Spinoza

Ah nice to have some banter with your team. I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Lovely to 'meet' you! There is so much wisdom here. I wish you all the best.

Also - to actually answer your points. Huge congratulations on meeting your first goal. Yes I had multiple goals that I went through - usually BMI related or round numbers of pounds related. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with that unless you decide that your happiness or fulfillment depends on reaching them. It definitely shouldn't. BMI is a construct, and a flawed one at that. But we're human and we (well some of us) like metrics to measure ourselves against and defined goals to al least aim for!

I suspect that, given your loss to date, you still have a good way to go @Bypass2Freedom My original (totally guesstimated) 'goal' weight was based on the average loss after a gastric sleeve for someone with my starting weight. I would have been thrilled to get there and no further - I honestly mean that. But it was way out. I sailed through that and beyond. Kept sticking to the plan and finally landed well below. I know other people who stick to their plan land well above. The moral of the story is - stick to your plan and (within reason) you will land where you will land. Unless you actually end up underweight or unwell you don't need to add calories on purpose (that's my experience anyway) - your expanding capacity for food and your increasing hunger will eventually meet you in the middle. Whilst you are in the honeymoon post op period I say milk it for all it's worth. Meet your goals, take your supplements and enjoy the ride. Then begins the lifelong journey of maintenance. That's another story, LOL.

Amazing transformation! Good luck with your plastic surgery too 🤩

Well done OP for nipping this in the bud. I regained 7kg last year (3rd year after my surgery) and I had to diet for months to lose that again. I am now back to tracking everything. I too got complacent. Alcohol crept in. I wasn't exercising NEARLY as much as I had. No more. It took too much effort to lose, I do not want to have to do that (all) ever again. Far too comfortable at my new weight. So far this year I have maintained by sticking to the surgery rules - protein first, veg second, carbs third by a long way. Everything crossed I can stick to this!

Aw it's amazing! You look so good. Hope you're really feeling it now OP 💚

I absolutely welcomed the pureed food phase, because by then I had been on liquids only for a month. I cook dinner every day for my family so I just took tiny portions of meat and veg (and teeeeeny tiny - like a teaspoon - portion of the carb) and blitzed that with extra liquid/gravy/whatever to make my little meals at the start. I so loved the taste of that food after so many weeks on non food. I didn't focus on protein then, only on getting in my fluids. My team hadn't stipulated any specific protein goal. I am very lucky in that I haven't experienced any digestive issues at all following my sleeve. I know that many people do develop intolerances, both temporary and permanent. Hope you enjoy your transition to proper food OP.

I am another fan of eating mostly food made from scratch as soon as you can post op, but honestly if you can't meet your protein goals that way then shakes are one convenient way to do it that doesn't require much mindwork or second guessing!

Oh wow, what a transformation. It is SO hard for us to see our losses as we go along. Or to acknowledge them, and the hard hard work that went into them, even if we do kind of see them. What stops us in our tracks are photos side by side like these. No denying what's going on with you!!!!

Again, just wow. You are owning this. Best of luck for next week x

Those look so good! And exactly what you are likely to end up eating in the long term so perfect preparation. My pre-op diet was 3 shakes a day for two weeks, no room for such creativity. Your surgery must be soon OP - best of luck with it.

That sounds and looks ahhhh-mazing!!!

I never knew that could be done either!

Sorry that was the easy answer and what has (at least temporarily) worked for me. The hard but probably more effective in the long term answer is to address our relationship with food if it's in any way dysfunctional. A bariatric counsellor might be an excellent investment (I am currently considering but they're expensive and not easy to find).

Some people (including me) find it helpful to go back to protein first, veg second, small amount of carbs third at every meal. Cut out processed foods and sugar. As Arabesque says, check whether you are really properly hungry before picking up anything. Try to introduce more veg and fruit if you can tolerate those. Veg sticks pre-prepared have been my lifesavers over the last few months when I was trying to lose a big regain in my third year post procedure. And track absolutely everything - when I stopped that (complacency) my regain started because it's so easy for little things to add up. Some people who have regained after WLS have done well on Ozempic/Mounjaro type drugs, and some bariatric teams will prescribe those I think - worth asking your surgeon? I hope you can sort this. You've done the right thing by seeking advice - there's so much experience on this forum.