notmyname

I’m never on these boards, but I guess I still get emails from this thread. Still out here. Still down around 130 (up about 15) and holding steady (with Ozempic). Still hating the side effects of massive GERD and food sensitivities to almost everything (even stuff you wouldn’t expect - dairy, raw veggies, etc). I miss Greek yogurt and carrots most of all. Sometimes I eat them, but instantly regret it. Every year at my follow up doc wants me to convert to bypass for the GERD, but the first surgery was so bad I refuse to do a second one unless I’m dying . I can only imagine what the bypass would do to my food issues. But I do fit in plane seats more easily and it’s easier to buy clothes because I can buy from most stores. I’m sure I’m healthier, although my numbers were pretty good pre-surgery. My knees hurt less. I still have fairly complicated feelings about having done it - not sure I would do it again, but do think I made the best decision I could at the time.

I SO feel you. I love my doctor. I've had a hard road after surgery - not nearly what you went through, but it wasn't pleasant. It was only 6 months ago that I could eat more than 400 calories a day without being ill and I still mostly only eat soft foods 2.5 years out. So when I got the call about my blood tests after my last and the nurse on the phone (not my doc's normal nurse) said that my cholesterol was a bit high and that it can be "controlled with diet and exercise, for example, stop eating fried foods," I nearly lost my everloving mind. I sent a letter to my doctor and her practice manager complaining about the call. The person on the phone didn’t bother to ask about my eating habits to ascertain if that could be the cause of the high cholesterol, even though high cholesterol can unrelated to diet. Instead, she just assumed that I eat poorly and need to have some self-control. I told them that the reference to “stop eating fried food” was jarring and unnecessary. I also said it was unhelpful given that I don't actually eat fried food (and didn't before my surgery). I also asked them to read a study by NIH on weight bias and really consider training the person I spoke to on it. Writing and sending the letter made me feel a bit better. I'm sorry you dealt with this.

I'm not really sure that I'm asking for advice, more just griping. I'm over 2 years out from surgery. I eat healthy - pescatarian and mostly fruit/veg/protein. Almost no refined carbs (my body does not like them). I'll let myself have a small dessert on my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (knowing I wont feel great after) - something fairly low cal/sugar. Stay under 1000 cal /day (any more than that and I gain - even though I'm still teetering on an obese weight). I have two issues: 1. It seems like every month new foods do not do well with my stomach. So far: dairy, most raw veg, some cooked veg, some fruit, cocoa, peanut butter. New this month - apples. They just are cutting up my stomach. It makes my stomach hurt. Shouldn't this have all settled out by now? My surgeon and NUT say yes, but it doesn't for everyone. I'm basically on a very limited diet in terms of variety. I mean, its better than I was in months 4-18 of this journey where I was in extreme pain no matter what I ate and struggled to get more than 600 calories, but still not fun. 2. I'm in my early 40s. About a year after surgery, I started getting the worst hot flashes 5-10 times a day. That has tamped down, but now it seems like about 15-20 minutes after I eat, I get a hot flash. Every damn time. Could be wholly unrelated to surgery, but still irritating. Anyway, not really looking for anything here. I'm just a person that sometimes needs to send my frustrations out into the world to start moving past them. And this seems like the place to toss out my bariatric surgery related issues. I hope all of you are well.

I'm close to two years out. Nothing makes me commit, but a lot of things either physically hurt my stomach or make me nauseous. Most raw veg (carrots used to be my favorite food, now they're evil), cantaloupe, sometimes apples (particularly when paired with peanut butter), probably some others I'm forgetting because I just don't eat them anymore.

I made black beans in my Instant Pot, then pureed them with a little salsa (if you can handle it). Heat with about 10g of cheese. Delicious - Pureed Egg Salad - 2 hardboiled eggs, T TBL reduced fat mayo, 1 TBL plain greek yogurt. salt/pepper/ground mustard to taste. Puree. I was able to eat scrambled eggs, but a lot of folks can't

I don't like flavored yogurt, so I usually buy plain greek yogurt (it is usually either the Kirkland brand or Fage). If I need flavor, I flavor it myself (I like getting the really small frozen blueberries and adding them in frozen - but I wouldn't do that so soon after surgery.)

Premier is typically cheaper in the Costco store than at Costco online. Also, they often has $5 off, so watch for that.

How far post-op? First phases: Yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, protein shakes (for me, it was premier protein) Later phases: fish shrimp (shrimp is so good - easy to defrost and you can easily tailor the amount) sargento balanced breaks nut/cheese snack packs string cheese canned veg Tuna frozen fruit Parm chips (sometimes they have single serving bags, sometimes they just have a big bag Veggie burgers

Talk to your doc (your surgeon may ask you to talk to the prescribing doc). One of my pills was small enough to swallow. The other I had to switch to a liquid form.

I take these once a day: Bariatric Once-A-Day Multivitamin 90 Ct Capsule-45mg Iron Made for Gastric Bypass Sleeve WLS Surgery https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JREK09G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Interesting. I've been pretty down about WLS lately because I never got to a healthy weight (I was close and OK where I was), then gained a bit. I was SUPER not happy with the gain. I just looked at a pic on a calendar my friend made me from a trip I took about 6 months after surgery. And I thought - wow, I looked great in that pic. I went back and looked at my weight around that time - yep, its about where I am now. Sure, there are other pics from that trip where I feel like I look terrible. But that one, I feel like I look good. Right-proportioned. So that makes me feel a bit better.

This is going to vary based on what your insurance contract says. I'd call your insurer. I'd also call the new doc to see what their office requires. This isn't exactly your situation, but I changed facilities/doctors in the middle of getting approval. My new doc was able to use the records from my previous surgeon to get me approved. But for his own purposes, he still wanted to see me several times before surgery. So it wasn't necessarily insurance that held me up, but the surgeon's requirements.

Hi - it is getting hotter and more humid here, plus there are more folks outside, so I'm finding it really hard to get outside for walks. Before all this started, I was finishing week for of C25K, but I really can't run with a mask on. I still do Pilates 1-2 times a week, but REALLY need some cardio. I've tried some online classes, but haven't found anything that really works for me. I really want something focused on cardio (so not weights or a bunch of planks, etc). I've tried some Zumba - they're OK, but I am not coordinated, so I'd say I run in place for about 1/2 of any given class because I can't do the moves. Would love any recommendations. I have Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, and of course anything else that is free and web-based. Thanks!

For stats, I keep my own spreadsheet that has both my weight loss from my top weight and from my day of surgery weight. I calculate my excess weight lost (a common measure for WLS) based on the day of surgery weight

18 months out from sleeve surgery, I'm still a pescatarian. Note that I wasn't able to eat some of this stuff for quite some time after surgery. Lost about 120 (gained a bit from my low, but have been maintaining here for a couple months). Some typical meals for me: * Stuff I ate in soft food stage (note YMMV because different docs have different rules. Might also be different with the RNY) **stuff i ate as I transitioned to real food (same caveat) Breakfast * Greek yogurt/cottage cheese (after soft food stage: add blueberries) *scrambled egg An egg and some veggies (scrambled, fritatta, crustless quiche, etc) Lunch/Dinner **crustless quiche (in early stages, be careful what you put in the quiche - I now do broc, but couldn't eat that until I was almost a year out) *Ricotta bake Baked sweet potato with black beans and some greek yogurt mixed with chipotle peppers. If I'm feeling fancy add soem avocado (*soft food appropriate if you cook the potato and beans really well and mash them REALLY well) Tofu and veg with some sauce **Tuna salad * Egg Salad **Fish with veg Shrimp with Veg *Hummus bowl or **falafel Breakfast hash (sauteed kale, roasted sweet potato, poached egg) Salad with fish or shrimp or beans Bean chili About once a month a pita pizza (small pita, tomato sauce, mozz, and veg) Curry chickpeas Snacks fruit (sometimes and apple w/peanut butter), veg, almonds, cheese, parm chips, guac, hummus