Nan CC

Yogurt, cottage cheese and cream soups (as others have suggested) are all good at the pureed food stage, too!

I could not imagine pureed meat, and I'm not a fan of pureed vegetables. I made it through this stage with refried beans, egg salad and tuna salad, which I mashed up enough to not have chunks of egg or tuna. I added flavor to those with a little tiny bit of dijon mustard or pickle juice. I ate mashed sweet potato with cinnamon and some sugar free (ok, fake) maple pancake syrup. I ate applesauce. I also tried some pureed baby food fruits. I didn't find it difficult at all to have enough things to eat. Most bariatric cookbooks include recipes for this stage, too.

My 3 week stall happened at 2 weeks. I was so discouraged! I lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks, then...crickets. But I found all kinds of information here about the infamous 3 week stall, which apparently can happen from 2 weeks to 4 or 5 weeks post op. It broke after 2 weeks and I have been steadily losing since, although it is slow. My surgeon said that since I didn't have a lot of weight to lose it would progress more slowly. I'm not thrilled with that, but as long as I'm losing (and honestly it seems effortless at this point), I'm happy.

Beautiful every step of the way! Congrats on such an accomplishment! Almost there!

I hear you. I also didn't need pain medication--I took liquid Tylenol once, and that was because I had a headache. The gas pain, though? It was awful. But my experience was that the 2nd day post op was the worst. There was less pain the next day, and by the 4th day post op it was mostly gone. Hang in there. You'll be feeling great soon!

I am 67 years old and just had VSG surgery on 1/24/24. I had a very easy recovery, I think. Obviously my incisions were tender and my left side hurt when I bent over. But other than that I felt pretty good. A little tired (after effects of anesthesia?) on a couple of days during the week after but a quick nap was the solution. I had no need for the pain medication I was sent home with. I took Tylenol once but it was for a headache. I am 6 1/2 weeks out and have lost 15 pounds. I had the "3 week stall" at 2 weeks and it lasted for 2 weeks but I am back to losing slowly. It appears I am going to be a slow loser, but I was that way before the surgery any time i tried to lose weight. I was (and am) most concerned with reducing my risk for diabetes, which is in my family medical history. I would also like to get off of blood pressure and cholesterol medication. I asked my doctor when I first went for my consultation if I was too old...he said "Absolutely not. My oldest VSG patient so far was 80 at the time of surgery." So I stopped worrying about age being a factor. And I feel great and have tons of energy. You'll do fine!!

I am 5 1/2 weeks post op and I think I am just beginning to get the sensation of being "full" back. It definitely feels different than before VSG; it's more of a pressure in the area where my chest and abdomen meet than a feeling of fullness where my larger stomach used to be. I also get hiccups. Weird, but common, so it seems.

I'm currently almost 3 weeks post op and am on 2 oz servings of purees, but I don't know how many per day. I find that I'm not very hungry during the day but by around 7pm, I am hungry. By that time I've already had a "breakfast" puree and a "lunch" puree and will have "dinner" but after that, I am just hungry. Continuing to meet my fluid goals with water and Jello don't really do anything to help. I feel like I need more substance but I am unsure how many servings of 2 oz purees in a day I should be consuming.

OMG, I think I love you! Thank you so much for such a thoughtful and comprehensive reply. I'm taking a PPI twice a day. Maybe I need to eat 1/4 cup more often. I'm eating that much about 4 times a day and you've suggested 5-6. Your explanation about swelling and healing is super helpful. I'll try the Millie's broth. I'm about to move on to soft foods and maybe that will help, too. I'm encouraged to hear that even after stalls you can have big drops--I have been so worried that I did this and now I'm just going to lose a pound or so a month again. At that rate it will take me almost 4 years to lose the remaining 40 lbs! You can imagine why I'd be discouraged. It's good to know hunger will return to normal too. I realize I'll have to eat more frequent smaller meals. Thank you again for your supportive and reassuring post. ❤️

I need to rant a little! I have always struggled with excess weight in my adult life. Over the years I tried Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, my own thing, you name it. For the past 8 years I have been struggling to lose 50-60 lbs. It was extremely difficult for me to lose anything at all unless I severely limited calories - like 800, 900 per day - which I could only do with the help of prescription medicines. When I'd stop taking them the weight would come back despite that fact that I was rarely overeating, usually around 1500 calories per day. Over the years I gained and lost the same weight this way. I took Contrave, but it hyped me up so badly I couldn't stand it. I took Belviq, which worked well - I didn't care if I ate or not so it was easy to consume so few calories, but it was taken off the market. I used Qysmia, which also worked the same way. I lost 30 lbs, but I was paying out of pocket and couldn't afford it any more. One of my issues is that I lose weight VERY slowly, and it was frustrating to work so hard and lose a pound or 2 a month. After gaining all the weight back plus 10 more pounds in 2 years, I knew I could lose it again by getting back on Qysmia but I couldn't bear the thought of the "yoyo" again. I'm 67 and have diabetes and heart disease in my family, which I was afraid of developing if I didn't take and keep the weight off. I'm on blood pressure and cholesteroI meds already. I can't play with a yoyo any longer at this point in my life and so I began to consider sleeve gastrectomy. I researched and thought about it for a long time before finally having surgery 1/24/24. Yesterday it was 4 weeks since surgery. In the 1st 2 weeks I lost 10 lbs. While I hoped to lose more, this was a good result because before surgery it would have taken me about 6 months to lose 10 lbs. Victory!! Or so I thought. Since then, however, I haven't lost any weight. I've read about the 3 week stall, which I guess is what I am experiencing. I think I get it. And at the same time I am enormously frustrated and sometimes find myself thinking that I made this drastic and permanent change in my life only to have the same result - consuming very little calorically and the weight just not coming off. Except now I'm consuming even fewer calories (still on purees). And on top of that, I am hungry almost all day. After breakfast, I wait 15 minutes and start on water/fluids again. Fifteen minutes after that, I am hungry again. And yes, it's genuine hunger - with growling and an empty feeling. Eating 1/4 cup of food is not filling me up. I am getting usually around 70g of protein each day in what I'm eating and drinking, so it's not that. I had some wild expectations, I'll admit. My doctor gave me a goal weight that requires me to lose 50 lbs. (60 for a "stretch" goal). I (crazily) thought that it would take about 2 months to lose that much. I've since realized that with relatively little to lose it will go slower, but geez! For who knows what reason, I also thought I would hardly ever be hungry. Five days post op, natural hunger returned. I was mad! And surprised, but I relied on this forum and learned that hunger was still normal. I thought once I could actually eat something it would be more like "normal" hunger - like before surgery - when it was about time to eat. Instead I find that I am often just hungry all day (usually worse at night) and the amount I'm eating isn't enough. I eat the recommended 2 oz of food and I never feel full, but I stop because that is the recommended amount. The instructions I've been given have implied that this should be more than enough to fill me at this point and that I might not even be able to finish that much, but it hasn't been the case for me. In 30 minutes or so, it's like I didn't eat anything and I'm hungry again. Of course I realize that a lot of my problem is my unrealistic expectations. But sometimes I do feel frustrated that I did this drastic thing only to have nothing change - I still can't lost weight. Mostly, reason prevails and I know that sooner or later the weight has got to come off. Reason is reassuring for the mental issue I have here, but reason does nothing to help the hunger. Ok, rant over. Does anyone have experience like this? Very slow loss and constant hunger? Does the weight loss pick up? How long does the 3 week stall last? Does the hunger ever return to normal? Help!!

It appears I'm also experiencing a 3 week stall. At 2 weeks post op (surgery 1/24/24) I had lost 10 lbs. It's now 3 weeks post op and I'm still the same weight. I sure hope this stall doesn't last a month! I have been discouraged a bit, I think, because any time I've tried to lose weight in the past it has been agonizingly slow and not permanent. I had hoped that I'd lose faster after VSG and I found myself thinking this morning that I did this drastic and permanent thing just to have the same result I have always had - no weight loss for weeks at a time despite my best efforts. Reading about this "infamous" stall gives me a little hope, although I don't understand how I'm not losing weight when I'm consuming 500 calories a day or less, mostly protein and no fats/sugar. I appreciate the topic and the comments, and I'm hoping the stall breaks soon!

Thanks for the tuna fish Idea! Today is my 2nd day on pureed food and I tried it. I'm tolerating it quite well and it's tasty. I tried scrambled egg yesterday and my stomach let me know it wasn't happy! Maybe it was too dry or too chunky or something, because eggs are pretty bland, and I thought it would be a good starter food, but no.

I'm so jealous. I also had surgery 1/24 and have lost 7 pounds. One of the reasons I did the VSG was because when I would try to lose weight, it would come off so slowly---like it would take maybe 6 weeks to lose 5 pounds. It took me 8 months to lose 30 lbs and that was with Qsymia and eating about 1000 calories a day. I would get so frustrated and just give up, I'd go back to my regular diet (which wasn't crazy--usually 1500 - 1800 calories a day) and everything I'd lost would come back. Now, given my usual speed of weight loss, 7 pounds in 9 days is great. But on this liquid diet where I'm getting 300 400 calories a day max, I thought I'd lose more quickly. I was hoping for at least 10-12 lbs by now. Still, I'm happy that I've done this; it's going well and I know that I will succeed. I was just hoping for it to be quicker!

VSG Jan 24, 2024. So far so good! My surgery was uncomplicated. Once home I didn't need any pain medication. I've been doing okay on full liquids and I'm looking forward to pureed foods (not something I ever thought I'd hear myself say) after my first follow up with my doctor on Feb 8. I was surprised to find that I experience hunger--genuine, not head hunger. I guess I thought I'd never feel hungry again. I'm dealing with it, though, by sipping something a little thicker when I feel hungry. There are some really good protein shakes in The Gastric Sleeve Bariatric Cookbook by Sarah Kent MD. Yogurt is a little too thick and doesn't sit well but I tried thinning it out with some skim milk and that helps! I'm sleeping well. The only concern I have is that I am still very sore on my left side and it doesn't seem to be getting better. Or maybe it is, but just so slowly that I am barely registering it. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Thank you for this insightful information. This has helped a lot. Others are saying "you're not hungry, it's just digestive noises" and denying my reality. It's not just noise...I'm hungry. You've explained why. Thank you SO much for that and for the advice going forward!

I just joined this forum. I had my Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy on 1/24/24. I apologize if this topic has been created before but I didn't see a place to search. I am 5 days post-op. Doing full liquid. My doctor says to concentrate more on hydration than protein at this point but I am drinking a protein shake and Protein20 in addition to water, so I'm getting at least 45 grams of protein a day. In addition I'm trying to get a few more grams here and there with yogurt and pudding with unflavored protein powder added. My long term goal. is 60 but the doc said not to focus so much on that right now. I am absolutely stunned to find that I am hungry! Genuine hunger, not appetite (which is not really present at the moment). I was not expecting that at all. Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do? Help!!!

Thank you, this is helpful. It is definitely not head hunger....I know the difference between that and genuine hunger. I know not to eat anything solid. I'm finding that something a little thicker helps a bit. I'm on Pepcid. Guess I'll really be looking forward to the soft food stage! I'm mostly relieved to find that it's not abnormal!

OMG, I posted the same thing last night! I also had my sleeve done on 1/24 and I am shocked to find that I am actually having hunger pangs and growling. I'm at the same stage...full liquid, but I can have cream soups, sugar free pudding, yogurt, protein shakes, etc. I have to thin the yogurt with some skim milk to tolerate it and even then it's not great. Today I am going to add some Isopure flavorless protein powder to pudding. I think if I can get more protein in, I might feel less hungry. I'm drinking Protein 2 0 water and protein shakes in addition to plain water. I'm sorry you're feeling hungry but I'm relieved to find that it's somewhat normal. Good luck!

Thanks for responding. I'm not craving a particular food, or even necessarily "food" at all. In fact, I don't even really have an appetite just yet. I just have plain old hunger pangs and growling. I am plenty hydrated and feel I can maybe get more grams of protein in with some yogurt or pudding with added protein powder...both allowed per my doctors, so I'm not breaking any rules. It's just hard to get it all in 1 ounce at a time! I totally was not expecting to feel hungry and I'm curious if others have had the same thing happen.

Thank you....I was SO not expecting this, and I'm pissed off! I feel exactly as you felt---didn't I do this to NOT feel hungry? I think I need to follow my body's cues and try to get more protein in the form of maybe yogurt and pudding with added flavorless portein powder. I am definitely getting enough hydration because I am urinating several times a day and it is almost clear.

The guideline I was given by the nutritionist at my surgeon's office said that under 7 grams of sugar is what I should aim for.