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Many of you know my story. Was two months shy of turning 54 in 2019 when I got my sleeve. Lost all my weight & more and was successfully maintaining that low weight. I began gaining weight from puberty: about a stone a year. Then I started my 60-75kg weight diet/regain swing from my early 20s until peri menopause & menopause hit and then seemingly overnight I was 91kg. Nothing I did moved that weight. Hence my decision to get a sleeve. I experienced some weight regain (good 2 almost 3 kgs) almost 4 yrs ago after I had my gall removed. We worked out I had an absorption issue and wasn’t absorbing protein well or it turned out my HRT tablet (hot flushes, etc. had returned). Switched to a patch and lost the weight without doing anything & no menopause symptoms. Had a hysterectomy in September 2024 & then couldn’t access the HRT patch I was using (damn supply chain issues) & this is when my body turned against me again. ALL my menopausal symptoms returned: hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep, headaches, creaky joints, acne, etc. & weight gain. Only three kgs so far but that’s in the last three months. And so here we go again. My body working against me. Since this regain began in January (used my last HRT patch in December & was my usual weight at the end of Dec) I’ve made some modifications to my eating. Dropped a snack, reduced some portions (which were still only recommended portion size or a little less). I eat pretty carefully anyway & stick closely to my plan of eating. Was eating about 1600 calories a day and now am probably at about 1300/1400. So at the very least I should have slowed the regain but nope. It’s scary & upsetting. I recognise it as being how my body & my hormones work (or don’t work!) but that doesn’t help. My doctor is trying to help me sort out alternative HRT but nothing is working yet as it all involves at least taking one tablet. I wish I was completely past all this hormone crap & I wish supply chain issues for pharmaceuticals were a thing of the past for everyone affected. I so wanted to be my maintained slim self when I turned 60 in 4 months. I always have been overweight at significant birthdays. This one was going to be different. The way I’m going I’ll be a stone heavier. Not overweight but more than I want to be & have been happy at. Very sad face.

Well, it took 5 years LOL but I finally got there with Gastric Sleeve!! We had COVID, and 2 x interstate moves in that 5 years, so there was a lot going on! Surgery on 16th Jan 2025 - lost almost 16 kg since the journey began and 10kg since surgery 10 weeks ago. This has been so life changing, I am losing slowly, but steadily. Not at all what I expected, I have had friends and colleagues who have been through this and dropped so quickly, my expectations were totally unrealistic as it turns out. I have to keep in mind that losing 16kg in 6 months has not happened before, and probably wouldn't have happened without surgery. Comparison is the cause of so much misery, so I am working hard to not compare and to enjoy this journey for what it is.... my journey! This is me in 2023 probably around 113kg, not my heaviest, I think at one stage around 2010 or so I was over 120kg as my scale at the time only went that high, and it was showing highest for a long time. I will put up After photos when I get there 😂

Hello and welcome! I am also post menopause and was sleeved on Jan 16. I am losing super slowly, I think it's slower if you're older, it certainly is for me, but it's coming off, I am feeling great 10 weeks out! 🥳 I need to start some exercise regime, I have never been into exercise really, but I think it's time! 😂 Congrats on your decision and fingers crossed you have a wonderful recovery! Give yourself time, follow your plan! 😊

Hello everyone. This is my very first post. I am so happy to have found this site. I am hoping to learn from those that have already had their surgery for personal insights. I am scheduled for my VSG on Monday April 14th and I am both scared and excited! I know everyone's journey is different, but I was hoping for some personal experiences of ladies that are post-menopause, and to hear your 'story'.

What you need to ask yourself is something I used to help me when my weight appeared to not be fast enough; did I put the weight on in just a few months? No, so I need to be patient and let the process work and do my part while not expecting the weight to come off in such a short time! Give yourself the gift of being patient with your body. I know its difficult, especially being that we're an instant gratification society now, but you deserve the grace, time and patience knowing you made the right decision for yourself having had the surgery! Follow the guidelines you were given by your bariatric team. But f you still don't feel the weight is coming off as fast as you think it should - schedule an appointment with your dietician/surgeon and ask for they're advice. You've got this! Lastly 13lbs is an average/"normal" weight loss for 5 weeks 🤗

@Mspretty86 oh that is great! My food noise came back around a month ago, basically when I halted the exercise and got my P.S. I felt really outta control, but now Im back at it, I always meal prepped but my snacking was outta control so now I do 3 whole food clean meals. 1 snack and dessert like protein ice cream. Making sure I stay in my calorie deficit but eating enough to get them gains in the gym lol

You are doing amazing but I do understand how you feel. In the very beginning I just wanted to lose the weight as quickly as possible but then I had an epiphany! I need to fix my relationship with food! I'm 10 weeks out so I'm still early days but I know that just losing weight is a sticking plaster for the real reason I used food as a coping mechanism. So I think I need to consider therapy! The food noise gets so bad for me sometimes its like torture! I will be so much more happier when I nail these obsessive food thoughts but it will take time, I've had them my whole life. Like many I have lost up to 6 stone and put it back on quite a few times before I took the plunge and had surgery so I guess I need to be kind to myself and learn to understand the parts of myself that I have ignored for so long. Are you counting calories? at the 5 week mark I was managing around 500 cals a day. I didn't have the protein drinks because I was fuller for longer eating minced chicken, tuna, eggs, lentils, cottage cheese and pureed foods for less calories, a quarter of a cup at a time. I still managed to get in my protein and at least 2 litres of fluids too. If I was a little under in my protein I would drink a clear whey isolate protein squash drink, they are around 100 cals and contain up to 22g of protein! I am on 800 cals a day now as my stomach has done a lot of healing since then. Everyone is different though and I know that some people still can't tolerate actual food at your stage, so listen to your body hun. Here's some ideas for purees for you, a quarter of a cup at a time is about right for the stage you are at but if you can't manage it all that's fine, its just a guide for you. Tuna and mayonnaise - 14 grams of protein Blended baked chicken. I would bake chicken in some tinned tomatoes and season with garlic and herbs then blend it. 50g of chicken has 16g protein Egg mayo - an egg has 6-7g protein Bolognese - use 5%fat minced beef and blend with a tomato based sauce or make your own - 11g protein Protein puddings available in all the supermarkets - 15-20g protein readybrek oats with some protein powder Fat free cottage cheese blended with peanut butter powder and some sweetener if you need it. Cottage cheese has 11g protein per 100g PB powder has 8g protein per serving Ricotta cheese bake - you can find the recipe on Pinterest and even on here! I wish you well on your journey my lovely. You are on a path of healing, mentally, physically and emotionally and you are doing amazing! Be kind to yourself the weight will come off and at 5 weeks you are still healing and probably holding extra fluid anyway. xx

Hey guys, How is everyone coping with life after being sleeved? I am doing a lot better than I was a few weeks ago but I still have a long way to go! My surgical wound that would not heal had to be packed by the nurses for a month. I'm 10 weeks post op and it has finally closed but it seemed to take forever! The head hunger is very up and down for me and torturous at times.... but I am starting to learn new things about myself when it happens. I am still very much navigating my way through dealing with it, I have good days and bad days depending on what's going on in my life. Depression is definitely a thing for me, I am very up and down. I have suffered with it on and off my whole life and at times I feel so lost. I am snappy with my poor hubbie and I am forever apologising to him. I have times where I feel as though I am crawling around on my hands and knees in the dark searching for the light switch that never seems to appear. I am distant at times even from my family but I don't want to be alone, probably because I don't wanna sit with my thoughts because I can't deal with them. I notice that when I am feeling low the obsessive food thoughts creep in to torture me. I am starting to look into getting some therapy for this, it may help. Anyway enough about me tell me about how you are doing! How much weight have you lost, how are you coping with your new lifestyle and please show us some progress pics! xx

I traveled 3 weeks post op, went to 3 different parks (walked a ton) and went on rollercoasters LOL. I had the energy and felt totally fine. Also, my husband did all the super crazy rollercoasters so that helped. If your surgeon is okay with it, see how you feel after surgery? I was totally okay a week post op and back to work even. Just make sure you go prepared with your snacks because I had to eat every 2 hours and you know how park food is, so that was a struggle.

I agree, Check with your surgeon. I had low energy too and low blood pressure with several weeks. There’s no way I could walk around Disneyland. I couldn’t stroll around the local shopping centre for 30 minutes. Can you postpone your trip? I know your son is probably vey excited but he won’t enjoy it if you’re not at your full strength. Congratulations on getting your surgery approval.

dinner last night: i have a bad habit of ordering more food that i can eat which is both a blessing and a curse for Mr., who always gets tasked to dealing with my leftovers. i don't have an after pic, cuz yeah, he ate it all before i could (plus he ate all of his dinner too omg.). i have no proof, but i believe i ate 2 broccoli florets. 2 or 3 forkfuls of of the sauteed onions, 4-5 potato squares, 1 forkful of corn, and maybe 1/4 of that ribeye. i ate from the left side which was the fattier part...soooo yum. IMG_1644.mov

This is a question I'd recommend consulting your bariatric surgeons office about. Now having said that, everyone is different, I personally didn't have much pain following my surgery BUT my energy was low for several months (5-6 months) remember you will be on a significant reduced calorie change that your body isn't used to. Disney requires a lot of walking and I know I couldn't have done days at Disney walking that much only 4-5 weeks out. Again, everyone is different. Also, I was told NO travel for 3 months following my surgery: too much sitting on plane (blood clots), distance from surgeon if an emergency medical situation were to arise etc. So again ask your surgeons office. Sorry to not answer directly.

Hi, new here... I am in the final evaluations pre gastric sleeve... I have a paid journey to Disney June 1- june 6... 4-5 weeks post op is too soon for that? I'm 39, no diabetes or HTN... I'm traveling with my 5 yr old son, so I don't think I will use any big or dangerous roller coaster... I am from Puerto Rico

I’m actually doing pretty well considering. I only have six weeks left of infusions and I just got a scan back and it was good. Of course not everything shows up on the scan and my cancer is aggressive so I still have to do surgery and then radiation but the treatment is working!! And I genuinely feel like this surgery is what saved my life because the more I think about it 75 pounds heavier and I never would’ve felt that spot in the shower. Also, the mammogram machines are not designed for obese people so I think they were able to actually find it. It took three tries and they had to use an Also, the mammogram machines are not designed for obese people so I think they were able to actually find it. It took three tries and they had to finally use a special machine to find what I was feeling. And now, even still, my body is healthier and able to withstand these treatments. Not exactly what I was thinking about when I said I wanted to do the surgery to be healthier, but I guess it is a good thing.

So good to hear from you. Yea for me it was when there were “alot of fun things lately” a few times in a row that it started to be an issue. Just watch it that you’re still doing right like 90 percent of the time or whatever number works for you. It was about this time that I started gaining with my sleeve so I’m not trying to be a downer. Just as cautionary tale that about now when the hunger comes back and your feeling good is when it’s easy to get off track. You’re doing great staying in touch here and you will get to wonderland soon I’m sure. Just stay mindful that your not eating off plan too often. Trust me I know It’s easier said than done. I’m off plan way too often and I haven’t lost anything else when I should be losing for sure with the chemo increasing my metabolism. I’m actually scared I’m going to gain when I’m done in 6 weeks. At least the steroids will be done then which are what’s making me so darn hungry. I just gotta kick the carbs somehow and I don’t think I can start Wegovy until after surgery at least. Wish me luck.

I am not to goal yet but I can tell you that as long as I keep my protein high i seem to lose weight independent of actual calorie goal. I am 6 months out and am shooting for 130 grams of protein and somewhere around 1500 calories. Continuing to lose a couple lbs a week even though it’s not terribly linear lol.

Hi everyone! I have been a little MIA lately; things got busy. I am in a slump lately and haven't really lost any weight in a couple weeks. I know this is normal, but because we have had a lot of events and fun things lately, I also haven't been eating as healthy as I would like to... so really either could be the reason for my slump. I'm trying to stay optimistic and get back on track. I'm so close to FINALLY being under 200 lbs and I refuse to stop losing weight before I reach it! I hope all of you are doing well and I look forward to updating you guys when I have hit Onederland!

Just had revision to bypass due to stalling for a year and losing 8.5st but still not near target so wanted the bypass to finish my journey, lost 23lb so far and had the bypass 3 weeks ago, no hunger and can get all fluids in with no problem at all

I just had a sleeve to bypass 3 weeks ago 23lbs down so far.

How can I intake more protein and more calories without eating a huge amount of food throughout the day, all day long? It's almost impossible for me to get in 3 meals a day, and small snacking all day isn't possible either. So what are some ways I can get in extra protein without heavy shakes/smoothies? Or some meals/snacks that have a lot of protein and/or calories in them, but aren't a huge amount of food (if that makes sense)! Thanks for the help in advance!

So I have what I think is Dumping Syndrome or Reactive Hypoglycemia and it is seems like it is caused by 2 things. Taking a shower and exercise. For some reason after I take a shower at night my sugar crashes so bad I have to take glucose tablets to bring it back up. I don't take hot showers (I hate being hot), just warm and it doesn't happen all the time but often enough that I found a pattern and it doesn't happen when I take a shower in the morning only at night. It also happens after I exercise. I eat dinner at 5:00 p.m. I wait at least an hour, hour and 1/2 and I am not a gym rate that I am doing it for hours - 30 minute treadmill, 10 minute rowing machine (I had a total knee replacement so I do this for my knee at a slow pace to get the bend in) and 3 sets of arm exercises with free weights. Literally there are times I have to stop while I am exercising because I can feel my sugar going down. There have been times it has crashed as low as the 50s. I have talked to the doctor about this and the physician's assistant said have protein before you exercise. Well I am having dinner before I do, which is always a protein vegetable and a small amount of carbs. Has anyone else had this issue? I want to exercise but I am afraid every time I do that this will happen and it happens more often than not. I have taken to as soon as I am done exercising to just automatically taking 2 glucose tablets which is adding extra sugar in but in order to have it not crash on me. Thanks in advance for any responses!

@Judes76 this is on no way a small feat. I have Bipolar Depression and it took over a decade find the right meds just to get me into intensive therapy (IOP Program) and then bariatric surgery to really get my life back. The IOP program got me out of the house. It started with just one day I went to a crochet group that meets at the library. I had been locked inside my house for so many years I developed tremendous social anxiety and it’s was possibly the scariest thing I have ever done. It took me weeks to work up to it but I did it and it went well. The ladies weren’t caddy or judging me for anything. They were only there to talk about crochet and excited for me that I was learning. I have been at that group meeting every week since aside from being sick or something. I have added other craft groups as well to my agenda and now since surgery I also do group fitness classes at my community center. It’s is amazing to be out of the house and at these fitness groups. Sometimes the women will exchange text numbers if you want too so you can let them know as little or as much as you want but you can tell them you won’t be there if you want. In the past I wouldn’t want to exchange numbers with anyone because I was thinking ahead of the times when I would fall off the face of the Earth and I didn’t want to disappoint them but my therapist taught me that sometimes being accountable to others is enough to pull through a milder depression and it has worked for me. I didn’t share with them anything about my mental health in the beginning, but after about a year, I started slipping small hints and eventually told a couple of them about my mental health. They all know about my surgery and they are some of my biggest cheerleaders. That’s another thing I learned through therapy is that for me trying to do big things like that on my own and keeping the secret just doesn’t work. Everyone’s different but I strongly encourage you to get involved in something at your local library and look into fitness programs at the community center or the library if you want to continue having positive experiences outside of the house. The ones at my community center are very reasonable and we don’t have any at the library but we used to so you might and they should be free Congratulations on your HUGE steps so far and keep it going!! The endorphins from activity are amazing and my depression has lessened tremendously because of this. Also, consider an in person support group if you team has one and keep posting here. The good and the bad (if that comes up). Don’t be embarrassed as all of us have been there if you have an off week. Better to get it out in the open and figure a way to get back on track than to feel bad about it and let it spin out of control. There are so many people here eager to help. You’ve got this!! 💜

Aah, stalls. The eternal battle of weight loss. But yes, you can continue to experience stalls of varying lengths until you stop losing. Plus you’re getting close to your goal weight (or your new set point) so your rate of loss can slow right down to what seems like nothing - like measuring loss in ounces not pounds. The last 11kg I lost took about a year so less than a kilo (about a pound) a month on average but in those last months it was almost at a dead stop with fluctuations until it finally settled & didn’t change. Did you carry most of your weight in your abdominal area? If so, this might be why you are still carrying weight there as it is where you had the most to lose. Losing an inch off your thighs will look like you’ve lost more than losing an inch off your tummy because it is a larger area. But it wouldn’t hurt to speak with your doctor about possible build up of lymphatic fluid or lymphedema given your history.

I had a very similar experience about a week to 10 days post sleeve surgery! It was awful, never had anything like it previously in my life! I had some San Pellegrino laxative very effective, it took a few hours, but worked very well! Sweet relief!!

Hi all I am just over 4 weeks post op and today I got up and went for a walk!! This is huge for me as I have not gone for a walk in around 6 years! I suffer from depression and i live in my bedroom most days. But… I am starting to slowly come out of there and actually do stuff in other parts of my house! I know it may seem small but it is a massive win for me! Have a great day!