CarmenG

You add it here on your profile.

This is my "ticker." It shows my starting weight (black), my current weight (blue), and my goal weight (green). I'm a revision from a 14-year-old sleeve to a bypass 35 days ago.

Well, I started my SEMI liquid diet 30 days before I was to start my actual liquid diet because I wanted to. I lost 30 lbs. in 30 days. My doc wanted me to lose weight before he performed the surgery. I would do 3 protein shakes, 5-6 bottles of water, and a good, solid, no carb dinner. I wanted to lose as much as possible to help out my surgeon. My dinners would be bun-less cheeseburgers, pizza toppings (no crust), grilled or boiled chicken, pork chops, steak, and different kinds of cheeses. I would leave out anything that was bread/tortilla/pasta or a "side." Your best bet is to discuss it with your doctor. Follow his instructions. It's different for everyone because we all have different starting weights, different weight loss goals, different pre-existing health issues, and different doctors.

By day 4, you should be feeling much better. It takes a bit to detox from carbs, but once you do, you'll feel good. Best of luck! P.S. I really looked forward to the broths because I needed something savory, not just liquids that were sweet. I would do a protein shake for breakfast, lunch, snack, and save the broth for dinner.

If it's a full liquid diet, protein shakes are the most filling. I use Premier Protein shakes 30g protein. Also, I was allowed sugar free drinks, chicken broth, beef broth, and bone broth. I would add a scoop of unflavored protein to the broths to give it a SLIGHTLY creamy texture. For something to chew on, sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles saved me.

So... today, my daughter and I made that TikTok chicken crust pizza at home. It was really good! I'm 1 month and 4 days out of my revision from sleeve to bypass, and I'm on regular food now. It is high in calories, but I'm sure if you choose healthier options for the ingredients, you could make it even better! I used what I already had at home because I wasn't even sure it was going to work. But there are some modifications I plan to make for when I make this again. For example, I would use reduced fat or fat-free cheeses. Those seem to be the ingredients with the highest calories. Also, I would use fresh chicken, cook it and shred it. But for this recipe, I used canned chicken breast. I'm including a pic of the pizza and a pic of the nutrition information per slice. I doubled the recipe because I was going to share it with my daughter, then I combined all the nutrition information for the whole pizza and divided by 8 slices. Take into account that a regular slice of pepperoni pizza is 313 calories, 13g protein, and 35 carbs. This one is 197 calories, 22g protein (because the crust is made of chicken, Parmesan, and egg), and 3g carbs. for the ~10" crust: -2 cans 10oz canned chicken breast in water (drained) -2 large eggs -1 cup shredded Parmesan (gonna look for a lower fat or lower cal version) Combine these 3 things and season as you like. I used Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and some sprinkles of black pepper. NO SALT, because the canned chicken is already salty. Like my life. I mixed it all together to create the "dough." I put it on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and formed it into a thin crust (~10") and baked it at 425 for 20 minutes. my toppings: -1/3 cup Chef Boyardee Pizza sauce (again, I'm sure there's a healthier alternative) -2 cups shredded mozzarella (next time I'm using low fat or fat-free) -16 turkey pepperoni slices Once I added the toppings, I put it back in the oven for 10 minutes at 425. I did 5 min on bake and then 5 min on broil (low) because I wanted the cheese to get just a tad toasty Added all the ingredients to the Baritastic app (you can scan the barcodes of all the ingredients) and divided by 8 slices, so this is the nutrition info per slice. Yes, the slices are small like from a personal pizza, but I can't eat more than that anyway, so it was very filling! I ate half a slice then later had the other half a slice. I remembered the crust is made of chicken, so I ate slowly and gave it time to hit my tummy.That's why I was only able to do half at a time.

Yay! Congratulations! Take it easy, slow and steady, start taking steps as soon as you can.

Yay! Congratulations! Take it easy, slow and steady, start taking steps as soon as you can.

I very truly feel your pain. I was sleeved in 2009 and I did fantastic the first 6 years. I lost 149 lbs and 9 dress sizes. At first, I wasn't even exercising and the weight just melted away daily. When I got down to the weight limit that could not be exceeded on an elliptical machine that I borrowed from a sister, I started exercising on it. Eventually, I was using the elliptical for an hour, non-stop, 5 days a week. Everything began to change in December 2014. My father passed away and he was the be all end all of existence for me. I am the youngest of 13 kids and was totally a daddy's girl. He was very ill already, but he ended up dying on my mom's birthday from a heart attack in his sleep. I was the first one to get to his house after my brother who was taking care of him called us all. When I got to my dad, his eyes were still open. My brother was dealing with the coroner and the police officer. I really freaked out and thought I'd better close his eyes before my other sisters or my nieces and nephews saw him. So I did. I closed my father's eyes. My heart broke in half right at that moment. I kinda lost my sh*t. My doc ended up putting me on Xanax and Ambien. Fast forward a few months to April 2015, I ended up getting divorced. Then 15 months later in July 2016 my mother died. Her heart stopped, and during CPR administration, her ribs broke and one pierced her lung. It filled with fluid and because she'd had respiratory issues most of her life, they couldn't help her. She died after 3 agonizing days in the hospital. Then in 2017, I was transferred from one job post to another. They weren't even going to tell me until right before I showed up for work, I found out sooner by accident. I'd been at that post for 10 years. It was a retaliation from a supervisor who knew that I knew too much information about illegal activity that went on under his nose. Literally, every year something horrible was happening to me. The anxiety, depression, and meds led to me not giving a sh*t about what I ate and a lot of drinking. I was drinking every night. I wasn't exercising anymore. I was eating anything I wanted to eat. It was still very little food, because I had a lot of restriction. But I was eating every kind of junk food you can think of. I was eating at all hours of the day. I was grazing, as they call it. I could eat every 3 hours. And the alcohol was just straight shots of tequila. By 2022, I had regained most of my weight and gone back up 6 sizes. You can lose weight again. You can detox from carbs. You can go back to protein shakes. This past May, I started dieting (on my own) because the doc wanted me to lose weight before he'd do the revision. I was drinking a protein shake for breakfast and for lunch, then I was eating a good, solid, very low carb (even zero carb) dinner. No alcohol. In 30 days, I lost 30 lbs. And this was before my surgery. It is absolutely possible, but you have to make the effort and you have to have the discipline. The first 3-4 days are tough as you detox, but then it just gets easier and easier. I wish you luck, friend.

I think it all depends on your starting weight. It could be because your BMI is low, comparatively speaking. Patients who only have 50-70 lbs to lose usually aren't made to do a 2-week full liquid diet. For some of us, though, our doctors want us to lose weight (not just detox or shrink the liver) before surgery. This is because we have 100+ lbs to lose, and have a fatty liver. My doc wanted me to lose 50 lbs even before the surgery. I told him, "Doc, if I could lose 50 lbs right now, on my own, I wouldn't need you." We haggled and compromised and decided on 30 lbs. I lost exactly 30 lbs before surgery. Obviously, sugar free popsicles and sugar free jello (the juice should be sugar free as well) aren't nutritious. They are liquids. Anything that is liquid at room temperature is considered a liquid (popsicles and jello). But they should all be sugar free. And it's not something we do for a long time, only right before surgery. A full liquid diet includes protein shakes. A clear liquid diet does not. I did semi liquid (2 protein shakes and one no-carb solid meal for dinner) for 30 days. Then I did 8 days full liquids only, and the 2 days before the surgery clear liquids only. It should have been 12 days full and 2 days clear, but they moved my surgery date up because there was a cancellation. Consequently, my 2-week liquid diet became a 10-day liquid diet.

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Please make sure to get it checked as soon as you can. I had a sleeve 14 years ago, and the most I felt was soreness on my tummy from the incisions. It felt like I'd been exercising. Sometimes it can just be gas, but you don't want to chance a leak. If the pain is very sharp and consistent, even after all you're doing to try to alleviate it, you should really get it checked. Please feel better!

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Please make sure to get it checked as soon as you can. I had a sleeve 14 years ago, and the most I felt was soreness on my tummy from the incisions. It felt like I'd been exercising. Sometimes it can just be gas, but you don't want to chance a leak. If the pain is very sharp and consistent, even after all you're doing to try to alleviate it, you should really get it checked. Please feel better!

I'm sorry you're feeling this way. Please make sure to get it checked as soon as you can. I had a sleeve 14 years ago, and the most I felt was soreness on my tummy from the incisions. It felt like I'd been exercising. Sometimes it can just be gas, but you don't want to chance a leak. If the pain is very sharp and consistent, even after all you're doing to try to alleviate it, you should really get it checked. Please feel better!

-phone -charger -slippers -extra undies -pajamas (if you don't want to walk around in your gown) -set of clothes for the next day -hairbrush Mine was just an overnight stay. I was not allowed to wear makeup, perfume, or even deodorant before my surgery. But I took all three for when I woke up. I HATE going barefaced or thinking I smell. They gave me a special soap to bathe at home pre-op. I bathed the night before using their soap, and I washed and straightened out my hair. I also put my hair up the next morning and bathed again with their soap before leaving for the hospital. After surgery, I mostly slept through the rest of the evening. The next morning, however, I put on fresh clothes, my deodorant, my perfume, and my makeup. It made me feel more comfortable and secure.

EXACTLY.

-open the tacos and eat the inside -no chips or tortillas -beans are high carb, but also provide protein and fiber -beef and/or chicken fajitas with cheese and beans would be my suggestion

I had the revision due to weight regain (not more weight loss from where the sleeve got me). Fourteen years ago, I had the sleeve. It was great, and I kept the weight off for 6 years. In 2014, life began to take its toll, and I gained it back. It took a decade and a half, but it happened. I still had restriction right up to this second surgery. There were other factors, however, like severe depression and anxiety after the death of my parents (18 months apart), a divorce right in between those 18 months, a job transfer I was not expecting and was not happy about the year after that, and then seriously quarantine-ing with my daughter and having to teach from home for a year and a half. Then the medications they put me on which eventually led to drinking alcohol every day.

I feel "less" restriction with the bypass. That could be because I still felt sleeve restriction, even after all these years. Up until this second surgery in June, I could never eat more than 1/2 a burger. I couldn't eat more than 1 slice of pizza, with maybe just the toppings of a second slice. So, now, I don't feel any different as far as restriction. What's different this time is the constant worry that whatever I eat is going to make me sh** myself or cause extreme nausea, vomiting, and pain. I didn't have that fear with the sleeve. When I got the sleeve, I was really very careful with my eating (just like now), but I would feel restriction more quickly up in my chest. This led to the "foamies" once or twice, but I never puked, felt nauseated, got sweaty, had abdominal pain, or got diarrhea . Also, the sleeve is NOT a malabsorptive surgery, so I knew I was going to absorb everything I consumed seeing as my intestines were complete and intact. I never feared malnutrition like I do now. With the sleeve, I didn't take handfuls of pills all day long. I took one multivitamin a day, and that was it. With my sleeve, I didn't exercise for like the first year and a half, I just lived my daily life going to work and back. The weight fell off daily. I kept that 149 lbs off for 6 years. Now, with the revision, I've been stalled for a month. I don't know if 45 lbs is all I'm ever going to lose. It's a possibility seeing as my body is already used to the limited calories. I am exercising now, but the scale isn't budging. I did and do understand that because it's a revision the weight loss will be slower, but a whole month with only a 2 lb loss is even worse than a regular person with no surgeries who just diets. A kind person mentioned that it's still very early for me in this bypass experience and things may get better. I'm hoping and praying that they do.

I think it just means they surpassed their initial goal weight. They didn't just reach their goal loss, they lost even more!

I started the Propel today. We'll see how I do tonight. I drank one 16oz bottle of propel and have had three 16oz bottles of water. Maybe I'm just confusing my body by drinking Benefiber, lowering my sodium, then drinking propel, then cutting back on water... I'm trying to find some equilibrium here... it's difficult... but thank you all so much for your help... i truly appreciate it 💛

I sure hope so. I know I need to get back my positive attitude (like during my pre-op dieting, when I lost about 30 lbs in as many days). It's just hard with all the other things happening to me right now with the weight loss stall, insomnia, night cramps, skin issues, and lack of energy. I really just want everything to balance out already. Thank you for the encouragement, though.

Well, that all depends on your doctor. Some let you eat up to two days before the surgery. Best thing for you to do is call and ask. They know all about one last suppers and last hurrahs. One of the young ladies that works at my doc's office is a bariatric patient herself. She told me she went on a food tour all over Texas and said I should do it before my surgery. I said, "Ma, that kind of thing takes energy, I'm too old for that." lol! Best bet is to call and ask.

Well, that all depends on your doctor. Some let you eat up to two days before the surgery. Best thing for you to do is call and ask. They know all about one last suppers and last hurrahs. One of the young ladies that works at my doc's office is a bariatric patient herself. She told me she went on a food tour all over Texas and said I should do it before my surgery. I said, "Ma, that kind of thing takes energy, I'm too old for that." lol! Best bet is to call and ask.

In 2009, I chose the sleeve because it's less invasive and there's less maintenance involved. Some say you lose more with the bypass, but I lost 149 lbs. in the first 18 months with a sleeve. Now, due to my life taking the turns it did, 14 years later I regained all my weight. But that wasn't the surgery, it was all me. One month ago, I had a revision from sleeve to bypass. And I can tell you this... if I could go back in time and take care of my sleeve like I should have, I would absolutely, positively do it. I'm not liking this bypass one bit, and I would never recommend it over a sleeve. Just my 2 cents.