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I’m nearly 6 months out and cooked (refrigerator prepared) pulled pork from Aldi for hubs last night, along with hush puppies, fries and onion rings in the air fryer (he’s tall & thin). I tried a bite of the pork while cooking to test flavor and it did not sit well. It had great flavor and he loved it but my tastes and desires have changed Big Time. There was no desire what so ever to try the sides I had prepared for him. At 3 months post WLS I was like you, my head and memory wanted to enjoy it and I felt a bit left out watching others. Now? I feel a knot at the back of my throat saying “I no longer like how that makes me feel”. So I live vicariously through his ooohs, ahhhs, yums and crunching, and instead of lusting after his food, I smile, ‘grateful for this gift of a new me’ and the memory is all I need. I’m serious, I no longer feel deprived of sugary fatty foods, I simply do not want them.

five years out here. I can eat anything except for really fatty meals. For example, before I had surgery, my husband and I loved to go out for Friday night fish fries. Two or three fish filets, battered or breaded and deep-fried, topped with tartar sauce, with a side of fries and a side of cole slaw made with mayo. That would be a no-go for me now. I'd be in the bathroom getting sick after eating that. I could maybe eat half of a deep-fried fish filet. Anything else I ate with it would have to be non-fatty. but pretty much anything else - yes. Just less of it. I used to be able to eat half a large pizza in one sitting. Now I can eat one or two pieces. but when you think about it - that's the way normal-sized women usually eat (unless they're exercise fiends or were blessed with great metabolism). A few weeks before surgery, I watched what my female co-workers ate for lunch. There were a couple who ate what at the time I would have called a normal lunch. A sandwich, chips, maybe a cookie. Or maybe take-out from a deli or a fast food place. But a majority of them ate things like a sandwich and an apple. Or a sandwich and some baby carrots. Or a thing of yogurt and bagel. Honestly, I think that's just normal in the non-obese world. Unfortunately, I might add... But that's the way I usually eat now, too. I started counting calories when I was about a year out. I still do. As long as I stay at or under 1700 calories most days of the week, I can maintain my weight. I do occasionally go over that - and sometimes by a lot (like on special occasions), but I try to keep that to only special occasions. Most days, I do stay within my range. That calorie range will vary for everyone depending on a lot of factors. But anyway, to address your first concern, yes - I could work ribs into my daily plan and still stay within my range...

Well I'm 7 months out with the Loop DS and yes I'd do it all over again. One thing I'd change though if I could go back in time I'd smack myself for trying low carb wheat bread. OMG they tell you that you won't have dumping syndrome with the DS and I call bullsh*t because I had classic symptoms of dumping syndrome after trying that low carb wheat bread. It was soooo bad! Needless to say I now avoid wheat products like the PLAGUE! -_-" I also couldn't eat jello. It made my stomach feel like it was flipping so I couldn't eat it and I haven't tried it since liquid phase since I'm not a fan anyway... Also, I was the odd ball out as my surgeons office said I'm their first Loop DS patient who had issues with constipation. It CAN happen! Turns out my body just absorbs iron really, really, REALLY well so I only have to take 1 multi with iron and two without. My six month labs also showed a slight Vitamin A deficiency, but I'm now taking extra Vitamin A so it's fine now. The deficiency caused an outbreak of my psoriasis though which really sucks. If you have any questions feel free to ask! Edit: I forgot to mention something that I WISH they would have told me about because I freaked out and it turned out to be normal. So with DS and Loop DS you can sometimes vomit old blood after the surgery. I vomited old blood for the first two days (only like five times though) and it was scary the first time it happened because they didn't WARN me! My mom and I both freaked out! Anyway, it may not happen to you because some people are lucky like that, but it did happen to me and I thought you'd want to know it's a POSSIBILITY so that you don't panic if it happens to you. It hurts like hell when it happens, but I'd still do it all over again.

I'm only a month out...and have also discovered a change in my tastes (although I would have definitely had a bite of the ribs...with something healthy that was on my food plan). I would try to come up with something like pulled chicken breast/thighs with sugar free barbecue sauce to satisfy my cravings. I have been trying to find healthy substitutions for things I love...I have never enjoyed sashimi (my saying was "without rice, it's just raw fish") but now I love it! And it's so much healthier for me. I also love Mexican food, so I made shredded chicken with SF taco seasoning in my Instant Pot and ate 2 oz of that with 2 oz of fat free refried beans with 1T each of shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream. I logged it and it had 168 calories and 18 grams of protein. I'll be honest, I couldn't eat it all...but I'm just starting real foods. I read almost all of the Topic "Food Before and After Photos" which gave me great ideas on food I could still enjoy, albeit in smaller portions! This is an opportunity to try new things and see what you like...focus on protein and healthy substitutions. Good luck on your journey!!

Good luck, and prayers for a good recovery. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J727AZ using BariatricPal mobile app

I’m excited for you! You’re going to do great!

Congratulations, u will do great. Stick to ur plan and let no one hold u back. U deserve this. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Good luck tomorrow! You'll do great. Let us know how it goes. And good job on the pre-op weight loss. Sent from my Pixel 2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Good luck!! Surgery will be over before you know it! And 40 lbs before surgery is fantastic!!

I'm not sure this kind of thing would be too helpful, because people lose at all different rates for all different reasons - age, gender, metabolic rate, starting BMI, activity level, whether or not they lost weight prior to surgery, how closely they stick to their plan, etc. I was a slow loser from day 1, which some very insensitive medical resident pointed out to me - showing me a chart of where "most" patients are at point X, and pointing out how far behind the curve I was. It really bothered me because I stuck to my program about 99% of the time that whole first year. What else was I supposed to do? Change the fact I was female and post-menopausal and had a pokey metabolism rate? Luckily, I resolved to prove the jerk wrong and ended up losing 100% of my excess weight, blowing pretty much all the other patients in my co-hort out of the water. But I could have responded the other way - thinking I was a failure, and thinking that he'd just confirmed it. as long as follow your program and your weight trends downward (allowing for the occasional stall along the way), you're good.