BigSue

Welcome! I actually felt pretty well prepared for my surgery because I spent a lot of time reading these forums in the months leading up to surgery. I also watched a lot of YouTube videos from people who have had the surgery. There are a lot of videos about "things I wish I had known about WLS," so I was prepared for some of those things that seem to surprise a lot of people. One thing that was still a bit of a surprise was just how difficult it was to get fluids and protein in the first few weeks. No matter how many times I read or heard about how difficult it was, I didn't fully grasp how it would actually feel until I got there. The other surprise was how little pain I had and how easy my recovery was. I took a week and a half off of work, but I could have easily gone back to work 5 days after surgery. I was taking a multivitamin with iron and a vitamin D supplement before surgery, just because I had some deficiencies. You don't need to start taking bariatric vitamins until after surgery because you'll be able to eat enough before surgery to get the nutrients you need from food (unless you already have a vitamin deficiency and/or your doctor tells you to). I've never had a C-section, so I can't comment on that, but I had surprisingly little pain from my surgery. The incisions are very small, so I'd guess that it's much less painful than a C-section. I had some gas pain the first day, but after that, I was fine and I didn't need any pain medication, not even Tylenol. Different people have different experiences, though. Some people say they had some abdominal soreness as though they had done a lot of sit-ups, but I didn't have that experience. I was concerned about being able to take care of myself because I live alone, but it turned out not to be a problem. I wasn't allowed to lift more than 20 pounds for the first 6 weeks, and I was careful about bending, etc., but I really didn't have any issues. I was still able to do stuff like light housework the whole time. You don't need to apologize! We're all here to discuss WLS. There are lots of people here who have been through it and are happy to answer questions anytime.

I've never been one to really "chug" water, but within the first month, I wasn't limited to slow sipping anymore, and within 2-3 months, I could drink relatively normally. It's still slightly uncomfortable if I try to drink really fast, but I'm 6.5 months out now and have very little trouble drinking enough water. I have noticed that when I drink warm drinks, I sometimes either drink too fast or perhaps the way I sip makes me swallow some air and I get a little discomfort in my stomach, but it's not too bad and it goes away quickly.

Are you looking for recipes for the liquid stage or the pureed stage? For the liquid stage, I just used protein soup mixes from the BariatricPal store. For the pureed stage, I made some pureed black bean soup that was really good: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/black-bean-soup.html I found another recipe for pureed black bean soup that is much easier, but I haven't tried it, so I can't vouch for it: https://www.bariatriceating.com/blogs/recipes/black-bean-soup

Before my surgery, I ordered a lot of different samples of protein powder, and IdealFit was my favorite. I love mixing the birthday cake with yogurt, and the chocolate brownie, chocolate coconut, and mint chocolate are good to drink. I have my eye on the chocolate cherry and butter pecan, but unfortunately, those aren't available in sample sizes and I'm not sure I want to commit to a huge tub without tasting it first. I also got some interesting flavors from 1up Nutrition, Northbound Nutrition (Waves of Whey), KetoShop, and Black Magic Supply. They all have single-serving samples so you don't have to buy a whole tub.

I'm surprised I didn't get very many responses about this, but I guess if you don't live in the middle of nowhere, a trip to Trader Joe's is not a big event 😀. I found some product recommendations on keto web sites and YouTube videos. Here's my haul: They didn't have several of the items on my list, and there were a few things I didn't buy because they seemed way overpriced, but here's what I got (some of it is just general grocery items just to save me a trip to another store): Meat Individually frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs ($7.99) Ground chicken ($3.79) Ground turkey ($2.99) Pork tenderloin ($4.15) Chile lime chicken burgers ($3.69) Chicken sausage ($3.99) Produce Spaghetti squash ($2.99) Organic romaine bagged salad ($2.69) Heavenly tomatoes ($2.79) Head of garlic ($.49) Organic ginger ($1.79) Frozen Frozen green beans ($1.99) Frozen asparagus ($2.99) Frozen raspberries ($2.49) Pantry Avocado oil ($5.99) Kalamata olive oil ($8.99) Sesame oil ($2.99) Rice vinegar ($1.99) Salsa Autentica ($1.99) Salsa Verde ($1.99) Sundried tomatoes ($1.99) Masala simmer sauce ($2.69) Almond flour ($7.49) Snacks Chomps jerky ($1.69) Quest Hero bar ($1.99) Power Crunch bar ($1.49) Freeze-dried raspberries ($3.99) Refrigerated Plain nonfat Greek yogurt ($.99) Green goddess salad dressing ($3.99) Spicy cashew salad dressing ($3.99) I've only tried a few of these items so far. I love the green goddess salad dressing; it's only 10 calories per tablespoon and surprisingly tasty (I actually licked the bowl when I finished my salad). Sadly, it's perishable and only has about a month shelf-life in the fridge. Haven't tried the spicy cashew dressing yet, but online reviewers love it. I like the chicken burgers, but they'd be better on a nice, fluffy bun. I felt so weird buying all healthy stuff and no junk food! If I had made this trip a year ago, I would have been all over the delicious-looking baked goods and the snacks and desserts stacked above the freezer aisle.

Everyone's experience is different, but generally speaking, this is a very safe surgery with low complication rates. I'm 6.5 months post-gastric bypass and I'm doing great. I've lost 100 pounds since my surgery. I only had to spend one night in the hospital, and I had very little pain. I didn't need to take any pain medication, not even Tylenol, after I left the hospital. The gas pain was pretty bad when I first woke up, but it didn't last long. The first few weeks after surgery are the hardest, and a lot of people experience temporary feelings of regret at some point during that time, but once you get past the liquid/puree/soft stages and you start to see results, you will probably be very happy that you decided to have the surgery. Most of us are. Good luck!

Yeah, I've been wondering why protein powders are only available in tubs with 20-30 servings. There are very few products where the normal size has that many servings in a package. Most ready-to-drink protein shakes come in a pack of 4, so why do I have to buy 20-30 if I'm buying them in powder form? I hate when I see a flavor I really want to try, but I don't want to commit to buying a whole tub of it. Some places have single-serving sample packets, but they're not always available in all flavors.

Starting purees is great! After the liquid diet, it's nice to be able to eat something resembling real food. You should mix protein powder into purees to make sure you meet your protein goal. My advice for that is to use flavored protein powder for sweet foods and unflavored protein powder for savory foods. Here's what I ate in the pureed stage: Fat-free, no sugar added Greek yogurt (vanilla yogurt + birthday cake protein powder; vanilla yogurt + chocolate protein powder + powdered peanut butter; strawberry yogurt + strawberry protein powder, etc.) Fat-free, sugar-free pudding (chocolate pudding + chocolate protein powder + powdered peanut butter; vanilla pudding + strawberry protein powder, etc.) Unsweetened applesauce + cinnamon roll protein powder Protein oatmeal + cinnamon roll protein powder Pureed refried beans + unflavored protein powder, topped with enchilada sauce + Laughing Cow cheese Pureed black bean soup + unflavored protein powder Mashed cauliflower + unflavored protein powder, topped with gravy

I think it started growing back after a month or two (it started falling out 2-3 months after surgery). It's not pretty because the new hairs are so short that they just look like frizz. I'm 6.5 months out now and the new hairs are about an inch long. A lot of people cut their hair short so there's less of a difference between the old hairs and the new ones, but that's not a look I can pull off. 😀

Yeah, just about everybody loses hair after surgery, and there's not much you can do about it. It will grow back. I have fine hair to begin with, so it was pretty noticeable when it started thinning. It has started growing back and it looks terrible because all the new hair is so much shorter than the hair that didn't fall out, but at least my scalp isn't looking so bare anymore.

Yes, you could use ground beef. Some people don't tolerate beef very well after surgery, so turkey is a little safer. I found a turkey meat sauce recipe that I love and I don't miss the beef. Regarding pizza... I am 6.5 months out and have not eaten real pizza since my surgery. Pizza is my kryptonite. Before surgery, I could not resist pizza. I ate a whole frozen pizza every week (Red Baron pizza, which is a bit smaller and lower in calories than, say, DiGiorno, but still, a whole pizza). Even when I was losing weight before surgery, on pizza day, I would fast the rest of the day just so I could eat that pizza. I cannot overstate how much I love(d) pizza. In November (about 4 months after my surgery), I had a chicken crust pizza. I bought a frozen one (Foster Farms) and split it into 3 meals. It was ok, but not great, and I haven't bought it again. I've heard homemade chicken crust is better, so I'll try that someday. I do occasionally make myself a tortilla pizza using a Mr. Tortilla 1 net carb tortilla, 1/2 ounce marinara sauce, 1 ounce mozzarella cheese, and 5 pieces of turkey pepperoni. 133 calories and it kind of satisfies the pizza craving. The good news is that I don't crave pizza nearly as much as I used to. Before surgery, looking at pizza, smelling pizza, seeing a pizza commercial, or even seeing characters on a TV show eating pizza would make me want pizza in my belly NOW. But I have found a lot of healthy recipes that I truly enjoy eating enough that I don't care about pizza as much anymore. I eat three meals per day and no snacks, so I have to choose wisely what I'm eating for my three meals (and one of those meals is almost always reserved for a Built Bar), and there are plenty of things that I would rather eat. I know you don't want a lecture, but I suggest finding foods that are healthy and delicious, and you may find yourself not wanting pizza as much.

You NEED ricotta bake in your life! It’s the best thing you can eat in the soft food stage. I’m 6 months out and can eat normal foods, but ricotta bake is still one of my go-to meals. I eat it with turkey meat sauce and it’s basically lasagna sans noodles. I split the recipe into 8 4-ounce glass bowls (I bake it in individual bowls instead of 1 big dish). It freezes well, so it’s super easy to grab a serving of ricotta bake and a serving of turkey meat sauce out of the freezer and stick them in the microwave.

Welcome! This site is a great resource for preparing you for weight loss surgery. I had my initial consultation almost a year ago, and I'm down 165 pounds from then! Feel free to post any questions you have throughout the process.

Yes, most people experience significant hair loss, but it starts growing back within a couple of months. That's when the real fun begins, because the new growth is much shorter than whatever hair didn't fall out, so it looks like a mess with all the short hairs sticking out. I have fine hair to begin with, so my hair loss was quite noticeable. It looked like I was going bald and trying to cover it up with a bad combover. It's growing back now, and it looks terrible because of all the short hairs, but it no longer looks like I'm balding. Some people say biotin helps and others say it does nothing. Protein and iron can also affect hair growth.

Yes, I had a vitamin D deficiency before my surgery, so I have a prescription for 5000 IU daily. It is also available over the counter, but it costs slightly less as a prescription. My vitamin D level was good on my latest bloodwork.

I purchase my multivitamin and calcium citrate from BariatricPal. I take the Multivitamin One with iron and calcium citrate soft chews in French vanilla caramel and Belgian chocolate caramel, which are both delicious (I’ve also tried the strawberry watermelon, which is ok but not nearly as much of a treat as caramel and chocolate). You need to take a chewable multivitamin for the first several weeks. I’ve tried the chewable BariatricPal Multivitamin One, BariatricFusion, and Barimelts (which are melt-in-your-mouth, so you don’t even have to chew), and I prefer the Barimelts out of those, but I just take the capsules you swallow now. BariatricPal brand is a good price, especially if you buy it on sale (they frequently have 25% off BariatricPal brand products). I have to take additional iron (in addition to what’s in the multivitamin), which I buy on Amazon. I also buy sublingual B12 on Amazon. I have a prescription for vitamin D, which is slightly cheaper than buying it OTC and I can use my HSA, but it’s also available on Amazon. I don’t take a probiotic, but the calcium citrate soft chews contain a probiotic. ive tried the Syntrax nectar roadside lemonade, twisted cherry, and fuzzy navel, and they are definitely more juice-like than protein shakes. A little thicker than Crystal light but not chalky or slimy like milky shakes, I’ve also had the double stuffed cookie and I didn’t care for it, but it was more watery than shake-like.

Try protein hot chocolate. I found it much easier to drink than cold protein shakes. If you make it with Fairlife milk instead of water, it has as much protein as a shake. I love the BariatricPal brand, but there’s a similar product from ProtiDiet that you can buy on Amazon. You can also try protein soups if you’re tired of sweet drinks. Another option is clear protein drinks (like Protein2O or Syntrax Nectar), which are more like juice than shakes, so you might find them more palatable. When are you allowed to start puréed foods? You can mix protein powder into almost anything puréed (unflavored for savory foods, flavored for sweet foods like yogurt or sugar-free pudding).

It’s your body, so you can decide what your goal is! Why don’t you start with a goal of losing 30 pounds — which you seem to be confident you can do — and when you get there, see how you feel? Maybe you’ll be happy with that, or maybe you’ll feel motivated to lose 30 more pounds from there. But please don’t fall into the trap of thinking it will be a failure if you “only” lose 30 pounds and not 60.

I love the MyFitnessPal app, but a lot of people use Baritastic. They are pretty similar and really easy to use. You can search for a food or, if it has a barcode, just scan the barcode and it will automatically calculate the nutrition information for the serving size you enter.

Yes, I do cardio workouts every day and strength (resistance bands) 2-3x per week.

Well, I don't think this is the answer you want, but my legs are in no shape for showing off. Now, I lost a lot more than 100 pounds (I'm 160 pounds down from my highest weight), but my thighs were the first place I started noticing loose skin. The skin sort of hangs down like a loose pair of pants. My knees look pretty bad because there's sort of a crease where the loose skin hangs down over the top of the knee. Only long skirts for me, I'm afraid.

You're doing great! I actually weighed more at my 1-week followup appointment than I did the day of surgery. As @WishMeSmaller said, it's because they pumped you full of IV fluids while you were in the hospital. Your body is recovering from a major surgery, and I know it's easier said than done, but it's too soon to be looking at your weight loss right now. Your priorities should be getting your fluids and protein, and if you stick with your surgeon's plan, you WILL see results. The number on the scale is virtually meaningless right now, so please don't stress about it.

I first started looking into WLS about 15 years ago, and my family talked me out of it because of the potential for horrible complications. Since then, I reconsidered it periodically, but kept deciding that I couldn't do it. I thought about everything I would have to give up -- all of my favorite things, like diet soda (my one guiltless pleasure), pizza, ice cream, fried foods, pasta -- and I couldn't stand the thought of it. I hated the idea of having to completely change my diet and take vitamins for the rest of my life. What made me finally go through with it was the realization of everything I was giving up to continue living as an obese person. I didn't have any major health problems yet, but I had been diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes and I was going to have to start taking medication if I didn't get them under control. My mobility was going downhill and I was missing out on so much in life because of the physical and social limitations of my weight. My advice is that you make your decision by carefully considering what you have to lose vs. what you have to gain. Studies show that we humans are naturally averse to the risk of loss and tend to overvalue what we have to lose and undervalue what we have to gain. When I really thought about everything I was already giving up and losing by continuing to live with obesity, the tradeoffs of having WLS didn't seem like so much of a sacrifice in comparison. Yes, it is a big lifestyle change and it is really hard, but the improvements to my health and quality of life are incredible. Like so many people, I wish that I had gone through with it sooner before I missed out on so many things in life. There were so many times that I wished and dreamed about how my life would be if I wasn't cursed with obesity, and here I am now, 160 pounds down from my highest weight -- something I used to think was impossible. As for the recovery, it's actually not bad for most people. I only spent one night in the hospital and I had surprisingly little pain. I never even had to take any pain medication after I left the hospital. I only took a week off from work. There are risks to any surgery, but the rate of complications for WLS is very low. The liquid and pureed diet is rough, but it's only a few weeks. You didn't say how old your kids are, but if they're very young, you may need to get someone to help with them for a while. You won't be able to lift them for several weeks after surgery. If they're teenagers, they're probably self-sufficient enough to pitch in while you're recovering.

I'm 6 months out and I usually get 500-600 calories per day. The nutritionist wanted me to go to 800-1000 at 6 weeks, which I don't even think would have been possible then. I probably could get 800-1000 now, but I am trying to stick with my new eating habits. There are conflicting opinions about whether eating too little can hurt in the long run, so I'm not sure what I should do. My results have been great so far, so my surgeon just said to keep on doing what I'm doing. The patient manual doesn't give any guidelines for calories, just protein and carbs.

I find that warm beverages are easier to drink than cold. I love protein hot chocolate (much better than cold protein shakes, IMO). I also like hot tea (I've never been much of a tea drinker, but I do like apple cinnamon tea with sugar-free caramel syrup -- reminds me of hot cider). My new favorite drink is Crio Bru, which is brewed cacao beans. It is marketed as an alternative to coffee (which I don't like). 6 ounces Crio Bru + 2 ounces almond milk + sugar-free syrup = fantastic cup of 23-calorie hot chocolate. I also sometimes add 1/2 scoop of protein powder or use 2 ounces of ready-to-drink protein shake instead of almond milk. So many flavor combinations are possible! I love chocolate coconut protein powder + sugar-free caramel syrup.