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It’s definitely tough but you can do it! There is so much variation among practices and even case by case. I was given clearance to eat/drink at the same time after I asked for a definitive answer. For my specific circumstance it was ok because I had a stricture dilated (after VSG to RNY revision) and my anastomosis wasn’t going to stretch any further than they forced it during the procedure. I was told that the concern is sleeve/pouch stretching earlier than it would take to naturally relax.

I miss that when walking in crowds everyone used to just organically get out of my way. Now I have to trudge through like everyone else. There are times I miss being able to eat some particularly wonderful food in ridiculous volumes. Now I enjoy what I can and move on satisfied. There's a lot more I definitely don't miss. And even more I don't remember. Good luck, Tek

Yup. I go over to a nice area by the river and walk for about an hour when i can. it gets my heart rate up.

I track everything I eat and drink in MyFitnessPal. It calculates all the macros for you.

Avoid soda by not buying it anymore... The amount of sugar in them is insane and the carbonation in them wont be your friend after surgery. As for just water... Water is great. But i also have a Gatorade zero almost everyday as well to switch it up. I was addicted to pepsi before surgery. I drank lots. as for sweets. on bariatric pal website they have a store section where they have sweets that are ok in moderation. including chocolate. Its actually pretty good.

I had my surgery several years ago, but I was only allowed to walk for the first four weeks. After that, I was cleared to do anything but weights. I could do weights starting at eight weeks out.

I dont do gyms. but after about 3 weeks i started walking more and riding my bicycle. I could not run or job yet because of my fat jumping up and down it was painful.

Sorry I was gone and didn't respond. I was on a staycation with my family for a few days. I don't know how it happened, but I dropped several pounds while I was gone. I'm mindful of what I eat. 60-80 oz of protein per day, less than 50g of carbs and less than 50g of fat per day. I also make sure I eat half a cup or less of food per meal and weigh my food if it's not something that can be measured via a measuring cup (I make sure not to go over 3-4 oz which is what I was told I can have). I didn't do any exercise while I was gone, so I really thought I gained weight. Again, I was stunned I lost weight.

Thank you.

I've been tracking everything I eat in MyFitnessPal for over two years -- since about 5 months before my surgery. For me, this was key in changing my eating habits, both before and after surgery. I don't think it's counting calories, per se, that works, but the fact that it forces me to confront my food choices and get the most bang for the buck, calorie-wise. Constantly budgeting my calories has helped me to shift my food choices to low-calorie but satisfying foods. That's especially important now that I'm almost two years post-op and I can eat pretty decent portions (compared to the first several months post-op when I could only eat tiny quantities). If I weren't choosing low-calorie foods, I think I could easily get enough calories to start gaining the weight back. A lot of people swear by "intuitive eating," and if that works for you, great, but I don't see it working for me. I think my intuition had to be pretty out of whack to get me to 341 pounds. I think it's possible that I've changed my eating habits enough at this point that I could stop tracking and be ok, but I don't want to put that to the test. I eat mostly the same things over and over, so if I stick to that, even without tracking, I would probably stay within the same calorie range. I do have a hard time when traveling or eating at restaurants because it's difficult to guesstimate when someone else is preparing the food, but I very rarely eat at restaurants, so I try not to stress too much over the occasional meal that's not 100% accurate. I've also relaxed a little on weighing and measuring some things because I've gotten a good sense of portion sizes (e.g., half a small avocado is about 50 grams on average; 6 slices of thin-sliced turkey lunchmeat is about 75 grams), and some things are low enough in calories that it's not worth the trouble (e.g., I don't measure salad greens or cucumbers or tomatoes). I like Dr. Weiner's approach of "a pound of cure" (which involves eating at least a pound of vegetables every day) because focusing on eating a lot of vegetables helps me to fill up on foods that are nutritious but low in calories. Every week, I meal prep daily veggie trays (carrots, celery, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and peppers), and that's my main snack for the day. I also add cauliflower rice to a lot of meals to make them more filling without adding a lot of calories.