Hi all, I’m new to the community. I’m in Northern CA and just finished the nutrition class, waiting on my initial consultation with my surgeon 11/4/24. I’m 4’11” HW: 212 CW: 186 and my personal GW: 130

Are there any others here that are petite in height like me? I’m curious to hear how your experience has been. Biggest takeaways, any advice? Look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome to the forum! I'm 5'4 so not necessarily short, but I just wanted to welcome you anyway!

Thank you for the welcome

Welcome too. Not as short as you either (5’3”) but after I lost my weight I discovered I actually had a small frame so in a way I look tinier than I am. My biggest challenge has been feeling overwhelmed in certain styles of clothing. (Bet you thought I was going to say it was something about my weight loss experience.) When I was larger I had this big body that carried/filled a lot of clothing styles. Not any more. I look like I’m drowning or am a lifetime girl wearing my mummy’s clothes. And certain proportions can be way off now too. Like tops are too long & make me look weird & unbalanced. (Trousers have always been too long.)

Being shorter than average with a smaller frame didn’t affect my weight loss at all. My experiences were the same as most others here. Just need fewer calories than many of my taller friends to maintain my lower weight. I remember once my surgeon’s colleague, who did my follow ups, weighed me and started to say I had lost too much weight. She paused and looked me up & down & said you really are quite tiny aren’t you. My weight wasn’t an issue after that. (Except every now & again they’ll say I should try to put on a couple of kilos but that’s because of my age, 59, and not anything else.)

Keep us updated on your progress. Don’t hesitate to ask questions here either. Everyone is happy to help, share what they’ve learnt and offer support. Though having the surgery can be a bit scary, it also is the beginning of very exciting and rewarding future.

All the best.

Hi there!! Welcome to the forum!! I'm 5'5", which I never really considered short until I married someone who was 6'3", have a son was is 6'2", have a brother who is 6', have a male bestie who is 6'1", and work with men and women who are at MINIMUM 5'10" lol And my gigantor family puts everything on the top shelves towards the back because I can't reach and they think it's funny to watch me get on a step ladder just to get a pot or a bowl ?

Hi, I’m 5’2” but was 5’4 1/2” and shrinking. My surgery date is October 21st. Will start pre-op diet after speaking with nutritionist again on10/01.
I was reading the info on pre op and during and after surgery about nutrition. Did you all drink 5 shakes per day every 3 hours?? I don’t like them that much! BJ’s has a variety of flavors though.

5’3” here! Loving life on the short side however

On 09/26/2024 at 20:55, Arabesque said:

Welcome too. Not as short as you either (5’3”) but after I lost my weight I discovered I actually had a small frame so in a way I look tinier than I am. My biggest challenge has been feeling overwhelmed in certain styles of clothing. (Bet you thought I was going to say it was something about my weight loss experience.) When I was larger I had this big body that carried/filled a lot of clothing styles. Not any more. I look like I’m drowning or am a lifetime girl wearing my mummy’s clothes. And certain proportions can be way off now too. Like tops are too long & make me look weird & unbalanced. (Trousers have always been too long.)

Being shorter than average with a smaller frame didn’t affect my weight loss at all. My experiences were the same as most others here. Just need fewer calories than many of my taller friends to maintain my lower weight. I remember once my surgeon’s colleague, who did my follow ups, weighed me and started to say I had lost too much weight. She paused and looked me up & down & said you really are quite tiny aren’t you. My weight wasn’t an issue after that. (Except every now & again they’ll say I should try to put on a couple of kilos but that’s because of my age, 59, and not anything else.)

Keep us updated on your progress. Don’t hesitate to ask questions here either. Everyone is happy to help, share what they’ve learnt and offer support. Though having the surgery can be a bit scary, it also is the beginning of very exciting and rewarding future.

All the best.

Yes this! At 5’3” and petite I often look like I’m swimming in things. I’m smaller on top, so in particular many sleeves are too long and shoulders too big.

On 09/27/2024 at 06:09, RuizAyres said:

Hi, I’m 5’2” but was 5’4 1/2” and shrinking. My surgery date is October 21st. Will start pre-op diet after speaking with nutritionist again on10/01.

I was reading the info on pre op and during and after surgery about nutrition. Did you all drink 5 shakes per day every 3 hours?? I don’t like them that much! BJ’s has a variety of flavors though.

5 shakes per day? Never! I think max I ever had was 2 or maybe 3 in a day. I drink premier protein, so 30g protein each. I think at 5 a day (so 150g protein) is even more protein than most body builders need. I’m 5 years out now. Still drink 1/day for breakfast and am able to hit my 90g daily protein goal easily with food.

This was in my paperwork…I haven’t had my follow-up yet with nutritionist after reading them? She has me starting to eat every 3hrs and using a timer.! I guess that’s where the 5 shakes come in. I’ve been told by both surgeon and nutritionist that I wouldn’t have to be on a really strict pre op diet because of being 195lbs but that is 70lbs overweight for me. Plus I have so many medical problems probably related to weight. I am older but I have an esophageal hernia that’s going to be repaired at same time and doc suggested for the sleeve. Didn’t think it could be done at my age….but so thankful.

It’s been 5 years so my memory isn’t super clear, but I do remember being given a 1oz med cup in the hospital. I believe I was told to drink one of those full of Protein Shake every hour while awake. So assuming 16 hours awake that is 16 oz so just about 1.5 shakes. I think that was for the first week, then increased after that. All programs do vary with their instructions though!

I am the outlier in this group. My surgeon was against protein shakes, pre op and post op, I had gallons of milk.

When you first have the surgery, you will be in either of two camps. A few have zero problems drinking and the rest of us struggled. We just did our best, most with the backing of our teams. Drinking is a full time job

What ever you do, do not over buy pre surgery. Your taste buds may change, mine did big time. Lots of people have wasted money this way.

Good luck and its great to meet you

13 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Welcome too. Not as short as you either (5’3”) but after I lost my weight I discovered I actually had a small frame so in a way I look tinier than I am. My biggest challenge has been feeling overwhelmed in certain styles of clothing. (Bet you thought I was going to say it was something about my weight loss experience.) When I was larger I had this big body that carried/filled a lot of clothing styles. Not any more. I look like I’m drowning or am a lifetime girl wearing my mummy’s clothes. And certain proportions can be way off now too. Like tops are too long & make me look weird & unbalanced. (Trousers have always been too long.)

Being shorter than average with a smaller frame didn’t affect my weight loss at all. My experiences were the same as most others here. Just need fewer calories than many of my taller friends to maintain my lower weight. I remember once my surgeon’s colleague, who did my follow ups, weighed me and started to say I had lost too much weight. She paused and looked me up & down & said you really are quite tiny aren’t you. My weight wasn’t an issue after that. (Except every now & again they’ll say I should try to put on a couple of kilos but that’s because of my age, 59, and not anything else.)

Keep us updated on your progress. Don’t hesitate to ask questions here either. Everyone is happy to help, share what they’ve learnt and offer support. Though having the surgery can be a bit scary, it also is the beginning of very exciting and rewarding future.

All the best.

Thank you for sharing - I hadn't even thought about clothes but am actually kind of excited for when that time comes. I have avoided shopping because it stresses me out but now look forward to it.

I'm glad your experience hasn't been different from others who are taller, I was worried that being shorter and having a starting weight that was less would make it the weight loss a lot slower and maybe even not as effective.

I'll definitely be asking a lot of questions as I move along the process, so thank you for being so welcoming :)

11 minutes ago, summerseeker said:

I am the outlier in this group. My surgeon was against Protein Shakes, pre op and post op, I had gallons of milk.

When you first have the surgery, you will be in either of two camps. A few have zero problems drinking and the rest of us struggled. We just did our best, most with the backing of our teams. Drinking is a full time job

What ever you do, do not over buy pre surgery. Your taste buds may change, mine did big time. Lots of people have wasted money this way.

Good luck and its great to meet you

I was about to say - I'm going through the process through Kaiser in Northern California in the US and our nutritionists stresses that we are not going to be drinking protein shakes because they want us to eat our protein. We're also told to say goodbye to coffee and other caffeinated and carbonated drinks. It's so interesting to read about all the different guidelines from different programs.

10 hours ago, luckyc said:

… I'm glad your experience hasn't been different from others who are taller, I was worried that being shorter and having a starting weight that was less would make it the weight loss a lot slower and maybe even not as effective…

No, no difference, however, it is important to remember that everyone loses at their own rate & there is no right or wrong rate. So many get very anxious that they’re not losing enough or fast enough. It’s not a race and every pound is a win. I always say celebrate every pound you lose.

You’ll discover there is a lot of variation in the pre surgery diet @RuizAyres but we always say it’s best to follow your plan and not someone else's. I know my surgeon gave different patients different plans based on their health status, current weight, etc. it could be three shakes a day or two shakes & one protein plus vegetables meal a day. It could be no shake but milk like @summerseeker. The 3 or 2 shake plans tend to be the most common. He put me in keto for the two weeks prior. There’ll be slight variations in the post surgical plan too. Also, not sure your age, I was almost 54 when I had my surgery and there are people here who were in their 60s and 70s so you’ll be fine. There was a thread a little while ago called 50 and over I think. You could search for it as you might find it interesting.

Found it:

Edited September 28, 20241 yr by Arabesque

On 09/27/2024 at 10:17, RuizAyres said:

This was in my paperwork…I haven’t had my follow-up yet with nutritionist after reading them? She has me starting to eat every 3hrs and using a timer.! I guess that’s where the 5 shakes come in. I’ve been told by both surgeon and nutritionist that I wouldn’t have to be on a really strict pre op diet because of being 195lbs but that is 70lbs overweight for me. Plus I have so many medical problems probably related to weight. I am older but I have an esophageal hernia that’s going to be repaired at same time and doc suggested for the sleeve. Didn’t think it could be done at my age….but so thankful.

I’m a little surprised that your doc suggested the sleeve if you’re already having esophagus problems. I’m not a doctor, but my esophagus hernia excluded sleeve surgery automatically.

Yes repairing can happen the same day. Be prepared for recovery taking a little longer with a sore and swollen throat. Everyone looses weight and recovers at different speeds. Just keep thinking about how much you are improving your health and quality of life.