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Ok the mind games have started, very common. I use and still do Skin tightening lotions and this hand held thing that heats up and gets cold to tighten skin, However you are going to lose a ton more weight then i did. You have no choice but to lose the weight - You currently were on a path to a coffin! Glad you chose the right journey. As for the skin you can get that taken care of surgically also, There are a ton of posts here on Mommy Makeovers and plastic surgery. Keep you mind on the journey and all will work out, You can live with some lose skin, I doubt you would live very long at 500 pounds

Hello I am 23yrs old. I am a patient in the bariatric program and have been going through this process for little over a year now. My highest weight was 497, I was scared that I would hit 500. Having that fear I decided to start committing more and put the effort in. It's been a couple months of progress, but I am down to 440. I met the requirements and was finally approved for my surgery. I know I've been wanting this surgery for a long time so I can have a more comfortable life. Knowing that its actually coming up I have had some concerns/fears. First I have never had surgery, so I am scared to go under. I know it's a fast surgery and recovery doesnt seem that long, but still going under for first time is frightening. Then my main fear is loose skin. I know a lot of things contribute to the amount of loose skin and then ways of preventing, but I know at my size I will lose a good amount of weight. I am scared that I will have such excessive loose skin. I know I can do a skin removal surgery, but again I never had surgery. I want to lose the weight, but don't want to see myself with the loose skin. I know my goal weight is 250. I dont know If that makes a difference for it, but yeah. I just now keep looking up ways to prevent all the time. It is really scaring me.

Part of it could be fat malabsorption, and the fact that you are eating a lot less fat now than before surgery. My skin and hair are very dry every since surgery, but I also have fat malabsortion. I never used shampoo for dry hair before, but I do now. Lots of moisturizer, and of course, you just have to drink the water. The good side is that there are no more fungal infections from hot, moist skin.

Yeaaa, itchy skin is a pain. I use the gold bond eczema cream to help with it, but I also take fish oil. It's really helped my skin a lot. Plus, drinking at least 72oz of water a day. Gotta stay hydrated, and your skin will love you for it. Congrats on the weight loss! That's fantastic!

I can eat turkey sausage; I either cut it up and cook it with some diced tomatoes and spinach, or open the sausage and cook it like crumbles. I've done that with rice cauliflower, garlic and Cajun spice, and also with diced tomatoes, Italian spices and baked a spaghetti squash. I use either a tsp of fresh grated parmesan cheese, or a tablespoon of low fat shredded cheddar. It's pretty high in protein. I have brought a couple of slices of deli turkey with some low fat shredded cheese to work for lunch; just make a little roll up. Chew, chew, chew. 2 slices fills me up nicely. I've had some sugar free apple sauce with that. I've been making little one egg omelets; I use one egg and 3 tbl of egg beaters (=1 egg white); I fill it with spinach, some Dash, and a little part skim mozzarella or the low fat cheddar. I have new little plates, and it fills it up. I usually can't eat it all. I bought some pre-made, pre-cooked turkey meatballs; I had to cook them in the tomatoes at first to get them soft enough; tonight I just baked come and had it on a bed of very well cooked broccoli. My husband likes them, so I made him a little pasta with oil and garlic. He's been a sport with all the mushy vegetables. I also love fish; I have baked salmon with no fat greek yoghurt and Cajun spices or lemon and garlic. Heat a non-stick pan with a generous coating of cooking spray; cook skin side down for a minute or 2; then place in a baking dish, brush the top of the filets with the seasoned yoghurt; bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. Nice and moist. I've also made tilapia; thin tilapia cooks in minutes; fry with cooking oil; then make a "sauce" with the no fat greek yoghurt; I did lemon and garlic. Yummy. Nice with cauliflower rice. Tomorrow I am making some split pea soup. I'll use that for lunches next week. I am hoping I can "hide" some protein powder in the soup to get some protein bang. Also easy; Rotisserie chicken! I make chicken salad with the left overs; I have been using mayo made with olive oil; half the calories, and I like the taste. And of course good old tuna salad; lots of protein! I figure if I can get a little variety I am less likely to loose my mind! And less likely to sabotage things.

It’s been almost 10 months since my gastric sleeve surgery. I’m really excited that I’ve lost almost 90 pounds! Oddly enough my skin seems drier and Even more sensitive than before the surgery. Before the surgery I used to get rashes and yeast infections under my breasts and behind my knees. Now behind my knees are so itchy and dry. I will admit that I need to drink more water and this probably why my skin is so dry. Has anyone else experienced this? Even the skin on my belly is itchy.

Hey March 3rd group. Here's a quick update: I'm still fatigued from doing nothing. I don't meet my 64 oz. goal for hydration, I'm only halfway there. So I started with the popsicles this week to help me. I take the Prilosec and the bariatric multivitamins eveyday, without issue now. I don't like the taste, but I will manage. 3/6 incisions have shed the skin glue naturally and looks amazing. Going to start using Mederma and vitamin e oil next week. They itch like hell though and are still a little bit tender. Pooping is not my friend, I'm taking the meds to assist me. I've only went once over this past weekend. I will take the Miralx to aide my body if needed. I want to chew and now... I have to fight this head hunger like everyone else. I'm hungry sometimes, but I will drink a shake or one of my allowed items from the Full liquid diet. Still want a waffle and Turkey bacon or some cashews. I'm down exactly 10 pounds from surgery last week. Sleep is difficult, I'm uncomfortable most nights and I want to go sleep during regular sleeping hours, I can't. I need a little more rest than normal. I finally put on a bra today and full lounge wear.

8 weeks post op today. Overall feeling pretty good. Learning what I can handle is a bit challenging at times. I definitely eat too fast! A life of eating on the go is hard to change, but I'm learning sometimes the hard way!! Started at 238 day of surgery, now 203!! 35 lb.'s down....at least 30 more to go!! I'm loosing slowly which I'm okay with. I made this choice as I've been on diets my whole life. Recently Dr. put me on meds for heart, cholesterol and diabetes. I dont want to rely on meds to keep me going, upon discussion with my Dr.'s the surgery was a good option. I've already been taken off of cholesterol and heart meds!! Diabetes meds could have come off, but decided to stay on till next visit. Need to start weights as I'm seeing skin start to get flabby, using moisturizer all the time and Merderma on the scars to reduce them. Congratulations everyone on choosing this journey! Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Someone at work finally asked me if I was loosing weight. I’m six weeks in and down from surgery weight of 289 to today 267 (started at 308) So much more to go, but little by little. I need to give up my cheese stick!!! (Which I eat to get my calories up and protein in. Who ever would have guessed ild have that problem!!)

I mean, I'm not sure there's a less photogenic photo of my face, lol, but this is my six week week progress pic. 25 pounds down from surgery Jan 27 (surgery weight 246, current 221). My clothes are all starting to get loose. But I'm living in leggings and hoodies for now. I don't want to waste money continually buying clothes. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Not a problem I just appreciate any response. I feel like the cost is worth it. But am I worth it? That I don’t know. I mean @sillykitty you have a busy active life and job. Me. Not so much. For me this would be more for physical comfort, the discomfort of excess skin and some areas are particularly bad. And perhaps the belt lipectomy with butterfly lift and stomach muscle tightening might help strengthen my core where I cannot do it with exercise and possibly help a little with back pain. I am debating the silicon implants. I’ve never considered such a thing before. Ive a lot on my mind and want to plan this. I try to rationalize that people take vacations. Which I never have. i thought maybe if I make it a vacation for my mom and her boyfriend then I can rationalize things a little. And would have the extra help as well. And she’d have company during my down time. as for cost. I’d be pinching pennies for a long time, and getting financing. But. I feel like I Want to see this journey to completion in some way. Even though technically it never ends (the way of eating) .... I know ultimately I need to decide but I cannot deem myself worthy. Yet Feel it’s not just a cosmetic decision. so hard to think ...

How is everyone??? Tomorrow makes 9 weeks since surgery (crazy it's gone so fast) for me, and overall I'm feeling fantastic. My bones ache less, I can chase my toddler farther and faster, and I just feel better in my body again! Clothes are getting loose but I'm waiting to make any big purchases until the ones I have look like crap lol.. anyhow, I'm female, 5'6", started pre op diet at 260, surgery weight was 249, and I've made it down to 210 as of yesterday. Can't wait for more of this progress!! Hope everyone is doing well, can't wait to see the new us in a couple more months. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327AZ using BariatricPal mobile app

I have the sleeve and I am scheduled to have the mini Bypass on the 25 th .., with the sleeve I did not loose more than 10 pounds and I have bad acid reflux. It has been 2 years since I got sleeved ... I have hypothyroidism so I think that is what made me not have weight loss

Hello everyone! I hope everyone's doing well. I'm currently bored at work and thought I'd give you guys an update of how i'm doing. I remember reading/ watching other people talk about how they're doing a while after surgery and it motivated me so much to keep going with the process and not be scared. So I hope this helps someone somewhere! Anyway, I'm 11 months and 7 days post op RNY. I've officially lost 230 lbs. I started as 415 lbs and as of today I'm 185 lbs! As of today i'm a size 6-8 jeans/ Medium tops. I'm so grateful for this surgery and for myself for not giving up on myself when it could've been so easy to do so. I wish I had taken action sooner but it is what it is and I'm happy I eventually did. I still have about 60 lbs to go to get to my ideal weight for my height but i'm not in a hurry and i'm just going with the flow. So, in terms of restriction and the size of my pouch now, there is none. LOL. At first, I was so scared to eat too much or to do anything that would stretch my pouch. I went to my nutritionalist and told her about it and how i felt like sometimes I was eating too much or i didn't feel the restriction as much and she told me not to worry and that my stomach will tell me when to stop. Unfortunately, I might've taken her advice too far. I stopped measuring stuff and just ate what I felt like. My pouch is regular sized now I think. Sometimes when I'm eating with other people I'll actually eat more than they do. But honestly I'm not too bothered by it. I know it would've been great to still have that restriction but I feel like i've learned so much about the type of food i should be eating and how to track it that I don't really need my pouch to keep me in control anymore. I started drinking soda about 2 months ago, diet of course. I know that's bad but it honestly helps me with hunger and cravings. For exercise, I do cardio about 2-3 times a week. Now, loose skin. I have tons! My arms hang like crazy. My thighs remind me of my grandpas thighs 😂 My stomach doesnt bother me TOO much (unlike my arms) but it's still a presence. But no matter how much i critique myself or sometimes hate what I see in the mirror, IT IS SO WORTH IT. I remember how miserable i was before losing all the weight. I couldn't go up the stairs to our apartment without feeling like I couldn't breathe. I couldn't walk or even stand for longer than a minute or two. I couldn't find ANY shoes that were comfortable, everything hurt! It makes me so sad to just think about what it was like to live like that. My social life hasn't changed much. I'm naturally really shy and I don't really put myself out there to meet new people. However, I have noticed how people treat me now. It's awful to say but I feel like I'm taken more seriously now that I'm not as heavy as I was. I'm treated better by people at restaurants, stores, and even at work. It's also true with people I knew before and even with my family. My relatives are suddenly so much nicer to me. Of course there are always the comments on how "beautiful i've become" and how "this is much better". I try not to let it bother me but it does. Not just the comments but their attitudes toward me as well. Why are they nicer now that I'm thinner? Was my weight really bothering them before? I can't imagine being mean to someone just because of how they look or how much they weigh. It really says a lot about them. Oh, there's also the people that think losing the weight was SO EASY for me because of the surgery and that I put zero work into it myself. I'm not even gonna talk about that because YOU GUYS KNOW. ANYWAY, that's me. I'm really proud of myself and all i've done. I hope i can lose the rest of the weight and then actually maintain it!

If you go to a good person who does waxing they should not have an issue. They will hold the skin tight when they remove the wax.

I donated ALL my clothes as soon as I was small enough to not fit in them! I did this each time I was firmly the size below. Surgery in September. Donated my XL in November. Bought workout stretchy clothes first that were a little tight and I shrank more into them quickly. In December I had to buy a few Large outfits for work... but I bought Tunic style with stretchy pants to hold me until I was firmly in the Mediums. By January I was in mediums and got rid of my Larges. Now my closet only has 2 XL sentimental sweatshirts, 1 t-shirt, and 1 pullover that was tight and just fits loose. I also have 1 size 12 dress that was cut small that my husband bought for me and would be upset if I ever donated, even if I can't wear it lol. Everything else in my closet is small or medium! I don't foresee me getting rid of my medium shirts, but if I get small enough to wear the next size pants down I might get rid of my size 8 pants. My "normal" skinny was always size 6 pants and small-medium shirts. I do have some medium shirts that look a little too big, so I might donate those... but most are styles that won't look too big even if they are a little big. It's funny because I took 9 weeks off work post op (1 was a bonus week because they don't count fall break that everyone gets off). A week later I found an XL polo with our school district log on it sitting in my cabinet that I didn't know was there. I had ordered it before deciding to do weight loss surgery. It was a mans cut and was HUGE on my already, so I was able to trade it for a medium women's cut shirt that was too small for me. That day, I wouldn't have dared to wear it. A week later I tried it on again and it fit perfectly! And now here I am, a few months later, and dare I say it looks a little too big on me Anyhow... I refuse to allow myself to ever be bigger than a medium again! So no point in keeping the big clothing. BTW, while shrinking I only bought clothes from discount stores (TJ Maxx, Bealls, Ross, and such)... but now I am willing to shop anywhere again. And having a LOT of fun while I do it! And wearing styles that I would NEVER have worn before, even when I was skinny before. I think I took for granted that I would always be skinny once I lost all my baby weight. I was afraid to try new styles though. Now I am loving it!

Here is a question for my 1 year buddies: How was this winter for you? I was utterly miserable. I have never been so consistently cold in my life. I was actually colder than my skinny husband who is always turning up the heat in the car. I have to carry a sweater/jacket every where and there were some outdoor events where I had to leave the venue and go sit in the car to warm up. Winter used to be my favorite time of year, but now I am sooooo looking forward to summer and more daylight. My outdoor exercise definitely suffered. Summer was the WORST time of year, due to fungal infections in my skin folds, sweating all the time, couldn't exercise, and feeling like I wanted to rip all my clothes off. Now it is like "BRING IT ON! I WANT THE HEAT!

This doesn't answer your question, but my belly button essentially disappeared after I lost weight and my skin sagged. I have to pull the skin tight to see it, and even then it's just a tiny slit. Not a major issue compared to being obese, I know. 🙂

Okay, so over the past month or so my belly button seems to have a constant pink tone around the inside and rim of it, like a mild rash color. I thought it WAS a rash, and have been treating it accordingly, but it occurred to me today that it might actually be the long-term inside skin of the belly button becoming more the outside, now that I'm over 80 lbs down? I do have some excess skin folding and such, particularly at the bikini line, and above the belly button, but my shape is sort of hourglass and always was, so my belly button being covered is nothing new. Is my innie slowly becoming an outie? Has anyone else got any insight on this? Very confused.

Mine was done at BMI 34 (self-pay) and I wish I'd done it at BMI 30 before I became pre-diabetic with a fatty liver, lowered kidney function, and rising blood pressure - plus I was miserable with the extra weight. People were so mean to me, especially the college students in my previous town - hey, when I was their age I was thin, too! And I know I was passed over for promotion at work due to my weight - they tended to promote slim, fit-looking people. I was great at my job, have a master's in management, and have a good amount of leadership experience so it wasn't a failure in ability on my part. Now that I'm within 1 pound of my half-way weight loss point my health is drastically improved as well as my appearance. Prior to surgery it took me six months of hard work to lose only 11 pounds and my health didn't improve but now the weight is consistently coming off. I'm also completely off my sugar/carb addiction though I'll need to be diligent for the rest of my life. Realize that if you continue to gain, when and if you do have the surgery your skin won't bounce back as well as at your now lower BMI. It's such a highly personal decision to have the surgery but please know I'm thrilled with my results and feel the clock has been turned back by decades even though I still have weight to lose. The future looks so bright. Good luck!

How large/where is your incision? Can you have soup yet? After my revision I dropped more than 10lbs so quickly I looked terrible & I began to have loose skin in my face /neck 😖

So at the seven month mark and I have lost a fair bit of weight and while I never considered myself super hairy before as I shrink my back hair and body hair in general seems to be condensing. So not only do I have some gnarly excess skin but I look like Sasquatch. I am hesitant to wax given the excess skin has anyone got any advice? Anyone try laser hair removal?

I am getting between 72-96oz of water at the moment. I do log my calorie intake and I'm hitting around 600 a day, even with snacks built in. I have breakfast, a small snack, lunch, a small snack, and dinner, all while taking my vitamins and drinking in between. Still haven't experienced actual "hunger" except when I went 7 hours without eating, and that wasn't hunger as I remember it. Do you have to skin your grapes? I'm also only eating about 2-3oz at most of food still. I get full off 2oz really easily.

I'm 7 weeks out as well. I have been averaging 500-700 calories. Yesterday for the first time I ate approximately 1000 calories! I couldn't believe it. My stomach handled it all great. Which was a surprise. Obviously, I'm not going to eat that many calories everyday as I'm trying to loose weight and keep my belly small. It feels as though my stitches are all healed and I'm good to go on regular foods. Dr. did release me to eat whatever I wanted, although I tend to eat food on the softer side. Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am in my 5th week of post op. I feel great, but I am struggling with taking my multivitamins. The chewable makes me nauseous and I am not a medicine taker so taking 4 was a bit much. I tried the drink (2xs daily) and the taste was appalling. Is there a 1 per day biatric multivitamins that includes everything? I have had thick hair all my life and it is starting to get thin and smooth clear skin in which I am starting to get pimples. Not too noticeable but I notice. How do I strengthen my hair and clear my skin back up. What is the best all included biatric multivitamin?