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I started maintenance in July and had been doing pretty well, but I have been dealing with a lot of stress with an aging mother who has a serious health problem that started in 2021. The stress has really gotten to me lately and for the past few weeks I wasn't tracking my food anymore and doing a lot of stress eating. There has been candy in the house from Halloween and I have eaten more of than I should. I finally weighed last week and was up 5 pounds. Some of that was probably water because of my period, but I got back on track after that. I'm proud to say I have tracked my food all week and didn't eat a bunch of junk and my weight is back down! I have been so scared since I got to maintenance that I won't be able to keep this weight off, or that if I did gain some I would get discouraged and not get back on track, so this week made me realize I CAN do it. [emoji4] Sent from my Pixel 5a using BariatricPal mobile app

I completely agree with you. I'm 57 and had my sleeve 11 weeks ago. How I wish I had done this when I was in my 30s or 40s as I also feel like I missed out on so much due to my weight! Already feel its the best thing I've done and down 17kg (38 lb). I say go for it! It's a great tool to help with our weight loss journey

All I want is a juicy INCREDIBLY RARE steak… I’m drooling thinking of it!! I’m so protein deficient. I Can’t hardly keep more than a couple ounces of a shake down. I gag and end up sick 😔 I am 4 weeks post op as of today and still can’t handle anything but liquid or purée texture. I was told to try eggs… I did twice and both times sick as a dog. I have tolerated chicken only if it’s a TINY speck in a soup… I’m beginning to feel like I will never be able to eat again.

I'm thankfully pretty shielded from this most of the time, since I'm self-employed and work from home. I imagine if you work in an office or on-site, then the comments would happen. I had my first a week or so ago, when visiting a friend and she quietly said I looked skinny and asked if I was well. She hasn't seen me in a while, so I guess there is a noticeable weight drop and I KNOW my collar bones and neck sinews stick out prominently now. It still triggered a weird body dysmorphic patch in me, and thankfully my partner put my mind at ease. In her defense, she was coming from a place of care, and she has suffered from restrictive eating disorders in the past so I know she was just seeing my jutting bones and making unconscious connections to her own past. My real test will be Xmas and going interstate to see the family and in-laws for the first time in about half a year. I am a good size and a half smaller since they last saw me. All that said, anyone calling out to a stranger OR an acquaintance with the word "fat" needs a kick between the legs. Inexcusably rude, fundamentally unfunny.

I have so much sugar free jello its crazy! I had a rough day yesterday it was day three and i was starving.Thank goodness today i am back to feeling really full with the protein shakes. You are doing amazing!! It helps to have support and I will be right there with you. Thank you for responding. I haven't started to get anxious yet but I still have 11 days until my surgery so it will probably hit me next week. I think staying busy is best too. I am jumping on here and reading a lot of posts to keep me focused on the goal.

Ashleydasley...great job. I'm almost exactly where you are, including beginning weight and now. I hit a stall at 3 weeks for about 10 days and then boom, down 8lbs.. it's crazy but I just keep doing what I'm suppose to and I think the next time I hit a stall I won't be so freaked out. Went out for lunch today with my mom and was actually able to put on an old pair of jeans that zipped. Haven't worn any pants like that for years.

In the hospital, I thought I was having hunger pangs, but I truly believe it was just pain. That continued for a day or two and then it went away. I can't remember when the hunger started coming back... It's been at least a week, but maybe two. I'm 4 weeks post op. My stomach sometimes growls, but it doesn't necessarily feel like hunger, so that's not a good way for me to tell. I don't know. I just feel like I'm starving, like my blood sugar is starting to get low (I'm diabetic so I'm familiar with the way that feels). It's not like cravings. I get cravings - like for chocolate, for instance. But that's not hunger for me. That's more of a "want" and something that sounds good; whereas the hunger is more of a physical "need".

I am two years post VSG. I have used it for a year and a half. I have been pretty successful. I just had my tummy tuck three weeks ago. My team had no problem with it at all.

I'm new to this type of support, but had my 2nd roux n y on September 26th ( the first one wasn't completed properly) the first photo was October of 2011, and the 2nd was this past week of November 2022 Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

In 2010 I had a lap band surgery at the Slimband clinic in Toronto. Dr. Patrick Yau was my surgeon. I never felt that the band worked, but because of the cost I was determined not to fail. I joined MyfitnessPal and faithfully logged in for over 500 days. I swam daily for one hour during the winter months. Walked, and rode 100 miles per week on my bike. I lost weight, nearly 100 lbs. Three years ago I experienced pain in my abdomen on the lower left side. I had every test possible and nothing was found. This past March 2022, I was in unbearable pain and an ambulance was called. The lap band had perforated my bowel. My life was in jeopardy and after some harrowing days I was out of the woods. I spent a month in the hospital and had food the last three days. It took five months to recover. I was told that when I recovered I would need the band removed because it was precariously positioned against another part of the bowel. Nov. 8 of this year I went to Humber River Hospital and had it and another portion of bowel removed. My question is ; is there a class action suit against Slimband and/or Dr. P. Yau? Thank you.

Yes I went back after one week could have gone back earlier had very little pain or fatigue and I commute 2 hours each way

Hey everybody! I'm 6 weeks and one day post-op... The first month I lost 30 lb but since then I've only lost seven and I'm giving myself a really hard time. I know that they say there's a plateau. I just didn't think it was going to be so close to after surgery. Did anybody get any recommendations on how to get past the plateau? I can't help but try to blame myself for doing something wrong even though I'm following every single rule except exercise because my back still won't allow me to. I need to lose a little more weight before that's possible. I'm so proud of each and every one of us for taking this journey. My original weight at my heaviest was 356 lb, after I got on the diet for pre-op it went down to 319 lb and I'm now 286 lb... I have such a hard time realizing that's quite a bit of weight loss when I feel so far away from my goal of 180... Any encouragement would help....

Are you tracking your calories? At a week out, you're probably not getting much over 500 calories a day. Logic says that consuming only 500 calories a day, you're going to lose weight whether you want to or not. But, your body is freaking out, right now. It doesn't know what you've done to it. It has to adjust to its current condition and then you will start losing again. Stalls - and even slight weight gains - are a normal and expected part of the process. If you're going to weigh yourself everyday, then you need to come to terms with this fact. The scale is going to go up and down, but the overall trend will be downward. If you're making yourself crazy with it, then switch to once-a-week weigh ins.

I'm 4 weeks and 2 days post op. I'm down 18 pounds since surgery. My clothes are also looser and I really love it, too. My weight loss was happening really fast, in the first couple of weeks and it was kind of scaring me. Thankfully, it has slowed down. I start soft foods, today. So far, I haven't had any problems with getting in enough protein and water. My hunger is really starting to return. So I've had to start eating food more often. I was eating 3 times a day, now I'm up to 5. I've cut down my use of protein shakes to 1 or 2 per day. I was drinking 3, before. I'm typically getting anywhere from 600-900 calories per day. I was cleared for exercise, so I've been doing slow walks on my elliptical - 15 minutes a day and keeping it under 7 miles per hour. I'm trying real hard not to overdo it. My incisions are healing. I have one that was bigger than the others and it's being a little slow to close up. I still have some bruising. I'm still fairly sore. But, if I sneeze now, I don't feel like I'm going to die. So that's progress.

Welcome to the very best forum. Sounds like you are doing real well. Trust the process and wait for the next stall.

I'm 3 weeks and a couple days out now and I think I'm hitting the dreaded "3 week stall" or at least for me, the 3 week slow down. I was losing 1 pound a day before and the past few days it's been closer to .1-.2. I'm okay with this still even if it does come to a halt for a while. My stomach healing seems to be going backwards though. It has started cramping a lot while eating and drinking, and even occasionally when I'm just sitting here doing nothing. My team told me to go back to liquids for a couple days, so I've been doing that. ☹️ I was supposed to start soft foods next Tuesday but now it looks like I won't be able to.

I have two weeks of 3-4 shakes a day, and lean chicken/tuna and veggies for dinner, have other options but that has been working for me. Monday I will do clear liquids mainly to be prepared. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello everyone. I’m new here and wanted to introduce myself. I found this forum a few days ago and have enjoyed reading the posts. I am a 40 year old female and had my surgery on 10/24. My starting weight when I first started the pre op liquid diet was 215. I was 204 the day of my surgery. I’m just a bit over the 3 week mark and I’m down to 191. The past week or so the scale hasn’t moved much. I was a bit confused at first since I know I’m not consuming more than 5-600 calories a day but then I started reading about the stalls in the week 2-3 range and realized it’s normal as my body needs time to heal and get my water level back up. So I’m trying not to stress over the scale. It’s crazy because in my diet days I would have been thrilled at a 13 pound loss in 3 weeks, but after surgery I’m like “is that all?!” But I’m trusting the process. I also know that I’m starting out at a lower BMI then most people that have this surgery so I’m probably not going to have these massive losses. The surgery itself was pretty smooth. I work nights so I got off work at 5am, took a quick shower and went to the hospital at 6:30am to start the procedure. Needless to say after surgery I slept for most the day lol. I was a bit sore and nauseous when I woke up but they were good about giving me meds. By the second day I didn’t have as much pain but the nausea was still there. The most annoying part was I had to pee every hour thanks to all the fluids they pumped through my IV. So I constantly had to call for a nurse to unhook me and help me up and into the bathroom. The only other hard part was my vision. No one warned me that a side effect of the nausea patch they put behind my ear effects your vision. It kind of freaked me out because I couldn’t read my cell phone screen at all. It was just a big blur. I finally asked the nurse and she explained the issue. Before I left the hospital I asked them to remove the patch. It took another 2 days before my vision was fully restored. So that was a challenge. Not only could I not read my phone but I couldn’t read the prescription bottles either. Had to rely on my family to tell me which pills were which and when to take them. Otherwise the experience wasn’t terrible. Otherwise I’m feeling pretty good. The weird gurgling every time I eat is a bit annoying. It doesn’t hurt exactly but it’s still not comfortable. At first I thought maybe I was eating too fast, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference. I’ve learned through this forum that it’s pretty common. What else….. oh vitamins! The chewable ones were gross so I switched to the chewy ones. They’re not terrible but not great either. I’m looking forward to when I can just switch to capsule vitamins. I have officially dropped a pants size so that’s nice. I have a range of clothes from size 16-10 from all my yo yo dieting phases so I at least have options while I’m losing. Today I’m in the 14s and packed up my 16s to donate. If I get smaller than the 10s I’ll be planning a shopping trip. I really enjoy this forum. The only people that know I had the surgery was my wife and my best friend. I didn’t tell the rest of my family or coworkers. So having a safe place to talk about my experience and compare stories has been nice.

I had my surgery on a Monday and was back at work Sunday. I am a police officer, but I’m a supervisor so I *mostly* stay in the office unless something requires my attention out the field. I was a little nervous about returning so quickly especially putting my duty belt on over my stomach but I had no issues at all. I’m very active and don’t “sit still and rest” very well. The first couple of days after surgery I was a bit sore and nauseous but by the end of the week I felt fine. Returning to work early helped me get back on track. I was going a bit stir crazy at home after the first couple of days

I agree with Sleeve_me_alone, it does take time. I felt the same way my first two weeks from surgery. Don't worry that energy will be back.

I am amazed that i made it to day three of the pre op. I gave away most of the food in the house but today i saw some salami, cheese and ham i missed. I thriew it away really fast adn poured some water on it. This may seem small and silly but it made my day. I don't why today i have felt really hungry, i still have two protein shakes to go though and can broth. I have drank a ton of water. I am hoping this is the worst of the hunger days because day one and two i wasn't hungry at all.

Just checking in with everyone. I had my two week post op checkup today and I'm down 10 lbs since surgery date and 30 lbs since starting the journey last summer. My pants are getting baggy and I love it! I'm on the pureed diet which has been going pretty well. It's hard to fit enough protein and liquid in each day but I'm trying! How is everyone else from October doing?

I am also 4 weeks post op. Everything hurts. I’m always exhausted and sore. I can’t hardly swallow without pain. I know I’m not getting any where near the protein I should. The shakes make me sick. I have tried fair life and carnation high protein… they all upset my stomach. I am probably low on water too, maybe 36-42 Oz water. My vitamins cause nausea. This whole thing is a mess. When do I feel normal again?

I spent the majority of my first month feeling dizzy & getting lightheaded. It'll go away with time! Remember food is fuel & after a week of surgery, we're only getting drops on fuel in our engine.

I'm 5 weeks post-op and need to actively practice slowing down my bites. Sometimes I forget I have a sleeve- I'll take too many "quick" bites and it makes my stomach feel like I swallowed a brick. I've been getting way too full way too fast because of it.