My name is Nell, I had my Sleeve done on Feb.12, 2014. It's the day I got my life back. I was a what I call the death cocktail of medications-at 48 years old, I was MUCH to young to take so much! I was on 60 units a day of insulin, 1.8 Victoza, 2000mg metformin, lisinopril 10mg for the kidneys, levoxyl to jump start my thyroid, and vitamin D 2000mg. I am happy to say I am totally off everything! As of this morning, I am 90lbs down. My HbA1c was 6.6-but my Dr said not to worry as that is without meds and it's coming down from the 7.7 with ALL the meds-she feels it'll be in the normal range by my next lab work in the fall as my body adjusts to the new me.

Happy to meet you all-can't wait to hear and learn more from all of you!

Hello to All, my name is Cheryl and I had gastric bypass surgery a year ago. I have lost 125 pounds as of today and I still need to drop another 40. It has been a long road to get to this point but I am happy that I followed thru with my surgery. I had tried so many diets like most of you with never achieving any success. My biggest fear right now is not getting the last 40 pounds off. I am wondering if anyone else feels the same way who are now a year out from surgery. I am also still lossing lots of hair. I take all my bariatric vitamins, plus calcium and extra vitamin D and have been taking 4,000 mg of Biotin each day and still hair loss. I am now getting really concerned. If you have any thoughts as to what else I can do please let me know. I am getting desperate.
Thanks folks.

Hi, my name is Nichole. I am on the road to RNY bypass. My surgery will be between Feb-may.
I live with a great deal of pain and have lost a total of 30lbs since November of 2013, but things have s..l..o..w..e..d.. down quite a bit with the weight loss, despite the effort I am still putting forth. I finally broke down and decided that surgery was the only option for me, but I am seriously TERRIFIED. I just need to be here; where other people have already been through the surgery.

Hi, my name is Robin. My user name on MyFitnessPal is Shph219. I have tried to change that but I have not been able to. My You Tube name and FaceBook name is Robins.RNY.Mission. I had RNY Gastric Bypass surgery on 12/10/14 by Dr. Dang at St. Mary's Medical Center in Hobart, Indiana. I have been extremely obese most of my adult life. I was not overweight growing up. In high school I was normal or average size, I was active, I was a cheerleader and in the school plays. Once I had my first child I gain weight, and I gained it fast. I would yo yo diet but could never keep it off. By highest weight recorded was on 4/1/14, I was 242.8 lbs. being only 5 foot tall that is a BMI of 47. I had Gerd, high blood pressure and pain in my feet, back and knees. I don't want to hurt any more. I want to be healthy. I am 48 years old now and I want to live to see my granddaughters grow up.
my current weight is 196.5.

Hi, My name is KayC (say K-C). I have always struggled with weight my entire life. I am 28years old, and I have been married for almost 10 years. My husband is extremely supportive, and loving. in May it will have been 2 years since we adopted (from birth) Our amazing little miracle baby boy. In December 2014 I had gastric sleeve surgery at Virginia Mason hospital in Seattle. I have lost 40lbs (as of Feb 9th 15) and I am feeling great. I am learning through my nutritionist that I only need 800-1000 calories a day which was news to me- totally thought I was supposed to be shooting for more. Life is so interesting! :-) MFP has helped me so much this past month and I am excited to continue using it.

Hello My name is Tammy. I never had a serious problem with weight until I was in my 30's. A year after my second child was born I started slowly putting on weight. I went from 145 pounds to 337 pounds over a 19 year period. That's averaging 10.10 pounds per year. You think 10 pounds a year isn't very much. But it sneaks up on you.

I had always been very healthy and active. But with 2 kids and 2 jobs, a husband to take care of; I got to where I just didn't take time for myself. We were very busy. But not the kind of busy that keeps you healthy. I always took time to make good healthy dinners for my family. It was important to me that my kids did not grow up on fast food. But I wound up skippping meals. You know, not starting my day with a good breakfast. Skipping lunch. By the time we got home from all the after school activities sometimes it would be after 9pm before we sat down to eat our supper. As a result I developed diabetes. I suffer from sleep apnea. I wound up not being able to walk through my house without being out of breath. I would never go shopping with my ladies group from church just because I wasn't able to do the walking. I couldn't sweep and mop the floors in my house without feeling like I was going to pass out. In 2008 I had quit my job because I was having so much trouble with my back. Suffered from drepression. There is more but this in of itself is enough.

I finally decided to let go of my fear and have the gastric by-pass. No matter how hard I had tried to lose weight even being monitored by my doctor, I would put on weight. One month while on a 1200 calorie "diabetic diet" I gained 25 pounds and that was following the diet to the letter. Scared me to death. On August 21, 2014 I had my surgery. I can happily say that I have now lost a total of 60 pounds so far. For the first time in 19 years I am actually going down in weight instead of up. I can finally breath again without pain. I don't have near the amount of pain I had in my chest, legs, back and feet. It is wonderful. I have a ways to go still. But the improvement is amazing. I am now able to take my dogs for a walk around the neighbor. A year ago I couldn't do that.

I am in my 50's now. And I can't wait to see the adventures I have before me now.

Hair loss is a normal result of the biological changes in your body. I was warned my hair would start to "thin" anywhere from 2 - 6 months following surgery and would continue until the body was able to maintain a healthy balance of proteins. At about 5 or 6 months mine started coming out. My thick head of hair became thinner. So I cut it and prayed. Took about 6 months, right on target, my hair stopped thinning. Protein is essential for WLS patients. (although everything else is too) Our bodies are different now. We digest differently, we absorb differently. My nutritionist put me on 70mg of protein daily, absolutely to not drop below 50mg daily. Um...it does. My fault. I have a really difficult time absorbing vitamins of any kind, so mine is a bit more extreme for my limits.

It sounds like Folicure is a great product, but if you don't treat the cause, it's always going to be there. I may try it to see if I can get some more thickness back. I miss my thick hair!!!! Thanks for sharing.

Hello everyone!
I had gastric bypass surgery in April of 2013, so I'm just over 2 years out. My surgery weight was 238# but I had been up as high as 265# at one point in my life. I lost most of my weight in the first 9 months after surgery and maintained between 136-140# for about a year. Within the last month I gained 8# and I'm now 146-ish. I have decided that I need to get back on track with my eating and get my head on straight so I am looking for all the support I can get.

Hi, I my name is Angie Lawrence and I am schedules for Surgery on Dec 22nd, 2015.

Hey y'all! I'm Erin, I had RNY on Jan 13, 2012. I lost 160 lbs and kept most of it off, but have recently regained about 40 lbs, so I'm trying to get that back off before it invites some friends. I'm enjoying my usual active lifestyle and just making some tweaks to my eating habits now. It's good to have an extra tool in my arsenal.

In my spare time, I'm an amateur pin-up model, obsessive dog person, and bride-to-be (September 18). I'm always looking for new friends. Hit me up if you're a like-minded individual!

Hi, I'm Ken. I'm currently going through the pre-surgery process (having the sleeve done). My initial visit weigh in was 389. I was given a pre-surgery weight loss goal of 350. I'm currently down to 361 with 5 weeks remaining on my goal deadline.

I'm excited and also a bit scared as I have seen the downsides of the surgery with my ex-wife that had the RNY. Never having surgery (other than tonsillectomy as a young child) before doesn't help the fear part. Though I have some fear I soldier on to make it to my pre-surgery goal. Im doing this to become healthier and live a more enjoyable life without the physical pain that comes with being morbidly obese.

My name is Karrie. I had the sleeve gastrectomy Nov 15, 2016. My highest weight was 268.8, and I am 5 foot tall. I lost weight with MFP in the year I had to wait for insurance to clear me for surgery. Day of surgery I was 255.5. I am close to 5 months out and I am 189.5 today. The snowbirds returning to church after being gone since my surgery have been amazed by the difference. I still can't see it when I look in the mirror and I wonder if I am crazy. I was a size 24 day of and bought a 14 misses dress for Easter. I can see when my clothes are getting baggy, but when I look at my body I do not see the transformation. I am sure some day it will hit me. My goal weight range is 130-140 even though I would still be considered overweight on the bmi scale. I aim to get 30 minutes of exercise a day, a lot of walking or doing wii fit. I get minimum 60 gms protein and that typically puts me around 1000 calories.

Current weight: 326 (highest recorded), BMI 56

Goal weight: 145-155 (I don't know what will look healthy on me - always been heavy)

Height: Shrunk from 5'5" to current at 5'4" (spine degeneration)

Surgery date: October 22, 2018

Surgery type: Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

Clothing sizes: Tops, 3X-5X (depending where I buy from); Pants 26W-30W/4X-5X (also depends where I buy from); Shoes 8.5W-9.5W women's US

Medical issues: sleep apnea, hypothyroid, pre-diabetic, chronic migraines, chronic back and knee pain, THREE knee surgeries, degenerative joint and disc disease, fibromyalgia, gout, arthritis, reflux, recurring insomnia, major depressive disorder (mild), anxiety

I just joined MFP yesterday and am prepping for VSG on October 22nd!! I got my new Garmin tracker yesterday at my pre-op education classes, so I'm off and "running" so to speak. (Except that I had knee surgery a few months ago and am just trying to get back into walking without pain)
Hoping to find like-minded people getting ready to go through this process, as well as people who have already taken the plunge! Can use all the support I can get
Currently living in the Midwest (SW Chicagoland area), so if you are near me...give a shout out!

Hi everyone. I can see the group is not that active so I hope someone sees this! I'm having surgery on the 13th August and I'm completely starting to freak out! Anyone else in the same boat?

Hello, my name is Kristi. I am having gastric bypass on Aug 17th 2020. I started this journey at 403. At my last weigh in I was 396. I go for my next weekly weigh in tomorrow. I am an emotion eater, but through intensive and specific type of therapy I am feeling like I am in control of my eating more than ever before. I just lost my stepdad a week ago and through all that stress I didn't go overboard a single time. I use a support system of people to help me through the tough times when I want to eat. My doctors goal for me is 150. I am shooting for 175 to 185. Would love to talk with someone who is around 5'5 and started their journey around 400lbs. Have a blessed day!