Hi. My name is Bob. I had the RNY on March 2, 2009. I went from 340 the day of surgery, to a low weight of 235. Slowly but surely, my weight has crept back up as of late. I am going to start walking more, bike riding in warmer weather, and getting my caloric intake back in line, byy using MFP to log my food. If anyone wants to friend me, or talk, let me know!

Hi my name is Molly. I'm 25 years old and I had the VSG done on Feb. 20, 2014. I was overweight in high school, but my weight gain really got out of control in college. I went crazy with food and I gained the freshman 15 and then never stopped. I also struggled with some mental health problems that got really bad when I was about 20. That coupled with my hypothyroidism really didn't help with my weight issues. Then I got married at 23 and put on the "newlywed nine" and then some. Fast forward to September 2013, I finally decided enough was enough, and I started to get serious about weight loss surgery. So that's how I got to where I am today!

Hello All,

My name is Ian, I am a 29yr old father of 2. I am also (somewhat ironically) employed as a health researcher, specifically obesity. I have a PhD in Kinesiology and public health. yet here I am, morbidly obese, fighting the cycle of attempted weight loss and regain. Last year I was not feeling well, very tired, no energy, unmotivated, and just not feeling good. At one point I seriously felt as if I was dying. I went to the doctor for a check up, was diagnosed with hypertension and had a long chat about my weight. I have essentially maintained my weight and have, for the most part, gotten that feeling of dying under control. I however still need to do more to get to where I need to be.

I have registered for a consult for WLS here in Canada, it will likely be 6 months before I even get a call back to come in for a consult and could be up to 2 years for the actual surgery, but I am looking for support and info from people who have experienced WLS.

Feel free to check out my profile and add me as a friend.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Sandy and I had gastric sleeve in November 2012, I have lost 160 pounds and still have 40 lbs left to I feel successful and satisfied. The last 4 months have been a struggle to lose anymore let alone remain eating healthy. Other than my bmi being 64% and sleep apnea ( dia pre surgery) I would say I was an overall healthy 379 pounds. Who am I kidding the surgery saved my life. I was just diag with stage 1 thickening of the heart wall, acid reflux and had several biopsies and a surgery of my left breast, hypercalcemia, about 3 weeks ago I was diag with lupus. My life and my body are a mess and I am on this roller coaster and want to get off. I have 3 do not eat food lists and trying to find a happy medium is going to be a chore. Over the last 14 months all I knew was protein, protein, protein, and now I have to change it. I have a plan and would like a little extra support from you guys. No one seems to understand unless they have been through our journey. We can beat this evil addiction and become successful loving and living life.

Hello! I was sleeved on 1/27. I have had no complications (YAY!). I am eating between 600 and 800 cals per day (usually closer to the 800 end of things). Lately, I have been more hungry-- especially since I geared up my workouts, so I have had a few days when I ate 1000 cals-- always just protein and veg., though. I workout every day. I do strength training Mon & Fri, Bikram yoga Tues & Thurs, and various forms of cardio Wed. (45 min), Sat.(60 min), and Sunday (30-45 min).

For right now, I am religiously sticking to the nutritional guidelines, but I have to be honest-- I have seen sooooooo many posts about regain.... I know-- it is silly to be worried about regain when I am only 2 months out from surgery, but it still is disconcerting. It seems so easy to go back to old habits... so far that has not been an issue, but I am still such a newbie.

Anyway, I have lost almost 35 pounds since my surgery, and overall I am feeling good. Looking forward to being a part of this community.

Hi, my name is Mandy. I am at the begininning of my WLS journey, last night I attended the first seminar and was given my target weight loss to be considered for surgery. I suppose I am not as large as some people who are starting this journey with me (today I am 210Lbs and am 5'3" tall) my BMI is 35.6, but, I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and am also being investigated for cardiac problems. For me, it is the need to be healthy and not necessarily 'thin' that is spurring me on. I have been a yo-yo dieter since my mid 20's and at the moment can not get below 12 stone. I lose then gain, lose then gain...........

But not any more, last night they asked for commitment, well I've got that in spades..............this time

Hi Mandy! Love the attitude. I too am walking this journey to be healthy rather than "thin", although I will admit that the smaller I get, the more I like what I see in the mirror! It's a great bonus! Good luck with the approval process and working to surgery. Getting sleeved is the best thing I ever did for myself!

Hi, my name is Mandy. I am at the begininning of my WLS journey, last night I attended the first seminar and was given my target weight loss to be considered for surgery. I suppose I am not as large as some people who are starting this journey with me (today I am 210Lbs and am 5'3" tall) my BMI is 35.6, but, I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and am also being investigated for cardiac problems. For me, it is the need to be healthy and not necessarily 'thin' that is spurring me on. I have been a yo-yo dieter since my mid 20's and at the moment can not get below 12 stone. I lose then gain, lose then gain...........

But not any more, last night they asked for commitment, well I've got that in spades..............this time

Welcome to the group!! This journey is so worth the improvements to your health. I wish you the best on your journey.

Hello is Sara. I had RNY 06/09 and a candy cane stomach and colon revision in 11/13. I am working on reaching my goal of 120 on my doctor's scale which will be 110 on mine. I am currently taking meds. for Bipolar Disorder, OCD, Anxiety, Borderline Personality and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which causes me to battle with scale. Sites such as Myfitnesspal and ObesityHelp allow me to free myself and be honest about myself since I hide my surgery and diagnosis from the world-only a few people know what all I am dealing with inside. Thank you for allowing me to be myself.

I'm not sure I'm posting this correctly...if not, HELP! LOL

My name is Letrell. I had RNY in June 2009. Just approaching my 5 year mark.

I reached goal of 135 at the 18 month mark and was just the healthiest I've ever been. Followed the diet to perfection...measuring, weighing, pureeing, you know the drill. I never cheated even one time. As a result, my pouch never grew. It's still at about 2 oz. Most frustrating. I've gone from being the poster child of success to being at risk of and battling malnutrition.

I don't t absorb vitamins and eating makes me sick...literally. I eat and have to lay down for 20 - 30 minutes after I dump. I'm so tired of it. Last May I collapsed...my arms and legs were paralyzed. I was diagnosed with hypokalemia and spent some time in the hosp with a potassium IV. Felt great when I was released!!!! But it's still a problem and along with 10 vitamins, 75 extra g of protein, fiber, I take liquid potassium in large quantities.

I decided I have to fix me myself. The specialists don't know what to do but they try. And it's appreciated. But now it's my turn to try.

This is my first step. I look forward to using MFP to track activities and food...enabling me to see what I am doing and how I need to modify things and EAT!!! I gotta eat.

I'm hoping to be able to exercize...for me it's a catch 22. I need to build muscle mass but when I exercize I burn valuable calories and fat!!!!

What a ride this will be!!!!

Hi! I had VSG Dec 2013 with a goal of losing 250 pounds. I've lost 97 pounds so far. I feel very blessed to be given the opportunity to have this surgery. Before surgery I could barely walk a block without getting out needing to rest................today I can walk almost 1 1/2 miles without needing a break. I am very grateful for the opportunity to regain my health and mobility.

My name is Heather. I had VSG on December 2, 2013. I think I am a bit of a slow loser, but I am creeping my way to goal! HW: 220 SW: 207 CW: 161.2

Hi Heather!! Congrats on your weight loss!! I also think I'm a slow loser, but the important thing is that it is coming off.

oops. sorry, I'm urban amish

Hello, my name is Kathy. I am in the approval stage right now and have decided to have the gastric sleeve..I have been obese all my life. Have lost weight Many-times just to gain it back. I am 54 and hope this tool will be my answer. I work a physical job and my husband is disabled so on my off days of work I sit all day. Just looking to get in site to what it is really like after surgery and support as I start this journey.

Hi all! Today is my first day of posting at MFP and I'm very glad to be here. I'm just getting back into a healthy routine and I look forward to using MFP, as well as ObesityHelp, to share my story and my progress, and to learn from others.

My Story: I'm 62 years old, married, with 2 grown sons, and a career in education. I had RNY surgery Nov. 2010 at Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia. I was 59 yrs old. I'm 5' 7" and large boned (really --my 2 brothers played college football at offensive tackle). When I got married in 1980 I weighed 155 and I felt great at that weight. I reached my highest weight of 280 in May 2010. At surgery my weight was 260. My lowest post-surgery weight was 182 in September 2011, 10 months later. That's a total loss of 98 lb from HW; 78 lb from surgery. I still had more to lose, but I never got there. Instead I got complacent. And ignored the signs I was regaining.

I plateaued around 182 for about a year, and felt pretty good. I really enjoyed cooking during this period, and enjoyed eating good food. I also kept up a moderate amount of exercise -- walked 2-2.5 miles 3 times a week, but I began to eat whatever I wanted and I didn't think about the protein-carb-fat proportions. I got really complacent.... I thought I'd maintain easily, I exercised less, ate more freely, and I began to consume larger amounts of those dreaded carbs -- saltines, Ritz, breads, even Cheez-its, all "slider foods," and began to drink with my meals -- not only water and diet drinks, but wine. I began to drink too much white wine, not only with dinner, but before dinner, too. Some days I'd drink several glasses. Stopped weighing myself regularly. And rarely exercised. I stopped paying attention, I was evading the signs, I was in denial!

So it's no surprise that over the past year and a half, from Nov. 2012 to June 2014, I gained back 38 lbs., from 182 up to 220. Not all the way to 280, thank goodness, but enough to WAKE ME UP. And commit myself to change and get back on track!

Now I've discovered from reading these boards that what happened to me is not such an unusual pattern. Why didn't I know that or guard against it? In part because I was isolated from others; even more because I was in denial. But over the past week, since I've been reading the boards at MFP and ObesityHelp, and doing the 5 day pouch test, I've gotten motivated again and I am getting back on track!

It's a week now -- I've done the 5 day pouch test and 2 days of hi protein eating, drinking water, no wine, and 45-60 minutes of walking every day -- and I'm down 4 pounds. I feel so much better already. I know I've got a long way to go to prove my commitment, but I'm really hopeful I've found the tools I need: these boards, the communities on them, and the pouch. Lol.

For those of you who have thought about the "5 day pouch test" but haven't done it, I think it's a valuable tool. It can really help you to restart your weight loss after a gain -- mostly because it helps you get over the carb cravings, focuses your eating on proteins, and gets you back in touch with feelings of tightness from your pouch. 5 day pouch restarter! It's a tool that can help restart your commitment, but of course WE have to follow through. That's why I'm here!

I'm inspired and motivated and grateful to all who have shared their stories on these boards. I'm back on track and I'm going to stick to this! I want to reach my goal of 170 by November 2015, which will be my 5-year surgiversary. I know now the importance of a hi protein diet, drinking water but not with meals, exercising, recording it all EVERY DAY on MFP, and gaining a sense of support, community, and inspiration from others who are on the same path. Feel free to friend me.

280 HW 6/1/2010
260 SW 11/1/2010
182 LW 10/1/2011

Regain
220 6/25/2014
Restart
216 7/2/2014

Goal: 170

Thanks for reading my post!

A backslide that entails me consuming way more refined sugar than I ever did pre-op, not measuring my food, not counting my macro nutrients, and definitely eating a diet that consists of carbs and fat over protein.

I know what I need to do. I need to correct everything I just mentioned. This as we all know, will be difficult. We've all been there, some are here now, whereas others may have been there a few months ago. They say it takes 21 days to make a new habit. Well day 1 begins again today.

I'll be 30 around the holidays this year and I want to ring in my new decade at my goal weight! 40lbs to go and the clock starts NOW!

Okay, good luck to you! You're still young, so losing and keeping the weight off will mean so much for a very long time. I'd suggest that you think about the 5 day pouch test. It's not just for RNY. It can really reduce the cravings for carbs and sugar, and get you kick-started in 5 days. As you said, if you can keep your focus on exercise and the other essentials, you'll be well on your way with new habits and lbs. lost in 21 days. Here's to reaching your goal by age 30!