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Hi All, First Post I'm female in the UK and nearly 59 years old. I have been a fat toddler, a fat child, a fat teen and a fat adult. I have yo-yo dieted all my life, with each yo-yo lasting for a shorter period and resulting in a new high-point when I would inevitably bounce back. In July '23 I reached a new all time high 24st 9lb (345lb) I was about to start the diet again, about to go through the same loop but just couldn't face it. I made an appointment with a bariatric surgeon, discussed my history and options and agreed that a gastric sleeve was a good fit for me. I was told I was too heavy for their practice and I needed to lose 56lb before I could have the surgery. The surgery was booked for Jan 2nd '24 and I started dieting. As is the practice here I had an assessment with a psychologist who confirmed I was a suitable candidate and a dietician who again confirmed I was a suitable candidate but in the process managed to make me feel like I had already failed, in her words I was "Much heavier than most people who come to us" As she was a gate keeper and I needed her approval to progress I did not complain. That time will come. Following my initial consultation on the 8th Aug I started dieting to get down to the target weight. I have never had difficulty in losing weight I simply cannot maintain any losses. My normal pattern is if it takes me 6 months to lose the weight I will regain it and 10lb in the following 12-18 months. By the day of surgery I had lost 75lb and was already feeling so much better. I considered carrying on with just dieting and not having the surgery but I was already beginning to see my discipline weaken and I knew it would be the same old story. Surgery went well, I had very little pain or discomfort and by and large I cannot complain. I'm currently on the pureed stage of the diet and doing OK managing to keep protein and fluid levels up though I struggle with the fluids some day. I have lost 13lb in the last 21 days but have hit the dreaded 3 week plateau. Early days but I have no regrets - to be without hunger for the first time in my life is such a relief, I feel good and am doing more and more each day. I am already starting to live the life I want and i can see so many more benefits ahead and believe they are attainable and retainable. I wish I knew why I have struggled so much with my weight - there is no one trauma or set of childhood issues I can point at. It is not that I have a compulsion to eat everything in sight there are so many foods I can just ignore, I have no interest in sweet foods of any kind or greasy deep fried foods. But I cannot resist bread, pasta , rice etc and my down fall has always been the second or even third portion of these carbs. For this reason if no other I hope the VSG will not only prevent that behaviour but I also hope it will give me enough time to re gain control before considering a second helping. My parting thought for this post is that as I have gone through my journey thus far the one thing I have found is that my story is not that unusual, my problems are not unique and most importantly that they are not the result of some moral failing or fundamental weakness. There is more to life long obesity than can simply be solved with "diet and exercise" and having finally found medical professionals who believe that is the case I see this year and this journey as a new lease on life that I am going to grab with both hands. Koshk - newbie

For smoothies I started with milk, added Greek yogurt or 0% flavoured yogurt. Some yogurts have lots more protein in than others. Fruit and some low sugar peanut butter. I never had any protein shakes.

DON’T GIVE UP!!!

cheese sticks, beef jerky, protein bars should all work..

Congrats on your surgery day!! I am hoping to join you by the end of the month. Today is really the first day of the rest of your life. Best wishes on your journey and remember it’s okay if it’s all about you this time!

yes - obesity is a complex disease. Among other things, at some point it can cause biological changes that make it very difficult to lose weight. For example, I've read that research has shown that even gut bacteria is different in very obese individuals than it is in normal-weight individuals. your experience is very common. In fact, I took a course in obesity and weight loss at a local university (nutrition department) a year or two ago that addressed this. The usual pattern is that people lose about 5% of their weight in the first few months of dieting, then it levels off for a couple of months, and then it gradually comes back on. About a year later, they're back to where they started. That knowledge didn't surprise me at all - that happened to me over and over and over. Weight loss surgery is the only thing that ever worked for me. Surgery won't help prevent the behavior. What it does is. 1). takes away your hunger for the first few months - (for a lucky few this is permanent - for most of us, it comes back sometime during the first year post-surgery) and 2) keeps you from eating a ton of food at one sitting. What it doesn't prevent is "grazing" or mindless snacking, and that can be a really slippery slope. Take those first few months of no hunger and really work on changing that behavior. Nine years out, I struggle with that every day - the urge to eat mindlessly. It takes a lot of work and dedication to control that (although honestly, a lot of my never-been-obese friends struggle with that, too). I don't know if I'd ever eat my way back up to 373 lbs again, but I know if I let myself loose for more than a few days, my weight starts heading north...

I did stick to very soft protein and veggies at 5 weeks. I needed a lot of liquid (soup or gravy) to get it down. I loved fish, it felt a lot lighter than meat for a main meal to help with my protein goal. Tiny portions though. Also I was still relying on protein drinks to make my goal. Scrambled egg (less than one) were a godsend. I was probably consuming 400 calories per day between 4 and 6 weeks. I soon progressed to 600, maybe 2 months out? Hope this helps OP.

Week 5 was soft food for me. While it’s been 4.75yrs for me I remember making a lot of minced beef dishes: savoury mince, meat balls, bolognese with zucchini noodles. Also made a couple of slow cooked stews/casseroles & chunky soups.. So all had well cooked soft vegetables & its own sauce/gravy to keep everything moist. Omelettes & yoghurt/yoghurt drink were also on rotation & I had rolled oats & scrambled eggs for breakfast. I wasn’t eating much either (was told 1/4-1/3 cup from purée). I’d eat one golf ball sized meat ball. Two egg scrambled eggs took 3 days to eat. Doubt I was consuming 400 calories & barely reaching my protein goal - was much like @ms.sss in that way except I almost made 900 calories by 6 months. Check your plan as there can be a number of differences between what we’re advised to eat. And check with your team if you want to try something ‘off plan’ first. Listen to your body. There maybe foods your tummy can’t tolerate. Don’t give up on them though. Just avoid them for a week or so & then try again. Good luck.

Congratulations! It’s a really noticeable difference especially in the fit of jeans.

Well after 6 years, nothing has changed much since the end of the first year. So I think I am stuck with the result I have. It's just a heads up to those potential patients considering gastric sleeve surgery to go in with your eyes wide open as to the both positive and negative outcomes.