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Thank you Shanna....I realize I won't be able to eat much of it, just right now still on this liquid diet and all I can think of is my PR food! I am looking at other healthy recipes too. I'm hoping that cauliflower rice will be a good subsitute. Not a big bread eater but I do like to have a toasted bread with butter and an egg for breakfast at times.Mini zero carb tortilla....never heard of that one? I suppose I'll find things as I go on my new journey! 🙂

Thank you Shanna....I realize I won't be able to eat much of it, just right now still on this liquid diet and all I can think of is my PR food! I am looking at other healthy recipes too. I'm hoping that cauliflower rice will be a good subsitute. Not a big bread eater but I do like to have a toasted bread with butter and an egg for breakfast at times.Mini zero carb tortilla....never heard of that one? I suppose I'll find things as I go on my new journey! 🙂

Croissant w/ turkey bacon and cheese I’m always surprised (and annoyed) at how many calories are in the foods I make at home. I won’t be repeating this meal for a while. 🫠 😂

Maybe it would work swapping around the food. Like save your shake for later in the day and have your meal at lunchtime or around like 3. Then maybe your sugar will be more stable and if it does start to drop you have the shake and it brings it back up. im glad you’re able to work with your dietitian on figuring it out. i am on the same diet starting next week.

Hey Alex! I’m so glad you took the steps towards a healthier life at 31. I have been struggling with weight for my whole life. I have raised two kids, limited with things I could do with them. Ji feel days I have robbed them of memories that we could have made together. Now here I am at 55 and I ,reading your post, feel everything you’re feeling. I now have two grandchildren and the first time I took them to the fair and I was not able to go on the rides with them. It was a flashback to not being able to do things with my kids. So I took the leap too. My surgery is 12/27. sorry got sidetracked, yes the liquid diet is hard. Don’t be so hard on yourself for a slip of having a piece of cheese. The important part is you didn’t binge! That slip up is in the past. What you do today is what is important. Start over. I have taken a new thought on food. Everything I ate yesterday is done. My choices and decisions today is what is important. Find something to keep you busy. If you feel like “slipping “ take a walk then come back. Take a drink of water, shake, or make a smoothie. I have downloaded some mind games that take a lot of thinking. I will sit and play the game and before I know it time has past and it is either meal time or bedtime. I am focusing on the restrictions are only for 8 weeks. Two pre and 4-6 post. I keep reminding my self it is 8 weeks out of the 8+years I have to enjoy my new life! sorry for rambling. Wishing you the best with your surgery

Hello, My name is Alex and I am scheduled for the gastric sleeve procedure on 12/18/23. Growing up I never had a problem with my weight; as a matter of fact I was very thin. Due to changes in life and past trauma, I used food as a coping mechanism. I ballooned from 160 pounds at 18 years old to 475 pounds by the time I turned 31. I was "content" being overweight because I refused to deal with it. At the behest of my wife, I begrudgingly scheduled an appointment to be seen by a primary care physician for the first time in years at the height of the pandemic. At this appointment, I weighed in at 475 pounds and was diagnosed with high blood pressure... extremely high blood pressure. This made total sense as I couldn't walk very far without being out of breath, I couldn't go up steps without sweating and having my heart pounding, and I couldn't play with my nieces and nephews. I was prescribed blood pressure meds at 31 years old and told that if I didn't make significant changes and lose weight, I was staring down an early death. That was the kick in the ass I needed. I immediately got a gym membership, downloaded a calorie tracker, immediately made improvements in my diet and dove in head first. Over the course of the next year and a half I lost nearly 100 pounds through diet and exercise alone. I knew that to get to my goal weight though, that I needed more tools.... or a more powerful one. So I was seen by a bariatric provider and over the course of many months was approved for sleeve gastrectomy and was scheduled for surgery. I am currently on the liquid diet and I am struggling. I am dying for flavor... the protein shakes, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and jello that have been my diet for the last three days are not cutting it. I've made a few mistakes... a piece of cheese here or a nibble of chicken there. I am striving for today being a good day.. but it has been hard. I am constantly cold, I'm less tolerant of daily B.S. than I normally am, and am just now starting to not feel as irritable as I have the last few days. I am looking forward to having this procedure done, but I am nervous that I won't lose enough. I'm nervous that I'll ruin it or some other nonsense I keep telling myself. After being overweight for so long its hard to imagine not being as large as I am. I am looking forward to a healthier life, the ability to play with my nieces, nephews and daughter, and being in more control of my life. Thank you for reading this very long post and I look forward to chatting with you on this journey!

I too am Puerto Rican so I understand the attachment to rice. I am 8 months post-op. I personally have had rice on a few occasions. It does not cause me any discomfort, but I haven't had it in any large amounts. I had about a tablespoon of arroz con gandules and a tablespoon of stuffing for Thanksgiving. I still follow protocol of concentrating on protein first and foremost and then veg and carbs. A small taste is fine once in awhile especially for the holidays or special occasion as long as it's not a bigger trigger for you to keep going. Even before surgery, I was used to substituting cauli rice for reg rice. It took me a long time to try bread again and when I did it was a keto bread just one slice. It sits fine, but i don't eat it often at all. I prefer a mini zero carb tortilla when the mood strikes. A pack of 12 tortillas can last me a month and I've yet to go through more than 3 slices of bread from the entire loaf. Some plans can differ, some people's preferences will differ, and sometimes your tummy chooses for you as things won't sit well. I like to live in the middle ground, where I follow my plan the greater majority of the time, but don't demonize any food. I make the choice to choose foods better for me - leaner proteins, veggies, hearts of palm pasta, little to no sugar added foods, high protein low carb snacks. Fortunately now there are many more healthier options so you don't always have to go without.

I agree. Yes your relationship with food is supposed to change but the surgery doesn’t do this you have to do this work. The surgery just gives you the time to reflect on your relationship: the how, why, when & what you eat. Many find the support of a therapist helpful during this time. The pain in your tummy you feel is likely stomach acid not real hunger. Much like a rumbling tummy is often called hunger pangs/pain but usually is that excess acid & just your digestive system working & again not real hunger. There’s a lot to learn about your body & your signals. My real hunger signals are restlessness. I feel like something is wrong but at first I don’t know what & there is a reason I feel hungry - I haven’t eaten in a few hours or I only ate part of my earlier meal.. I never want a specific food, flavour or texture (that’s head hunger) just food & I choose protein dense food. I’m 4.5 yrs post sleeve & have basically maintained. Things I found that helped include eating to a routine. I don’t eat unless it’s time to eat. I eat slowly. I ask myself if I need the next bite or just want it. I watch my portion sizes & never eat more than the portion. (Don’t mind if I don’t eat all my portion.) I consider the value of the food I choose - nutrient dense, predominantly low processed foods. Highly processed food is know to suppress your satiety hormone & stimulate your hunger hormones. (Recently I read that an easy way to judge how processed a food is, is to read the ingredient list. The more synthetic ingredients or ingredients you don’t recognise as real food the more processed it is. Ingredients in traditional rolled oats are just oats so low processed. In Quakers instant oats, as an example, there’s oats, sugar, flavours, salt, calcium carbonate, guar gum, pyridone hydrochloride, etc. so more highly processed.) Just some things you might want to consider.

This is a weird thing to bring up, but I am curious if anyone else has experienced this: I had a gastric bypass back in February and for the past 2 or 3 months it seems like I have been having large and frequent bowel movements. I often go 2 times a day and sometimes even 3. It feels like I am going more now than I did before my surgery even though I am eating less than half of what I used to. I'm guessing this is due to the bypass, but it just seems like there is too much coming out of me for the amount of food going into me, it doesn't make sense.

I was always ready for the next phase after the monotony, though I was discharged from the hospital on the pureed stage. I did not have any liquid only phase post-op. I was on yogurt, ricotta (ricotta bake was a lifesaver), pureed soups. The shakes were hard to get down. I couldn't manage 2 a day. Protein water was a good option to change up the flavor and not just the creamy stuff. Half applesauce and half greek yogurt was a decent changeup. When I was first cleared for eggs, I couldn't stomach one scrambled egg. I found the soft boiled egg far easier to tolerate. I don't typically have protein shakes now, but I do still like them as my base for coffee every now and again.

The food addiction is real, and combining that with surgery not being an instant cure all that fixes your problems, while still allowing you to eat as you did before is a double whammy. I'm dealing with missing the food I used to eat, and it stays on my mind constantly still. I'm only 2 weeks out from my procedure, but not regretting it so far. As @ChunkCat and others have said, basically kissing diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol goodbye is what makes the compromise worth it to me. Five years or so ago, before I started having debilitating problems with all of those, I probably would've regretted it, but since my health declined significantly in the last year, to the point that I was a burden on my wife and family, I had to make this change. I don't know if this will help anyone that is on the fence or regretting having it done, but take it from me, if you can avoid having the uncontrolled blood sugars issues even with meds, not knowing if I'm going to pass out or have my heart feel like its going to beat out of my chest from hypertension and tachycardia, it is worth it. My dizzy spells and stroke-level blood pressure have already subsided thankfully. I'm already off my diabetes meds, just on a reduced dose of my blood pressure medicine, which my primary care thinks I can wean off of by March. Not trying to sound condescending, because you are going through a lot of trauma in this process, but consider yourself lucky that you can avoid this happening to you. It came out of nowhere and slapped me, and if this helps you from having it happen, I'm glad you had it done. Yes there's limitations after surgery, but you can live without that constant fear of death hanging over your head. Please seek the therapy you need to at least get things off your chest, but also to help learn new habits to replace the ones you spent a lifetime building. Just venting to my therapist helps me a lot. Sorry, rant over. Just wanted to help reframe things if I can.

Yes, your relationship with food is supposed to change. How you view it, how often you eat it, what you eat, etc... Also, having a specific meal plan to follow helps a lot while you navigate your new normal. Definitely slow down your eating, start looking at what you're eating and what your calorie/carb/fat/protein intake is, look at your activity levels and adjust them accordingly, and look into speaking with your nutritionist and a bariatric therapist. This is all stuff that should have been gone over with you long before you actually had your surgery.

@SleeveToBypass2023 was my relationship to food supposed to change? I do think I can usually tell the difference between head and real hunger. real hunger usually causes physical symptoms down in my gut like an ache. while head hunger is just that desire for more or for something specific. I can't say I never have head hunger and I deny it all the time and sometimes do give in. But when I say I eat and I don't feel full. I don't believe that's head hunger. Though I could be wrong. You're right that I do eat fast or normal speed. I just eat until I guess I feel full. but it seldom ever comes. Thanks for your lovely advice.

I could eat eggs so I appreciated very runny scrambled eggs & instant rolled oats from purée (again very runny made in lots of milk). Thank goodness for them & thicker soups during purées cause a lot of things just tasted awful. I even ate baby food a couple of times. Once in soft food I ate a lot of mince dishes, stews & thicker chunky soups. Remember your shakes & soups count towards your fluid intake so that helps. I still keep water by my bed & sip during the night (every time I get in & out of bed) so you’re drinking 24 hrs a day. Don’t worry if you don’t hit that 64oz at first. As long as you’re close & making an effort.

So it's not that you can't have any carbs. You want them last, and you want them not to be "bad" carbs, like from pasta and breads and white potatoes. You should be eating 5 times per day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. You want protein first, then veggies, then carbs. No sugar, low salt (himalayan is the best if you need it). Avoid carbonation because it stretches your stomach out. My bariatric diet stated 60-80g of protein per day, 1000-1200 calories per day, less than 50 net carbs per day, and less than 50g of fat per day. If working out, or if you have a very physical job, then it would be slightly modified to 75 - 90g of protein, 1200-1400 calories, no more than 65 net carbs, and no more than 65g of fat per day. It seems like a bariatric therapist might be a good thing for you, because it sounds like your relationship with food never changed, and you never learned to tell the difference between real and head hunger. And lastly, you should be eating very slowly. You're filling up fast because you're cramming a lot of food into your stomach all at once. After it makes its way through, the food is gone but you're hungry again. Eat slowly, chew it well, follow the bariatric diet, find a bariatric diet, and reach out to your nutritionist and see what they can do to help you get back on track and maybe map out an eating plan for you.

Holy crap. Ok, so a few things. First, just because you CAN eat these foods, doesn't mean you SHOULD. You're not even close to healed. You still have numbness from nerves being cut. You could be doing damage you can't even feel yet. There's a reason we're supposed to increase our eating in stages. Second, the amount you eat is more of a head thing than a physical thing. You cannot fit the same amount of food into your new stomach that you used to, and you shouldn't be trying to. Your pouch is only so big, and you have to remember that and start working on your head hunger and your relationship with food. Third, talk to your nutritionist about how you're eating and how to get back on track with your bariatric eating plan, because if you aren't compliant now, you'll never be able to be later on. In no way should you have been eating actual, solid foods 1 week after surgery. So before you do damage that has to be surgically fixed, reach out to a bariatric therapist to help you with your relationship with food and learning the difference between real hunger and head hunger, and your nutritionist to figure out how to map out an actual way to get on track and a realistic meal plan. You might also want to talk to a nurse practitioner about what possible damage you might have done and if there's a way to kind of fix it before it gets to a surgical level.

I had mine on November 20. My surgeon had me go from clear liquids to protein shakes and broth on the 3rd day after, as long as I could tolerate it without getting sick, but had me hold off on non-clear soups or other creamy drinks until today. I've been able to keep down plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and egg drop soup since Saturday, and part of a scrambled egg today, even though I jumped the gun a little on that. I'm still waiting a couple more days before attempting softened meats. Definitely stick to what your surgeon/doctor says, and take it really slowly when introducing something new. If you have a bad reaction, wait 2-3 days before attempting it again. They warned me beef can be harder to tolerate at first compared to something like canned/pureed tuna or chicken, and may require a couple more weeks.

Head hunger is the worst for me, and if I eat anything with a lot of starch or sugar, I crave it constantly. I'm having to distance myself from anything with more than single-digit carbs, otherwise it takes me about 3 days to get rid of the cravings, which is misery. Also remember when chewing up and spitting out carb-heavy foods, just to get a taste, your mouth will absorb some of those carbs, which can trigger those cravings. Not so much with protein or fat heavy foods. I'm trying to remember my wife's motto, she says Little Debbies lead to Fat Deborahs. Although there's days I'd do something regrettable for one of their Christmas Cakes lol.

Being on solid foods for 3 weeks tracks relatively closely to what my plan will be. My hospital only does a 2 day pre-op liquid diet, and then you are on liquid/soft dairy (yogurt, pudding) for about 10 days. They generally do the surgeries on a Monday and you go to a class the following Thursday, although I will have mine on a Wednesday, and I think I will still go to the Thursday class, so it's only just over a week for me. After the class, we're advanced to stage 4 for about 4 weeks, which includes soft/moist meats like chicken thigh, fish, and eggs, along with soft cooked veg and fruits. The only thing that doesn't match up with my plan is the cucumbers because raw veg isn't allowed until stage 5, which is at roughly 6 weeks post-op. But frankly, cucumber is almost all water once you chew it, so the volume is minimal despite looking large. My program doesn't bother with purees. We're just told to chew thoroughly. As others have said, you may not feel full this early because of nerves not being fully healed, so just watch your portions. If you've lost 25lbs in 4 weeks, I hardly would call that doomed! I would double check with your nutritionist about portions, make sure you chew thoroughly, and keep making healthy food choices like you're doing. You may just not have as much swelling as some do, which would explain the ability to eat closer to a normal post-surgery capacity right away. Just because you can eat a couple of eggs doesn't mean you'll soon be able to eat a 24oz steak and sides!

Yes, as @Tomo said it takes 6 (or longer) to fully heal. Besides all the sutures & staples holding your digestive system together, many nerves were cut during your surgery & your signals/messages, like you are full, any discomfort you may be experiencing & your restriction, just aren’t getting through. It’s why sticking to your portion size recommendations during these early stages are especially important. Check with your team if you weren’t given any. For example I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée (week 3) slowly increasing to about a cup at 6 months. But that was what I was told. Starting solid foods after a week seems incredibly early especially without the puree & soft food stages. Plans can be different but yours is the most different I’ve come across. Do check with your team just to be sure.

It may be time to discuss additional help such as with GLP- 1 medications. If your team isn’t being supportive have this conversation with your PCP. Dr Matt Weiner has some videos on you tube about combining these meds & surgery. See what you think & they may be helpful in your conversation with your doctor. But yes, definitely start tracking your food. If only to get you back I track. And maybe make an appointment with a dietician to ensure you’re getting in all the nutrition you need & advice on better food choices.

I had surgery on November 1st and no way able to eat what you describe. First 3 weeks was still liquids, broth, Jello, water, tea and protein shakes. Now I have been given the window to do scrambled eggs, mashed veggies and soft canned fish/chicken as of last Thursday. I am lucky if I can consume 2 tbs of food in each sitting. SO, I have stuck with the hospital schedule and doing every 15-30 minutes, 2-3 tbs of food. Then sipping water all day long or tea. Again, unsure how your able to do so, so quickly. But each body is different.

I had a bypass on 11-6. I eat solid foods. It does not hurt. I can eat 2 whole cucumbers. I can eat a 4oz piece of tuna. Am I just doomed? I should hurt right? probably eat 500-600 calories a day. only eating fish, chicken, and cucumbers. I crave them ALLDAY. so I'm not concerned that I'm not eating health. But why can I eat so much. Oh, I can eat 2 large scrambled eggs.

First, I should say I am coming from a pre-op perspective, so I still have a normal appetite and no restriction from surgery. I'm sharing two recipes that I use most days for my breakfast and lunch. If I eat these earlier in the day, I can barely eat dinner. Combined, this gives you 823 calories and 75g protein in a day. Your jaw is going to hurt after chewing this much salad, and I think it will likely take you most of the day to eat it. There is a lot of fiber. Obviously, I'm not a professional so this is not medical advice, and I have no idea how much you will be able to consume with your bypass. I imagine you would have to go slowly. But there's a good chance, if you even manage to eat all of it, you will not feel like you are starving throughout the day. You could still add a dinner if you need to. The goal here is to give you food that will take away the hungry feeling without adding calories. Natural, unprocessed foods tend to do that better than shakes and bars. Oh, I top the salad with a fresh squeezed lemon, some salt, and Italian herb blend instead of dressing. And this much salad requires a large serving bowl, not a regular salad bowl. I use a kitchen scale to measure everything. The smoothie fits better in a 20+ oz blender cup as the 16oz is too small. If it's too thick, add some water to get the consistency you like. (Apologies, this smoothie recipe says flax seed twice. It should be flax and hemp seed, or chia. Also, the mango and strawberry is frozen, and the spinach can be too for convenience)

Still hurting. Actually looking forward to surgery on Wednesday. Also upset because I'm probably going to miss ALL of next week. Plus the 2 days I missed last week and I will only have 3 paid days on my check on the 15th. Not only do I have bills to pay, that was supposed to cover Christmas. And not just the gifts, but the decorations, the dinner, cards, all of it. Now we'll have literally nothing. And the pain meds don't do anything but knock me out. Once I wake up, I'm in pain again. Time to take my meds and pass out. I'm so over it all.... Oh, before I forget!!! Let's not leave out that I'm basically back on my stage 1 bariatric diet because when I try to eat regular food, it KILLS my hernia (it's a delayed reaction, so I'm guessing it's happening as it makes its way down my colon, or to my bowels, or wherever it goes). That was ok yesterday, but today....nope. But TODAY!!! Oh TODAY has been a joy because now even liquids and YOGURT and Jello hurt. And I have had absolutely ZERO appetite since yesterday around lunch time. I can't just not eat, but I have no hunger feelings, and when I remember to eat, I don't want to because it hurts so much. I don't know what else to do, but I feel like I'm losing it over here. I'm so so over all of this. I've never had a hernia before. Is this normal? Because I feel like I'm about to lose my mind. I walk hunched over, trying to roll over in my sleep causes me to cry out and wake up my husband, and don't get me started on coughing or sneezing or pooing. The early stages of both my bariatric surgeries COMBINED didn't make me this miserable.