NickelChip

@NickelChip I agree! You look great. WTG! And my weight loss graph looks very similar to yours over the last month also except I stalled a little earlier than your recent one and am now back losing again after a little more than 2 weeks. Just keep on keeping on, you’ll get over the hump. 😉

Totally agree with @RonHall908. I didn't like photos, but I made sure to take some at my highest weight for reference because I wanted a record of it to look back on.
And I'll go ahead and share this little comparison I made for my "half-way there" milestone:

Thanks, @RonHall908! I should probably say, the 48lbs lost stretches back to last summer when I was at my highest ever weight and started incorporating the Pound of Cure guidelines into my daily routine. I lost 13lbs just with that over about 6 months, and then I lost about 13lbs more during the 2-week pre-op diet. So 26 of it was pre-op and 22 is post-op. Which kind of feels weird. I thought the surgery would ramp things up, but it feels like it slowed things down! I know there's a lot more going on metabolism-wise that will make it easier in the long run to lose more and keep the weight off, but it still can do your head in sometimes trying to balance expectations and reality.
This is also the weight where I plateaued during my last serious weight loss attempt, right around losing 20% of my starting body weight. I know that research shows that most people can lose 5-10% of their body weight, but once you get to the 15 to 20% mark your body usually rebels. I assume that may be what's happening here as everything has to readjust, and the surgery changes will eventually make it possible to push past that plateau where I couldn't do it before. Fingers crossed!

I swear, if this stall doesn't break soon...
I did some research and found that indeed, 3 months is a common time for a stall to hit. It's just frustrating to see that nice downward trend come to a halt, especially when the "experts" tell you the first 3 months are the fastest weight loss. It really is a marathon, isn't it?
Here's what my weight has been doing the past 30 days:

Okay, so I would not say these taste good (like at all) but the Protein Shots with the 30g Protein in 3oz size are convenient. The mango, in my opinion, is marginally better than lemonade. Not good, just...better. But the bottles are very small, so you can pop them in a bag and not have to worry about mixing powders on the go. I always put a few in my bag if I'm going to be away from the house for the day or overnight.
Also, I see they sell ProCare dark chocolate Calcium bars. These are legit tasty and a great way to get your calcium while also getting "dessert." I have one almost every night.
I also recommend the Syntrax Nectar variety bag, one packet eack of 15 Protein Shake flavors. Again, for that on the go convenience.

I love all the pictures. You all look fantastic!! I have been taking pictures monthly, but I can’t share them unfortunately because I wasn’t thinking about sharing them with anyone aside from my sister. I’m doing it in sweatpants and a bra. I’ll have to look back and see if I can find some pictures of myself recently before surgery and take one now.

Thanks, @RonHall908! I should probably say, the 48lbs lost stretches back to last summer when I was at my highest ever weight and started incorporating the Pound of Cure guidelines into my daily routine. I lost 13lbs just with that over about 6 months, and then I lost about 13lbs more during the 2-week pre-op diet. So 26 of it was pre-op and 22 is post-op. Which kind of feels weird. I thought the surgery would ramp things up, but it feels like it slowed things down! I know there's a lot more going on metabolism-wise that will make it easier in the long run to lose more and keep the weight off, but it still can do your head in sometimes trying to balance expectations and reality.
This is also the weight where I plateaued during my last serious weight loss attempt, right around losing 20% of my starting body weight. I know that research shows that most people can lose 5-10% of their body weight, but once you get to the 15 to 20% mark your body usually rebels. I assume that may be what's happening here as everything has to readjust, and the surgery changes will eventually make it possible to push past that plateau where I couldn't do it before. Fingers crossed!

Totally agree with @RonHall908. I didn't like photos, but I made sure to take some at my highest weight for reference because I wanted a record of it to look back on.
And I'll go ahead and share this little comparison I made for my "half-way there" milestone:

You look Great!
A few weeks from 90 days out and your halfway there. That's a great accomplishment. Congrats!
I think I figured out my stall phases. I'll stall for 2 or 3 weeks, then lose a few pounds. Stall again... rinse and repeat. That seems to be how my body is reacting. The Doctor in the online support group I attend, said our body believes it may be heading to starvation. Because of the mal-absorption of having Gastric bypass. So it has to adjust, I think these stalls are the adjustments. At least that seems to be the phases my body is going through. Again you look great!

Totally agree with @RonHall908. I didn't like photos, but I made sure to take some at my highest weight for reference because I wanted a record of it to look back on.
And I'll go ahead and share this little comparison I made for my "half-way there" milestone:

Take pictures of yourself, even if you're not comfortable sharing them. You can go back and see the progress yourself. My brother took a picture of me just before I went back to prep for surgery. The difference in almost 3 months is great to look at and know there's progress even if it doesn't feel like it is. You talked about visual of what your body looks like. I can tell you, that's happening to me, maybe not so much of the boob thing. But my inner thigh and belly is all over the place. As not so attractive as that looks. The thing that keeps it all positive is when it the scale doesn't move. My clothes seem to fit better. I'm in 35" waist jeans for the first time in 24 years. Looks for the small wins.

I am also a slow loser and was diagnosed with PCOS in my 20s. I'm also 50, so perimenopause probably comes into play, too. While I've lost 48 lbs in the past 9 months, only 22 of that is post-surgery (almost 3 months). It's frustrating for sure.
First, though, 13 lbs in a month is great, even if you hoped for more. And it really shows in your photos.
Second, your body retains Fluid for several weeks after surgery, so it's hard to say what's really going on.
But most importantly, this is a journey that will take 12-18 months. You're only 1 month in. And while your doctor can talk about trajectories and averages, each person is unique. Each body does what it wants to do when it wants to do it. Try not to focus on the scale (hard, I know). Focus on your health, developing good lifelong habits, and nonscale victories like loose clothing, getting off a medication, or improved lab results. Just because you started off slow doesn't mean you won't make it to a place that makes you happy.

I have found a love for PB2 and chocolate PB2 in my Greek yogurt thanks to @NickelChip. It’s wonderful when I “need” a dessert! Oh and @RonHall908 again you look awesome! Keep up the great work!

In the USA, federal legislation called the No Surprises Act was enacted in 2021 to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. It has been supplemented with changes as recently as January of 2024. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and patients have protections and rights against certain charges. Here's a link for more information:
https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
Many of us have had to navigate the complex insurance system in the States and we are no strangers to advocating for ourselves. I was hit with a surprise bill 4 months after my surgery and having knowledge of this legislation helped me avoid paying a large amount of money to an out of network provider that assisted with my surgery.

Now that sounds amazing.

That's a good strategy! The reusable containers can get very expensive, several dollars a piece. So why not get them and the food, too? I miss salad. At nearly 3 months post-bypass, I just don't have the capacity for a salad, and I worry about the raw veg as I'm still having issues if I don't chew my food down to a paste and take very small bites. But someday, I hope I can eat salad again! Right now, 2-3 oz of meat and a little bit of cooked veg is all I can manage.

Just about to fly home and will anwser everyones posts then. Thanks all for your support and words and suggestions. Loving the new profile picture @NickelChip and @RonHall908 What an amazing transformation! Here are some of me, pick tracksuit is 2 weeks post surgery, brown dress is yesterday.

Okay, so I've done other meal prep services before but hadn't heard of this one. The salads look lovely, but holy moly, the price tag is a shock! Not to say I wouldn't do it if I had the means, but have you considered just ordering reusable cups of this size from Amazon and meal prepping once a week? Given how simple their ingredients are, you could probably recreate these easily, and for a fraction of the cost. Plus less waste, which is my big complaint with all the meal service companies. So much trash. In fact, since each of their items tells you exactly what's in it, I may have to try this approach out myself in a few months when I can more easily tolerate raw veg. I love the idea of salads on the go.

In case you would find this helpful, Dr. Weiner's bariatric practice in Tucson, AZ has started a virtual nutrition support program that is open to anyone, no matter where you live or where you had surgery. You get unlimited access to monthly classes and support groups for $50 a month, and members can book a personal appointment with the dietician, Zoe, for $20 per session. Since you don't have anyone you can rely on from your surgeon's office, maybe this would be a useful resource. Here's their link: https://www.poundofcureweightloss.com/nutrition-counseling-memberships/

I just had my first appointment with the surgeon. It went really well, and I’m glad I took the first step. We are leaning toward Gastric Bypass as the procedure for me. It’s a 3 month process to surgery with his office, 3 visits with him, 3 visits with dietician, plus clearance by Cardiology, Pulmonology and sleep medicine.
My next visit with him and the dietician will be in about a month and he’s sending out the referrals to the offices for the clearances and working on prior authorization with insurance.

I am waiting for my first appointment with the surgeon as I am typing this out. Scared out of my mind but I know I have to do this to live. No more putting this off. It has to happen. I’ll update after the appointment.

Oh that is so helpful - thank you! I really rate this doctor and I expect the program will be helpful.
OP you haven't filled in the stats in your profile. What procedure did you have? What are your starting and current weights? Are you close to your goal or wanting to lose a lot more weight?
I agree with everyone else - our macro goals and weight loss goals depend on where we are, where we want to be and lots of other variables.
I wish you lots of luck on your journey.

Week 4 Post op

Sw: 155kg /341 lbs

Stats to date: - 13,8kg / -30.42lbs

One month post op today !

I’ve been back at work for a full week and feeling great. I work as higher management in a corporate environment so except the daily and expected stress it’s not too strenuous. I had promised myself i wouldn’t go for long hour days unless i felt ok about it and i do. I am working as per usual and managed to get back into the swing of things after 3 weeks off.

The only difference has been i actually take the time to take snack breaks. My daily eating schedule looks like:

- Breakfast + around 300-400ml Water + coffee with milk and stevia

- mid morning snack

- lunch

- water all afternoon

- dinner

I have adaptes super super well to the « real food » stage and i can eat absolutely everything i’ve tried.

The only thing that does make me feel slightly uncomfortable is raw vegetables (lettuce, beetroot, carrot) or certain fruits (watermelon). It’s not that i feel pain i just feel super bloated when i eat them.

I think the most shocking thing has been the fact that i went from being unable to eat more than 30-50g in the early days to actually being able to eat a (dessert) plate of food.

I took what my surgeon told me about not measuring and ran with it: no more weighing food i just eyeball my dessert plate and i’ve learned my limit so i know when i’m full.

I actually think it’s crazy when i think back to the amount i used to put on a plate …

It did scare me to be eating more but i have understood that the actual goal is to be able to eat a « normal » portion. Because before i used to serve 2-3 in one sitting !

I have family friends that are visiting for 5 days and don’t know i’ve had surgery (we’re not specifically close enough to discuss this topic) and they actually haven’t noticed anything (or at least haven’t mentioned it haha) but i can sit and enjoy a meal with everyone without restrictions on anything other than the quantity.

I’ve been able to eat carbs for a few days so i made a delicious bell pepper Tomato and chorizo tart served on a bed of baby spinach - i had 1/6 size tart, and served everyone else the standard 1/4 size slice.

Even though i know i’m eating much less i do feel guilty about eating more than 3 weeks ago at times. I feel like my surgery isn’t working because i feel hungry if i miss a snack mid morning … but, i know from having logged all food and drink for a while that i’m’at 600-800 cals per day

So i’m reassured by the fact that it’s scientifically impossible to not lose weight eating so much less.

Hopefully this slight panic, scared feeling subsides with time.

The more I read up on nutrition, the more I'm becoming convinced that calorie restriction is not the way to approach weight loss. It actually sets us up for failure and yo-yo dieting. You need to reset your metabolic set point by choosing the right foods and listening to your body for signs of when to stop eating as opposed to counting numbers.
When I reached my highest weight last summer, I found the Pound of Cure book by Dr. Matthew Weiner, and this greatly changed my thinking. I started following his program and lost 13lbs slowly and steadily, and without counting a single calorie or macro. Of course, surgery has helped tremendously, but the months I was just following Pound of Cure guidelines, I never felt hungry or deprived. His YouTube channel has hundreds of videos to help get you started. The book is really cheap on Amazon, and there are no soecial products or supplements you have to buy. Just healthy, real food.
Anyway, my advice would be to start there and see if it helps.

The concern I would have (though I am not a dietician) is that slim fast bars and Protein Shakes are more "food-like substances" than actual food. Processed foods, even "diet" ones, can cause metabolism issues, and this feels almost punishing. Maybe you could try to find more satisfying, healthier options? You might try scrambling 2 eggs blended with some cottage cheese and a big handful of frozen chopped spinach for Breakfast with a small serving of fruit, and a big salad of mixed veg topped with rotisserie chicken, black Beans, and fresh salsa for lunch. Make sure the meat or chicken is being served with plenty of non-starchy veg, too.
And don't ignore a good night's sleep and plenty of hydration. If you take prescription meds, check if any of them have weight gain as a side effect.
I do agree that surgery is most likely going to be needed as soon as you can get it sorted because losing and maintaining that amount of weight is almost impossible without the metabolic changes that come with surgery.