BigSue

I'm 3 months out and averaging 450 calories per day. Nutritionist said I should aim for 800-1000 per day.

I started looking into WLS about 15 years ago, but I didn't do it until this year for lots of reasons. First of all, any surgery has some risk to it. WLS is essentially permanent mutilation of one's digestive system and not something to be taken lightly. I've been fortunate to have good health for most of my life, and I hated the thought of putting that at risk just to lose some weight (my family pretty much talked me out of it for this reason). I had heard about dumping syndrome and it sounded horrifying. At various times over the years, I reconsidered WLS but didn't go through with it, first because of the risk of complications, but also because of the lifelong changes that I would have to make to my diet. No more soda?! Diet soda and flavored seltzer used to be my guiltless pleasure, and WLS mean giving that up. Having to give up all of my favorite foods, like pizza, ice cream, cookies, cake, bread, pasta, etc., was also pretty hard to accept. Not being able to take ibuprofen when I have a headache was another concern. For me, the surgery itself was the easy part -- I just slept while the surgeon did all the work. I didn't have much pain besides some gas pain the first couple of days. But the pre-op diet for two weeks before surgery and then the post-op diet for the first 6 weeks or so after surgery were pretty rough. I'm 3 months out now and adjusting to the post-WLS diet is still no picnic. I used to just eat what I wanted and now I am extremely limited in what I can eat, and I have to think about every bite I take. If WLS were truly as easy as a lot of uninformed people seem to think, and all you have to do is get the surgery and then you magically lose weight permanently, then yeah, everybody would get it. The reality is that surgery is just the beginning of the longest and hardest diet of your life, and even after you go through all of it, you can still regain the weight if you're not careful! Also, just because insurance covers the surgery doesn't mean it's cheap. I paid $4500 out of pocket for my surgery and related expenses ($4500 is my out of pocket maximum for insurance, so the insurance pays for everything over that this year). Meeting all of the surgery requirements also takes a lot of time and driving to various appointments. I never used to go to the doctor, and now I have to go to follow-ups with my surgeon and get periodic bloodwork, which will be continuing medical expenses for the rest of my life. It took a lot for me to decide that it was worth dealing with all of these negatives of WLS, but it got to the point where living with super morbid obesity (I started with a BMI over 60) was worse than all of the above. My BMI is just over 40 right now, so if this were my starting weight, I would still qualify for WLS. To be perfectly honest, if I started with a BMI of 40 (as some WLS patients do, and some even lower!), I probably wouldn't have considered WLS, but at the weight that I started, it was pretty obvious that I couldn't do it on my own without surgery.

I have a very similar situation (except I was fortunate to be able to work mostly from home for the first couple of months after my surgery, but I have to be on site full-time now in a setting where I can’t have food or beverages). I’ve also been insanely busy this week and have had very little time to take water breaks. All I can really do is make sure to drink water when I get the chance, like on my way to and from work, and a big cup of tea at bedtime. It also helps to have a protein shake for lunch because that counts towards fluids in addition to a nice amount of protein. I don’t know if your job is like this, but I usually have some paperwork to wrap up at the end of the day, which I can do in an area that I can have food and beverages, so I drink some water while I’m doing that. I make myself finish a water bottle before I go home, so there’s an incentive.

This has become one of my go-to easy meals -- sort of a Mexican chicken casserole (not pictured: fat-free plain Greek yogurt masquerading as sour cream):

The BariatricPal store has some really affordable vitamins (FYI, most of the vitamins you can buy at regular stores don't have everything you need as a bariatric patient). Your surgeon probably wants you to take chewable vitamins for the first couple of months: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/bariatric-vitamins/products/bariatricpal-multivitamin-one-day-bariatric-mixed-berry-chewable-45mg-iron?variant=28178713739341 I take these and I don't care for the taste (I'm 3 months out, so I'll be switching to the capsules once I run out of the chewables), but they're ok and the price is great. They probably have everything you need except calcium, unless you have a specific deficiency. Calcium needs to be taken separately from iron because calcium and iron interfere with each other, so you'll need a separate calcium citrate supplement (make sure it's calcium citrate -- most of the calcium supplements at regular stores are calcium carbonate).

The big one that you haven't mentioned is hair loss, which can freak out a person who doesn't know about it, so if you're not aware, I suggest you look up telogen effluvium. Basically, the physical trauma of the surgery causes most people to lose large quantities of hair about 3 months after surgery. It grows back, though. I haven't really experienced many side effects. I haven't noticed a change in taste, much to my disappointment, because I've always been a picky eater and my tastes gravitate toward sugary and fatty foods, and I dislike a lot of healthy foods like vegetables and fish. I had hoped that would change, but nope. Here is a whole thread about this: Also, I've seen a lot of YouTube videos along the lines of "X things I wish I had known before WLS": https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=things+i+wish+i+knew+before+weight+loss+surgery+

It is very normal to have second thoughts as you get close to your surgery date. I sure did! I lost almost 70 pounds before surgery, and I started to think maybe I should try to keep going on my own. But I've spent far too much of my life yo-yo dieting, so I knew that it was unlikely that I'd be able to lose that weight and keep it off without WLS. I've read that people make poor decisions when they are in a heightened emotional state, so you should always try to make big decisions when you are calm and have time to think through them rationally. Presumably, you've already had a long journey to get to this point, through all of the pre-op requirements you had to meet, so you've had plenty of time to make this decision rationally. We all have our reasons for doing something as drastic as WLS, and I don't know your specific reasons, but I think you should trust that decision that you made and that you were excited about up until this point. The pre-op diet and the first week after surgery are pretty miserable, but once you get through that, it gets much easier from there.

Wow! Congratulations on your success!

That's a question you'll have to ask your surgeon before you have the surgery. NSAIDs are not good to take after bariatric surgery because they can cause ulcers, but that is more important for gastric bypass patients than sleeve patients. Some doctors say it's ok for sleeve patients to take NSAIDs. Please ask your surgeon.

Congratulations -- that's awesome!

3 weeks is a little early for restaurant food, but beans (refried beans or black beans) would probably be ok, and maybe shredded chicken, and enchilada sauce. One of my favorite soft foods meals is refried beans topped with shredded chicken and enchilada sauce, and cheese (I used Laughing Cow cheese, but a little real cheese should be ok). I think most Mexican restaurants would be willing to make you a plate with beans, chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese if you ask for it. And you will have a lot of leftovers.

I like Oikos Triple Zero yogurt. I usually buy vanilla, but they make plain, too. Post-op, it is really hard to get enough protein, so I mix protein powder into my yogurt. I like the vanilla yogurt with chocolate protein powder and powdered peanut butter. That may be too sweet for your taste (since there is also sweetener in protein powder), but you could try it with the plain yogurt.

Deleted (accidental duplicate post).

I had to take the MMPI (the one with hundreds of true/false questions). I'm a pro at that because I've had to take it several times for my job. I also had to take a multiple-choice test about eating habits. That one was kind of hard because I had changed my eating habits a lot in the months leading up to my surgery, and I wasn't sure if I should answer with my current eating habits in mind or those from before I started my pre-surgery weight loss. They ask questions like that to see if you're lying. If you say you never laugh at dirty jokes or never get angry, it shows that you're not being honest. That's also why there are a lot of repetitive questions (asking the same thing in slightly different ways), to see if you're being consistent.

I don't mind green beans, cucumber, iceberg or romaine lettuce, tomato, carrots, celery, broccoli, artichoke, and asparagus. I hate cauliflower (although I'm weirdly ok with cauliflower rice if I add sauce and mix-ins), bell peppers, squash, mushrooms, cabbage, weird lettuce (dandelion greens, kale, arugula, etc.), and brussels sprouts (and probably a lot of others that aren't coming to mind at the moment).

I haven’t really noticed any change in taste, and honestly, I’m disappointed. I had hoped my tastes would change because I’ve always been a picky eater, and of course I like foods that are full of carbs and fat (and dislike a lot of healthy foods like vegetables and fish). The only difference I’ve found is that I seem to have a higher tolerance for spicy foods now. I’ve always been a spice wimp, but I recently made some white chicken chili using the same recipe I always use, and it barely tasted spicy to me. I shared it with someone who like spicy food and remarked that it wasn’t as spicy as usual, and he couldn’t believe I would want it any spicier.

Pre-op diets vary a lot from one surgeon to the next. There are some surgeons who don't require any pre-op diet at all until the day before surgery. Some surgeons may vary their pre-op diet requirements by patient (for example, a patient with a BMI over 50 who carries a lot of weight in the midsection may require a stricter pre-op diet to shrink the liver than a patient with a BMI of 35 who carries the weight in the hips). Count yourself lucky that your surgeon has such a reasonable pre-op diet!

It is much easier to get protein when you can eat purées. Puréed foods can hide the flavor of protein powder much better than protein drinks. Here are some of my favorites: Greek yogurt mixed with protein powder (I like vanilla yogurt with chocolate flavored protein powder and powdered peanut butter). Sugar-free pudding mixed with protein powder Pureed refried beans mixed with unflavored protein powder (I like to top the beans with enchilada sauce, Laughing Cow cheese, and Flavor God nacho cheese powder) Applesauce mixed with unflavored protein powder and a tiny splash of sugar-free caramel syrup Protein oatmeal mixed with cinnamon roll protein powder Pureed black bean soup mixed with unflavored protein powder You might also want to browse the BariatricPal Store because they have a lot of protein-fortified foods like soups, oatmeal, pudding, etc. that you can try. One of my personal favorites is protein hot cocoa. It tastes like normal hot cocoa (no yucky protein taste) and if you mix it with Fairlife milk instead of water, it’s a lot of protein.

If you haven't talked to your surgeon's office in a while, it might be a good idea to give them a call to let them know you're almost done with your 6-month weight loss and ask what you need to do to schedule the endo and psych eval. A lot of bariatric practices have a "patient navigator" who helps to coordinate that stuff. I had some concerns about my insurance coverage (mainly because I hadn't been to a doctor in almost 10 years, so I didn't have a documented weight history), but the surgeon was very familiar with my insurance requirements and said, "Don't worry, we'll get you covered," and they did! They do this for a living, so most of them are pretty good at dealing with insurance companies.

I got my surgery date once I completed all of my pre-op requirements and was approved by my insurance. What makes you think you will be denied coverage? As long as your insurance covers WLS and you meet all of their requirements (which it looks like you are doing), it’s unlikely you’ll be denied. Has your surgeon’s practice gone over all of the requirements with you? They’re very experienced in dealing with insurance companies, so if you do what they say, you should be all set. Are you responsible for scheduling your endoscopy and psychology evaluation, or is the surgeon’s office supposed to contact you? It would probably help to speed things along if you get those knocked out by the time you finish your 6 month weight loss program, but I don’t know how your particular surgeon likes to handle this.

How about something like, “Well, my doctor just gave me a clean bill of health, so no need to worry!”

I am obsessed with Built Bars. They're delicious -- they taste like candy bars. Hands down, the best protein bars I've ever tried.

Are you allowed to eat purées yet? It is much easier to get protein when you can eat purées. Puréed foods can hide the flavor of protein powder much better than protein drinks. Here are some great options: Greek yogurt mixed with protein powder (I like vanilla yogurt with chocolate flavored protein powder and powdered peanut butter). Sugar-free pudding mixed with protein powder Pureed retried beans mixed with unflavored protein powder (I like to top the beans with enchilada sauce, Laughing Cow cheese, and Flavor God nacho cheese powder) Applesauce mixed with unflavored protein powder and a tiny splash of sugar-free caramel syrup Protein oatmeal mixed with cinnamon roll protein powder Pureed black bean soup mixed with unflavored protein powder You might also want to browse the BariatricPal store because they have a lot of protein-fortified foods like soups, oatmeal, pudding, etc. that you can try, one of my personal favorites is protein hot cocoa. It tastes like normal hot cocoa (no yucky protein taste) and if you mix it with Fairlife milk instead of water, it’s a lot of protein. You can also try Syntrax Nectar protein powder. It’s a little different from protein shakes and there are a lot of flavors, so you might find something you like.

Thanks for this... I'm only 2.5 months out, but I live in fear of regain. We all think at the beginning that we're totally committed and never going to regain, but a lot of people do -- even people who were tremendously successful in losing weight initially. I've spent a lot of time wondering what makes the difference between keeping the weight off permanently and gaining most or all of it back and how I can do the former. It's easy to say that I will now, but who knows how my life will look 5 years from now?

I had a pretty easy recovery. I had my surgery on July 16 (Thursday) and was discharged July 17 (Friday). I took the next week off from work and went back on July 27 (Monday). I have a desk job. If I really had to, I could have gone back a week earlier, but I wouldn't recommend it because for the first week, just getting fluids and protein is basically a full-time job. I had very little pain (other than gas pain for the first couple of days) and didn't need any pain medication after I left the hospital.