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Weight-wise we started out about the same, and I'd lost 75 lbs by the six-month mark, so you are doing fine. And it's very normal to drop down to a 1-2 lb a week loss when you're six months out. Just continue to stick to your clinic's plan, and the weight WILL come off. It took me almost two years, but I got it all off (I've had about a 20 lb rebound gain since I hit my lowest weight, which is very common during year 3 - it's your body settling in to a weight it's comfortable at). as far as calories go, that varies so much for everyone that I can't really say if your input is too high or too low. I think I was eating around 800 calories a day at that point, and I used to fret about that because I'd see people on here eating 600-ish. But they could have been shorter, older, less muscular, and/or less active than me, too. As long as your weight is in a general downward trend, I wouldn't worry about it. Some surgeons want their patients eating more calories in general than other surgeons, so the amount you're taking in isn't anything unusual keep in mind that the closer you get to goal, the slower those pounds are going to come off. During year two, there were months I was only losing a pound or two the entire month. But I was persistent and they DID come off.

I was barely eating 900 calories at 6 months (almost a cup of food for a meal depending on what it was & one snack) & at my goal weight. But my stats are different from yours. I’m likely older, definitely shorter & I wasn’t & still aren’t overly active. (I eat about 1600 now to maintain my weight.) You have every right to ask for greater guidance around calories, portion sizes, macros, etc. from your nutritionalist if it makes you feel more confident about your choices & comfortable about what you’re doing. If they refuse you may have to find another one who is willing to support you. Yes, I know calorie counting is considered out, but for us it is an important consideration especially until we feel more secure in what we’re doing & helps us to lose/maintain & maintain our health. We need that guidance now as most of us didn’t know what the hell we were doing in regard to appropriate foods to eat, nutrients our bodies needed, appropriate portion sizes, etc. We’re new borns about a lot of this in the beginning. If we knew it all & could do it we wouldn’t have needed the surgery. Honestly, I wasn’t given calories goals or specific macro except protein 60g for me. Just portion size, and low carb, low fat, low sugar. I was okay with that though I would still randomly check for my own interest. I did a lot of my own reading, and was very careful with what I chose to eat & checked with my dietician at every fortnightly appointment. As I said, you have to feel comfortable & confident about what you’re doing. After those first heady weeks of large weekly weight drops &, regardless of our starting weight, our rate of loss slows. One to two pounds a weeks is okay especially as you are on the homeward path now. Remember that 1-2lbs a week is generally considered a healthy rate of lose for anyone losing weight. Wait until you’re almost there & you’re losing ounces not pounds a week. Believe me, the last few pounds to lose are a b*tch to lose.

I am a little over 6 months post op, how many calories are you eating now? I am getting about 900-1000 calories, 80g of protein, 50g of carbs. Anyone else have a starting weight at 360ish at 5'9", how much did you lose at 6 months? My surgeon doesn't offer an aftercare support team and the nutritionist (had to get a referral from my primary) that I am seeing doesn't like giving numbers. I also don't feel I can ask him as he will just refer to the paperwork he gave me at the start, which just says under 1200 calories and 60-80g of protein. I am very happy with the weight that I have lost so far, 100lbs since surgery, but it has been very slow the last 2 months or so. I still feel that I should be losing at a faster rate than I am which is only about 1-2lbs a week. Is this just an average weight loss when I weigh 263lbs at 5' 9", haven't been down to this weight in over 15 years.

No I don’t but as I said I only have small amounts. A sliver as my grandmother used to say. I chose to eat very little sugar (including sugar substitutes & artificial) not because I dumped or it upsets me, I just feel better without it. By product benefit is that it keeps my calories down 😁. If I’m looking for something sweet, cause we all have those days, I have a little fruit. Usually fresh but I have some dried cranberries & apple in my cupboard at the moment which I’ll slowly work my way through as I’m in the mood. Artificial sugar is the hardest one to reduce because they seem to put it in every darn thing. I’d rather use/have a little real sugar than artificial. Generally I make most of what I eat from scratch which helps control a lot of what I may be consuming. Of course there are things I’m just not going to make like yoghurt or hoi sin sauce LOL! I made a red wine vinegar on the weekend & initially omitted the sugar but it needed it so I added a scant teaspoon (the recipe said a tablespoon). If sugar makes you ill, i.e. dumping, it likely always will. However many seem to work out how much & how often they can have a food that causes them to dump without them actually dumping. Remember not everyone dumps.

so today the deep fryer i bought on an online sale was delivered (yes, i said deep fryer! don't judge me!) i spent all morning and afternoon researching recipes so that i could use my new toy. short-listed to 5 recipes that i knew i already had the required ingredients on hand for, and then....realized i had no oil! whomp, whomp. sooooo.....dinner tonight ended up being strawberry yougurt with a chopped up fresh fig on top. i was so hungry (cuz i forgot to have lunch because of the aforementioned researching, dammit) that I ate 2 of these babies. (2x yougut) + (2x figs) = 360 calories. isnt my tiny spoon the cutest!??

In answer to one of your questions, I took bariatric vitamins before surgery thinking to put myself on the right track before surgery. My dietician was surprised to find out I was..but I thought I was supposed too..they gave me several months of samples before surgery... I started biotin, collagen etc., bioton shampoo/conditioner all months before surgery. Results: My hair is still shedding tons 5 months post op regardless a lot!, I don't know about my labs yet .. That's next month. Its not about what you do before since your body decides to divert its energy to surviving on reduced calories afterwards and growing hair is not on your bodies needed requirements. So, each body is different - hopefully yours will react better!

I never did do a 5-yr anniversary post (which was like 3 months ago, oopsies). Here is a reply I made to someone's thread about being newly sleeved. I had alot of fun composing it - despite it going off an a total tangent - and thought it had a five-year-sleeve-anniversary type of feel to it so I'm putting it here! Am also adding my requisite swim suit shot, but this one is from vacay last month, and its NOT a full body shot, AND I'm half in the water, lol. Its too cold around here for me to change into one now and take a pic. Plus I'm lazy. So i give you: "5+ YEARS IN 1000 WORDS OR LESS": #### Begin #### Day 0: YES!! I'm alive! Weeks 1-2: Ouch, this kinda hurts. I detest all food and water! I'm sooo effing tired, im just gonna lay down here and be found in 3 weeks, half-eaten by wild dogs. Weeks 3-4: Oh wow, I LOVE water! Eating is such a chore. I don't want to do it. I lost HOW MUCH weight?? Whoa, this thing is gonna actually work! LET'S DO THIS! Those dogs will be very disappointed in eating me. Months 2-4: Am I ever going to eat like a normal person?? It taking me for-EVAH to eat my tiny cup of food. I am sick of people commenting on how I eat. Exercise is so much funner/easier when I'm not so big! Let me sign up for EVERYTHING! I LOVE new clothes! I am losing my hair! Who knew salad is my favourite thing on earth? Months 5-7: If one more person tells me to stop losing weight or asks if i have a disease I'm going to sic my wild dogs on them. I guess this is life now: eating tiny bits of food all day long...I guess I can do that, small price to pay for looking HAWT and feeling A-MAY-ZING. I wonder if anyone knows how full of myself I really am.... Months 8-10: OMG.I CAN'T POSSIBLY UP MY CALORIES TO MAINTENANCE LEVEL! HOW AM I GOING TO STOP LOSING WEIGHT! I AM GOING TO WITHER AWAY AND DIE! Month 11: Oh. So THAT's my maintenance calorie level. That's not so hard. I'm not going to die after all. Ok, Ok, I'll just take this ONE cigarette from you, handsome Italian guy in Italy...even though I quit cold turkey 10 years ago...it can't hurt, right? Month 14: Plastic. Surgery. Month 15: *cries* Month 16: Whoa, I'm looking even HAWT-er than before. How is this even possible? I wonder if anyone has ever exploded from being so full of themselves.... Month 17: Why hello carbs, I've missed you. bread, Pasta, Rice, we shall never be parted again! Oh, nice to meet you for the first time COVID! How long are you staying? Month 18-21: All skinny and plastic-ed up and no where to go. Eff you COVID. I guess I'll just do a little online shopping for stuff to wear when I am finally allowed out of the house. Sure, I'll have that martini for Breakfast. Hey, my hair is back to normal...and its even nicer than before. Go figure. Years 3-5: Huh. I stayed below goal weight this entire time and I am the picture of satisfactory health...does that make me awesome? I dunno...my closet is bursting with clothes...most of which I've worn maybe once or not at all. How am I still smoking??? It was only supposed to be one cigarette!!! I think I may have developed high-functioning alcoholism? Food intolerances? Who me? Nah, I can eat anything and everything, EXCEPT large amounts of sugar at one time cuz, you know, I may pass out on the couch. I may not eat as much as everyone around me, but I don't want to anyway, so there! But let me cook for you, bake for you, make copious amounts of food for you! And no, i AM NOT finished reading this menu in it's entirety...I'm about to order enough food for 5 people...you better be hungry! Today I take no medications other than for my acid reflux (which unfortunately came on due to my sleeve surgery). I eat carbs and (small amounts) of Desserts, I drink alcohol. My last physical/labs 6 months ago produced no concerns - other than an abnormal thickening of my uterine lining, but that has since resolved. I have ridiculous amounts of energy, I rarely fight with my husband, I handle stress and annoyance like a grown up. I'm digging life. Oh, and I still look HAWT. *mic drop* P.S. i also finally quit smoking 5 months and 14 days ago. yay me! hopefully I don't meet another handsome Italian with an extra cigarette in the future. Edited to add: P.P.S. sorry..i meant to just reply about the first few weeks after my sleeve surgery and food progression, but my fingers got a life of their own as I typed out my reply. plus it was kinda fun writing this. I may cut and paste this into a more appropriate thread if I find one Good Luck! ❤️ #### END ####

You are doing so well and have many more months of weight loss in front of you. As a smaller person you will lose slower I lost weight for almost 2 years and then got to a size I was happy with. I increased my calories from 1200 to 1500 a day to find my maintenance calories. I don't do very much exercise but if I did then I would be able to eat more.

Hoping to have my procedure by the end of this month. My doctor had me start the preop diet on January 1st. which has been very challenging as other than clear liquids I get to pick out 6 very low calorie diet items. Most of the items are pretty horrible, hoping they give me my date soon so I can see a finish line for the unappealing choices.

It sounds like you're doing fine. Congrats on your weight loss victories!!! Part of the reason they leaned in heavy on it was because they want you to succeed, but also to a degree, they're covering their own liability and don't want to be sued for not giving you the proper advice. I would try to increase both the best you can, but don't beat yourself up if you come up shy one day. Look for more protein-dense foods and shakes to make up the difference if you can. I like the Fairlife protein shakes that have either 30g or 42g, depending on which is available. One of those can be half your protein content for a day, plus its 11-12oz of fluids! Too little protein can cause your body to run a deficit, in which it will burn off muscle rather than fat, which is not a good thing. The more muscle you can maintain, the more fat calories your body will burn to feed them, which helps with the weight loss. The increased water intake is to keep you hydrated, but it also helps you flush out the waste from what your body is breaking down during your weight loss, preventing it from backing up in your kidneys and leading to problems. But keep up the good work! Sounds like you're getting through the "regret" phase, which I'm convinced we all go through that first month or so haha. It looks like my surgery was a week before yours, and I'm already feeling much better. Hope you are too!

Yeah, the first two to three weeks will have you questioning everything about the process, but that's only due to the temporary discomfort and the idle time while resting and recovering. We all go through that phase, so you're right on track! The good thing about the sleeve, like others mentioned, is that you will eventually be able to eat all of the same things again, but now you'll have that governor in place to stop you from going overboard. Early on, just stick to the diet plan, as its more important to prevent stretching the tissue where the staples are and to prevent infections. After the first month or two, then the goal is to keep the carbs and excess calories down, as statistically you'll have the beest luck losing weight those first 6 months before it slows, and levels off around the 12-18 month mark. Its just to get that jump start on the weight loss. Each day gets easier, but it is gradual and expect the occasional "hangry" day while you adapt. You'll have days where your body will try to fight you since its used to the old foods and quantities we used to eat. It misses its snacks, but our mind and stomachs are like angry toddlers in this phase, they require some discipline. Teaching it early on makes it better on the long run, but be ready for the temper tantrums haha. I'm approaching 2 months from my surgery and I have to say the first 2 weeks were fear/regret, then that subsided in weeks 3-4, and I was more upset about "well I feel like I can eat x, y, or z again, why can't I?", then even that started to subside on Week 5. I will say to avoid excess sugar, as that will still set my cravings off. I made multiple mistakes sampling cookies and cake over the holidays, and the following 2-3 days I would be craving it constantly and getting angry about it. Forcing myself past those 2-3 days, focussing on protein and more savory foods, and the obsessive craving went away. For the gas pain, definitely find some Gas-X or similar medication from a pharmacy. That helped me a lot the first month. Also, while walking, do some arm exercises like lifting over your head, windmill stretches, etc., and that will help disperse some of the gas. That really helped to get rid of my shoulder pain from it.

Personally I would trust any supplement that promises to burn calories especially one that relies on ‘natural caffeine’. Caffeine is a naturally occurring drug. (You’re probably not young enough to remember the Medislim craze of the 80s - everyone jittery from the excess caffeine but no one lost weight.) Only two ways to burn calories: increased activity & decreased calorie/food intake. Our hormones have already been modified as a result of the surgery. So I agree with the others. Why are you thinking about using it?

Have you gone back to your surgeon or your dietician? Maybe they can offer some advice or alternatives (yes like medication). There may be something you are missing too. If you haven’t yet, clean out your pantry, fridge & freezer of any foods you may be drawn to (snacking). Cut out any high or ultra processed foods from your diet that may have snuck in (known to increase your hunger & decrease your satiety). Are you still meeting your protein & fluid goals? Do you still eat protein first, then vegetables & then only if you are able any whole/multi grain complex carbs? 1800 calories may still be too high for you. Remember ‘they’ usually say 1200 for a female to lose weight but that’s based on averages & not individual needs & stats (age, height, current weight, activity levels, health status & considerations, etc.). But your dietician will be able to advise you on what’s best for you. All the best.

A certain amount of sugar is usually fine, especially the natural sugar found in dairy or applesauce. Added sugar is going to be where your doctor will probably have strict limits, and things may change as you get further out from surgery. Chobani complete drinkable yogurt has no added sugar, so that's a good sign, even if the overall sugar is 11 grams. But you'll want to talk to your practice about how many you can have and when they're okay. If you haven't yet, you should soon receive a booklet from your dietician with all the rules they want you to follow, and yes, they will be different from rules other people get at other practices, even if they are getting the same surgery! My rules include finding protein supplements with less than 5 grams sugar, at least 20 grams protein, and 160-200 calories per serving. But that 5 gram limit is specific to the protein shakes, not to all foods or meals. I can also have Greek or light yogurt, and I happen to know plain Greek yogurt has 7 grams sugar naturally. One of those little snack cups of unsweetened applesauce has 11 grams of sugar (again, naturally occurring). So, I think the Chobani complete drink would probably be approved for me, although I'm fairly sure I would be told to limit myself to a certain amount per day and not use them interchangeably with protein supplements, which generally have way lower sugar.

I’m just worried that I will be even more hungry and want to eat more if I up my exercise. I worked out my deficit from my current weight , maintainence is 2343 calories , minus 500 for deficit puts me at 1843. I just don’t see how the scale is going up when I’m in a deficit. I’ve gone from eating whatever I want and not counting anything to being really on top of everything since Monday and gained a pound.

yesterday's snack and dinner. SNACK: nuts and hershey's kisses (i blame the kisses on the poster who mentioned them last week...couldn't get them out of my mind so had to buy them of course!). Ate it all: 366 calories DINNER: Mr. grilled me up a big ol ribeye at my request! kinda anti-climactic for the actual portion i ate, but still. it was effing delicious...plus there is still leftover i can eat today! 309 calories for my plate, ate it all. including the steak in its entirety below (second pic)

you might have to decrease your calories or increase your exercise to get the scale moving again. Caloric intake can vary widely among people depending on so many factors. There are people on here who have to eat 1200 kcal to maintain, and others who can eat 2000. To lose weight, they'd have to eat fewer than their maintenance level (or bump up their activity). My maintenance level is around 1600, but I can go up to 1800 or so if I'm exercising most days of the week. BTW - the lower your weight, the fewer calories you have to take it to maintain the lower weight. So your calorie limit at 19 stone would be lower than what you'd need to maintain at 21.9 stone.

Hi guys. Start weight before surgery - 21.9 stone lowest weight after surgery - 17 stone current weight - 19 stone I was sleeved on 02/02/22, restriction was doing it’s thing, I caught covid back end of March. Completely lost my appetite for a week, then after that it felt asif I was never sleeved. I worked from home which did not involve a lot of steps a day, come the beginning of may my weight loss had stalled and stuck at 17 stone all the way up until around March 2023. since March 2023 I gained 1 stone 13 pounds through no fault of my own eating what I wanted no calorie counting etc. I started calorie counting the beginning of this week. I am on 1800 calories by working this out as my deficit through the TDEE website. I know this website does not take into consideration my smaller stomach due to surgery however I have no restriction at all and can eat 1800 calories a day no problem and still hungry most days. 5 days on a deficit and I’ve actually gained a pound, I was 18.13 on Monday now 19 stone. Has anyone else who has been sleeved going through the same thing? Didn’t really lose much weight after surgery and tried calorie counting a couple years post op and the scale just did not move, or even go up? Looking to shift 4 stone but feel deflated as doing everything I should be and scales are going up? I calorie counted years before my sleeve surgery and lost 5 stone in 5 months. Shouldn’t it be even easier now I’ve been sleeved? It seems so much harder! Yes I am tracking everything correctly and I weigh out everything that passes my lips.

It’s breast milk. Specifically the first that is produced after giving birth though it can leak from the breasts in the weeks prior to delivery. It’s full of antibodies of benefit to the new born but very few nutrients: low carbs, low calories, low sugar, low protein. You can buy it in powdered form. Not sure how it would ease hunger?? Except it being a liquid it would temporarily fill your tummy like any other liquid but without getting the protein & nutrients you need. But if it works for you …

So my 2oz food containers are tuna fish with light mayo, then I add a splash of pickle juice to it for flavor. I also whipped up some Jell-O Sugar free Chocolate Fudge pudding, with 2 cups of Fairlife (extra protein, lactose free) skim milk and a scoop of Isopure protein powder. I've also mixed tuna with cottage cheese, and salmon with light cream cheese. Today I pureed ground turkey with some broth, ate it with taco bell mild sauce. Seems to be doing just fine in my belly. Oh, and Chobani Zero Greek Yogurt, the flavors are great, very low calories, lots of protein and goes down so nicely. I do feel cra**y some too, just keep trying to keep moving. Mainly I've had a lot of gas pain and cramping, moving really helps that. Yesterday when I made breakfast I had my family finish it, I got tired and wanted to just sit and eat.

So my 2oz food containers are tuna fish with light mayo, then I add a splash of pickle juice to it for flavor. I also whipped up some Jell-O Sugar free Chocolate Fudge pudding, with 2 cups of Fairlife (extra protein, lactose free) skim milk and a scoop of Isopure protein powder. I've also mixed tuna with cottage cheese, and salmon with light cream cheese. Today I pureed ground turkey with some broth, ate it with taco bell mild sauce. Seems to be doing just fine in my belly. Oh, and Chobani Zero Greek Yogurt, the flavors are great, very low calories, lots of protein and goes down so nicely. I do feel cra**y some too, just keep trying to keep moving. Mainly I've had a lot of gas pain and cramping, moving really helps that. Yesterday when I made breakfast I had my family finish it, I got tired and wanted to just sit and eat.

Just for a little perspective, a good rule of thumb is that on average people lose about 50% of their excess weight by 6 months, then it will take the following 6-12 months to lose the remaining weight because loss slows the closer you get to goal. Your 50% mark is 45 lbs, so you are technically ahead of schedule probably when it comes to your weight loss. Take a moment to let that sink in and celebrate it! That's a big deal! Yes, working out for some people slows their weight loss according to the scale because they are exchanging fat for muscle and their fluid balance changes. But, another issue is that some people don't eat enough to fuel their body and workouts when they are in a losing phase, which will also cause weight loss to slow down. You need a session with a bariatric trained nutritionist to help you work out what your target calories and macros are so you don't end up in starvation mode and ruin that nicely reset metabolism you got compliments of the surgery! Stalls are a normal part of it. I stalled one month out from surgery for 5 weeks. It was really lame and I have way more to lose than you do. But it is all part of the game! Putting too much stress on your body and emotions will definitely trigger slower weight loss too as was mentioned above. This is a marathon, not a sprint... ETA: Almost forgot---are you monitoring your measurements?? Most of us lose inches when we aren't losing pounds according to the scale. That's because even when the scale is at a halt, our body composition is changing! Take those measurements!!

Remember your weight loss isn’t a straight line in a downward trajectory. it zigs & zags & goes up & down for seemingly no reason. There aren’t any ‘you must weigh this, be eating this many calories, be doing this much activity, be losing this much weight by a certain date’ rules. There are just guidelines, averages, may bes & could bes. I agree with the suggestion to talk with your team. Track your food for a week or so first, just to ensure you’re not missing something (it can be easy to do). But I don’t it’s real weight gain in such a short period of time. Yes fluid retention, poop, hormonal fluctuations, etc. Could all contribute. Have you had a medication change? Have you changed your activity in any way? Are you stressed, anxious, etc. about anything? And sometimes our bodies can just be weird & not make sense. I can eat the exact same things for a couple of days & my weight can go up & down. I can break a couple of days of constipation & still weigh more. Who knows why?

If you've been losing steadily up until now, you are probably due for a stall. I had one after 1 month of surgery that lasted 5 weeks. During those weeks I gained and lost the same 2-4 lbs. The gains really freaked me out! But as others have said, it is probably water weight, especially if nothing has changed in your routine. Our bodies need time to recalibrate from the rapid weight loss and yours has lost a LOT of weight in a short time, so this may be it rebalancing. That often involves changes in fluid levels, which reflect in the scale. Maybe skip weighing for a week or two to give it a chance to settle down? Caloric intake is very individualized and not all doctors agree that it is important... I don't track calories at all due to my malabsorption, I track macros. But each team has their own thing they like tracking. It seems like you have a good relationship with your team and they are generally happy with your progress. So I'd give it two weeks and if you continue to gain throughout that, then it might be worth a talk with them. My stall broke a week after I increased my steps. I don't know if that was coincidence or had something to do with it, usually the advice is to steady on during a stall as changing things up causes the body to sometimes take longer to adjust... Good luck!!

I'm 5 months post op and have really noticed only a small difference in energy thus far. I keep hoping I'll notice a change..soon I hope! I spoke with my dietician at my 3 month check-in and she didn't seem concerned (of course its not her slugging around), but, she did ask about my calorie intake, iron supplementation and the dreaded water consumption question (I don't get the required Lake Superior quantity by any means) but I do get the minimum 48oz or close. All she said was we'll know more at your 6 month because of the blood tests for nutrients. To be honest I was expecting more concern, she was more interested in my reaction to carbs - I get a racing heart if I eat too many.. This was discussed because she wanted me to add fruit to my diet that's when I explained the racing heart (I currently keep my carbs below 50). Anyway, I'm sure the energy comes back at different times for each individual, until mine does...I'm in stand by mode Good luck on surgery - just take one day at a time and listen to your body!.