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Sipping throughout the day. If you need to "guzzle" because you're really thirsty, that means you are already dehydrated. You might be able to consume more ounces at once by guzzling, but for me, it actually hurt and made me throw up. This went on for about two years. Still, four years after my surgery, I can only drink about 6 oz in a minute or two. Honestly, drink as much and as frequently as you want but make sure you're not hurting yourself. I actually had a glucose tolerance test recently and they had to cancel it because I couldn't drink all of the sugary liquid in the time they needed. I ended up throwing up.

@Jerald180 : truth is you won’t know how you will fare after either surgery until you have the surgery. you can read about all the possibilities or probabilities of outcomes, but u will never know if you will be part of the percentages that don't fall in the posted statistical range. I had the sleeve, prior to surgery I understood that dumping was on the rare side for sleevers. Surprise! I dump. It may be rare, but I got it anyway (though the effects have lessened over the years) re: vitamins: like @Arabesque, i stopped taking my vitamins long ago (i think around the 1 year mark). All my labs have been satisfactory since (i’ve had about 5 since stopping). Im relatively fit and have tonnes of energy. In my insignificant opinion, you will be served well by either, so long as you work your plan. So go with what YOU are comfortable doing with a surgeon who supports it. P.S. My surgeon let me choose (between sleeve and RNY). I didn't have GERD, and he said he was comfortable doing either and that it was my body and i had to live with it, so i should decide what gets done to it.

Congrats......good luck.

Forget snacks entirely unless they are protein or vegetable. They grease the slippery slope to regaining what you have lost. I speak from experience. I am approaching RNY revision and I will not make the same mistakes again. The pre-op food plan and the (clear/full liquid/puree) stages post op while we are not getting hungry give us the opportunity to establish a new way of eating. If we seek sugar-free or keto snacks we are merely making some substitutes for the OLD way of eating. It's too easy to find ourselves eating sugared and carbohydrate snacks and food when we don't happen to have the "-free" type. Just because substitute snack foods are sold on bariatric sites does not mean they are good for us. If we are wise we will ignore those products. Eat whole foods, fresh or frozen vegetables and fruits, quality poultry and meat products. Avoid sugar, sugar substitutes, wheat/flour products, and processed foods. We can get plenty of tasty food to eat with these choices. I encourage you to obtain and read these two books by Dr. Matthew Weiner: A Pound of Cure and The Bariatric Guide and Cookbook. There are lots of other bariatric cookbooks available, too, including some for Air Fryers, InstaPots, and CrockPots. These will help you learn your new way of eating.

Just look at how many people on this forum think they should of come out of surgery skinny! You see posts all the time...I only lost xxx number of pounds since surgery, I thought it would come off faster! I didn't tell anyone until after I had surgery because I didn't want to hear their opinions and frankly, I think I had that fear of once again being a weightless "failure."

Y'all are seriously getting me through the stress here. Thank you so much.

Here's the Weight Loss Magic Soup I've been making. It's delicious, filling, and has only 57 calories per cup: 32 oz chicken stock 3 cups V-8 juice (you can use low-sodium V8 or even tomato juice, homemade or store bought) 2 cans Italian diced tomatoes 1 small onion 2 cloves minced garlic 1 package sliced mushrooms 3 carrots, peeled and sliced 1 zucchini, diced 1 yellow squash, diced 2 cups fresh or frozen green beans 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 3-4 cups shredded cabbage 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning Salt and Pepper, to taste In a large frying pan sprayed with cooking spray, sauté garlic, onions, carrots, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes. In a large crockpot, combine sautéed garlic and vegetables with the remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until vegetables are cooked. (I have made this in a large stock pot on the stove instead of in a crock pot.) This makes a large batch of soup. If you would like to freeze portions of it to use later, undercook the vegetables just a little. Pour the soup into freezer Ziplock bags and let as much air out as you can. Lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once the soup is frozen flat, it is easy to layer in your freezer and won't take up much room. To thaw, place the bag in the fridge for 24 hours and then reheat. https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/weight-loss-magic-soup/

+1 on the strategy of Delayed Gratification. I used this approach throughout weight loss phase, and even now at almost 3 years out. People often ask how I can stand to be around so much food goodness and not eat any of it (or much of it), and its really because I don’t really say “no”… I just say “not now”. Works for other things in life besides food; shopping for clothes, quitting smoking, delaying the urge to confront someone when they do something annoying, getting a tattoo. When an impulse or want comes, sit for a bit or do something else for a predetermined amount of time. If you still really want to do it after the time elapsed, go ahead. If unsure, wait another bit of time. If the burning desire is gone, congrats, you just managed an impulse! On the flip side, delayed gratification *may* have some unintended effects: i am also a huge procrastinator 😂

Different surgeons have different preferences and recommendations. Some of them only perform one type of WLS. You have the right to get a second opinion from another surgeon, and go with a different surgeon who will perform a bypass.

I have lost 91 pounds at age 62 and would take the excess skin over the prediabetes, hypertension and exhaustion from being very obese. Clothes do hide the extra skin along with some supportive undergarments if needed. Exercise and hydration keep your muscles taught and looking good. I will be looking into surgery but not sure if it would be covered by insurance at all (breast lift and reduction due to continued back and neck pain maybe covered). I would be looking forward to ideas as to coverage hints and am not interested in surgery out of USA. Best of luck and you may feel this surgery is beneficial over the accumulation of fat in and around your organs/tissues.