Some friendly advice from someone who is (almost) 2 years out.

Hey guys.

I had surgery on Sept 1^st, 2015. It has been a long, very long 2 years. My SW was 330 LBS. I was able to lose 100 lbs by myself, but ended up gaining back to 259 before my surgery.

Do I regret my decision? Absolutely not. I weight 140 lbs right now and in less than a month I will be going through plastics. (belt, boobs, butt) I look amazing, I am 90% happy. But I want to also be super real with everyone here.

Here goes nothing.

You are going to immediately regret your decision, but it gets better.

The first few weeks are hard and I have coached a few people through them because they felt like they had just made a huge mistake. So did I, but we didn't. These emotions are real and common. The first few weeks are just hard. Keep your chin up.

If you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.

Yeah, I know that sounds lame, but its true. Many of the people I connected with prior to surgery have experienced a large amount of retain. Why? You are 6 months out and you eat a hamburger because it tastes delicious. You think, well, I am still losing. The issue is you are absorbing so little that you just fueled your body with crap. You will, over time, become loose with the rules. You will think you know best because you have lost a lot of weight. This will lead to a massive slowdown in weight loss and eventually you will regain. Follow the plan. From my group, there are only 3 of us that haven't had regain and its' because we work for it.

Work to keep it or stand to lose it.

Start to resolve your food issues now.

Do you stress eat? I know I do! When I stress eat, I gain. I have had to learn different ways to cope with stress because it is an instinct and patter from years of doing it. I don't actually think it will ever go away so I work at it every day!

Skin. You may feel just as bad about yourself post rny.

Lots of skin, lots and lots of skin. I am talking, I could cloth a whole other human with my excess skin. I feel lumpy and gross, but I am healthy so that's what I tell myself when pants don't fit because my hips are large due to the skin. Fitting into clothing is still tricky. Mentally prep yourself.

Okay and my biggest suggestion, be sure that this is the right solution for you and that you have gone through everything first.

I have always had a low heart rate. I workout, I eat well, I stress eat but I should never have been the size I was. I used to fight, I played roller derby. I was an active woman but my Dr. said that I had been heavy for so long, my body refused to lose weight.

There was no reason when I was a kid for my weight either. I was ALWAYS active. But teasing about my size led to stess eating that led to further weight gain.

Turns out, no one EVER tested my thyroid. If they had, they would have seen that was the issue. I am 33 years old, I was a chubby kid and really started gaining weight at puberty. NO ONE EVER TESTED MY THIROID. I had countless, COUNTLESS Dr. apts about my weight while growing up. It was all, eat healthy and exercise.

I was then told that surgery was my only option. This went on for 10 years until I caved and did it. Surgery should never have been an option for me. Had my Dr., or any Dr for that matter tested my thyroid. . .

So, there is my advice. See, wasn't that bad! If you want to see my before / after shots. Or, if you want to creep my surgery results you can peek at my insta account. Warning, it is mostly todder images, but lots of body shots in there for you to see. Ton's to come. June 8^th is my surgery date. Wish me luck!

Instagram: Unprotectedtext.

Also, if you need encouragement, feel free to message me there! I would be happy to chat.

Good luck! You're gonna do great!

They tested my thyroid. It was sluggish and I take medicine to balance it. I lost five pounds once it was normal. I still needed surgery.

That is great!

For me, I would not have. Mine is that low. Everyone is different. It is, however, a huge shock to find this all out post surgery.

Mine was really super low too, and it took a year to get it balanced, and a doctor that believed in me and the newer standards for numbers.

After that, I lost maybe 10 pounds, which I gained back in no time...

I wish my thyroid would have fixed the weight loss issues, but alas it didn't.

It IS very important though to have that checked with any weird symptoms, and to know that a 'normal' scale doesn't mean it's normal for you. Even though I was super low, no matter which scale was used, or how it was interpreted, there are ranges that some doctors ignore when they shouldn't.

Glad you have been so successful! Some great advice in there that I'm still trying to master.

Thanks for letting me know it took years. I am just at the beginning of the process so it is great to keep that in mind. :)

They actually caught mine because my resting heart rate is between 43 - 53 haha. Yikes!

I still read advice from people that have been post rny for years. It helps keep me on track, inspired and happy.

I am shocked your thyroid was never tested. For me, it is part of my annual physical, so I get thyroid results every single year.

I also have a very low RHR - between 40-54 generally. But my thyroid level is withing normal ranges.

Oh, that is super interesting! I am going to the cardiologist now. I ended up in the hospital, I just always thought it was normal

You might be one of the people who knows how annoying it is to stay in the hospital and have the heart monitor alarms go off all night. Haha. UGH.

It's annoying to stay in the hospital regardless! I swear, some machine is always beeping and driving me crazy. In my opinion, the hospital is the absolute worse place to rest and recover. A necessary evil indeed, as we need the medical attention, but I can never wait to get home!

Same for me. Personally, I do not know anyone who was morbidly obese who got down to a normal weight after taking thyroid medication.

I absolutely agree. My frustration really comes from not being tested even before that occurred. This is fresh for me, I am trying not to live in the past but I was at the Dr. with weight concerns from a very young age.