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Do you mean liposuction? I had it years ago when i was “just overweight” and little bit again 2 years ago when I had plastics after reaching WLS goal. Here is an explanation of the process Mayo Clinic will have a better explanation than I ever would: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/liposuction/about/pac-20384586 From a practical perspective, the procedure is more for pockets of fat, vs. overall weight loss. It removes fat, but does not firm up skin. If you gain weight, the remaining fat cells in your body will just get bigger, so its not a permanent solution in that sense. Case in point: i still managed to make myself morbidly obese years after i had the procedure. And yep the areas i had it done still got huge. But if you have stubborn pockets of fat that don’t reduce despite weight loss in other parts of your body, its quite effective. Its usually employed during plastics procedures to get that sculpted look. Good Luck! ❤️

Don't get discouraged! You can do this. One thing that really helped me was to measure just about everything into 1/4 sized meals and freezing them. I always had a high protein, portion -controlled lunch or dinner available every day. The best advice I can give you is to focus on behavior modification. Veering away from the behaviors that we learned prior to surgery will almost definitely result in weight regain down the road (TRUST ME).

I had the surgery gastric sleeve a few months ago. My weight has stalled at 45-50 lbs lost. I understand your frustration. I have a issue getting all the protein. When I do consistently get all the protein 60grams a day thats when I start losing. Maybe that can help you too. I don’t lose weight when I am not getting the protein.

My doctor said it was about the liver, I have a verified fatty liver via CT scan and enzyme levels (previously done by primary). I’m required to do a 10 day preop liquid diet. I have a coworker who is about 150 pounds heavier than me and she had to do a much longer liquid diet preop. They’re hope was significant weight loss and liver shrinkage.

Hey July buddies! how are we all. So Im coming to the realisation that my body is starting to plateau! For the first time. Yes I’ve been very lucky I’ve lost weight every week since surgery, sometimes 1lb, sometimes 5lb. however the last 3 weeks I’ve been sitting between 149-147lbs. It goes up and down. Sometimes daily! i started at 210. So I’m really happy with what Ive achieved!l so far! However I kinda wanted to be around the 138 mark as a overall target. my BMI is now in the green for ‘normal’ does this mean I’ve hit my end goal? Is my body telling me that’s it now? i mean I can’t complain I’ve gone from a UK18-20 to a UK8-10! but I’m still a little disappointed. either that or I need to just bide my time and wait. I’m hitting about 1200 calories on a good day - 600 on restricted days. But have notice the last few weeks I can eat a little more per portion. perhaps I need to exercise more.. if im honest I don’t do much… im not good at exercise 🤦🏻‍♀️ just leaving this here as I complain to my family and friends and they think I’m being weird and just thought you guys would understand where I’m coming from. xxx

My surgery date is Dec 3rd. It's soooo close. Liquid diet for 2 weeks. Not loving it. I'm having the sleeve + single switch + hiatal hernia repair. EEEEEK. I should be an old hand at surgery these days. A loooooong time ago - I lost 380lbs w/diet and exercise. I was staying steady at 140-150lbs. So I had a tummy tuck & arm flap removal (Brachioplasty). Then I started yo-yo'ing and then I lost my Mom to covid last December. I've gained soooo much since then. My Mom was in the hospital - just days before we lost her - submitting my info to Blossom Bariatrics in Vegas for gastric sleeve. She wanted me to do this because she knew I was happier and healthier when I was thin. So here I am. Because she was right. I've also had my gallbladder removed, my right hip was replaced 4 years ago. My left hip was replaced 2 years ago. So I shouldn't be worried about this. But, eeeeeek. I'm not a fan of needles, etc. I just hope I can be discharged from the hospital in one day. Also, I'm in Raleigh, NC.

I’m sorry you feel this was the worst decision for you & you’re angry. And it doesn’t work for absolutely everyone - sometimes for genetic or physiological reasons, sometimes for psychological reasons. But if you can honestly look in the mirror & say yes I’m making changes to what I eat, I’m choosing low fat, low sugar & low carb foods, I’m eating differently to how I ate before, I’m eating smaller portions, I’m following my surgeon’s plan & my dietician’s recommendations, maybe you are one of the unlucky few for which surgery doesn’t work. The average weight loss after bariatric surgery at about the 5yr point is around 65% of the weight you had to lose to put you in the healthy bmi range. Some lose more. Some lose less. Complacency, lifestyle, health issues, age, gender, genetics, personal choice, etc. all play a part in how much you will lose & then the weight at which you happily maintain. So odds are you won’t lose & keep off all the weight you need (or want) to lose in the long term but odds are you will weigh less than you do when you started. If you buy a gym membership & never go, you won’t get any healthier, or stronger or fitter. Weight loss surgery is the same. If you don’t take advantage of the tool nothing changes. The amount of success you have is directly in proportion to the amount of effort you put in to making the long term changes. Like most (all) of us I’ve lost & regained hundreds of pounds over the years. Tried every diet, & exercise program. This time, I took advantage of the benefits the surgery afforded me in the beginning. I used the tool. I did a lot of research & changed how & what I ate. Put new habits into place. Came to understand why I was eating & worked out how I could manage those drives. I did & continue to do the work. If I didn’t consciously make those changes & continue to work at it every day, I’d be very near my highest weight again. That’s what always happened in the past: I dieted, lost weight, then would return to my old eating habits & food choices & would start to regain within days. I ate little to begin after my surgery: less than 300 calories. I was healing (all those sutures & staples holding my tummy together) plus no appetite & no real interest in food. But my calories increased as did my portion sizes over the weeks & months. I eat about 1300 calories to maintain but I’m shorter than you, likely older than you, not very active, female & have a small frame. But before surgery I could barely maintain my obese weight eating 1300 or fewer calories a day & I regularly skipped meals for decades. My metabolism was shot. I eat regularly now, eat more nutritionally dense food & eat more often then I’ve ever done before. I haven’t been this weight since I was 12 yrs old. I feel great.

Back with more NSVs and LOVING reading all of yours. Here we go: I am fitting into the smallest "skinny pants" I bought back in June. When I bought them I couldn't get the zipper even close, but today I am wearing them. My mom is at my house rehabbing and I am giving her a lot of intensive round-the-clock physical care. There is no way I could have done this without the weight loss I've had. I have so much collarbone and a lovely visible jawline. I can't stop looking at them every time I pass a mirror. Space between my toes. I can cross my arms across my waist and still fold forward, in fact it turns out that without a big belly in the way this is a very comfortable position. I can also cross my legs or sit on the floor in a resting position with one leg comfortably crooked up into a bend. my balance, it is so much better.

This! How this tool makes it much less painful to lose weight. Hard to ignore feeling hungry.

The surgery will give you lots of help to lose weight to begin (loss of appetite, smaller tummy, etc.) but in the long term you have to make the decision to make the permanent changes to how, what & why you eat. If you go into this thinking you’ll come out the other side weighing less but still eating the same way & for the same reasons you’ll put the weight on all over again just like you always did. That might sound harsh but it is the truth of it. After surgery, I really looked at what, why & how I ate. I took that time to refocus my food choices & gained a better understand of my eating cues. I did a lot of reading & worked out a new eating plan because I realised I couldn’t go back to how I used to eat if I was to be successful in the long term. You may find you won’t follow a specific restrictive ‘diet’ like keto or Atkins, etc. to maintain your lower weight but you may pick & choose & develop your own eating style that fits into your lifestyle, isn’t too restrictive &, this is the big one, is sustainable. Generally I eat lowish carbs, lowish fat, very little sweet, high protein. Big change was eating more nutritionally dense food & eating more regularly. And I eat about the same number of calories as I used to eat when I was obese. My metabolism actually works now so I can eat about that same 1300 calories & maintain my current weight. Do I miss the foods I avoid now like sweet things? Nope, not really. Uncle’s 80th yesterday. Most had dessert. I had a cup of tea. There was birthday cake later & I had tea again. Did I feel like I was missing out? Nope. Didn’t want it either. Realising you can reach that mindset where you’re not really interested in foods you used to crave & love to eat is a bit of a head spin. Weight loss surgery is an amazing opportunity. You just have to fully embrace all it can offer. And don't be afraid to ask for help from a dietician or therapist along the way. All the best what ever you choose.

UPDATE: Well, 11-25 was 1 month since I last had a loss on the scale. Inches didn't budge last month either. Only 1.75 inches total for the month. Not sure what the heck is going on but I'm not happy about it. Has anyone stalled this long? Don't know what to do. I even ate off plan several times to try and force a loss like I've heard others doing and that didn't work. My weight on Oct 25th was 241.2 and I have been weighing in between 246 and 249 on the regular since! So discouraging. Been going to the bathroom pretty normally too. But as a just in case I did take some laxatives for a few days and got things moving along but still, the lowest I got down to was 245. Now it's doing the 246 to 249 again. Sigh

I have good news and bad news. Good: for me, there really WAS a big difference in hunger levels. For most of my first year, I had next to no appetite and when appetite returned, it was much more management than before. Even 2.5 years out, my appetite is about 65% of what it was pre-op. And that's a good thing. Bad: WLS doesn't completely fix emotional eating. You will still need to be mindful of what you eat and why you are eating at any given time. It is possible to "eat around your sleeve" just by eating small amounts of the wrong things, all day long. So if emotional eating has been an issue before surgery, you'll need to keep working at that after surgery. Therapy can help with getting to the root of why you use food as a coping mechanism. Overall, I have no complaints about the surgery. I had no major complications, I lost all my excess weight and I'm still maintaining. So I don't want to discourage you. Just be prepared to continue working on your mindset and emotional health.

What she said ^^^^^. Also, I do work hard to count my protein and avoid the pitfalls, but my work shows up on my body. Before surgery I did the work and half a pound would be the loss. After surgery AND weight loss work, I see a solid 2-4 lbs difference per week. Yeah, I know next year I’ll be closer to goal and half a pound loss will sound great, but it’s nice taking the down elevator right now. The physical stomach restriction will make the difference in maintenance too!

I’m sorry but this negativity is so off putting to your success. You need to do the work and surgery is only ever a TOOL. You should not be assuming it’ll magically work for you but also this should have been explicitly told to you by your care team prior to surgery. I haven’t gotten my surgery yet but I’ve already had every care practitioner emphasize that it’s a tool and I have to actually work for results. The way it’s different than just calorie restriction/exercise is that the surgery limits the amount you can eat and it also removes the part of the stomach that has the hunger hormones. This makes it actually possible to calorie restrict and exercise without the ability to binge or feel super hungry. If someone tried to do 800 calories a day without surgery they would feel like they are completely starving. Listen to your doctor. Seek a therapist. This is a safe space but also the negativity in your comments has been awful. You need to work on yourself and how you treat others too. Healing and weight loss are best friends, it takes a LOT of work.

You are not going to have a problem living with high protein low carb. I was a huge lover of bread and other carbs...huge. After I went on the diet and got the surgery, the weight falling off literally changed my whole perspective in a couple ways: 1. I physically cannot eat carbs and bread like before because it fills me up too fast and makes me feel ill. I am just not interested in carbs and fatty foods any more. 2. Once you see the weight coming off, you will be motivated to keep it going off. 3. You learn to eat your protein first and veggies next. After that, there is no room for carbs. I really don't miss the carbs at all. 4. You will be satisfied by the food you eat so it is not like before...nothing like before so you have to forget now and realize your body is changed and you are NOT PHYSCIALLY ABLE TO EAT LIKE THAT ANY MORE.

I have debated wls seriously for a couple years now. I have not talked to a doctor about it, though because of my weight I'm sure they would recommend it. I am 5'3 and weigh about 285. I haven't had any problems with my health yet due to obesity. I have been fighting my weight all of my life. I remember being in 2nd grade being on diets. I know what I weighed at every significant day in my life. I was just a few pounds overweight up until I met my husband. After that it was no longer a few pounds overweight I was obese. I gained 140 pounds since we met 15 years ago. I have lost weight several times, my biggest around 50 pounds, but mainly i lose 20 then gain. This has been a trait of mine my whole life even as a teenager. I would weigh 140 lose to 120 then gain it all back. I have read several posts on here the last six months. I go back and forth on surgery. My insurance won't cover it so it will be all out of pocket which will be a big chunk of my savings. Also I hate going to the doctor. And i know a lot of doctor appointments will go into it. Also, and probably my biggest reason is fear of it not working. The reason I am this big is I can't follow a strict diet. I have tried over and over. I know like most of you I've CICO, keto, atkins, and many other diets. I love sweets. And I am a very emotional eater. At least when I'm bored. And I think about food way too much. After reading several posts on here and watching some of the shows on WLS, my biggest question is...if you still have to stick to a diet of low carb and high protein diet or at least follow a strict diet, how do you do it with the surgery, when you couldn't without? Is there a big difference in hunger, even if before you weren't really eating because of hunger but feeling? Thank you for any advice.

You may be one of the unlucky ones whose hunger doesn't go away with surgery. And I will say that your surgeon's idea that you must stay on 800 cal a day to lose weight flies in the face of scienc. Stand back, I'm going to use MATH! If you were maintaining your (heavy) weight by eating, say, 3500 calories a day, then that's your maintenance for that weight. So now, if you are eating 800 calories, you are in a deficit of 2700 calories a day, which means you'd lose three quarters of a pound per day on average. If you're eating 1200 calories, you're in a deficit of 2300 calories a day, which means you'd lose two thirds of a pound per day on average. Yes, different macros (protein, carbs, fat, alcohol) do work differently in your body, but ultimately your body is bound, like everyone's, to the calories in-calories out equation. I suspect what happened to you is twofold: 1. You're in a lengthy stall (search up "three-week stall", it happens to almost all of us, it's incredibly frustrating, it's not always at 3 weeks, and it can last a month for some people). It's because your body has depleted its glycogen and is probably somewhat dehydrated (it's hard to drink enough right after surgery), and your fluid balance is adjusting itself. 2. You're frustrated and not tracking what you eat. Unfortunately, this is something that has to be done. You can't fix your diet if you don't know what your diet is. And that means, at least for me, pre-prepping meals and weighing things out. I just pop a tray in the microwave a few times a day and have it all specced out. I use MyMacros+ for tracking. One of the big culprits is cooking oil/fat. How many people measure the oil they put in a pan to cook their, say, chicken breast? Nobody except bariatric patients—everyone else just sploops some oil in a pan until it looks right. I actually have a bar jigger on the counter so I can measure in 1/2 ounces and full ounces. Track your food. Literally track your food. If you find you're not losing weight on 800 cal a day, spend a week eating 1000 cal a day to see if it'll shock your system. I am at about 1400-1500 cal a day a little short of three months post-op, because I work physical work and am very active (gym, running, hiking, etc.) and need the calories to be able to function. But I still track each and every day. The surgery isn't bullshit. If it were possible to just severely restrict calories without it, nobody would get the surgery. But there are thousands of people here, myself included, who found success with the surgery that wouldn't have been possible without it.

I have had my band for almost 11 years. I’m happy to say I have had no issues and am happy with my weight. Healthier food choices and I would weigh even less. I can’t complain about 145 at my age. I do wonder if those that have been successful with their bands maintain them frequently, have fills at least once per year. I had a PA that worked really well with me. She listened and we made decisions together about fills and maintenance. My doctor, not so much. I’ve had this thing long enough and have enough since to know what I need. I’m very open to discussing it with my doctor but it cannot be one sided. What has your journey been like? Do you have a doctor that works with you? Anyone in the Atlanta area got a good doctor that listens? Thanks, Manda

Husky mama mentioned using the Baritastic app. I’ve been using this app since I started the required weight loss program prior to my surgery. BTW my gastric sleeve surgery was 11/01/21. I love using this app. I found out there is a timer. My nutritionist suggested that when eating there should be at least 20 seconds between each bite. That means put your fork down and chew your bites thoroughly then swallow. There are exceptions to the rule with foods such as scrambled eggs, yogurt etc. With that said this will help slow down your eating. The question is are you eating too fast and finishing your meals in less than 20 to 30 minutes. If you have a scale go back and start weighing your food again. Finally if your weighing yourself everyday day you’re not going to see changes. Pick a specific day and time to weigh yourself. Then weigh yourself once a week on the that specific day you chose and you may see some progress. I wish you the best and please don’t give up. You’ve gotten a lot of good advice and I hope you will read them use these to help you succeed with your weight loss. Keep us updated on your progress as all of us want to continue to support you. 🙏🙏🙏

I’m one of those that DIDN’T do 6 meals a day during weight loss phase (or after). I was a grazer (still am) as i just couldn’t eat alot at one sitting. I would fix myself something and eat it throughout the day (often over multiple days). I was also not (never was, still not) a breakfast eater. I normally have my first food of the day at noon. As time goes by, you will figure out what works for you, until it doesn’t anymore and then you’ll have to figure out a new MO. Good Luck! ❤️

Congrats! and LOL @ your weight lost number!

So did I, and i turned out just fine. I too was often lightheaded the first little bit, and went through a period of food aversion. From month 3 to 7, weight loss sowed down to roughly 10lbs a month (i was eating more, as well as getting smaller, reducing my need for calories) Lost another 10+ lbs after goal and been sitting there more or less ever since. Im 3 yrs out. I assume you have shared your lack of energy and other concerns with your doc and nut? And that your labs have come back with uneventful results? Unless your team is worried, probably no need for you to either. Good Luck! ❤️

@goodmanje, if you're just wanting to vent because you're angry and upset, that's fine. We've all been there at some time or other in our lives. But if you are interested in help with troubleshooting what's going on, you'll have to engage with us and provide more specific information. Like post an example of what you eat on an average day. And you have to be willing to change - for instance, you can't just say "I'm not a disciplined person". Losing weight requires discipline with or without surgery. There are lots of food tracking apps out there and you may not be able to figure this out without making use of one of them.

Thank you, I’ve been scared to eat more in fear of gaining weight but I will try it !

I’m 3 years out. Been maintaining below goal weight since reaching goal at 7 months post op. I’m 5’2”, 118.2 lbs this morning. TBH, I sorta hesitated posting this, but in the interest of full disclosure, here are my food logs for the last 7 days. DISCLAIMER: I do not recommend this type of diet for those that do not have the same metabolism as I do. Also, I don’t normally eat like this all the time! I’m just in the middle of a crap food period, which I have on occasion 😂