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I decided when I started this journey that I was going to take before photos and progress photos. Here is one month into my new life! I started my pre-op diet 30 days ago, surgery was September 13th. I’m 5’4” and started at 242, I’m now 218. My biggest piece of advice (especially if you struggle to see your own progress in the mirror) is TAKE THE PICTURES.

Hi lizonaplane Your valued input is greatly appreciated I think my downfall is total lack of exercise and not taking my vitamins Thnxs once again

^^^^ this

If you feel like this is an issue for you, it's best to talk with a therapist who specializes in bariatric issues. See if your surgery center can recommend someone. Good luck!

I'm in the same boat. My surgeon, when I brought this up, sort of smirked a little bit and said, "I will tell you what. Go and scramble an egg. See how much you can eat." Three bites later I was DONE. Like, maybe a third of a scrambled egg. This, from a guy who would easily knock down 6 or 8 if I was in training for a competition. So strange, yet so strangely comforting. He also was completely nonplussed that I was consuming 600-800 calories. Quoting verbatim: "You were probably eating 5,000 before, so the difference between 400-500 and 600-800 is negligible for you. When you lose more weight the calories will be more important. Right now, eat protein." The hunger is a lot better two weeks out than it was the first few days.

Thank you so very much for your reply! That is amazing and gives me so much hope and inspiration! Congratulations on your weight loss and your liver enzyme numbers - that is fantastic!!

It's a less complex bypass that has one fewer "connection" (so not a "y" per se)... they staple off part of the stomach to form a pouch and then bypass a smaller amount of the intestines.

I do dump. I started at over 700, when I got down to 310 (my goal was 210), I started a program similar to Couch to 5K. I accomplished that and just kept going. Eventually I thought a marathon would be an interesting goal and I targeted the Valley of Fire marathon (outside Las Vegas). I ran 5 marathons in a year starting about 3 years post-op, during which I was running 70 to 90+ miles a week. I usually ran in the mornings before work, though there were periods where I did "2 a days". Right when I woke up I mixed up an ice-tea / Gatorade mix that wasn't terrible and drank it down. It woke me up and got me moving but I don't think it made much of a difference during my runs. During the runs I just did water. After runs I also did a regular yogurt for recovery. I tried the little squeeze packs and found they were ok on normal days (10-13 miles), but they would cause me to dump on longer runs, so abandoned them and anything else. Again, I didn't perceive any difference with the squeeze thing. My normal plan was 3 meals per day of 3oz protein, 1oz veggies. Because of the running I hit and shot way past a normal BMI. Eventually I was up to 5 meals per day plus a protein drink. The protein drink was instead of a 6th meal as I already felt I was eating all day. It slowed my weight loss. I hated (HATED!) eating so much, what a turn. Good luck, Tek

Thank you! Good luck on your surgery and journey. It won’t be easy but I believe if you stick to the plan and stay mentally strong, it’ll be more than worth it. 👊🏼

edamame is probably not going to be a "go" for awhile yet. It's kind of fibrous. I did eat sashimi fairly early on - although I can't remember exactly when. Probably once I was cleared for solid foods (at about a month out, I believe). Not sure about the pho. If it has noodles, probably not yet - or vegetables that haven't been cooked much. Shumai probably not, either, since it's dough-y. I remember ordering shrimp cocktail a lot the first couple of months.. you'll eventually be able to eat all that stuff again (as in it's not off-limits - but some of us can and do develop intolerances) - it's really just the first few months that you have to be careful. I think by around the six-month mark I was "allowed" to eat anything (although that's not to say that my stomach agreed with everything - but as far as my clinic went, I don't think anything was off-limits at that point) I was (and am) kind of a foodie, too - so those first few months were difficult, to say the least (esp the first couple) - but it passes and you'll eventually be able to eat most/all of what you ate before - just in much smaller portions.