because it's not "food". juice, sweetened coffee with cream, sodas, milk...those are all calories, and it would be beneficial if you're one of the people who drinks their calories to start treating those things as food in your mind, not beverages.
I hate saying this but most of us pre-surgery probably thought we ate much less than we did, and quantity isn't the only thing that matters: especially when we try to space out our meals we often find ourselves eating more calorie-dense food when we do finally eat.
If you have decided to start a relationship with a surgeon to see if it would work for you, this needs to be something you discuss with them during your first visit. One of the first things they're going to ask you to do is keep a food journal and the best thing you can do for yourself is be brutally honest so they and you have an accurate picture of what you are ACTUALLY consuming, and being honest about your portion sizes is a huge part of that.

I'm not sure motivation is what you need. I think you need better habits. As you said, old habits die hard. You're just not going to wake up one day and suddenly start following your plan, track your intake religiously, exercise regularly, etc.
Instead, you have to pick one teeny, tiny change to make at a time. Pick something that seems almost insignificant, and do JUST that one thing for 2-3 weeks until it becomes the new normal for you. Once that becomes habit, then pick another small change to make, and do that one for several weeks until it's automatic as well. Keep building new habits until the old bad habits have been replaced by the new healthy habits you actually want.
As an example, maybe you've found yourself having a glass of wine every evening. Instead of trying to quit cold turkey, try drinking three ounces instead of four. Or if it was two glasses a night, maybe a few days a week, you only have one glass. After a few weeks of that, maybe you skip it entirely one day a week. You get the idea. The changes need to be so small you don't really notice the change.
Another strategy that can really help is to play mind tricks with yourself. Maybe you really LOVE chocolate. Convince yourself that you hate the taste of chocolate. Go ahead and eat it, but the entire time, think of all the sensations about it that you don't like, such as the weird melting sensation, the earthy flavor, etc. You may find after a while of doing this that you really don't crave chocolate much anymore. The mind games don't even have to make much sense, what's important is that you actually start to believe it over time.

There's nothing wrong with setting a higher goal for now and reassessing once you get to that weight. If 170 is all you can invision, make that your goal and once you get there, you may have a much better sense of exactly how much lower you can go.
If anything, I think way too many people set an unrealistically low goal and then find themselves disappointed when they can't get there. Keep in mind that obese people have heavier bones, enlarged hearts, more blood volume, etc. You may find that at 150, you look and feel as healthy as someone that was never obese is at 135.

Can you better explain what you mean by "help me"? Do you need to lose weight? How much? When you say you eat very little, do you know how many calories you're consuming now? Do you know your Resting Metabolic Rate? Do you exercise? What types and how much? Do you have any other medical conditions other than your digestive disorder? Especially disorders that impact your metabolism such as PCOS, Hypothyroidism, Diabetes, etc?
Sorry for all the questions, but details matter.