Hello new to this app kinda found it by mistake doing research online lol Im currently 1 week post op I'm a 31yr old female highest weight was 356, surgery date weight was 345, current weight is 333 and I'm 5 1 in height my goal weight is about 160 or so..tell me your expirence so far.

Well, I had a different surgery than you so my experience so far may be very different then what yours will be. For me, I've had a lot of stalls along the way though my first one was when I was 3 months out (it lasted 23 days) and I've currently been in one for two weeks now though that may very well have to do with muscle gain as I've been at my sisters house and am taking care of her 1 year old who likes to be carried and I'm walking constantly up and down her stairs...

I was told the Loop DS (the surgery I had) doesn't have dumping syndrome, but discovered that is a MYTH because wheat give me dumping syndrome so I avoid it like the plague! Constipation issues can and probably will happen with EVERY surgery though in my case it's when I have too much iron in my diet.

I just had my 9 month check up and was told to cut back my iron even more even though I've been alternating it from 1 iron multi one day to 2 iron multi's the next. I was told to stick to just 1 because my iron was very close to being too high as it was on the upper scale of normal and like two points away from being way too high. I had a potassium deficiency in my 3 month check up but it was normal in my 6 month check up but now it's back to being too low. My Vitamin A was deficient in my 6 month check up, but is normal again as of my 9 month check up. My calcium has been a little high at every check up and they advised me to lower it again even though I was only taking two calciums a day they told me to try taking 1.5 a day.

I'm currently 33 years old. My high weight was 389 pounds. I was 321 pounds on the day of my surgery and right now I'm 219 pounds and am 4 days away from my 9 month surgiversary. The farther along I get doesn't really make it any easier. I find I still have to actively work to stay on track because I'm the only one in my family eating healthy while everyone around me is eating the foods that I used to love. I find I have to pep talk myself into eating right and so far I've been good. The worst I've done is eat a snack size Kit Kat or the two times I ate a cookie. I refuse to get down on myself for that though as it's something I've only done a few times and I make sure it still fits into my carb intake and allotted sugar intake so it doesn't feel like I'm cheating as it fits into my diet plan. Even my surgeons office said it was okay to treat myself as long as I fit it in to my diet plan and didn't overindulge. I find that it's helped me not go crazy by allowing myself a little treat on rare occasions.

The protein intake for my particular surgery for women is advised to get between 80-100g a day. I try and get the minimum of 80 but since I drink 1 30g protein shake a day I'm only responsible for getting a minimum of 50g on my own. I tend to average (with the protein drink) around 90-95 a day.

A weight loss journey is not easy. I don't think it's meant to be, to be honest. I've used this time so far to try and get myself used to better eating habits so that I can keep them up even when I reach my goal weight. I NEVER want to get back to being as heavy as I was. I used to be a 32 in pants and a 34-36 in tops. I'm now a 16 in pants and an xl in tops. I can just buy things without trying them on and they actually look GOOD, which is shocking to me! I like that I no longer have to shop online because stores don't carry my size. I like that I'm no longer plus sized now and can shop in the regular womens section of the store. I like that when I have to visit the doctor the cuff can now fit on my upper arm where before they had to put it on my wrist because it wouldn't fit on my upper arm. I like that when I have to wear a hospital gown for a test or a visit to the ER I can now fit in the regular sized ones and don't have to embarrass myself by asking them for the plus sized ones. So yeah, the journey isn't easy, but it's 100% WORTH it! You will have ups and downs, but sometimes you have to celebrate the non-scale victories to uplift yourself when you're in a stall or frustrated about something. I like that when I go see a specialist or go the ER they don't bring up my weight at all, where before that was ALL they seemed to do. I love that I'm only 39 pounds from my goal weight when I had been over 300 pounds for 15 YEARS!

Congratulation with you great progress!!! you have come a long way!!! GREAT JOB!