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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...

Hello my fellow October surgery buddies, I hope everyone is doing well. I had my sleeve surgery on October 3rd and two weeks ago I was cleared for regular diet. I'm wondering if anyone is having a similar problem as me... here lately it seems no matter what I eat I am getting nauseous and throwing up. I spoke to my doctor about this a couple of days ago and he said that I just have to eat slower and smaller portions. Last night I had one Ladle of homemade vegetable beef soup and got sick shortly after. I'm wondering if any of you have experienced anything like this and how you have managed to overcome it?

Today was a very very rough day for me. Im tolerating water wayyyy better than the first few days. Swallowing protein shakes no matter how smLl the sip always gives me that feeling like someones squeezinc my stomach and im forcing out a belch soon after. That feeling is not pleasant makes me not want to drink them at all. On average i can get through almost 1 protein shake a day. Greek yogurt was okay still has the same effect as the protein shake though. Also when i tried sugar free jello same thing. I actually tried cream of chicken soup watered down. I wanted to cry because the taste is amazing but i just cannot enjoy it like i want because of how easy i get gas. Like i dont understand how i can have to belch SO much after swallowing smooth things plain smooth its crazy. Its a little depressing that i have to stick with this full liquid diet another whole week. I feel like im going to go insane lol. I made my 1 year old scrambled eggs she loves them and omg my stomach wanted to eat itself. I havent had a hunger pain like that since before pre op. It really caught me off guard. I was so close to devouring her eggs. At the risk of pain is the only thing that stopped me. This is going to be a long road for me.

Weight-wise we started out about the same, and I'd lost 75 lbs by the six-month mark, so you are doing fine. And it's very normal to drop down to a 1-2 lb a week loss when you're six months out. Just continue to stick to your clinic's plan, and the weight WILL come off. It took me almost two years, but I got it all off (I've had about a 20 lb rebound gain since I hit my lowest weight, which is very common during year 3 - it's your body settling in to a weight it's comfortable at). as far as calories go, that varies so much for everyone that I can't really say if your input is too high or too low. I think I was eating around 800 calories a day at that point, and I used to fret about that because I'd see people on here eating 600-ish. But they could have been shorter, older, less muscular, and/or less active than me, too. As long as your weight is in a general downward trend, I wouldn't worry about it. Some surgeons want their patients eating more calories in general than other surgeons, so the amount you're taking in isn't anything unusual keep in mind that the closer you get to goal, the slower those pounds are going to come off. During year two, there were months I was only losing a pound or two the entire month. But I was persistent and they DID come off.

I have several things that come to mind on what was the last straw, but for me it was when my family visited and I was the only fat person there. My entire family is thin. Combine that with my thin husband..I felt like those old movies where you see the huge fat loud mouth wife (lol no I'm not that bad - looks around to see if husband is watching me type) with the small husband.. Everywhere we went I hated I was bigger than my husband (he eats tons and anything he wants - but due to his job he walks 12 miles - 6 days a week) so he remains thin. Add to the above; people would look at me then my grocery cart when shopping...then judge..and even say things even though 99.9% of the cookies, kids cereal, ice cream etc were for my husband. They never saw my cottage cheese, salads etc., just zeroed in on the garbage. I had one person tell me "no wonder you're fat" looking into my cart. Needless to say my smart ass came out..i said I can lose weight..you'll always be a rude ass**** who obviously has a "small penis" complex feeling the need to insult others to feel better about his small Insecurity package. One of the larger straws that pushed me to have surgery. I never told my husband out of total embarrassment.. Until recently.

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.

This isn’t uncommon. Our tastebuds & sometimes sense of smell changes after surgery while we’re healing & our tummy is very sensitive. It is temporary usually about two months which is about how long it takes you to fully heal from the surgery. Unfortunately though it can make finding foods & drinks we can tolerate challenging. You may find something you easily ate yesterday you can’t face today. Don’t give up on that food. Just avoid it for a few days & then try it again. Some foods seem extra sweet or salty. Textures can be off putting too. Sometimes a food or flavour you didn’t enjoy before tastes delicious during this time. Add to that our loss of appetite &/or interest in eating & it can feel like a nightmare & you’ll never be able to eat again. In a few weeks you’ll find you are enjoying flavours, textures & foods more. If you’re lucky your loss of hunger & interest in eating will last a 6-12 months +/- which helps with your weight loss but they too will pass. Actually after they return you often wish they hadn’t & you still weren’t hungry. I embraced things tasting exceedingly sweet at this time. I gave up sweet foods - never reintroduced them. So no cakes, biscuits, desserts, lollies, flavoured carbonated drinks, etc. except on very odd special occasion. Very little added sugar (<5g a day) & avoid artificial sweeteners or sugar alternatives where I can. I ate a lot of soup, yoghurt & extra milky scrambled eggs & extra milky instant rolled oats during purée. During soft foods I ate a lot of minced meat dishes (meat balls, savoury mince bolognese, …) with sauces & slow cooked stews/casseroles. Give your self time to heal & recover & your tummy to be less fussy & sensitive. I used to say my tummy was like a petulant temper throwing 2 year old during that time.

November 16 and I just started my 2 week preop and it’s brutal! Would love to find someone who is also going thru it!

Beforehand I was really worried about what it was going to be like in the weeks after the surgery because I couldn't imagine being so limited. I couldn't imagine not caring about what I ate. But actually, I found it easier than I thought it was going to be. At first I wasn't hungry at all so I didn't care whether or not I ate, and sipping liquids was just fine. Natural hunger returned during the pureed food stage for me (it's different for everyone.) And then it was more about getting 2 oz. of something to satisfy the hunger and (far) less about what it was I ate. I guess that is the result of the vertical sleeve gastrectomy reducing the appetite hormones. Here's what I ate: clear liquids are obviously pretty limiting but I did water, protein water (check Amazon-I couldn't find it in the store), flavored water (like Crystal Light) and jello. I didn't care about eating and wasn't hungry. For the full liquid portion, I continued with all of the above and added protein shakes, yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk. At the pureed stage, I couldn't bear the idea of pureeing up meat---so I stuck to all of the previous liquid and full liquid stuff and I added mashed sweet potato, refried beans (recipe in The Gastric Sleeve Cookbook by Sarah Kent but any will do), banana, applesauce. I wasn't into cooking veggies and pureeing them, so I actually had some baby food vegetables with a little salt added for adult tastes. I also made egg salad with olive oil mayo and a little bit of dijon mustard and Tony Chachere's. I finely flaked up tuna fish and made tuna salad with olive oil mayo and a little bit of pickle juice for flavor. I tolerated that very well. I'm on soft food now and I find I can eat just about anything (except seeds or nuts) as long as it's soft. If it isn't something soft, I am chewing it up really well. I thought I'd have a hard time with that--before surgery I couldn't imagine chewing that much. But I'm finding that my body instinctively does it as it seems to have learned my new stomach won't tolerate it unless I do. On the 15th I will progress to a regular diet. A long answer to your short question, but I was so anxious before surgery and I thought if you were too, some detailed information might be reassuring. You can do it!!

That's really great that you're able to tolerate things so well! When I was having trouble getting liquids in, my surgeon gave me an example: in the first week post-op, one of her patients asked 'is it normal that I can drink 80 oz a day in the first week after surgery?' and she said 'it's normal for you!' I wouldn't worry, every person is different.

Hey! I haven’t gone yet. Surgery is set for the last week of November. I’m a little nervous, but still excited. My dr’s preposition diet only requires the day before surgery as a full liquid day 🤷🏻‍♀️ but I’m starting to make changes on my own - I’ve eliminated carbonated beverages, caffeine, alcohol, and Monday I’m saying goodbye to a. Obsession I didn’t know I had… gum!

As @ChunkCat said you should be fine in any city which is likely where you’ll be while studying. These surgeries are performed just about everywhere these days. Find a good general practitioner (PCP) & then they should be able to refer you if you need/want. The PCP will be able to request & monitor your blood work & ensure you’re not missing out on any thing or your levels aren’t dropping too low or getting too high. They could refer you to a good dietician as well. Actual follow ups with your surgeon differ. I saw mine for the first few months & then his colleague took over & I still see her almost 5 years later. I saw him again two years later when he took my fall out though. Some never see their surgeon again unless there is an issue or a concern. You don’t need special bariatric food or vitamins after surgery. Just good, healthy, nutrient dense food the more natural & low processed the better. Some surgeons recommend specific brands for the pre & post surgery liquid stages but generally any high protein shake (pre made or powder) will work. (My cynical side says they likely have a marketing deal with that shake company.) I only had shakes for 2 weeks post surgery & I bought Atkins cause it was easily accessible at my grocery store - lol! Just check the sugar content (real & artificial) & protein content & calories. Same with vitamins, look for quality brands & check how much of each vitamin they contain so you’re not double dosing. Your blood work will help inform what vitamin supplements you actually need. All the best.

Hi community! Hope you’re all well. I am officially 18 days post op and I am struggling. My puréed diet is very restrictive. I can’t have eggs, tuna, cheese like many can and I’m struggling with meeting my protein goals. I was told not to have protein shakes as a liquid but as a meal. But it’s difficult to meet my liquids goal and my protein goal when I feel like I don’t have many options. These are the things I was cleared to have: 2 oz. of milk, 2 oz. of low fat or light yoghurt, protein shakes, mashed potatoes, mashed avocado, 2-3 oz. of small curd cottage cheese, hot cereals like oatmeal, cream of wheat, farina with skim milk, lentils, chick peas, tofu or beans. Introduce all cooked vegetables (zucchini, carrots, spinach, etc.) 2 oz. of mashed fruits up to two times per day between meals as snacks I have also hit a stall which sucks cause I’m only 2 weeks post op and I believe it may be cause I’m not meeting my protein/liquid goals. I have also experienced dizziness and as a result I’m not walking as much as I should be. I been mostly on bed rest. I have also been suffering with constipation. Does anybody have any tips? Any advice would be very helpful on how I could meet my goals or any recipes based on my diet above. Thank you in advance 💜

Just had my pre-surgery assessment yesterday and my surgeon was great answering my questions and helping me with the pre-op. I was starting to get hypoglycemic in the evenings bad so he had the dietician give me some ideas to add to my pre-op. So now about 2 hr after dinner I eat a medium cucumber with a light smear of fat free cream cheese to help keep my levels even. I feel better this morning than I have in the last two weeks. Surgery next Wednesday 12/13 and on to a new life. So happy my hubby can stay at the hospital with me as well overnight. I wish all December surgerys good luck!!!

It takes a lot of calories to maintain that heavier weight & for the body to function at that weight (just moving with that weight alone requires a lot of energy) & so the calorie deficit has a greater impact. It requires your body to burn more fat to get the energy it needs to function so there is a greater weight loss. There is a percentage formula to help give you an idea of what weight loss you may expect (may not will) but I can’t recall what it is. Though I think they say you may expect to lose about 30% of your weight at three months. Say it says you’ll lose 10% of the weight you’re to lose in your first month. It you weigh 600lbs & are to lose 400lbs you might to lose 40lbs in the first month. Have a lower starting weight & are to lose 200lbs you might lose 20lbs. Well, that’s my understanding. 😁

I am at the very beginning of my WLS journey and meet with the bariatric surgeon for the first time next week. What are some things you wish you had known or had asked questions about at the start?

Christmas drinks cooking yesterday. This time Brie bites. Easy to make & yummy. Quarter teaspoon grain mustard, piece of Brie, 1/2 teaspoon cranberry sauce in puff pastry, bake then sprinkle with some pieces of grilled prosciutto. Went to what is supposed to be this excellent restaurant last week. Been wanting to go for a while but thought they only had a degustation menu & recently discovered they did have a la carte. Chose John Dory fillet with beurre blanc sauce split with wasabi leaf oil & asparagus. Started off okay but am still looking for the asparagus - extremely finely diced & barely a teaspoon. Then the third slice of the fillet was super salty & couldn’t eat it. So disappointed. My friends enjoyed their meals so at least there was that. Oh & it cost $58 (about $39 US). Crazy prices here now. Last year it would have been 10-15 Aust $ less.

Hi Meisha, Wow, only 1 day of liquid diet? I'm on 2 weeks prior to surgery doing liquid diet. Today is day 3...a lil rough but I'm working through it. My surgery is scheduled for 11/30/23. I'm nervous too, just want it over with and work towards better health. Bravo for you for giving up gum...temporarily. Wishing you all the success with your surgery and recovery.

A few months ago I posted about whether it made sense to remove my gallbladder after a scan detected a 2 cm stone. I want having any pain but was warned of the proposition of getting caught in an excruciating situation and landing in ER. Well, I just had it removed last week- quick (comparatively) day surgery without overnight hospitalization. My gastric bypass surgeon performed the removal and I’m basically at home healing. I’m now on day 5 of recovery not taking pain meds. Everything has been pretty good EXCEPT a severe knife-like stabbing pain around one of the incisions. I have my follow up with the doctor in 3 days but walking or standing and moving my arms requires me to sit down after 5 minutes bc the pain is so bad. I wasn’t expecting this so am hoping it’s just the no meds plus incision recovery where doc had to cut through muscle. Any confirmation to comfort my great fear I’ll never be able to walk in comfort again? I was walking with such pleasure up to 8 miles a day sometimes and now I can barely cross my living room without sharp pain. Thanks…

I have. I'm doing purees this week and apparently most of what I've tried my stomach doesn't like. Avocado? Tastes awful. Ricotta and tomato sauce? Too acidic, that was diarrhea for sure, and stomach pain. Refried beans? More diarrhea. LOL The only thing that seems to pass without objection is eggs, yogurt, and fish (my surgeon told me I could eat fish early). It seems this sort of trial and error is very common at this stage.

Hi Edward, The original thread starter left the forum ages ago, but I'll try to answer being veteran MGB patient now well into maintenance. Regarding "bad things". Honestly, EVERY bariatric surgery option comes with issues from mild to (thankfully rarer) serious. It's worth remembering that people on forums like this mostly ask questions when they think things are going wrong or are looking for reassurance. Stalls are common for ALL procedures. GERD is common in the sleeve but not everyone gets it. Pain? Well yeah, it's major surgery so expect it to hurt. Your body has to recover from about five deep stab wounds, being inflated, and then having the stomach cut apart and intestines rearranged. That will take time to recover from! What I think is surprising is how FAST the body recovers considering what it goes through. And if, like me, you have a hiatal hernia repair at the same time, it's another level of pain to wade through, but it does improve. And I take ibuprofen and aspirin. I was never told "never again". I don't take it frequently, but when I have to, I take it. Nothing horrible has happened, and I AM prone to ulcers. To combat my ulcers, I take Pantoprazole. No biggie. As for the hunger, it seems different for everyone across all procedures. My hunger came back about six months in. The restriction remains though, and some things have remained permanently off the menu, like coconut milk/cream and more than one bite of bread or potatoes. It's different for everyone, but I really am glad I got the MGB/Omega Loop. Worked a treat, I lost almost 120% of my excess body fat, and my lab results are all great so the vitamin intake hasn't been an issue.

Honestly, this seems way off-base, with the exception of 60-80 grams protein, which is completely sufficient for most people (but not all!). Your calorie estimations are much too low for the vast majority of people in maintenance mode. So rest assured, you won't be on 650 calories for life! Also, 25g carb is extremely low carb and not a lifestyle most people are eager to embrace. If a doctor insisted on 25g carb for life as the only way to succeed, I would seek out a second opinion for sure. From what I see people saying around here, 1200 to 1500 is a much more realistic calorie range for the long term, although that is for maintenance, not for weight loss or for early days after surgery. If you eat to maintain your current weight right now, that would seem to go against your goal of losing 20-50lbs more. I have two suggestions. First, check out some bariatric cookbooks because they will tell you appropriate portion sizes for maintenance as well as give you some ideas for what types of foods to be eating. My favorite is Kristin Willard's Bariatric Meal Prep Made Easy: 6 Weeks of Portion Controlled Recipes to Keep the Weight off. She's a registered dietician specializing in bariatrics and every recipe has a gorgeous color illustration. Second, take a look at the Portion Perfection brand bariatric plate. It's kind of expensive, so you may not want to buy it, but the concept is really good. Basically it's an 8 inch plate (with a one inch rim all the way around, so a 6 inch circle of eating space). There are lines and illustrations to divide up the plate and show you where to put your foods and how much. If you're a visual person, this may really help. Other than that, you may want to check out some of the nutrition videos as well as the weekly podcast done by Dr. Matthew Weiner (Pound of Cure). I find them so insightful and he and his dietician, Zoe, are very keen on plant-based nutrition, which may be perfect for you. Edited to add: Here is a link to a dietician article about post-op goals that might help: https://www.mybariatricdietitian.com/mbd-blog/portion-sizes-after-weight-loss-surgery

Right!! It is awesome! I just got my paperwork to read through. I’m a little upset with myself that I have not been more productive with my pre op stuff. I am so unprepared at this point. I have 3 weeks to get my garbage together. I got some of the suggested supplies today but still feeling so far behind. I did start watching some of the YouTube videos you suggested. I started with Dr Weiner. Now to read the 43 pages of pre op paperwork my doctor sent 😂 Ohhhhh!!! I learned how to reply lol🤣😂

Thanks for updating us!! I am so sorry they had to change their surgery plans... My 3 week liver reduction diet didn't seem to work very well either, my surgeon said my liver had not responded the way he'd hoped it would have, but he's a pretty skilled surgeon so he was still able to do my full surgery with it. I have read about a number of people with that issue that end up having to stage their surgery though... I really hope you do well with the sleeve, maybe you won't even have to have the second part done!! I'm glad you have the option to though... The feels are strong after surgery even when everything goes perfectly, so I can imagine you were feeling it with everything that happened, plus the meds coursing through your system! I hope your pain continues to ease. Keep updating!! ❤️

Hi, everyone, I've just caught up on posts after being away from the site for a bit. I would love to comment on everyone's posts because we're all going through such similar things. I'm really proud of us for the changes we're making. @ShoppGirl, I think you are correct about the treadmill being narrow and having to balance on it. I was shocked to find that walking on a treadmill is very different from walking on the street, but it definitely is. I have a treadmill that I walk on during meetings at work (I work from home) and that's a lot easier for me than walking on the street. But I had to set it under a stand-up desk because trying to balance on the narrow thing would be a full-time job and I couldn't pay attention in my meetings. (Also I'd probably fall off of it a lot.) My first week back to work was exhausting. I was just fried at the end of each day, even though I work from home. My hubby had his prostate out on Friday. He was able to come home the same day, which we were not expecting but it was a very nice surprise. I'm plenty recovered enough from my surgery to do stuff for him, so we're doing well. But it's obvious to me that I'm still recovering, because I get tired much more easily than pre-op. I'm proud of myself because I planned and brought protein drinks to make sure I got nutrition throughout the day. All day, I had been aware of the hospital cafeteria, which is close to the surgical waiting room, but I knew that I was not going to go in because I had no reason to. Back in the day, I would have had the perfect excuse to go nuts in there while I waited for hubby's surgery to be done! Then, since I got to take my husband home, I ended up being at the hospital later than I expected, so I had to find something to eat and ended up having to go there. So I had my first experience of eating somewhere other than home. I was able to find appropriate protein in the right amount, and that's all I had. I had my first post op visit with the PA, who told me not to worry about the fact that I don't have fullness cues. She said by 3 months it may get harder to get things down, because scar tissue hasn't formed yet, and also by 3 months, I'll have developed a much better sense of what's going on in my body. Surprisingly, she said that if I'm doing pureed easily, I could move to soft. So that was a great surprise and I'm enjoying the soft stage. I can eat more of a variety of things. It's going fine, which still bothers me because I wish I had more sense of restriction. I worry that I'm going to return to old bad habits! So I'm being careful to measure, and I tell my Baritastic app everything I'm eating! The thing I'm currently struggling with is that eating only 1/2 cup at a time, I've been eating only one thing and focusing on protein. I'm finding myself craving things like fruit and vegetables. So I had a couple florets of broccoli tonight which was great. I read a sample diet for the soft stage that had entries like, "2 bites of _______". I am going to focus on eating more fresh things, now that I understand I can just have a bit less of whatever my protein is and "2 bites" of something fresh. I'm also struggling with getting all the vitamins in, since I have to separate the calcium from the iron from the multivitamins. There are only so many hours in the day! I know others have mentioned this, so at least we're all in the same boat, and we'll figure it out. I am losing maybe half a pound a day. I know that's a lot, and I had a couple of non-scale victories the other day. I had to go in to the office for a meeting, and I put on a dress that had been too tight to wear. It fit perfectly! And the sandals I wore zip up the back. They'd been hard to zip because of my fat ankles, but now they are even a little bit loose! On paper, I've lost 30 pounds from my heaviest, but it doesn't feel or look that way to me. I'm only 5 feet, so that much weight should be quite obvious, but it isn't. That bugs me some, but I know I'm just beginning and I WILL be able to see the difference when I lose more. I'm happy that I can move around and get some exercise. I thought I'd be just weak from taking in so few calories, but I'm not. Occasionally, I'll get a little lightheaded, but it's not bad at all. I was able to do my pre-op treadmill routine (3 30-minute walks daily at 2.0 MPH, which means 3 treadmill miles a day) although I did have one day when I got a little lightheaded and had to turn down the speed just a bit. Today was the first time that I actually felt "hungry" since surgery. But it was mixed in with a desire to eat out of boredom as well as some head hunger, so I'm not quite sure what the deal was, exactly. I am trying to just pay attention to that stuff and ask myself questions about how I'm feeling, without any intention of acting on it. I think I will do better if I start eating more of a "meal" type diet with mostly protein but a little of things like vegetables and fruits, so that I have some variety and am getting in some varied nutrients from food, not just my vitamins. And yes, I STILL have a little of the sticky stuff from the hospital on my skin! What is that about?