I had gastric sleeve surgery on July 21st. Over the first six weeks I lost 30lbs. I haven't lost a single pound since then..... My doctor keeps saying I need to keep my daily calorie intake to 800 or less to lose weight. I haven't been logging everything but I think I'm staying around that number... I'm not a very disciplined person so keeping track of that every day usually doesn't happen. I'm super frustrated and getting depressed over this. If I was able to lose weight by sticking to a very strict diet and exercise program I would have done that a long time ago and never had the surgery. I had a big part of my stomach removed for nothing.... Anybody else out there who can't lose weight even after weight loss surgery? I don't know what to do....

Well said, @Jaelzion. I used to be able to diet & lose weight when I was younger but the reason I regained weight after was because I went back to eating the same foods I did before. I decided to have surgery was because I was unable to lose the 30kgs I’d put on in my late 40s early 50s; damn menopause meant I couldn’t shift more than a couple of kgs even if eating 500 calories for weeks & weeks.

If you go back to eating the same foods in similar quantities you will gain weight again after your surgery. Portion control is important but must be coordinated with calorie control. 1500 calories of high fat, high sugar, carb rich food is the same as 1500 calories of protein dense, low fat, low carb, low sugar food. It’s just that one is better for your body & doesn’t lead to major health complications (heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.). If you choose to eat pizza every day that’s your choice as long as the calories you consume over the whole day are not more than what your body needs to function & will therefore eatable you to maintain your weight.

I eat more often than I did before (pre surgery: 2 meals & 1 snack - post surgery: 3 meals & 3 or 4 snacks). I eat more food across a day than I did before too. And I eat more calories than I did before to maintain at this weight then I did before to be unable to maintain at a much higher weight. The difference is the nutritional quality of the food I eat & that the surgery kick started my metabolism again. And I still have times I’m not hungry or interested in eating.

The way that things were explained to me was that this surgery is a tool. Not a magic cure. You still need to put in the work. You still need to change your eating habits and activity levels. Especially with gastric sleeve surgery. You cannot be stagnant and expect the weight to just melt off. Your body does eventually adjust to the drastic changes. I went into this surgery knowing that I would be saying goodbye to sugars, sweets, fried foods and most carbs, etc. I went into this surgery knowing that I would need to get off my behind and be more active, joining a gym and now looking into a kick-boxing class. But my main goal of this surgery was to put my T2 diabetes into remission and I can honestly say that I have been off my meds for 6 weeks now and my sugar levels are beautifully controlled. So, I for one disagree with your sentiment that this surgery is bull****. I hope you find a plan that works for you and your goals.

Well I’ve been logging my meals since I originally posted this and following the doctors advice to the T and I still haven't lost a single pound. Every visit he acts like he doesn’t believe me when I say I’m staying at 800 calories a day. So I’ve been told a million times by my doctor and people on this forum that the surgery is just a tool. I get that. But a tool for what? How do you use the tool? I don’t ever feel full, I’m always hungry, I’m not losing weight…. What a useless tool.

31 minutes ago, goodmanje said:

Well I’ve been logging my meals since I originally posted this and following the doctors advice to the T and I still haven't lost a single pound. Every visit he acts like he doesn’t believe me when I say I’m staying at 800 calories a day. So I’ve been told a million times by my doctor and people on this forum that the surgery is just a tool. I get that. But a tool for what? How do you use the tool? I don’t ever feel full, I’m always hungry, I’m not losing weight…. What a useless tool.

This must be so frustrating. Perhaps make an appointment with a nutritionist? I saw one pre-op, and I emailed her several times after my surgery asking her follow up questions. Everyone’s body is different, maybe you need different types of foods, maybe more calories, I don’t know…. But I’m sure that your surgeon and their team want you to be successful and to support you after the surgery! ?

45 minutes ago, goodmanje said:

Well I’ve been logging my meals since I originally posted this and following the doctors advice to the T and I still haven't lost a single pound. Every visit he acts like he doesn’t believe me when I say I’m staying at 800 calories a day. So I’ve been told a million times by my doctor and people on this forum that the surgery is just a tool. I get that. But a tool for what? How do you use the tool? I don’t ever feel full, I’m always hungry, I’m not losing weight…. What a useless tool.

How frustrating and disheartened you must feel. I ask this with all respect, what are you doing differently to cope with the triggers that make you want to eat? I’m just now realizing that I’m a bona fide addict, and that I have a very distorted relationship with food. Somehow it became my friend instead of fuel for my body. Although I am still losing weight at this point, I know I won’t be able to keep it off if I don’t resolve that. To answer your question “a tool for what” - for me it’s a tool to physically restrict my intake while I do the mental work. Please don’t give up.

14 minutes ago, csrouse said:

Somehow it became my friend instead of fuel for my body

You'll be in the same boat as 60-90% of bariatric patients. Some realize this and deal with it, others beat themselves over the head and come back again and again.

I recommend group therapy. Eating disorders (which what it actually is; but I understand addiction is a valid framing in America) are highly social disorders, and group therapy is a great social setting to solve it in.

Best of luck.

Edited December 18, 20214 yr by Guest

1 hour ago, goodmanje said:

Well I’ve been logging my meals since I originally posted this and following the doctors advice to the T and I still haven't lost a single pound. Every visit he acts like he doesn’t believe me when I say I’m staying at 800 calories a day. So I’ve been told a million times by my doctor and people on this forum that the surgery is just a tool. I get that. But a tool for what? How do you use the tool? I don’t ever feel full, I’m always hungry, I’m not losing weight…. What a useless tool.

Now that you are logging your intake, can you post a sample of what you eat in a day? Between all of the folks here, there are decades of experience with post-bariatric weight loss. Maybe someone will be able to spot something that could be derailing your progress.

You might need more than 800 calories. I was supposed to get a minimum of 1200 as soon as possible after surgery. I've found that hard to get to sometimes and when I can't get there my weight loss stalls. It's entirely possible you are eating too little and that is sabotaging your efforts.

16 hours ago, goodmanje said:

Well I’ve been logging my meals since I originally posted this and following the doctors advice to the T and I still haven't lost a single pound. Every visit he acts like he doesn’t believe me when I say I’m staying at 800 calories a day. So I’ve been told a million times by my doctor and people on this forum that the surgery is just a tool. I get that. But a tool for what? How do you use the tool? I don’t ever feel full, I’m always hungry, I’m not losing weight…. What a useless tool.

Several people have mentioned that at this point 800 cal/day is too low, your body is probably in starvation mode. Try to increase to 1000 cal/day, same type of food but slightly larger portions. This will help you feel fuller while hopefully kickstarting your metabolism again.

Drink a LOT between meals to fill up your stomach too (but wait at least 30 minutes after eating before drinking anything). I personally hate drinking water so I drink lots and lots of crystal light lemonade. It has almost no calories and is still 99.99% water. Try supplementing your breakfast with a protein shake. That will help you reach your protein goals while also filling you up. I drink one Premier Protein every single morning after breakfast (Chocolate flavor!) It feels like I'm treating myself and I'm adding 30 grams of protein every day. That usually keeps me satisfied until lunch.

You said you're logging now - are you also weighing your foods? If not, you are likely grossly underestimating your portion sizes. My wife made a chicken stir-fry for dinner tonight and I decided to have some - I weighed out 4.5 oz into a bowl and it looked like a VERY small portion - she was shocked when I told her how much it was, it was actually a little more than I've been eating lately (3-4 oz per meal). It was actually really filling though, but if I just eyeballed it I almost definitely would have eaten too much and not even realized it.

The "surgery is a tool" can mean several things. For some (most?) it provides an automatic restriction so that you physically can't eat as much as you used to without getting sick. For those who had gastric bypass, it also provides an incentive for what you're eating to be healthy in order to avoid dumping syndrome. Bypass patients also get the benefit of malabsorption. For others, it's the knowledge that you underwent major permanent surgery as a last ditch effort to get healthy and that can help change your mindset about eating.

I'm in the position to have gone through both major weight loss surgeries. I had the sleeve in December 2016 and lost about 120 pounds in about six months. I was a regular on the forums here, I tracked every single bite (my personal recommendation is My Fitness Pal - I also weighed myself every morning (which is not always recommended) and took a full body photo with the app once a week to see my progress), Then I had some personal/profession issues which screwed up my schedule and my mindset and slowly began to gain weight back. I stopped tracking, stopped eating healthy, and all of a sudden a few years later I realized I had regained almost all of the pre-surgery weight. I was depressed, upset, embarrassed, ashamed, but I decided to do something about it and I went back to my doctor (I had stopped going to appointments too) and he said I was a good candidate for revision surgery to gastric bypass. It's been just over 4 weeks since that surgery and I'm down 36 pounds so far - not losing as quickly as the first surgery, but still losing.

I still track religiously, and follow the meal plan exactly the way it was given to me (first month, soft high-protein foods with no fruits and veggies, no sugar, no bread, pasta, etc.), just starting my second month by adding some veggies to every meal. I had a couple of brief stalls but I kept with the program and they went away. I've been slowly increasing my daily calories and that has helped as well (still below 1000 most days but I've gone as high as 1200). In order to feel like I'm not depriving myself of sweets, I have one or sometimes two containers of sugar-free chocolate and vanilla swirl Jello every day.

Last time after a few months I added a small portion of Halo Top ice cream as a daily dessert - very low calories, low or no carbs, and delicious. It's important not to feel that you're depriving yourself.

Another thing to look at is your sleep - are you getting enough sleep? When I get a good night's sleep I lose about a pound over night. The times when I don't get enough sleep are the days I notice a stall or even a slight increase in weight. Given your starting weight is there a chance you have sleep apnea? I was diagnosed with sleep apnea several years ago and started using a CPAP, my sleeping improved dramatically.

Ultimately, the surgery is not a magic bullet, although when things are going well it can seem like magic, but that happens when you put in the work. It's not bullshit, or useless, it has helped many many people who have tried everything else (myself included). You said you lost 30 lbs so far, that's great! That's 30 lbs you probably wouldn't have lost without the surgery. Now you have to figure out how to kickstart the rest of your journey.

To summarize, here's what I would do if I were in your place:

1 - Increase your calories - same healthy foods for larger portions

2 - Increase your protein - add a protein shake after breakfast if necessary (wait 30 minutes after eating first)

3 - Increase your liquid intake - drink water if you enjoy it, or mix up some crystal light lemonade or something similar, drink ALL THE TIME

4 - Get a good night's sleep

5 - Keep tracking everything - make sure you WEIGH everything you eat, never eyeball. You can get a basic food scale for 10 bucks

6 - Don't give up! I know it's frustrating but based on your posts you're in a tough headspace right now. If you keep going on about how the surgery is bullshit, useless, etc. it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Good luck!

Achieving any goal takes discipline and desire.

What do you really, really want? What are you willing to do to get it?

These are tough questions in any area of life, including health.

As we examine ourselves carefully we may see areas where we excel and where we need to make changes.

Wishing you wisdom and courage as you discover who you want to be.

4 hours ago, waterwoman said:

Achieving any goal takes discipline and desire.

... and help Not disagreeing, but I think all we former and current fatties know if it was just a matter of wanting it, we wouldn't have been in this situation.

Social cohesion, qualified therapy, and not least; sufficient medical intervention. That's important, too.

Post your food log. (No editing!)

Are you very active? I stalled and stalled HARD at around 1000 calories a day because I work out a lot and I work outdoors. I was actually expending more energy in a day (beyond the calories required just to exist in stasis) than I was taking in and my body literally went into "we are starving, conserve every pound possible" mode.

I now eat about 1500-1600 calories a day (three months out) and it's still slow loss, but it's not stalled. The problem is, I literally can't eat enough to get where I need to be (per my NUT) without eating junk food, which I refuse to do.

Edited December 19, 20214 yr by vikingbeast

Usually the psych would screen out patients with this perspective

2 minutes ago, Robert S. Libberton said:

Usually the psych would screen out patients with this perspective

I agree 100%, I even stayed with my therapist to make sure my mindset didn't change after surgery.

On 12/13/2021 at 4:55 PM, Blueslily said:

Sorry, I cant imagine getting any type of surgery done without knowing what I would need to do afterwards. I used to read these boards a lot when preparing, but post surgery and at goal now, its disheartening to read some posts on here so I'm here a lot less. People not doing what they were advised to do but rant and rave anger here. Seems so silly. Surgery is a tool. That's it. I knew that going in and I knew it during. And, if the surgery team is not giving you enough info, sorry, but there are tons of places online to get it. I never research just using one source. Nor, did I just meet with one surgeon. I get it that some folks have challenges after surgery. No problem. Our bodies are different and react different. But, if someone is not willing to make lifestyle changes, this is not the surgery for them. I'm off to take a break from this site again. Stuff like this is annoying. I dont take it personal, but it just feeds into the negativity out there about having WLS. All the best everyone!

I agree 100% with that. To be honest, I think there is more at play though. I think the people ranting and being negative are either those who were simply not able to follow directions and control their urges or someone who just flat out did not have the surgery or even knows a spouse who wants to and are trying to create negative content to change their minds. There are a lot of people who have partners or spouses that are dead set against the surgery.