Sensaintionaly

The 22nd made my one year Surgerversary! Started at 296.6 I weighed myself today and happy to say I’ve lost over a hundred pounds. I had the duodenal switch literally I have no complaints at all very happy to be thriving my goal is 179 but I’m trying my best to continue losing. I hope everyone is doing well !

Hey!!! Mine was Aug 12. I'm down 121 pounds since my surgery, pounds are getting hard to lose this last few months, but I keep trying...I started again to track what I eat, the exercise is getting easier to do, but I'm still not confident enough to go to the gym by myself.

But I am now not the same person as 1 year ago. This one is lighter, healthier, a little bit happier, and I even look younger (at least that's what ppl says).

I can imagine all of you guys have similar feelings

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Thanks Suzi it definitely does also congrats on your progress as well !

Hey guys! Sorry for being MIA! Between work school & life it’s been busy. I wanted to share my update with you guys I’m currently down 103.4 pounds! I’m very happy I feel good energy is crazy . I can power walk the prison without being winded/sluggish. One of my big victories was trying on some old shoes my feet really shrunk! Lol my only worry now is I have a strong beef brewing with the wind ! I feel like if I keep losing I’ll be gone with the wind! lol

I'm gonna repeat what the others have said - I hope that isn't too annoying!
If you're eating 1000 - 1200 calories a day you will be losing fat.
Whatever Water shifts are happening are making it appear that you're not.
This happens to everyone.
You have lost 21lbs since your surgery - I lost 17lbs in my first 6 weeks so you're doing better than I did (not that it's a competition, LOL).
If you stick to your plan you will see sustained fat loss - it's not possible not to. Keep the faith - I know how disheartening it is not to see a change on the scale but I promise you - if you stick with the programme in a year you'll be here posting how you're at your goal weight.
Post here lots - everyone is so supportive and helpful - we are really rooting for you!!!

You're welcome! 🤗
I got my band in 2013, and within a year or so I hit my lowest weight and I got stuck about ten pounds above that number. For years I was stuck. I gained about another ten back after GERD, and I thought that I wouldn't be able to lose anymore weight either. But it's coming off.
And as far as not feeling restriction... I feel/felt the same way, but this week I started eating grilled chicken again for the first time since before the revision, and now I feel soooo much restriction. My surgeon told me that I have some nerve damage from the band and that's why I wasn't feeling restriction. But I can definitely feel it now as I'm able to eat denser Proteins. Previously I was still eating a lot of chicken that I made in the crockpot, so it was a softer consistency. I think you will notice more restriction once you're fully healed. You're early out still. Give it some time and just follow your surgeons eating plan and track your Protein and Water. You got this!
Best wishes!

Yes, your body adapts to the changes made by surgery, and it will still want to gain weight, as it does now, but it is harder and slower to do so. This means that you have to adapt to to counter that tendency - the surgery will indeed help you to lose the weight that you can't lose now by yourself, but you still need to work at keeping it off.
This guy gives a pretty good presentation of how it progresses, and some ideas on how to live with those changes to help maintain things. You don't have to follow all of his recommendations, (I'm not so sure about his green smoothie thing....) but it helps to understand what is happening so that you can develop your own plan that makes sense for you.
My takeaway from him is that you will see increased ability to eat more at a meal, though not as much as pre op - his progression is consistent with my experience, though my wife maintains a greater restriction than I do, YMMV - is to fill in that increased ability/desire to eat more with bulky, low calorie veg to minimize and control the caloric increase over time. The salads that I make now for lunch have about the same amount of Protein - meat and cheese - that they did early on, but a lot more veg than earlier. Our protein needs doesn't increase over time - our "high protein" post op diet isn't really all that high, but rather a maintenance level of protein while everything else is dramatically reduced at that time.
I found that it really helps to work on your long term maintenance diet as early as possible - long before surgery if you can - to get used to how you should eat 5-10 years from now rather than just next month or next year. Learn how you should be eating for good weight maintenance (and satiety) and start developing those habits early - don't worry about rapid pre op weight loss, let the surgery do that.
If you are seriously concerned about your long term prospects on weight maintenance - if you have had a long history of yo yo dieting, and/or are starting at a very high BMI, you should also consider the DS, duodenal switch, surgery as that has demonstrably better regain resistance than the RNY or VSG, which are very similar in that regard. There are more trade offs involved - what in life doesn't have them - but it is worth considering ahead of time rather than as a revision later on, as the bypass is a difficult thing to revise.

Yes, your hunger does return. A bigger question that influences this is whether what you are experiencing is real hunger or head hunger. Head hunger comes from cravings, habit, boredom & emotions. Real hunger comes from your body needing nutrition & feels different. You’ll learn how it feels for you. For me I get restless, know something is wrong but don’t crave or want a specific food, texture or flavour.
Unfortunately while the surgery changes your digestive system, it doesn’t change your thinking. You have to do that part. Many find working with a therapist helpful with head hunger & the issues behind it.
Yes, the surgery does physically reduce the amount of food you can consume, boost your metabolism, change your body’s set point & temporarily reduce your hunger (not everyone though). The reality is if you aren’t ready to do the head work to reflect on how, what & what you eat you will gain weight again. The surgery isn’t an easy fix though it can give you the impetus to change. I realised what I was doing wasn’t working & that surgery was my last resort which made me want to embrace the benefits & not waste them.
Hope I haven’t scared you more. In many ways I eat more & more often than before (was a meal skipper). I worked out a way of eating that works for me, complements my lifestyle, provides my body with what it needs & has been sustainable. Some do regain some of their weight because how they initially chose to eat doesn’t.
The truth is the surgery can be amazing if you grab the opportunity with both hands. I’ve never been able to maintain my weight like this before & haven’t been this weight since I was 12 or 13. I look at food differently. Not as the enemy nor as a way to make me feel better but as a source of the nutrients my body needs to function effectively. And yes, I still enjoy food & eating .

I feel that on so many levels. As a kid I was made to sit at the table for hours to finish my meal. I feel like it accidentally created this mind set that even when I'm full I needed to finish. My mom always got upset with me when my daughter was small that I didn't push her to eat all her meals. (my parenting is she will eat if she's hungry). We still split meals even now that she's 12, we like 99.9% of what eachother likes so it's a win win for the both of us, especially now after surgery. Wayyy less waste.

I always feel sad about wasting food whenever we go to a restaurant. Some of the restaurants over here have an option for "kids meal" which is usually half of the adult portion. I always order that whenever I go out with my family. It comes with a toy too 😂. Congratulation on loosing 100 lbs.

I dont smoke or vape but the hospitals paperwork for the surgery said obviously to stop that if stopping was too difficult to get the patch or gum or go see the surgeon for some prescription stuff. idk what that is tho.

This is my first "meal" since surgery, day one of phase 3. One egg scrambled with one teaspoon of whole milk, a sprinkle of black pepper and paprika and 1/4 of banana. Unfortunately this is the post pic as I forgot to take a pre pic but gotta tell you it was not that much larger. I only had about 4 SMALL bites of the egg and started getting that good old feeling right at my sternum area. The 4 bites were over a period of about 10-15 minutes. Very odd feeling to eat such a small amount and have a full belly. This is going to be weird getting used to.

This was tonight’s dinner. They are bacon wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with veggies and cheese. I started with half of one and of course couldn’t finish. It was so good though.

Pre and Post...I eat the same omelette just 1/2. Three eggs, two slices cooked uncured bacon, fresh organic spinach and baby bella mushrooms, a sprinkle of shredded cheese cooked in about 1 teaspoon butter.

 

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It looks like SO MUCH food on my tiny saucer, perspective is everything.
2.5 oz. New york strip with grilled onions, 1/8 cup cheese noodles made lighter, 3 brussel sprouts.
288 cals!

Pizza-ish

Protein brownies muffins 😍
(the cals counted is for the entire box but each are ~ 230 cals, 9g protein, 25g carbs)

I had RNY in 1990 and regained all I lost. I always blamed myself but now know that the surgery failed due to a fistula between pouch and stomach. I didn't know that revision was even possible until 2020, just before the pandemic struck. I started the bariatric program in early 2021. I discovered that I am a food addict with trigger foods: sugar, wheat flour, rice, white potatoes, and processed food. I cut out those foods and the result was fantastic! I lost 70 lbs prior to surgery. Despite this success, I went ahead with laparoscopic revision surgery on 12/21/21 at age 73. I weighed 247 at the time of surgery, down from 317.
Unfortunately, I fell in that very tiny group of bariatric surgical patients that develop serious complications. Ten days after my revision surgery, I was airlifted back to the hospital with peritonitis and sepsis, caused by a rupture of the jejunum below the anastomosis. I was hospitalized for 7 weeks and underwent three endoscopic procedures and two open surgeries before they finally found and corrected a residual abscess. I left the hospital with a 15-cm long open surgical wound, which took 8 more weeks to fully close.
I am now fully recovered and am back to exercising daily. The endoscopic procedures stretched the new anastomosis so I have no more restriction than I had pre-surgery, so I still have to be very careful about what I consume. I typically go through month-long stalls and then drop a few pounds. I do lose inches during the stalls. I've dropped from size 32/4X to size 20/XL and now weigh 214 lbs., just past the 100 lb loss mark.
After being on a restricted diet for over 16 months I struggle with near-irresistible cravings in the afternoon and evenings. The clinic wants me to limit intake to 800 calories. 😱 It is daunting because I know I will never be able to go on a "maintenance" diet and must continue to avoid my trigger foods forever. Even when I choose Protein Snacks in response to cravings, each snack adds 100 or more calories to the daily total so my daily calorie count is between 900-1200 calories. (I will gain weight at 1500 calories.) I've done a trial of weight loss drug Contrave but had to discontinue due to side effects.
This is a horror story, but don't let it dissuade you from your revision. Complications are extremely rare.

No one will advocate for you like you is my favorite quote ! Continue to step on toes legs and arms for your health. There’s a reason why there’s revisions. If you don't like the answers your receiving keep looking! I was told a revision wasn’t needed back in 2018 , to just go back to the liver shrinking diet. I have pcos & hypothyroidism. I met a Dr that recommended duodenal switch . Aug 22, 2022 I had my revision. So far I’m very happy with my decision to keep searching for a surgeon that would understand my health needs. Best of luck to you!

Graduated to soft foods today it feels nice, but I noticed I feel full quickly, but honestly no complaints here.
So what’s funny to me & my father whenever it’s “time to eat” or “I should be eating” I start to obsess about what food sounds tasty or reminisce about yummy food I had in the past. I literally google random recipes just to look at the pictures lol . Once I eat though the desire to dwell on past deliciousness is over it’s so odd to me!

How about CVR : Current Vitamin Regimen

I mean, I would just follow what your team says.
Mine just said walk regularly throughout the day.
I basically walked to get my own everything (drinks, broth, etc.) to the bathroom. Every once in a while, likely about every hour or two I would walk the length of my house a few times, more trips as it went.
After a few days we went to the field and walked around the track. I would get tired quick so took breaks and walked longer each time.
Then basically back to normal. I hate walking, it is SO BORING for me.
I do make a point to walk more but not like formal exercise or on the tread mill or anything like that.

First of all, take a deep breath. Allowing yourself to fall into an anxiety spiral is NOT helpful to your healing and recovery.
Next, TRUST YOUR TEAM. They are there for a reason, they are the experts. They have the knowledge and experience and education. I promise you, they have FAR better advice for you than a random bunch of strangers on the internet. Follow their guidelines - if they say 1 minute per 15, then that is what they want you to do. If you feel good and want to do 2 minutes, sure that's fine! But worrying yourself into walking for hours on end is not helpful or healthy.
And yes, you need to be mindful of your hydration. Sit down, drink some Water with electrolytes, and call your team if you have any concerns.

Today I’m starting my first day of week 3 post op (2nd week of purées). I had hoped by today I would have achieved one of my specific mini goals. I was hoping to end the month under 300 lbs. Seeing that “2” in front of my weight for the first time in nearly 20 yrs. was something have have dreamed about but always fell short of since crossing that 300 point. The closest I got to that on my own was 309.

Started out strong loosing about 23 lbs my first week, only to hit a big stall during my second week. I was struggling on purées to hit my Water, Protein and calorie goals. I won’t lie, I was prepared for a stall week 3 - but not week 2. It was so frustrating hovering right at the mark 300 on the scales, but I refused to let myself get discouraged and focused how far I had come so far!!

This morning I hopped on the scales and low and behold I had movement and I’m solidly under 300!!! It may only be just barely, but I’m at 298 and that feels soooooooooo good! There is nothing quite as motivating as hitting goals and making progress… even small goals.

June 2021 - my heaviest was 382. I lost 50 pounds leading up to my pre op liquid diet. Another 10 pounds was lost on the liver shrining diet. Today I am 16 pounds away from having lost 100 pounds! I can’t even believe I am saying that!!! That seems attainably close for the first time ever (to loose 100 pounds!).

I have a long way to go. My final goal is less of a number and more of a feeling of being healthy - what feels right … but I’m more motivated than ever to tick off these mini goals one at a time and get to maintenance.

Now that I've had my surgery, I can comment on the other side of things. I will be honest, the pcos makes it harder to lose weight and keep it off. But if you stick RELIGIOUSLY to your diet, work out (even if it's a little everyday, nothing crazy), you WILL see results. I've lost 69 pounds in 3 1/2 months. And it's staying off. Will stalls happen? YES. Do they royally suck and mess with your head? HELL YES. But they are normal, they will happen, and as long as you pay attention to your non scale victories (getting off meds, clothes and rings too big, fitting in a booth better, comfortably fitting in a "regular" stall and not the bigger handicapped one, etc) you'll see progress even when the scale isn't moving. I've been off my blood pressure and diabetes meds for months. It's AMAZING. The pcos will make it harder, and will test you, but you can do this. You're stronger and better than the stupid pcos. Once you believe that, the rest is easier.