Search the Community

Today's win ? Returned to weight lifting after what seems like a 200 year hiatus. 🤣 Nothing extreme or crazy....very light weights with lots of reps. Injury avoidance is key concern. Other win is the overall feeling like I have things dialed in and the cruise control is activated. The positive feels from this are so welcome. The last 6 years or more have been chaotic and hellish at times. Things are slowing down and falling into place. Sure the scale is giving lower numbers every week, but the real improvement has been with the pure simplicity of returning to the initial advisements of the professionals at my bariatric center.

I was recently told that I have PCOS. My husband and I are currently trying to conceive, and have been for over a year. I get very frustrated and critical of myself because I keep hearing “you might have better luck if you lose more weight”. I’m so proud of where I am, though. I’m 7 years post-GBS, and I’ve kept all the weight off (125 pounds). But it always feels like it’s never good enough. Any tips or advice? Thanks! -Sarah

I realize this is an older thread...but it is still near the top of page and I suppose the "most recent" of it's type ? A pile of stuff has occurred in my life since I was active here on B,Pals. My 10th year sleeve anniversary is coming up later this year. Lost a ton of unwanted weight as a result of the sleeve. Daily trips to gym were the norm. no longer drank beer, but found that sugar free mixers and high grade tequilas and vodkas made for some FUN fuel for many adventures. Storm clouds loomed heavily over my marriage. Some unresolved issues resurfaced in a big ugly way. It appeared divorce was most probable. The storm finally broke....my ship hadn't crashed on the rocks... my wife still my first mate, ally, friend and lover....marriage was stronger than ever. 6 years ago she received a diagnosis for stage 4 breast cancer. Immediately stopped drinking when that diagnosis was delivered. 4 years ago she succumbed to the evil hell of cancer. She fought it with superhuman strength and courage. I will live the rest of my years in awe of her bravery and grit. It has been an incredibly tough go of it since. Her unshakable faith stoked my own faith. That is what I leaned on heavily....and will continue to do so. Early last month, the anniversary of her death was approaching. I was filled with this feeling of guilt in addition to the ever present loss & grief. The guilt was spurned by the realization that I had taken zero steps towards what she had told me to do...afterwards. She was clear that she wanted me to live. I was going to work every day and that was the extent of it. I'd maintained zero friendships and seldom contact my family, other than our son. The hurricane damage had been repaired on the house, yet I'd done nothing towards moving stuff back into the rooms that were repaired. Was living off take out and drive through garbage because I couldn't bring myself to cook...painful memories of meals made & shared together. ENOUGH. That was the word that hung heavy in the air. I could almost hear it as if she'd spoken it loudly. ENOUGH, GREG...IT IS TIME TO MAN-UP I began taking inventory right then. I vowed to not let another year go by with me still living in a bubble...not treading water, but sinking. I have remained alcohol free since quitting those six years. Clear headed and no monsters to address there. Good. Doctors appointment for annual checkup had revealed several things....top of which was my blood panel looked like trash...precisely because that is what my diet consisted of....pure trash. There had been some weight regain...but nothing that I felt like would be too difficult to lose....if I would get my arse in gear and make the lifestyle changes needed. Things were going okay on my job, simply because I'd let it be my focus...the only thing I rallied for. Spent way too much time there. Immediately scheduled some vacation time off and road tripped to visit family Visited my wife's grave....our gravesite and did so with a different feel....loss and missing her....but, feeling more stable for the first time since losing her. She'd forced me to sit down, months before passing, and listen to her on a certain subject matter that I was avoiding. told me to live...how to live....wanted me to continue on with all aspects of life and was very descriptive. She would make ongoing instruction in the months ahead. I couldn't speak in reply...just nod that I understood. She was so brave that she could accept things and love me enough to coach me how to live....afterwards. I was too much of a coward to discuss it....just sat there and listened and acknowledged. She would KICK my arse if she saw the state of low I'd been to. One day, perhaps, I will be able to show her that I heard her and rallied. That time will be at the end of my days, however. Until then, there is much life to live. RESETTING THE SLEEVE WAS EASY: I simply swapped over to strict keto. After two weeks I felt much better....after a month I no longer wanted the crap foods and I no longer wanted big meals. The smaller meals reset things for me. There is a noticeable restriction and feeling of full that occurs now. I haven't finished a meal in a month...unless it was a 1/2 sized meal. Sipping water all day...cutting off prior to meals and 30 mins after. Zero sugar intake an damn few non-fiber carbs. Supplementing with vitamins, iron, potassium and calcium. Moving more....but still not ready for the gym and all the people. Slowly feeling emotionally more "awake". Keto, with an eye on the overall daily calorie intake is how I live now. I don't see changing that. By the time that 10th surgery anniversary arrives, I suspect I will be at my all time lowest weight since college. The sleeve is still there. It just needed me to treat it right and not override it with trash food.

Just another update to my measurements! Starting weight: 281lbs Bust = 53", Waist = 45", Hips = 56", Stomach = 56" 26/08/24 216 lbs Bust = 45", Waist = 36.5", Hips = 49", Stomach = 47.5" 13/11/24 196.2 lbs Bust = 43", Waist = 35", Hips = 46", Stomach = 46" 19/05/25 150lbs Bust = 35", Waist = 28", Hips = 39.5", Stomach = 35"

Awesome, my surgery was on the 12th of May and I'm doing great too. Not too much pain, I'm on a liquid diet, but it is full liquid, so no real food for me yet, just drinks. So far I have not had Nausea or vomiting either. I'm still swollen, so I'm not stepping on the scale for a while. I'm doing a lot of walking, and resting, and drinking plenty of fluids to stay healthy as possible. I am surprised how little pain I have had, just achy but no cramps or sharp pain at all. Glad to have BariNation on my side, they are an online support group that I pay to be a member of, and love the support of my online friends, and those that I keep in contact with by phone, and someday will meet. They have nutritionists and social workers, and Bariatric Pal is one of their co-sponsors, which is nice. Might want to check them out. Glad you are doing well, keep up the great work, and don't look at the weight, do other measures. Hope you took lots of pictures of you before, you won't regret that!!

Hello, I was 63 when I did the sleeve. The only problem was, i had lost 60 pounds and got knocked over at the dog park which stirred up my back injury. I think if I had been younger, it might have been different. So I had to go on steroids 9 months after surgery and the weight loss came to a shcreaching halt! I have not been able to lose anymore, but at least keeping the weight off.

Amazing. Thank you so much. I just did my monthly inbody test and I've lose 4 kgs of fat and gained 2 kgs of muscles so I must be doing something right haha. And it made me excited to push through because I only lost 900g of "weight" so ya I should throw out the scale. I do want to build habits which I can sustain forever. So that's why my workouts and food are very normal and not special food for right now! Let's see how it goes!

My lap band removal was terrible. I lost a lot of weight in the beginning and ended up gaining all my weight back and then some after a couple years of having the band. I kept it about 10 years. I had my band out last January and ended up having bypass last October. The band removal was very uncomfortable, i had a drain and I just felt overall terrible compared to bypass which was an easy surgery for me….that band was the Bain of my existence personally….bypass a lot lot lot better so far for me. Good luck and get that miserable thing out.

I had lap band 21 years ago. Through the years I lost 120 lbs. 60 of those the last three years after I retired from teaching. My band has slipped and food is sitting in my esophagus. So it has stretched out, and my reflux is bad and I have to have the band removed. I am freaking out that I will gain the weight back. It has been part of me for so long that I feel funny having it removed. But I also don't want to have esophagus problems and can't keep getting up in the middle of the night with terrible reflux. Has anyone gone through this? Did you gain your weight back? Any hints and suggestions? Thanks. Deanna

Hey everyone! I had my surgery on the 9th! Everything went really well, I’m still a little sore, but it gets easier every day. The biggest challenge has been the protein shakes, while they were good at first, I have begun to have a dislike for them. Tomorrow is mashed potatoes, soups, and creamy peanut butter! Looking forward to that immensely. So far I haven’t experienced any nausea or vomiting. I already feel a change in my weight I’ve lost 25 lbs between my preop and post op diet. Once I start working out the weight should fall off. Thanks to everyone who greeted me and sent their well wishes!

Thanks for the information. I'm a Gym Rat, but my surgeon told me I had to wait 6 weeks before I go back to swimming and cycling, and I have a personal trainer working with me on strength training so I lift weights well. I'm getting in over 80 grams of protein with my protein water and doing a lot of walking and only 3 days post op now. It has been a wild ride so far, and the surgeon called me last night to see how I was doing and checking my glucose numbers and pain...that was a shocker, who does that? My surgeon does!! He is a people person, that's way cool! Anyway, thanks again for your support, and everyone's support. I'm starting my new life happy.

You may reach goal, you may not or you may exceed goal & all are okay. Remember though if you have to work harder & be more restrictive to reach your goal you will always have to work harder & be more restrictive to maintain the lower weight. At that point it becomes all about sustainability: can you maintain the exercise and eating plan in the long term without feeling it’s too restrictive or you’re missing out. As for the possibility of regain, there are a myriad of factors. Could be just the bounce back regain many experience (around 10-20lbs), stressful situations (personal, work, etc.), health issues, changes in meds, too restrictive maintenance, not dealing with issues that lead you to gain in the first place, returning to your old way of eating, etc. Some things we can have some control over and some we have no control over. Personally I maintained for almost 6 years but a complete hysterectomy Sept last year has messed up my hormones and I’m seeing regain. I’m fortunate I have supportive doctors and we’re looking for ways to manage it. Regardless where you settle, you are winning and have successfully made changes to improve your health and life. Enjoy.

You absolutely can reach your goal weight, but you will have to work hard at it. There obviously are no guarantees in life, but there's also no reason you can't get there if you work at it. I think you're doing great so far, so keep it up! I'll be honest, maintenance is harder than losing weight. I actually just posted something about this in another thread, so rather than repost the same thing, take a look at this:

Congrats, you've done an awesome job so far! I'm going to tell you now; transitioning to maintenance is HARD. It's scary to start eating more, it's hard to know how much to eat, and it can be challenging for some to eat all the food they actually should be eating. I would also STRONGLY, STRONGLY encourage to to work up to at least 1 hour of cardio 3 days a week and 1 hour of strength training 2 days a week if you are not already doing this level of exercise or more. The data is crystal clear here. Those individuals that get at least the amount of exercise I listed are significantly more likely to be able to maintain their weight loss. Scientists don't entirely know why this level of exercise is needed (it's almost double what someone that was never obese needs to maintain weight), but the most likely explanation at this point has to do with the fact that exercise affects your body in a couple of ways: Regular exercise changes the way the brain regulates hunger and metabolism. Simply put, most of us got as big as we did pre-surgery because our brains weren't good at telling us when to stop eating. Exercise seems to help change the way your brain understands and interprets these signals. Exercise also lowers stress and systemic inflammation, two huge triggers for overeating. Best of luck!

First, let's differentiate between a stall (what you're going through right now), and a plateau. A stall is just a temporary fluctuation in overall weight and is not indicative of an issue. Stalls are perfectly normal and to be expected. After all, your bodyweight is made up of lots of other stuff besides fat, so fluctuations are to be expected. More than likely, you actually have continued to lose fat the entire time, it's just being masked by a concomitant rise in some other component of your overall body weight. The most likely candidates would be fluid retention, or stool weight. Most of the time for a stall, I wouldn't recommend any adjustments since it's unlikely that there is really any issue with fat loss. A plateau is like a stall, but longer. I typically wouldn't consider it a plateau until you've hit more like 6 to 8 weeks without any loss. In that instance, it would be hard to argue the fat loss was being masked by something else. There are things we can do to work through a plateau, but IMO it's too soon for you to worry about that yet.

It always makes me a bit sad when medical professionals that should know better tell you what you can expect from surgery based on averages. Please know, there are no limits on weight loss after bariatric surgery of any kind, thus saying that you'll only get to 300 is in my opinion doing you a huge disservice. Whether you get to 300, 200, or beyond is all up to you and your behaviors post surgery. As you leaned the first time around, bariatric surgery does not fix your brain, so I would strongly encourage you to work with a mental health professional to understand your eating behaviors and how to address your unhealthy relationship with food. It would really be a shame to go through with a revision to bypass, and end up back at 400 again. As far as dumping, some people dump, and others don't. For some, dumping can be a blessing in disguise because it forces them to eat better. Most people that dump tend to dump on either simple sugars and/or fats. The vast majority of people that do have an issue with dumping can manage it well with diet modifications alone. For those that need it, there are some medications that can help, and in the worst cases, there are even surgeries that can help dramatically. My advice would be to not continue to put your life at risk by staying at your current weight simply because you're worried about something that may not even happen.

I am 1 year post-op today, and I have (pretty much) hit my goal! I can't believe it has been a year already, it has gone so fast. To think that this time last year I was having surgery (BIG shout out to Simon Monkhouse), and I was starting a new chapter of my life. I have learnt that I can adapt to change quite quickly, something I didn't think I was that good at previously. I think we shock ourselves at how quickly we can adapt to our new way of living post-surgery. The NSVs have been life-saving for me. Every time I am walking about, up hills and at a fast pace, I still catch myself thinking "I can't believe I can do this". Before this I would have to stop 3-4 times just on a short 8 minute walk as the pain in my hips and back was awful. Now I can jog and I can ride a bike uphill!! I feel happier in myself and in my day-to-day life, and while I may still have a long way to go in terms of being kinder to myself, I am learning to love my body. It is so nice to be able to just think less about what I am wearing, how I will look. I am grateful to feel smaller and to have people not notice me in public (as weird as that sounds). Next part of my journey is just to see where my weight loss goes, then to look into some plastics in the next year or so, but overall, my goal is just to keep living feeling this free ❤️

I a vertical gastric sleeve in 2006. I weighed about 400 at the time and got down to 250, then plateaud at 285 for 10 years. I was happy with that. In the last 10 years, I've gained it all back and am at 400 lbs again. I am close to my pre-op visit to discuss the revision. The weight loss nurse I am working with said this time, my weight loss might not be as significant. I said I was shooting for 300 lbs, and she said that was doable. I'd be happy with that. What I want to know is what type of revisions you've had, and how your experience is different after a revision than with your first surgery. Also, I am concerned if I have the bypass or the DS about dumping. I didn't have that with the first surgery. I could manage if it was occasional and I could control it by the types of foods I eat, but I have heard it can become a constant, lifelong problem.

hank you both so much — I honestly do know the rules and I really am trying to trust the process. But I just have this lingering question I need to ask — maybe for peace of mind more than anything. If I’m doing everything I can — eating clean, prioritizing protein, tracking, moving my body, staying consistent — will I definitely reach my goal weight eventually? And also… is regain really that easy? I hear people talk about it a lot and it scares me. Is it actually hard to regain weight after bypass if you stay mindful, or is it something that creeps up even if you're doing your best? I know everyone's different, but I'd love to hear some honest thoughts from those who’ve lived through it.

Thank you again — this was packed with great insight and exactly what I needed to hear. I feel better knowing that my current protein intake (100–115g) is actually within the clinical guidelines. I’ll definitely bring up that 1.2g/kg recommendation with my nutritionist on the 20th and get their take as well — I want to be sure I’m not compromising my health by lowering it too much. And yes — I completely agree about focusing on fat loss over just scale weight. I love how I’m looking now, and my goal is to tighten, tone, and keep my muscle rather than just see a lower number. I’m not aiming to bulk or build new muscle right now — just to hold on to what I have and keep my body strong through strength training. Also, your point about essential fats and nutrient-rich carbs like fruits/veggies really helped. I do eat clean and home-cooked, so I’ll make sure I’m not over-restricting in the wrong areas. This has honestly helped me refocus — I’m grateful 🙏

Usually people experience their first stall at around the 3 week mark +/- and they can last 1-3 weeks. However this isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are some who experience small stalls of only a few days. I was one who wouldn’t see any loss on the scales for only a handful of days and then would drop again. I noticed this simply because I weighed myself daily and recorded my loss. As you weigh once a week you may have missed a brief plateau at around that three week mark and you are having a larger more average length stall now. Your friends may not have noticed stalls if they weighed once a week or less frequently. The only thing you can rely on is regardless of how often you stall or how long there last they will break. Just stick to your plan & everything will be fine when your body is ready to start losing again. Is there a reason you are only eating one real meal a day and your other meals are shakes? At almost three months post surgery most of your nutrients should be coming from real food not shakes. A shake should only be to supplement your protein intake or as an occasional convenient meal alternative (work commitments, travel, etc.). I also wonder if that could impact your weight loss and the length of your plateau. Personally I never had another shake after the first 2 week liquid stage & was eating real food meals from week 3 post surgery. By around week 8 I was eating all meats (fish, beef, chicken, pork, lamb) & 1 or 2 vegetables for lunch and dinner and eggs or oatmeal for breakfast. This is when you should be introducing better food choices and eating habits for the long term. This would be worth a conversation with your dietician & surgeon.

I'm just checking in with all my August 2023 fellow surgery patients! I hope everyone is doing well and has been genuinely happy at 19+ months PO! I finally conceded that I'm probably not going to get to my "goal" since I've been stuck here for months now. I also like to think that if I were to have skin removal on all the places I need it (stomach, arms legs and butt) it would take me to goal. This puts me at where I was weight wise most of my adult life before I started gaining weight ten years ago. So, I'm happy with the wls results physically health wise, lol just not looks wise. I knew what to expect...but its still difficult to actually seeing it. Plus all the new aches and pains from past stress on the body and shifting lose joints is .... Great 😉 Again, I hope everyone is doing well and has adjusted to their new healthy life!

Again, If what you're doing is working, then I don't see anything that needs changing. If you're in the range of 100-115 grams per day, then you're already eating what I'd call protein forward diet and about where I'd typically recommend for most people. Keep in mind what I mentioned, calories are king. You only lose weight when you eat fewer calories than you burn. Thus if you did want to add more protein, you'd have to do so at the expense of other nutrients. When eating as few calories as you are right now, dropping any more on carbs & fat could have negative effects on health. It's important to get sufficient essential fatty acids since your body can't make these (that's why there called "essential". Technically you can live without carbs since your body can manufacture glycogen from fats and protein, but the problem is that if you reduce these even further, you're going to also have to reduce your intake of fruits and veggies and these convey a lot of other benefits to you nutritionally. Here's what I'd ask your nutritionist about. The most up to date clinical practice guidelines from AACE/TOS/ASMBS/OMA/ASA say to focus on protein intake of 1.2g/kg of bodyweight. https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(08)00163-9/fulltext I recognize that you are not from the USA, but I dare say these organizations have a significant level of money and experience going into these recommendations since obesity is rampant in the USA. For what it's worth, some recent data I saw showed that the USA does far more bariatric surgeries than any other country. In fact, it was roughly the same number of bariatric surgeries as the next 10 countries combined. An impressive but sad statistic. Protein is highly satiating compared to carbs & fats, plus protein takes longer to digest, meaning you'll be full longer. Being full longer equals less cravings and better dietary compliance. Protein has a small but meaningful effect on overall energy balance because on average, for every 100 calories of protein you eat, you burn about 20 calories just to digest it. This is way more than carbs or fats which range from 0 to 3 for fats and 5 or 10 for carbs depending of fiber content. This means the more protein you eat, the better your overall energy balance compared to eating the exact same calorie amount of other foods. Granted, this isn't a lot, but it all adds up. Higher levels of dietary protein help you preserve more muscle mass as you lose weight. (It helps prevent muscle catabolism which is a real risk when eating a very low calorie diet.) Because muscle is more metabolically active than fat, the more muscle mass you preserve as you lose weight, the more calories you'll burn, even at rest. Studies suggest anything above about 1.2g/kg (95% CI), is sufficient for most people to stave off catabolism, which is probably where the dietary guidelines linked above came from. You mentioned something about body recomposition, so I want to touch on that briefly. I LOVE the idea, but you need to understand it's extremely hard (bordering on impossible), to add muscle mass while on a very low calorie diet like you're eating right now. For most people, you actually need to be eating a significant surplus to add muscle mass, so I honestly wouldn't even try until you get closer to your goal weight. If you do decide to add mass, then yes, higher protein amounts than what you're eating now would be recommended (Roughly 2g - 2.5g per kg of bodyweight). This also would require a dedicated hypertrophy training plan though, and that's a bit out of scope for our discussion here. Best of luck.

Thank you so much for this detailed reply — I truly appreciate the time and care you put into it. It really helped ease some of the anxiety I’ve been carrying. You’re right, I’m losing around 1kg a month and logically I know that’s great… but emotionally I keep feeling like I should be doing more. So reading that I’m exactly where I should be was super reassuring. I also loved what you said about exercise — I know it’s not the biggest driver of weight loss, but for me, it plays a huge role in how I feel. I actually want to focus more on losing fat and toning up now, not just dropping scale weight. I’m starting to realize that body composition matters more than the number. As for protein, yeah — I was surprised when my dietitian suggested lowering it to 65g. I’ve been aiming for 100–115g all along. I have another appointment on the 20th, so I’ll definitely bring this up again and see what’s behind that recommendation. Right now, I’m not using apps like MyFitnessPal. I track my food using ChatGPT (kind of like a food journal), and I weigh things in grams to stay accurate. But I’m a bit unsure how to move forward — like, should I only track protein and not worry too much about calories? Or try to follow macros more closely? I do eat clean, mostly home-cooked meals, but I also have occasional snacks and off-plan moments (nothing crazy, just not perfect). I know I need to tighten things up again, especially with workouts — I’ve been slacking a bit lately. Again, thank you for the perspective and advice. It means a lot to hear this from someone who's been through it herself. Would love to know your thoughts on whether focusing on protein alone is enough, or if I should be tracking more closely.

Hello everyone, just wanted to post an update about me. I had my Gastric bypass surgery August 16, 2023. My heaviest weight was 260 lbs, documented weight starting the bariatric program was 249lbs and weigh in on day of surgery was 235.6 lbs. I managed to drop down to 176lbs and I stopped losing between the 6-9 month mark fluctuating between 183-186 lbs and now I did a weigh in at 189lbs. I noticed now I am experiencing more digestive issues like everything I eat is causing bloating, indigestion, heart burn, hyperglycemia episodes and feeling lost of coordination some days. I don't have medical insurance to get a thorough check up from surgeon but the only thing I can account for is me not taking my vitamins, not being as active, still snacking and mentally always ready to eat even when I don't want to because I will feel stomach cramps or light headed, How are you all during your journey?