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Try adding a scoop of Benefiber to your soup every day. It will blend right in and the fiber should help a bit. But passing gas is a good sign, or at least the nurses in the hospital were very pleased when I answered yes to that question.

Try the Bariatric Fusion soft chews. They come in multi, iron, and calcium. They are all the texture of a Starburst candy. I was given samples by my dietician and they were wonderful. I would have opted for them if they weren't the most expensive option. I went for just the calcium as a soft chew and did the chewable, chalky type instead for the multi and the iron to save money, but if you need a really palatable option, these are the way to go.

Applesauce is included on my list for full liquid diet, along with cream of wheat and yogurt. I'm not having to do blood thinners now that I'm home from the hospital, and I just have Tylenol for pain relief. My main concern with blood pressure is whether it will go back up so that I'll need the meds again. I haven't had such good readings in years, even with meds!

I crushed my thyroid pill and emptied the omeprazole and ursodiol capsules into a little bowl and mixed all three with 2 Tbsp of applesauce. It took about 10 minutes to get that down. I'm going to need to check with my primary care doctor because my blood pressure the morning I left the hospital was 92/54, so I have not been taking my blood pressure med since they told me to stop it the day before surgery. I need to go check it at one of those machines at the drug store later today.

My surgery was 2/21 and I was released from the hospital yesterday morning. There were some minor issues that caused the surgery itself to take longer, and the doctor wanted to do a swallow test before I was allowed anything to drink, so I ended up needing the extra night in the hospital. I'm not in much pain when I'm sitting or lying down, but it's tender when I'm walking around. It doesn't help that both arms hurt from IV and blood draws. Yesterday I managed about 32oz of water plus just under 2 Premier Protein shakes. Hoping the tenderness goes away soon. No hunger at all, which is just kind of weird to realize.

I have to say, decaf tea is like a cruel joke. It looks and tastes just like regular, and yet I am still asleep when it's done. And then it's noon and I'm asking myself how I can still be tired after drinking all that tea!

Hey there! I don't have any advice to give but I just wanted to say I'm hoping for the best for you. I'm sure your surgeon will be able to help. Just keep trying to do what you can and hopefully it will get easier each day. And hooray for the 13 pounds!

Congratulations! Mine was supposed to be 12/28 and was postponed for tomorrow. I'm more nervous about more delays than I am the surgery!

This time tomorrow I should be checking into the hospital! I've lost 15.4 pounds on the 2-week liquid diet, which is kinda crazy. My liver better be skinny enough to start a modeling career.

This is such a great piece of advice, @BigSue! My background is in costume design and I love clothing, both historical and modern, but it's been years since I could really indulge in stylish clothing in the way I wanted to. Right now, I tend to favor a lot of wraps and kimonos. I have heavier ones for winter and silky ones for summer, with tunics and leggings. I was talking to a friend recently about needing to replace my wardrobe and she said something along the lines of at least I would still have all my wraps, since those are one-size. But I realized when she said it that I might not want to wear those so much in the future, or might choose differently. I admit I choose what I do to hide my figure. I have no idea what I'll like if that isn't a necessity anymore. But, like @Arabesque, I think at a smaller size I will feel like I'm drowning in fabric with some of what I wear now. I will say that going through my closet now, I have too many clothes, none of which I love. I'll be happy to see most of them go. For the next year, I'm going to do my best to take it easy with my wardrobe buying. Easier said than done, I know! But it feels like a good time to enjoy having a lot less, and make the most of the seven thousand or so scarves and necklaces I have to achieve different looks until I can settle into a maintenance weight and really think about how I want to dress. I'm tempted to do the Wool& 100 day challenge this summer, where you choose one of their dresses and document yourself wearing it for 100 days in a row and get a $100 gift card toward buying a new one when you complete the challenge. The variety of looks people achieve with accessories is amazing, and wool jersey is a surprisingly good fabric for all seasons, including summer. I figure by June my rapid weight loss will have slowed a bit (surgery is tomorrow!!!!!) and by the end of 3 months, I'll be ready for a new dress size anyway, so win win! Besides, I love me a good dress in the summertime.

That's a really interesting point I hadn't thought of. If you are active and larger, it is something that can make you special. People may admire you for it. But being an average weight person and exercising? No one cares! I do remember grappling with this as I got older and went from being a "young" person who had accomplished a lot of things in a relatively short amount of time to a person of an age where it was no longer remarkable. It definitely took some rethinking about my own identity when I was no longer that bright young person and was just another person out there doing stuff.

Every program will be different, but your best bet is to wean off it as quickly as you can. Decaf is usually fine, so you may start doing half-caf tomorrow with the goal of getting to all decaf before surgery. It's less a problem before surgery because you can make yourself drink extra water to combat the dehydration coffee can cause, but it's impossible to do that after, so ideally you don't want to drink anything that makes you get dehydrated. On the other hand, some programs let you have one cup of regular coffee per day. Just don't go cold turkey if you want to avoid a killer headache. I spent two weeks weaning myself off caffeine before my pre-op diet started.

If it helps, I was told by my dietician (and have heard/read in multiple other sources) that the liquid/solid rule doesn't kick in until you progress beyond full liquids. If you are struggling to get in water and protein, I know they say to focus on water first. Your body has more stores of protein than water. But also, consider getting a protein water, which you can generally count for both. As for the difficulty with mood right now, it's to be expected. It's a hard adjustment, and would be even if your meds weren't causing more issues. It's okay to know you made the right choice for yourself rationally, but to question it emotionally at the same time.

Just wanted to say I'm starting Day 13 of my 2 week preop liquid diet and it's not so bad at this point. I mean, I wouldn't recommend it to friends, but my energy levels are good and the hunger isn't terrible. The first few days I was tired and cold all the time, but it is winter and I live near Boston, so cold comes with the territory. 4 weeks would be hard, but you can do it! I suggest getting any source of temptation out of sight, and keep yourself busy. Also, if you're like me, you will start thinking of the most random food-related things, like a food you like or a restaurant you went to one time 10 years ago, just totally out of the blue. Avoid cooking shows. I stupidly was halfway through an episode of Great British Baking Show before I realized what I was doing! OMG, why am I watching someone cook a tart right now?!? If you're allowed it, get the chicken soup flavored shakes (I know Bariatric Fusion, Unjury, and Celebrate have versions, if those brands are available to you). That has been such a life saver as I'm really tired of everything being sweet. Sugar free jello is lovely and only 5 calories, so it should be fine for you to have. It's almost like chewing, sort of. Good luck!

You're 100 pounds overweight with a BMI of 38.7 (with 20-25 being normal). Only 20% of people can lose even 10% of their body weight and keep it off for more than 5 years through diet and lifestyle alone. You're looking to lose about 25% of your body weight, at which point you will still be borderline obese (29.5 BMI). You might consider asking yourself, how much more overweight would you have to be to see yourself as "very heavy"? And how much worse would the odds need to be for you to think you have no chance with diet?

A small NSV today, and this is just from the pre-op diet. I bought a dress last winter that I had wanted to wear on my birthday because I was going to NYC and going out to dinner. I bought it at a store where I wasn't able to try it on, and when I got it home, it was so tight that every single button gaped ridiculously. But I was optimistic, so I kept it. It's been a year. I pulled it out today and tried it on, and now only one button right at the largest part of my bust has a slight gap. Another 5-10 pounds and I will be able to wear it with no issues. And since my birthday is 4 weeks away, I think I know what I'll be wearing!

Hi Joe! My surgery is in 4 days. I am 5'6" and at my highest weight, I was 250 pounds, which gave me a BMI of 40.3. Since starting the nutrition program and pre-op liquid diet, I am down to 228 pounds, so a BMI of 36.8. I have high blood pressure, prediabetes, and high cholesterol. Like you, I've dieted countless times. In fact, I was enrolled in the nonsurgical program at my hospital for 7 years, starting when I was 42. I found it relatively easy to lose up to about 15% of my total body weight, around 40 lbs, by counting calories, exercising religiously, and not letting my guard down for a minute. After that, I would stall. Then the weight would creep back up. My doctor would prescribe meds (including Wegovy for a while, but it's too expensive for longterm use for me), and I'd lose 10 pounds. Then I would stall, followed by regain. Or the nutritionist would suggest a new approach, and I would lose a few pounds again, followed by regain. A little more each time. After 7 years of trying, I was back to my highest weight ever. I feel like I wasted a whole lot of time with nothing to show for it. And now I'm nearly 50. My blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol all have gotten worse. My feet hurt. My joints ache. I feel older than I am, and I don't want to be old before my time. I know from reading the latest studies in weight loss science that my chance of long term success in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight without the metabolic reset of bariatric surgery is around 5%. I'm fortunate because I've seen my brother go through sleeve surgery 15 years ago. He lost a huge amount of weight (about half his body weight) and though he has regained a fair amount of that, it's nowhere near where he used to be. His appetite is now what I would call the smaller side of normal. Nobody looks at him having dinner and would guess he had surgery. So I know that the most drastic parts of this (like a liquid diet!) are phases you have to get through to get somewhere better. I feel nervous, too. I've never had surgery. I worry about complications. I'm hardly ever sick, so I sometimes think what if I'm trading decent health for problems? But realistically, problems are in my future. I've seen it in countless family members. The writing is on the wall. And the surgery is very safe. So for me, the risk is worth it. I've tried on my own long enough to know it isn't going to happen for me without this. And a BMI of 40 might not be as big as some people, but it's big enough to rob me of good health in my future. I really hope this helps at least give you some things to think about to help you make your decision. Wishing you all the best!

You may want to clarify pre-op vs post-op targets. I've been given two separate handouts. The lists are similar but a little bit different in terms of what is allowed. I've never personally heard of a pre-op limit on how much protein shake to drink in each sitting, but that doesn't mean your surgeon doesn't do things different. Post-op, you'll probably be lucky to get in a full 5oz early on, but that's a different story. Right now I'm on day 11 of my 14 day pre-op diet and I have been having 3 shakes per day plus sugar free liquids and popsicles. My shakes are made from powder, 2 scoops to 8oz of water. My targets were simply to get 60-80 oz of protein per day and 64 oz minimum of water. It wasn't on the handout, but when I asked my doctor, he said try to stay under 1000 calories per day. Definitely worth a quick call to your surgeon's office.

I'm curious what they told you to expect in terms of weight loss, as I've heard revisions for that purpose don't necessarily produce large weight loss (but do help with issues like GERD). I'm afraid I don't know much about gastric bypass and IBS. That's quite a bit of fruit and veg they have you eating preop. I wish you luck, though, and hope you can get answers to the questions you have!

Programs are so different, but you should definitely be eating, or at least attempting, more solid foods by 8 weeks. In case this helps, I've just found this YouTube channel where a bariatric dietician is working through the food stages in the post op diet. I don't think she'll get to where you are until next week, but you might want to check her out: https://www.youtube.com/@BariatricFoodCoach Also, I found this video really helpful in explaining how to approach eating right after surgery:

Filing that advice away for next week. I'm not allowed to have it yet, but cream of wheat in on my post-op diet. I guess they don't want the carbs for the liver shrinking but it's okay after, or something. I already bought some and will welcome anything that isn't the same old stuff I've had for the past 10 days!