FifiLux

I think you have enough food on the plate without having to 'switch' from potato to the fish sticks. I don't eat fish so not sure how that works as a carb replacement if that is what you meant to do by going from the chips to sticks. For a complex carb maybe some quinoa, brown rice, or sweet potato (if you can take it without reacting). A boiled egg can be fine for a snack between meals but based on the above you have them in two meals not as a snack. For a snack I usually have a few almonds or a banana. When was your last hospital appointment, would it help to ask for another with them soon so you can get the support you want?

Personally I would think cheese only once a day (if even) and no need for both chicken and fish on the same plate/meal in those portion sizes anyway for twice a day. I would think the size of the chicken breast alone would be sufficient with just some veg and a carb. Having the same for lunch and dinner of that style plate is just repeating too much of things that are not necessarily doing you any good. Also maybe vary it a bit with possibly a high protein yogurt and some fruit for breakfast? Chicken or fish, maybe with some green beans or cauliflower and no eggs other than at breakfast? If this is how your plates are looking - size and mix of food I think maybe you should reach out to a local dietician to go on a reset, back to the basics for a while if you can stomach it. Also, don't always listen to what others tell you about how you look - you didn't do the operation for them, you did it for you and you need to be happy with yourself.

I had beef mince bolognese for a lot of the pureed stage and just diced the little bit of carrot and onion up really small so I almost didn't have to bite anything. I also had lentil soup and dhals.

I thought the same and my doctor told me that for the first few months he would be happier for me to take the pills to be sure until I was through the food phases etc. that I was getting enough vitamins. At times he sounds like a sales rep for the bariatric branded vitamins, which I don't get through him so makes no difference to him, but of course they are about three times the price here of non-bariatric ones. My blood tests so far have all show high vitamin levels (other than K) so now I am just down to one multi vit a day plus calcium & D2, then I add in a cod liver one as I can't eat fish. It's exhausting remembering to take them all on top of a daily reflux pill plus HRT!

Do you mean for pre or post op? Post op I think, and your medical team can confirm with you, that you need the pills as they absorb better and are more potent into the system when it is needed most.

Thanks for the clarification as to me it came across in an accusatory way but I see now in your later posts where you are coming from. I just read it that you were accusing anyone who even had an infrequent drink as to be ashamed of themselves and I think in life being on the larger size we have probably had enough shame thrown at us. Anyway, as I already said, we are all adults and the choices we make are on ourselves. Everyone has different levels of likes, dislikes and tolerances. I can't stand the taste of rum on its own but that goes back to it being the first drink I ever had that I got drunk on at 13yrs of age - a mistake where I was given my mothers rum and coke drink at a party multiple times during the day instead of just my own coke as the barman thought I was being a good child and getting drinks for my mum! Yuck, I still remember being so ill that evening - I was the same green colour as my parents lovely avocado coloured bathroom 😂 Personally I have gone through a lot with this surgery that there is no way I am messing it up by drinking to the extent I would have before (just a good social life or bottle of wine at home, no mad benders etc). I will just have the occasional drink when out socially, like Friday I had 2/3 of one glass of red wine and that took two hours to drink and was enough for me.

I hope I don't come across as rude when I write this but everyone has different likes or dislikes and you clearly say you have never liked alcohol from the outset so good for you but the post does come across as judgmental. If someone likes to have a drink it is up to them as adults to do as they wish, be it too many calories etc. It is everyone's choice to make if they would like to have a drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and deal with the consequences, if there are any like weight gain, reflux, dumping etc. Do you like eggs? I don't like the smell or taste of them so why do you eat them? Just making the point!

If you have the space in the freezer to store everything then yes you could try to mix it up a bit. I would recommend having something available as a back up just in case, this is where I went wrong one day by thinking the soup I had made would be good for my meals that day only to taste it and it was disgusting, shops were closed and I had no back-up food and had to go to have a protein shake instead. If you are on the pureed/soft stage you could try minced turkey or chicken, bolognese (I had/have this a lot) and then I made a slightly different version as well that I found here - https://www.bariatricfoodcoach.com/lasagna-stew/ I used to put a generous amount of red wine in my bologneses previously, obviously had to cut that out for now 😁

I got a handout from my clinic to say what foods I could eat in each stage and how long I was to stay in each stage for, did you not get similar from yours? I found that I ate the same things for a lot of the meals, and still do, because as you say the portions are small when cooking something from scratch. If you have a lot of the same food left and it is staying down comfortably maybe you could even mix it up a bit by adding a different spice or something to change the dish a bit. I have a new found love for spices and herbs now that I add to everything.

I don't like soda water but years ago I used to drink vodka and coke zero, then I figured the coke was ruining the vodka so I switched to lemon vodka with water or regular vodka with lemon water so I think I may try that again soon. I have a bottle of lemon vodka in the freezer waiting for when I am in maintenance mode. I know it is not recommended anyway but my own rule will be to stay away from anything bubbly/carbonated. I have to set myself some ground rules as pre-op I would drink a lot and built up a good tolerance which was bad in that it meant I drank too much too regularly so just like with my food I am going to need rules with my drinking.

I discussed it with my surgeon at an appointment a few weeks ago and he said it could have been movement of the tube I had fitted but I was to go to the hospital the next time it happened and he then also scheduled the removal of the tube as it was only to be in for five to six months. I spent last week in hospital to get the tube, put in my stomach five months ago to help close the leak, removed. Since then I have had no painful episodes and the tests show that the leak appears to have closed up. It is just a week and a half since the removal so I guess time will tell.

Hi all, I did a search through the forum but couldn't find a situation that was similar as already got my gall bladder removed years ago and not a recent post-op. Is it 'normal' to suffer frequent, as in every few days for a few hours at a time, abdominal pain even 8 months after surgery? I get it on both sides at times, other times just one side. It was so bad last night on my right side that I couldn't lie on my stomach, which is my preferred way to fall asleep, as it was uncomfortable. I am not sure if it is usual or a side effect of all the issues I had post-op (leak, pancreatitis, infection, abscesses, allergic reaction to meds). I didn't want to go to the hospital if it is a normal occurrence following sleeve surgery that I just am expected to take a painkiller for, also I am terrified of being kept in hospital again.

I had my surgery in July last year and waited until Christmas to have a few drinks over the holiday period, albeit I was in hospital until Nov so not even able to contemplate drinking sooner. My surgeon said to stay away from champagne (except a few sips if toasting something) as the bubbles would not be good for my reflux but I was ok with a glass of wine etc, I had was drooling over the thought of having a glass of red wine after my Christmas dinner and sadly hated the taste after a couple of sips. I was assured the wine had not gone bad, others drank same bottle, but I just couldn't face it and was so disappointed. I then tried a Baileys instead and it was no problem I had a couple of Baileys over the holidays but it was just one each time as I took my time to enjoy the drinks plus having to wait 30 mins each side of eating meant I couldn't go mad. 😂 Since then I have gone out with friends and had a glass or two of red wine, thankfully all tasted fine. I used to drink wine at home which then became a slipply slope as I always found a reason to open a bottle so now I am just trying to stick to a rule of not drinking at home unless it is a special occasion.

Congratulations

I am similar timeframe and similar stall so to read the two above posts is reassuring. I am still only eating about 900 calories a day which is about 90g carbs and 70-100g protein. I do aqua aerobics once a week and light training three days a week plus try to get a 20 minute walk in most days and I have been stuck at the 78/77kg (171/169 lb) for a few weeks now. I am going to give it a bit more time as I think I have another follow up appointment with my surgery team in a month and can discuss then, especially as the surgeon told me in January that he would be happy with me getting to 75kg this year - I just didn't think it would take this long to get there.

I had sleeve surgery and have been taking Vital Proteins collagen in my coffee.

Yeah I haven't looked in to the plastics side of things as to what is covered for me. I do recall it being mentioned at one point by the psychiatrist I had to go see and I think he said it had to be a few years and then a decision process but at this stage it is too soon to be thinking about that. My big (literally and figuratively) problem area is my legs, thighs in particular. Even after loosing so much weight, with a bit more to go, there is no way I would wear anything that would show anything above my ankles. As it is I have to go back into hospital next week for a few days to have the tube in my stomach removed and them to monitor me to see if my leak has fully closed.

Strange the different advices we are all given... the day after my op I was given coffee by the hospital. Admittedly I found it disgusting, not sure if it was my taste buds as well as I had cut down on coffee prior to the op based on my own decision but I am back on it full time now I always drank my coffee black with sweetener so stick with that minus the sweetener and just add in a scoop of vital proteins collagen and it means I get some of my protein requirement in also. I also do a couple of cold shots of coffee with Alpro dark chocolate almond milk, a scoop of vital proteins collagen and scoop of protein powder over ice for a lunch sometimes. Works out at 21g protein.

Yes, I have run out of containers to store it all in and no point buying more as also running out of room in my freezer 😁 I take such small portions it takes ages to go through what I cook or buy, I got a small (150g) bag of salad the other day and that so far as done two meals and I will get at least a third if not fourth meal out of it. My eyes are still bigger than my stomach when it comes to judging portion sizes. Currently on rotation I have; spicy bean stew, carrot & lentil soup, bolognese, lasagna soup, lentil soup, peanut butter chicken and a couple of other 'surprises' as I don't remember what they are until I defrost them 😂. The great thing is that as I made them all at least I know the ingredients and that they are suitable for my after the surgery. Tomorrow or Tuesday, when I have a few more containers ready, I am going to make a chicken soup. I get a monthly food allowance as part of my salary and I am finding it hard to spend the money as need to buy so little now.

Woohoo..... after a crappy 8 months post surgery I have finally gone from being in the obese class 3 category to the overweight category according to the BMI charts. I am delighted as I wasn't sure I would get here given all my post op complications. I still have a way to go to get into what they call the healthy range but I am already much healthier and fitter than I was before the surgery so it is already a win.

I have bile reflux and damage to my esophagus. At the moment it is bearable and I take a prescribed tablet each morning but my surgeon has advised that I have to keep in mind there may be the need to get bypass surgery at a later date.

I knew what was coming as years ago when I had my gall bladder removed I suffered so much pain with the gas and no-one had warned me in advance. I seriously thought something was wrong at the time. This time around I was prepared and, with my surgeon's permmission, took wind-eze afterwards so between it and walking it really helped.

If you love soups here is a recipe I found that I have made twice now recently and really like; https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spiced-carrot-lentil-soup I made it in the slow cooker and added 2/3 of the carrots for the whole process so they were soft and then added the other 1/3 in for the last hour or so to have a bit of bite to the soup even after blending down. I did peel and chop the carrots, did not leave the peel on. Also I did not use the oil or yogurt and went with more than a pinch of chili as it gives it a really nice kick. I got 9 to 10 servings out of the recipe instead of the indicated 4 so the nutritional values according to MyFitnessPal are; If I need to up my protein intake for the day I add some protein powder to the soup.

I am lucky that the government health care system here covered my operation and all I had to pay was a small subsidy, think 15 Euro, for each night I was in a shared room (even though most of the time no-one shared with me) I was in hospital which in turn then was covered by the health insurance of my employer. Then for the weeks I was in a private room I had to pay that but it was 100% recoverable under the health insurance. Of course, the subsidy should only have been about 30 Euro but as I was in hospital for much longer than the planned two nights it cost the bit more but not much in comparison to what others have to pay and as I say it all was recoverable. It feels like it is all free but in reality my taxes go towards it all

Congrats on your loss so far. Don't worry it seems to be very common to stall a few weeks to a month after the op. I had a sleeve so not sure if there are different 'rules' but I was told it is just 30 minutes each side of eating that you are not to drink fluids but either way I agree with you, I feel that there is not enough time in the day that I am awake to drink the amount of water they say. It took me a long time to get to the protein goals, somedays I only got 20 to 30g so for me a 'trick' I have done for upping my protein is to include a scoop of collagen into my coffee twice a day as each scoop is 10g protein, the collagen is supposed to help my hair, nails, skin etc plus I am getting in some fluids. A bonus for me is that I don't mind cold coffee so if it takes me a while to drink my cup it is ok and it immediately means I have got 20g of protein in before even including food. I also have a lot of soups that I incorporate protein into be it with protein powder, lentils, chickpeas etc. as I find they don't leave me feeling so full as I blend them down a lot. I love soup and would have had it often before my op as well so the only difference now is trying to put the protein into it and not having bread with it