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I will try every couple of weeks. In the beginning I did not tolerate beef or pork of any kind as well as eggs. With beef I even had trouble with ground beef in the beginning. I can now eat beef, ground beef, tenderloin and anything that is fall apart tender. I don't do well with the tougher, drier cuts of meat at all. I mostly stick to beef tenderloin, ground beef, pork tenderloin and again anything that is fall off the bone tender like country style ribs. Eggs are still ridiculously difficult for me however this week I tried one poached and it worked great. Eggs make me sad because I used to love them and they really are so good for us. I try them every couple of weeks and I have noticed that what might work this week may not work next week. I have done extremely well with chicken and turkey since the beginning but it is important that they are not overlooked and dried out. Fish of course works very well, again they cannot be all dried out. I love orange roughy because it is so tender, moist and non fishy.

Are you able to get to your Protein goals given your change in diet? 1 gram of protein for every inch you are tall minimum. If you are getting protein and your Water requirements you are simply moving to the toughest part. Weight loss does in fact slow way down for most of us. I can tell you after I hit month 6, I was maybe losing between 7 and 10lbs per month. Now, 21 lbs from goal I am losing about 5 lbs per month. You may not be getting enough calories at this point. I know that I had to increase my intake to 1000 calories at about 7 months and then I started to lose again. You definately do not want to eat less, that doesn't help and in fact weight loss can stall. Your body becomes too used to that lower calorie count. Have you talked to your nut? They might also tell you to add an additional 100 or 200 protein rich, carb light food.

Yeah! Congratulations!

@@retzlpa, What you are experiencing is normal. It is the anxiety leading up to surgery day. You may also experience emotions for a short while after surgery as you muddle your way through. The important thing to remember is that this really is temporary. I too suffer from severe arthritis and had been on NSAIDs for many many years before my bypass. I have psoriatic arthritis. Ask your doctor for something if the pain gets too bad to tolerate and Tylenol doesn't do the trick. Once you get through surgery and begin losing, you will be able to move around more. As you know getting moving is the hardest but the best thing for those of us with arthritis. After surgery I found that Tylenol actually worked very well when I was up and moving. I slid a little backwards on the pain front these days following a recent spine surgery I had. It has been hard to get myself moving like I did between bypass and spine surgery. Now I get to have another back surgery on Nov. 16th which will set me back again. Ugh!

Yes, you are right having this surgery is a huge commitment and definately tries your patience. Stay positive and everything will work out. Let's hope you have a faster turn around from said insurance company with no bumps. It certainly could come faster than 2 weeks. After my 6 month process turned into 9 months the one thing that went very very fast was my approval. It got submitted early in the am and the surgeon called me back by 1pm with an approval and date. I was so happy I cried so hard my husband thought I was having a mental breakdown. It was simply all the emotion letting loose. I would suggest calling your insurance company to verify that they received your paperwork and that it is pending. Originally my doctors office dropped the ball and did not actually submitt it right away. I waited nearly 2 weeks before calling to check on it and they admitted it did not get done. I have also heard of others having this happen. For me the good news was how fast it actually was approved once it really got submitted. Good luck and let us know when you have a date.

Oh my goodness! I am so sad that you are going through this, I cannot even imagine how you feel. I am sending prayers for a speedy recovery. Do what ou have to in order to get this flare under control. Your surgery will still be there when you are healthy again. Please take care of yourself. Hugs!

Woot woot! Congratulations! You have to be over the moon. One bit of advice....keep trying those dense Proteins. As time goes by you will find that your body has healed enough and will ultimately allow you to eat them again. I promise! Happens to me all the time.

@@viaasskick From my personal experience you learn a lot more in said stupid classes that you do on line because there is two way communication and others in the class that may ask a question you have not thought about. Having WLS requires a huge commitment on our parts. This is why both bariatric centers of excellence and most insurance companies require classes, psychologists, nutritionists as well as some weight loss. I will say that my surgeons office did not require that I lose a set goal but show that I was losing some and certainly not gaining. I started at 315 and was down to 303 on surgery day 9 months later. As @@Dub stated, weight loss is required to get healthy and being ready for this surgery means you have to start building good habits months before you get to surgery. If I were you and wanted the best chance for success, I would recommend taking every advantage to learn more about what you are getting into.

Yeah! Hooray! This is what this life saving surgery is all about! Congratulations!

NSV for sure! You go girl!

James, I read your entire story and found it very interesting. Thanks for sharing it. I might have to try essential oils solution for both myself and my hubby. Hubby has not had WLS, however he is constantly dieting. Yo yo, I might add. He is considered morbidly obese and knows he needs to do something but he just isn't ready yet to take such a drastic step. Maybe this will help him. He does not eat out of hunger, he eats out of boredom and habit.

By the way, my six months actually was 9 because of their jammed schedules.

Honestly, I am not at all sure what she was expecting from us. I know this much, when I went to schedule my very last appointment with the team psychologist, he did not have a single appointment available for over 2 months. I was completely peeved that here I was at the end of my 6 month supervised diet and this guy decided he wanted 1 more follow up before he would sign off. I had never changed or missed or was late to a single appoinment in that 6 months because I was so ready to go and bummed that I had to wait so long. Given my commitment to moving forward, My surgeon, nut and bariatric nurse team tried to get him to do a last phone interview instead and suddenly his schedule opened and he found 15 minutes for me. I still had to wait 3 weeks but it was better than 2 months. I cried for a whole day because I was so sick and so ready to move forward. I just wonder how many of his patients did not bother to show up during that period of time. My appointment lasted 15 minutes and in my opinion was a complete waste of time. He just needed to feel important, I think. I ended up getting a different psychologist post surgery. Anyway, I have a very hard time feeling sympathy for people that don't follow the program. If you want a life altering change, you have to be willing to change. Or wait until you are so others that are ready can move forward.

This was a great article. Thanks for sharing!

Isn't onederland grand!!! Congratulations! Well done!

I have an outstanding bariatric center of excellence. They take their work very seriously and they are very very clear when getting into this program. I know I have said many times on this site that I even had to sign a contract that I would not drink before my one year anniversary, that I would show up for my appointments or provide 24 hour notice, and most important I agreed to follow up care to ensure that I am properly monitored post surgery for complications or signs of malnourishment. They only have so many doctors and nurses and want to ensure that those in the program are both ready to move forward and serious about getting healthy. I can totally see my clinic notifying me of the 2 strikes situation had I ever missed appointments especially knowing that the insurance companies require a 6 month supervised diet. Now, that being said they would have not been rude about it. I suspect this has nothing to do with your being obese as all of their patients are. They are also not withholding health care from you but they are wanting to make sure you are truly ready to move forward. If you are, then it will be very important that you do not miss another appointment. Please don't give up unless you discover you are not ready yet. Just dust yourself off and move forward. Our emotions get the best of us while going through this process, you just need to look at it from their point of view, they want their patients to be successful and that cannot happen if you are not ready.

@@tpatterson I lived on cottage cheese, Protein shakes, yogurt, string cheese and string cheese. At dinner I would order salmon, eat 2 or 3 bites and my son would eat the rest. I was not at the stage where I could eat salad or vegetables unless they were cooked mushy which is rare to actually get that when you order it. My loved it because he would order a big juicy steak and have my leftover fish and call it surf and turf. I also had a fridge in our hotel room where I kept my premier Protein Shakes and string cheese. I will say it was near impossible to keep up on Water for me. I had not yet carried my own personal water bottle every where I went. I would definately carry mine with me now and I do.

This week I went to Minneapolis for all my follow up doctors appointments. I had my 12 month check in at the Bariatric Center of Excellence as well as a post op follow up with my spine surgeon. My spine surgeon was awesome. I have lost almost 30lbs since he performed surgery on me on June 3rd. He is typically one of those big ego guys who has patients to see and doesn't have a lot of time to spend. Last time he saw me I was literally on his table so I probably looked like hell. When he came into the exam room and we got past all the post surgery details he said you look absolutely stunning! You have lost a lot of weight and you look great. Of course that put me on cloud nine coming from him. We had a long discussion about loose skin but I will save that for a different post. All of my appointments went great! I will soon get the results of my labs and I look forward to that. While here, I had the opportunity to meet with a lot of my friends and previous co-workers. All who have not seen me almost since the beginning. It was a great experience for me because most of the folks that did not know I had lost weight or had WLS didn't even recognize me. I mean that literally I had to tap them on the shoulder. They were shocked and told me how beautiful I look which made me feel like a million bucks. One of the guys I used to work with always loved my personality and he used to jokingly flirt with me, of course the first thing out of his mouth was are you still with Jim? (My hubby of 27 years) A few of my closest friends who I have been very upfront with actually asked some questions. Mostly about whether or not I was planning to continue losing. Of course I told them that I still have 24 to go to get to a healthy weight and that I am still considered overweight. They were shocked and told me that I was already too skinny, which I am not but I do look like a normal sized person and I always carry my weight well. Now of course I know where the heavier parts of me are and I want to get to a healthy BMI. This discussion caused me to spend some time looking at myself in the mirror. Yes, I look different, definately a lot thinner but overall I still see the fat me. I know it's not true because I went from a size 26 to a 12. My 12 jeans and slacks are actually loose so I am guessing I will drop yet another size. I wonder if they are really feeling like I am too thin or if they are just being nice. I can't see it for some reason and it's confusing to me. I thought maybe they just have never seen me so thin but then my oldest son has actually told me he thinks I am getting too thin. Why is this so confusing? It's like my brain can't catch up. I guess the goods news is I am setting my goal using the healthy weight charts so my hope would be that when I get there, I will stabilize and be done. I do think I would look very thin at 165 given my height. Maybe I just shouldn't worry about it? Until this week I never even considered that I might get to a too thin point. Anyone else experience this?

I too have been able to anything since the beginning. It is very very important that you realize that just because you, does not mean that you should. Follow your surgeons plan to a tee giving your tummy time to heal. Also you know what you have to do so you need to actually do it. Many times people will go back to eating the same junk they once ate and then wonder why they are not losing weight. Good luck to you!

Wow, you have been through the ringer! I cannot imagine living with your situation for so darn long. You must have the patience of a saint. I hope that everything goes well for you. I am guessing with what you have been through bypass will be like a walk in the park. I have been so happy with the results of mine and have never felt better. (Ok, that's a little white lie, if I were 20 again I felt better then, LOL) Keep us updated on your progress and certainly reach out if you have questions or need help.

This is a funny question. I think you are asking if vomiting still works the same. And so I will respond assuming that is what you are asking. Vomiting now is completely different for me. I don't have dumping syndrome that causes me to vomit but I have a few times since surgery most because I over ate or something did not agree with me at all. I have little to no stomach acid having had bypass. My new stomach is small so when I do vomit it is a very small amount and it's over. There isn't that nasty stomach acid taste any longer it's just different. I do still hate to get sick though.

Hi Brian and welcome! The most important thing at your stage is to remain patient and follow your insurance company,surgeon and nutritionist directions. If you do, there won't be any surprises when you reach the approval process. It is a long structured process designed to get you ready for your life to change. There will be a lot of change coming for you that can seem overwhelming at first. Just keep in mind that no one is expecting you to change everything completely overnight. Just take it one or two things at a time. I did not smoke, drink, drink soda or caffeine of any kind but if you do, getting moving on these will be very important. You will be required to stop these activities before surgery. In addition you will learn to eat very slowly, chew your food a lot before swallowing, no drinking beverages 30 minutes before and after you eat, and of course you will learn to begin eating a high Protein, low carb diet. Your nut will begin teaching you what to eat, how much to eat and will get you started on some exercises that fit your medical situation. Walking will be key as you begin to recover. One of the biggest things I have learned so far is that my relationship with food has changed and I love that. I no longer live to eat, I eat to live. I now crave good healthy quality foods, it makes my pouch happy and I feel absolutely fantastic! I had this surgery to get my health back and for me that happened so quickly! No more high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, severe Gerd, high cholesterol, sleep apnea or stage 3 kidney disease. All of these issues have been resolved. Then came all the other benefits! I can shop anywhere, sit anywhere, do anything without feeling like I am going to keel over! Most important, I can keep up with my family and not hold them back! I wish you the very best of luck! Just hang in there and be patient with the process and yourself. There will be bumps along the way but nothing you cannot get through if you remain positive and forge forward! Congratulations on your decision to get healthy!

Hi there, First of all you are actually doing fantastic! Losing 24lbs in a month is incredible so honestly you on completely on track! The recommended amount of fluids in a day is between 48 and 64 ounces. You could safely back down a bit. I cannot imagine drinking so much that late at night, I would be in the bathroom all night. LOL! It sounds like your nut is similiar to mine. They are looking for good balance in what you eat and those veggies are good for you. My nut has me using a method of eating to make sure I remain balanced. 1 bite of good carbs for every 2 bites of quality Protein. Good carbs being vegetables and fruit when you are released to do so. Please don't worry about how fast the weight comes off, it didn't get there overnight and realistically it won't come off overnight either. Down the road as you get closer to your goal, it will slow down to a crawl. Slow and steady really does win the race and you need good nutrition and good eating habits when you get to the other side. Hang in there, you are doing fantastic!

Congratulations! You will be feeling like a diva again soon! Just a much thinner healthier version of yourself. Oh, and wait until you see all the clothes that you will fit in! Sopping anywhere you like vs. stores that only carry big clothes! Good luck!

I think one of the biggest learnings I have had is that I now eat to live vs. live to eat! My relationship with food has completely changed. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy good quality Protein and veggies home cooked by me. I no longer enjoy eating crap food that I once thought was delicious. I have tried fast food here and there but it tastes absolutely horrible and I end up throwing it away. If we eat out we choose restaurants where I know I can get a salad or some fabulous fish, chicken or beef. I have learned that food is just not that important any longer. What I do cook, I cook for me. Everyone else has learned to eat what I eat. I have more fun at social gatherings because my focus is on the great people and great conversation. You are only 12 weeks out, you will begin to enjoy food again but it will be different food and you will be ok with it.