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That app is good we also use Calorie king. But I’m finding I’m not getting the calories anyway. I am on 60g of protein a day. Im 1 month 1 day post op. I have vomited twice since Friday😔. I had a zoom with the surgeon Friday and he has suggested to have purée an extra week. He was afraid I may have inside scaring in my oesophagus and if I do they will do a endo to remove scaring. I see my gp again Tuesday to discuss this as I’m away from Tuesday arvo to Late Friday night. Then I’m home 4 days before going away again for 9 days. Pity I can’t have any soft foods yet. but am feeling positive. Walking an Hr doesn’t hurt anymore.

Mine started today. I think I overdid it with the food funerals last week, and now I feel like I'm starving, haha. I've heard the first 3-4 days are the worst, so hopefully you're over that hurdle now! I can't wait until I am.

I am sure there will be a lot of "stick to the plan" replies, which I will agree is never a bad decision but I wanted to offer a real life viewpoint lol I was about 5 weeks out from bypass when my guy made homemade pork tamales. I asked him to make some mini ones for me because I knew my tummy could not hold a full size tamale. He made the pork melt in your mouth tender, lighter on the seasoning and I had zero issues have one mini one and I had zero regrets for enjoying it. If you try one, just eat super slow, small bites and make sure you listen to your tummy. That's all I have to offer on the subject 🙂

I live alone & had no issues at all. Just did any chores (laundry, dishwasher, etc.) slowly & carefully & took my time - I had all day to do them 😁. Had no trouble sleeping in my bed, getting up & down, showering, though I also did it slowly & carefully to ensure I didn’t pull anything. I have a cleaner who comes once a fortnight & she does the vacuuming, floor washing, etc. leaving me to do basic upkeep in between. My neighbours took my bins in & out for a couple of weeks because of the lifting restrictions. I grocery shopped at the end of week 2 to get yoghurt & a few other necessities for the purée stage. I asked the checkout staff not to overpack my bags as I’d had abdominal surgery & had restrictions on what I could lift. I made sure I had supplies of everything I needed before my surgery. So had all over the counter meds (non nsaid pain meds, Imodium, stool softener, hydralite, …), protein shakes, broths & soups, etc. But yes, some do struggle with movement like getting up & down, sleeping in a bed, etc. I didn’t have any mobility issues or difficulties before surgery which I think helped me.

I never did Wegovy (Semaglutide) but a few of my friends have done it. I went straight to surgery. As soon as my friends were off, their body put back on the weight and then some. Too many horror stories about Semaglutide, rotten food stuck in stomach, stomach paralysis, to name a few. My best friends daughter has been on it for 3 months and has only lost 5 pounds, she needs to lose well over 100. Found out her thyroid is messed up so she is on thyroid meds and has lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. She is still considering surgery, but will let her body adapt to thyroid meds first.

**Update** Hey everyone! Sorry for being MIA for a while. I really appreciate all your responses and well wishes. I will be 2 weeks post-op tomorrow, which is kind of nutty to think about. My 9 day post-op follow up appointment went really well. Incisions are healing well, and they seem quite happy with my food diary. I started my bariatric vitamins about 4 days post-op as well and been doing great so far with those. I use Paravita bariatric multivitamin 3x daily and I take Vitamin D3 2500 IU one drop daily. Plus of course the medications needed temporarily prescribed by my surgeon. I got to say though that it's been HARD going through Christmas day and not being able to enjoy our traditional Christmas breakfast, or our amazing turkey feast. Least I got to smell it though lol. I feel a lot more strong, so I have been able to have a lot more normalcy in my life. I make my family their food, while also preparing my clear liquids and full liquids. Unfortunately I'll be on the liquids until January,10th as it is 4 weeks with the gastric sleeve. Then eventually pureed foods, then soft, then finally regular healthy eating for life lol. I am making turkey soup today with our turkey carcass, onions, carrots, celery, and some seasoning, so I can at least enjoy the broth of our Christmas dinner my spouse and out kiddos had yesterday lol. I hope you all are well. I am fighting my brain and always will, and I am still having some regretful thoughts over having this surgery. I am taking one step ahead at a time and trying to look towards the positives. As I've said in other posts I just was so set on Gastric Bypass for my acid reflux issues, and I liked that it could be reversed if needed, plus I hear it has a higher success rate. So when I found out they gave me the sleeve, I just been having mixed thoughts since, and now I can't go back even if I wanted to down the line. So it's been weighing on me a lot. Please know I am not trying to discourage anyone from WLS, and the sleeve can be just as successful, everyone is different. I also thoroughly did my research on WLS prior. Lots of great things about these surgeries. I hope you all are well and that you all had a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays if you celebrate. Much love. ✌

Well I’m 1.5 weeks into my 4 week preop diet and things have smoothed out a bit thank goodness. I’ve got a preop appointment tomorrow for testing and other fun things. My work has also cleared me to be out essentially through the rest of the year. Positive thoughts for you all with your Nov. 1 dates!

I will be having gastric bypass done at the end of this month, but when I was trying to decide between sleeve or bypass, one of the resources I used was this risk calculator. In addition to risks, it lets you select your own co-morbidities such as sleep apnea, hypertension, or diabetes to see how likely it is that they will resolve based on which procedure you choose, and shows you a BMI predictor chart at the 12-month mark. I found it pretty helpful. Additionally, I found this video super informative: The factors that I considered most were GERD risk and the desire to control my blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as feeling like I could benefit from the threat of dumping if I ate too much fat or sugar, my weaknesses! It definitely took me several weeks to decide as I weighed it all.

I went to see my GP this week to get some testing done. I actually looked forward to going, knowing things would to be better than the last time I saw her pre-op. She along with everyone in the office flipped out when they saw me. I'm down over 80 pounds in 5 months. The nurse said I lost a small person. LOL I could fit comfortably in the chair when they drew my blood. You know that little table that folds down in from of you? I had room to spare. She asked if I was having fun buying new clothes. I told her yes. I love thrifting and now able to get around to do it. The head nurse had to come in and take a gander at me. She called me yesterday and told me my bloodwork results were amazing. Everything is in normal range now. I am no longer pre-diabetic. Even my liver and kidney functions are normal. Those things scared me the most and my main reason to get the Gastric Bypass. Don't ever let anyone tell you those things aren't reversable. My GP said she can't believe my numbers. Told me all her sleeve patients don't have these kinds of results in a year, even after prescribing them Ozempic. She sees patients from a local surgeon who only does the sleeve with no follow up support. I'm guessing most of those people aren't following any protocol because I see the good results on here, every day, of sleevers' success stories. I love reading them. I went out of town to get my bypass in April that thankfully has a great Bariatric support team. I go back to see them for my 6-month checkup Oct 11. They did a vitamin panel on me last time and all was well except my B12 was a bit high but nothing to worry about. And I go back in January for my annual physical with GP. Was told they can hopefully start taking me off my meds. I will be closer to goal weight by then. Something else to look forward to.

Hi Carrielee - welcome! I had VSG surgery just about a week before my 40th birthday this past November. I had sworn in the years leading up to it that I would NEVER have any kind of WLS, but here I am! If I could have done it on my own, I would have - I needed help to improve my life, because nothing I tried on my own was working, and I tried it all. I had sleep apnea, insulin resistance, and bp that bounced back and forth between hypertensive and high-normal. I felt like I was going to die after climbing up a flight of stairs, and I was passing up good opportunities at my job because I didn't want to walk 5-10 minutes to another building and get all sweaty. I had never had surgery of any kind before (other than getting my wisdom teeth out, but it's not like I was intubated for that), so the thought of getting put under and having my innards poked at was rather intimidating. I would do it over again in a heartbeat. Like @catwoman7 said, I'd do it every year if I had to! I never needed to use my prescription pain meds post-op. I actually take the "long way" to my car at the end of my workdays now. My husband and I routinely walk to the front of our neighborhood and back, whereas previously, I hated just walking the 0.10 mile to our mailbox. My blood pressure has actually been almost LOW ever since waking up from surgery, my IBS-D has essentially disappeared (and I had days where I couldn't be too far from a restroom before), and I'm a little less sweaty. My knees feel INFINITELY better, and they're a little less noisy when I bend down. Now, you do have some health conditions that could make any surgery a little more risky (fatty liver, history of PE especially), but your doctor will review your history and will probably have you do quite a few tests and things to make sure it's safe for you to have surgery. I had some weird, random heart palpitations for darn near 20 years that were dismissed as "nothing major", but my doctor insisted that I do a 48-hour Holter monitor just to be sure. When that didn't show anything, they had me do a monitor for a whole month! They actually figured out the cause (occasional premature atrial contractions, or PACs, which apparently darn near everybody has at some point - some of us just feel them more than others), and cleared me for surgery. Ask your surgeon all the questions you can think of. I watched YouTube videos for months leading up to my surgery just to see what others' experiences were. I crawled through this forum extensively. I read the binder my program gave me over and over and over. I started following tons of WLS accounts on Insta. Do whatever you need to do to ease your mind a bit, and know that there is a large community to back you up! Trust your gut and go with what you know you need to do, be that surgery or something else. No matter what you choose, we'll be here for you.

Dr Weiner resources are great as are Dr John Pilcher’s. Bounce back regain is always a possibility in the second & third year. I believe the average is about 10lb/5kgs so that could be a possibility. This regain can be from not being as vigilant, how you were eating wasn’t sustainable (too restrictive) & didn’t allow you to live & enjoy your life as you want, a change in medication, & your body & new weight set point resettling. And yes, muscle weighs more than fat so some of the regain could be from that too. (Maybe have a dexa scan to compared your fat & muscle mass.) Start by making one or two changes to your eating & then in a week or two make another change or two. You can start small. Maybe track your food to begin. Then up your protein & fluids if you’re not meeting your goals. Adjust your portions if they have become larger. Then drop some of your sugar or carbs or swap the highly processed refined carbs for low processed multi or whole grain options. Etc. Small changes are often easier to adopt & adapt to than large all encompassing changes. Doesn't matter how long it takes you to get fully back on track.

I am 8 days post-op, to be honest, I don't know. For myself most of the time I have not felt hungry at all, but I have had two days where I felt hungry similar to before the surgery. I think that we are going to go through feeling hungry and not feeling hungry plus many other changes over the next month, especially in the 2-week post-op diet phase. I think things will fluctuate a lot as we get to add foods to our diets during this healing period. I read that it takes 12 weeks for our stomachs to heal completely. I have an appointment on the 8th and I am going to ask for sure when the fully healed process is done.

Our bodies tend to retain fluids when rapid weight loss occurs, and can hang on to it for a few weeks until it knows everything is ok, and it can resume with the weight loss. Any IV's can also add to the fluid retention you're currently experiencing, which makes it easy to gain for a week or so, but its just water/fluids, and not fat, which is what you really want to lose. You can still be burning away the fat during this phase despite the scale saying otherwise. Also as you go further on your weight loss journey, you'll gain more muscle mass from working out more, and muscle is roughly 1.5x the weight of fat. So if you're doing significantly more walking and/or lifting weights, that will offset the scale losses, but you're becoming much healthier in the process.

Surgery scheduled for December 4th, 2023!! I've been fast tracked because I chose to go the self-pay route VS Insurance. Doc wants me on liquid diet 2 weeks prior to surgery... so no thanksgiving meal for me. A little stressed & second guessing like a normal human would; am I making the right decision? Ultimately the answer is always YES. New things are always scary but there's no way to grow (mentally, physically, emotionally) if you never step outside of your comfort zone.

Hi everyone I found this site whilst searching for help with the feeling that something is sticking in my throat following ESG surgery almost 6 weeks ago. I see there's an App and Facebook too so will check those out. My procedure was on 31 October in Southampton UK. Anyone else from UK here? For me it's all going quite well although the hunger is starting to kick in now. I can only manage a little food which I'm pleased about but wonder when I will be able to get enough calories in me. Currently, I'm averaging about 500 - 600 per day. That's quite something for a person who ate a lot pre-procedure. The biggest issue for me is this awful feeling of something being lodged in my throat but I see here that others have the same problem and that is comforting to know (though I wish it wasn't so for any of us). Anyway, I will go look around and join in with the conversations. Regards, Mystified

Im 6 week post Op Im currently experiencing muscle cramps supposedly is due to low protein intake. If anyone has gone thru this tell me how you ate 90g of protein during a day. I need help.

Thanks for your help. While I do have a team, Unfortunately they don't really function like I see many other people say on the internet say their team does. My team did the surgery and now they just say eat less and the surgeon says go to PCP for every concern. Even if I had to go to the hospital for an obstruction I'd likely go to a completely different hospital at random. I felt permanently hungry right after this surgery for about 5 weeks. It did pass once I got on solids again but that feeling of fullness only lasted maybe 6 weeks. Now 4.5 months out I'm essentially always starving. For example I had a Premier Protein bar and felt nothing from it. I then had another one 40 minutes later and only then did I feel some sense of fullness but only for about 10 minutes. But that's just breakfast and that's already 40g of protein and probably 370 calories. I do sometimes feel restriction but it passes very quickly and I'm left starving again. For example if I ate a piece of chicken and broccoli. Maybe a chicken breast and a cup of broccoli florets. Just plain. I'd get through half and would feel full but that only lasts maybe 10min. As for keeping carbs out. The team did say to prioritize protein and have carbs last as you mention. As for no carbs, well they may have said it but at the same time I don't recall it. I figured I was eating way more calories. But I'm quite hungry so it's not always easy when they voice in my head says hey you need to eat. That month where the hunger went away was amazing. That's what I was expecting things to stay as. But they haven't. Now I eat lean meat and more or less it just passes quickly. Leaving me unsatisfied.

Crazy to think that surgery was 4 weeks ago. Finally started on solid foods, I return to work next week (thank god I wfh) and I'm nervous but excited to get back into a routine. Also thinking of buying a mini stepper to get my steps in now that my days will be consumed with work.

I'm almost 5 months post op RNY Gastric Bypass 1/3/24. 52 F 5'9.5 HW 272 SW 255 Surgery date 219, CW 174 1. I had surgery for a variety of reasons, severe GERD, hiatal hernia, gastroparesis, obesity, chronic pain and disability. The best part is not feeling either nauseous, in pain, or hungry 24/7. I feel hungry, I eat, and I feel good. Don't get me wrong, I still have some nausea or pain if I eat too much or too fast, or just knowing something isn't likely going to agree with me, but I've been pretty good at avoiding those things. The chronic pain is lessened, I'm more mobile, and feel more energetic throughout the day, instead of just in the morning. 2. I've had some hard days with emotions, not being able to eat mindlessly anymore, regardless of the food. It's been an adjustment, but honestly, no one needs to eat mindlessly, it just isn't good for anyone. 3. I had a sketchy bladder issue, it didn't wake up for a few days after surgery. I had a sketchy bladder already (Previous Cauda Equina Syndrome), so it wasn't completely out of nowhere that it didn't cooperate. 4. It's been really good for the most part, there have been moments that felt hard like traveling with family and not planning well enough, had a hunger meltdown, and struggled getting what I needed in a hotel room with a barbie fridge. Though recently traveled again, same scenario, but better prepared, no melt downs, no strife. 5. I was started on purees in the hospital and it was a slow progression to regular food and I felt okay through every stage though I would say that I started feeling "normal" when eating after about 3 months? 6. I don't eat bread, pasta, rice, fried foods anymore. My ultra favorite was fish fry, now I have baked cod and still eat it with tartar sauce, so I don't feel deprived. Most foods that I crave I've been able to find a satisfying alternative for that works for me. . 7. I have not vomited once since the surgery, I've wished I could at least twice, but it was a matter of having eaten too much and needing to wait to let it settle. That is a good reminder for me to go slow and take breaks. I've not had any dumping, though I avoid all sugar anyways, and did prior to surgery. 8. It's different for everyone, I think I felt most like myself again at about 8 weeks. Though that doesn't mean that I felt bad before that, I just felt less energetic, a bit more emotional, etc. 9. Yes, very much so. I don't have that afternoon slump anymore, I feel clearer and just happier. I feel like I am now what I was supposed to be all this time. If that makes sense? 10. It affected my mental health in the expected way, I was weepy, sad, afraid, etc. I was thoroughly prepared for it by reading on this site and American Bariatrics site. I knew what to expect and it didn't shock me or frighten me when it happened. Thanks to all of you who so generously shared about those experiences. I'm definitely happier now, I feel more comfortable in my own body now than I have in a very long time. 11. I don't regret a moment of it, would definitely recommend it to anyone who is eligible and interested in having surgery. For me, the biggest piece of it is that feeling of eating, then feeling satisfied. When I go out with friends or family, even though there is so much food still on the table, or on my plate, it doesn't keep me preoccupied. I'm able to just sit and enjoy the time with friends and family without spending the entire time talking to myself about one more bite, one more piece, no, no, maybe...................This piece right here is invaluable, and when combined with the fact that I don't feel sick all the time anymore, it's definitely been worth it many times over for me.

I am having surgery in 2 weeks and I don't have a number in mind on the scale but like you I want to be alive and healthy! The biggest gift of all!! Thank you for sharing your journey with us!

I didn't lose my hunger with surgery, it is still here. In fact, I woke up from surgery in the recovery room hungry. 😂 However, my taste buds have changed. It happened about 2 weeks out. I can't taste sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. It sure does make holiday treats less tempting. My brain hunger is a lot quieter too, I'm assuming that's from the surgical effects on GLP-1 in the body...similar mechanism to what quiets head hunger on the meds. I don't know how long this effect will last. I had the DS so it alters more of your anatomy than a sleeve does, and there are metabolic benefits to that alteration. So I'm hoping it is an effect that stays around for a while.

So I am 5 years and 2 months post-op RYGB. I made it beyond my goal weight of 170lb to 160lb. Technically I was as low as 145lbs because I was very sick in 2020 then again in 2022, but after getting better, I stabilized at a steady 160lb. Last July I started online streaming/socializing with people. I started snacking more because of nerves and also began drinking quite heavily because being silly tipsy in front of strangers is fun! I had NO IDEA how many calories was in alcohol. Over the course of 5 months, I gained 20lbs. Even more, I noticed that I can eat almost a "normal" plate of food the same size as my family's. I broke the rules and had started drinking fluids with my meals. I think I thought I could get away with breaking rules because I was at a stable 160lbs. Now I am FREAKING out! I hate exercise. I never did it, even with my prior weightloss. I am using a tracking app my husband's VA dietician told him to use called Fat Secret. I am trying to stick to 1600 calories, which is super hard. I feel hungry all the time now. I think I caused pouch dilation. I refuse to be heavy again. My clothes are already getting tighter than I like. I was doing research today on weight gain after years post-op. I basically am reading that I need a bariatric reset. I am going to do a 2-week "Pouch Reset Diet." It's not to make my pouch smaller, but it's to retrain my body to feel full with smaller portions again. I need to go back to the basics, and it's really hard. I also don't get DS with sweets like I used to. Don't get me wrong, I still get sick, but I noticed that my sugar tolerances have changed. It really worries me. 40% of bypass patients fail and bounce back to within 10% of their original weight pre-surgery. I will NOT be a part of that 40%. My support system at home is tricky. On one hand, my husband does support me outwardly. But he himself weighs 415lbs and isn't doing much about his weight. He watched my struggles and drustrations and outright refuses surgery for himself. He's on some stupid intermitent fasting diet, but he still eats way too large portions at meal times. My 15 y/o son is pushing 285lbs, and his only exercise is video games. For me, it's like living around all these food temptations is a struggle. It's like being an alcoholic and living at a bar. I just ordered a crap ton of protein powder so I can jump start this Pouch Reset Diet. I started to push myself on working out at least a little bit. I have a mini stair stepper and an eleptical bike. Anything is better than nothing. I am just wondering if I am alone in my struggles?

Wow! There are so many things to unpack there. let me start with you are not going to fail!! We will be able to eat in moderation. That is the whole goal of the tool. Instead of eating a large fry eating a couple like 4-5 instead of eating a whopper maybe half or less. Nothing will be BANNED! Your body will tell you though if it doesn’t like something you ate. You will get dumping , cramps, nausea or all of the above. So the key point here is not to get upset. now as I say that, I am struggling too but I am preop still. But I have had a couple of slips. As I don’t know what the situation I’m not sure why your husband brought home McDonald’s? Knowing your current condition? If possible could he eat in the car before coming in the house? Just for the next few weeks as you adjust to your new eating habits. we do need to learn to navigate when those around us have food that we so badly want. I went through that last night with potatoes. We will have to remove ourselves from those situations sometimes. Like I should have. im sure your husband will understand. Well, I hope anyway.

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