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Today is 8 days post op. It seems like my innards are awaking and they don't like me right now, but that's nothing new. Yesterday I made breakfast, took a half hour brisk walk on the treadmill, went grocery shopping and made my little 2 oz food containers, baked a cake and made dinner, then folded the laundry. All told, I'm feeling much more normal again, feeling antsy to get moving and I'm having more difficulty limiting myself than motivating myself. Before the surgery I was used to either a one hour lap swim with drills, or a one hour fast walk on the treadmill with hand weights. For the liquid diet I shortened both to about 40 min and slowed a bit, no hand weights. My body still wants to move but I know that I can't get too worked up right now, I need to heal more first. I have my first Post-op appt on Tuesday, hoping I can go back to swimming next week if my incisions are healed enough? 🤞

I have a sleeve and as the others have said, yes, you will be able to eat a larger portion than what you do after surgery but that’s what’s supposed to happen. It’s how we are able to consume the calories & nutrients we need to maintain our lower weight. However, the larger portion is more like what a recommended portion size is nothing like you may have eaten before surgery. You’ll be looking at about 3-4ozs of a protein & around a cup of vegetables. You’ll be able to eat a lot of the same foods & old favourites as you used to. The difference is how frequently you have them & how much you eat when you do. You may even make healthier choices around the ingredients or cooking methods. Like instead of battered or crumbed fish & chips you have grilled fish & salad or air fried or baked vegetable chips, Instead of a burger on a bun have a bun less burger or a lettuce wrapped one or just eat half of the bun. There aren’t foods I can’t eat just foods I choose not to, choose to eat small portions of or eat infrequently & I feel better for it. Your stomach is a muscle and there is the potential to stretch it again but you’d have make a concentrated effort & eat large portions, many times a day over a long period of time like you did in the first place. It’s not easy & can cause a lot of discomfort (even vomit) to force yourself to eat that volume of food. Why would you want to though? Second the advice to watch the videos of Matt Weiner & John Pilcher.

Saw my GP yesterday and happy to say I was taken off almost all my meds @10 1/2 months post-op. One of my biggest goals met along with 100+ weight loss. I never imagined it possible a couple years ago. I thought I was destined to die from being morbidly obese and from kidney failure from all the meds I've been on for so many years. My bloodwork was perfect with no red flags or abnormal readings. With my hiatal hernia repaired I can breathe again, and exercise is a pleasure instead of an I'm out of breath nightmare. My next goal is to get my BMI into the 20's. I wish much success for all of you. Keep at it. Don't give up. If you work the program it will work for you too!! {{hugs}}

Love, love, love this advice!! I can personally tell you that you are 100% correct. I was not drinking enough water (i was relying on Coke Zero) which i know actually dehydrates you. I also got into the bad habit of staying up way too late on my phone while watching Netflix so I was not getting enough sleep. My weigh loss stalled. I have now been drinking a lot more water and making sure i get between 7.5- 8 hours of sleep a night. By doing this i have broken the very long stall/very slow weight loss!! I know this is common knowledge about getting enough water/sleep, I just got into very bad habits for a while. I had my surgery 4/12/23 and have lost 82 lbs so i am doing good, but i knew i could do better!

ok, gonna throw my story on the table...take from it as you will, as a lesson to live by, a cautionary tale, or a personal justification...you choose. pre surgery i was also a weekend warrior, actually, more like a yearly quarterly warrior, lol. i had like a couple drinks every 2-3 months. probably got stupid drunk once a year or less. during weight loss phase (which lasted 7 months) i had maybe 5 partial drinks. i don't think i finished any of those drinks. my first "drink" was 3 weeks post op. I had maybe 2-3 sips of a glass of red wine. it was really weird, i swear i could feel the burning of the alcohol pass down my esophagus, through my stomach and along my intestines. my second drink was about 1 month later (christmas) and it was a very sugary soju-sake drink. again i had maybe 2-3 sips but this one resulted in my second worst dumping experience ever. *shudder*. the next 3 or so drinks were vodka or gin sodas (learned my lesson! less sugar!) ok. now its 2019, im in maintenance and i'm looking hawt and feeling awesome and me and mr. go on a couple vacations and i drink way more than i normally do. but its vacation, right? so its ok. i also took up smoking again after being smoke free for 10 years (but thats another story). now its 2020 and its effing covid, and i, like many others i know started drinking at home (i never did this before, i was always a go-out drinker) ...and now its 2024 and i drink every day. i don't get stupid drunk every day or anything (not that i'm trying to justify anything - i fondly call myself a high-functioning alcoholic), but i do drink every day. its at a point where others (i.e., my doctors and my hubs) are chastising me with the amount i drink. i know i drink too much and its probably doing a number on my health despite nothing showing up on any of my labs or whatever. i quit drinking for a month last year because my son said i couldn't stop drinking for a week. so i know i can stop (or at least slow down) if i really wanted to. trouble is i don't seem to really want to. last year, my OBGYN said i really should stop smoking AND drastically cut down the amount i drink. i told her i'm not sure i could do both, so i made her a deal and said i would stop smoking. i'm proud to say i have been smoke free for 9 months (after smoking for 4 years after quitting for 10, after smoking for 20...say that ten times fast, lol). its been surprisingly easy, but i think its because i can still drink. ANYWAY. i'm hoping to get into a mindset soon to address my drinking problem. i don't doubt my ability to reduce, but i'm not sure i will actually WANT to anytime soon. le sigh. so there you have it. i am the poster child of transfer addiction. despite all this, my weight has more or less remained unchanged (go figure). i continue to stay below goal weight this entire time. ....and i am literally typing this post out with an espresso martini in hand. dont judge me! lol. i am relatively chill about all this so even if you do judge me, i wont take it personally. p.s. oh, i should also mention that i get "affected" real quick and on very small amounts. and i also sober up real quick. this phenomenon is a purely post surgery thing. i needed lots more to get drunk before surgery....although my smaller size now may also be a factor....

Hi Sleeve to Bypass. good to know I never got the bypass. I was so worried cause of you saying the weight loss and all. I ended up in Emergency NYE as I couldn’t intake anything. I was in so much pain and extremely dehydrated. They went in and found I had to perforations. One just above the fundoplication on my oesophagus and the other in the stomach. A week in hospital on intravenous meds and now 1 week home and I am feeling so much better.

Well, I have low energy sometimes. I'm at 225 right now. My goal is 170-180. I guess it could be some "head hunger", but I also have spells that seem to me to be hypoglycemia. Also, my stomach growls and I feel sickish. Idk. If it is "head hunger", do you have any tips for getting through it? My psych suggested sipping a warm drink when hunger hits. I'm not a warm drink fan, but have tried herbal tea a few times. I just feel like my weight is coming off so slowly now. Like a pound every 2 weeks. At this rate, I will never reach my goal. I do exercise at least 3 or 4 days a week. I try my darnedest to stay under 1200. But, there are lots of days where I go over and the guilt murders me.

I totally get it! I am 2 weeks post op and I am only down 2 pounds from what I weighed the day before surgery. It's hard to say if it's a stall after dropping 15lbs rapidly on the preop diet, or if it's because I had so much fluid weight coming home from two days on an IV. But it messes with your mind, either way. It's easy to panic and think this is it, it's not going to work. But the truth is, stalls will break when they're good and ready to break. All you can do is keep working on living the healthy lifestyle you want to live and give yourself a break when you fall short of it. You can't expect to be perfect every minute, but I do think if you beat yourself up about it, you reinforce the idea that you will fail, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where you're more likely to give in to temptation again next time because you're feeling demoralized from all the negative self talk. 2 dress sizes down is amazing!

I can’t speak to the nausea other than suggesting you call your team and ask for more of the meds that work better. My team gave me ondansetron which is also used for nausea with chemo just in case. (I would assume that’s a pretty strong one). It does say it may cause drowsiness. I’m guessing yours does too. In terms of the non drug induced drowsiness it got a bit better for me with purées but I am still taking naps at 2.5 weeks out. Honestly I haven’t really done any chores other than make the bed, a little laundry because I have the raised pedestals and of course the dishes. I did sweep the floors with a broom last week but it took me all day because I was still in pain and I’m pretty sure the dirt pile I asked my hubby to get is still in the laundry room. Even if you don’t have outside incision pain, though, your insides are still healing so try to take it easy. I was told not twisting, bending, or straining of any kind for 6 weeks at least. I believe last time it was 8 weeks for anything involving over 10 pounds of weight but it’s been a while so I need to confirm that. I know how it feels to sit here and look at things piling up in terms of chores. I’m sure we all do, but you can seriously hurt yourself if you do too much too soon. To me it’s just not worth it. Other than dusting I just don’t see what chores don’t involve bending or twisting. I figure It will all still be waiting to be done when I am ready. It’s just me and my hubby and if it bothers him then he is perfectly capable of doing it himself. Really it’s just the bathrooms and the floors that I just can’t do properly. I have used Clorox wipes on the sink area and cleaned the mirrors. I may try to do the toilets today. I just won’t do the bottom part I guess. I do have an appointment this week as a follow up to the muscle cramp thing. I probably could cancel it since the magnesium is working but i want to ask her what I can be doing physically at that point. I will be 3 weeks out. I know that I am physically healed enough to be doing some faster walking so I plan to get my treadmill out and start doing that gradually. Anyways, all this to say please take it easy. Allow yourself some time. This is a pretty major surgery and it’s not at all uncommon to need some time to get back to 100%.

That does sound like the basis for the diet I'm on. They told me to work on getting 64oz of water per day as top priority, then around 60-80g of protein next. Next it was to prioritize some unsaturated fats (fish, poultry, and lower carb veggie protein options). From there, they told me to keep carbs under 10g per serving, and under 55g total for the day (not quite as low as keto). Then try to keep saturated fats low where possible. I'm a 6'1" male, so they had me try to target 800-1000 calories per day during the weight loss phase, and work toward 1200 after about 6 months. You may want to check with your doctor or nutritionist to see if they have a recommended range to target. I learned the hard way while I was sick with Covid over the holidays that its really easy for excess calories to be hiding in small things. But overall, just keep up with what you are doing. There will be a stall within the first couple months, and a second stall a couple months after that, so just mentally prepare for it. Both will last 2-4 weeks and will likely have a slight regain in the middle of it. It doesn't take much fluid retention to make the number on the scale go back up. Remember that a 16oz bottle of water is literally 1lb. It's not fat, so it doesn't count. if you're drinking a half gallon / 2L of water a day, that's 4 lbs sitting there, but it doesn't count as "fat weight". It is jarring to see a 4lb fluctuation on the scale, but you're not losing progress, it's just water that your body isn't done processing yet. Think of the weight loss more like stair steps rather than a straight line. You can push through it!

I am 4 months since I started pre-op. HW - 469.8, Pre Op Weight - 450.6, 12/4/23 Weight - 340.4 Pictures are Pre-Op to today (12/4/23) Down 129.4 Overall, 110.2 since Pre-Op, and 90.4 since surgery (Aug 15, 2023) Still have a way to go for goal (250).

Mine has felt slow too. I went from 238 to 223 on my two week pre-op diet, which was so fast, and now at 3 weeks post-op I'm only at 217. Did you lose a lot pre-op? That can slow the post-op loss in the beginning. I figure 21 pounds in 5 weeks is awesome, but 6lbs post compared to 15lbs pre feels very slow indeed! I know there's a lot going on internally, and that pre-op, it's mostly fluids that are lost. I know I need to remember that this is a 12-18 month process that will happen at its own pace. But it's hard to be patient in the beginning when so much of what you read and hear are these crazy high weight loss numbers the first few months. Of course that's often with people who had a much higher starting BMI. But it sure does make you dream of it happening faster. However, I will take the victory that I've had to start pulling out smaller jeans and bras already because my pre-op favs are way too loose now.

Thank you for your comment. It's definitely the phrase "not having the willpower" that cuts the deepest if I'm honest. It's as if all the struggles I've had during my life with my weight weren't enough! Surgery isn't the easy way out, I know that and I've not even had mine yet. Its absolutely life-altering, and as you say, takes willpower in itself to stick to it afterwards! I will keep the surgery to myself for the most part, it was just such an unexpected comment!

OH YES! I am still pre-op and I HAVE to be at the goal weight the surgeon gave me of 275 on my surgery date, so I gotta make sure I stay in check! I went back to tracking, eating proteins first and doing my 30min of activity 3x a week. It came back off but I still have 19 more days till surgery day!

I love your explanation @NickelChip! I've read it before in another group but you made it so easy to understand!! That is exactly what is happening during our stalls, especially the early ones. The body is just trying to protect us and make sure we'll survive. I believe during this time it also assesses things like set points, what the metabolism is doing, etc... Our bodies are hard workers even when the scale is sitting there staying the same. I too wish doctors would take the time to explain this to their patients, it is a major source of anxiety throughout the weight loss phase! OP, I'd highly suggest getting yourself a tape measure. Measurements are a fantastic way to track weight changes in our bodies and often when the scale doesn't move we lose inches, because we are actually still losing fat, we are just losing in stealth thanks to that water weight. A similar process happens when we start exercising, often the scale stalls or we even gain! But below the surface we are still changing our body's composition, fat is still being burned. Apps like Baritastic will track your measurements and show you over time how they are trending down, it is pretty cool. I only allow myself one weigh in a week. If I feel anxiety about the scale I don't even do that. It isn't worth the mental anguish... For the VAST majority of people, if you follow your plan, eat regularly, drink your water, and get some movement in, your body will continue that fat burning for a long time. There are always outliers, of course, and my heart goes out to them. But the odds are we won't be outliers... I remind myself of this every day, I'm 3 weeks out! You've lost the same amount that I have in less time, that's pretty cool!

Perhaps just come out and ask " why do you feel the need to say hurtful things, and if you don't, perhaps consider how others might take it. You may be joking, but it still hurts." How else will Granny know she's hurting you? I used to be like you and always thinking others are laughing at me, or talking about my weight etc., but I've just gotten to where I don't care. I told my children when people say bad things about you: 1. Do these people matter to you? if not, then their comments don't matter either. If they do, talk to them because they DO matter to you and they should know they're hurting you with their careless words. If they matter to you then you and they deserve the benefit of talking about it or 2. People say bad things about others because they don't feel good about themselves. So they belittle others to feel better about themselves, they're just sad small people not worth your time or thoughts. Just the fact they do it makes it not worth your time! Your family and YOU deserve the time to talk about what bothers you, how else will they know, grow and learn?

Sports bras for sure. I'm almost at my goal weight and my boobs are flabby, saggy, and dropped from a full D cup to a saggy B cup. Can't wait for my skin surgery, tummy tuck, and boob job. I just want them back to where they used to be lol

Updating now that I'm 6 months out. 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT Female, 50, 5 feet 0 inches 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 6.4 kilos or 14 pounds 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 148.6 kilos or 327 pounds 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 137.6 kilos or 302 pounds 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 127.8 kilograms or 281 pounds 6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery 117 kilograms or 257.4 pounds 7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery

here's my personal anecdote : when i called goal, i looked skeletal and gaunt. many people told me so (which i found annoying), but more importantly, *i* thought i looked gaunt and skeletal. fast forward about 1.5 years after that, and while i actually weighed 10+ lbs LESS than when i called goal, i looked waaaay healthier...and, dare i say, HOT. lol. i was exercising regularly and my body didn't have that frail look to it, and my face gauntness filled in. granted i did also have plastics done: tummy tuck, breast lift and arm lift, but those procedures only took of 400g of weight off me, so says my doc. fast forward another couple years (im 5+ years post op now), and while i still weigh 10+ lbs LESS than goal, i STILL look healthier now than those early days of maintenance. Mind you, i do look a lot "softer" now as i only exercise a fraction of what i used to do before. I do think rapid weight loss does a number on one's looks in the short term, but i think most people will find that as time goes on, things move and settle a bit so we dont look so sickly. (and yes, i can see my bones in places, lol)

Here’s my story. On 4/25/22 I weighed 281.8. A few months later at a Dr appointment for reflux the topic of having endoscopic gastroplasty was mentioned and eventually the surgery was scheduled for September 2022. I reported for the surgery and was going thru the pre-op process when our son called to let us know that he tested positive for COVID. The doctor advised us to reschedule. The next opening was a couple of months off, so it was rescheduled. I reported for the rescheduled surgery but after at check-in we were greeted with the news that the ventilation system for the operating room was down and we would have to reschedule again. This pushed us into 2023 and required navigating a new health insurance provider. Finally On 1/24/2023 I had my surgery and by 5/1/2023 my weight had dropped to 224 then “stabilizing” at around 235. 2023 had lots of ups and downs: - 4/25/2022 – weight 281.8 – bmi 38.2 - 1/23/2023 my last coke have gone over 1 year without a coke. Was typically drinking 1 – 2 20 oz bottles per day of regular coke. - 1/24/2023 - surgery. - 3/31/23 got laid off from work. - 4/6/2023 – robotic hernia surgery - 4/26/2023 – kidney stones - 5/1/2023 – weight 224 – bmi 30.3 - 7/11/2023 – procedure to evaluate hiatal herniaI - 1/18/2024 - COVID. - 1/25/2024 - big disagreement with boss and resigned. - 1/29/2024 - received ontingent job offer but significant pay cut. Job won't start for a month so I have time to think abiut job or seek other opportunities. - 1/30/2024 - weight 234.4 – bmi 31.7 Things to work on: - Eat better and exercise long term. I’ll do ok eating and exercising for a week or two and then I start stress eating, not feeling like walking. - Eating – there are times when I don’t feel hungry but want something to eat. - Regularity – I’ve always been irregular and at times have IBS with uncontrollable BM and then other times go days ( 3 – 4 days) between BM. - I have a goal of going on a couple of long bike rides 10 -15 miles but need to start getting in shape for them. - Decide to retire or find new job. - I rarely feel full. I think that I’m eating less but feel hungry or feel like eating even if I’m not hungry. Looking for advice on healthy things to eat between meals and limiting appetite here is a list of things that I like to eat . - - I like Kind Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew bars (170 cal, 22 g carbs and 6 g protein) - addicting - Inspire Square Protein Wafers by Bariatric Eating (200 cal, 13 g Carbs 15 g protein) - addicting - BariatricPal Protein Shake or Pudding – Chocolate (6 gm carbs 15 gm protein) - Lunches - Dole Sunflower Salad Kit - 350 calaries (40 gm carbs and 9 gm protein)

Lap band surgery 2004, nothing but pain & discomfort, no weight loss. Especially port sight hurt, lots of throwing up. After several attempts for help I started to just “live with it”. Married a wonderful man about 2 years ago, he said No your quality of life is more important. Went to doctors with me and he detailed everything (stuff I didn’t think to mention). I was referred to an excellent gastric surgeon. After tests and imaging, he said “the band needs to be removed and a bypass RNY performed. I was scheduled within a week, no waiting time. Best thing I ever did! The band was cutting into my liver, and other issues. I had a bit of discomfort but no pain meds other than Tylenol. I had this done May 15,2023, I have lost 70 pounds and feel great. Wear a size 4-6 jeans. I hope this helps someone. I think the band is the worst choice!

I'm so glad you tried the muffins and liked them!! I really enjoyed mine, they kept well in the fridge and warmed up really well with a quick zap in the microwave. Regarding the nutritional needs of a SADI patient. We don't really know, honestly. The SADI is too new to have some of the longer term studies that have been done on the sleeve, bypass, and DS. But it is commonly thought by most surgeons that the dietary needs of a SADI are more than with the bypass because SADI patients are thought to malabsorb more than a bypass patient. And their needs are most likely a little less than a traditional DS. That said, I attended nutrition classes with all the different surgeries in one group, so we had to learn everybody's requirements!! Most good surgeons recommend that SADI patients follow the dietary requirements of a DS patient to be on the safe side. That means 80-120 grams of protein, less than 50 TOTAL carbs while in the active weight loss phase (the dietician said "net carbs" is not an official measurement, but if you want to follow net carbs you'd need to keep under 30 net carbs since they get counted differently, most DS patients introduce a bit more complex carbs into their diets once they reach maintenance weight) and the fat grams recommended by the ASMBS is 60 grams of fat by 1 year post op. However, SADI and DS patients malabsorb a good amount of fat, so veterans of the surgeries will tell you that you need more fat than that. I seem to feel best around 80-100 grams of fat a day, but there are veterans of the DS surgeries that eat closer to 150 grams, or whatever alleviates their constipation and eases their symptoms of low fat like dry eyes and dry skin. According to most studies, a DS patient only absorbs about 20-30% of the fat they consume, around 60% of the protein they consume, 60-80% of the complex carbs, and every single calorie of simple carbs!! That's why simple carbs are so important to restrict post surgery (besides the digestive drama), you can eat your way around any surgery with simple carbs... And this is why counting calories is pretty useless for DS and SADI patients. We don't yet know exactly what the percentage of absorptions is for SADI patients as they haven't done a breakdown study (as far as I know) but it is safe to assume SADI patients absorb a little more fat and protein than a traditional DS patient would. The best way to find your own perfect macros post surgery IMO is to aim for 80-120 grams of protein and then watch your protein labs. They will tell you if you need more protein or if you can back off a little. And for me at least, I find my skin, hair and eyes are highly sensitive to when I have too little fat in my diet.

You will be wearing a hospital gown and given non-slip socks, so all you really need is to wear something to the hospital that is comfy with a stretchy or loose waist you can wear home, and bring clean undies and socks. Also bring a toothbrush, travel toothpaste, hair brush, deodorant, chapstick, and lotion. Don't bring meds or fluids as they will need to administer those to you and record them in your chart. But check on this because if you are taking something unusual, they may want you to bring it. In my case, they just gave me my daily thyroid medication from the hospital pharmacy. Bring your phone and charger and a book, maybe headphones if you'd rather listen to music. Hospitals are kinda gross, so the less you bring, the better. I had an incident where my IV came unattached and I ended up with watered down blood everywhere, which would have ruined any pillows or blankets from home. Oh, I brought a small pillow for the car ride home that is made for abdominal surgery (search Amazon for hysterectomy pillows) and can velcro to your seatbelt for extra comfort for your incisions. It was nice but not 100% necessary. For home, I had a weighted heating pad that I loved for sleeping. You will also want a bottle of liquid adult strength Tylenol at home for pain.

Mine met me at a heavier weight than I am now (I was 270 when I met him) and he absolutely LOVED it. He's a "chubby chaser" and likes girls between sizes 14 - 30 lol Fortunately I like my body curvy, just not like I was (or even am now) so he's lucky that I'm ok with getting to a size 14 or 16. Otherwise he'd be outta luck.

You can have a safe pregnancy and delivery with any of the surgeries. Your surgical choice should be based on your individual needs like how much weight you want to lose, what your BMI is, what pre-existing conditions you have, etc... There are some great support groups on FB for pregnancy after bariatric surgery! I know of one for SADI/DS patients, but I am sure there are plenty for RNY or Sleeve patients as well! But talking with a surgeon who is trained to do all the surgeries is your best source of information... A surgeon that only does 1 or 2 of the surgeries may give you biased advice on which surgery to choose.