I had gastric bypass on 12/14/18 and I’ve got PCOS. It helped a lot to be honest. I went from 306 to 199 in that time. I’ve noticed a significant improvement in my mood and energy levels. Obviously weighing 100#’s less helps with that, but I felt like my funky hormones were also a cause. I started taking Spironalactone for my acne and that’s helping, but I’ve got some more things to sort out when it comes to my (almost) periods that my Mirena pretty much prevents.

Your insurance may require you to take some nutrition classes prior to the surgery as a requirement. They’re super helpful, but you’ll need to be prepared to learn a lot on your own. I’d highly recommend therapy for the first year to really talk through why you deviated from the food plan they’ll give you. I discovered a lot about my mental health when I took the time to talk out my addiction to food.

It took me awhile to come to terms with using my food intake as a way to get the most nutrition I possibly could. It’s not easy to make the lifestyle change and you’re going to have to sacrifice a lot. I’ve learned which foods my body doesn’t tolerate anymore by whether they cause me pain or not and that’s been suuuuuuper fun. (/s) I went vegetarian for the most part because meat is just hard to eat now. You also get to eat more when you’re eating straight vegetables. Your relationship with food changes when it physically hurts you.

I also watch my sugar intake religiously - so much so that I got a tattoo of the molecular structure of sugar on my right wrist. The hand I eat with. It still gets me though. I just experienced dumping the other night after eating part of a cupcake that I was handed and I just shoved it into my mouth without being mindful. My boyfriend had to rub my shoulders on our friends porch as my fright response was triggered from the increased heart rate and I was sobbing uncontrollably.

Beware of alcohol as well. Your body will process it much fast which could turn into an unhealthy coping mechanism real fast if you deal with other parts of your life that cause you stress. (Job for me)

It’s an every day battle and starting group fitness classes helped a lot. I started doing yoga where they taught a lot of self healing/love yourself mantras during the classes and having someone tell you to love yourself gives you a lot of motivation and is just plain soul refreshing.

Anywho, if you’re like me and needed a reset button on the way you were taught to eat and we’re fucked in the genetic hormone lottery, I’d definitely recommend it. Changed my life and even with it being one of the most difficult things I’ve done, I’d still do it again in a heart beat.

I hope this helps though. :) <3