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Hi, I don't even know where to start. I'm short (5'1") and my highest weight was around 210. I was 180 at the time of my surgery back in January 2013. I did great with my sleeve and my lowest weight was 117 -- too thin honestly. I stayed between 135-150 for many years. In early 2020 (Covid), 7 years after surgery my weight started creeping up. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm 200 lbs now. I've had clothes sized 2 to 18, in the last 11 years which is crazy. I am in my early 50s. I'm pretty sure I've started menopause. I get very hungry and graze way too much. I still don't eat a ton at one sitting, but nothing like the small amounts I used to eat either. The idea of trying to lose all this extra weight is overwhelming to me. Plus my knees and feet kill me now. I can walk for exercise and plan to do that. My insurance does cover WLS revisions now and I'm seriously considering it. I am at a place in my life where I want to be comfortable in my skin and just generally comfortable. I have chub rub again, travelling sucks at thIs size, and I'm generally uncomfortable. I would give anything to be 150 again. I would love feedback from others that have been where I am. Any advice or help would be appreciated. I'm also going to post this in the revision forum. Thanks in advance.

Good Morning: I am currently on day 9 since my revision surgery. For some really strange reason I am no longer having any issues like I did on day 1. No pain, no stomach spasms, very minimal nausea. I am now craving something with substance. Contacted my surgeon today and he advised that if I am tolerating liquids...move to the next stage-puree. If in a week I tolerate this well...move to soft foods, then the next stage and so on. It almost feels surreal. Every clinics website states two week for every stage. I wonder since I was a band patient previously that my stomach is accustomed to the sleeve diet. I was very fortunate to loose 150lbs total with that gastric band and good food choices. It seems revision patients have it a little different...we know what is going to happen.

Good morning! I had gastric bypass on 4/12/21. My highest ever was 293. I had surgery at 262. My lowest at my year mark was 135. Found out I was pregnant extremely fast after hitting my lowest and cannot budge out of the 150-155 range and I’m getting discouraged. I'm eating between 66 to 120 g of protein depending on the day. My fat intake I think is too high at around 70g, my net carbs range greatly between low 30’s to 100 g depending. My calories also vary between 800’s to 1200’s and I need to find the best range for losing weight while exercising now I started working out with the treadmill while concentrating on strength training and core workouts to help tummy skin shrinkage. I still have my restriction and often cannot even eat more than 4-6 oz a meal. I eat what I can of some fruit and veggies but mainly I’ll eat protein snacks like Catalina crunch, some small stuff from Atkins, Kodiak cake snacks sometimes. To name a few. I also drink a protein shake once a day which is either of the brand Ryze or Iso100 with 12oz of Fairlife low fat milk. Just to paint a picture. I work in corrections on night shift so there isn’t much moving around at night. But…I’m here to ask for advice and recommendations to help kickstart weight loss again. I’m miserable!!! please help if you can.

That's an amazing amount of weight loss in such a short time (even if it may feel like longer, lol). You look incredible. I'm so happy for you! (re: lbs vs inches, I've always cared more about the size measurements rather than the weight. I only care what the scale says because it's easier to track how I'm doing on a given week -- but I'm much happier when my clothes start to feel too loose compared to anything I see when I look at the numbers between my toes)

My boobies are skin sacs, I did not expect them to look like this- I figured that it would be less volume but oof! Anywho! I would love to do all things; boob job, bbl, tummy tuck, thigh lift, arm lift but in reality I do not want to spend that much money but I want a boob job for sure. I would settle for just that. Do I need to wait the full year to get boobs done?

I had set my final health goal to achieve a normal BMI. While I’m a bit skeptical about the BMI as the ‘end-all-be-all’ of health indicators, it sure is an effective way to keep my doctors from turning every appointment into a weight-loss seminar lol. But in all seriousness, it’s not just about the numbers on a scale or a chart. It’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin and not having your health sidelined by weight-related comorbidities. That’s the real victory for me. No more worrying about the extra risks that come with excess weight.

@Noelle74 Wow! I’m 34 so not that much older than your son but look older than you! You really do look terrific and so polished! Such great hair and good makeup. ( and honestly even on the before picture you look like a cool granny) For me it’s a victory if I’ve seen a hairbrush recently ( I have a short frizzy bob and my hairstyle consists of using my glasses to push my hair off my face when I’ve had enough) and I only wear makeup for parties and end of year festivities and have a tendency to get it wrong à la 12 year old having let loose on her mums makeup bag!

@gracesmommy2 I'm so sorry about the insurance issues. What a nightmare! Praying it is resolved soon. As for the goal weight, I used the weight loss calculator on the Pound of Cure website and took the lowest weight in the range, which also happened to get me to a "normal" BMI. So, it's pretty arbitrary but it sounded good. I based it on the weight I had reached before starting my pre-op diet, which was after dropping about 12 lbs from my highest point. My own doctor didn't discuss goals or percentages with me, although I don't know if that's standard practice for him or not. My experience has been odd. First, I was with a different weight management center for years, first managing through diet and meds and then switching to the surgical route, but it closed very suddenly. I had my December surgery canceled 3 weeks prior to my date and had to rebook for February with a surgeon at a sister hospital. So I came in very last minute and only met the surgeon and nutritionist at the new place twice so they could sign off on me as quickly as possible. And right after I had my surgery, my surgeon had a nasty ski injury and was out for several weeks, so I did one follow up with his colleague and one with him via video. I'm glad I was able to get the surgery in a timely fashion and they did a good job, but I sometimes wonder how my experience differs from if I had started off in their program. A nice NSV today. I had a dress I wore on my birthday back in March that fit me but with no room to spare. This was a victory in March because I had purchased it for a trip out of town the year before for my birthday but the dress didn't come close to fitting me back then. Well, today I needed something nice to wear to my daughter's dance competition only it was cold and rainy so my summery stuff wasn't going to work. I remembered the birthday dress, which is long sleeved and has a sweater. I put it on and it was so roomy! I'm actually glad I got a second wearing out of it because I'm hopeful it will be much too big when the fall rolls around and I need cool weather clothing again. In fact, my summery dresses that were skin tight two summers ago are already very loose, too. It's the little things that keep you going when the scale decides to stall, right?

Really interesting to read about the “starting weight”. I booked my surgery on January 30th and was 96kg (my highest ever weight - stepping on the scales and seeing I was closer to 100 that to 90 was a real shock - I dug out some insurance papers from February 2020 - I was 58kg then and allready heavier than I like to be). My surgery was 3 weeks later because I had to stop smoking first. The day of surgery I was 91.1kg so I lost 5.9kg in the three weeks prior ( I basically did a broth fast and didn’t eat anything solid, only clear broth and tea and coffee). Im now 70kg so since January 30th I’ve lost 26kg (57lbs) in 16 weeks (average of 1.6kg or 3.6lbs a week) so I’m very very happy with the weight loss even if I’m over the weather! I do have a goal weight which is my pre pandemic weight of 52-55kg (114-122 lbs) because I know that that is the weight at which I function best and that feels the best for my legs ( I mentioned earlier in the thread that I have very minor cerebral palsy - I have the impression that the extra pain I have for every gram I weigh over 55kg just isn’t worth it and really impacts my standard of living and my mobility. Because of the CP I have very minimal flexibility so being even slightly over weight just makes moving so so much harder for me as I can barely bend my knees as it is and have no upwards ankle flexibility what so ever. I’m easily out of balance and I fall over often ( the best way to picture it is to imagine the mobility of someone who has had about 3 beers too many), I’m used to it and my physiotherapist always says I’m a very good « faller », a part from bruises and a bruised ego I’ve only ever seriously broken things ( shoulder, wrist and double arm fracture all in one go!) once since being an adult. But being heavier has meant having more issues getting back up after falling over and more and bigger bruises. So my goal isn’t an esthetic one ( even though it will be nice to not be the fattest person in the room anymore - and because I live in Paris where the average female BMI is 21.3 the bar is low!) but a functional one. So I have 15kg (33lbs) left to loose, I know the rate of loss will slow, but I’m hoping to be at least nearly there in September when I take a new position, I really want to do my transition speech feeling ( and looking) like my old self ( just with some extra wrinkles and grey hair). My handover is September 16th - that leaves 17 weeks so I’m not sure I’ll be at 55kg by then because it would mean continuing to loose an average of 0.9kg ( 1.95lbs) a week which is a lot given my current weight. However if I manage to loose an average of 0.5kg (1.1lbs) per week ( which seems a more attainable bar) I should be 61/62kg by then, and I can live with that! ( I’m an unapologetic numbers girl - I don’t track what I eat because that’s not sustainable for me long term - I try to eat protein but other than that - YOLO - but I do track my weight every day if I have a scale and my steps and my activity) A very long post once again. Thanks all for being here. And here is a picture of a Greek island morning! That’s the 9.30AM light!

side tip: document your rashes and skin issues (pictures, videos, with dates)...if u are ever in the position that u want to get a tummy tuck or panniculectomy, you can use the collected evidence for insurance to cover the cost (if this is available for you..)

Its funny, or not but I didn't have any fold/skin rashes before surgery..but boy am I getting them now! No matter how much I shower, powder and keep dry all the extra skin on/under my pancake butt and thigh creases - ouch!! Its making walking painful. 😔 On a side note..I fit in the MRI easily now, before WLS I touched the edges.

Thanks all for your support, it's seems silly to write to you all as relative strangers, but apart from my partner I haven't disclosed my surgery to anyone so you folks are "my people" right now!. I'm slightly less cold this evening and had a blood test at lunch time ... (I'm not a doctor but I do work in the healthcare field and I'm actually at an EU medical conference here so got a collègue to write me a script for one). the results are through and, I am as I thought very anemic, so much so that I have an iron infusion booked for tomorrow ( Amen to the pan european health insurance system!!) . And @LisaCaryl you also hit the spot - I have low blood pressure too - but thats not that unusual for me - doctor I spoke to said I should try and rest up a bit and take things easy. (Sort of made me laugh because after full days of conf here I have zooms late evening with my US teams because of the time difference and also found out yesterday that I get back to Paris and then after one night have to go straight to the UK for a week for more meetings ... in my 3 months (90 days) since surgery I've had a total of 23 nights at home .... C'est la vie ) I have tomorrow and Friday to get through and then my partner is flying out for the weekend and we'll go to the islands where I hope I'll have more sun! I'll layer up the best I can and will deffo see if when I'm in the US I can get some more thermal wear just in case I'm still feeling chilly , @RonHall908 @Noelle74 I'm sure I'll find a Parisian way to rock a hunting style! Or I could just go for a classic Elisabeth II look The issue I have at the moment is work attire - I have to sort of dress "smart" and because I've lost weight so quickly in the last three months ( My three month "surgerversary" is tomorrow) I've gone from a european size 44 (US size 14 / UK 16 / Aus 18) to a european size 38 ( US size 8/UK 10/ Aus 12) I'm relying on wrap dresses and cardigans with tights that just aren't cutting it warmth wize. I have to upgrade my sheer tights to woollen ones and get some thermal t-shirts to wear under my dresses as per @Briss72 suggestion ( congrats at getting under 100kg @Briss72 and I'll for sure stock up on some handwarmers for my pockets). I have a free morning tomorrow after my infusion and will see what I can buy without spending too much money as I'm still loosing weight pretty in a pretty linear way and hope it will continue for another few months so don't want to spend much on temporary clothes! Here is my weight chart (in Kg) since surgery which I'm very happy with so far... and even with all the being cold and a bit miserable, I know this was the best choice for me and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat and regret not booking surgery earlier! The first drop from 95-91 was my presurgery diet and just after surgery my weight went up ... but it's being going down steady since - I'm just on the brink of having a normal BMI - green zone! Now that was a very long post! Once again, thanks for everyones support, and sorry for being a bit of a negative nancy from time to time!

I can't even ... I am literally half the woman I used to be...262lbs-131lbs in a year. My goal was 140, but I kept loosing despite the increase in calories. I know a bounce back is coming and appreciate the cushion. My body composition test showed I went from 50% body fat to 18% with no new loss of fat free body mass since month 3. When they showed the pounds of fat vs fat free mass, I only had 24lbs of fat, which is good because some fat is healthy. I'm thrilled with the results. My first bikini in who knows how long (my daughter bought it for me for Mother's Day). I seriously do not recognize myself and I love being healthy. *Don't mind my red face. I started micro needling.

Hi. Skin disease and dry patches are there for a reason - they're not an isolated pathology that affects the protective barrier, but a systemic manifestation of internal organ and immune system dysfunction. You can cover up the symptoms with natural beef tallow balm or others, but you need to get to the bottom of the problem so that you can then just keep your skin normal.

Today marks five years since my sleeve surgery. Yay! I look in the mirror & think yep, best decision. I easily snuggle with my 6yr old nephew in a lounge chair & I think yep, best decision. I can jump, dance, walk, skip, scoot up stairs, … and I think, yep, best decision. The potential for health problems are further away & less likely to occur & I think yep, best decision….You get the idea. I’m thankful it’s all gone pretty smoothly. Sure I have some fun & games with the foamies but I had a sensitive, quirky tummy before surgery & I still do so nothing all that different just how it manifests 😉. Sure I have some loose skin. It doesn’t affect what I want to do or wear so unimportant. I’m thankful I have a supportive GP who when I asked about surgery said yes without judgement & wrote the referral right away & continues to be interested in my progress. I’m thankful the doctor who does my follow ups is equally supportive. I have my 6 month check up with her next Monday which hopefully will go well again. It’s become more of a chat & catch up the last couple of years. Apart from the medication issue which caused a small weight gain (a good 2+kg/5lb) a couple of years ago which when sorted saw that gain disappear. I sit at the same fluctuation I did when my weight first stabilised: 48.5 - 49..5kg (though usually a high of 49.3 these days). I often think of the AA mantra of it works if you work it & you’re worth it. It really resonates. It works because I work it every day & I’m worth it.

If you’re eating the set amount of calories set by your team you will loose. Vsg will limit your food intake = less calories . You mention all the weight . In all honesty it’s mind over matter.The stomach has ghrelin wich singles hunger. This is removed and does come back. This new stomach lets you basically retrain your brain to eat. It’s up to you to keep calories set by your nutritionist.

Hi Everyone, I'm a 45year old male who is 2.5 years post RNY. I have always been bad at my protein, calorie and water intake. Started to drink multiple coffees a day. Typical male never remembered to take vitamins or supplements on a regular basis. I have never really tracked anything AND I am now seeing the results. After my initial 120lb weightless, I have regained approx. 40 lbs in the past 8 months. I have very dry skin and scalp and my teeth are starting to chip very easy. I am now starting back with my Daily Multi-Vitamin and Calcium Citrate. I really think an app on my phone OR maybe picking up an apple watch would help me with keeping track of intake. Does anyone have any suggestions?? Thanks, 😊

Hi Everyone, I'm a 45year old male who is 2.5 years post RNY. I have always been bad at my protein, calorie and water intake. Started to drink multiple coffees a day. Typical male never remembered to take vitamins or supplements on a regular basis. I have never really tracked anything AND I am now seeing the results. After my initial 120lb weightless, I have regained approx. 40 lbs in the past 8 months. I have very dry skin and scalp and my teeth are starting to chip very easy. I am now starting back with my Daily Multi-Vitamin and Calcium Citrate. I really think an app on my phone OR maybe picking up an apple watch would help me with keeping track of intake. Does anyone have any suggestions?? Thanks, 😊

Hi all, the sun is finally out and I've made my 10k step goal today for the first time since Monday at least! Thanks again for everyones support - it does help! @gracesmommy2 I have thought about SAD, but normally I'm okay in all weather, I even prefer summer holidays in the north with raincoats and wool socks and fires! I reckon I'm probably a bit anemic and low on vitamin D... and that plus the exhaustion, the being cold and the being away from home is just a bit much. I hate lugging luggage around and so tend to travel light and where as when I'm home and it's cold I just wrap out and bundle myself under covers with a hot water bottle... but when I'm travelling it's hard esp as I've mucked up on my packing for the last few trips and not packed enough warm clothes. I do have a sort of lightbox thing at home that I usually use to deal with jetlag but I've been lucky enough since my operation to only be doing short hall... I do go to Canada and the US next month though so will get my lightbox out of whatever cupboard it's hiding in when I next make it home. I'm also aware that I'm loosing fast, which I think is pretty normal as I wasn't overweight for that long ( my BMI got above 25 for the first time in my life only in 2020)... I'm on Thursday I'll be 3 months since surgery and as of today I've lost 19.75kg (43.4lbs or 3st1lbs) since my surgery so over 21% or my body weight in under 3 months ... I know that this must be doing a number on my mental state too. I was 91.1kg on the day of surgery and am now 71.35kg - however I also lost 5kg in the 2 weeks before surgery, my surgeon didn't need me to do a preop diet but just to be safe I still pretty much did a broth fast for the two weeks prior. So all in all in 15 weeks I've lost over 25kg ... and I know thats why I'm so exhausted! However I'm also happy because my team wanted me to have lost 20% total body weight at 3 months and I've exceeded that with a week to go ... I know things will get better... but I would love some proper warmth and light for more than a couple of days! @LisaCaryl I've always shed a lot of hair but haven't noticed things getting worse yet ... but I guess I'll just ride it though when it does happen! On the bright side I have to loose only another 2.2lbs to have a BMI under 25 again ... I know BMI is a crap tool ( and honestly find it a tad unfair because I reckon I have at least a couple of extra lbs of boob!) but I'm still very much looking forward to no longer being officially overweight! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and that all those far enough north got to see the boreal lights.

I'm also exhausted. I'm in Athens and it's raining and cold and grey. I'm just so done with the cold and rain. I feel it'll never stop. I'm so cold and tired the whole time. Really struggling with the weather being so grim (that said so is everyone I know - this year in Europe has been especially bad), mainly because I'm just so cold and tired and being cold and wet the whole time makes things 10 x worse. But yeah, I wrote it before but the weather is really doing a number on me. I might try and see a shrink soon if my mood re the weather doesn't lift because I'm nearing tears every time I see the weather forecast. I'm sorry you're having a hard month @NickelChip - I hope your blood tests shed some light on why the loss has slowed for you. @RonHall908 Well done on loosing the inches and all the fat % !!! Actually reassured to hear you're also exhausted because as I've written, I'm really really struggling with being so exhausted and having constant brain fog.

My surgery date was May 1st. I was anxious as the date got closer and closer. I had never gone under, so I was anxious about that. I remember going into the surgery room, scorching over to the surgical table, and then waking up in the recovery room. I didn’t think the surgery had been done. Until I went to the restroom and looked at the incisions on my stomach. I took Powerade zero, gripe water, gas x pills, and loose clothing for my departure. The gripe water was nasty, super sweet, and I don’t think it helped. The gas x pills, for sure take. Definitely needed chapstick (although the hospital gave me a care bag that included lip moisturizer). All I was able to drink was water and ice chips. The first day/night of surgery is definitely the hardest!!!!!!!! Today I’m one week post op and feel better each day. I lost 13 lbs in this 1 week. Starting protein shakes today. My diet is soft protein and liquids.

Hi, I'm having VSG surgery on May 15th. I'm not so much nervous but ready to have the surgery. I've read, watched videos and talked to friends who've had the surgery. Today is day one of my pre-op diet and I'm struggling. It's kicking my butt, only protein shakes, water, sugar free jello, sugar free Popsicles. Is anyone else on the struggle bus? I'm bringing very little to the hospital, light robe, sandals and a little skin care. I'm most anxious about the gas pain but I've had 3 c-sections and I walked an hour after each one so I know I can do it. I'm excited to begin this journey and get healthier for myself and my family. Wishing everyone the best of luck with the pre-op, recovery and healing. We can do it!

I felt my weight loss slowed down when I wasnt eating enough, at 6 months I was eating 1000 calories, and now 18 months later I do 1200 to 1600, with my surgeons approval. I have been maintaining my weight since January after loosing an additional 10lbs as a buffer. Sent from my SM-S916U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I broke out too, I think its because were eating better foods, drinking more water that all the impurities are coming out of our skin. I def have better skin now and probably the best its looked in years! keep hope!

So I'm home! I'm 72.5kg (159lbs) this morning so I've made it halfway to my goal like a true @NickelChip twin. I'm home until Thursday when I fly off again but It's going to be a hectic few days ( and I don't even want to think of all the laundry I have to do!). Thats means that in the last ten days since I was home I lost 1.7kg or 3.74lbs which is less bad than I thought. @NickelChip The travelling is hard, I'm usually in hotels with client meetings and lunch and dinners most evenings - I tend to tell them I'm intermittent fasting so manage to skip one meal. I'm not against eating in my room in the evening but do prefer to be out because I just hate the amount of time I spend shut in hotel rooms and prefer to profit from the ambiance of wherever I'm staying. It's just such a massive change for me because I've always been a social butterfly out and about where ever I go ... I went to an international school ( well multiple international schools - I was an "Expat Brat / Third culture Kid") growing up so tend to have acquaintance to visit most places too, or have a random packet to give someones cousin/friend/old neighbor and food and alcohol have always played in a big part in that for me. Eating alone inside isn't really my thing. I've actually got an airbnb for Athens because it's a longer stay so should be able to cook in the kitchen there, and I reckon there will be better salads, but it's a good idea to keep a tub of hummus and crudités in the fridge, I'm not a great fan of yogurt berry combos, but might try... I have perfected my smile and head tilt for when people I meet say "oh my god thats so lucky you get to travel so much" 🙂 @gracesmommy2 I'm not a fan of chips but could go for edamame! I come from a family of tall thin women with massive boobs - I'm the shortest ( and fattest) by quite a bit, I'm 5 ft 6 and my sisters, aunts etc are between 5ft8 and 6ft and probably have BMI's round 20.... So even when I was skinny I've always had massive boobs, I was a already a double F at 14 when I was 110lbs. When I was up at 200lbs and over they got to ridiculous proportions and I'd have deep dents on my shoulders from my bra straps digging in the whole time. I'm happy they're getting a bit smaller but hope I don't loose too much and that they don't head too far south .. but if they do ..that's what good bras are for. That said I am lucky because they've never caused back pain! Do take pictures if you feel up to it - they are good to look back at to see progress, you too @LisaCaryl ... I'm sure one day you'll like to look back at them! @Briss72 @Noelle74 @Eighmmie How are you getting on?