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I thought the same once I received my date but it went so fast. It’s in 2 days 😩. I’m excited but super nervous! Good luck.

my husband never had weight issues until he was in his 50s (and now he's "overweight", not obese). He could eat any damn thing he wanted and never gain a pound. But..he's getting older...and he can't really do that anymore. his food choices never affected me in the least. I was always a super healthy eater, even when I was obese (I just ate way too much of everything). He ate crap. Well, except when I cooked for him. But otherwise he'd eat fast food, cookies, candy, donuts, ice cream. A lot of it was in the house (and...still is). Oddly, that rarely tempts me. I'm on his case a lot trying to get him to get healthier, especially now that he's getting older - but it mostly goes in one ear and out the other. Sigh.

At the risk of sounding awful, I'm just going to say, I've ALWAYS hated sharing food! In fact I generally will buy extra snacks so that no one asks me for mine. And when they do anyway, I scream nasty things to them in my head but smile and share anyway. The thing is, I've always been a pretty slow eater. People think that means I don't want my food but I do! For example, I can make popcorn last the entire movie because I eat them one at a time. My boyfriend eats popcorn by the handful and is done by the opening credits. When we share, I've had 10 bites and he has eaten the entire bag! Thus, I get my own popcorn or pretzel bites but then I come off looking selfish or greedy when I don't want to share mine. It's annoying. Or when we go out to eat, I purposely save half my meal until later but most of them time he will ask me if it's OK for him to have it later that night. Anyway, all of this I to say, I see it being way worse now! Lol. I find myself always telling my boyfriend to stop eating my food. I'm going to eat the rest later (maybe! But I should at least have the option). All of these high protein snack are soooo expensive. I brought those bariatric protein reeses cup (yum) but can only eat one at a time. He will eat my second one and have his own set. The box came with 10. They are now done and I only had 3 cups. I'm not supposed to have popcorn yet but I ordered this gourmet bag for charity before my surgery that finally came last Thursday. My nutritionist said I can have them at week 6 and I WAS going to patiently wait for then but my boyfriend asked me to open them to try it out (They were heaven!) He then proceeded to have one serving at a time over the last 2 days and now they're done. I ate more then I should have because I felt like I should atleast have some before they were gone. I feel like arguing about food is sooo petty but it's starting to annoy me. It doesn't help that he did not have the surgery but seems to be losing more weight than me eating/drinking all of my protein! Lol. Im really not mad he is losing weight too but I just feel like he can maybe contribute to purchasing all of these expensive items. It makes it a little harder for me to stay on track when all the things I buy are finished so fast. I'm sipping on plain water as a type this because I didn't realize all the crystal lite was finished! I should just get over myself right? I was the person who generally brought the groceries before surgery. I still buy normal groceries but now also include specific things for me. What do you guys think?

I was a junk food slave...loved the worst foods possible...and you're 100% correct about your tastes changing. I was skeptical about this and thought people were just saying this...to motivate themselves away from unhealthy food...I thought it was purely Dumbo's magic feather. Nope...it's the real deal. I still love and crave sugary things like donuts. Candy still tastes really good, particularly chocolate. But greasy stuff and fast food are just not what they used to be. Tons of things I used to love have absolutely no appeal. Example... I used to love lasagna. Now, if I had my choice between a plate of lasagna and a bowl of vegetable bean soup...I'd go for the soup every time. I used to love french fries. If I had a choice between an order of greasy fries and a baked potato with black beans dumped over the top with salt and pepper...I'd want the potato...with green beans and a side of corn on the cob. If I had to choose between an Egg McMuffin and a bowl of oatmeal with nuts and berries...I'd go for the oats. I used to hate beans and fish. Love them now. I used to hate sweet potatoes. Love them. It's super weird. If I were reading my own words three years ago, I'd think I was delusional and making crap up to sound reformed. LOL. But no, very honestly...I PREFER a lot of healthier stuff and it's wonderful to finally WANT what's good for me.

I remember that period of time - it definitely messes with your head. That was the time watching tv commercials became enlightening- I was like holyyyyy crap every commercial is for fast food and pizza and sugary cereal, ice cream etc. I was just floored- no wonder America is fat

I am scheduled for March 31, just set the date last week. I have like 10 appts for different tests and meeting with surgeon, it's very overwhelming maybe because it's happening so fast. I've had a lot of "stuff" happening in my life recently and found myself trying to catch my breath last night. I finally realized that it was either stress of everything or the fear of the surgery. And the insurance denied me so I have to pay for it out of my own pocket. I'm a single mother so I guess I finally just started feeling overwhelmed. Has anyone faced major anxiety yet?

If you feel it is too fast, then it may be too quick. One thing that I am doing is putting down my silverware for 20 seconds before moving on to my next bite. This helps to slow down my eating and I know when I get full. I also measure out how much I eat so that I don't eat more than I should.

Hi everyone I had my surgery 2/23 and I am not understand my stomach, I have noise if I like 3 spoons in a row I get horrible pain is that my stomach enough? I will also get what feels like gas pains Sent from my SM-G781U using BariatricPal mobile app

I hit a 5 day stall about a week after surgery and started intermittent fasting. I take all of my calories in between 12 noon and 6pm. Then fst for 18 hours. It is pretty simple since I am not hungry anyway. It got the scales moving again. I think we have to fool our bodies sometime. I will hit anothe stll and I will try something else. This is working good for now. How bout you? Any Tricks?

Thanks. No hunger yet and I can knock a 20 oz protein shke out in a few minutes. I am intermitent fasting. All calories are between noon and 6pm.

I feel you... I travel for work (at least until COVID) so once COVID is over I will have no choice but to eat out 5 days a week. I will not be able to cook at home. I haven't had surgery yet, but here are the strategies I'm planning: ordering plain grilled meat and fish with a side of steamed or roasted veggies (most nicer restaurants will let you order this way and I will bring a mini food scale that is about the size of a deck of cards with me - I already have it, or a measuring cup. I don't care who thinks I'm weird). For fast food, I will order a grilled chicken sandwich or egg, ham, and cheese breakfast sandwich and not eat the bread. I have heard a lot of people talking about P3 packs and I've eaten them before. I can just eat the cheese and nuts and skip the raisins or craisins. I can buy cheese sticks and packs of deli meat at grocery stores in most cities where I have access to a grocery store and a fridge in my hotel room. I am not saying I will be perfect, but I know what the options are. You can eat healthy at restaurants. No, you don't know exactly what is in your food, but you can ask them not to add the butter/oil to your grilled meat or fish, you can say no to the bread, potatoes, rice, etc. And unless you're staying at a hotel with no fridge or microwave, you can take the food home for your next meal. You got this! You may or may not be able to turn yourself into a gourmet cook, but either way, it is possible. My nutritionist felt like I could go back on the road after surgery and be successful, so I think you can too!

You are losing about as fast as I did. I started preop 135 days ago and have lost 85 lbs. It was ~1 lb a day for quite a while at the early stages of our journey. In the last 2 months, it has slowed to under 10 lbs a month now, but is still steady but slower as I approach my maintenance weight already. As far as if I feel my stomach is too small or too large, I believe it is just the right size. I was never hungry or full before this journey and now I feel full at about 3/4 cup of food. I am not sure I am getting hungry yet but can tell when it is time for me to eat.

I did NOT want diabetes and my A1C was creeping up with my fasting glucose. Three years prediabetic and the numbers just kept getting worse. My A1C is 5.0% now. Well into normal. I am so glad I dodged diabetes. Two brothers have it. My legs were starting to swell with pitted edema...bad. Tops of my feet started to swell up, too. My physical endurance was awful. My back hurt so bad just doing a regular shopping trip that I had to find a place to sit down halfway through. I felt old and disabled. I'm riding horses huntseat and jumping again. I can walk several miles with no issues. I'm riding my bike with my dog again. At almost 49...I feel younger than I have since I was 30:)

Curious what changes (if any) folks made to their diet while waiting for their surgery date? I'm trying to make some changes now so adjusting to a new lifestyle won't be quite as dramatic after surgery. I want to set myself up for success as much as possible. So far I have done the following: - cut way back on my coffee (only one cup caffeinated every other day) - water intake up to 100 ounces a day - tracking my food and limiting carbs to less than 120g a day - trying to teach myself to eat 5 times a day instead of 3 (this has been a big change because I had finally gotten used to only eating 3 times a day...my new program wants folks eating 5 times a day so something is eaten every 3-4 hours) - focusing on protein first - cut fast food down to 2 times a week - cut out alcohol - adding in walks, though not consistently yet Any thing else I can do to help prepare myself more for this new lifestyle?

I'm so sorry you got sick. I hope it passed fast. That sounds just awful. Horrible admission... I clicked on this post because I thought it said "dumpling" and I was like....someone has a healthy dumpling recipe? Do tell! Yep...food addict till the end. Oye. Please feel better.

No triggers for me. I asked my doctor the other day " how will I know when I'm full?" He said "just listen to your body." So umm.... yeah, I still don't know. I just stop eating after about 45 mins of trying... Sometimes, I feel like my food may be coming back up and take that as a sign... but sometimes that happens after 2 bites and I know that can't possibly mean I'm full. I think it just happens if I eat too fast or if the mean isn't sitting well with me. Wish I had a sneeze or something...

Hi Everyone! I’ve been sleeved today! Feeling pretty good - not much pain but during surgery they did give a pain med that is supposed to last three days so who really knows how I’m actually feeling lol I’ve been drinking with no issues except if I sip too fast, I get a cramp in my stomach so I won’t be doing that again. So far so good and I get to go home tomorrow G-d willing

I also have been off diabetes meds since the day of surgery. Every fasting BS I've taken has been in the 75-100 range. I will have my first labs done in 2 weeks. For the first time, I am looking forward to the results. I have felt shaky a few times. However, when I then test, I am safely in the normal range. I once heard that when someone who has had higher blood sugars over time begins to have more normal blood sugars due to treatment, that the normal sugars can feel like lows. I have no idea if that is actually true and I don't remember if I heard it from a reliable source.

I wanted to introduce my self since I view these forums daily and they have been more than helpful in my young journey so far. A little about my path, at my highest weight late 2019 I found out my scale does not go past 340. Of course, I have yo-yo dieted trying everything from Weight Watchers to Keto but as usual the weight loss happened then came back plus some. I started this latest adventure in September 2020 weighing in at 314 at the start of my required 6-month medically monitored diet and classes. Once completed I was down to 304 at the start of my pre-op liquid diet in preparation for a February 1st, 2021 VSG. On surgery day I was down another 10 pounds to 294. The surgery went fine and so far, recovery equally easy with three realizations. The first realization was that constipation is real and boy figuring out how to manage that one aspect is occupying my daily thoughts. I have tried everything from MiraLAX to Enema’s. So far, the latest attempt to control this seems to be working and that’s 12 teaspoons of Benifiber through out the day and 2 Colace twice daily. But nothing works like a good old fashion cup of coffee in the morning to start things flowing 😊. The second realization has been the mood swings and emotions from the hormones being released from rapid weight loss. Just ask my family, it seems I go from happy to depressed in a matter of minutes and back again. The final realization has been that yes, the stalls are real also. I have been locked into the same general weight for about a week and a half now and couple that with the mood swings, its enough to get you doubting your decision to have the surgery. Thankfully these forums have been a source of resolve and information that has gotten me through this far and helps me stay the course. Today I stand before this forum at 261, 53 pounds down total since the beginning and 33 pounds down since the day of surgery. Hopeful for the continued success as I walk this path and the constant adjustments to eating like knowing when I have had too much or drank too fast. There are far more benefits I have encountered already in my short time on this side of surgery but in an effort to keep a long story from getting longer I will reserve more comments for a future discussion. Thank you to all those who bring experience and honesty in there posts and replies I peruse daily and for those who are struggling earlier on then me, just know it does work if you follow the program and stay connected here.

I can’t eat anything at most fast food restaurants- I can look at it and I know that grease wouldn’t go down well. I’ve had good luck at Panera. A cup of soup (chicken noodle, turkey chili) are great. I can’t finish the chili but I can the more broth based ones. I got a half Asian salad without wontons yesterday. Again, I don’t finish it but what I did eat was good. At Mexican restaurants I love chicken tortilla soup. I’ve not tried it post surgery but at Red Robin they have a meal that’s a grilled chicken breast with a side salad. I forget the name. It could be two meals for any of us now. 😬 One thing to watch out for is over ordering. I’m always convinced that the small side I’m getting will never fill me up- and I’m always unable to even finish that. Old habits die hard.

One of the major reasons I had VSG was to get off my diabetes meds. I haven't taken any since immediately post-op. Yay! Now I have the opposite problem. My fasting glucose yesterday was 71, which is approaching the danger zone. I'm shaky every morning and I can't exercise or I feel like absolute garbage. Three "meals" per day isn't an option - I have to snack or my levels tank. At only 6 weeks out, I'm not eating any carb-heavy foods or anything not on my plan, and I take in the appropriate number of calories for this stage. All water and protein goals met 99% of the time. It's too early to have "reactive hypoglycemia," so they're sending me to an endocrinologist to figure out why this is happening. They also suggested I eat some yogurt before bed and before exercising (I'm only taking the dogs for walks around the neighborhood at this point) and that actually seemed to help. Their reasoning is that it contains both protein and carbs. Anyone else have this issue? Is it our bodies trying to adjust to the new normal? Is it too few calories for too long a period? I had grand plans of taking up hiking with my Life Scout son, but at this rate I'll never be able to go anywhere I can't get medical attention.

I don't like fast food and didn't before surgery, but my husband and son do and I have found something I can eat at most places. I usually go for a salad that has protein in it or any type of grilled chicken.. I am allowed carbs so sometimes I will eat part of a bun, but usually I just eat the chicken. I was never a big bread person anyway and I find it doesn't feel good in my stomach now. Thanks to Covid we have only been to Olive Garden in the past year, and they have a lighter chicken option called Chicken Margherita and it's very good. I don't know if you have Culvers in your area but their salad is great and they have really good grilled chicken. I end up eating some of the chicken out of the salad and a little bit of lettuce and my husband eats the rest. The good thing is, protein is on the menu at pretty much every restaurant so I haven't found it too difficult, except that I don't eat any red meat. For breakfast, QT has a delicious egg scramble with veggies and cheese, if you have a QT around. As long as you know what you are allowed you should be able to find something at most places. It takes a little planning but it's doable. Good luck! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh yeah I get that every once in a while , I know I had eaten way to much last night. And then I topped it off with a big gulp of water. Big mistake lol But yes it's like a warm feeling that creeps up from my waist up, then I get all hot and then I feeling I need to throw up...and I do and it's gone as fast as it came.... For me it I just need to not over eat and to be more mindful of the process. That seems to have been the "hard" part for me. My first 7 months I did not know what I was doing. I am 1 year out 57 years old and finally lost 53 lbs. It was my mind it was not working with my new pouch.... But as I got used to my new way eating/thinking things worked out

It's so different surgeon to surgeon I didn't even have a pre-op diet, just had to fast from midnight the day before.

Good for you. I won’t lie and say it goes by super fast but I do feel like I used the time to learn quite a bit of stuff that will help me be more successful in the long run so I guess it was a good thing I had to wait.