I haven't posted on here in many years, but I recall enjoying reading posts from those who were quite far out from surgery.

I had the DS in March 2009. My high weight was 304, my surgery weight was 284. I'm 5'4". I was a size 28 at surgery.

Over the next 18 months, I went to 140 pounds and stayed there for a year or two. For me, that was a size 6. In the next couple years after that, I tended to bounce around between 150-155, a size 10. That brought me through 2013.

In 2014, I had my first child. After pregnancy, I was about 165-175. In 2016, I had my second child. I found myself unhappy in my marriage and overwhelmed working and caring for two small kids. I found myself turning to food again and just eating like crap. My weight went up to 195-200 and I was again a size 18/20. That was 2017-2018.

I got divorced and was determined not to be fat anymore. I cut out all junky carbs. I only ate when I was hungry, and if I was hungry, I did eat, but stopped eating two hours before bed. No eating in the middle of the night. I did have carbs in that I had 2 - 3 servings of fruit/day, always paired with a protein. Just no junky carbs. I lost 25 pounds the first month, 15 pounds the second month, and another ten pounds or so in the next month. That was 8 years post-op, so, yes - the DS will always "work!" You'll always have an advantage compared to how hard it was to lose weight before the DS. Over the next six months, I lost another ten pounds, when I got a fairly "physical" job (I deliver the mail). That was five years ago, and I still have that job.

I easily maintain my weight of 140. I fluctuate between 137 - 143. If I find my weight going up towards 143, I jus****ch what I eat more for the next 2 weeks and it comes right off.

I still don't eat a lot of junky carbs but I'm not super strict with it either. Probably 2-3 days/week when I am with my boyfriend, I eat super healthy because I don't want to be gassy, but that also helps to keep the weight off. The other days of the week, I'm more relaxed with what I eat.

I had a fleur-de-lis with a circumferential belt lipectomy in 2023. I chose the fleur-de-lis portion due to the amount of vertical laxity. It cost $18,500.

Unfortunately, the surgeon did not remove sufficient excess skin around my torso. Once laying down, it slid off to the sides so much that it was deceptive in looking flat until I stood up. He waived his fee to revise, though I had to pay $1200 for the at cost fees for anesthesia and the in-house OR room.

Since I was going under again, I also chose to have my "saddle bags" removed so that if I wear leggings or a tight dress, I have a smooth line. That cost another $6,000.

While I wish my torso was a touch flatter, I'm happy enough with the results. Fortunately, my breasts faired really well through my weight journey since I am a naturally small breasted woman and I tended to be the "pair" shape when heavy so they weren't proportionately as big as one might have expected while heavy. I'm now a size 4-6, though usually a six.

I gained a substantial amount of weight by the time I was 15. Had the DS when I was 32, and I'm now 47.

So that's my weight loss, gain, loss, and plastics journey!

Thank you!  I hope you're doing good as well!

Thank you!!  You're absolutely right.  It's a good point to remind ourselves when things go wrong - at the end of the day, all of our experiences shape who we are and oftentimes the end result is pretty sweet.  If life didn't have it's "down" times, I wouldn't appreciate my "good" times for what they are.  Take care~

Thank you so much!  I really like your pic :)  Me Want Cookies!!!

Thank you so much!  I hope all is going well in your post-DS journey :)

I cannot believe that 5 years ago, yesterday, I had the DS.  It has definitely been a life-changing experience.  No regrets!!!  I cannot emphasize that enough.  N-O R-E-G-R-E-T-S.  Yes, sometimes I have bad gas b/c I've eaten things knowing that is the end product and chose to do so - that's okay.  You choose when to do so and when not . . . and learn that some things are just not worth the painful bloating. 

I had surgery with a BMI of 48, and for the past year, year and a half, I've been hovering around a BMI of 26 - 27.  While I would like to be a little thinner, I know that if I really, really, really want that, then I can simply choose to stop eating 150gms of carbs/ day.  I make my choice, and at the end of the day, I'm pretty happy with being able to eat pretty much what I want and staying around a size 12.

That is, except for now, because I'm PREGNANT!!  I'm now 20 weeks along and things are going splendidly.  My little girl (yes, it's a girl!) is measuring and weighing about a week ahead of schedule.  I'm up about 8 pounds, and for my pre-pregnancy weight, that's a healthy gain.  Thanks to my DS, I'm not nearly as afraid of gaining weight b/c I know it will help me to lose it . . . along with breast feeding.

Weight loss surgery aside, my bout of lymphoma has stayed a thing of the past and has also helped to put life in perspective.  Life may not be perfect, but life is good!  I was also told that, due to the fact that I was in my mid-30's when I had chemo and that I stopped menstruating for 5 months, that it would be very unlikely that I would be able to conceive.  HAH.  My little one is my little miracle.

LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do think it's likely that I would never had met my wonderful husband if I hadn't had the DS.  It's not just a question of if he would have dated me at my old weight.  It's also that my perception of myself and level of confidence changed b/c of my new body image, reinforced by how differently the world treated me.  I went through a period in which I really resented that, thinking, "Am I really so different?", "Why didn't people treat me like this before?"  Yes, I still think a lot of it does simply have to do with physical appearance, but reality is - *I* am a different person as well.  I interact with people differently.  I'm pretty at peace with that.

Yes, I still have loose skin, but when I weigh the point of happiness I have in my current life against the health risk of an optional surgery, especially given a new perspective of how precious life is after beating cancer, I just can't justify the risk.  Each time I do, I think of Mickey.  I'm not sure how many here now knew her, but she ultimately did not make it out of an elective surgery and back home to her family and her two little girls.  I'm healthy and happy and if I forever have a couple of small rolls of fat that will be there no matter how thin I am, well so be it.

Life is good and I'm happy, healthy, thankful for the life the DS has undeniably helped to bring me, and so looking forward to being a mommy.

Kudos to you!!!

Thank you!  Do you remember how much you took?

Egg salad or heavy mayo tuna salad.  Make it in a big enough batch to last you 3 days. 

If you have a little more time to cook on the weekend, you can put a chicken in the slow cooker on high for 2.5 - 3 hours.  Take out, let cool, put some water in a big soup pot along with the drippings from the turkey and throw in a bunch of frozen vegetables.  Shred/ cut chicken - this takes me about 30 minutes.  Put seasonings in to taste and let boil for a couple of hours, stirring once every 15 minutes or so on med heat (you want a slow boil with a non-stick soup pot).  Get a bunch of single-serving size tupperware dishes and freeze individually.  Take out as needed.  This makes me about 15 cups of soup.  High protein, high veggie = very nutritious, cheap, and yummy.  Tip:  for the drippings, put in the freezer for about 45 minutes to let the fat rise to the surface and congeal.  Then skim it off.  I know that we don't absorb a lot of fat and I typically don't care about it, but in my opinion, the soup tastes better with less fat.  I've made this dozens of times.

I'm sorry to hear about this - may God bless you and hold you through this time.  If you should have colon cancer, I would seek out the cancer unit's "quality of life center".  They might have it under a different name, but this is typically where social workers are.  They can assess your life and financial needs and point you to the right resources within the community (more life-support oriented) and online, such as patient assistance programs.

2 eggs, 2 oz cheese

lots of coffee, lots of heavy whipping cream :)  less splenda

3 oz chicken breast

7 oz beef, tomatoes, spaghetti squash (1/3 cup)

1 protein bar (10 gm protein, 9 gm carbs)

4 servings peanuts

I've now lost 3/4 inch from my waist & 1.25 inches from my abdomen in past 11 days.  Yea!!!!!  Down 5.8 pounds

I've missed a couple of days of posts, but was crazy busy between working two jobs & planning one quick wedding.  I've got about two minutes right now . . .

Update:  I lost 4.8 pounds this past week.  I know some the first week is always water weight, but I still call that factory.  My clothes that were a wee bit tight last week now fit perfectly.

Had a lot of coffee with a lot of heavy cream & splenda

Throughout today, I've had about 1 pound of beef mixed with 1/3 can of manwich & half & half.

Had 2 eggs today & 2 servings of cheese

Will likely have some other protein snack before bed.