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Omg! Thanks you guys ! Yes okay so after I finished chewing for darn near two hours on tiny pieces I noticed I got super full super fast . And was Super uncomfortable my back started hurting to no end. To combat the back ache I had to walk a mile around the back yard and therefore You guys are right ! Won’t try that again! I’ll stick to my purée for now. And yes! It’s so weird I still get hungry but I’m not on a specific regime and I think that’s my problem. I started to write down a schedule to eat but 4-6x 4oz meals and snacks of protein in between. Thank god I am meeting with my dietician this week. I honestly need help in developing the correct diet for me. For everyone I had the modified duodenal switch which includes the gastric sleeve a bit bigger than the norm. So far the best thing about my procedure is that I can keep up to 60z down of water down with no problem as of today. But I truly appreciate you all for your comments. This is a new road untraveled for me 🤍

I am down 44 lbs now (haven't updated my profile because I like to stay at a weight for at least 2-3 days before I updated) ~ I had long stalls but for the past 3 weeks... weight has been dropping fast. I know I am going to go into a stall soon. But I am prepared for the disappointment this time around. I don't have much saggy skin besides my arms and use dumb bells to work them out, but still a little sagging underneath the arms.. and I still have a small pooch in my stomach -- that is where all my weight settles unfortunately. I've been doing ab exercises to tone it up, but it needs to lose more fat for the exercises to show their results. I cheated last night after having some stomach issues the past few days.. I had chips & queso.. Just a tiny one from Taco Bueno. I haven't cheated before that (besides having a spoonful of my mom's cheesecake --- one bite). No dumping and I actually felt better after eating it. (I had been feeling weak because of my stomach issues). Anyway, I am back on track today. @Violetsareblue Nice job on losing 50+ lbs! That's incredible! And I agree about holding off on buying clothes. It is so tempting though with all the new cute fall clothes I am seeing online. Ugh... but I am going to hold off. I did order two pairs of American Eagle jeans from Ebay for cheap... they're used and were under $20 ea. All the jeans I have from being previously skinny are super flared... and I wanted skinny jeans.

Ohhh ****, I am so excited for you, probably the only time I wish this weekend goes by fast . Good luck

Anytime. I totally understand about eating fast. I still struggle with drinking water too fast because I'm ALWAYS thirsty. Yes, when I was with my ex fiance and we had my nephew and his son it was SOOOO hard to not eat as I cooked and they never wanted to eat the good food I ate. Honestly, healthy snacks are my saving grace and planning everything. Glad you're on here because I think most of all feel the exact same at one time or another. Good luck. Let us know how it's going.

You are far from the only person who had gained weight during quarantine! There was a very intense thread about it on this forum recently (so intense, it had to be shut down). Nobody should judge you for that — it’s a tough time for everyone. Some insurance companies, and maybe some bariatric programs, do have a requirement that you not gain any more weight before the surgery. This may or may not be the case for you, but you might want to check. I bet you can lose 10 pounds, or close to it, before September 10. You said you track everything in MyFitnessPal, and that’s a great start. I lost over 60 pounds in the 5 months before surgery just by doing two things: tracking everything in MyFitnessPal (and staying well under my calorie limit) and intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting really helped me to get out of the habit of snacking. I did 16 hour fasts every day, starting after dinner and ending with lunch the next day. It was hard at first, but not so bad once I got used to it. I could push through the hunger and temptation knowing that I could have an indulgent dinner. I think it was a good workout for my willpower. Look for foods that are filling and tasty but relatively low in calories. Look at the foods you normally eat and figure out which ones are the healthiest. Salads are great, especially if you use light dressing. You can have a big salad with lots of grilled chicken for under 300 calories. Popcorn was another one of my favorites. Not exactly the healthiest snack, but a mini bag of “blast o butter” microwave popcorn Is just 210 calories and really filling (even lower in calories if you pop your own with an air popper, but you have to start somewhere). I LOVE Built Bars (protein bars). Some flavors used to be 110 calories and made a great daily treat (they recently changed and now they’re 130, but still a heck of a lot better than a candy bar).

Thank you for your response. You know, you told me something that I have never thought of before, the "using a journal to write down my emotions when I go to eat and am not hungry" thing. I think that may help. I have been using myfitnesspal and everything and I still snack around, sometimes I even snack off of the plates of the meals that I prepare for my kids. I am scared because I know I need to get these habits on point before I transform and I am praying that I will be strong enough after. I will also try chewing slowly because I am not doing that at all, I eat crazy fast :-/. and I am going to get some small plates, I have not been shopping for anything yet. It still hasn't registered in my head that I have a date and this is all about to go down. I appreciate the feedback and tips, thank you very much. ❤️

I stalled for over 3 weeks and it felt like eternity. I am now losing fast - I am 3 months out and losing about 4-5 lbs a week. I am preparing for a stall sometime soon though. I don't go over 600 calories - mainly because I pick and choose what I eat by carbs, sugar, fat AND calories. One thing that has helped me tremendously is eating the 1 net carb bread for Aldi's --- it is only 40 calories per slice. I toast two slices and put a little avocado on it (just a very thin layer) and the entire meal is about 110 calories! I buy the avocado cups at Sam's club.. Also I exercise every single day. If nothing else, I will do Leslie Sansone "walk at home" videos that you can find on youtube.

Since you're obviously fine now after a few hours and you don't notice any pain anymore you're most likely alright and didn't do any damage. Luckily internal healing is usually quite fast. Take your lesson from this episode: you need strategies to handle your cravings for certain foods. Recognizing that it was "not worth it" is an important step. You won't be 100% successful handling your cravings (nobody is) but it's crucial for long term success to get as much grip on your cravings as is necessary to reach and maintain your desired weight. I don't know what your surgery-prep program covered but in case this wasn't an issue or not sufficiently covered: books about "normal eating" or "intuitive eating" are really helpful. I especially recommend the books of Karen Koenig and Geneen Roth. Also "Brain Over Binge" and "Never Binge Again" are interesting reads, albeit not everyone's cup of tea though. ETA: Karen Koenig also has a blog with interesting articles.

OK, so today, I had a scrambled egg for breakfast with a teaspoon of reduced fat cheddar. Lunch was 2 thin slices of deli ham and an ounce of havarti cheese. I only ate a little bit of the ham because I'm just not a lunch meat person. I ate the cheese. I had a Greek yogurt as a snack later. Dinner was Ahi Tuna and a mix of potatoes, squash and carrots. I ate 2 ounces of tuna and a couple bites of carrots and squash and a bite of potatoes. Most days I have either an egg or yogurt for breakfast, a tuna pouch for lunch, and dinner is usually fish and a veggie. I can hardly ever get to the veggies. Tonight was unusual, but I really love squash and carrots and I think I overate and ate too fast because I felt too full. I'm still learning this new anatomy. I am still having trouble getting enough protein since I can't eat much, so I usually have a Fair Life Core protein shake a couple hours after dinner. I will say I'm experiencing what I think is hunger, but it great that it takes so little to satisfy it! I used to get hangry and I'd always eat til I was stuffed. It's a miracle to me to eat so little and be satisfied! Sent from my moto g(6) using BariatricPal mobile app

It may cut your chances of insurance paying for it. But not of you getting it. They may decide to test you for sleep apnea anyway. I had Harvard Pilgrim and for me (and people who self pay) the process was super fast. I got my surgery about 2 months after I decided I wanted it.

Submitted for approval last week and was approved today, surgery is Monday August 31!! To be honest the surgeon had it scheduled before paper work was ever submitted. It’s all happening so fast I’m pretty nervous.

Oh honey! I felt like crawling through the phone and hugging you. I TOTALLY could see me doing that. Fast food is so darn yummy and FAST and the REGRET just like you said, too. I have lost 45 pounds pre op but I really struggled with eating fast food a couple times a week. I don't know about you, but i swear my subconscious always does that to me. It tells me you've done great, you DESERVE it. Like it's a reward. Its so annoying. I just have to tell myself ok. So what. You aren't perfect, you're only human. Now that you found out it wasn't worth it just try to do better one day at a time. It's ok. Hugs Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Let me start by saying I really love this man , But..... since deciding to have WLS every time I bring up the surgery or things concerning it he is always being shady or condescending. I really wanted him to be happy and to support me but I see that its just not gonna happen. He keeps saying all of this is just happening too fast, and the kids are starting school. LISTEN DEAR, I have been everything to everyone for many years and now its time for me, you can handle 1 weekend without me step your game up man. Sent from my SM-G970U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yay! It goes fast!

It's the calorie restriction. People fasting experience the same.

60 lbs isn't nothing! I kept losing until I was about 20 months out - you're not even a year out yet. Just keep plugging away at it. And I agree - it may be worth seeing your dietitian if you're worried or if you think you may need to tweak your plan. Although people lose at all different rates due to all different factors. If your starting BMI is lower than the average bariatric patient, for example, you're probably not going to lose as fast or as much as someone who started out at 300+ lbs. As long as the general trend is downward, you're good.

You’ve lost 60lbs. This is great. But I know the head games can sabotage your progress & bring your down. It’s not just about the number on the scale. Think about your wins. I bet you’re more active than you were before, have more energy plus being several clothing sizes down. What about improvements to your health & well being? What about things you couldn’t do before but can now. Celebrate these wins. We all have different experiences on this journey. For every fast loser, there will be someone who loses more slowly. Every lb lost is a lb closer to your goal. Do you have a dietician or nutritionalist? It may be worth a conversation to ensure you’re on the best eating plan for you. A tweak to your diet can make a big difference sometimes. You can do this.

You definitely didn’t ruin anything by not practicing chewing or sipping. You’ll figure that out as you go along. I went from research to surgery in three weeks and only practiced the sipping for about an hour until my wife got annoyed with my phone going off every five minutes :) I’ve made one mistake (eating too fast) just once and I can’t imagine I’d ever do it again. Ironically I was in the hospital with my wife who was getting her own sleeve four weeks after I got mine done and I had some veggie soup and went to town on it not even thinking. I didn’t throw up (I haven’t at all since surgery) but it hurt really bad. As far as pills each doctor has their own rules. Mine literally gave me a giant (over an inch long) rock hard purple antibiotic in the hospital the day after surgery and had no requirements to chew or crush anything (be careful with this, certain prescriptions cannot be chewed or crushed). It didn’t bother me in the slightest, nor did any of my other meds. The only suggestion was to not take them all at once. Sipping water is difficult for me, I’ve always been a chugger when it comes to water. I’ve adapted (I’m only 73 days post op) just fine though. The liquid phase sucks, not going to lie. A variety of broths and protein shakes, anything else that’s allowed on your diet, variety variety variety. I tried a bunch of “cream of...” soups and loved the poblano pepper type made by and sold in a local grocery chain here.. but you’ll be on soft foods before you know it and all of a sudden a whole new world of cottage cheese and eggs and other mushy stuff opens up and the liquid phase will be quickly forgotten. Best of luck on your journey, for me it has been life changing already and I’m just getting started.

Hi there, I joined this forum in May and have been silently reading and researching all of my questions for months. Now I am close to the end of my pre-op journey, expecting to get my last clearance from dietician on September 1st, and looking back I am amazed at how much is wrong with me ha. I thought I was somewhat healthy before I started this medical journey and now I have diabetes, Barrett's Esophagus from silent reflux and I was critically low on Vitamin D. I felt like every test I took they came back at me with a diagnosis haha. Don't get me wrong, I believe everything happens for a reason and had any number of my decisions in the past been different and I had not chosen to go this route I NEVER would have known about the Barrett's because I didn't know I had GERD, so I am so incredibly grateful to know early while I can do something about it. Like many of you, I began this journey hell bent on the sleeve and that all changed for me. But most importantly, my father died of diabetic complications when he was only 58 and that diagnosis single handedly scared me straight. There is just no food on this planet worth your life. I have gone through many emotional ebbs and flows during all of this and at points talking myself out of being vain and then I reminded myself that this is NOT about beauty, bonus yes of course, but I want to be healthy and I refuse to have diabetes. Then the diagnosis of Barrett's came and I spent a couple of days rehearing the words of the Doc "This surgery just went from elective to medically necessary" and for some reason I struggled with that. I don't know why, maybe because the decision was out of my hands? I am not sure, but I can tell you that now that I am close to getting a surgery date and am expecting it to all happen in October, I'm getting nervous. I read threads about not being able to keep anything down or vomiting because they drank too fast or ate too much and I wonder if I have done enough to prepare. I will be honest, sipping and practicing sipping right now, PRE OP, is almost impossible for me. Chewing 20 times for every bite PRE OP is not happening for me. Have I sabotage myself before even starting? I just assumed, perhaps wrongfully, that common sense would kick in post op. My relationship with food has been severed. For this I am thankful. Like I said, the diabetes diagnosis hit home for me and I have been competing against my blood glucose monitor for 2.5 months and lowered my A1c from 9.1 to 5.9. So in that respect I am ready, however, I question the following things and can't find the answers. If you can help me, THANK YOU SO MUCH. 1. How in the world am I suppose to take my medication? Multivitamin, MetFormin, Prilosec etc. Crush them and drink them YUCK, that scares me 2. I am nervous about getting in 64 oz of water daily. I drink twice that now, but after surgery, taking sips, that seems like a full time job. How is everyone else doing this? 3. The liquid phase scares me more than the others as far as variety, any suggestions would be helpful, however, I just read a thread about someone eating the wrong things in the pureed stage and having to start over. Are bland foods best until solid foods are acceptable to avoid upset? You guys are awesome, Thank you for taking the time to read my post

I have not been here in quite some time so Iittle update -background. I was sleeved 12/27/17. Starting weight was 256, I managed to lose 61 pounds and got to a low of 195, ( this was May of 2019)then I started to regain. I refocused, got back on the right eating plan/exercise but continued to gain weight. Went to see the nutritionist last fall for help. We went over my food logs and by the numbers I was a little low in calories for the amount of exercise I was doing so we adjusted my plan but still no weight loss. I was 242 in Jan/Feb. I was prescribed the generic form of Contrave in March for a 3 month trial, managed to lose all of 5 pounds down to 237. Labs have been decent- except now I developed high cholesterol and my primary prescribed Atorvastin(Lipitor) and I have been on that since May. I consistently tell the dietician that I feel no restriction and can eat way more than I think I should. However in all this time, not once have I had a scope to check to see if my pouch has been stretched out. My primary thinks I am eating to much, the nutritionist thinks I'm not eating enough so I'm just trying to eat enough protein and stay low on the carbs. I have gone as low as 900 calories and as high as 1500. carbs as low as 20 and high as 75. All of that to say I found out my original surgeon does not believe in performing revisions so I have a consultation in 2 weeks with a surgeon that does perform revisions just so I can get answers. I still have sleep apnea, that has improved some but not enough for me to come off my CPAP. Recently I have had mild cases of heartburn late at night so I have altered my diet again, cutting out dairy, coffee, spicy foods to see what could be triggering it. I did intermittent fasting in July of just watermelon and water and managed to get down to 224. I know this was not healthy but hey I was willing to try anything. So all of that to say, with my weight as it is now, my BMI is 36. I meet insurance requirements for BMI with my sleep apnea as comorbidity but the surgeon must find it medically necessary for revision- but if surgeon requires weight loss and lose weight that puts my BMI under requirements, would insurance deny the revision?

I’m 73 days post op and some days go by where I don’t even think about food or eating, to the point I have to be reminded. Today I’ve had an egg, and I just ate two baby bell peppers, and will probably cut up some cucumber and tomato with some balsamic. I don’t know what your diet will allow, or even what foods will agree with you (I haven’t had any issues with food intolerances at all) but I find raw veggies fill me up super fast and sit around for a long time. I get my protein from shakes, protein water, or chicken (which reminds me I’m behind schedule on protein for the day). I don’t track but I’d be surprised if I’ve had a 500 calorie day, and I never feel deprived.

not everyone loses weight the first week. You were pumped full of IV fluids in the hospital, and it can take a few days for it to work its way out. I've heard of people gaining up to 10 lbs while in the hospital. also, once your weight loss starts up, be aware that the rate can vary tremendously between people. It doesn't fall off rapidly for everyone. So many things can affect it - gender, age, metabolic rate, activity level, starting BMI, how closely you follow your plan. The only two of those you really have any control over is your activity level and your level of commitment. You aren't starting out at a particularly high BMI in comparison to some other patients, and that is one of the factors. People who start out at 300+ lbs often lose faster than someone who starts out at 200 or 250. if you're committed to your program and rarely stray, you WILL lose the weight, whether fast or slow. I was a slow loser throughout the whole journey, and I managed to lose all of my excess weight. Just be patient and stay committed. As others say, it's a marathon rather than a sprint.

The recovery times are obviously a problem then. I would deem time on the table as a problem as well. Surgeon said arms and abdomen together would be no problem. Then breasts and thighs together. There are several combos possible. Breasts and abdomen would also be an option but arms and thighs together doesn't seem like the greatest combo somehow. Fast recovery time is important for me out of various reasons. That I'm going to have surgery before 2021 seems to be unrealistic as well. Too much on my table of life right now. Yes, I'm postponing again (sigh) but honestly, surgery won't run away while other important things are time sensitive and getting urgent right now.

Wow - we're almost surgery twins! (Mine was 8/19.) I'm glad to know this is mostly normal. I thought about the yogurt, pudding & Jell-o being too much, but it's on my list an encouraged in order to get calories in and promote digestion. I'm sure those fudgesicles tasted heavenly! I sent a note to my Dr.'s team last night (hoping they'd see it first thing this morning & reply ASAP) but I haven't heard from them yet. Tylenol does NOTHING for any type of pain and that's all I'm on at this point. Also, the bloating, distension and all-around discomfort are getting old fast. I understand needing time to recover, but I've had a c-section, breast reduction, a tumor removed from the base of my brain, and other "minor" surgeries, yet I don't recall any of the recoveries being this drawn-out or uncomfortable. As for the , today was a beautiful day! LOL! Not quite a full-on BM, but enough that I got A LOT of relief. Hope it happens soon for you too!!!

Yes I know all the underlining info. I know that I wont be able to control the first month of weight loss during the first few months or weeks I should say. As far as loosing too much too fast , I meant like loosing 80 lbs in less than 6 months. I know several people who have had that happen. Thanks for your reply.