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Congratulations on achieving onderland! Yay! What weight to stop losing at & how to pick a goal weight are interesting questions and you’ll get different responses. I believe it comes down to where your new set point is (the weight your body is happy at & will keep pulling you back to). It’s the weight where you’re not losing anymore and you have reached a sustainable balance of the number of calories you consume and the activity you do. It’s the weight where you’re happy with how you look & feel too. I had a goal (same as yours) which was the low weight I always dropped to before regaining back up from. I exceeded that. I kept losing until my calorie intake which I was increasing and activity level was in balance. I eat in a way that is sustainable & I don’t feel like I’m missing out or if I’m on a continuous diet or that I have to exercise first hours a day. Some reach a weight but found it wasn’t sustainable or they didn’t feel comfortable at so they gain a little. Remember your new set point may not be where you would like it to be. Also your lowest weight may not be where you end up either. Bounce back (a regain of 10 - 20lbs) is always a possibility & can be due to your body resettling, you realising you need more flexibility in the what you eat & the activity you do to find a better life balance, some conplacency, your new set point, etc. Be flexible in your goal. If you don’t reach it, that’s okay. You’ll be in a better healthier place regardless of the number in the scale. Reach a sustainable balance (food intake & activity) in your life that allows you to live & enjoy your life & doesn’t restrict or limit you. All the best.

Yeah I have to do a B12 injection every two months also, forgot about that as I have had to do that for more than 10 years now.

Now! I forgot to tell you about the former outfit in the post above. So the girls decided to wear sparkly and skanky outfits last minute lol, and I had nothing that fit the category nor me - no pun intended - . Also, it was too late to attempt to go shopping, so guess what your gal did? I raided my 9 year old's closet, and picked these two pieces, the top is a children's size 10, and the skirt is Zara children's size 11-12, which was sewn from the sides to fit my daughter's waist (she was 6 when she wore this last) and you know how Zara's sizes run way smaller. So those are tiny wins for me (again no pun intended) - not sure my husband agrees since he thinks I'm trying to be tiny on purpose, which my exercise regimen kinda confirms - .

I'm wiped out! This morning I went with my husband to get him settled in for his neck lift. I drank about 10 ozs of water while waiting. After he got to recovery i came to the apartment and drank some tomato soup and protein shake. They are concerned that I haven't pooped but I'm thinking there's nothing in there. The nutritionist told me to drink papaya puree with water. The doctor told me to do laxatives if that doesn't work. Our coordinator came and we went to the central market to get souvenirs and papaya juice. I've been sipping it and it has no sugar so it's very much just fiber and water. 😆 Will report back on the results. 🤣 🤣 🤣

Congrats on 10 years! I think we all will have ups and downs our whole lives! Just life! I too was 277 at my highest ever. Lost 100 lbs before and 60 lbs three times, and 20 and 30 lbs several times and it always came back slowly over the next few years. So I got the sleeve done Dec 2 last year and have gone from 244 at start of liquids before surgery to 202.4 today. Almost to Onederland! I love all the tips you shared. Snacking and drinking calories are DEFINITELY culprits to regaining our weight! I bring divided out grapefruit every day lately if I do want something. Or berries or cucumbers. And I've been drinking water during the week and add in my tea and coffee on the weekends usually. But I use Stevia. I was divorced a few years back also and remarried and my husband is pre-diabetic. He doesn't eat sugar now so that helps me too. 🙂 He eats healthier than I do since he found that out too. Determined to not become diabetic. He eats baked fish, grilled shrimp, spinach and cabbage, etc. LOL! He's got some great willpower. You and I seem to have lots in common! But I don't like beer. LOL! It's probably better for me though than pina coladas, which are my fave! LOL! I haven't had one in a year or longer. And just had surgery about 3 months ago. You can tell I hardly drink at all. 🤣 I am so glad to know restriction stays! Some people say it fades. I'm glad it doesn't! Hopefully we can continue to lose and get to a weight we are happy with this year! 💗

Yes the Baleaf brand does have a bit of compression without cutting in at the waist or ankles. Its quite a bit more compared to the lululemon ones which I also own a couple pair of them now because they are buttery soft and soooooo comfy( (as close as you can get to feeling naked while wearing clothing). Personally, I wouldn’t leave the house in them though because they don’t hide nearly enough of my “secrets.” 😂 I feel like the reason that the Lululemon are so popular amongst the younger generation is because they are generally still toned and they look fine on them. My kudos to those that have lost all their weight and toned enough to wear the lululemon though they are really nice and I heard the same thing about their durability so if I could get away with them I for sure would. I can’t speak to the durability myself because I have not owned the lululemons for long. I’m guessing for a much higher price point there are nicer ones out there But for $30 bucks, i have been quite pleased with the Baleaf. Ooh and they are like $10 off near the holidays. I stocked up just before Christmas in the smaller sizes that I knew I would be needing.

Just checking in to see how everyone else is doing. I had a rough few weeks after I got a virus. Just because of the chemo my body couldn’t fight it so I ended up septic and in the hospital for 10 days with pneumonia and a sinus infection. My white blood cells kept bottoming out but they gave me this shot two times to build them back and so far this time they are holding at low normal. Tomorrow will be a week that I’ve been home and I think I am out of the woods finally, but I am still pretty weak and I am supposed to do treatment Monday so I doubt I will get to feeling much stronger. Probably won’t feel like myself until I’m done with the chemo. 10 more weeks 🤞 I am trying to do a tiny bit of waking like a quarter of a mile at a time a few times a day just so I don’t get out of the habit of exercise but that’s about all I can do. I also contacted the cancer center that one of my doctors is a part of and talked to the yoga instructor and asked if they have a virtual option for the chair yoga and when I explained my situation she said she would get with IT and make it happen for next week. I thought that was so sweet and hopefully will be something I can do to start building my strength back. She said next month they are going to add mat yoga as well so I can build back up to that when I am ready. Anyways I’m pretty proud of myself that I’m still trying every step of the way to keep up with my bariatric journey. I may not be 100% right now but unlike pre surgery I am not letting this be an excuse to just throw it all away. I had a birthday and it was a little unconventional because it had to be virtual but it turned out to be a nice day considering. My mom dropped off carrot cake so of course I have that taunting me In the kitchen. I have been doing real tiny pieces though and it’s actually starting to taste a little stale. Who knew that cake can get stale 😂

I have similar experience. I had the sleeve in 2019. Last 5 years have been memorable with a ton of gerd and pain. Tomorrow I’m having the Rouen y bypass and looking forward to it. I’ve been struggling with massive daily cramping for years and lots of dumping. I was 339 6’1 before sleeve. I was 190 until this year when I gained 10 pounds back. I’m doing the bypass because of severe gerd and want my life back. I’ve been on cannabis gummy’s and opioids for the past 5 years and it’s been miserable. I’m hoping it goes well and I can get back to a normal life. I also started liquid diet again and Italian no sugar added frozen ice and Campbells chicken noodle broth only have been my two go tos which I hope my new bypass stomach will tolerate and quality of life will improve and I can stop the cannabis and stop using opioids. Using both for pain mgmt is a blessing and a curse but I’m ready to get off of both become “normal “ I haven’t been able to eat anything less than 2 bites causes pain at a level 10 like I have a kidney stone in my stomach and I’ve had kidney stones before.

I did have a follow up with the surgeon, however it was a phone follow up as he is some distance away, so no scales! He said not to worry, your body just thinks you're dying, so is holding on to everything! 😳😬 I know that's most likely what's happening! But it's just a bit frustrating.. this month, 19 days, I have just lost 1.4kg or 3lbs or so. I will try to trust the process more not get caught up on the numbers! My colleague who started way higher, but same surgeon, same surgery, just hit 40kg loss in 5 months. It's hard not to make comparisons, we talk about this a lot at work. She did have a larger starting weight though, but I know there is a window for the sleeve to do the work, it terrifies me thinking this might not work 🥺 I even had a client today tell me he has lost 20kg since Nov, by cutting out sugar!! Argh! 😧

I am by no means a fitness expert but I think so long as it is a pretty intense workout for you now it’s still giving you the same benefits as what you had worked up to before In terms of cardio. I assume your heart rate is just as high as it was before when you were doing more 🤷‍♀️. Regardless, you will be back to your pre surgery activity soon enough. The fact that you started back is what’s most important in my opinion. You’re still in the habit of doing it. That’s the most important thing. Although I totally get it. I am immunocompromised because of chemo and a simple cold landed me septic and neutropenic in the hospital for 10 days and I’m home now but still recovering from pneumonia and a sinus infection with very low red blood cells and my white blood cells keep dropping every few days after I get the shot to bring them back uo. Anyways, I haven’t been able to do much either. I am back to walking very slowly like a quarter mile a few times a day But, I’m still trying and to me that’s how I know that I will get back to it just as soon as my body is able. I haven’t broken the habit and you haven’t either. I’m glad to hear you were finally cleared to get started.

Hey guys! I also had my op (MGB) on 27/01/2025. I think for me, now 3 weeks po I’m doing ok. My tolerance appears to differ day to day. I’m not hitting my fluid levels either. I guess I t’s all a learning curve isn’t it and I’m struggling with the not eating and drinking at the same time which isn’t really helping.

Hi! my name is Shana! I had the DS Loop on 10/31/23. My HW was 309.4 pounds. My SW was 263.7 pounds. My GW was 150 pounds, achieved 7/21/24. My LW was 117.7 pounds on 2/3/25. As of this morning, I am 121.6 pounds. I am not too upset about gaining weight because I feel that I look too thin. I have lost 104 inches since WLS day. I am having excess skin removal in 3/17/25 (bilateral tummy tuck and breast implants. Glad to be joint these forums.

Hi! I am 51 years old, turning 52 in April. I had the duodenal switch loop surgery on 10/31/23 when I was 50.5 years old. Like many people, I regret having the WLS sooner. Even with the complications that happened post op. I am excited also because I am scheduled for excess skin removal in 3/17/25!

10/10 would do again. I only wish I'd done it sooner. While no surgery is risk free, the mortality rate for bariatric surgery is pretty similar to other major elective surgeries, with the overall mortality rate at this point being right around ~1 in 1000, The factors that increase risk the most are higher BMI, older age, being male, as well as having pulmonary hypertension, heart disease, or liver disease. Obviously the more of those you have, the higher the risk. If you are younger, female, only moderately obese, and don't have any major illnesses, the risks should be much lower. It's also pretty well documented that the mortality rate from being obese is higher than the surgery, meaning the riskier thing to do is NOT have the surgery. I honestly feel like my bypass surgery probably saved my life. I felt at the time like I had one foot in the grave, but now feel so much better and healthier.

I don't know that I've seen insomnia as a common thing. For me, I think it was basically because I wasn't taking part in my regular routines at that point. As for the other question, exit point lol -- not fun. Yes, I would 100% still have the surgery knowing everything that I do now. 2 months post op and I feel amazing, both physically and mentally. I've never had so much energy before. My weight loss since day of surgery is only 21 lbs, but my inches lost is a much better measurement imo. 4 inches off my waist in 2 months. My smart watch used to be on the 2nd hole and is now on the 5th. I'm in 3 different weekly exercise classes and actually ENJOY going, even when the sweat is dripping into my eyeballs. I can see a future for myself again, when there were several years that I was convinced I'd be dead by 40. This whole process has turned my life around 180 degrees and it is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. 10/10 would recommend.

Thank you so much, guys. I love that this is a safe space to speak our truths about this surgery. So many people think it's a miracle cure, and it's not. We have to do the work. It really is just a tool for us to use while we do the work. You guys have been so supportive. Thank you so much. I'm going to go back to weighing once per week, meal prepping again, sticking to my diet, and start back with my work out plan. I'll work to lose 10 pounds, to get back to the weight I'm happiest at. You all are awesome!!!

I have been getting tattooed since I was 18 (so for 10 years now!), and I consider myself to be decently covered, but I have only had 1 tattoo since having surgery and it was so much more painful! My prep pre-surgery for a tattoo would be coming into the session armed with sugary snacks, but of course I can't do that now. I have a whole chest piece booked in for April, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips for preparing for a tattoo in a bariatric friendly way?

Both are very important to your general health. Vitamins because you’re not able to consume enough of a variety of foods to get all the nutrients your body needs to function effectively. Protein should be your focus not only now but forever. It can be a challenge to reach your protein goal every day especially in the first couple of months after surgery when your portions are so small. But work at being at least close to your goal and that your general trend is you’re consuming more and getting closer to the goal. We usually say eat your protein first then any vegetables you are able to and lastly any allowed complex carbs but only if you are able to eat more. This often means a meal is solely protein and nothing else. Protein is very important to your wellbeing and if you’re not consuming enough your body will take it from any it can i.e. your muscles. Not taking your vitamins or meeting your protein (or any other goals you are given) will have a negative impact on your health. The regular blood tests your surgeon & team will request are to ensure you’re not deficient in any nutrient. (5.75yrs out I still have regular blood tests - was 3 monthly until year 4 & every 6 months now.) You are likely experiencing a stall. Stalls are very common with the first one (yes, first one) almost all of us experience occurring around the three week mark though it can be earlier or later than that. @catwoman7 would tell you, there are literally 10s of 1000s of posts here about the infamous three week stall. A stall usually lasts 1-3weeks though some experience longer stalls. Frustrating yrs but they happen for a reason. A stall occurs when your body shuts down to reassess your current needs in response to your weight loss, smaller calorie intake and this first one the stress of your surgery & recovery. You will start to lose weight again when your body is ready to move forward again. Stick to your plan & meet your nutritional goals as closely as you can so you’re not & stressing your body more than it already is experiencing.

yes!! In another video he shows him eating a candy bar...He says I am eating this before my cravings get to out of control, so if you eat what your craving when its a level 2 instead of a level 10 you wont get out of control. When we restrict ourselves so much is when we tend to fail and that balance is so important. He also focuses on protein with every meal. This is so true for me. I eat for the most part really well, whole foods, high protein, low in fat and moderate in carbs. But I do eat something sweet every night lol! usually a Yasso ice cream bar or a protein ice cream I make in the creami. But I def will have a mini snickers or two lol

What you're experiencing is completely normal. Partly your body is simply trying to heal from the surgery, so food right now is not what a healing stomach wants. Regarding the tastes changing, it's entirely possible that some foods you used to like you may never want again. Other things you'll learn to enjoy again. This is just something we all go through. The water thing should get better over time. At this point, your stomach is likely still swollen, so it just can't hold very much. Most of us had to really be religious about drinking just maybe 1-2 ounces at a time and trying to drink every 10-15 minutes while awake. This is hard right after surgery, but as I said, it gets a lot easier as the swelling goes down and you're able to drink more normal amounts. The nausea is a little unusual this far out, so I'd honestly recommend talking to your surgical team. It could just be from overeating/drinking, but it's best to talk to the experts. Regarding weight loss, you have to keep in mind that your body is made up of a lot of other "stuff" besides just fat. You may well be retaining fluid or stool and that can mask weight loss early on. It's physiologically impossible to be eating as little as you are and not losing fat, so please just have faith in the process. The best thing you can do is follow your surgical team's post-op instructions and you WILL lose fat.

(Taps the mic...) is this thing on? We are headed to Costa Rica for surgery! We leave on the 16th and have a surgery date of 2-19-25. Who else is rocking this month??

Well there is never a 100% guarantee because we are all different but I would say that your response so far makes it very likely that you will be a success story based on my personal experience and the knowledge that I have of others experience who have lost and kept it off vs those who have regained a significant amount. I had my sleeve surgery 3/9/2021 so I have been on these boards since then and I have been going to in person support groups since a couple of months prior to my revision and my personal experience and learned experience is that one of two four things happen to cause regain. 1: the person never really does change what they eat. This is a problem when the anatomical changes control portion of less nutritious foods for a while so they lose some but then as the stomach stretches they can eat more and they regain or they are able to have just a taste of things in the beginning but when appetite comes back that changes (note that some people can have just one bite of a brownie forever but that didn’t work for me so we just have to be mindful of how our body reacts and stop doing it if we can’t stop ourselves at a small portion). 2: the surgery was never a good fit. I know that this was part of problem with the sleeve for me because I never did feel ANY metabolic changes. I still absolutely hated healthy foods that I didn’t like before and I did not have any additional energy or motivation after the surgery. Basically I think for me the surgery was probably like Wegovy would be. The hunger hormones went away for a while and I was able to eat less until that came back. But nothing else changed for me. I never felt a change in energy and I was never about to get start r with exercise and healthy food options did not appeal to me in the slightest. I ate alot of chicken breast and a few veggies that I don’t mind in the beginning but there was no variety so like most diets I couldn’t sustain it when the hunger came back and I wasn’t moving my body to help my physical and mental health to keep it going. 3: This would be a combo of the two which would be where i would actually say that I fell with my sleeve. Because I didn’t like enough of the healthy food even a little bit I started having less ideal foods far more often. I mean i wasn’t eating McDonald’s ever and I wasn’t having poor choices all the time but I would have like a quarter of a frozen pizza or a lean cheeseburger with a roll several nights a week thinking it was okay because calorie wise it wasn’t much worse if that was all ate. The problem was the other macros and the fact that for me they were slippery slope foods and they made me crave more. I wasn’t gaining on that but carbs make me crave carbs so that little devil voice took over and I tested the waters a bit more by having just a few fries or a bit of cake with that but it was way too often and far too early out for me to know my limits. Then, to make matters worse, my mental health issues kicked in where I had not only stopped losing but gained 20 pounds and when I couldn’t reverse it even when I tried my hardest to rein it in (because I was now craving the carbs again bad) i just considered that I was a complete failure and they didn’t say it but i could see it that my friends and family felt that way too and I just slowly just quit trying. This is when the support of people who get it would’ve been sooooooooooo very important. Never been obese people are never going to be able to get it or be able to help. Reach out to your bariatric support if you struggle. Even if your disgusted. They get it and never judge. 4: Some people even though the surgery is a success and they make all the lifestyle changes and everything is working lose sight of their lifelong goal for one reason or another and let bad habits slowly slip back in and they gain. I think this is probate going to be the hardest one for me. To not take my eye off the prize 5 years down the road. But we can do it. I think that staying active in these support groups and checking in with my team is going to be key for me. I am going to ask to have my follow ups a couple times a year even when I’m a ways out just to keep me in check. I know that I am able to gain a lot of weight in a year!! I never did the In person support groups at all after my sleeve and I stopped posting here for a while and didn’t go to my follow up appointments when things were out of control and I needed the help the most. Basically for me the sleeve was just one of my longer and more successful diets that started with the curved appetite and a lot of hope that it would work this time but slowly ended when the hunger came back, bad habits slipped back in, the cravings got unbearable and my all or nothing thinking finally got the best of me. I think I probably would have leveled out somewhere between my starting and my low weight if I had not given up but since I started at a relatively low BMI to begin with that did not seem like a success to me at the time. 89 pounds later I only wished I had been back to that weight though. I learned a lot from the sleeve experience though and I think that knowledge is helping me now. Hopefully, it helps others too. I try to let my experience be a cautionary tale without scaring anyone too much. Anyways, based on your nutrition changes, steady loss and your activity I do not think you are like me with the sleeve or others who I’ve seen who never even tried to eat differently or exercise so I don’t think your surgery was a bad fit at all or that your just expecting the surgery to do all the work. I think that your surgery is doing what it was designed to do for you and so as long as you keep doing your part you should get your where your body needs to be. Just don’t get caught up in a certain number and let your brain get the best of you like I did. That last 10 or 15 pounds may feel like a lot but your already so much healthier and happier that you were before. Keep striving for that goal but don’t let it be the only thing that matters. To me it will be icing on the cake to what is already a success story Your body will have its own idea of what is an ideal size for you and you may have to just accept that it may not be exactly what you have in mind (it could be lower but it could also be a bit higher. It may be a sorry to accept where your body is happy and healthy if you don’t want to be really working hard at this forever. Honestly, I imagine we will have to work at it for the rest of our lives to some degree. By that I mean that we will probably never have it as easy as someone who has never been obese. You are doing so incredibly well, though, making actual lifestyle changes and I have listened to anyone who is willing to share whether they were successful or not and that seems to be the biggest piece of advice. This is not a diet it is a lifestyle. Your surgery is working for you and you are working hard for you as well. Those two things are key to this journey long term. Just keep it up and I really believe you will reach all of your goals. ❤️

Congratulations on your loss. I was a savory girl Lee bariatric world and post sleeve I became a sweet girl too. Then post SAFI that went away but has started to come back. I think MAYBE it’s just our bodies wanting carbs and sweet food is usually the absolute highest in carbs so the quickest way to get them. I did not have the bypass but I don’t think your friend is correct about eating whatever you want. I know that was for sure not true for the me with the sleeve. I started at 235, lost down to 168 then gained it all back plus some to 258 and was still gaining when I started the preop diet for my revision. I have also heard plenty of regain stories on here about the bypass. Now, does it malabsorb some of your food, absolutely. So if you were like 900 pounds before it’s possible you would stay a bit smaller just because you pretty much already ate all you wanted volume and calories wise before and the malabsorption would in theory make you weight a bit less if you ate the same exact food, but it would only be a bit less anyways and who of us wants that. . As far as a more common starting weight I really don’t think so because even at our high weights we still weren’t eating absolutely all we would have liked to or we could have and if we ate any and everything we wanted, even with some calories not absorbing that’s still probably giving our bodies more than we were eating before. I do know from experience that what fuel I put into my body changed how I feel, though, so even if I could get away with eating anything I wanted cosmetically, I know that I wouldn’t feel as good as I do when I eat a balanced diet and keep up my activity. That processed junk that most of us used to eat all the time is not good for us and it doesn’t give your bodies what it needs to run efficiently. Another thing to keep in mind is that we are still pretty early out to be relaxing too much. Most people have a 10–15 pound bounce back even if they keep working at it. I don’t know about you but I’ve still got more that I want to lost. I definitely don’t want to be bouncing back!! for the sweet cravings try the sugar free popsicles again. They can trick my brain sometimes and others i Have fruit. I figure calorie wise they may be more calories but at least it’s not added sugar. I try to avoid that as much as possible because that makes me have more cravings the next day and for like a week.

Thanks for your reply. I am starting to think the pains I am getting are from acid as I am getting them constantly even after immediately eating so I cannot be hungry. I do take a PPI twice a day. Hopefully it will settle. the reason I chose the balloon is because it’s not permanent. Around 15 years ago I lost 6 stone through diet and exercise and kept it off for over 10 years. Just before Covid I broke my foot badly and was in a boot for a year and it all went back on. I’m struggling to get motivated and also menopausal so struggling to lose anything. Thought the balloon would give me the kickstart i desperately need.

Thought I would pop in. I had my sleeve done January 2010. When I started my weight loss I I weighed over 300 pounds. 5 ft 2 ; I wouldn’t even go to my doctor at 320. I lost weight before I started officially. So here I am. 68 years old and I have lost the last 10 pounds I had been fighting with over the last two years. I AM LESS THAN HALF MYSELF. I weigh 150. And have for the last 5 months. I wear a size 12 jeans ! And bought size Medium tops. I have never worn a size 12 . Still working full time and take care of my adult daughter who has disabilities. Organic vegetable gardening - and raise hens for eggs. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to be healthy and to have a doctor tell you “ at your age and having excess skin and where you started … you do not need to lose more weight. You are good where you are. “. I know. My bmi could be lower but I am good where I am. Who knew that even existed.