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Thank you for your reply. As soon as I’m over this sickness I’m going to try a pouch reset maybe? I would love to loose a little more. I’m definitely going to stay off the scale for 2 weeks.

Hi I’m up north too my surgery date was 15th august 23 I suffered with nausea and vomiting for a few months after I couldn’t eat a couple of teaspoons without bringing it back I’m much better now tho still have sickness if one spoonful to much my amounts are very small and some food worse than others I struggle with chicken and anything tightly packed. Iv not had post op appt yet which I’m surprised about I had the mini bypass gone from 118kg to last weigh was 96kg I don’t know if that’s about normal or a bit slower ? But I havnt exercised as been feeling weak and exhausted all the time but I am 6 weeks over due my 2nd B12 which I get on 25th this month Iv struggled remembering to take all meds so some days I forget to take the calcium or gallstone one through the day I’m trying to be better with that, I don t know why but my osteoarthritis in hips are flaring up so bad that it’s to painful to exercise atm I’m just hoping to turn the corner with everything soon 🤔 Despite this I don’t regret it as I know it will all fall into place at some point Any advice welcomed especially on what I can try eat and drink and hit protein targets Xx

I wouldn't be surprised if you losing weight is absolutely terrifying to your ex. As long as you are obese, he can assure himself that you'll never find anyone better than he was, which seems to be important to a lot of people regardless of whether they ended the relationship or you did. It's a pride thing. But when you start losing weight, now you're probably happier with more energy, you might look more attractive, maybe dressing in nicer clothes, too... uh oh! Now he sees you were totally settling for his sorry butt and are likely to find someone way better, and then his ego will be bruised as all your friends and family tell you how lucky you are. My ex, (who is legally not my ex yet, which is very annoying) is the sabotaging type, too. I see him 5 days a week when he picks up the kids for school or drops off from activities. I've had to tell him about the surgery as I'll need his help with the kids, and I am still on a family plan insurance so he'll need to know about deductibles and such, but I fully expect him to start panicking as the weight loss becomes noticeable. I can hardly wait to find out how he'll try to sabotage me.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Yesterday I went out for lunch with my partner. I got some items people might frown at, but they fit in with my overall DS macros and I didn't eat as much as I felt like I did. And it didn't have as many calories or carbs as I thought it might. A tablespoon of this, a tablespoon of that adds up, but there are still ways to keep it balanced so in the end it doesn't set you off track. I wouldn't eat this every day, but it was a nice treat this week and being able to eat out normally really cheered me up!

Hi all! I had my sleeve done on 11/21/2023! I am finding that no matter how many protein shakes I am having I am still hungry! I have tried yogurt, cream of wheat, protein shakes etc. My Dr. has me on liquids for the next 3 weeks and I am miserable! I was told today if I follow the plan, I shouldn't ever be truly hungry Any suggestions?! Edit: I am currently eating 75-100g of protein a day

I had bone broths but not much else. My stomach was just too sensitive. My surgeon told me to focus on fluids until the nausea eased and whey stopped making me feel sick. He said our body has about 3 weeks of stores for protein and fluid is more crucial in the beginning since it's what keeps you out of the ER! He was confident my stomach would adjust. He was right! I met my fluid goals every day. I could do milk by the end of the first week so I drank lactose free Fairlife milk. I finally got the protein working when my Dad suggested I water it down to thin it out. I've read it here before but in that post surgery haze I forgot! Watering it down worked perfectly until I could handle it full strength... I could do clear proteins before I could do milky ones. I still can't do jello though. 😂

Hi all.. Am I doing something wrong? I had my surgery on 5th December so am over 4 weeks post op .. I feel awful, I'm struggling to eat any more than ready brek and then it's only 3-4 teaspoons full. I've got no energy and just feel rough Thank you for your post.. a breath of fresh air! I'm also 1 month post op and feeling pretty amazing. Like you no more pain in my back, my knees don't hurt and I don't walk down stairs like a toddler. I'm 28lb down and was really concerned at the start that I wasn't losing enough weight. But everyones body is different and this is my journey, so I'm trying not to compare against others and just follow the guidance of my dietitian. I got annoyed with myself yesterday cause I ate a choc biscuit 🍪. I'm still on puréed food and don't even know why I ate it but I'm not going to beat myself up about it just try not to do it again. I want this to work for so many reasons so I just need to focus on those x. Well done on your 37lbs!! Good luck for tomorrow x

Hi everyone! My gastric bypass was 11/22/23. The two week liquid diet was the hardest thing to do. I'm now post op 3 days & it's not been horrible. I'm extremely sore but that has gotten better & I'm not sure if I'm having spasms or if it's the feeling of being full. Tonight I had extreme pain over my stomach area & took a pain pill. The gas is everywhere too. I'm excited about my journey.

I had issues similar to yours where I started with a sleeve in 7/2020 my body started going through severe issues that I couldn’t even hold down a sip of water causing me to vomit uncontrollably in the end of 8/2020 I went to use my restroom and I collapsed. My surgical team had me enter a rehab to try and help me build up my strength and put in a PICC line. I was in the rehab for 6 weeks and the team started to work with my insurance and got permission for a revision to a bypass.(my brain started to have issues with retaining short term memories due to lack of nutrition) Had the revision to bypass done in 3/2021 My body took forever to start to regulate and start to work the way it is supposed to. I pushed myself to do as much work with my brain to get back to “normal “ as much as possible and I’d say I am about 90% recovered. Physically I’m back to “normal” most days occasionally I’ll still have a nauseous day or some dumping but I was just at my dr last week and I am down just shy of 200lbs stay strong you will get through this Family members ask me if I could rewind time if I’d still go through with the surgery and I say I may have opted for the bypass instead of the sleeve but absolutely because if I didn’t get that weight off I know without a doubt I’d be dead within a few years so even with all these issues the surgery was worth it.

Thank you everyone!!! I'm actually excited to get these last 2 surgeries because my stomach will no longer be the size of a 16 week pregnant person, free boob job (kidding...kinda lol ), no more monthly enemy, no more PCOS issues, no more cancer concerns, and NO MORE HEALTH ISSUES!!! I'm speaking that into existence, because after these last 2 surgeries, I will have had 9 surgeries in 2 years. That's just too much. My body will practically be brand new by the time I'm done LOL

Simple answer is no to the peanut butter. I didn’t like the shakes either after surgery. I would have just one a day (diluted to try to help with the flavour) & then had soup (cream, bone broths, consumes) for the rest of the day. If you like milk you could make up your own shakes by adding a little Greek yoghurt & a little protein powder. Just keep it very thin. You could get some powdered flavours to add too like a peanut butter one. Only a week to go to purées which is when I never touched another shake again.

I'm right at 5 months, and over the past few weeks, it has become HARD. In the beginning, I was dropping weight, had zero interest in food, and was totally motivated. But since the beginning of July, I've lost a pound. Actually, I've lost and gained and lost and gained that one pound multiple times. I've started feeling hungry sometimes again, and that's triggering all sorts of bad behaviors like getting up when I'm trying to avoid work (I work from home) and looking in the cupboard for a snack, not to mention craving sweets. It's been a constant fight. Not getting that reward of watching the scale dropping all the time kind of saps the motivation, I think. And the novelty wears off and you start to realize that you're in this for the long haul and maybe you start to rebel a little. You're not alone. You say you're afraid of being judged, but you are judging yourself every time you do things you know you shouldn't do. You said it yourself. You're disgusted by what you're doing, but there's a reason you're doing it, and figuring that out is going to be the key to stopping it and changing. I feel like there is probably a voice you hear in the back of your head telling you that you can't do this. Maybe there's literally someone saying it to you in your life, but most likely it's a voice in your head from a long time ago, one that sounds like you but probably was someone else when you first heard it. For me, it's my grandmother, and to some extent my dad. Never happy, never praising. Expecting perfection and scolding "for your own good" over every little thing. Ridiculing my weight despite being overweight themselves, but also overfeeding me because that's what they knew. Food was the enemy, but also a reward from emotionally stunted caregivers who had no other way to show affection. When you can never fully meet expectations at a young age, you learn quickly that you will always fail. That may be the role you've played in your family. Maybe it's everything, or maybe just one thing, like being overweight. And when you start to succeed, it feels frightening because it challenges everything you have been taught to believe about yourself. If you're not "the fat friend", who are you? Or maybe being "the fat daughter" kept a jealous family member happy because you weren't "competition" that way. There are so many reasons we get into these patterns. But the point is, the patterns feel normal and safe. So you make sure you don't succeed and change too much or for too long. You're used to being disappointing to yourself. You can live with that. But admitting you're capable of succeeding and changing is really scary. Allowing yourself to challenge the roles other people want you to fulfill is the hardest thing you can do. At least that's my experience. As for how to change, my first suggestion is talk to your team. That's why they're there, and they know what's going on because they've seen it before. Face it head on. Nothing they say is going to be any worse than what you are saying, and doing, to yourself. If you can get set up with a therapist, even better. Second, get every source of temptation out of the house. The alcohol. The junk food. Whatever is making you stumble, get rid of it. Do your shopping online from now on, or curbside pickup because it is way easier not to give into temptation that way. You can't binge on what you don't have. But skip the gym. It's really only about 10% of your success, anyway. Focus on water, protein, and vitamins. You don't need the false guilt of the gym to make everything worse. And third, get help from people you trust who are close to you if you can. Accountability is key. If going out to eat is an issue, tell your friends or family that you need their help not letting you go out to eat. Explain why you can't be around snacks, or why you won't be ordering alcohol, and ask for their help. If you trust even one person in your life to tell what is really going on, tell them. You need another voice cheering you on instead of just your own head bringing you down. Bottom line, something about what you are doing right now feels comfortable to you. It's a pattern that you can live with, even if you hate it. Something about what you were doing when you were following the rules was making you uncomfortable. Figure out what and why. You can't change your habits until you change that voice in your head, and until you can love yourself and cheer yourself on instead of being your own worst judge. But you have to believe you're worth it and be willing to do things that scare you in order to get past this fog and get to where you want to be.

Take your time, listen to your body. Dont compare your process to anyone else’s. I waa struggling to drink and swallow and I was frustrated and miserable! But i spoke to my sister whos 17 months post op and she said for me to try to be more self aware with my sipping I admitted to gulping lol and being frustrated by it. But once I calmed down, gave my body time. Im able to chew and drink better. But, if i estimate my food intake at a time its prob like. 3oz at a time. Like last night I went out ordered a lamb cut the meat super super small made sure I chewed at least 20 times per bite. I accomplished to eat the tip of one lamb which was very tiny lol but I was satisfied. My point is listen to your body, trust the process. A few tablespoons might be what your body is fine with for now as long as you are satisfied thats all that matters. Another example when I eat yogurt I can only have 2oz at a time. Im 3 weeks post op on soft food diet. Hopefully I helped u a bit and didn’t just rant lol. Sending you good vibes

I agree with ChunkCat. Although I am past the liquid food phase, I know my relationship with Thanksgiving food has changed. I have been putting my energy into decorating the house for Christmas and will focus on spending time with family. My daughter had a birthday two weeks after my surgery and I experienced a little anxiety but quickly saw the opportunity in it. I hope you enjoy the day. Happy Thanksgiving.

Hi! I had vsg 8.15 and have lost 24 lbs. This am I seem to be up 3 lbs. Not off course. Still eating pureed. Cals are between 6 and 700. I meet protein daily but water is tough. I usually get 52 ounces vs 64. I eat 3 meals daily plus 1 snack of string cheese. I still have some muscle discomfort in tummy area but find I'm emotional a lot. Dr is happy w progress but I'm super upset with stall or gain when I'm not even eating or drinking off program. Any thoughts?

I was very nervous for the same reasons. I started a modified bariatric diet a few months before surgery as part of the preparation, also stopped any caffeine or sugar. I have gastroparesis so eating before strenuous activity is never a good idea for me but I would feel so nauseous and lightheaded. After I started the bariatric diet I realized that even if I was hungry when I started my lap swim, I could still do a normal work out and feel good. The diet allowed me to maintain a consistent level of energy that I had never experienced before in my life. The 2 week liquid diet was not my favorite, days 2 and 3 were the worst for me, day 4 was better until the day of surgery. I didn't like it, but I still was able to exercise daily. I had one episode of woozy..reviewed with my nutritionist and found I was not getting enough sodium, added a daily broth and that took care of it. I know we're all different but this may be same for you and if it is, I'll be happy for you. I feel so much more free now. I don't have to worry about scheduling activities around food/hunger/etc anymore. I can plan my eating around my activities, if that makes sense?

I sent a message to my bariatric office along with some pics. They said it looks fine to them and it is possibly my immune system just being in overdrive slightly. I did also send the pic of the blisters around my CGM sensor to my diabetic office to see if there's anything in particular I can do for that one. The response was to spray Flonase on my skin and allow it to try before attaching a sensor. So I guess that means I need to take my sensor off. I'll deal with it in a bit. Too much energy to walk up the stairs at the moment. Next stress on the list - I return to school for my masters degree on the 26th. Timing, y'all. LOL But in good news for me, World of Warcraft's new expansion hits early release for those of us crazy enough to preorder tonight. So I'll have something to keep me entertained hopefully while I'm taking times of rest. (Also time to mute all the people so that no one spoils anything for me.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @ShoppGirl Thank you for the idea about the proffee. I've decided I'm going to test the limits of my lactose intolerance and get some Premier Protein to see if I can handle it, and that sounds like a good way to have it. I need to go buy decaf coffee as I don't currently have any. I've been drinking Protein 2O since before surgery. They're not bad but they leave my mouth feeling super dry. I'm guessing that's the protein in it. But the Protein 2O are only 15g of protein. Which ones are you drinking that are 20g? I'm very curious. I haven't noticed any white chunks on my tongue after drinking any protein drink at this point. Just the dryness from the Protein 2O. If it happens with others and not the Premier, but you're also drinking the Premier with coffee... it may be the coffee that's helping? I'm not sure on this one. I hope your trip to your crochet group went well. If you need to get up and walk around for five minutes during the group, definitely do so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Hiddenroses I'm going to talk to my husband about ordering that GENEPRO that you mentioned and ShoppGirl mentioned. I need something to help those numbers along lol. Though two of his coworkers had the same procedure done, and they said you never eat for flavor again. You just eat because you have to eat. Which is slightly depressing but if it gets my health back... I'm still going to try to have flavor and such as I go along, but the GENEPRO is probably going to help me out in the puree stage a lot. Right now I'm surviving on protein shakes and protein water. And yay for the pillow working! It's been a lifesaver for me, honestly. I couldn't get up and down in certain chairs without it. Okay, I'm legit jealous that you got a foaming pump style bottle of the stuff. I was literally given 2 packets of the gel and had to use both the last two showers before surgery. So they gave me nothing else for after that. I think I might feel better about showering if I had more of the stuff. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. lol ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @RRenaeL23 Look at you, go getter! A mile and a half one week post-op? Holy cow! I'm definitely not up to that yet, so congrats on your achievement! I've got a cart started of things that I'm looking at on BariLife.com. Not sure about Clean Simple Eats, but that's another resource you might want to look into for getting smoothies and such. It's where I got my vitamins. This cart is currently things I want to run past the hubby to see if we can get for my puree stage, which should be after Wednesday if I can ever meet my fluid and protein goals beforehand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Pepper_No_Salt I'm looking into that variety pack on Amazon myself. I'm beyond tired of the mixed berry at this point, since it's the only flavor in town that I can drink currently. lol Definitely take it easy if you are hurting a lot. I know I tend not to take my pain pills unless I'm pushing an 8 on the pain scale, but you also definitely don't want to do more damage to yourself. I have no idea how you have managed to hit your water and protein goals already, my surgery twin, but congrats to you. I'm definitely on the struggle bus with that one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @Justarwaxx Did they not give you any contact information? That's so bizarre. My team gave me the contact information like five times to make sure I had it. Are the calories you are consuming from things on the plan? If so, then I don't think it would be a problem. But definitely make sure you reach out and try to find someone to contact to help alleviate your anxiety. I will also say that calories were not mentioned to me by my bariatric team. They are not concerned with calories as much as protein and carbs overall. Fruit and oats were also not on any of my liquid stages, like ShoppGirl said. But if they are okay with it for you, then it sounds like you are doing everything right by your team. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lots of love to anyone I missed! We got this! Everyone who just had surgery, I hope you are healing well. And everyone waiting, it will be worth it.

😥I am on week 2 of my PRE-OP and it’s purée foods for 4 days. I am on day 1 and I finished my lunch portion at 7pm - it’s so gross to me 😭 I don’t know how I’ll survive these 4 days and then have to do it again Post -Op.

Welcome! You're the same day as me! One of the things I have done that I think has really helped me feel more prepared is watching YouTube videos. I started with every video available from both Dr. Matthew Weiner and Dr. John Pilcher, and I also watched all of the ones from Dr. Vuong, although I know he's a more controversial figure these days. But I did get a lot out of some of them when he was talking about your mindset and that type of thing. I also watched a ton of videos made by regular people talking about their experiences. I've done book research and such too, but I feel like the videos are just a way I can get a little bit of something to think about every day. With 4 weeks to go, my plan is to try out a few recipes from the bariatric cookbooks I've bought and see if I can get some menu ideas for some of the earlier stages, figure out the groceries I will need, etc. Oh, and freezing some meals for my kids so I can avoid cooking the first few weeks. Other than that, I think we just have to take it one day at a time.

First, during the surgery lots of nerves were cut so messages about feeling full, hungry, etc, either don’t get through or are distorted. It takes about 8 weeks to heal so most of days find we don’t start to feel our restriction until we’re into solid foods. Also, fluids & purées to a lesser extent go through your digestive system a lot more quickly so you don’t really fill up in rather same way. Tread carefully with the volume of food & liquids you can consume quickly for the same reason. Allow yourself to heal so you don’t strain or stress your digestive system which is being held together with sutures & staples. All because you can doesn’t mean you should in the first two months. We all can & should be able to eat & drink larger & larger portions as we progress until we get to a recommended & appropriate portion size. Try not to eat until you feel full. Try to identify when you’ve had enough. I still ask myself do I need this next bite or do I just want it. It takes at least 20 minutes for the signal that you’ve had enough to get through so by the time it does you’ve likely eaten more than you need. While some people do continue to feel hungry the majority lose their hunger for a number of months. Start by discerning if you are feeling real hunger or head hunger. Craving a specific food, texture or flavour is head hunger. Are you feeling tired, stressed, anxious, frustrated, angry, sad, etc.? Many of us ate to sooth or comfort ourselves when our emotions were in turmoil. This too is a head hunger. It takes a while for your digestive system to adjust so you keep producing the same amount of stomach acid as you did before surgery. Excess acid can make you think you’re hungry (are you on a PPI to reduce stomach acid?) Hunger pangs/pains or a rumbling tummy also in most cases don’t indicate real hunger but excess stomach acid & your digestive system working. Many of us discover new signals for being or almost full (sneezing, runny nose, hiccups, etc.). We often find that feeling hungry (real hunger) is different too. For me I get restless, like something is wrong, I don’t crave anything & there is a reason why I would be hungry (like missed a meal, or ate very little at a previous meal, etc.) As an example. Yesterday went to a family event at a restaurant. Ate very little (they cleared our plates way too quickly for how slowly I eat). Got home late afternoon. Gnawed a trimmed chicken leg for dinner which I bought up (darn foamies). Ate a protein bar & went to bed. Tossed & turned & while tired couldn’t sleep. Argued with myself about whether I was really hungry or not. Realised besides the small lunch, bringing up my dinner, I’d also mixed two snacks. Debated what I wanted to eat (nothing specific). Real hunger. Got up & finished my leftover rolled oats breakfast (usually an afternoon snack). Then happily went back to bed & slept. There is a lot you have to learn & work out about your body, how it works now & your thinking. It takes time but you’ll get there. PS Congrats on your surgery & weight loss so far.

I had 6 weeks, and no I didn't. I had a hernia repair on top of a revision due to medical problems, so no. Just sit and recoup. You don't know what else is going on with the body and it does need to adjust.

I have a different flavor of BCBS that required 6 months of physician-monitored diet. But from the time that my program submitted all of the required paperwork to approval was 9 days. My surgery was scheduled for two weeks later. Out of pocket, I paid around $1000. The anesthesiologist was not in-network and was about $270 of the total cost.

Yeah I bought a couple of 10 packs of Propels packets. I am going to get a chicken this weekend and start making some broth to freeze into portions. I looked at all the options for broth and it is loaded with salt ,which I am not a fan of, so I figure it is just best to make myself. I am sitting down now going over what I do and don’t need to actually order to cover 6 weeks of liquid diet (3 preop and 3postop) I think I am just feeling overwhelmed at what feels like the last minute now.

I had the switch too! Nov. 1st. How are you feeling?? I should be able to finally move from fluids to purees tomorrow when I see my surgeon for my 2 week post op appointment. I can't wait! I'm so tired of liquids, though I do think they help the healing process...

I agree with Arabesque, you need to follow your plan. You were given that plan for a reason. You may feel like you've healed, but nerves were cut during the surgery and it takes them awhile to regenerate. You could be doing damage if you progress in your diet too quickly. we've all had to move through a specific progression, about or exactly the same as the one you've been given. Yes it can be frustrating and seem agonizingly slow, but it's temporary and we've all survived it! You'll be able to eat more "normal" foods soon enough. and yes - you can thin your shakes out if they're too thick (I remember not liking the thickness, either). Just add some water to them. good luck and stick to it - the first few weeks can be tough, but again, they're just temporary.