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Hello Everyone, I am a little past, 3 weeks post op and I am currently on Soft Food Phase. For dinner, I ate a couple of meatballs, broccoli and cauliflower rice. The total weighed 5 ounces on the scale. I didn't finish the meal though. For some reason, today I thought 5 oz was okay; but when I looked at my notes my md wanted me to eat 3-4 oz per meal. I made a mistake and am scared my pouch may stretch or I might sabotage my weight loss! Moving forward I plan to follow the guidelines, but my question is , is there a possibility that I stretched my pouch? Will this sabotage my weight loss? Should I contact my md?

Yep, me too. I had upper back pain. Getting a bra that actually fit & was supportive helped a lot but that’s not an option for you - Lol! I had some acupuncture too. As @ms.sss said, a changing centre of gravity because of your weight loss is a big contributor. Your body (muscles, tendons, sinews) was used to holding itself in a certain way to counteract & balance the weight you carried, now it’s relearning how to hold itself. I remember slouching for a while after because I didn’t have a tummy to prop me up anymore. I used to check & correct myself to sit up or stand straighter until it became more automatic & natural. Yes it was temporary for me too. Can’t recall how long for though. Maybe a physio can help with some exercise & stretches to build up your postural muscles again. Or some good massages or acupuncture. Congrats on your weight loss though!

Anxiety is awful. I used to stress out majorly due to my career, but even having been retired for ten years, I still have problems sleeping. I work out like an animal, now that I've lost most of my excess weight, and keep myself mentally engaged in a lot of things, but I still suffer from insomnia. My one doc, who I've used since the mid-90's, still has me on diazapam (addictive, but at some point for me, it just doesn't work so I stop and clean out) and Mirtazapine, which definitely puts me down most of the time. Only problem with the latter is that I don't wake up til 11am. Not good if I'm attempting to live a normal life. But, he's against sleeping pills and I get it. The other things, like Melatonin, just make me woozy. I'm in way better health as a result of the surgery and working out constantly. I'm consuming lots of protein through drinks plus food. I feel good. The lack of sleep can definitely ruin your day. I don't know what the current thinking is in the medical community. I trust my guy but still, it kinda sucks to have to medicate to get sleep. I'm real big on integrative medicine. Maybe there's an answer there. Dunno. Nice to see you folks!!!!

just to add one more thing to the mix - eggs can be an issue for a lot of people early out (although it's almost always temporary). A lot of us just can't tolerate them for the first few weeks or months (they went down fine for me - but I know that's not the case with a lot of people) personally, I'd just follow your clinic's guidelines. You're still healing, and also, this is your big opportunity to lose a crap ton of weight really quickly. I know it's hard - I often had to put myself to bed early because the cravings were overwhelming (this was mostly after my sense of hunger came back, though), but I soldiered through it. Most of all, I wanted to my normal-sized more than anything else in the world, so I just dealt with it. But yea - I know it's hard..

I recall having some unusual pain, too - but not severe. As BabySpoons said, I think it had to do with everything re-aligning after a substantial weight loss. Fortunately, though, it was temporary.

Expansion on the use of Semaglutide: “The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, which has helped millions of Americans shed pounds, can now be used to reduce the risk of stroke, heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular problems in patients who are overweight or who have obesity, federal regulators said Friday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a label change requested by drugmaker Novo Nordisk that expands the use of semaglutide. The decision was based on the results of a study that found that Wegovy cut the risk of serious heart problems — including heart attack, stroke and heart-related deaths. Higher-weight patients with heart disease but not diabetes were 20% less likely to experience those problems compared with patients who took placebo, or dummy shots, the study found.” https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1237133257/fda-approves-wegovy-heart-attack-stroke-risk#:~:text=Hourly News-,Wegovy approved to lessen heart attack%2C stroke risk in overweight,have obesity%2C the FDA said.

Hello everyone! I had the gastric sleeve done in 2016. I lost a total of 140 lbs. I hit a stall and managed to keep myself at that amount. Fast forward to 2020. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Hashimotos Thyroiditis, and had to have my thyroid removed due to large nodules. With all that occurring and being prescribed new meds I started to gain the weight back. As of today I have gained most of the weight back-120 lbs. I am wanting to get back on track and try to lose it back and then some. Any tips or recommendations? Is it even possible to lose all of it back?

Thank you all! I've been doing one for breakfast typically as I was under in calorie goal and it had been stalling me. I've actually finally started dropping weight again. I'm typically hitting 1100-1300 now and am doing one protein shake and one to two meals consisting of a protein (steak, chicken, or eggs) and vegetables and sometimes more carbs (1/2 bagel).

I had surgery at age 55. No issues. I was a slow loser, but I don't know if that was related to my age or not. Some younger people lose slowly, too. That said, I lost 100% of my excess weight, over 200 lbs. So no, it was no problem at all.

i've been buying creams, lotions, botox, masks, fillers, microneedling, morpheous8, light therapy, RF treatments for the past 4-5 years. i apply moisturizers and sunscreen and masks like its going out of style. honestly, i probably could have had 2 face lifts with the amount of money i've dished out so far. nothing stops the effects of aging (nor weight loss) permanently, and few things effectively pause it. surgical face lifts are the most effective (and longest lasting) defence against aging, sagging, wrinkling skin. i'm seriously contemplating getting one, but i scar horribly so im hesitant. long story short, creams and moisturizers will do little for damage already done, but can assist in keeping future damage at bay. microneedling, morpheous8, light therapy *may* work, but you require several sessions to determine if it will even work for you. botox and fillers have immediate effect, but don't last long and require ongoing treatments to keep up. face lifts are expensive (and surgical!) but will probably make you look 10-15 years younger for about 10-15 years...but then you'll need another one for touchup or upkeep. ....or we can embrace our aging faces (something i personally would love to do, but honestly am not ready to do yet hahahhahaha) ❤️

You're doing amazingly. What you have done is lose 13lbs in 2 weeks or so after your procedure. And 37lbs pre-op. Unbelievable. Weight loss isn't linear - it stalls and accelerates and stops and reverses. What matters is that the trend is down in the longer term - that's what gets us to where we want to be. Not the odd week where everything goes backwards (although - they are so annoying). Trust the process, it really does work. 🤩

Week 4 Post op Sw: 155kg /341 lbs Stats to date: - 13,8kg / -30.42lbs One month post op today ! I’ve been back at work for a full week and feeling great. I work as higher management in a corporate environment so except the daily and expected stress it’s not too strenuous. I had promised myself i wouldn’t go for long hour days unless i felt ok about it and i do. I am working as per usual and managed to get back into the swing of things after 3 weeks off. The only difference has been i actually take the time to take snack breaks. My daily eating schedule looks like: - breakfast + around 300-400ml water + coffee with milk and stevia - mid morning snack - lunch - water all afternoon - dinner I have adaptes super super well to the « real food » stage and i can eat absolutely everything i’ve tried. The only thing that does make me feel slightly uncomfortable is raw vegetables (lettuce, beetroot, carrot) or certain fruits (watermelon). It’s not that i feel pain i just feel super bloated when i eat them. I think the most shocking thing has been the fact that i went from being unable to eat more than 30-50g in the early days to actually being able to eat a (dessert) plate of food. I took what my surgeon told me about not measuring and ran with it: no more weighing food i just eyeball my dessert plate and i’ve learned my limit so i know when i’m full. I actually think it’s crazy when i think back to the amount i used to put on a plate … It did scare me to be eating more but i have understood that the actual goal is to be able to eat a « normal » portion. Because before i used to serve 2-3 in one sitting ! I have family friends that are visiting for 5 days and don’t know i’ve had surgery (we’re not specifically close enough to discuss this topic) and they actually haven’t noticed anything (or at least haven’t mentioned it haha) but i can sit and enjoy a meal with everyone without restrictions on anything other than the quantity. I’ve been able to eat carbs for a few days so i made a delicious bell pepper tomato and chorizo tart served on a bed of baby spinach - i had 1/6 size tart, and served everyone else the standard 1/4 size slice. Even though i know i’m eating much less i do feel guilty about eating more than 3 weeks ago at times. I feel like my surgery isn’t working because i feel hungry if i miss a snack mid morning … but, i know from having logged all food and drink for a while that i’m’at 600-800 cals per day So i’m reassured by the fact that it’s scientifically impossible to not lose weight eating so much less. Hopefully this slight panic, scared feeling subsides with time.

I just got my staples out this morning - I had no idea how much they were hurting me! It's such a relief!!! ❤️ One thing I've noticed though - I've lost so much weight in my belly that the movement of the skin below it kind of jostles my incisions. It's keeping me from doing too much movement-related stuff, so I'm hoping now that they can heal the rest of the way, I can get back to moving more XD How are you folks healing up?

I've been home for a few hours now. I passed out pretty much as soon as I got home. I'm currently sipping on a Gatorade Zero, and now that I'm out of the hospital I can do a liquid diet instead of just clear liquids. So there's that, at least lol. My biggest problem is water. Doesn't matter if lukewarm or cold, straight water makes my stomach cramp. But because I am able to consume other liquids just fine, they went ahead and sent me home. The water thing is just something I'm going to have to keep working on. My other big issue was my body did the opposite of that they expected it to do in regards to my blood sugars. AKA, every time they tested, I was in the 200-300 range when they were expecting me to go down post-op. So I came home with rapid-acting insulin on a sliding scale. Hopefully soon we can discontinue that. For those of you asking about recipes, my doctor has me use the Baritastic app for my logging and tracking. It does have recipes on there as well, if you are looking to spice things up in the land of boredom. Now time to catch up on posts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl - Amazing that they had you drink Gatorade 2 hours prior to arriving for surgery. I had to drink mine the night before, and absolutely nothing by mouth after midnight. It's wild to me how different doctors prefer their things to happen. As for taking the shots, I'm sure you are going to rock it. I struggled with the idea of giving myself shots, but over the years it just became another thing for me to put on my calendar to remind me to take. Your question about how long to wait between trying new things, my doctor said I could not try anything new on the same day. So if I tried something and it seemed to work, that would be my thing that day. Then the next day, I would keep that for the first meal, and then as long as it still agreed, I would try something new for the 2nd meal. Maybe that helps you out some? Thank you again for the recipe/website. The site has been bookmarked for me. So the straw thing is for life, it sounds like? At least based on your experience. Chewing your eggs to liquid is still really good. My nutritionist said that every bite I take from now on needs to be the consistency of applesauce before I swallow it. And that chewing even beyond that would be great. But you're rocking it! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt - Thank you for the idea of mixing things in. I guess I've been scared to do that because I didn't know if it was allowed or not. How do you like the Orgain powder? I use the Owyn premade shakes and Vega powder. They sent you home same day?!?! Holy crap, and I mean that in the best way possible lol. My doctor and nutritionist vehemently told me no straws. Apparently because you can actually suck up air as well as the liquid if you use a straw. I just don't know if that is forever, or just in the post-op period. But my stomach cramped drinking straight water no matter what temperature. However, I did exceptionally well with ice chips - letting them melt in my mouth and then trickle down with a swallow. That didn't affect me at all, so maybe see if you can get some ice chips from Sonic or something similar to maybe give you an idea of how much a 'sip' is? Another suggestion I got from my nutritionist as well as people who my husband work with that have had the RYGB is to buy shot glasses for your water. It should take you about 10-15 minutes to finish a shot glass of water. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @AndreaJD - Thank you for the well wishes! Water was a struggle, but I was up walking on my own the next day. So I feel like I was doing pretty good for myself! I get to start my full liquid stage today now that I'm home. But man, I can't stay awake enough to do much of anything. Hospitals and rest do not go in the same sentence, unless it's discussing negative rest. (My care team was absolutely great though, so I very much appreciate all they were doing for me even if it meant not getting nearly enough sleep.) This will be an experimental phase for me as I have to find dairy free options to make my life easier. But even if I had to literally water down yogurt, that would be better than the chicken broth I had in the hospital. lol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses - I have a bunch of staples as well, and have never experienced them before. So thank you for that explanation. Hopefully when I get mine out at the 10 day post-op, I'll be able to at least tolerate it now that I've kind of been forewarned. And yay, WrA peeps! Honestly we probably did cross paths, but in the early days of RP for me I was stupidly shy. For your chair question - I noticed sitting in any chair for longer than an hour bothers me currently. Which they didn't like in the hospital, because they wanted me in the chair for two hours at a time. And I just... could not do it. It ached too much. Even being home now, sitting in chairs I've sat in previously, I have about an hour long time span before it starts to ache. I take that as my sign to get up and move around. Dry mouth is a problem in particular for me. I still try to sipsipsip but I hate the feeling of dry mouth. And that's made worse by the fact that I'm a diabetic. And yes, I was thrilled (/s) to find out I was starting my period. Thank God for mesh panties and pads they had on hand. They assured me this happened quite often, but it still annoyed me to no end (especially when I'm on multiple birth controls to prevent having said periods due to endometriosis). As for poor executive function, I have that in spades as well. I had to come off my Adderall a couple of days prior to surgery because you know, they want me to go to sleep during anesthesia and not be on stimulants. And hoooo boy did that make the problem that much worse. If it wasn't for my poor husband, pretty sure I would have lost my head and left it laying somewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Onemealplan - Did your doctor allow ice cream for the puree foods? That's kind of awesome. I don't have recommendations for that stage yet as the earliest I will get to it is 8/28 after my post-op appointment. I do remember a recipe back from one of my diet days (Weight Watchers, maybe? I don't remember) that I think might be helpful. You take a helping of ricotta, mix it with Splenda (or whatever sugar alternative you prefer), and some cocoa powder that has no added sugar. Makes it a friendly chocolate treat. I can't give exact measurements on it because I played with it some to get the consistency I liked at the time. I also don't think I could handle the pureed proteins lol. I'll be saving those for when I get to the final stage. I can survive on tuna for a while, especially when I'm having protein shakes alongside it. They gave me a walking goal of 4 laps per 12 hour shift. i was doing those just fine, and when they finally let me walk on my own I extended how long a lap was. But I could not pass gas until they started giving me what is essentially children's Gas-x. And even now, I only pass gass within the 2-3 hours after I've had it. So thankful they sent me home with some. As for in the hospital, the only options i had was water, chicken broth, ice chips, and no sugar added hot chocolate when I specifically asked for it. They brought in 10oz bottles of Dasani water, and it would take me 12 hours to get through one of those due to the cramping. But everything else went down fine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Rob Nissam - Thank you for that explanation. My left shoulder was hurting the most over the last day, and they said it was the gas pain. It was the thing that made sure I did not skip any pain medicine, because I was almost in tears over it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, I think I got through all the posts and everyone. If I missed someone, I am really sorry. For those of you in recover, I pray the pain lessens and the intake gets better daily. For those of you who are still waiting on surgery, YOU GOT THIS! I'll be praying for a safe and healthy surgery for you, and that your recovery process is simply fantastic. ❤️

I am just starting Zepbound tomorrow! Ihave had a long journey. I was lapbanded in 2002. I lost 130lbs. In 2014, after not seeing any doctors for 5 years, I went to a local bariatric surgeon just for a checkup. He found my esophagus had expanded. My band was too tight and I was packing my esophagus..didn't even know..no pain. Immediately unfilled and gained 30lbs in a month..eating NOTHING! LIke almost! I was refilled after about 3-4 months and then developed an infection..and to cut to the chase..band was removed in 2018 and revised to sleeve. By then I was up 50lbs. Since then I gained another 50lbs..so the sleeve did nothing. Between covid, bad eating habits and menopause, I cannot get this weight off..I tried keto..lost a few lbs..tried intermittent fasting..lost a few more..but my body just won't move the weight down..so broke down last week and saw my new primary doctor and she prescrived Zepbound..well orginally Wegovy but that is harder to find and Costco had Zepbound. I will start this Saturday.

I am a stubborn b**ch so I used that strength to get me through on the days I knew what was going on but a lot of the time I had no idea how sick I was. It was only afterwards I found out how bad I was and how worried all my family and friends were. I didn't mention it above but I also had a blood infection and then an allergic reaction to one of the medications - basically anything that could go wrong/happen did. They couldn't do the feeding tube via my arms as my arms got infected and the veins collapsed, I think I had 8 different IVs in my ams over the months, they just kept switching from left to right until all veins had collapsed. I ended up having to have blood draws from my foot at one point and had my IV in my neck. I actually thought I was going to be physically ill when the first told me they had to put the IV in my neck and had to be given a xanex to calm down and go to the the procedure room but it was actually ok then afterwards and so much easier than my arms. I know what you mean about the health anxiety side of things, I was worried about everything when I came home finally, it was a shock to my system to suddenly be without the constant checks from nurses and doctors and not know if a little twinge or cough etc was a bad sign or just normal. I had to take my blood pressure during the day and do temperature checks to make sure I was at a normal range. I was also afraid to go for a walk of a few minutes in case I then didn't have the strength to get back home so I just walked the bus route on my road as figured if I could walk to the end of the road and get stuck I would just get the bus back. Now I can do 1.5km or so around the block at a steady pace. I am not sure where you are in the food reintroduction phase but once you are able to eat more protein it should also help with the energy levels but I do think rest is key. Once I got into a decent sleeping pattern again, took a few months at home after the nurses rounds at 11pm 4am 7am etc., I really saw the improvements in my energy. That is great that you got the appointment for next week. Just keep asking them to check everything and be honest with them about your fears so they can discuss with you. Just give it time and let your body recover, it has been through a shock to the system with the weight loss and then the infection on top. I figure my horror show can only help others to not feel as bad if they are struggling a bit. It has taken me a long time to start to feel better and more positive but I think I have turned a corner in the last couple of weeks.

Exactly as @catwoman7 said, perfectly normal. You can experience a few of them along the way too. They usually last 1-3 weeks. They are an important part of your weight loss & are when your body shuts down & takes stock of the changes you’ve made & your weight loss so far. It works out your new needs in regards things like digestive hormones, metabolic rate, etc. The stall will break when your body is ready to move forward again. Don’t stress your body more by trying to change things beyond what your plan requires. Yes, even knowing this, they’re still frustrating.

Thanks @LisaCaryl @NickelChip @RonHall908 For your support yesterday ... t'was a very angry day for me because it bought up a lot of the disregard I've had to deal with these last few years because of my weight! Today is a better day. I'm just off to meet my physio ... who will no doubt make me do squats but who also emailed last night that he'd found a list of fat friendly doctors in my area for me ... Also I'm a metric girl... and I've hit below 80kg - I'm 79.6kg this morning (175.1lbs) ... and breaking that 80's barrier hasn't happened for me since 2021 so I'm very encouraged this morning. also I took liquid iron the parmacist reccomended no problem at all... and she mentionned my visible weightloss in a very chic, discreet and also commercially savy way ... bascially asked me if I wanted to get myself a new lip gloss or shampoo at the pharmacy too... I asked her why and she said with a smile "to congratulate yourself on these little changes you seem to be making" . She won, I got an expensive pharmacy face cream... 🙂 Do you folks have very dry skin? Mine is really not great at all... especially my legs.

My food furneral wasn’t planned, but it’s happened to be my food furneral in the summer of 2023. I had a family member who was visiting in July and August 2024, and I took her to all my favorite restaurants and favorite food in NYC. NYC really do have soooo much options when it comes to great food. It was during restaurant week and I took advantage of it. I also had a few pool parties… I gained about 10 lbs. After that reflux became an issue and lead to my surgery. And since Oct 2023 I was in a diet till my surgery in Jan 2024. I would not say all the food I ate was unhealthy, but portion is what needs to be addressed. I believe in the future I can still have them, but in moderation. some pictures of what I ate.😅 BEWARE! FOOD PORN!

Today marks my one year anniversary of my VSG. This was the best gift I could have given myself. As promised, I am back to give my 12 month update. I hope all will follow up with status updates so the results can be tabulated. 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE (at time of surgery) , HEIGHT - F, 62, 5'5" 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) - 6.5 LBS 3.Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. - 202.5 LBS 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery - 187.4 LBS 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery - 170.8 LBS 6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery - 149.2 LBS 7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery - 134.2 LBS

I had my operation VSG, one month and one day ago. I didn't have to do a pre op diet as my surgeon didn't reccomend it for me ..; I lost 7 pounds in the two weeks pre-op and then lost 18 pounds in the first 2 and half weeks post op ... I haven't lost anything since and am starting to get seriously seriously down about it and am thinking that this is it ... this is the weight I'm going to be stuck at forever. I'm so sad and upset. It just feels so useless. I'm walking and being as active as I can and drinking as much fluids as I can manage but the scales aren't budging. I'm so sad.

I used to wear a lot of long skirts and fitted tops, then my wardrobe descended into tshirts and shorts that my brother or bf outgrew. Did you notice the baggy clothes seemed longer after you lost weight? Idk if it's because I'm wearing men's sizes/clothes or I'm just overthinking it.

No this isn't my experience. If I stuck to a low calorie diet (VLCD) I invariably lost weight. I've done that numerous times since my teens. What I could not do was keep that weight off. I regained it all plus more, every time. WLS seems to have changed that for me (so far - 2+ years post op). Can you give us a little more info? What diet were you sticking to, when and for how long?? I think it would be very unusual not to lose ANYTHING ever on a low calorie diet? Far more common to lose a bit, stall, lose a bit more...etc etc

Thanks for the reference. I ended up having a capsulorrhaphy procedure on my right shoulder about two months after my VSG surgery. They also repaired the labrum, rotator cuff, and she spent over 45 minutes just cleaning up the bursitis. She put in 4 anchors during the procedure just to try and stabilize the shoulder. I used Alison Cabrera @ UTSW, and would highly recommend her. I ended up on daily hydrocodone just to get me to that surgery, however, I was still able to maintain my daily steps. Shoulder surgery is no joke! And this was all done to try to get me another 10 years so I can get reverse shoulder replacement 😐 My range of motion is limited now, but that was to be expected. I'm doing my best to protect my left shoulder so I can avoid surgery as long as possible. I've finally gotten used to sleeping flat on my back. For VSG follow up, I ended up about 80lbs lost. Right now I'm sitting about 75lbs down (gained 5lbs back) as I am noticing I can eat a little more (but still really restricted). I have a little anxiety about that as I am just over 10 months post VSG surgery. The last thing I want to do is undo all of the work. I'm still staying positive and using the Streaks app (iOS) to help with motivation (70K steps a week, plus 360 minutes of workout per week (includes walking)). I need to get back into putting all of my food into the fitness pal app. After the VSG surgery and the shoulder surgery, I ended up in a depression. Talking with a therapist who had experience with bariatric surgery helped. I don't think it was a depression just because of the VSG. I'm sure the chronic pain followed by a shoulder surgery (sling for 6 weeks post-op; and PT for 5 months) contributed significantly. As I mentioned previously, make sure your are taking care of your mental health. @Humikrig Good luck on your surgery!

You've done amazingly well - especially given the awful time you had post op. I hope it's all better from here forward and that you lose lots more before you settle at your new set weight. 😀 I cried and cried the day I got into the overweight category of BMI - albeit totally arbitrary. Felt such an achievement. We need to celebrate all our wins, big and small.