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When I was trying to slow my weight loss I was snacking 5 x a day. I felt like I was eating all day long. In time my meal sizes got a little larger though I still snack 3-4 x a day to get the calories in. Peanut paste, nuts, protein bar, string cheese, yoghurt. baked fava beans or chick peas, half an apple, small bunch of grapes, & my left over rolled oats, yoghurt & dried cranberry breakfast are all snack options. I’m a full fat milk & full fat salad dressing girl too. No low fat foods in my kitchen (in many cases it’s high sugar &/or high salt to compensate for the low fat). I wouldn’t get worried yet. Yes there is the bounce back many experience to keep in mind. Your remaining fat will resettle and changes your body shape & you’ll look less gaunt especially in the face. Much like we tell people while they’re losing not to worry about the number on the scales too much, the same is true now while things are stabilising. Though you say you look bony & too skinny how much of this is body dysmorphia & you’re not really seeing yourself? Are you too skinny or is it too skinny in comparison to how big you were before? Are you really seeing bones sticking out or just seeing some shadowing of bones or feeling bones which you’ve never seen or felt before or have forgotten? It takes time to really see yourself after weight loss. Our brains can really twist our thinking.

Most programs will tell you to stick with 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup portions for the first month or two. There is a lot of swelling internally and a lot of nerves are cut that communicate fullness so it is hard for us to discern whether we are full or not. I found this portion varied per food personally though. I have always been able to eat a bigger portion of yogurt, for instance, than a pureed meat. Density seems to matter to my stomach. You could always call your surgeon's office to find out their recommendations. But if you don't want to, I'd stick to the 1/4 to 1/3 cup range. I noticed my portions changed at around 2 months out. I can eat closer to 1/2 cup portions now. I'm assuming that is because all the swelling finally went down and there is more space now.

Ugh, I feel you. One of the things that irks me the most about troublesome foods is having to cut my protein short -- or getting ill and losing what little I got down. I seem to have trouble with chicken even before it's been reheated -- again, other than ground. Lately beef has been giving me problems too, other than barbacoa brisket from my local burrito place. Oh, other than jerky? I found a no sugar /sweetener added beef jerky that has given me absolutely no issues and is nicely high in protein. It takes me close to an hour to eat a 30g serving but it's helpful to stash at the office for an afternoon snack. Today, I realized I grieve dim sum. I don't know if it's the socialness, the overall experience or the food itself -- or some combination of the three. I've had some steamed Korean dumplings a few weeks ago and just didn't eat much of the dumpling wrapper itself, and have been able to eat shrimp siu mai at a Japanese restaurant. But being able to go to a dim sum restaurant and eat whatever they pass by with -- without having to interrogate them about ingredients or cooking methods -- I will miss that.

It’s usually about four weeks before you can lift more than 10kgs/20lbs but please check with your team as to when you can introduce more strenuous activity. Requirements differ plan to plan & patient to patient. Nothing stopping you using some resistance bands at home in the meantime. You’ll tone muscles without straining your abdominal area. (Remember it takes about 8 weeks to be fully healed.)

So i had my surgery last month. I am self pay as insurance will not cover. I paid around $18-19K. I had to pay before i could have the surgery. A couple weeks after surgery i notice there was a claim from the hospital on my insurance for that same surgery for around $40K. Which they denied since its not covered. I called the hospital to find out what the heck is going on. So i gave them my receipts showing i paid the Surgeons fee, Surgeon assistant fee, Anesthesiologist fee, Hospital facility fee, complication coverage fee, Pathology, psychological exam, and nutritional evaluation. all coming out to about $19K. So they told me they would figure out what happened and why my they did my insurance instead of self pay. Today i get a email from the hospital that they switched me to self pay and that i am owed a refund of over $3,000 which was odd because i am not owed anything. So i called and they checked and checked and said they gave me a discount since I paid cash lol. So i was like... ARE YOU SURE... Because once i get this money i am paying off my credit cards and you wont be getting that money back... and they checked and said i am good. So i should be getting some moolah back here in the next couple days lol. So thanks for that mistake haha.

I had my surgery last week and my surgeon said he has all of his patients stay one night for monitoring. There are other surgeons in the same unit that let people go home same day, but he said he prefers not to rush care. It made me feel safer. I did have some overnight challenges, so I was glad to still be there. I left the next afternoon.

I didn't have a 3-week stall but I did gain around 10 lbs due to IVs right after surgery, and it took awhile for that to come off. My weight loss pattern is/was like steps, my body likes to hold on to the weight, then drops, hold on to the weight, then drops.

I cant lie, I teared up reading this (I think I am due for my lady time so extra emotional LOL) Thank you so so so much for saying all this. You are absolutely right with everything you said. moderation is key. Following my program is key. Staying active and tracking is key. Being able to find what is sustainable for the rest of my life is key. your right ice cream is good for the soul damn it! lol! I need to be okay with just allowing myself that treat then overthinking a couple of bites. Being strict and depriving myself is how I gained my 100lbs back after I lost in my 20's so your right, allowing myself to eat like that, not in huge portions and tracking it, then not eating like that the rest of the week and self sabotaging because I ate something bad. I walk into my work, and they have a picture on the TV screen in the lobby, that shuffles through pics of the company, and I am in a couple of them at 300lbs. Its a daily reminder that I never ever want to be that big again. I looked so uncomfortable and unhappy. Thank you again! ❤️

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:

I have my 2 week pro-op appointment this Tuesday! I'm really hoping I don't have to do a full 2 weeks of liquid diet before surgery 🤣

I grieve the convenience of high fat/sugar/calorie foods. The ability to go anywhere with friends or family for a meal and not have to worry about 'will I be able to find something I can eat?' and cruising the menu online first. I grieve being able to go to my comfort foods for emotional comfort rather than having to actually work through it. Even though I'm happier, overall / in the long run, when I first sink into a bad mood that first little while is rough. I don't really grieve the particular foods themselves (yet?) -- but I think that's a mental block on my part at the moment; so many foods have been giving me problems that the idea of many food types make me feel ill, and the idea of anything greasy or fatty makes me downright nauseated. (Seriously, I had a conversation with my mother last week about pepperoni and her stomach issues when she eats pizza, and just picturing pepperoni had me breathing through my nose trying not to gag lol) (I do grieve that on excruciatingly hot days at work, when the guys make a run for iced-capps , there's no soothing ice slushy to make my afternoon more bearable.)

I had gastric sleeve surgery a little over a week ago and I'm struggling with some pretty bad congestion and a clogged ear that just won't let up. I haven't been able to hear out of my right ear since surgery, nothing seems to be helping. I was wondering if anyone else experienced this after surgery and if you have any tips on how to help with either the congestion or unclogging my ear.

Have you ever mentioned to your doctor, in the past, the things you did to try and lose weight? I have BCBS and they had the same requirement. But I had mentioned to my pcp that I did keto, weight watchers, calorie restriction, and the mediterranean diet. When I mentioned this, she put it in the notes that went to the insurance company and they accepted it and that took 6 months off the process. My pcp was very supportive and was happy for me to do the surgery. I gave her all the requirements from my insurance company (I needed to pass a ekg, her form stating what I've tried to lose weight, my comorbidities, etc...) he jumped right on that and got it done asap. By the time I went to my 1st appt w/ my surgeon, she had already sent all of this to their office. So I was 3/4 of the way finished on day 1 of seeing my surgeon. All I had left to do was the psych eval, blood work the surgeon needed, and then waiting for it all to be submitted and approved by insurance. My first appt with the surgeon was Feb 28th, 2022. My psych eval was March 7th. Everything was submitted to my insurance on March 10th and I got my approval on March 14th 2022. The longest part of this was honestly actually getting to the surgery date because I couldn't have it until May 3rd due to the surgeon's schedule. So honestly, the better prepared you are, the more you do behind the scenes, the faster the whole process will go.

So glad I’m not the only one! One week post op today and I just want to eat food!

So glad I’m not the only one! One week post op today and I just want to eat food!

So I had the sleeve three years ago and gained my weight back. I am pending revision and the dr did an endoscopy and found a hiatal hernia and some gerd. He then ordered a UGI and a gastric emptying study to get some more information to decide which surgery is most appropriate. I just finished the gastric emptying study and after only two hours the food was completely out of my stomach which may explain why I always feel hungry a couple hours after I eat. I am hoping maybe there is a treatment to slow down my stomach emptying and I won’t even need surgery or if I do it will be more successful this time. I see the dr in a week and I’m sure he will have an answer but I’m just curious if this is truly faster than normal and if anyone else has had this issue.

I only got to about 600 calories at 6 months. Took me another year to get to 1300. Yes some programs, encourage people to consume around 1000 calories at about the 3 month mark. But you can only eat what you can physically eat. I even had that conversation with my surgeon at the 8 month mark when I had pushed up to about 900. He understood my position and was happy I was working at increasing my calories even though it was a slow process. I eat about 1500 calories now which according to those BMR calculators is about what I would need to consume for my age, height, activity level & to maintain my weight. It’s plenty of food. I don’t feel hungry. Some will say you need to get your calories up or your body will go into starvation mode & you’ll stop losing. Didn’t affect me like that. Didn’t slow my losing more than what is expected to happen. Didn’t stop me reaching my goal or exceeding it. But we are all different so your experience and needs may be totally different. If they do say increase your calories, don’t tie yourself up in knots about it. Just slowly increase your intake as you’re able. It naturally increases as you progress anyway. Those recommendations are based on averages too. Remember the recommended calorie intake for a woman is 2000 calories. I’d be as large as I was if I ate that much. lol!

That was sweet of her, I hope you guys kept in touch. I mean even if my bf doesn't say anything, I ask him things like if this changed or is that is noticeable, ect. I've already landed myself back in the hospital once due to critically low potassium and the symptoms I had were obvious. So now I'm trying to be more aware so I can spot signs earlier. But yeah I do have to keep in mind that it could seem rude to say something without me bringing it up first. I just saw my therapist and after I said I had surgery, she said I could tell by your collarbones (its a televisit so the view is just to mid shoulder). You're so right about the body dysmorphia! I'm trying to find a balance between: not being obsessive about how much or quickly I'm losing and remembering to appreciate even the smallest change. I've never really taken pics or measurements even prior to surgery, but I did buy this body fat scale I saw another bariatric patient suggest. I am taking the information with a grain of salt, but it is satisfying to see the numbers trend downwards. Aside from that, it is strange to have to tighten my shorts and be able to wear shirts that are a size smaller. I don't want to celebrate too early then hit a stall/weight gain and spiral. But the idea of being able to wear that one dress that's been sitting in my closet?? Talk about a dream come true! Did you go out and strut when you got to that point?

oh the hair loss blues. if its gonna happen its gonna happen. mine started dropping out at 3 months, i had CARPETS of hair all over the house. bit the bullet and cut it to a pixie cut cuz i got tired of vaccuming and snaking the shower drain of all that effing hair. at around 6-7 months post op i noticed little chicken hairs sticking straight up all over my head. by 2 years, all those little chicken hairs were the same length as the rest of my shoulder length hair. by 4 years, my hair was just as long as it was pre-wls AND it was thicker AND curlier (bonus!). i aslo had regular haircuts throughout all this, so i'm sure it would have been longer if i didn't...but it probably wouldn't have looked as healthy.... i'll be 6 years post op in October and my hair is still long and lovely. here's a collage i made when i was 4 years post op to show the hair state progression. the last pic is of me 2 years ago, i'll see if i can post one of my hair today after i shower, if i don't get to lazy.

I am almost two and a half years post sleeve. At your stage I was eating around 800 calories I think, but if I've learned anything it's that we're all totally different! Well into maintenance, my typical day is: Breakfast: full cream milk latte. I have never eaten breakfast at breakfast time and never will. Mid morning: one or two fried or scrambled eggs, depending on how hungry I am. Generally one. Lunch: a salad with some protein (last night's dinner meat, tinned tuna or deli meat - sometimes cheese). Or more often soup - usually homemade and usually with either chicken or pulses for protein. Or occasionally, if I'm feeling really lazy and can take the sugar hit, 100g tinned baked beans with cheese and hot sauce. Snacks, probably three a day at this point: cheese (and usually a couple of crackers with that); 150mls [approx] full cream milk kefir or a kefir yoghurt; nuts (30g approx); seeds (20g probably); deli meat; fruit (I eat at least one portion of berries or an apple every day). I tend to keep lots of meat snacks in the fridge as they're filling and help me reach my protein goal. Dinner: whatever I've cooked for everyone else but without the carb element, or just a tiny bit. Basically protein and veg - in that order. But that includes fried chicken, bolognese, casseroles, sausages, roast dinners, fish pie (no potato topping) - everything I used to eat before my sleeve. Supper: I do most of my carb intake here. Toast and butter, porridge (oatmeal to you lot) with stewed fruit, crackers with butter (or cheese if I haven't cheesed out by then). Exercise: I do a 1 hour aerobic exercise class 3 days a week. I walk between 2 and 4 miles every day and I jog about a mile once or twice a week instead of walking. I am still amazed by what my new body can do. I probably should do more. This is my diet 90% of the time. I have lots of days when I stray badly off the path and eat chips (crisps) and occasionally chocolate. I also drink wine every weekend, which I accept is totally empty calories with no nutritional value. I just track everything and try to adjust if I can. I've had a couple of regains of a few pounds now (4ish), but so far I've been able to jump on those, ditch the rubbish (carbs mainly), up my exercise and get back to 140 or thereabouts. It's no problem at all - a couple of weeks of being more vigilant about what goes into my mouth and a few runs instead of walks. I really hope I can keep doing that. I may have to accept that my set weight is higher than 140 but I am loving it here!

I never had a leak but a relative did. The stomach takes 6 weeks to heal and she split open her sutures by not following plan. She ate solids way too early.

Hi guys! So I had my surgery 2/22/24 and have been lurking on this forum since a few weeks before my surgery. Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to y’all that have been posting your journey whether it be struggles or wins. I come back to this topic anytime I’m having issues and y’all always make me feel better when I realize we all seem to be having the same struggles at some point or another. 😉

One year ago today I had my sleeve surgery and my nightmare began. 12 months later I am doing much better I know that, my infections have gone, I have lost 47kg/103lb and my energy is improving BUT I am finding today very difficult. Today I just feel really sad and keep crying when I realise how much of the last year I lost what with the four months in hospital, all the stress (not just for me but for my family) and how I am still recovering all from what was supposed to be just one night post-op in hospital and then a few weeks of recovery. I thought I was doing better mentally and emotionally but today I just wish I could have just stayed in bed. Anyway I just wanted to say thanks to all here how have answered my questions, given support etc., it has made my journey a bit easier.

Had my speeve done yesterday 3/5. Procedure was quick and uneventful. Woke up in recovery with no belly pain but an awful burning sensation in my chest. Nurse said this was likely trapped gas causing the pain. It has not subsided. I have been able to sleep, take liquid meds and walk a bit. I feel good about the surgery and curious how the next few days will go. I would say discomfort level is about 6/10. Not so much painful, just difficult to get comfortable. Will keep y’all posted.