kaylee50

Okay, here's a weird one and an unclear "victory":
I was going through airport security and after they did the backscatter screen, the one where they look at your naked body through your clothes with X-rays, they called me aside and did a very invasive and thorough pat-down, focusing on my groin area. This has never happened to me before, save at the Kathmandu airport where I'm pretty sure everyone just gets grabbed by the crotch as part of standard procedure.
As far as I can gather, I've now lost enough weight that my panniculus looks less like a fat belly and more like a low-slung bum bag full of drugs/explosives on their machine. Hoping that as it deflates, it looks less alarming and triggers fewer groin probings.

I finally weigh less than 300, for the first time in 17 1/2 years!! I'm off all 3 diabetes meds, my anti-inflammatory/joint pain med, and my blood pressure med. I do cardio 3 days per week and weight training 2 days per week. On cardio, I'm up to an hour and a half. On weight training days, I'm at right around an hour. Never in my LIFE did I think I could ever be here. I know I need my rest days, but I actually hate taking them LOL I look forward to working out, which is so crazy and foreign to me.

Hi, I am so glad to see more people here who have had or are looking into ESG! I highly recommend it. I was looking into it for a while. What convinced me to go this route was the recent MERIT study published in The Lancet. Here's a decent summary of the findings: https://www.bariatricnews.net/post/merit-rct-endoscopic-sleeve-gastroplasty-is-safe-and-results-in-significant-weight-loss.
I had my ESG on October 7th and have lost 15 pounds as of today (10 days later). Like Forensikchic, I had very little pain. My procedure was at 10:30 am, was discharged and on my way home by 1:30 pm, and basically slept the rest of the day. The next day I had some gas and nausea, for which I had zofran (which made me throw up, so no more of that tyvm!). I slept in a recliner in an abundance of caution until the 3rd night, but I could have skipped that.
The procedure was Friday and I was back in the office on Monday, Day 3. Looking back, I had super low energy until I started Protein Shakes on Day 3. I was easily tired the entire first week, only short walks and light dumbbells / kettlebell lifts. But I was drastically better when I started the soft/puree stage (real food, bless!) on Day 7.
By yesterday, Day 9, I was able to walk briskly for over an hour. This morning, I did a 5K run/walk/run, which was great. I was also able to deadlift 5x3 sets at 95 lbs (a big de-load for me) without problems because there's no cutting with this procedure. Other than having to limit my caffeine intake (UGH!!), I consider myself back at 100% as of today, Day 10. Yay!
My doctor gave me a Post-Procedure Guidebook provided by the device manufacturer, but I could not find it on their website (apolloendo.com) to share. So here is a picture of the page with the summary of stages of food. See how easy?

In summary, yes -- I am super happy I chose ESG. My life is such that I could not have taken the time off necessary for surgery. It was either this or nothing. I am so glad I went forward with it.

I just wanted to give an update on my experience with ESG after having a VSG 8 years ago. I lost 120 pounds on the VSG and regained 60 pounds. The surgeons I talked to were hesitant to do a surgical revision due to potential complications. I did an ESG revision 5 weeks ago. Since then I lost 10% of my body weight, which is over half of what I had regained.
I was very pleaded with the ESG procedure itself, I had it done on a Wednesday and was back to work on Monday. I had lost 4 weeks of work with the VSG. My program at the University of Michigan does a full 6 week liquid diet which I contribute to most of the success.
I think the ESG success needs to be talked about more. It's lower risk with a speedy recovery.

At the end of last year, my life was over eating and especially lots of sugar. I binged on little debbie cakes, guzzled icees, had many high calorie starbucks drinks and a lot of fast food.

I ate and drank so unhealthy that it really was a slow suicide. It was killing me and frankly I did not care, but rather welcomed it.

After several things snowballing, the first of 2022 I started to take control. I made a choice to live. I struggled to work out the pain of the past and even current circumstances which lead me to cover the pain in food, especially sugar and non nutrient dense carbs. The pain that brought me well over 400 lbs and climbing. I journaled and cried and started to stand up for myself. I also did take Ryselbus which helped give me a leg up to do the work. My husband took it but the effects wore off some because he didn’t change. I knew i needed to change if I wanted to live.

Over a few months, I did the very hard mental work. I broke addictions to fast food and the sugar. Going through the process sucked. Slowly, I repeated over and over again I was worth forgiving to getting into this unhealthy state. I could heal and forge a new way. I didn’t need sugar or binging on pizza to make me feel better, I could finally start to find empathy and forgiveness for myself.

Now I am two days from life changing bariatric surgery in a good place. I am ready for the huge changes this surgery brings. No longer do I binge on sugar, bread, processed food. I don’t even want to binge 90% of the time and I have self soothed myself with forgiveness and understanding the other 10%. I have changed my eating patterns, my portions, my outlook. Sugar isn’t forbidden forever, but it will now be a treat, a sometimes indulgence.

It feels amazing to be able to make that choice instead of being ruled by cravings. I feel lighter from not having to carry as much of the huge burden of self loathing and self hate I used to carry.

I am worth forgiving myself.

I guess really why I am writing this is I know the struggle is so real. each one of you has your own issues and challenges. Each one of you is worthy of self forgiveness and embracing good things in your life. shed the tears, embrace your flaws and find a way to accept yourself and move forward in a way you want. Even if you struggle, It is worth it.

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

Congratulations it is nice to see the changes in the body especially like you said swelling. I had swelling in my forearms and the legs my face it felt more than just fat I can't explain. Now It has gone down. My body feels like it's saying aahhh, deep sigh of relief, because of the weight going down, even if I did not want to believe the weight caused it, weight took a toll on my body.

That is so awesome, people don't know the struggle. The trauma and emotional toll it can have to not fit in a chair. or if you sit it's snugg. I personally hated social event with those flimsy plastic chairs when I sat on them I would get dizzy and hope not to break it. Now I sit on them and feel like well I guess if I break it, I can blame the cheap material.

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

I am interested in this as well! We went to see Black Adam last weekend (so good!) and I brought carrot sticks just to have something to chew on, in case I was tempted by the giant bucket of popcorn my family was having. Well, I was definitely tempted because of the environment and habit. So I was glad I brought something. But the carrot sticks were just unsatisfactory. It had the crunchy mouthfeel, but I think it also needs to be something salty next time.

So i went to the movies last week to see black adam. i grabbed a fountain drink because they had sugar free juices and as for the snack i grabbed some cookie dough bites. They had the lowest carbs/surgar out of all of them. i poured me out about a serving and a half and i slowely ate them throughout the movie tho it only lasted like 30 minutes lol.

If you have a Sam’s club they have cauliflower chips that are 140 calories for 24 chips. 7g fat, 18g carbs. They are salty and crunch and tasty too. Moon Cheese sounds better for you though

Moon Cheese is my go to when I want something crunchy and salty. You get Protein and no carbs and a good snack.

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

I think it is wonderful that kcuster 83 is teflon. We should all hope to be this way. Why give rude people our time or attention? Haters gonna hate. 😉

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

People have been mostly supportive, but they definitely do treat me differently since the surgery. A lot of stuff gets said behind your back that doesn't match up to the smiles to your face. It is what it is🤷🏾‍♂️. I did this for my health, not other people's approval. I'm happy. The weight loss shrink they make you see was pretty spot on about this.
Just as an aside, I think it's totally different for guys vs. girls. If I fire back at shade thrown my way, it's seen a lot differently than if a woman fired back. Stupid societal norms. The way I see it, it's not normal to let some guy a few years out from losing at beer pong in his fraternity, cut me open and redo my stomach. So, if I can break THAT norm, to heck with the rest of them. I'll just enjoy the new lease on life.

1. I’ve confirmed with my team that taking laxatives long term is not an issue.

2. Absolutely! I have a “normal” appetite. I can get really hungry but also I can wait to eat better than before surgery so this is a huge improvement. Also there are exciting new medicines on the market (and in trials for weight loss) that targets appetite suppression (wegovy, Ozempic and mounjaro) so there’s more hope.
3. Yes. A million times yes. It was hard for me to see the finished product of what I worked for until I had plastic surgery. That route is not *necessary* or even desirable for everyone, but it is a solution for those who want to explore it.
Good luck and never give up ❤️

(Warning: this is long)
tldr; for ME, in MAINTENANCE, carbs consumption makes little difference to my weight.
K.
My NUT didn’t give me a carb goal/limit per se, but did instruct me to aim for my meals to consist of 25% carbs/starches (with another 25% being Protein and the remaining 50% to be low-glycemic veggies).
With that said, i did my own thing (and told her so): i ended up doing ultra-low carb, i.e., less than 25g NET carbs per day.
Got to goal in 7 months, remained carbophobic, lost a few more pounds and basically still went out of my way to avoid them. I wasn’t ultra-low carb as during weight loss phase, but i was still pretty low.
Eventually, i started eating more and nowadays (4 years post), i probably eat as much carbs as a “regular” person.
I have remained under goal weight this entire time.
These are my takeaways of going low-carb (and this is from MY experience, YMMV)
1) weight loss is rapid. but you need to remain low carb for an extended period. If i carb up on a day, the weight loss slows down or pauses. There is a science to this phenomenon regarding ketosis, the explanation of which is beyond the scope of my post (just google it if ur interested). Also want to say that i was also ultra-low calorie so obvs that contributed!
2) there is a period of a few days that, once passed, my cravings for carbohydrates went away. (Which is why once u start, stick to it because u may have to go thu the “white-knuckle” phase again to alleviate urself of the cravings (see note 1 above)
3) now here is the kicker: during MAINTENANCE (i cant say if this applies to weight loss phase because i didn’t try it)…i discovered that, for ME, it does not matter if my 1800 cals average i eat a day consists of 20g of carbs or 200g. My weight stays the same regardless. What does make a difference is CALORIES. So long as my calories stay at around 1800 (however it is comprised) then im good.
4) carb consumption affects my looks. When i low carb, my body is more defined (which i like) and my face more gaunt (which I don’t like). These days my face is lovely (lol), but my body could be better. Mind u i have also been slacking on the exercise front so that is also a factor, but i digress. In any case, the point is i am still basically the same weight as my low-carb maintenance days.
And that concludes my dissertation for this evening lol.
P.S. I want to point out also that i am NOT insulin-resitant, nor suffer any other medical conditions that affect my weight, nor take any medications that would either. So this may not be everyone’s experience.
P.P.S. Sorry this was so long!

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)

It's only been about 3 weeks for me, but the swelling in my hands and feet has really gone down. It's inflammation from early arthritis. To my utter delight, I was able to wear my late mother's favorite ring today! I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it fit again.
(And now I am getting a little teary-eyed just typing this...sorry.)