Bariatric Patients Here!

[Leoakie86]

Hi all.

My name is Lauren and I had lap band surgery on 1/30/15. My starting weight was 215 and I am 5'2" so that is huge for someone my stature. On 3/14/15 I am officially 19 lbs down. I just started using my fitbit this week and have lost 3 lbs just by tracking my steps and calories everyday. I make sure to at least get 10k steps in (this includes gym workout steps) and I am tracking EVERYTHING I put into my body through MyFitnessPal. Fitbit and MyFitnessPal syncing together has made it a lot easier this week.

Anyway, I am far from my goal weight of 140lbs but I wanted to reach out via the fitbit community to see what other bariatric patients are doing, how they are utilizing the fitbit, any struggles,  etc... It's a much different weight loss approach than someone without bariatric surgery on what you can and can't eat I've learned, so it would be nice to have some support. And the biggest misconception people have is that "Of course you can lose weight if you have lap band that makes it easy," hell no people. You still have to work your ass off.

Hope to connect with some great people through here!

[BarbaraForcebit · Accepted solution]

Hi Lauren!

Congratulations on your 19lb weight loss!  I had gastric bypass surgery back in 2003.  I'm 5'1 and I weighed 321lb.  It took me about 2 years to slowly get down to 115lb.  I had some health problems and I was in bed and to make a long story short went back up to 140.  I started using the Fitbit about 5 days ago and I have lost 2lbs.  I have kept most of my weight off under 130lbs for about 13 years.

I would like to friend you if you wouldn't mind.  I'd also like to support you and you me in our weight loss journeys.  I want to get from 137 to 120.  I have 17lbs to lose.

I am so proud of you.  I hope to hear from you soon.  My email address is barbararooney5@gmail.com.  I'm also on facebook with that same email address!

Barbara Rooney 🙂

[Leoakie86]

Thanks Barb! I would love to connect. I am on vacation this week and really trying to not gain. I can't really splurge like I did before but it's nice.

Moderator edit: removed personal info

[BarbaraForcebit]

Being on vacation is hard when you've just had surgery but it doesn't have to be bad or sad or missing out because you are not!  While you are in a beautiful place and your guests are splurging you are eating small proportions and eating healthy.  You're feeling better about yourself and think about in a couple months from now how great of choices you made (even if you felt left out) that you had an overall good time!  Focus on the people, the surroundings, and the activities and make food an afterthought.  Food is overrated.  There is a saying, there is nothing that tastes as good as thin feels.  I live by that!

Enjoy your trip and we can talk about how you're doing with your gastric bypass healing and incorporating the Fitbit!  It is awesome and you'll succeed that much more with the help of the Fitbit devices.  I have the Fitbit Forcie and the Fitbit Aria scale.  I love them!

Have fun and take care!

Barbara 🙂

[Margie0605]

Hi Lauren,

I had my LapBand surgery on 3/23/15.  I was 5'2'', 230lbs. when I started the liver-shrinking diet on 3/09/15.  Maybe we should journey together, since we started out at similar dimensions.  🙂  I just got my Fitbit 3 days ago and right away, I was struck by how sedentary I was.  The first day I wore it, I checked it when I got home from work and it said I had only been active for 27minutes.  Pretty lame!  (Obviously, it doesn't count brain-activity, because I come home tired from mental rigors)  Anyway, I quickly realized 27minutes was about right; parking lot to office, office to parking lot on lunch break, parking lot to office after lunch break, and office to parking lot at the end of the workday.  I quickly saw the need to go for a walk.  Even I, could not be THAT lame.  Really?...27minutes?    At this point, the pain from surgery is still pretty fresh, so if I must walk to make it worth the pain...so be it.  I have too much skin in the game to fail just because I'm an office worker.

My doctor and nutritionist said I need to get 70g's of protein per day.  Did you receive the same instructions?  I'm finding that protein powder in a breakfast smoothie is my best bet.  Are you taking bariatric supplements/vitamins?  Mine come in the mail once a month.  My doctor prescribed them, so my insurance covers them.  That is the other thing the nutritionist talked to me about in no uncertain terms.  They were mandatory!

I agree that Lap-Band surgery is not "cheating."  It takes alot of learning, and then the commitment to implement what you learn.    You have to get the right amount of calories; not too few, but not too many.  And they can't just be any ol' kind of calories.  They have to be just the right ones to meet all your nutrition goals.  Once you have all that figured out,  you have to concentrate on eating smaller bites, more slowly, while chewing 20 times per bite.  That alone is work for me.  After 15 years of shift-work and scarfing my food while on the run, that was very difficult.  I think I've made our case for the Lap-Band NOT being a free ride.  🙂

I was glad to find someone on here who is kind of where I am in this whole process.  With any luck (and alot of hard work), we should be able to share in each other's accomplishments.

Margie S.

[Camcruse]

Hello. I am currently going through the bariatric program. Im scheduled to have gastric bypass soon but trying to get myself in better shape as I wait. I would love to participate in a group that has similar experiences.

[Candace1966]

I had Roux-en-Y in 2013, highest weight was 365.4, current weight as of this morning was 228.4......I got my fitbit last week and started using it to help make me work out and be more accountable.......My ultimate goal is to hit 199 and perhaps a size 12, now in a 14.  I love the fitbit becuase I don't have to take it off except for in the shower and I love the challenges.  I'm keeping track of everything I take in, even gum....am I the only one that has become obsessive with result?

[Candace1966]

Hi, this is going to be the best journey of your life.....may not seem like it now, but you won't regret it

[Camcruse]

I hope so. It's been a long road! Looking forward to lots of positive
changes!

[Camcruse]

I love it too! It really holds me accountable and I love the competition. I
don't win but it feels good to be motivated!

[Candace1966]

do you have an actual surgery date?

[Paulag0215]

Hi Lauren!

My name is Paula. I had WLS 8/2012 and lost 100lbs..Keep logging and keep exercising. I let my old habits come back and I've gained 25lbs! I'm so not happy about it and I'm hitting the reset button and taking my dang life back! Whoever thinks that surgery is easy is sadly mistaken! My goal is 140 also. Actually 150 but because of my height probably 140 just for life insurance reasons. I started using the Fitbit zip 11/2012 and looooved it! wore it every single day. It recently took a dump and I had already been thinking of upgrading. I got an awesome deal on the fitbit Charge HR. Today is my first day wearing it. Hopefully this will help as I restart my journey! I'm going to try to add you as a friend. I'm new to this fitbit friend stuff! Have a great day and good luck to yor!!

[Michelle1969]

I have a question...since I'll be having baratric surgery 10/22, I'd like to "untrack" the 'calories burned'. Does anyone know how to do that? When I log onto the app with my phone it shows a default calorie burn of 1,721 every single day. Since I'm two days away from surgery, I'm not at all concerned with this and especially since it's a very high default number. Thanks!

[flyfisherlady]

Hi,my name is Judy and I am a recent Gastric sleeve patient.  Had the surgery May 12, 2015 with starting weight of 348 pounds.  As of today I have lost 106 pounds, down to 242 pounds but now I am at a plateau.  I am working alot of exercise into my day and most days consume 800 calories.  Love wearing my Fitbit during exercise so I can monitor my heart rate and get it up but get discouraged when the scale doesn't go down.  I am mixing up exercise by doing walking, spin cycle, weight lifting and swimming to use different muscles. I am worried that maybe I am exercising too much but love the feeling of being able to feel muscles developing under my skin. If I could just get off this plateau and start loosing weight again I would feel much better about myself.

[BeautyForAshes]

I just had gastric sleeve surgery a little over a week ago. I have lost ten lbs and am still working through the issues of getting to know my new stomach and healing. I have lost about 10 lbs since surgery and am using my husband's fitbit to keep me accountable in this new lifestyle change.

[KimShea]

Hello!  I had RNY about 7 or 8 years ago.  I can't believe I can't recall the exact date anymore!  My starting weight at that time was 235, and I lost right at 100 lbs.  Then like the occasional weight loss surgery patient, I got unexpectedly pregnant with my third little girl!  She's now 5 and in Kindergarten.  I kept most of that weight off even after the pregnancy, but about two years ago now I got severely anemic.  (TAKE YOUR MEDS, EVERYONE!!!).  I had to have iron infusions via IV three times a week for about a month.  That was not fun.  For some reason I packed on the weight during this process.  My dietitian says they see this with WLS patients who get that anemic.  Anyway, my current weight since then has hovered in the 170s, and I recently got to 178.  Had to go back on blood pressure meds about a year ago, and just a couple weeks ago had to increase the blood pressure meds.  Obviously this is not where I want to be.  So I made DH buy me a fitbit Charge HR for my birthday last week and I'm trying to get myself back on track.  My goal is to get back to a healthy BMI, which for me means 145 or less.  I'd love to get to know other WLS people!

[LosingLex]

Sorry I'm late to the party, I'm 12 days post op from RNY bypass and just started using my fitbit to log my "full liquids" and water consumption. I'd be happy to see anyone else on here who's still fitbit-ing!

[wspingirlw]

Hey everyone!

My name is Angela and I had gastric bypass surgery on 12/05/2011. I started at 394 pounds and lost 230 pounds total in 2 years time. Today I maintain around 170 give or take a little. I really despise when I hear of others say I took the easy way out because there was nothing easy about it...NOT AT ALL!

I love my healthy life! I move all the time. My mainstay workouts are spin, yoga, barre, and pilates. I also love to walk and hike when it is warm out. The biggest thing I cannot express enough is to keep your head in the game. The physical stuff is way easier than the mental games. Just keep on keeping on. I love my Fitbit Charge HR because it keeps me honest. 

[Lisa23]

Barbara, I just got a fitbit and was searching for fitbit-ers who have had WLS.  How encouraging are you!  I would love to connect with you through fitbit, or email.  ~ Lisa

[LeeRN]

Hellow everyone,

I had WLS 4/4/2016..lost 85 lbs but need to lose much more..would love to add those of you on the same journey. I just got my fitbit today from my family for Mother's Day! How do I add friends?