New To This23

I'm happy today because I have lost 109 lbs from my high weight! I downloaded a coloring page from Etsy to track my weight loss, and once I hit that goal (literally on New Year's Day), I downloaded another one with my next goal. It's fun to color with crayons (and kids Water colors, when I couldn't find my crayon box for a while) I keep them on my big magnetic white board. When I'm in a stall or gain a couple of pounds, I don't/can't remove any pounds, because they're already colored in. I just wait until I can color in new spaces. I recommend trying something like this, if it resonates with you!

Great job on everything so far!! I applaud you on your dedication to moving your body!! I also take my measurements once a month, on the 1st. I totally relate to everything you said, including the early stall! I had a stall at 2 weeks and it lasted a month. I cried at my 3 week appointment, as I had gained 6 pounds. I thought my surgeon would think I was non-compliant, even though I was only getting 3-400 calories a day. She hugged me and told me that it was literally impossible for me to be non-compliant at this stage! It was just my body freaking out at itself, and the goal over time was to add a lot more calories.
I haven't been able to do much more than a little slow walking, even at nearly 4 months out and just short of 40lbs down from surgery weight. I think it has to do with sleep, about which I have huge issues. I feel like once I get better with that, I'll be able to add a lot more movement. I'm hoping that will help get me through future stalls, which I know are very likely to come and are super normal. Still doesn't make it easy!
Also having trouble getting my 64+ of liquids. It's a daily struggle that I don't always meet.
My surgeon chose to leave the hospital and physician's group 3 months after my surgery, because the powers that be were making decisions about the program that she felt compromised the program's (and her) integrity. She's moved to a more holistic private practice now, and even though they don't take my insurance, she offers a special rate for follow-ups to her former surgery patients. I'm totally going to go see her for my 6 month f/u and beyond, because the hospital has now ended their bariatric program, and I adore my surgeon and her holistic attitude. I feel really lucky.

Does your clinic want you to track it? Personally, I hate, like really hate, tracking food, it's inconvenient and annoying. My clinic wants me to eat 5 very small meals a day that are balanced, Protein, carb, veg, and fruit. For me, I am still losing weight and my energy increased once I was able to have these other foods. My goal was to eat how "normal" people should be eating. I do struggle with real meat and raw veggies, my system still does not like them, so I eat a vegetarian diet and cook/steam all veggies. I have learned when to stop eating based on how I feel, I now know when one bite will be one bite too much, that is how I track.
I just did my labs today for my 3-month check-up ( hit 3 months Jan 27) so I will see what my clinic has to say about my labs on Feb 12th and I will make adjustments from there if needed.

Hi everyone, My 3-month mark was January 27th, 2024 for RNY. I was cleared to eat regular food in the normal way (not liquid, puree) 2 days before Christmas. I just had my labs done today, and my 3-month checkup with the clinic is on Feb 12th, where we will go over labs and diet expectations. So I will know more then.
From my highest weight, I have lost 61lbs/27.69k so far, since surgery on October 27th I have lost 39lbs/17.69k. I feel like I should have lost more, but I am right on track. I was exercising at the gym 6 days a week since mid-November, up until 2 weeks ago when I got snowed in. I am hoping to get back to the gym tomorrow, but I am overwhelmed looking for a new job/career change and I would like to move to Nevada.
I have noticed that the exercise seems to help me with the weight coming off and I have been building muscle too, especially in my arms and legs (most excited about arms).
I take full body measurements every month on the 27th. I started doing this the day before surgery in October and I have found it very encouraging, especially since I struggle with feeling I should have lost more. I would suggest everyone do this, there are some great cheap templates you can download from Etsy.
The first month after surgery I lost 0lbs, nothing and I was super upset, how can no weight come off when all you get to eat is Protein Shakes, and it's a struggle to get them down? So I guess I hit my stall right out the gate.
My surgery did go very well. I only stayed one night in the hospital, and I was eager to get home, I did throw up the entire time after surgery (that day and the next day) but I did not have pain or gas and I was able to walk around easily. TMI but I did start my period the day before surgery, so FYI bring your own pads to the hospital, the ones they have are terrible, and no you can't use a cup or tampons.
I will let you know how my lab report turns out and what they tell me on February 12th. Oh and anyone living in Las Vegas or Henderson NV and can help with a job, that would be awesome I have a bachelor's in Business Management with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship, and I can learn to do anything quickly, but I would need to make enough to afford an apartment on my own. (it's worth a try)

I wrote down every meal I ate for months ( the dietician said I had to ) but I got so sick of doing it, I stopped. I still weigh my food occasionally, but I can pretty much eyeball the amount. After eating low carb for years before the surgery, I'm pretty good at knowing my nutrition.

20+ years later, I never tracked a thing related to food.
Good luck,
Tek

For Constipation, my doctor had me take Miralax daily for the first month. If that didn't work, taking a tablespoon of olive oil 2-3 times a day seemed to fix the issue. It took about 8 hours after the first "dose" but it helped relieve my problems.

Had the same date I’m down about 87 lbs I’m food intake is very low I just eat Protein chicken and fish everything else upsets my stomach can’t eat a lot can only eat like a wing drumstick n I’m full other then then that’s everything is going well

Hello everyone. Hope you are all doing well. My journey is still a bit confusing. So overall, I’m doing great. Down 65 pounds since my surgery on Oct 9th. Thing is, I was down 55 pounds after the first six weeks. And only lost 10 pounds this past six weeks. Keep hitting frequent stalls every couple weeks.

Trying to keep getting my Protein in. Biggest thing that puzzles me is the amount I can eat. Unless I strictly measure my portions, I’m able to eat a lot more than I feel I should be able to. For example, I can eat 10 grilled chicken nuggets in about 15 minutes. Also can drink about 10 ounces of Water at a time. I had RNY surgery btw.

My surgeon looked puzzled when I told him this, but then just blew it off. He told me I should be eating 4-5 bites per meal. Yeah right. More like 15-20 bites unless I strictly measure it out. But let’s face it, that’s not always possible when I work 50+ hours a week.

Oh and my hair is starting to fall out. Apparently it’s normal for RNY patients around 3 months. They have assured me it will grow back later. Sure hope so. But otherwise I feel great, moving much better and no more plantar fasciitis or knee pain. How is everyone else doing?

So October people as we hit our 3 month post surgery dates let's check in with each other as say where we're at and how we are doing. My 3 month date is in 3 days so I'll check back then. I'd love to hear how everyone else is doing.

Hi, So I am a former smoker/vaper I quit about two months before I decided to enter the program. My insurance would not cover any part of the program if I was still using nicotine. I can tell you that starting up exercise really helped me with not smoking/vaping, like, it helped me a lot and I did not gain any extra weight, in fact I lost weight. I quit cold turkey, but that was because I wanted to get past the nicotine withdrawal as fast as I could.
I do not know the program you are on but I would ask the Doctor to clarify about weight gain during your 6-month period and not go by what your friend said, even though they had the same Doctor. Your journey and your friend's journey will probably be similar having the same Doctor and all, but they won't be exactly the same. So, just give them a call or send a message if you have that option on your portal, which should help ease your mind. Hopefully this help.

Honestly, I hope so. Thank you for being so honest and bringing this up. I was not always overweight and now that I have been on both sides of the coin I have noticed how differently people that I know and don't know treat me. It has also affected my confidence at work and in making friends or even enjoying hobbies and life the way I used to. I do think that it (the surgery) will help a lot, therapy is great and I have done a lot of it, but I have yet to rebuild my confidence with it and I do think seeing my body physically change will make that difference, I know others will not agree, but we are all different people with different perspectives and we may share similar experiences, but we do not all process them the same.

Eat what you enjoy the taste of. That goes for all food not just cheese. I eat cottage cheese because I like it. I eat tasty cheddars because they have a little kick. No point in eating anything that you cant taste. I have shaved parmesan.
Our food is restricted. Enjoy the things you can eat.

Actually most people lose closer to 25% - 30% of their weight in the first 3 months. You may not see half the weight gone until closer to 6 months. And the last chunk can take another 6 months or longer to come off, depending on your surgery, your activity level, your starting weight, your goal weight, etc...
To put this in perspective for you, I started at 320 but my surgery weight was 306. My goal is 180-170 lbs. I've lost 28 lbs since surgery and 42 lbs since my highest weight. I'm 2 months post op. I've been losing the same 2-4 lbs for the past month. I'm losing slower than a lot of other people, but I am still on track. I've lost at least 25% of my weight and I still have a month to go before the 3 month mark. So I am trying to just be consistent with my Protein, consistent with hydration, consistent with activity and consistent with sleep. These 4 things are the most impactful things for weight loss. Percentages matter more than the numbers themselves. And I finally measured myself and have lost 26 inches since surgery!! Big progress. even if others are going faster than me.

Stalls are super frustrating! I am currently in that 3-4 week stall myself but I came across an interesting article regarding WHY it happens.

Basically, your body is trying to figure out its new normal. During the low calorie liquid and puréed stage during the first 4-5 weeks, your body has gone from burning things like carbs for energy to burning fat. But during this process you had to burn through your glycogen stores as well.
(Glycogen also holds a lot of Water which is why we can get dehydrated even though we are drinking a lot of fluids).
Our bodies are trying to find our new normal in what to burn for energy and our Fluid levels are equalizing which can keep the number on the scale the same or even climb.

I have a scale that gives me my water, fat and muscle composition and during this time, I am losing fat, gaining water and muscle and the scale hasn’t changed in 13 days and knowing that my body is adjusting really helped me relax. My blood pressure also dropped enough to stop my blood pressure meds!!!

Be kind to yourself, give yourself good foods, drink as much water as you are able and get your movement in. As others have said here, this is a marathon, not a quick fix. Hugs to all!

I was a vegetarian for 12 years before I gave it up, and then life and the vicious cycle of weight gain and weight loss began for me. You can 100 percent get your Protein without meat substitutes (which tend to be full of carbs btw).
Beans with rice is a great way to get protein. Nuts and seeds, whole grains like oatmeal, couscous, quinoa, cheese, yogurt, and protein powders made out of peas. Ripple is a pea milk that is pretty good and has 8g of protein, it is very comparable to regular milk. I believe Ripple has other products too like protein powders and coffee mixes.
If 8th continent still exists, that was the best milk substitute, I had a vegan bodybuilder friend who drank it like it was going out of style, lol.
Don't forget about tofu, tempeh, edamame, and lentils (Not my fav). Chickpeas (hummus), Peanut Butter,
There are other vegetarian and vegan Protein Powder options as well.
I would suggest getting a good vegetarian cookbook, look for one that focuses on protein sources.

I'd really like to switch to being vegetarian for spiritual reasons, but I'm at the beginning of the whole process for the gastric sleeve. I have to lose 30 lbs to have the surgery. So far I've gained one. I swear, being told I have to lose weight makes me gain.
I really have not liked meat substitutes I've tried, and I'm wondering if it's possible to get your Protein without them. I'm looking at going vegetarian, not vegan, so I would still have access to dairy and eggs, but I don't want to overdo it on those. I'm not a fruits and vegetables fan and this is going to be a very hard switch for me, but I do really want to do it. Thanks for any info you can give!

Well, in fact it was a partial sleeve & a bypass but the drop arrow didn’t give the option ?
I have been reading a bit and some people are suffering a few issues it would seem.
I have just completed 12 months post surgery , have dropped approx 55-57 kegs . While this is fantastic , for someone on one leg , I am finding difficulty from a dietary perspective, I find it very difficult to stick to the 6 meals a day ? I rely, very heavily, on very expensive Protein Powder and milk coffee . Snacking is far too easy, and justifiable ( I tell myself) with the Protein Water . But flagging energy levels & muscle wastage are some issues. And, of course , a lot of old clothes , that are much to big 🙄. I have not vomited once , but came close on a few occasions. I avoid those situations like the plague . I am able to drink beer & quite often too much (it is discouraged I know , but it does add some normality) most of my indigestion is remedied by just drinking more water etc . Not to many antacids these days. All in all I’m pretty lucky I think . Get a shock when social media pokes up some old photos of me .

I finished my schooling and am officially working in my chosen field as a medical assistant!!! I got my certification and I'm working in a critical care pulmonary office. I'm absolutely LOVING it!! And even though I can look at myself and see the weight loss, and I can see my diabetes and blood pressure are normal now, I still have a hard time believing I'm physically able to do my job and do it well. Yet here I am....doing the d@mn thing!!!
I have a CT with contrast on the 29th because my bariatric surgeon thinks I have a distal hernia (if you look at my stomach in my pic, you can see that area poking out a little). And I have my complete hysterectomy scheduled for March 6th. If the CT confirms the distal hernia, that will also require a surgery, but I have no idea when that will happen. I'm hoping before the hysterectomy because the hernia repair can be done laparoscopically (I think) but I have to have an abdominal hysterectomy because the fibroids are way too big to come out laparoscopically and I have to have EVERYTHING removed because I tested positive for the BRCA cancer gene (will need all of my breast tissue removed at a later date, but my insurance will cover reconstructive breast surgery, so YAY for a free boob job).
This last 50 pounds still won't leave me, and it's absolutely driving me crazy. No matter what I do, I can't get it to go. I'm hoping the hysterectomy will help a little because the fibroids are so big, they're making my uterus the size of a 16 week pregnant uterus. They also said the hysterectomy should help somewhat with my PCOS, since that's likely what's preventing that last 50 pounds from coming off. So here's hoping this is end of my weight issues and the last of my surgeries!!!

I was getting ready to back into the office for the first time since my surgery (3wks post op and a week and a half of Covid). I’ve been living in pjs and lounge pants (comfy bra when needed-right ladies?). I was shocked at how loose my jeans were. But I visited my storage room and pulled out my “skinny clothes” -let’s be honest- we all have a full range of sizes squirreled away. I really want to save money, especially now that the medical bills are finally making themselves known- so I don’t want to buy anything new. But I’m looking at these clothes and thinking this isn’t me… this isn’t me… but I’m also not sure who the real me is, yet. I don’t feel like me anymore… I know there’s more change to come, so having an identity crisis this soon is crazy right?

I had my VGS on 10/16- and was losing pretty regularly. I have noticed a stall just recently and I even went up a little. I was just released to regular food though so I know I’ve eaten more carbs lately. I’ve got to get back to my Protein Shakes but the taste of them makes my tummy upset.
the worst part is trying to get my Water in- it’s been next to impossible. I’m just not thirsty or tempted to drink. Sugar substitutes trigger dumping now so additives like crystal light are out. I’ve done lemon and orange zest and it works for a day or two and then it’s back to the drawing board. Coconut water (urg empty calories) and Gatorade are now my go to- so frustrated.

Hi everyone! This is my first post on the boards. I had my surgery on 10/23. I'm feeling pretty good but I'm nervous about going back to work. I know I still need to have my Protein Shakes throughout the day. But I guess I'm just nervous about being tempted by the things people bring in. Going back to work next week so wish me luck!

IMHO, you've made a good decision.
Let me share a bit of my story to convince you to put the scale away... period.
When I had surgery I was too large by far for a home scale. The only time I was weighed for about a year and a half after surgery was at my surgeon's office at monthly follow-ups. Because of this, I never saw a stall in my weight loss. At my follow-ups my weight loss was never the topic of discussion unless I brought it up. The discussion centered on how I was feeling, how my plan was going, life changes, how was I emotionally, any issues or concerns. I learned valuable lessons in these appointments.
Eventually I was able to weigh on a home scale. I practically lived on the scale for a couple weeks until the novelty wore off, then I never used it again. I knew how I was doing by how I felt, my plan compliance, how my clothes felt, my health, happiness and a number of other considerations. These are still my measurements.
We don't need a scale to follow our plans. The number on a scale does not tell you how well you are following your plan. In some cases, the number on the scale may tempt you to change your successful plan.
It's great not being ruled by a number on a scale and simply paying attention to the important stuff.
Good luck,
Tek

I was curious what causes the 3-week stall, and this is what I found out in doing a little digging. When we experience calorie deprivation, whether a diet or after surgery or just not having the usual amount to eat for a bit, our bodies first turn to our store of glycogen to keep things running. Glycogen is a form of stored sugar, and for each gram of glycogen in the body, it's bound to 3 grams of Water. So, if you burn a gram of glycogen for energy, you lose 3 additional grams of water as a bonus. Your body will always burn glycogen before it burns fat because that's how we've evolved to handle brief food shortages. Which means most of the weight you lose right after surgery is not actually fat, but water (and that's fine!).
But after a few weeks, your body is low on glycogen and you still haven't hunted down a wooly mammoth to eat, so now it starts burning fat to keep running. At the same time, it does what it can to replenish those glycogen stores with whatever calories you have coming in, because it's a little worried you won't survive the next famine. Glycogen makes me think of the $100 cash my mom always kept stashed in her sock drawer for an emergency. If she used any of it, as soon as she got more cash, she replenished that first before putting anything in her wallet.
Remember, each gram of glycogen comes with 3 grams of water. So you might burn 4 grams of fat, but also replenish 1 gram of glycogen (along with the 3 grams of water that tag along for the ride), and the scale shows you the same weight. Now you feel like nothing has happened and start to panic. But you still lost fat, which is the goal. And once your body does what it needs to do to replenish that glycogen, it'll start showing on the scale again.
I really wish doctors would explain this process to patients before surgery! Some mention plateaus in general, but they rarely explain what causes them, and the 3 week stall is the type of thing they really should explain in detail so we know what's going on because it's basically a given.

I survived my gastric bypass. I spent two nights in the hospital. Doing good on the clear liquid/protein drink diet. Dr wants 64 ounces of Fluid per day so I purchased a bunch of 1 ounce plastic containers with lids and filled 74 of them and put them in my fridge and tomorrow I just have to grab 4-5 per hour and when all are done I am good. I am attaching a picture. I am bound and determined to be successful.