4 days shy of my 1st surgiversary!

[Flutterfly 23]

Hey everyone! I cant believe a year has flown by so fast. I know when I was pre-op I used to seek out these threads to read other's experiences, so I wanted to share mine too.

My start weight was 277 the day I scheduled the consult for bariatric surgery, and I was 255 the day of surgery. The first 3 months were a bit of a whirlwind. I dropped 20 pounds in the first month, and I thought it would stay that fast, boy was that some realistic thinking on my part.

As real food was reintroduced during my second month I learned what the foamies were...oh my goodness, so not fun. I lost 10 pounds during month two and I remember feeling discouraged and having to reassess my motivation for this surgery. Having to remind myself that this was a change for the rest of my life and that it was okay if the weight didn't just fly off, because if I kept working with my body, then my body would have no choice but to become healthy.

The next month I lost 9 pounds and learned that if I didn't chew my food really, really well, that it could get stuck and hurt like hell until it made me vomit. This was not a fun time, but alas I learned, and learned relatively;y quickly.

Month 4 came and two things of note happened. I lost 5 pounds and felt confused and a little lost as to what was happening with my body. Also, my hair started falling out like there was no tomorrow!

That became my new normal for awhile. 5 pounds a month, hair falling out. Somewhere around 8 months out my Hair loss stabilized, but by then I had lost about 2/3rds of the volume I had. Biotin never helped, but I took it from the day I was cleared to begin Vitamins post op.

Around March I was 6 months post op and I had my first month with no loss, where I actually gained. I was aghast. I had this weird feeling like I wasn't going to get where I needed to be unless I started working harder. So that was the point where I finally changed.

I started counting every macro, and working out 3 days a week in April. Initially walking and increasing in length/intensity. That was the beginning of my adventure into exercise. I currently run/walk in intervals a 5k a minimum of 4 times a week. I have never felt stronger or more alive. I was the girl who only ran when chased, I had no idea that underneath all that weight was a body that felt happy when it ran. A brain that felt at peace when it focused on my breathing.

I'm still losing at the rate of 5 pounds a month, total weight loss since March of 2016 is 110 pounds. Biggest change has been my brain. I stopped worrying about the scale. It goes down because I'm living the way I am supposed to be. It doesn't have to be big numbers, because this is the way I live my life now. I don't know if that makes sense anywhere except inside my head, but I hope you get it. I only this week made it into the "overweight" bmi category and I have 27 more pounds to go before I am considered to be of a healthy weight.

Loose skin? Yep! I'm not even mad about it. To be honest I didn't expect as much on my thighs and thought most of it would be around my midsection, but it's everywhere. I don't think it will ever bother me enough to have it removed, but only the future knows for sure.

Dumping. Now to be fair I had my gallbladder removed a few years prior to gastric bypass surgery, so I already had issues with dumping. Bile buildup has a laxative effect on me. If I go more than 12 hours without eating, then just a sip of Water can send me running to the bathroom. Fats don't typically bother me and I avoid sugar because I don't like the way it feels when my insulin spikes and then drops. It's scary and not fun. I get fuzzy and light headed, my stomach feels blah and my heart races. I'm human though and I challenge my biology on occasion. Ice cream doesn't love me anymore. It melts in my pouch and foams back up and just feels like it's sitting at the top of my esophagus and making me burp little foamy ice cream burps...I think the only reason I am okay with halo top is because the sugar alcohols scare me enough that I only ever eat a tiny bit because I don't want to live in my bathroom lol.

Support systems! These are so important. My spouse is amazing. He's my biggest cheerleader and my companion in all things, including exercise! Make sure the people in your life only want what's best for you.

Current diet is low carb (under 20 grams a day) moderate Protein (60-80 grams) and moderate fat. This will likely be how I eat the rest of my life and I am okay with that. When I do consume more sugar, my brain starts to crave sweets and I feel like I have to fight with myself. For me personally it's not worth it anymore. That last sentence is a huge nsv for me. It's so weird and amazing/awesome to be nearing 40 and finally feeling like I'm not powerless to food anymore.

[BostonWLKC 806]

Congrats on your journey and your new found mindset independence

[fluffy562 110]

awe. this is amazing. thank you for sharing!

[Kcoley 17]

What an amazing post and such an encouragement to us in the beginning stages❤️❤️

[Flutterfly 23]

My hope is to maintain the mindset this surgery has allowed me to achieve and I sincerely hope when I'm posing about being two years out I am feeling the same. I just wanted to let others know that while things may not go exactly as you planned for them to, that for me this was a positive life altering experience that I wouldn't change for anything. I wish you all the same type of trans formative journey I have had in my first year <3

[Thersa Graham 1]

Thank you so much for your posts and for being honest. At 3 weeks I still have soooooo many questions!!!

[loserlisainpa 13]

Thanks for sharing!

[Kcoley 17]

You're awesome for sharing what we are all wanting to know about our future - my greatest goal is having power o we food👏👏👏