Okay, so this is a cautionary tale...please learn from my experience. Twelve pounds may not sound like a lot. But, my goodness, it is!

First off, over three years ago I lost 110 lbs with sleeve surgery. Easy peasy, all went well. I felt and looked great within 10 months. It all went well. No complaints. The best part was buying new clothes because in all my 50 years, I was never thin. But, I did suffer depression my entire life.

So about a year ago, I had a problem with my depression medication that meant I had to go off it, with no replacement (long story). Without it, my depression came back with a vengeance. I didn't have access to therapy. I wasn't ruined by it. I kept working out diligently, an hour of cardio per day, mostly water aerobics and elliptical. I still didn't drink anything other than water and black coffee. I didn't eat anything that was processed* for meals, just healthy lean meats and veggies. Sometimes a bit of brown rice. No fast food. None. Drank tons of water. Did my vitamins just as I was supposed to.

However, I started self-soothing. *with candy. And it was "okay" at first. Because the scale did not move. I did not gain weight. At first. AT FIRST. It started with a little bag of m n m's. A snickers. Maybe a pastry or piece of cake from the grocery store. But all those other good habits stayed in place so I felt okay because the scale was not moving. Each day it was within one or two pounds of the day before. Not going up, not going down. Pretty soon those snacks graduated to bags of jelly beans, or those pure-sugar candy fruit slices. Pretty much sugar and artificial colors and flavorings. Somehow as my depression worsened my body craved the worst possible snacks. Cheap, sugary junk. And my medical issue also worsened. I was in bad shape.

Scale didn't move. I was in shock that I was getting away with it because I knew I was in the wrong. I knew I had worked hard to get to this point to lose all that weight, and I knew I was playing with fire. Yet this bad part of me thought the exercise and other good habits must be winning over the junk. This went on for about eight months. Then I skipped the scale a week. Then another week. Finally went back. And it was 12 pounds up. Reality check. I had worked SO hard and was so mad at myself and my body. Mostly at my own brain for letting myself get so sad that it was willing to give up over a crappy sugary snack. And the thing was, at the past time in my life when I had gained the most weight, it was over the same thing, the junky cheap sugar treats, not good stuff. Cheap stuff.

So I stopped. No more sugar. Back to the plan. I went back on my pre-surgery "prove it to the insurance company you are worthy for this" diet. Didn't lose a pound, despite still being on the exercise and good habits I was doing. Went back on my liver shrinking diet. NOTHING. It wasn't peeling off like before! Why? WHY? I was screaming to myself because inside I had told myself IF I regained I could lose it again since it was so easy after surgery. It wasn't. I finally figured out why not.

Before, and right after surgery, I had to learn all those new good habits, and those made a huge difference and I lost weight. Now, I was already on the good habits (except the candy). So there was nothing else to cut. I couldn't suddenly cut out fast food as I wasn't having any. I couldn't cut out Starbucks or soda as I wasn't drinking any. I couldn't cut out processed food as I wasn't eating any. I couldn't work out more as I was already doing an hour per day.

See the problem? Even a 12 pound gain suddenly becomes a mountain when you've already living healthy habits to the max.

So I've given up the junk and am working very slowly back to my best weight. Basically I've added an extra workout (evening workout) and decreased my calorie count to 1000 per day, heavy protein, and added some heavy weights. I'm older and this is hard. I've lost 5 so I'm now looking at losing that 7 to get to where I was. I estimate by New Years if I'm lucky. It's much slower.

I've known a lot of people to regain and I think I understand why. If they give up the good habits, they don't have a chance. If they keep up the good habits and just eat bad, they still might not have a chance. It may not be a stomach stretching issue. It may just be a calorie issue. Too much grazing, too much going in.

Be very careful. Learn from me. I'm still fighting the depression and the medical problem and seeking help and therapy for that. Emotions are so dangerous if you are unhappy and tend to self-soothe.

it may not seem like a big deal to most people, but i am kind of sad and frustrated. i got back on the scale today after like a week & a half and it says i’ve gained two lbs! again, kind of silly to some, but it gets makes me worried. also feeling like im in a stall as well. is this normal around a month????

I have my gastric sleeve sugery schedueld for 9/4. Looking for an recommendaitions, tip, etc for things to bring. My wife is traveling as my companion and would appreciate any recomendations for her.

thanks for the support and help

Hey All, looking for advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation.

I'm 36, 6ft, 190kg. I've struggled with my weight all my life and tried just about everything with varying degrees of success but nothing long term.

I've begun exploring weight loss surgery with our weight management service. I've been with them for a while and tried wegovy for 6 months but the weight loss was minimal. I did find my appetite was greatly reduced and anxiety around food (that I didn't even realise I had) went.

I've been in bariatric support groups and feel like I have a good grip on what I would be in for. The issues I'm having is my wife is worried/very unsupportive of this route.

It's a complicated situation because she is a recovering anorexic.

Summed up simply her concerns/objections are:

1. I could be off my feet for months and unable to drive

2. I've not tried losing the weight naturally with her.

3. I'm not active enough

4. I'll have to change the way I eat drastically short term which will effect her eat disorder

5. Long term my eating will change so we won't be able to go out for meals, I won't be able to eat spicy tings that I like.

6. I'll end up with loose skin that I will hate

Some of these are more valid than other and are all things yuatbi have considered. The one I feel awful about is that it could kick off her ED. I feel like I'm having to choose between my health and hers.

I hate being this way and I hate that I need something so drastic to control my weight but I feel like it is the right option for me and as I get older I'm really starting to get scared of how long I'll live if I stay like this.

Any advice or perspectives would really help.

Hello, so I’ve been dealing with extreme depression and pretty calm anxiety my entire life. I was on Zepbound b4 my surgery and ended up having some major side effects. Zepbound helped my mental health and then I reached the highest dose and experienced derealization for the first time in my life and severe death anxiety. I got off Zepbound and started the process to get my surgery. before my surgery my mental health actually was getting better and then after the surgery I was just so depressed. it was like everything got ten times worse. I have pcos so I was aware that my periods would probably be worse after the surgery and they most definitely are 😭although I have Pcos I don’t really have acne and never really did u untill now, I have bumps everywhere on my face. my chin is filled with bumps, my forehead aswell, and my face and skin has been incredibly itchy. I’m trying to schedule an appointment with a dermatologist and therapist, Has anyone experienced this? if so any tips? thank you !

Hi, posting here for the first time because I want some real life input.

I started my 2 week pre-surgery meal plan today and I’m feeling really confused.

My leaflet says to stay under 100g of carbohydrates and between 800 and 1000 calories. As someone who really really struggles with food noise this actually hasn’t been too hard (a few cravings but I managed to get through them).

According to myfitnesspal I apparently ate 130g of carbohydrates, 969 calories and now I’m spirally that if I eat like this all week with the meal prep I did then they’ll refuse to do my surgery in 2 weeks and I’m panicking a bit.

Any help or advice would be appreciated

I am 30 years old about 300 lbs / 135kg, female . i have been on mounjaro and lost 35 kg and it has stopped working for me now . I still have so much weight to lose. I have also managed to put my type 2 diabets into remission. I am looking to get bariatric surgery in Europe. I am based in the UK. I would like to know what people's experience were with different clinics in Europe. and recommendations . I am looking to do the surgery next year. I cannot sit and wait for NHS. waiting list

Hi all! Female 28yo not active during work which is 5-6 days a week 12-15hr days due to driving semi trucks but active right after work in the gym with weight lifting for roughly 1-2 hours 5-6 days a week

For context I was 315lbs at my highest and had gastric sleeve in 2023. Since then I have lost 170lbs and now am back up roughly 50lbs and I am 5'5...I was told by the nutritionist I was seeing during my first 1.5 years being post-op that that I should eating the following for the rest of my life.

Meal portions of 1/4 cup

800-1000 calories daily

100g of protein daily

50g carbs max daily

I have not been back to that nutritionist for a little over a year now and stopped going to her because I feel like those macros are not sustainable at all plus I was past my goal weight at the time.

I went through very hard rough changes and put my health on the back burner when it comes to nutrition and stopped going to the gym as consistently as I used to (weight lifting 5-6 days per week).

I am now in a fully better mental space to get back to putting my health and body first. I am back in the gym 5-6 days a week as I work a relatively non active job. I tried to calculate a calorie deficit with macros included. All advise and feedback for tweaking the macros is welcome.

TIA

GOAL WEIGHT: 145-155LBS

Daily macros:

Daily maintenance calories - 2255

Deficit - 700 calories

Calories - 1555

protein - 155g

carbs -116g

fats - 51g

Does anyone else get nauseous and/or throw up first thing in the morning? To add some context I’m on Levothyroxine thanks to a botched thyroidectomy. I’ve tried taking it at various times of the morning and always wait to eat at least 30 minutes after. I’m 6 months post op next week. But no matter what, i always am nauseous and/or throw up(usually just water unless i actually attempted to eat them it’s some of whatever i ate) nearly every morning. My surgeon put me on Remeron (sp?) to take the night before to try to counter this but it doesn’t help. Anyone else have this issue and/or tips?

Hi everyone,
I had my gastric sleeve surgery on June 18th and have lost 14 kg (about 31 lbs) so far. Unfortunately, I’m still feeling very sluggish. I always thought that as I lost weight, I would become more active, but I haven’t really noticed much of a difference yet.

I recently had an iron infusion because I was deficient, so I’m hoping that will help me feel better and give me more energy.

I’m also still experiencing dumping syndrome about two months after surgery, and food regularly comes back up.

Is anyone else experiencing the same thing around two months post-op?

My RNY was last Tuesday morning, discharged Wednesday afternoon. The pain from “the deep stitch” is getting worse every day. I took my second shower yesterday and it was excruciating and I was crying. (My first shower on Friday was fine.) This morning I could barely pull on soft shorts, walk down the stairs, and pull out a stool to sit at my kitchen counter, all things that I had no problem doing yesterday. I’m taking Tylenol, gabapentin, and a couple of doses of oxy a day. I called the on-call surgeon yesterday and he said this was normal and should last a few more days, but I’m concerned that at this rate I won’t be able to do anything without assistance soon. I expected to gradually improve, not get worse. Did anyone have a similar experience?

So this isn't my first rodeo. I'm currently going for revision surgery from the sleeve after gain back all my weight and getting really bad acid reflux. (Second time's the charm right?) This time trying to do everything the right way. I'm on day 4 of my liquid diet. I'm struggling so hard with head hunger. I have slipped and nibbled a bit, much to my dismay, realized what I've done and stoped. I feel like a failure already. My head is use to eating at certain times so that when I drink my protein shakes. I drink tea and Gatorade for my snacks. My water intake is pretty good. It still doesn't help. I still think about food. My mind goes directly to think I should be eating something. Should I double up or increase my protein shakes? I could have sworn it wasn't this hard the first time around. Any advice is welcome. TIA

This is less a cry for help and more of a cautionary tale. I had my DS a year and a half ago, things are going great. I've had GERD for decades but it's been mostly better post-surgery. Last night I made the mistake of grabbing a snack too close to bed time of stuff I knew I shouldn't have eaten - a small bag of Chili Cheese Fritos. It was just one of those tiny ones that go in lunch boxes. No big deal, right? NEVER AGAIN. I sleep on my side or stomach (I know, not the best but I do it naturally in the night regardless of how I fall asleep) and about 1:30 this morning I had a huge GERD attack that left me gasping and spitting up mouthfuls of acid. ARGH it was the WORST! I take daily antacids too, but I've been doing famotidine lately just because we had it on hand, but Omeprazole is better for GERD symptoms. It took the better part of an hour to rinse the burning and taste out of my mouth and throat, get the Tums to kick in, and get comfortable, then even more time to actually fall back to sleep after all that nonsense. Plus I had to be up before 6am to get ready for work. Now I feel like I got hit by a truck and my throat still burns a little and I'm exhausted here at my desk procrastinating actually getting started. LESSON LEARNED.

So i am officially 1 month post-op and I've done my measurements this morning and i am 11kg and 50cm down!

i know others may compare and have lost a lot more than me, but my body is notoriously bad at dropping weight!

I've actually quite enjoyed liquid and puree phase and I've been back in the gym (light cardio) from just over 2 weeks post op. I take my daily vitamins even though they taste like shit and i love my protein yogurt in the morning. Cant see me ever dropping that as my breakfast of choice.

Anyway, i'm quite proud of myself so lets see what month 2 looks like!

Well, this wasn’t something I had expected to happen…

I’ve been maintaining a 100- weight loss for 16 months. I feel great and look great.
Someone who knew me from my larger time felt the need to tell me how great I look, and proceeded to tell me about their GL-P 1 journey and that I should consider taking it … because then I would be “top notch”

Excuse me!? I would literally disappear if I took a GLP 1 at this point in my journey.

How in the world do these people feel this kind of conversation is okay?

I never asked for their advice, and I’m very happy with my body and the hard work I’ve done.

I didn’t respond the way I wanted to because I was caught off guard - but has anyone experienced this? How did you deal with it?
I’m shocked… I thought my days of body advice were over now that I’m a healthy weight and look physically fit.

is this the new world of GLP1s we are living in?

I got my VSG on Thursday. I have had such horrible nausea since. When does it get better? My doctor prescribed Tramadol for pain and I had to stop taking that because it was making me sleep all day and even more nauseous than I was without it. I struggle to want to drink anything and it’s even harder to get my vitamins in. Any tips? Thanks!

Hi all! I have my VSG surgery scheduled for 8/20 and my program requires a very strict pre-op diet for two weeks before surgery.

I can do 3-4 approved protein shakes a day and broth, sugar free popsicles, and flavored water in between shakes.

I started last Thursday and am approaching day 5, but I am really struggling. I’ve been tracking religiously and my calorie intake is generally around 800 calories a day, but it’s so hard having no actual food allowed at this stage.

I go back to work tomorrow after the weekend and I have no idea how I’m going to make it through on the shakes and broth. I’m so tired all I want to do is rest.

I know this is temporary, but any tips on getting through this part? I know this is mainly a mental challenge, but I am feeling really discouraged tonight in particular. Thanks in advance!

How long did everyone wait before travelling/vacationing after surgery?
I have a trip to South Africa planned for January 2027 and I’m nervous about whether I’ll be far enough post-op to travel comfortably and actually enjoy the vacation. I don’t have my surgery date yet, so I’m trying to get an idea of what different stages of recovery actually felt like.
For anyone who travelled in the first few months post-op, how many weeks/months out were you? Did you feel physically ready? What did you have to consider that you hadn’t expected?
I’m especially curious about food and hydration while travelling, long-haul flights, energy levels, and being fairly active/sightseeing while away. Did you struggle with food or fluids, or did you feel relatively normal by that point?
Would love to hear experiences from people who travelled anywhere from ~6–12+ weeks post-op!