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P.S. if you're expecting to drop like 30 lbs a month, you need to adjust your expectations. Almost no one loses that much that quickly unless they're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life". Unfortunately, I think shows like that give people unrealistic ideas and expectations about weight loss surgery. Us "normal" WLS patients, with very few exceptions, just don't lose that fast. After the first month, many of us settle into about a 10-lb a month (give or take) rate...and the further out you get, the slower the loss.

I am 10 months post op and I've lost over a hundred pounds but I stay hungry all the time. Any suggestions? Sent from my SM-A526U using BariatricPal mobile app

This was my first time going on a foreign vacation and not gaining 5-10 lbs. I was in Mexico and tries rosca and concha because I'd never had them before, and I ate parts of tortillas at most meals (I mean... how can you avoid it!?). I can see that the sweets are definitely a slider food for me - even though I was stuffed after dinner I tried them and ate more than I planned. I lost about 2 lbs in 5 days! I still have a LOT of restriction, but I am going to have to be careful when that stops.

So how did everyone's holiday season go? Usually, in the Before Times, I'd put on 5-10 lbs. between Thanksgiving and Los Reyes Magos. I'll be honest with y'all. I ate like crap this year too. Carbs and sugar and fat and hardly any vegetables or fiber. I did make sure I got my protein and water though. And I chose days when I'd be off track instead of having six or seven weeks of "eh, whatever, I'll start again January 2". Thanksgiving; St. Lucia; Christmas Eve and Christmas; New Year's Eve. I also had nice meals for my fiancé's birthday and went to a friend's party. The restriction did help, though I've discovered more "slider" foods that I need to avoid, ones that I can eat a lot of that don't seem to trigger my restriction. And yet, when I came to the end of the holiday season for my weigh-in this morning, I had lost 14 pounds over that timeframe. I'm stunned. Pants that I bought right before Christmas are now loose; shirts in XL are now starting to flap in the breeze a bit (but not so much that I'm going to size down QUITE yet). My body definitely has got used to the way I was feeding it; when I returned to my usual careful tracking each time, I felt so much better. I don't really restrict myself on foods unless I know they're sliders or I won't have any control (hello, Dot's Pretzels...), but it's a matter of just really carefully weighing things out. "The food scale eats first"—so nothing goes in my mouth until I've portioned it out and logged it.

I'm in the same boat right now. I got VSG on Dec 20 2021, I am 2 weeks post op, my plan wanted me on pureed foods only 3 days after surgery... which I personally felt was way too soon, so I stayed on protein shakes and broths only for the first 10 days. I had lost about 12 lbs from surgery date up to when I started puree on day 10, but just noticed I have gained about a pound last couple of days. I have been having a hard time getting things moving though too (smooth move tea actually did literally nothing), so I'm sure that has a little to do with it, Miralax takes the full three days once a day before it does anything at all. I'm sure it gets better after the 3-5 week hump from what I've heard.

Howdy y'all! Happy 2022! So it did it end up being a solid 6+ months for me to get myself back on here. The thought even crossed my mind to do a 1 year exactly post and then I got distracted and here I am like 3ish weeks late. Whatever, I digress. So 12 months have passed and with it I have shed 116lbs(that was the total about a month ago at the 1 year surgeon's check up). He is very happy with my progress however I know I can do better. Remember how I said 6 months ago sugar was an issue? Yeah, still is. More so since I got covid back in August and lost my taste/smell--it's back mostly but it has changed flavors and most of it isn't for the better. I can't stomach tomato based foods, I can't explain what it tastes/smells like but it is not good. Cooking garlic makes me gag but I can eat it okay which makes zero sense to me and then of course sugar based foods (especially candy) is almost normal-I suspect is why I have continued to gravitate to it so hard these last few months. Anyway, I decided tonight after posting in the forums for some help and some tough love/encouragement that I would sign myself up for the box of the month from the BariatricPal store--let me try lots of high protein/lower calorie snacks/foods without just blindly spending money on products that are nasty. Figure I'll try it out for a few months and see what it yields, I need to add in some new products to my repertoire. My water intake is back to around 100+oz a day most days. I made it a HUGE priority when the plasma center opened up in my town since my dog is looking to meet at least another two of the specialty departments at the local specialty vet in the next 6 weeks. I take a insulated mug with a straw, fill with ice cubes and I have a 50oz water bottle I fill and put in flavoring (my taste buds settled on the more 'tart' flavors like strawberry lemonade/cherry etc) and make it a point to drink at least 2 of the water bottles a day. I have had zero issues donating both with hydration and iron(hematocrit) numbers. Iron is always on the forefront of my mind since I went into this surgery already on once daily iron tablets due to low grade anemia I got from my mom and she got from her mom. I had tested at 38 which is the absolute lowest you can be at and still donate the first 3 times but today after I had upped my iron tablets to 2 a day as well as my normal 2 Flintstones the last 10-14 days I tested at 44 today! I obviously don't want it skyrocketing since you can actually have it to high so I will go to every other day 2 tablets and see if I can hold my iron steady in the low to mid 40s. I have ZERO regrets from this surgery and look forward to FLYING to see my dad over Father's day weekend, my goal is to be at or below my surgeon's goal for me (193lbs)-still sitting at 225lbs so not an overwhelming amount of weight to lose in 6ish months. I did buy myself a solidly decent treadmill that I have started using several times a week-I enjoy my 'treadmill shows' like The Witcher or Game of Thrones- shows I really enjoy but can only watch if I am up on the treadmill-gives me motivation to lace up the sneakers and go for a power walk. That said, I do plan on finding a chiropractor to do a consult with because my hips and back aches after only a few minutes of going at a solid pace, I assume it's from everything shifting and hope I can get adjusted and/or get some stretching exercises I can do to help get things aligned and make moving much more comfortable than it is currently. I am still in school but maybe just maybe work seems to finally have eased some and we have a new CSR starting in mid-January so I don't feel so exhausted and overwhelmed as I did 6ish months ago. I finally feel like I have the time to get things I want and need to get done, done. My ADD still makes focusing hard sometimes but my annual physical is in February and I plan on discussing ideas/strategies with my PCP. My goal right now is to buy myself a 6-18 month planner that will help me keep track of schoolwork deadlines I want to make for myself, work scheduling, personal/off time to make sure I don't waste my days off wandering around going "I know there is stuff I need to do but I don't remember what it was" or alternatively doing things like starting to clean out my closet-doing that for 4 hours then getting distracted by something else or ending up napping when the cat comes and lays next to me while I am looking through boxes(that's happened more than I'd like to admit). Anyway, moving along. Long story short here, I am very happy with my progress but know I have a lot left to learn and more weight to lose. I think when I hit Onederland and I have the funds, I will seek out beginner Krav Maga classes for fitness but also I haven't been below 200lbs as an adult and self-defense is something I've always assumed my weight would help with and now I won't have it. Maybe a solid firearm handling class and getting my concealed carry license as well. That's all I've got at this point, can't wait to see where I am and what thoughts I have in a few months! Keep on trucking everyone, we've got this!! -Amanda

Hello … 10 days post op for RNY and I am still in my two week post op liquids phase. The protein shakes are making me gag and I found two things that help get around it. First, I discovered bariatric high protein soup . You can find it on Amazon or Bariatric Pal. I also discovered I can tolerate PB Fit , made kind of runny. These things have drastically improved my post op liquid phase life. I still choke down a protein shake in the morning, but in the evening instead of a gross second shake I have my high protein soup . Amen!!

As we progress we are all able to eat more & many find their appetite & hunger starts to come back at around 6-9 months. It’s when the next lot of hard work happens - when it’s up to you to control & manage your eating as you can’t rely on the diminishing benefits of the tool (your sleeve) anymore. At 6 months I’d reached goal & had lost 26kg (57lbs) post surgery so about the same as you. My surgeon was very happy with my rate of loss. I was eating almost 900 calories & almost a cup of food depending on what it was. I was slowly eating more but it did take another 10/11 months for me to be able to physically eat enough to stop losing. I eat about 1300 calories to maintain now & that includes 3 or 4 snacks. My serving size is a good cup or about the recommended serving size of most foods. To give you an idea I can eat 1.5 eggs, 3ozs steak, 2 lamb cutlets, a serve of rolled oats, 1/2 - 3/4 cup steamed vegetables, a tub of yoghurt. I take 30-60 mins to eat a meal. I should stress I’m not tall, have a small frame, am almost 57 & am not very active so hence my lower caloric intake. Congrats on your weight loss. You’re almost there. Whoo hoo!

Just a little vent about clothing sizes. Spotted a pair of slouchy drop crotch pants on sale online. What size will I need I wondered? Got out out my handy dandy dress maker’s tape measure & checked the size guide. OMG it said I was a MED/large or a size 14 (US 10/12). WTF!?! 😱 Is this the children’s size guide I thought but even if it was I’m only a size 10/12 in children’s wear. Nope, definitely adult sizing. It’s an Aust company I’ve bought from before (XXS fitted knit dress & XS sweaters) just not pants. All my pants are Aust size 4 or 6. How could I be a size 14 in their eyes? I know I had some dessert at Christmas but not enough to cause a weight gain of 4 clothing sizes. 😉 GRRRR!

Just want to wish you luck! It’s gotta be hard not having the support you need. I’m hoping your revision goes well. I’m having an endoscopic suturing revision for my sleeve that was done in 2012. I lost over 100 pounds and got pregnant a year out. I’ve gone up and down for the past 10 years but never back to my lowest and now I’m close to my high 😩. Hoping for a reset.

You’ll have headaches and brain fog those first few weeks anyways, may as well ride that wave too and call it quits, hahaha. I didn’t even want a Diet Coke during those first few weeks. But everyone is different and thats ok! Don’t be so hard on yourself when you slip (because you’re human, and likely a food addict like most of us, so you will slip and you’ll pick yourself back up and learn. I’m learning everyday.) I wanted salty and hot things, and even licked a cool ranch Dorito I think like day 5 or something crazy like that. When I started purées (I think day 10 maybe) I finally thought “oh ok I won’t be miserable forever”. I never knew just plain ol’ refried beans with a pinch of cheddar cheese could taste like a slice of heaven. I had a whole new appreciation for food, haha. I also didn’t do a pre-op diet, just clear liquids 24 hours before surgery.

Hi fellow Diet Coke addict! I’m 2 months out and haven’t had a sip! Which is crazy because I used to think longingly about my beloved Diet Coke. I had a craving for a Diet Coke last week, but I didn’t have it. Plenty of people do drink it post op, but I sorta said “hi craving, I see you and boy do I miss your crispy zing in my mouth, but I’m good”. Will it also be that easy for me to say no? Probably not. But right now it is. The same can’t be said for food. I’ve pretty much had it all at this point, and I’ve enjoyed it, regretted it sometimes, and moved on. I eat something yummy everyday, just not a lot of it. I’m still figuring this out. Sometimes I eat too fast and just have to ride that wave and tell myself “ok remember this for next time and remember how little your stomach is now”. i focused on drinking water those first 10 days. The first 2 days were tough because of nausea. I did a play by play of the first 2 weeks on here called “post op day 2” if you’re curious about how it felt day by day. currently I mostly eat canned chicken with Mayo (like I truly love it, hahahaha), an egg in the morning, tiny sandwiches (see post, comically small sandwich), honey roasted peanuts, and dinner is just a small portion of whatever my husband is eating… sometimes it healthy, sometimes it’s not. I’m not as strict as most people on here, and that’s ok. I’m learning and living. I’m losing about 2 pounds a week now (with stalls here and there, including the 3 week stall). i have incorporated the premier protein latte flavor daily now (3 weeks post op until I was suppose to wait for caffeine). I sorta have just choke it down bit by bit, but I’m ok with it. i took omeprazole the first month as prescribed and haven’t needed it since. I brought a pair of crocs to the hospital to walk about my room, wet wipes, a medicine cup to sip water, 2 bottles of water, pads (because you’ll likely get your period out of nowhere), night time toiletries ( I didn’t shower there, was only there 2 nights), iPad, phone charger (long), ear buds, and pj pants, tank top with built in bra, and sweater (I was ridiculously cold for a month after surgery). good luck!

yes - normal. The big drops that many of us see initially are mostly "water weight". After my first month, I was losing about 10 lbs a month, give or take. So that's about 2 lbs a week. On top of that, at your weight, you're what we call a "light weight". You're not going to lose as fast as someone who starts out at over 300 lbs.

Maybe you're a mobile user so you can't see this, but if you fill in your profile with height, weight, etc. it's easier for people to respond to you. 600-800 cals/day with a mini gastric bypass sounds very low, but again, you could be 4 feet 10 and then it might make sense. Remember, at least for the first year or so, depending on food you eat, we malabsorb calories, too. Much more than RNY patients, who malabsorb up to 150-200 cals/day (no specific studies on a calorie amount exists for MGB patients, but it's a lot more than RNY).

I had my sleeve on 11/4 here in Jacksonville. Dr. Uchal at st Vincent’s riverside. I was self pay ($15,000 total includes hospital stay and follow visit). My BMI wasn’t high enough for insurance coverage. On the plus side, I got scheduled pretty quickly and didn’t have to jump through the hoops required when using insurance. I had 2 pre-op dietitian appointments (honestly pointless in my opinion. They could have just me with the info binder), blood work, EKG, and a chest X-ray. I have no co-morbidities. I didn’t do the pre surgery diet, just clear liquids the day before. The first 10 days sucked, not because of pain, but because of nausea. And I was starving. I couldn’t drink the nasty ass protein shakes, not for lack of trying. I just drank water basically. My surgeon told me don’t even worry about protein just stay hydrated. When I was allowed to have caffeine I started drinking the latte premier protein. I’m almost 2 months post and have lost 25.5 pounds. i eat things I shouldn’t sometimes (things that most people stay away from until goal, but it’s impossible to eat a lot of anything.

A few points (or counterpoints) on these diets. Any of these restrictive diets can lead to some weight loss for a while, because it takes some time for us to adjust to the restrictions and adapt to overeating the permitted foods. For example, our popular low carb diets of today - the average American/Western diet has 3-400 g of carbohydrates in it, so if you restrict that to some random small number - 40, 20, 20, 10 - it really doesn't matter - that's 1000 calories or more. Even if you eat "as much bacon as you want..." you likely aren't used to eating that much of it so you will be eating fewer calories than before. Until you adapt to that and let you bacon consumption rise to or beyond your previous carbohydrate consumption. Give it a few months. A few years ago I did a low fat diet for a while as we were poking at a specific medical condition where that can be beneficial. Even though I could have as much whole grains and root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, etc.) as I wanted, I wasn't used to eating that much of those things so I lost weight, though that wasn't the intent. If you go back to when the low fat diet fad was at its peak, there were lots of doctors recommending it, and lots of science behind it. What they were missing, as with today's diets, is the "uh oh" of what's missing and how that affects us long term. There are essential nutrients associated with fats that were being missed, just as there is essential nutrition associated with carbohydrates. Back in the day before effective diabetes meds and insulin, that is the way diabetics ate, as that was the only way for them to keep any control over their blood sugar. It wasn't particularly healthy, but it was the only thing that kept them alive with that condition. The science that is touted in promoting these diets tends to be fairly narrow, siting just one or a couple of factors that benefit from the diet, while ignoring the rest of the body's systems. If one has a condition that requires such limitations, then one follows it, but also these days has the help of other specialists, such as RDs, who can help in compensating for what's missing in the diet by adopting other foods or supplements to balance things out. Today's average diet is very high in processed foods which tend to be high in sugar, particularly added sugars and sugar analogs, and we can certainly benefit from cutting those out, but it is easy to go into overkill mode and cut out carbohydrates that provide us with essential nutrition without them going overboard on the free sugars that are doing us harm. Similarly, when low fat was the fad of the day, most people then were overdoing fats - lots of butter, deep fried everything, country gravy on everything, etc. but soft drinks came in 6 oz bottles not big gulp quarts. So they could benefit from lower fat diet - but not no fat as they were deficient in some essential nutrients.

Me too! I'm just assuming it's because I'm more "fit." I also noticed that when I started back at the gym after not being there since COVID, I didn't have to wean myself in and could immediately do a 30-45 minute workout instead of having to start at 10 minutes and work my way up. It was reassuring that I hadn't totally lost all of my fitness abilities. I was worried that I wasn't working out hard enough because I wasn't sweating profusely like before, but my heart rate monitor shows I'm doing good, so I'm happy not to be drenched.

Is anybody here familiar with the Carnivore Diet? It's basically a more restrictive form of Keto where you ONLY eat meat, cheese, fat, and butter. The more meat the better. The fattier the meat the better. It sounds counterintuitive to eat this type of diet, but there are several doctors out there who recommend it to help reverse diabetes and fight inflammation. While it's impossible to have zero carbs, the goal is to have as few as possible, less than 10 per day, and consume no bread, fruit, vegetables or anything other than "meat." Now, I must say that I had/have my doubts about the healthiness of this diet. That being said, my husband has been on it for 4 months and lost 35 pounds and his A1C and morning fasting glucose levels are now within normal range. He is going to continue on the diet, or as he calls it, "way of life." I did it with him for 3 months and I lost 20 pounds, but toward the end I was having a lot of diarrhea and my body couldn't handle/process all of the protein and fat without some carbs, so I switched to a new diet in mid-December. Dr. Ken Berry is the person my husband follows on YouTube who explains the science behind it and how to do it. He also said that 1/3 of people can't do it because of their particular body's need for carbs for proper digestion. Anyway, I was curious if anybody here was familiar with the Carnivore Diet or had tried it or was doing it?

Newbe here. January 3rd surgery date. Day 5 liquid diet down 10 lbs so far.

So mine is a little different- I met the guy I’m talking to about 3yrs ago when I was 330lbs at 5’7” (170cm). I didn’t see him much from nov. 2019 (VSG dec 2019 and RNY revision for gerd aug 2020) to Sept. 2021 (155lbs) (I was either on medical leave or working a bunch because of Covid). Anyway, I was super nervous about being seen naked or intimacy related things because of skin and scars (I have a midline scar from sternum to pubic bone). He told me that it’s not the outside that he cares about it’s what’s on the inside because the outside doesn’t always stay the same. And while I’m still super self conscious about the loose skin and scars he makes feel okay with just being myself around him.

Hey there. I just had mine on Dec. 20th. I just had a post op appointment with my doctor. I have lost 10ths since my pre-op visit with him. I am excited. I have been doing protein shakes in morning and evening then protein water throughout the day along with regular water just sips. My goal with the water is to drink 32 ounces. It is hard. I eat sugar free jello as well and broth but this liquid diet is starting to weigh on me and I am starting to want other things. I have one more week of liquid then on 01/05 I can start purée and the vitamins.

I have had silent heartburn since before the surgery. it took 10 years for a diagnosis. I don’t get heartburn symptoms or anything. But I do have constant trouble swallowing due to a lump and tightness in my throat. I also have had vocal troubles that required months of vocal therapy so that I could speak with less pain. It still hurts to talk though. I take 40mg omeprazole twice a day, sleep in an adjustable bed so I can be on an incline, do PT every day to relieve the throat tension, and avoid: dairy, acidic foods like tomatoes, chocolate, fatty foods, spicy foods, and bread/pasta to avoid making it worse. I was supposed to have a hiatal hernia fixed during my WLS which they thought would help but that … didn’t happen. So I still have it post op.

So I had a RNY revision on 12/13. The first time I had surgery, I lost zero lbs in the first week and then it started falling off. This time I lost 10 lbs preop diet, 5 lbs in the first week. It has now been almost 2 weeks since I have lost anything. I am using a food tracking ap and I am between 800-900 calories a day. Trying to push it up to 1000 - 1200 if I can. I feel better, my mom and boyfriend say my face looks thinner, but no scale movement. Frustrating.

I have finally been diagnosed with Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR)/Silent Reflux with my ENT Specialist about 3 weeks ago after suffering from a lump in my throat and tightness in throat which results in somewhat difficulty breathing. I have been having these symptoms for at least the past 4 months. I had visited at least 6-7 medical professionals (none of whom knew why I was suffering from these issues) before finally being diagnosed with Silent Reflux (difficult to diagnose). It is different to GERD (normal reflux) in that I do not have the classical reflux symptoms of heart burn, indigestion etc. I even had a gastroscopy (camera down my esophagus) to confirm it is not GERD. Has anyone ever developed Silent Reflux (LPR) or had any symptoms of a lump in your throat or somewhat difficulty breathing? It is best diagnosed by an ENT wherein they place a camera through your sinuses and it goes right to where your voice box is. I had the gastric bypass in 2019 (I initially had the gastric sleeve in 2013, but it was converted to Gastric Bypass in 2019). I am now on Somac (PPIs) twice daily for a minimum of 4 months in order to stop any stomach acid entering my throat and airways. It is a lengthy process to treat silent reflux. I would appreciate if anyone whom has had similar symptons and/or being diagnosed with silent reflux could let me know. Thanks everyone.

Hi, i've made a sleeve gastrectomy on September 2019, i was so Happy. At the operation time nu weight Is 148 kg, All Is working well. At febbruary my weight was 122kg, but arrive Covid. All close, all the time at home for month beacause was a lockdown here. I'm italian. I start regain weight, One, two, three kilos. On Summer i was 134 kilos, but my body start change, and i have no worry ti wear a swinsuit on holiday. I try to loose weight again, i arrive ti 126,another lockdown and then i gain weight again. On June 2021, i change my dietist, i weight 130 kg, on the end of Summer i was 120, i was so Happy, but i finish the Summer work and i restart gain weight. Now i'm 126 kg, and i don't know what to do. I think It doesn't work, or i'm not good for that. I don't know what to do, i try, but my family don't help me. I know that if i have food ti avoid in fridge, when i stay at home i eat Them, beacause i'm alone, and if i ask not to buy, my father don't listen. I make artistic roller skating, and i'm Happy, i study e when i found something i work. But all that doesn't work. I search help, but i don't know where. P.s. Sorry for my english, Is not my mothertongue Sent from my M2101K7BNY using BariatricPal mobile app