Bluphiguy

You'll do fine! I am 53, and when I had my gastric sleeve in April, my BMI was 42, and 5 months later my BMI is 32. Just follow your doctor's instructions and be patient. We're rooting for you!

.I had my sleeve done on May third. I am 60 and have been in menopause for 8 years. I have never been heavy til menopause happened. 3 weeks before my surgery i started my pre diet. I ate 540 calories a day of Protein and very low carbs. On my surgery day I had only lost 1 pound :(. I feel that with age also comes the slower metabolism. I am doing okay with the weight lose. I am a vegetarian, so it is interesting not getting to eat any fruit. But I am sticking to the strict diet given by my doctor. Only 1/4 cup a meal. I have been lift 5 pound arm weights as I know my arms are going to have alot of excess skin. It is strange to see my skin as it appears I am like a deflating ballon :). It is alot to get used to. My fatique is off the chart, but I am doing the best I can. One day at a time

nah, there's also people of like minds just congregating to shoot the sh*t and have some light-hearted conversation with others who "get it".
❤️
p.s. if u really want to see some "humble bragging" check out the OOTD thread (of which im admittedly a regular participant! lolozzzz) but its awesome, and makes me and others feel awesome, so i figure its all good

Have you noticed your opinions becoming unpopular after WLS?  I don't usually label my opinions as unpopular because that would sound like humble bragging. They are just my opinions. Not necessarily true or a fact. 

Lab test literally just came back to my email. My Bilirubin levels continue to rise... My Iron saturation, total were low, and Vitamin D low. My cholesterol levels are all in the green. Way way into the green when before surgery they were sooooo high.

most people have their first stall sometime during the first month after surgery, so you're actually a bit late to the party! So yes - early stalls are very common!
it's been several years since I had surgery, so someone not as far out can probably answer your question about portion sizes, but as far as stretching your stomach, that doesn't happen - from what I understand, you'd have to overeat day after day after day for that (and i've also heard that the whole stomach-stretching thing is a myth - so I'm not sure which is correct - but suffice it to say, your stomach probably isn't going to stretch). Your stomach capacity is bigger now than it was right after surgery, though, because the swelling has gone down - but it's still pretty small now!

I am 7 weeks post opt and have most restrictions removed with the exception of bread/ rice / beef/ pork.

I’m worried about stretching my stomach. Around how much lean Protein are you having per meal along with carb/veg?

Anyone get weight loss stalls at this stage? I notice the scale has barely moved the last 10 days.

Its monthly weigh in time. I weigh myself and take measurements around the 4th of every month. Small changes continue. I joined a gym recently. Cant wait to start going.

Hi, I’m 7 months post-op. I was 55 when I had my WLS (sleeve.) I’ve lost a total of 60+ pounds. I’m a slow loser but I’m ok with it. I workout to minimize loose skin, so I am building muscles.

I had my sleeve June 2021 at age 51 (female). I lost 40 pounds and have lost an additional 30 pounds with the help of Mounjaro (started October 2022) I really recommend people try the digs before getting the sleeve. The drugs help with the food noise I my head and not just not the appetite surpression.

stats female 5’8’ sw 210

Fun fact:
the most weight i ever lost in one month AFTER wls was the first post op month with 21 lbs lost (and i was about 225 at the beginning of said month).
the most weight i ever lost in one month BEFORE surgery was 25 lbs (and i started off that month at 180-ish).
so weight loss roughly the same-ish.
and i was eating roughly the same-ish (i.e., basically nothing lol).
i didn't expect to lose "faster" because it still boils down to calories in-calories out.
maybe if i ate less in that POST-op month than i did that PRE-op month, sure. but i can't eat less than "basically nothing"! thats just math. and science. surgery doesn't make me burn more calories. its all restriction-based (though rNy does have a malabsorption aspect to it...but i digress).
now the main difference is this:
i re-gained those lost 25 PRE-op lbs plus packed on another 55 for good measure over the following 4 years.
VS...keeping those 21 POST-op lbs off PLUS losing an additional 99 lbs on top of that over the following 7 months.
im 4.5+ years out now and have continued to (more or less) keep all 120 lbs off for over 4 years (FOUR YEARS! that still blows my mind...i have never lost weight before and even come close to keeping it ALL off for even 4 MONTHS).
yes, you will lose at the same rate doing diet and exercise as you would with surgery and it's associated physical restriction, IF (and that's a BiG IF) u continue with the diet and exercise.
which leads us to the age-old question: so why didn't u?
food for thought.
❤️

-I don't weigh enough to donate blood anymore.
-I've had two sets of wedding/engagement rings since my surgery and now BOTH are too big.
-I literally shrank my way out of the smallest size my favorite jeans come in.

I, too, became a clothes horse;
In crowds people used to just get out of my way, parting like the Red Sea, but now I have to just live with being part of the crowd;
I used to be too large to ride the rides, now I have to ride the rides with my grandkids no matter how much I didn't want to;
Good luck,
Tek

My biggest "good problem" is that I've become a clothes horse. I shop all the time, and I've spent so much money on clothes. I have a lot more confidence, so I spend too much time (and money) socializing. And I take an absurd amount of selfies.

I've lost 20 since surgery (4 weeks) and 15 lbs during the preop diet for a total of 35 pounds. That's about what you lost, right? I stalled around 2.5 weeks in that lasted well over a week. Hang in there. It will come off. And like someone said, make sure you're tracking everything, and I'll go farther and say, before you ever eat it. What if you focused on some nonscale victories. For me it was a smaller size piece of clothing or getting my shoes on without huffing and puffing. Just today, I put on a shirt that didn't fit prior to surgery. Your body is doing a lot of behind the scenes work that may not be reflected on the scale.< br>This is not an easy process, and you don't have to do it alone.

People who go on a serious pre-op diet often don't have the big whoosh of weight loss in the first few months that others do because your body has already cleared out a lot of the Water weight, stored carbohydrates, and sick muscle cells that makes up a big chunk of that whoosh. Once you get to a more steady state of weight loss, most (more than half) of what you are loosing will be fat.

Yes, it's a journey and yes, the surgery is a only tool that helps you have success in the long term. You won't lose weight much faster than you would with a traditional diet. But imagine you lose "only" 10 lbs a month for the next year and a half - that's 180 lbs lost, which will put you at your goal weight of 210. Without the surgery, you'd likely fall off the wagon after 3 months, 6 months because you'd be starving. Instead, you'll actually be able to stick to that diet. How many diets did you start in your life where the start of that diet was more than 18 months ago? Imagine if one of those had actually worked. You'd already be at your goal weight now. But you're not, because it was too hard to stick to it. Bariatric surgery is a tool to help you stick with it.

Bariatric surgery isn't a quick fix, and it doesn't mean you don't have to work pretty much just as hard as you would with a regular diet. It just makes it so all that work actually "works."

What were you expecting to lose? If you're looking for 30+ lbs the first month, that's pretty rare unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life". For most of us "average" WLS patients, that much loss the first month is pretty unusual. Most of us lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range. Plus most people don't lose much the first week because of the "gain" from the IV fluids you get in the hospital (which of course is just water) - and then there's the infamous "three-week stall" that many of us experience, where you can go a couple of weeks (usually 1-3) without any loss, because your body is kind of recalibrating after the surgery - so you may be experiencing that as well.
you're not going to lose the weight any faster than if you ate the same thing without surgery. With the extreme calorie deficit we have the first few months out, you'd probably lose about the same regardless if you had surgery or not. The difference is, it's much more easy to sustain that deficit with the surgery. Most people probably could not go for months on end eating something like 800 calories. But with the surgery, you can. Your hunger is suppressed, your stomach is tiny, etc. The most I could ever lose before surgery was about 50-60 lbs. With this, I lost over 200, and have kept it off for eight years. No way could I have done that without the surgery.

oh the Weight-Loss-Phase-Constipation-Woes.
I feel you.
I was chronically constipated for months after surgery.
I developed a regimen of adding 2 tsps of Benefibre to my Protein Shakes twice a day, drinking tons of Water, and exercising/moving regularly.
And if i hadn't pooped in 4-5 days i'd take a dose of Senokot or similar. If i still didn't go after more than week, then it was time for a glycerin suppository...which usually did the trick (only 2-3 times did i have to do 2 suppositories)
I did notice it got better when i started eating more veggies and fat (i was mostly just eating Protein during weight loss phase).
Now i no longer do the daily Benefibre and poop pretty regularly every 3-4 days (which is a huge departure of having to poop 2+ times a day pre-wls). I only get constipated now during/after vacations...but i think thats because i have an irrational need to only poop at home lol!

I am in Greece at the moment and am surprised by how much Protein focused items that are available in the supermarkets. I am having some delicious protein yogurts that are way better than at home. I don't do shakes but there are masses of them here too. Good quality brands too. I am sure that France will be the same. You will get good Soups like consommé and, fish and stews. Omelettes, eggs cheese and milk are great go to foods. Enjoy yourself

Sent from my Lenovo TB-J606F using BariatricPal mobile app

Can't say I avoided it. The stall hit me hard & it lasted almost 4 weeks

Congratulations on your weight loss. Whoo hoo!
Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a pouch reset. It’s just a myth. You can’t regain those surgery honeymoon period bonuses like reduced hunger or appetite. Remember your smaller tummy is still there which is a big positive. It just comes down to how you use it.
If you seem to have stabilised at your new current weight, it’s possible this is your new set point (a gift of the surgery). This is the weight your body is happiest at & is easiest to maintain. Our old much higher set point is one of the reasons we would regain any weight we’d lose so easily in the past. Remember not everyone reaches the goal weight they have set for themselves & that’s okay.
To lose more weight you need to reduce your calorie intake. Though to maintain the lower weight you will also need to continue use to eat less than what you do now. For example my BMR at my weight, age, height & activity level is about 1500 calories. If I weighed 10kg more at 60kg my calorie needs would be about 1700 calories to maintain. Is a lower calorie intake sustainable in the long term? This is something only you can answer knowing your lifestyle & how you want to live your life. Also you can’t exercise the extra weight away. Exercise only accounts for about 10% of the weight you want to lose. Want to lose 10lbs? Exercising accounts for about 1lb.
Not everyone experiences the 2nd/3rd year bounce back regain (usually 10-20lbs). I didn’t. Some of the regain is your body settling at a slightly higher weight with your set point. Some of it is because how you were eating (calories, activity level, eating style) wasn’t sustainable. Some of it is because of lifestyle choices. And yes some of it is from becoming complacent, less vigilant or falling back into old habits. Some of the regain you have control over. Some you don’t.
When I reached my current weight, I too thought I’d have bounce back regain wriggle room & it would be okay if I ended up at or around my goal. At 4 years I’m a about 1-2lbs (depending upon the day lol!) more than at where my weight first settled.

Hang in there, it does get much better. I am 8 weeks out and can eat just about anything. However, there are still times where even the smell of food makes me nausous, the other night we went out to the movies and my husband had some popcorn and I tell you the smell was enough to make me want to gag, I asked him to put the bag on the other side of him and it was a bit better. I used to love popcorn, especially movie popcorn. I had just eaten prior to getting to the show and it seems if I am full I have a tendecy to have that feeling come over me when I smell other food.< /p>
But it does get better trust me!!!

I'm about 4 weeks out and I hate eating! I'm not getting my Proteins regularly, sometimes I get close, but some days are better then others, everything I eat for the most part makes my stomach feel icky and I don't really want to eat, I can take maybe 2 or 3 bites of something and I'm done, I don't think I'm eating enough. I can't do shakes they are absolutely disgusting the last time I ate tuna fish I think I over did it and I threw up so I'm scared to try that or any other fish for that matter again, I can do string cheese but c'mon how much can I eat that lol, other then the fact that I'm not really eating I feel fine should I be worried?

And youre down to 165??? I am very torn between being super excited for you and very bummed for myself.
I also had surgery october 3rd of 2022.
When I met my surgeon in May last year I was 282, surgery day was 256, and im still mid 180s.

I actually love milk, but so many Protein Shakes taste awful to me. The one I’m tolerating is Fairlife Nutrition Plan in chocolate. But just after surgery even that tasted so gross to me. Took me a few days to finally be able to tolerate it again. eggs aren’t part of my puréed stage and by most of my paperwork neither is cream of wheat since it’s mostly carbs. I’ve been mixing applesauce w plain Greek yogurt, having cottage cheese, and puréed lentil or black bean Soup. Plain Water is just fine by me at any temp which I’m so happy for because I can’t stand the Crystal light, Wylers light or any other sugar free mix in. The one thing I’m missing most is coffee because I don’t like black coffee. And skim milk doesn’t help lol. Water still isn’t at the levels it should be, but I’m just trying to get a little better with each day. I might have to wake up earlier to get those goals in because I agree the timing doesn’t allow to get it all in.